AFTER WATERLOO

Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819

By

MAJOR W. E. FRYE

EDITED WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES

By SALOMON REINACH

Member of the Institute of France

LONDON1908

To

 V. A. M. S. R. 

PREFACE

The knowledge of Major Frye's manuscript and the privilege of publishing itfor the first time I owe to the kindness of two French ladies, the MissesG----. Their father, a well known artist and critic, used to spend thesummer months at Saint Germain-en-Laye together with his wife, who was anEnglish woman by birth. They had been for a long time intimately acquaintedwith Major Frye, who lived and ended his life in that quiet town. TheMajor's hostess, Mme. De W----, after his death in 1858, brought themanuscript to Mrs. G---- and gave it to her in memory of her friend. It wasduly preserved in the G---- family, but remained unnoticed. The MissesG---- rediscovered it in 1907, when it had been lying in a cupboard forupwards of half a century. On their showing it to me I thought it wasinteresting for many reasons, and worthy of introduction to the public. Ihope the reader will share my opinion, which is also that of severalEnglish scholars and men of letters, to whom I communicated extracts fromthe manuscript. 

The reminiscences are in the form of letters addressed to a correspondentwho, however, is never named and of whose health, family and privatecircumstances not the slightest mention is to be found. So I am inclined tobelieve that he never existed, and that Major Frye chose to imitatePresident de Brosses and others who thus recorded their travellingexperiences in epistolary form. 

The manuscript--which will eventually be deposited in a public library--isentirely in Major Frye's large and legible hand; at some later time it wasevidently revised by himself, but many names which I have endeavoured tocomplete were left in blank or only indicated by initials. There are threefolio volumes, bound in paper boards. In this edition it has been thoughtadvisable to leave out a certain number of pages devoted to theatricals, ofwhich Major Frye was a great votary, and also some lengthy descriptions oflandscapes, museums and churches, the interest of which to modern readersdoes not correspond to the space occupied by them. For the informationcontained in the footnotes I am indebted to many correspondents, English, French, Swiss, Belgian and Italian, to whom I here express my heartythanks. I am under special obligation to Sir Charles Dilke, Mr OscarBrowning, Professor Novati, Professor Corrado Ricci, CommandantEspérandieu, Professor Cumont, Professor Stilling and Mr Höchberg. 

Major Frye's tombstone is in the cemetery of Saint Germain, and reads thus:"To the memory of Major William Edward Frye, who departed this life the 9thday of October, 1858. " On the same stone has been added in French:"Perceval Edmond Litchfield, décédé le 15 Avril, 1888. " About P. E. Litchfield I know nothing; he must have been the Major's intimate friendduring the last period of his life. 

 * * * * *

W. E. Frye was born Oct. 29, 1784, and received his education at Eton(1797-9) in the time of the French Revolution. "The system was, " he says, "to drill into the heads of the boys strong aristocratic principles andhatred of democracy and of the French in particular. " The effect producedon the youth was the reverse of that intended. From 1799 to 1822 hebelonged to the British army: here is an abstract of his services:

 Ensign, 2nd Foot, 5th August, 1799. Lieutenant, 2nd Foot, 7th March, 1800. Half-pay, 4th Foot, 14th April, 1808. Lieutenant, 24th Foot, 8th December, 1804. Captain, 56th Foot, 18th April, 1805. 3rd Ceylon Regt. , 15th Feb. , 1810. Half-pay, 3rd Foot, 7th March, 1816. 4th Foot, 24th Feb. , 1820. Brevet-Major, 12th August, 1819. Sold out, 15th August, 1822. 

In 1799, Frye took a part in the British Expedition to Holland. In 1801 hewas in Egypt with Lord Abercrombie's army and received the medal for warservice. His career in India lasted six years and gave him occasion tovisit the three presidencies and Ceylon. In 1814 he returned on furlough toEurope and was in Brussels during the Waterloo campaign. The subsequentyears--1815 to 1819--he employed visiting Western Europe, as appears fromhis reminiscences. I have read letters of his which prove that he lived inParis from 1830 to 1832. Later, about 1848, he took an apartment in SaintGermain, and died there in 1858. 

Major Frye was a very distinguished linguist; besides knowing Greek andLatin, he understood almost all European languages, and was capable ofwriting correctly in French, Italian and German. The Misses G---- haveshown me a rare book published by him at Paris in 1844 under the followingtitle:

"Trois chants de l'Edda. Vaftrudnismal, Thrymsquidal, Skirnisfor, traduitsen vers français, accompagnés de notes explicatives des mythes etallégories, et suivis d'autres poèmes par W. E. Frye, ancien majord'infanterie au service d'Angleterre, membre de l'Académie des Arcadiens deRome. Se vend à Paris, pour l'auteur, chez Heideloff & Cie, Libraires, 18Rue des Filles St. Thomas. 1844" (In 8vo, xii, 115 pp. )

At the end of that volume are translations by Major Frye of severalNorthern poems--in German, Italian and English verse--from the Danish andthe Swedish; then come two sonnets in French verse, the one in honour ofLafayette, the other about the Duke of Orléans, whose premature death hecompares with that of the Northern hero of the Edda, Balder. A part ofFrye's translation of the Edda, before appearing in book form, had beenpublished in _l'Echo de la Littérature et des Beaux Arts_, a periodicaledited by the Major's friend, M. De Belenet. 

Frye loved poetry, though his ideas on the subject were rather those of theeighteenth century than our own. It is interesting to find an Englishofficer reading Voltaire, Gessner, Ariosto, and quoting them from memory(which explains that some of his quotations had to be corrected). Thesentimental vein of Rousseau's generation still flows and vibrates in him, as when he says that he has never been able to read the letters of Wolmarto St Preux in Rousseau's _Nouvelle Héloïse_ without shedding tears. Germanminor poetry, now quite forgotten, attracted him almost as much as thegreat pages of Schiller, Bürger, and Goethe. The Misses G. Possess amanuscript translation in three volumes, in the Major's own hand, ofWieland's _Agathodemon_ done into English. This he evidently intended topublish, as he had written the title-page which is worded as follows:

"Agathodemon, a philosophical romance translated from the German of Wielandby W. E. Frye, member of the Academy degli Arcadi in Rome, and of the RoyalSociety of Northern Antiquarians of Copenhagen, ex-major of infantry in HisBritish Majesty's service. "

Frye describes with accuracy, and shows much appreciation of fine sceneryand architecture. His judgements in painting and sculpture are sincere, though often betraying the autodidact and amateur. He loved music, especially Rossini's operas which were then beginning their long career oftriumph. Theatricals of all sorts, especially ballets, had a greatattraction for him and elicited his enthusiastic comments. In comparingtragedies and comedies which he had seen performed in different countries, he gave repeated proofs of his knowledge and critical insight. We can takehim as a good example of that intelligent class of English travellers whoseintercourse with the Continental _litterati_ has so well contributed toestablish the good reputation of British culture and refined appreciationof the arts. 

The chief interest of Frye's reminiscences lies, however, in quite anotherdirection. He was a friend of liberty, a friend of France, an admirer ofNapoleon, and a hater of the Tory régime which brought about Napoleon'sdownfall. "France's attempts at European domination, in the Napoleonic era, are graciously described as but so many efforts towards spreading the lightof civilization over Europe. " These words, written about a quite recentwork and à propos of the "Entente cordiale, " apply perfectly to Frye'sreminiscences. Travelling immediately before and after the Emperor'scollapse, he found that everywhere, excepting in Tuscany, the Frenchdomination was regretted, because the ideals of liberty and equality hadshone and vanished with the tricolour flag. He admires the French people, though not the _Ultras_ and bigots, and has fine words of praise for theFrench army: "Yes, the French soldier is a fine fellow. I have servedagainst them in Holland and in Egypt, and I will never flinch fromrendering justice to their exemplary conduct and lofty valour. " He takestrouble to refute the exaggerated reports which were then circulated allover Europe about the cruelties and vandalism practised by the French: "Ifthe French since the Revolution have not always fought for liberty, theyhave done so invariably for science; and wherever they carried theirvictorious arms abuses were abolished, ameliorations of all kinds followedand the arts of life were improved. Our government, since the accession ofGeorge III, has never raised its arm except in favour of old abuses, touphold despotism and unfair privileges or to establish commercialmonopoly. "

Sometimes, indeed, speaking of his own country and its government, MajorFrye uses very hard words, which might seem unpatriotic if we did not know, from many other memoirs and letters, to what a terrible strain orthodoxToryism, coupled with bigotry and hypocrisy, had put the patience ofliberal Englishmen at that period. He called the British government "themost dangerous, artful, and determined enemy of all liberty, "--"England, "he says, "has been always ready to lend a hand to crush liberty, toperpetuate abuses and to rivet the fetters of monarchical, feudal andecclesiastical tyranny. " And later on he inveighs against the Englishmerchants, who "contributed with their gold to uphold the corrupt system ofPitt and to carry on unjust, unreasonable and liberticide wars. "

Whatever may be the final judgement of history on the Tory principles inpolitics in the days of the Congress of Vienna, Major Frye's love ofliberty and intellectual progress entitle him to the sympathy of those whoshare his generous feelings and do not consider that personal freedom andindividual rights are articles for home use only. Since Frye wrote, thewhole of Europe, excepting perhaps Russia, has reaped the benefits of theFrench Revolution, and reduced, if not suppressed, what the Major called"kingcraft and priestcraft. " He did not attempt to divine the future, butthe history of Europe in the nineteenth century has been largely inaccordance with his desires and hopes. It is not a small merit for awriter, in the midst of one of the most rabid reactions that the world hasknown, to have clung with such tenacity to ideals, the complete victory ofwhich may now be contemplated in the near future. 

S. R. 

CONTENTS

PART I. 

CHAPTER I

MAY-JUNE, 1815

Passage from Ceylon to England--Napoleon's return--Ostend--Bruges--Ghent--The King of France at Mass--Alost--Bruxelles--The Duke ofWellington very confident--Feelings of the Belgians--Good conduct ofBritish troops--Monuments in Bruxelles--Theatricals--Genappe andNamur--Complaints against the Prussian troops--Mons--Major-GeneralAdam--Tournay--A French deserter--General Clinton's division--Cavalryreview--The Duke de Berri--Back to Bruxelles--Unjust opinions aboutNapoleon and the French--Battle at Ligny--The day of Waterloo inBruxelles--Visit to the battlefield--Terrible condition of thewounded--Kindness of the Bruxellois. 

CHAPTER II

From Bruxelles to Liége--A priest's declamation against the FrenchRevolution--Maastricht--Aix-la-Chapelle--Imperial relics--Napoleonregretted--Klingmann's "Faust"--A Tyrolese beauty--Cologne--Difficultiesabout a passport--The Cathedral--King-craft and priest-craft--TheRhine--Bonn and Godesberg--Goethe's "Götz von Berlichingen"--The SevenMountains--German women--Andernach--Ehrenbreitstein--German hatred againstFrance--Coblentz--Intrigues of the Bourbon princes in Coblentz--Mayence--Bieberich--Conduct of the Allies towards Napoleon--Frankfort on theMayn--An anecdote about Lord Stewart and Lafayette--German poetry--Thequestion of Alsace and Lorraine--Return to Bruxelles--Napoleon's surrender. 

CHAPTER III

From Bruxelles to Paris--Restoration of Louis XVIII--The officers of theallied armies--The Palais Royal--The Louvre--Protest of the author againstthe proposed despoiling of the French Museums--Unjust strictures againstNapoleon's military policy--The _cant_ about revolutionary robberies--TheGrand Opera--Monuments in Paris--The Champs Elysées--Saint-Cloud--TheHôtel des Invalides--The Luxembourg--General Labédoyère--Priests andemigrants--Prussian Plunder--Handsome behaviour of the Englishofficers--Reminiscences of Eton--Versailles. 

CHAPTER IV

From Paris to Bruxelles--Visiting the plains of Waterloo--The Duke de Berriat Lille--Beauvais--Return to Paris--Remarks on the French theatre--Talma--Mlle Duchesnois--Mlle Georges--French alexandrine verse--The AbbéDelille--The Opéra Comique. 

CHAPTER V

From Paris to Milan through Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saone, Lyons, Geneva and theSimplon--Auxerre--Dijon--Napoleon at Chalon-sur-Saone--The army of theLoire--Mâcon--French _grisettes_--Lyons--Monuments and theatricals--Geneva--Character and opinions of the Genevois--Voltaire's chateau atFerney--The chevalier Zadera--From Geneva to Milan--Crossing theSimplon--Arona--The theatres in Milan--Rossini--Monuments in Milan--Artencouraged by the French--Mr Eustace's bigotry--Return to Switzerland--Clarens and Vevey--Lausanne--Society in Lausanne--Return to Paris--TheLouvre stripped--Death of Marshal Ney. 

PART II

CHAPTER VI

MARCH-JUNE, 1816

Ball at Cambray, attended by the Duke of Wellington--An Adventure betweenSaint Quentin and Compiègne--Paris revisited--Colonel Wardle and MrsWallis--Society in Paris--The Sourds-Muets--The Cemetery of Père LaChaise--Apathy of the French people--The priests--Marriage of the Duke deBerri. 

CHAPTER VII

Journey from Paris to Lausanne--Besançon--French refugees in Lausanne--Francois Lamarque--General Espinassy--Bordas--Gautier--Michau--M. DeLaharpe--Mlle Michaud--Levade, a Protestant minister--Chambéry--Aix--Details about M. De Boigne's career in India--English Toryism andintolerance--Valley of Maurienne--Passage across Mont Cenis and arrival atSuza--Turin. 

CHAPTER VIII

Journey from Turin to Bologna--Asti--Schiller and Alfieri--Italian_cuisine_--The _vetturini_--Marengo--Piacenza--The Trebbia--Parma--TheEmpress Maria Louisa--Modena--Bologna--The University--The MarescalchiGallery--Character of the Bolognese. 

CHAPTER IX

Journey across the Appennines to Florence--Tuscan idioms andcustoms--Monuments and galleries at Florence--The Cascino--Churches--Theatres--Popularity of the Grand Duke--Napoleon's downfall notregretted--Academies in Florence. 

CHAPTER X

Journey from Florence to Rome--Sienna--Radicofani--Bolsena--Montefiasconewine--Viterbo--Baccano--The Roman Campagna--The papal _douans_--Monumentsand Museums in Rome--Intolerance of the Catholic Christians--The Tiber andthe bridges--Character of the Romans--The _Palazzi_ and _Ville_--Canova'satelier--Theatricals--An execution in Rome. 

CHAPTER XI

From Rome to Naples--Albano--Velletri--The Marshes--Terracina--Mola diGaeta--Capua--The streets of Naples--Monuments and Museums--Visit toPompeii and ascent to Vesuvius--Dangerous ventures--Puzzuoli andBaiae--Theatres at Naples--Pulcinello--Return to Rome--Tivoli. 

CHAPTER XII

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1816

From Rome to Florence--Sismondi the historian--Reminiscences ofIndia--Lucca--Princess Elisa Baciqochi--Pisa--The Campo Santo--Leghorn--Hebrews in Leghorn--Lord Dillon--The story of a lost glove--From Florenceto Lausanne by Milan, Turin and across Mont Cenis--Lombardy in winter--TheHospice of Mont Cenis. 

PART III

CHAPTER XIII

MARCH-SEPTEMBER, 1817

Journey from Lausanne to Clermont-Ferrand--A wretched conveyance--Thefirst dish of frogs--Society in Clermont-Ferrand--General de Vergennes--Cleansing the town--Return to Lausanne--A zealous priest--Journey to Bernand back to Lausanne--Avenches--Lake Morat--Lake Neufchatel--The Diet inBern--Character of the Bernois--A beautiful Milanese lady. 

CHAPTER XIV

SEPTEMBER, 1817-APRIL, 1818

Journey from Lausanne to Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples--Residence atNaples--The theatre of San Carlo--Rossini's operas--Gaming in Naples--The_Lazzaroni_--Public writers--Carbonarism--Return to Rome--Christmas eve atSanta Maria Maggiore--Mme Dionigi--Theatricals--Society in Rome--The papalgovernment--Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino--Louis Napoleon, ex-King ofHolland--Pope Pius VII--Thorwaldsen--Granet--The Holy Week in Rome--TheDuchess of Devonshire--From Rome to Florence by the Perugia road. 

CHAPTER XV

APRIL-JULY, 1818

Journey from Florence to Pisa and from thence by the Appennines toGenoa--Massa--Carrara--Genoa--Monuments and works of art--TheGenoese--Return to Florence--Journey from Florence through Bologna andFerrara to Venice--Monument to Ariosto in Ferrara--A description ofVenice--Padua--Vicenza--Verona--Cremona--Return to Milan--The Scalatheatre--Verona again--From Verona to Innspruck. 

CHAPTER XVI

JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1818

Innspruck--Tyrol and the Tyrolese--From Innspruck to Munich--Monuments andchurches--Theatricals--Journey from Munich to Vienna on a floss--Troublewith a passport--Complicated system of Austrian money--Description ofVienna--The Prater--The theatres--Schiller's _Joan of Arc_--A_Kinderballet_--The young Napoleon at Schoenbrunn--Journey from Vienna toPrague. 

CHAPTER XVII

SEPTEMBER, 1818-MARCH, 1819

The splendid city of Prague--The German expression, "To give the basket"--Journey from Prague to Dresden--Journey from Dresden to Berlin--Adescription of Berlin--The Prussian Army--Theatricals--Peasants talk aboutNapoleon--Prussians and French should be allies--Absurd policy of theEnglish Tories--Journey from Berlin to Dresden--A description ofDresden--The battle of Dresden in 1813--Clubs at Dresden--Theatricals--German beds--Saxon scholars--The picture gallery--Tobacco an ally ofLegitimacy--Saxon women--Meissen--Unjust policy of Europe towards the Kingof Saxony. 

CHAPTER XVIII

MARCH-APRIL, 1819

Journey from Dresden to Leipzig--The University of Leipzig--Liberalspirit--The English disliked in Saxony--The English Government hostile toliberty--Journey to Frankfort--From Frankfort to Metz and Paris--A. F. Lemaître--_Bon voyage_ to the Allies--Return to England. 

 * * * * *

CHAPTER I

MAY-JUNE, 1815

Passage from Ceylon to England--Napoleon's return--Ostend--Bruges--Ghent--The King of France at Mass--Alost--Bruxelles--The Duke of Wellington veryconfident--Feelings of the Belgians--Good conduct of Britishtroops--Monuments in Bruxelles--Theatricals--Genappe and Namur--Complaintsagainst the Prussian troops--Mons--Major-General Adam--Tournay--A Frenchdeserter--General Clinton's division--Cavalry review--The Duke deBerri--Back to Bruxelles--Unjust opinions about Napoleon and theFrench--Battle at Ligny--The day of Waterloo in Bruxelles--Visit to thebattlefield--Terrible condition of the wounded--Kindness of the Bruxellois. 

BRUXELLES, May 1, 1815. 

I proceed to the fulfilment of my promise, to give you from time to timethe details of my tour, and my reflections on the circumstances that occurat this momentous crisis. 

To me, who have spent the greatest part of my life out of Europe, the wholescene is so new that I am quite bewildered with it; and you will, I amafraid, as I write on the impulse of the moment, find my ideas at timesrather incoherently put together. What changes have taken place in Europewithin the last two years! and how great were those which occurred duringthe interval of my passage from Ceylon last year, which island I quittedabout the time that we received in that part of the world intelligence ofthe battle of Leipsic! Having had a long passage from distant Taprobane, itwas only on my arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, that I learned, to myutter astonishment, the news of the capitulation of Paris to the alliedpowers, and of the overthrow of the power and dynasty of Napoleon. Irecollect that at the Cape there was great rejoicing and jubilee on thisoccasion; but I confess, as to myself, I did not see any reason for givingvent to this extravagant joy; and I must have had even at that time somehowor other a presentiment of what would soon happen, as in communicating thisintelligence to a friend in India I made use of these words: "get a courtdress made, my good friend, and a big wig, ruffled shirt, and hair-powder, and stick an old-fashioned sword by your side, for, depend on it, oldfashions will come into play again; the most arbitrary and aristocraticnotions will be revived and terrible machinations will be framed againstthe liberties of Europe. "

Of course at the Cape we only heard one side of the question; and I beganto be almost convinced that it was as necessary for humanity, as for therepose of Europe, that the giant should be put down; and I was consoledwhen it was effected, ostensibly, at least, by the voice of the people. 

I had scarcely been three months in England, when the return of Napoleonfrom Elba, and the extraordinary dislocation of the Bourbons from thethrone of France, summoned Europe again to arms; the crusade is preached atVienna, and behold! his Grace of Wellington appointed the Godfrey of theholy league. I had reason, about six weeks before the news of this eventreached London, from some conversation I had with an intelligent friend, who had just returned from a tour on the Continent, to suppose that theslightest combination against the Bourbons would prove successful, fromtheir injudicious conduct and from the temper of the people; but I nevercould have supposed that the return of the man of Elba would be hailed withsuch unparalleled and unanimous acclamation. As I had long ago wished foran opportunity of visiting the continent of Europe, which had never beforeoccurred to me, I eagerly embraced the offer made to me by my friendMajor-General Wilson, formerly Lieut. -Governor of Ceylon, [1] to accompanyhim on a military tour through the country about to be the theatre of war. Though I had never before visited the Continent (except with the Britisharmy in the invasion of Holland in 1799, when I began my military career), yet I was not wholly unprepared for travelling, having united to aclassical, as well as military education, a tolerable knowledge of history, and a partial acquirement of the principal modern European languages, whichI had begun to learn when very young and which I kept up during my leisurehours in India, which, like those of Don Quixote, were many. I preferredthis study infinitely to that of the Asiatic languages, for which I neverfelt any taste, as I dislike bombast, hyperbole and exaggeration; andthough an ardent admirer of the Muses, I never could find pleasure in whatVoltaire terms "le bon style oriental, ou l'on fait danser les montagnes etles collines, " and I prefer the amatory effusions of Ovid to those of thegreat King Solomon himself. 

The war will no doubt commence in Belgium, and of course the EmperorNapoleon will be the assailant, for it cannot be supposed that after theact of ban passed against him by the Amphictyons of Vienna he will remaintranquil, and not strike the first blow, which may render him master ofBelgium and its resources. 

We embarked at Ramsgate on the first of May for Ostend on board of a smallvessel bound thither. Our fellow passengers were two officers of dragoons, several commissaries with their servants, horses, etc. After a passage oftwenty-four hours, we entered the harbour of Ostend at one o'clock thefollowing day. Ostend, once so flourishing and opulent, has long sincefallen into decay; its usual dullness is however just now interrupted bythe bustle of troops landing to join the allied army. Cavalry, infantry, artillery, horses, guns, stores, etc. , are landed every minute. The quaysare the only parts of this city which can boast of handsome buildings; thefortifications seem to be much out of repair; in fact, the aggrandizementof Antwerp occasioned necessarily the deterioration of Ostend. 

The General and myself went to put up at the _Tête d'Or_, the only innwhere we could procure beds; and we embarked early next morning at theembouchure of the canal on board of a _treckschuyt_ which conveyed us inthree hours to Bruges. 

The landscape between Ostend and Bruges is extremely monotonous, it being auniformly flat country; yet it is pleasing to the eye at this season of theyear from the verdure of the plains, which are all appropriated topasturage, and from the appearance of the different villages and towns, ofwhich the eye can embrace a considerable number. There is a good road onthe banks of the canal, and the troops, on their line of march, enlivenedmuch the scene. Bruges, formerly the grand mart and emporium of thecommerce of the East, not only for the Low Countries, but for all the Northof Europe, seems, if we may judge from the state of the buildings and thestillness that prevails, to be also in a state of decline. We however hadonly time to visit the _Hotel de Ville_ and to remark the immense height ofthe steeple on the _Grande Place_. We observed a number of pretty women inthe streets and in the shops employed in lace making. Bruges has been atall times renowned for the beauty of the female sex, and this brought to myrecollection a passage in Schiller's tragedy of the _Maid of Orleans_, wherein the Duke of Burgundy says that the greatest boast of Bruges is thebeauty of its women. 

Another _treckschuyt_ was to start at twelve o'clock for Ghent; but wepreferred going by land and General Wilson hired a carriage for thatpurpose. The distance is about thirty miles. The road from Bruges to Ghentor Gand is perfectly straight, lined with trees and paved like a street. The country is quite flat, and though there is nothing to bound thehorizon, the trees on each side of the road intercept the view. 

We arrived at Ghent about six in the afternoon of the 4th and had somedifficulty in finding room, as the different hotels were filled withofficers of the allied army; but at length, after many ineffectualapplications at several, we obtained admission at the _Hotel de Flandre_, where we took possession of a double-bedded room, the only one unoccupied. 

Gand seems to be a very neat, clean and handsome city, with an air ofmagnificence about it. The _Grande Place_ is very striking, and thepromenades are aligned with trees. We inspected the exterior of severalpublic buildings and visited the interior of several churches. In thecathedral we had the honour of seeing at High Mass his most ChristianMajesty, Monsieur and the Comte de Blacas, Vicomte de Chateaubriand andothers, composing the Court of _notre Père de Gand_, as Louis XVIII ishumorously termed by the French, from his having fixed his head-quartershere. A great many French officers who have followed his fortunes are alsohere, but they seem principally to belong to the Gardes du Corps. A numberof military attended the service in the cathedral in order to witness thedevotions of the Bourbon family. Monsieur has all the appearance of a wornout debauchee, and to see him with a missal in his hand and the strangecontrite face he assumes, is truly ridiculous. These princes, instigated nodoubt by the priests, make a great parade of their sanctity, for whichhowever those who are acquainted with their character will not give themmuch credit. But religious cant is the order of the day _intra et extraIliacos muros_, abroad as well as in England. The King of France takes thelead, having in view no doubt the advice of Buckingham to Richard III:

 A pray'r book in your hand, my Lord, were well, For on that ground I'll make an holy descant. 

and M. De Chateaubriand will no doubt trumpet forth the devotion andChristian humility of his master. Those, however, who are at all acquaintedwith this prince's habits, and are not interested in palliating orconcealing them, insinuate that his devotions at the table are more sincerethan at the altar and that, like the Giant Margutte in the MorganteMaggiore of Pulci, he places more faith and reliance on a cappone lessoossia arrosto than on the consecrated but less substantial wafer. [2]

After contemplating this edifying spectacle, we returned to our inn, andthe next morning after breakfast we set out on our journey to Bruxelles. The road is exactly similar to that between Bruges and Gand, but thecountry appears to be richer and more diversified, and many country houseswere observable on the road side. We passed thus several neat villages. Atone o'clock we stopped at Alost to refresh our horses and dine. At thetable d'hôte were a number of French officers belonging to the Gardes duCorps. On entering into conversation with one of them, I found that he aswell as several others of them had served under Napoleon, and had even beenpatronised and promoted by him; but I suppose that being the sons of theancient _noblesse_ they thought that gratitude to a _parvenu_ like him wasrather too plebeian a virtue. Some of them, however, with whom I conversedafter dinner seemed to regret the step they had taken. "If we aresuccessful, " said they, "it can only be by means of the Allied Armies, andwho knows what conditions they may impose on France? If we should beunsuccessful, we are exiled probably for life from our country. " Duringdinner, two pretty looking girls with musical instruments entered the hall, and regaled our ears with singing some romances, among which were _Dunoisle Troubadour_ and _La Sentinelle_. They sang with much taste and feeling. I surmise this is not the only profession they exercise, if I might judgefrom the _doux yeux_ they occasionally directed to some of the officers. These girls did not at least seem by their demeanour as if likely to incurthe anathema of Rinaldo in the _Orlando Furioso_:

 meritamente muoro Una crudele, but rather more disposed to

 dar vita all'amator fidele. [3]

Alost is a neat, clean town or large village, and the same description willserve for all the towns and villages in Brabant and Flanders, as they arebuilt on the same plan. We arrived at Bruxelles late in the evening and putup at the _Hotel d'Angleterre_. 

This morning, the General and myself went to pay our respects to the _GranCapitano_ of the _Holy League_, and we left our cards. He is, I hear, veryconfident of the result of the campaign, and no doubt he has for him theprayers of all the pious in England against those atheistical fellows theFrench; and these prayers will surely elicit a "host of angels" to comedown to aid in the destruction of the Pandemonium of Paris where Satan'slieutenant sits enthroned. The reflecting people here are astonished thatNapoleon does not begin the attack. The inhabitants of Belgium are ingeneral, from all that I can hear or see, not at all pleased with thepresent order of things, and they much lament the being severed fromFrance. The two people, the Belgians and Hollanders, do not seem toamalgamate; and the former, though they render ample justice to themoderation, good sense, and beneficent intentions of the present monarch, who is personally respected by every one, yet do not disguise their wish tobe reunited to France and do not hesitate to avow their attachment to theEmperor Napoleon. This union does not please the Hollanders either, onother grounds. They complain that their interests have been sacrificedentirely to those of the house of Orange, and they say that from thereadiness they displayed in shaking off the yoke of France, and the greatweight they thereby threw into the scale, they were entitled to therestitution of all their colonies in Asia, Africa, and America. Thecolonies of the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon are what they most regret; forthese colonies in particular furnished ample employment and the means ofprovision for the cadets of patrician families. If you tell them they haveacquired the Belgic provinces as an indemnification, they answer: "So muchthe worse for us, for now the patronage of the colonial offices must bedivided between us and the Belgians. "

The preparations for the grand conflict about to take place are carried onwith unabating activity; the conscription is rigorously enforced and everyyouth capable of bearing arms is enrolled. Almost all the officers of theBelgian army and a great proportion of the soldiery have served with theFrench and have been participators of their laurels; one cannot thereforesuppose that they are actuated by any very devouring zeal against theirformer commander; nor have I found amongst the shop-keepers or respectablepeople with whom I have conversed, and who have been falsely represented ashaving suffered much from the tyranny of Napoleon, any who dislike eitherhis person or government, and certainly none either high or low express thecannibal wish that I heard some English country gentlemen and Londonmerchants utter for the destruction of Paris and of the French people, norwould it be easy to find here men of the _humane_ and _generous_ sentimentsprofessed by some of our aldermen and contractors when they welcomed withferocious acclamations of joy and were ready to embrace the Baschkir orCossack who told them that he had slaughtered so many French with his ownhand; nor would the ladies here be so eager to kiss old Blucher as was thecase in London. 

This city is filled with British and Hanoverian troops. Their conduct isexemplary, nor is any complaint made against them. The Highland regimentsare however the favourites of the Bruxellois, and the inhabitants give themthe preference as lodgers. They are extremely well behaved (they say, whenspeaking of the Highlanders) and they cheerfully assist the differentfamilies on whom they are quartered in their household labour. Thisreflects a good deal of credit on the gallant sons of Caledonia. Theirsuperior morality to those of the same class either in England or inIreland must strike every observer, and must, in spite of all that the_Obscuranten_ or _Chevaliers de l'Eteignoir_ and others who wish to checkthe progress of the human mind may urge to the contrary, be mainlyattributed to the general prevalence of education _a la portée de tout lemonde_. Wherever the people are enlightened there is less crime; ignorancewas never yet the safeguard of virtue. As for myself I honour and esteemthe Scottish nation and I must say that I have found more liberal ideas andmore sound philosophy among individuals of that nation than among those ofany other, and it is a tribute I owe to them loudly to proclaim mysentiments; for though personal gratitude may seem to influence me a littleon this subject, yet I should never think of putting forth my opinion inpublic, were it not founded on an impartial observation of the character ofthis enterprising and persevering people. A woman who had some Highlandersquartered in her house told me in speaking of them: "Monsieur, ce sont desi bonnes gens; ils sont doux comme des agneaux. " "Ils n'en seront pasmoins des lions an jour du combat, " was my reply. 

I have amused myself with visiting most of the remarkable objects here, butyou must not expect from me a detail of what you will find in everydescription book. You wish to have my ideas on the subjects that moststrike me individually, and those you shall have; but it would be veryabsurd and presumptuous in me to attempt to give a _catalogue raisonné_ ofbuildings and pictures and statues, or to set up as a connoisseur when Iknow nothing either of sculpture, of architecture or painting; nor am Idesirous of imitating the young Englishman, who, in writing to his fatherfrom Italy, described so much in detail, and so scientifically, everyproduction, or staple, peculiar to the cities which he happened to visit, that he wrote like a cheese-monger from Parma, like a silk mercer fromLeghorn, like an olive and oil merchant from Lucca, like a picture dealerfrom Florence, and like an antiquarian from Rome. 

BRUXELLES, May 10. 

The _Hôtel d'Angleterre_ where we are lodged is within four minutes walkfrom the finest part of the city, where the Parc and Royal Palace issituated. The Parc is not large, but is tastefully laid out in the Dutchstyle, and is the fashionable promenade for the _beau monde_ of Bruxelles. The women, without being strikingly handsome, have much grace; their air, manner and dress are perfectly _à la francaise_. A good café and restaurantis in the centre of one of the sides, and the buildings on the quadrangleenvironing the Parc, which form the palace and other tenements are superb. The next place I went to see was the _Hôtel de Ville_ and its tower ofimmense height. It is a fine Gothic building, but that which should be thecentral entrance is not directly in the centre of the edifice, so that onewing of it appears considerably larger than the other, which gives it anawkward and irregular appearance. On the Place or Square as we should callit, where the _Hôtel de Ville_ stands, is held the fruit and vegetablemarket, and a finer one or more plentifully supplied I never beheld. This_Place_ is interesting to the historian as being the spot where CountsEgmont and Hoorn suffered decapitation in the reign of Philip II of Spain, by order of the Duke of Alva, who witnessed the execution from a window ofone of the houses. The conduct of these noblemen at the place of executionwas so dignified that even the ferocious duke could not avoid wiping hiseyes, hardened as his heart was by religious and political fanaticism; andthough he held them in abhorrence as rebels and traitors a tear did fallfor them down his iron cheek. How fortunate for the liberties of Hollandthat William the Taciturn did not also fall into the claws of that MolochPhilip! I next visited the museum and picture gallery, where I witnessedthe annual exposition of the modern school of painting. The specimens I sawpleased me much, particularly because the subjects were well chosen fromhistory and the mythology, which to me is far more agreeable than thesubjects of the paintings of the old Flemish school; but I am told oftenthat I know nothing about painting, so I shall make no further remarks butcontent myself with sending you a catalogue, with the pictures markedtherein which made most impression on me. With respect to the churches ofBrussels those of Ste. Gudule and of the Capuchins are the finest and mostremarkable. In the former is the Temptation of Adam by the Serpent, richlycarved in wood in figures as large as life grouped round the pulpit. [4]

The _Place du Sablon_ is very striking from the space it occupies, and onit is a fountain erected by Lord Bruce. [5] The fountains which are to bemet with in various parts of the city are highly ornamental, and among themI must not omit to mention a singularly grotesque one which is held ingreat veneration by the lower orders of the Bruxellois and is by themregarded as a sort of Palladium to the city. It is the figure of a littleboy who is at _peace_, according to the late Lord Melville's[6]pronunciation of the words, and who spouts out his water incessantly, reckless of decorum and putting modesty to the blush. What would ourvice-hunters say to this? He is a Sabbath breaker in the bargain andcontinues his occupation on Sundays as well as other days and _in fine_ herejoices in the name of _Mannekenpis_. 

The ramparts, or rather site of the ramparts (for the fortifications ofBruxelles no longer exist), form an agreeable promenade; but the favouriteresort of all the world at Bruxelles in the afternoon is the _Attee verte_. Here all classes meet; here the rich display their equipages and horses;and the lower orders assemble at the innumerable _guinguettes_ which are tobe met with here, in order to play at bowls, dominoes, smoke and drinkbeer, of which there is an excellent sort called _Bitterman. _ The avenueson each side of the carriage road are occupied by pedestrians, and on oneside of the road is the canal, covered at all times with barges and boatsdecked with flags and streamers. At the cabarets are benches and tables inthe open air under the trees; and here are to be seen the artisan, thebargeman and the peasant taking their afternoon _délassement_, and groupsof men, women and children drinking beer and smoking. These groups remindedme much of those one sees so often in the old Flemish pictures, with thisdifference, that the old costume of the people is almost entirely left off. Female minstrels with guitars stroll about singing French romances andcollecting contributions from this cheerful, laughter-loving people. Thedark walk, as it is called, near the park is a favourite walk of the upperclasses in the evening. There his Grace of Wellington is sometimes to beseen with a fair lady under his arm. He generally dresses in plain clothes, to the astonishment of all the foreign officers. He is said to be assuccessful in the fields of Idalia as in those of Bellona, and the ladieswhom he honours with his attentions suffer not a little in theirreputations in the opinion of the _compères_ and _commères_ of Bruxelles. 

I have only been twice to the theatre since I have been here. The _Salle deSpectacle_ is indifferent, but they have an excellent company of comedians. The representations are in French. I saw the _Festin de Pierre_ ofCorneille exceedingly well performed. The actors who did the parts of DonJuan and Sganarelle were excellent, and the scene with M. Dimanche, whereinhe demands payment of his bill, was admirably given. I have also seen the_Plaideurs_ of Racine, a very favourite piece of mine; every actor playedhis part most correctly, and the scene between the Comtesse de Pimbeche andChicaneau and L'Intimé wherein the latter, disguised as a _Bailli_, offershimself to be kicked by the former, was given in very superior style. Thescene of the trial of the dog, with the orations of Petit Jean as_demandeur_ and L'Intimé as _défenseur_, were played with good effect. Inever recollect having witnessed a theatrical piece which afforded megreater amusement. 

NAMUR, May 12. 

We left Brussels yesterday afternoon, and having obtained passports tovisit the military posts we went to Genappe, a small village half-waybetween Bruxelles and Namur, where we brought to for the night at a smallbut comfortable inn called _Le Roi d'Espagne_. Two battalions of theregiment Nassau-Usingen are quartered in Genappe. We arrived at Namur thismorning at nine o'clock and put up at the _Hôtel d'Arenberg_. On the roadwe stopped at a peasant's house to drink coffee; and we were entertained byour hostess with complaints against the Prussians, who commit, as she said, all sorts of exactions on the peasantry on whom they are quartered. Notcontent with exacting three meals a day, when they were only entitled totwo, and for which they are bound to give their rations, they sell these, and appropriate the money to their own use; then the demand for brandy and_schnapps_ is increasing. But what can be expected from an army whoseleader encourages them in all their excesses? Blucher by all accounts is avandal and is actuated by a most vindictive spirit. The Prussians reproachthe Belgians with being in the French interest; how can they expect it tobe otherwise? They have prospered under French domination, and certainlythe conduct of the Prussians is not calculated to inspire them with anylove towards themselves nor veneration for the Sovereign who has suchall-devouring allies. I asked this woman why she did not complain to theofficers. She answered! "Hélas, Monsieur, c'est inutile; on donne toujoursla même réponse: '_Nichts verstehn_, '" for it appears when these complaintsare made the Prussian officers pretend not to understand French. 

Namur is now the head-quarters of Marshal Blucher, who is in the enjoymentof divers _noms de guerre_, such as "Marshall Vorwärts, " "Der alte Teufel. "On the high road, about two miles and a half before we reached Namur, wemet with a party of Prussian lancers, who were returning from a foragingexcursion. They were singing some warlike song or hymn, which wassingularly impressive. It brought to my recollection the description of theRhenish bands in the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_:

 Who as they move, in rugged verse Songs of Teutonic feuds rehearse. 

The Prussian cavalry seem to be composed of fine-looking young men, and Iadmire the genuine military simplicity of their dress, to which might bemost aptly applied the words of Xenophon when describing the costume of theyounger Cyrus: [Greek: _En tae Persikae stolae ouden ti hubrsmenae_][7] insubstituting merely the word [Greek: _Prussikae_] for [Greek: _Persikae_]. One sees in it none of those absurd ornaments and meretricious fopperywhich give to our cavalry officers the appearance of Astley's men. [8]

The situation of Namur is exceedingly picturesque, particularly when viewedfrom the heights which tower above the town, whereon stood the citadelwhich was demolished by order of Joseph II, as were the fortifications ofall the frontier fortresses. The present Belgian Government however mean toreconstruct them, and Namur in particular, the citadel of which, from thenatural strength of its position, is too important a post to be neglected. The town itself is situated on the confluent of the Sambre and Meuse andlies in a valley completely commanded and protected by the citadel. Thechurches are splendid, and there is an appearance of opulence in the shops. The inhabitants, from its being a frontier town, are of course much alarmedat the approaching contest, for they will probably suffer from bothparties. We heard at the inn and in the shops which we visited the samecomplaints against the Prussians. The country in the environs of this placeis exceedingly diversified, and it presents the first mountain scenery wehave yet met with. The banks of the Meuse hereabouts present either anabrupt precipice or coteaux covered with vines gently sloping to thewater's edge. Namur is distant thirty-four miles from Brussels, and thereis water conveyance on the Meuse from here to Liége and Maastricht. 

MONS, May 14. 

We started yesterday morning at four o'clock from Namur. The whole roadbetween Namur and Mons presents a fine, rich open country abounding inwheat, but not many trees. We stopped to breakfast at Fleurus, at an innwhere there were some Prussian officers. One of them, a lieutenant in the2nd West Prussian Regiment, had the kindness to conduct us to see the fieldof battle where the French under Jourdan defeated the Austrians in 1794. Itis at a very short distance from the town; he explained the position of thetwo armies in a manner perfectly clear and satisfactory to us. The Prussianofficers all seem very eager for the commencement of hostilities, and theironly fear is now that all these mighty preparations will end in nothing;viz. , either that the French people, alarmed at the magnitude of thepreparations against them, will compel the Emperor Napoleon to abdicate, orthat the Allies will grow cool and, under the influence of Austria, bringabout a negotiation which may end in a recognition of the Imperial titleand dynasty. They would compound for a defeat at first, provided the warwere likely to be prolonged. In the meantime, reinforcements continue toarrive daily for their army. We hear but little news of the intentions ormovements of the other Allies; it being forbidden to enter into politicaldiscussions, it is difficult to ascertain the true state of affairs. 

We continued our journey through Charleroy and Binch to this place. At asmall village between Binch and Mons we were stopped by a sentinel at aPrussian outpost and our passports demanded. Neither the sentinel, however, nor the sergeant, nor any of the soldiers present, could read or understandFrench, in which language the passport was drawn up; but the sergeant toldme that the officers were in a house about a quarter of a mile distant andthat he would conduct me thither, but that he himself could not presume tolet us pass, from not knowing the tenor of our passport. I went accordinglywith the sergeant to this house, There I found the officer commanding thepiquet and several others sitting at table, carousing with beer and tobaccoand nearly invisible from the clouds of smoke which pervaded the room. Iexplained to the officer who we were and requested him to put on thepassport his _visa_ in the German language, so that the non-commissionedofficers at the various posts through which we might pass would be able tounderstand it and let us pass without hindrance. This he did accordinglyand we proceeded on our journey. 

We arrived here in the evening and put up at the _Hôtel Royal_. We found atCharleroy, Binch and here, a number of people employed in repairing andreconstructing the fortifications. Men, women and boys are all put inrequisition to accelerate this object, as it is the intention of theBelgian Government to put all the frontier fortresses in the most completestate of defence. On ascending one of the steeples this morning we had afine view of the surrounding country and of the height of Genappe, whichare close to Mons and memorable for the brilliant victory gained byDumouriez over the Austrians in 1792. The landscape presents an undulatingcampaign country, gentle slopes and alternate plains covered with corn, asfar as the eye can reach, and interspersed with villages and farmhouses. InMons is a very large splendid shop or warehouse of millinery, perfumery, jewellery, etc. It is called _La Toilette de Vénus_, and is served by avery pretty girl, who, I have no doubt from her simpering look and eloquenteyes, would have no objection to be a sedulous priestess at the altar ofthe Goddess of Amathus. A battalion of Hollanders--a very fine body ofmen--marched into this place yesterday evening; the rest of the garrison iscomposed of Belgians, chiefly conscripts. 

LEUZE, May 15. 

Yesterday morning we left Mons and proceeded to Ath to breakfast. Amultitude of people were employed there also at the fortifications. Thegarrison of Ath is composed of Hanoverians. Ath reminded me of the wars ofKing William III and my Uncle Toby's sieges. [9] There was so littleremarkable to be seen at Ath that we proceeded to this place shortly afterbreakfast and arrived at one o'clock, it being only ten miles distancebetween Ath and Leuze. We took up our quarters with Major-General Adam, whocommands the Light Brigade of General Sir H. Clinton's division. Thisbrigade is quartered here and in the adjacent farmhouses. General Adam, though he has attained his rank at a very early age, is far more fitted forit than many of our older generals, some of whom (I speak from experience)have few ideas beyond the fixing of a button or lappel, or polishing abelt, and who place the whole _Ars recondita_ of military discipline inpipe-clay, heel-ball and the goose step. Fortunately for this army, theDuke of Wellington has too much good sense to be a martinet and the goodold times are gone by, thank God, when a soldier used to be sentenced totwo or three hundred lashes for having a dirty belt or being without a_queue_. To the Duke of York also is humanity much indebted for hisendeavours to check the frequency of corporal punishment. The Duke of York, with all his zeal for the service, never loses sight of the comfort of thesoldier and is indefatigable in his exertions to ameliorate his conditions. We had a pleasant dinner party at General Adam's, and at night I went tosleep at the house occupied by Captain C. , one of the aides-de-camp of theGeneral, [10] an active, intelligent officer who had formerly served in themarines, which service he had quitted in order to enter the regular army. 

May 16. 

Yesterday morning we paid a visit to Tournay, which is distant from Leuzeabout ten miles, and we breakfasted at the _Signe d'Or_. We then proceededto pay our respects to the Commandant General V. [11] The garrison consistsof Belgians. General V. Had been some time in England as a prisoner of war. He was made prisoner, I think he said, at Batavia. He received us verypolitely, and not only gave us permission to visit the works of thecitadel, but sent a sergeant to accompany us. The new citadel is buildingon the site of the old one, and, like it, is to be a regular pentagon. Thefortifications of the city itself are not to be reconstructed; these of thecitadel, which will be very strong, rendering them superfluous. Thesergeant was a native of Würtemberg and had served in the army of his owncountry and in that of France in most of the campaigns under Napoleon. Hewas a fine old veteran, and very intelligent, for he explained to us thenature of the works with great perspicuity. With true Suabian dignity herefused a five franc piece which I offered him as a slight remuneration forthe trouble he had taken, and as he seemed, I thought, rather offended atthe offer, I felt myself bound to apologize. From the number of workmenemployed in repairing the citadel, it will not be long before it is placedin a respectable state of defence. Tournay is a large handsome city and thespacious quais on the banks of the Scheld which runs through it add much tothe neatness of its appearance. It is only ten miles distant from Lille, but all communication from France is stopped. We learned that some of theHanoverians had been deserting. In return we met with a young French hussarwho had come over to the Allies. He seemed to be an impudent sort offellow, and said, with the utmost _sang-froid_, that the reason he desertedwas that he had not been made an officer as he was promised, and he hopedthat Louis XVIII would be more sensible of his merits than the EmperorNapoleon. We returned to Leuze to dinner in the afternoon. This morning wewent to assist at a review of General Clinton's division, on a plain called_Le Paturage_, about seven miles distant from Leuze. The Light Brigade andthe Hanoverian Brigades form this division. The manoeuvres were performedwith tolerable precision, but they were chiefly confined to advancing inline, retiring by alternate companies covered by light infantry and changeof position on one of the flanks by _échelon_. The British troops wereperfect; the Hanoverians not so, they being for the most part new levies. In one of the _échelon_ movements, when the line was to be formed on theleft company of the left battalion, a Hanoverian battalion, instead ofpreserving its parallelism, was making a terrible diversion to its right, when a thundering voice from the commander of the brigade to the commandantof the battalion: "_Mein Gott, Herr Major, wo gehn Sie hin?_" roused himfrom his reverie; when he must have perceived, had he wheeled up into line, the fearful interval he had left between his own and the next battalion onthe left. 

After the review had finished we repaired to the château of the Prince deLigne, then occupied by Lieut. -General Sir H. Clinton, to partake of abreakfast given by him and his lady. On the breaking up of the breakfastparty, General Wilson and myself remained at the château to dine withGeneral Adam _al fresco_ in the garden under the trees. The palace andgarden of the Prince de Ligne are both very magnificent. The latter is ofgreat extent, but too regular, too much in the Dutch taste to please me. Little or no furniture is in the palace; but there are some family picturesand a theatre fitted up in one of the halls for the purpose of privatetheatricals. In the garden is a monument erected by the late Prince deLigne to one of his sons, Charles by name, who was killed in the Russianservice at the siege of Ismail. The present prince is a minor and residesat Bruxelles. 

GRAMMONT, May 18. 

We left Leuze yesterday afternoon and arrived here at seven in the eveningin order to be present at the cavalry review the next morning. We partookof an elegant supper given to us by our friend, Major Grant of the 18thHussars, and we were much entertained and enlivened by the effusions of hisbrilliant genius and inexhaustible wit. The whole cavalry of the Britisharmy passed in review this morning before the Duke of Wellington, who wasthere with all his staff and received the salutes of all the corps likeGodfrey, _con volto placido e composto_. It was a very brilliant spectacle. The Duke de Berri was present. I think I never beheld so ignoble anddisagreeable a countenance as this prince possesses. I thought to myselfthat he had much better have stayed away from this review; for he must beinsensible to all patriotism who could take pleasure in contemplating aforeign force about to enter and ravage his own country. We learn that theDuchess d'Angoulême is to have a review of the _fidèles_ very shortly. Sheis certainly much more warlike than the males of that family; thisdisposition is increased by her religious fanaticism. This renders her, ofcourse, a most dangerous person to meddle with politics; but greatallowances must be made for her feelings, which must naturally beembittered by the recollection of so much suffering during the Revolutionand of the barbarous and inhuman treatment experienced by her father andmother. 

I observed a peculiarity in this part of the country, viz. , that there arevillages lying close to each other in some of which French is spoken, inothers Flemish; and that, with some few exceptions, the inhabitants ofneighbouring villages are reciprocally unintelligible. General Wilson doesnot intend to return to Bruxelles. I shall accompany him as far as Gand andthen return to Bruxelles to await the issue of the contest. 

BRUXELLES, June 11. 

I took leave of General Wilson at Gand on the 22nd of last month andimmediately returned here, where I have been ever since. I have shifted myquarters to a less expensive hotel and am now lodged at the _Hôtel de laPaix_. We get an excellent dinner at the table d'hôte for one and a halffrancs, wine not included; this is paid for extra, and is generally at theprice of three francs per bottle. This hotel is very neatly fitted up andis very near the _Hôtel de Ville_. At the table d'hôte I frequently meetPrussian officers who on coming in to visit Bruxelles put up here. We havejust learned the proceedings of the _Champ de Mai_ at Paris, by which itappears that Napoleon is solemnly recognized and confirmed as Emperor ofthe French. This intelligence sent a young Prussian officer, who sat nextto me, in a transport of joy, for this makes the war certain. The Prussiansseem determined to revenge themselves for the humiliation they sufferedfrom the French during the time they occupied their country, and Isincerely pity by anticipation the fate of the French peasants upon whomthese gentlemen may chance to be quartered. Terrible will be the firstshock of battle, and it may be daily expected, and dreadful will be theconsequences to the poor inhabitants of the seat of war. Cannot this war beavoided? I am not politician enough to foresee the consequences of allowingNapoleon to keep quiet and undisturbed possession of the throne of France;but the consequences of a defeat on the part of the Allies will be the lossof Belgium and the probable annihilation of the British army; certainly thedissolution of the coalition, for the minor German powers, and very likelyAustria also, would be induced to make a separate peace. We can clearly seethat Napoleon has not now the power he formerly possessed and that theRepublican party, into whose hands he has thrown himself, seem disposed notonly to remain at peace, but to shackle him in every possible manner. It isevident, too, that his last success was owing to the dislike of the peopleto the Bourbons from their injudicious and treacherous conduct; and thethreats and impossible language held by the priests and emigrants towardsthe holders of property paved the way for the success of his enterprise andenabled him to achieve a triumph unparalleled in history. 

On the contrary, by forcing him to go to war, should he gain the firstvictory, Belgium will be re-united to France, all the resources of thatcountry brought into the scale against the Allies; Napoleon will be morepopular than ever, the Republican party will be put to silence, theenthusiasm of the army will rise beyond all restraint, and, in a word, Napoleon will be himself again. The other Allies can do little without theassistance of England, and our finances are by no means in a state to bearsuch intolerable drains. 

As to the Prussians, on minute enquiry I do not find that they were soill-treated by the French as is generally believed, and that, except theburden of having troops quartered on them (no small annoyance, I allow), they had not much reason to complain. The quartering of the troops on themand the payment of the war contributions was the necessary consequence ofthe occupation of their country by an enemy; but I have just been reading aGerman work, written by a native of Berlin, shortly after the entry of theFrench troops in that city after the battle of Jena in 1806. This work isentitled _Vertraute Briefe aus Berlin_, and in it the author distinctlydeclares that the discipline observed by the French troops during theoccupation of Berlin was highly strict and praiseworthy, and that the fewexcesses that took place were committed by the troops of the RhenishConfederation; and he adds that the inhabitants preferred having a Frenchsoldier quartered on them to a Westphalian, Bavarian or Würtembergher. Further, the troops that behaved with the greatest oppression and insolencetowards the burghers were those belonging to a corps composed of nativePrussians, raised for the service of Napoleon by the Prince ofIsenburg. [12] In his recruiting address the prince invites the Prussianyouth to enter into the service of the invincible Napoleon, and tells himthat to the soldier of Napoleon everything is permitted. The regiment wassoon fitted up and the soldiers began to put in practice in good earnestthe theory of the _affiche_. They committed excesses of all sorts; and oneofficer in particular behaved so brutally and infamously to a poor tailoron whom he was quartered, and to whom, before he entered the Frenchservice, he was under the greatest obligations, that General Hulin, thecommandant of the place at Berlin during the French occupation, was obligedto cashier him publicly on the parade and to cause his epaulettes to betorn from his coat in order to mark the disgust and indignation that he andall the French officers felt at the base ingratitude of this man. 

This work, "Vertraute Briefe" (confidential letters), contains much curiousmatter and very interesting anecdotes respecting the corruption, venalityand depravation that prevailed in the Prussian Court and army previous tothe war in 1806. Let this suffice to show that the Prussians have not somuch reason to complain against the French as they pretend to have;besides, the conduct of the Prussian Government itself was so vacillatingand contradictory that they had themselves only to blame for what theysuffered. They should have supported Austria in 1805. But the fact is thatthe vanity and the _amour propre_ of the Prussian military were so hurt atthe humiliation they experienced at and after the battle of Jena that itwas this that has embittered them so much against the French. 

Let it not, however, be supposed for a moment that I seek to excuse orpalliate the conduct of Napoleon towards Prussia. I have always thought itnot only unjust but impolitic. Impolitic, because Prussia was, and oughtalways to be, the obvious and natural ally of France, and Napoleon, insteadof endeavouring to crush that power, should have aggrandized her and madeher the paramount power in Germany. It was in fact his obvious policy tocede Hanover in perpetuity to Prussia, and have rendered thereby the breachbetween the Houses of Brandenburgh and Hanover irreparable andirreconcilable. This would have thrown Prussia necessarily into the armsof France, in whose system she must then have moved, and all Britishinfluence on the Continent would have been effectually put an end to. Another prime fault of Napoleon was that he did not crush and dismemberAustria in 1809 as he had it in his power to do; and by so doing he wouldhave merited and obtained the thanks and good will of all Germany forhaving overturned so despotic and light-fearing a Government. But he haspaid dearly for these errors. Instead of destroying a despotic power(Austria), he chose rather to crush an enlightened and liberal nation, forsuch I esteem the Prussian nation, and I always separate the Prussianpeople from their Government. The latter fell, and fell unpitied, after onebattle; but it has been almost miraculously restored by the unparalleledexertions and energies of the burghers and people. May this be a lesson tothe Government! and may the King of Prussia not prove ungrateful!

Troops continue to arrive here daily, and now that the ceremony of the_Champ de Mai_ is over, we may expect that Napoleon will repair to his armyand commence operations. 

June 17. 

Napoleon arrived at Maubeuge on the 18th and the grand conflict has begun. The Prussians were attacked on the 14th and 15th at Ligny and driven fromtheir position. [13] They are said to have suffered immense loss and to beretreating with the utmost confusion. Our turn comes next. The thunder ofthe cannon was heard here distinctly the most part of yesterday and somepart of our army must have been engaged. Our troops have all marched out ofBruxelles in the direction of the frontier. In the affair with thePrussians we learn that the Duke of Brunswick was killed and that Bluchernarrowly escaped being made prisoner. 

June 18. 

The grand conflict has begun with us. It is now four o'clock p. M. The issueis not known. The roar of the cannon continues unabated. All is bustle, confusion and uncertainty in this city. Cars with wounded are coming incontinually. The general opinion is that our army will be compelled toretreat to Antwerp, and it is even expected that the French will be inBruxelles to-night. All the towns-people are on the ramparts listening tothe sound of the cannon. This city has been in the greatest alarm andagitation since the 16th, when a violent cannonade was heard during theafternoon. From what I have been able to collect, the French attacked thePrussians on the 14th, and a desperate conflict took place on that day, andthe whole of the 15th, [14] when the whole of the Prussian army at Ligny, Fleurus and Charleroy was totally defeated and driven from its position; adislocation of our troops took place early in the morning of the 16th, andour advanced guard, consisting of the Highland Brigade and two Battalionsof Nassau-Usingen, fell in with the advanced guard of the French Armycommanded by Marshal Ney near Quatre-Bras, and made such a gallant defenceagainst his corps d'armée as to keep it in check the whole day and enableitself to fall back in good order to its present position with the rest ofthe army, about ten miles in front of Bruxelles. Indeed, I am informed thatnothing could exceed the admirable conduct of the corps above mentioned. Yesterday we heard no cannonade, but this afternoon it has been unceasingand still continues. All the caricatures and satires against Napoleon havedisappeared from the windows and stalls. The shops are all shut, theEnglish families flying to Antwerp; and the proclamation of the Baron deCapellen[15] to the inhabitants, wherein he exhorts them to be tranquil andassures them that the Bureaux of Government have not yet quitted Bruxelles, only serves to increase the confusion and consternation. The inhabitants ingeneral wish well to the arms of Napoleon, but they know that the retreatof the English Army must necessarily take place through their town; thatour troops will perhaps endeavour to make a stand, and that theconsequences will be terrible to the inhabitants, from the houses beingliable to be burned or pillaged by friend or foe. All the baggage of ourArmy and all the military Bureaux have received orders to repair and arenow on their march to Antwerp, and the road thither is so covered andblocked up by waggons that the retreat of our Army will be much impededthereby. Probably my next letter may be dated from a French prison. 

BRUXELLES, June 21. 

Judge, my friend, of my astonishment and that of almost everybody in thiscity, at the news which was circulated here early on the morning of the19th, and has been daily confirmed, viz. , that the French Army had beencompletely defeated and was in full flight, leaving behind it 220 pieces ofcannon and all its baggage, waggons and _munitions de guerre_. I have notbeen able to collect all the particulars, but you will no doubt hear enoughof it, for I am sure it will be _said_ or _sung_ by all the partisans ofthe British ministry and all the Tories of the United Kingdom for monthsand years to come; for further details, therefore, I shall refer you to theGazette. The following, however, you may consider as a tolerably fairprécis of what took place. The attack began on the 18th about teno'clock[16] and raged furiously along the whole line, but principally atHougoumont, a large _Métairie_ on the right of our position, which wasoccupied by our troops, and from which all the efforts of the enemy couldnot dislodge them. The slaughter was terrible in this quarter. From twelveo'clock till evening several desperate charges of cavalry and infantry weremade on the rest of our line. Both sides fought with the utmost courage andobstinacy, and were prodigal of life in the extreme. But it is generallysupposed that our army must have succumbed towards the evening had it notbeen for the arrival of Bulow's division of Prussians, followed closely byBlucher and the rest of the army, which had rallied with uncommon celerity. These moved on the right flank of the French, and decided the fortune ofthe day by a charge which was seconded by a general charge from the wholeof the English line on the centre and left of the French. Seeing themselvesthus turned, a panic, it is said, spread among the young Guard of theFrench army, and a cry of "_Sauve qui peut! nous sommes trahis!_" spreadlike wildfire. The flight became universal; the old Guard alone remained, refused quarter and perished like Leonidas and his Spartans. The Prussiancavalry being fresh pursued the enemy all night, _l'épée dans les reins_, and it may be conceived from their previous disposition that they would notbe very merciful to the vanquished. Indeed, on the 15th, it is said thatthe French were not very merciful to them. It was like the combat ofAchilles and Hector. 

 No thought but rage and never ceasing strife Till death extinguish rage and thought and life. 

France will now call out to Napoleon as Augustus did to Varus, "Give meback my legions!" The loss on both sides was very great, but it must havebeen prodigious on the side of the French. The whole Allied Army is in fullpursuit. Several friends and acquaintances of mine perished in this battle, viz. , Lieut. -General Sir T. Picton, Colonel Sir H. Ellis and ColonelMorice. 

June 22. 

This morning I went to visit the field of battle, which is a little beyondthe village of Waterloo, on the plateau of Mont St Jean; but on arrivalthere the sight was too horrible to behold. I felt sick in the stomach andwas obliged to return. The multitude of carcases, the heaps of wounded menwith mangled limbs unable to move, and perishing from not having theirwounds dressed or from hunger, as the Allies were, of course, obliged totake their surgeons and waggons with them, formed a spectacle I shall neverforget. The wounded, both of the Allies and the French, remain in anequally deplorable state. 

At Hougoumont, where there is an orchard, every tree is pierced withbullets. The barns are all burned down, and in the court-yard it is saidthey have been obliged to burn upwards of a thousand carcases, an awfulholocaust to the War-Demon. 

As nothing is more distressing than the sight of human misery when we areunable to silence it, I returned as speedily as possible to Bruxelles withCowper's lines in my head:

 War is a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings should not play at. 

I hope this battle will, at any rate, lead to a speedy peace. 

June 28. 

We have no other news from the Allied Army, except that they are movingforward with all possible celerity in the direction of Paris. You may forma guess of the slaughter and of the misery that the wounded must havesuffered, and the many that must have perished from hunger and thirst, whenI tell you that all the carriages in Bruxelles, even elegant privateequipages, landaulets, barouches and berlines, have been put in requisitionto remove the wounded men from the field of battle to the hospitals, andthat they are yet far from being all brought in. The medical practitionersof the city have been put in requisition, and are ordered to makedomiciliary visits at every house (for each habitation has three or foursoldiers in it) in order to dress the wounds of the patients. TheBruxellois, the women in particular, have testified the utmost humanitytowards the poor sufferers. It was suggested by some humane person thatthey who went to see the field of battle from motives of curiosity would dowell to take with them bread, wine and other refreshments to distributeamong the wounded, and most people did so. For my part I shall not go asecond time. Napoleon, it is said, narrowly escaped being taken. Hiscarriage fell into the hands of the Allies, and was escorted in triumphinto Bruxelles by a detachment of dragoons. So confident was Napoleon ofsuccess that printed proclamations were found in the carriage dated from"Our Imperial Palace at Laecken, " announcing his victory and the liberationof Belgium from the insatiable coalition, and wherein he calls on theBelgians to re-unite with their old companions in arms in order to reap thefruits of their victory. This was certainly rather premature, and remindsme of an anecdote of a Spanish officer at the siege of Gibraltar, relatedby Drinkwater in his narrative of that siege. [17] When the British garrisonmade a sortie, they carried the advanced Spanish lines and destroyed alltheir preparations; the Spanish officer on guard at the outermost post waskilled, but on the table of his guard room was found his guard reportfilled up and signed, stating that "nothing extraordinary had happenedsince guard-mounting. "

Mr L. Of Northumberland, having proposed to me to make a tour with him toAix-la-Chapelle and the banks of the Rhine, I shall start with him in a dayor two. 

[1] Sir Wiltshire Wilson (1762-1842), Commander of the Royal Artillery in Ceylon, 1810-1815. --Ed. 

[2] Pulci, _Morgante_, canto XVIII, ottava 114-115. The Giant Morgante meets the villain Margutte and asks him if he be a Christian or a Saracen. Margutte answers that he cares not, but only believes in boiled or in roasted capon:

 Rispose allor Margutte: A dirtel tosto Io non credo pio al nero ch'all' azzurro. Ma nel cappone, o lesso, o vuogll arrosto. .. . 

[3] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, iv, 63, f. --ED. 

[4] A work of H, Verbruggen of Antwerp (1677). --ED. 

[5] Lord Bruce, Earl of Ailesbury, caused this fountain to be erected in 1751, as a token of gratitude to the town of Bruxelles where he had lived in exile. --E. D. 

[6] Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville (1741-1811), elevated to the peerage in 1802. --ED. 

[7] Xenophon, _Education of Cyrus_, II, 4, 4. --ED. 

[8] Astley's Amphitheatre, near Westminster Bridge. --ED. 

[9] Uncle Toby, in Laurence Sterne's _Tristram Shandy_. --ED. 

[10] Lieutenant R. P. Campbell, aide-de-camp to Major-General Adam. --ED. 

[11] In May, 1815, the officer commanding-in-chief at Tournai was General-Major A. C. Van Diermen. --ED. 

[12] Karl Friedrich Ludwig Moritz, Fürst zu Ysenburg-Bierstein (1766-1820), took service with Austria (1784), with Prussia (1804), and later with Napoleon (1806), who commissioned him as brigadier-general. The shameless conduct of this officer is exposed by B. Poten, _Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie_, vol. XLIV, p. 611. --ED. 

[13] The battle at Ligny was fought on June 16. --ED. 

[14] The facts and dates here given are of course inaccurate; but this proves that Major Frye wrote his text in the very midst of the crisis, and that his manuscript has not been tampered with. --ED. 

[15] Baron van Capellen, a Dutch statesman, was governor-general of the Belgian provinces, residing at Bruxelles. He was afterwards governor-general of Dutch India. Born in 1778, he died in 1848. His memoirs have been published in French by Baron Sirtema de Grovestins (1852), and contain an interesting passage on that momentous day, 18th June, 1815. --ED. 

[16] Not before half past eleven. --ED. 

[17] John Drinkwater, also called Bethune (1762-1844), published a well-known _History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783_. --ED. 

CHAPTER II

From Bruxelles to Liége--A priest's declamation against the FrenchRevolution--Maastricht--Aix-la-Chapelle--Imperial relics--Napoleonregretted--Klingmann's "Faust"--A Tyrolese beauty--Cologne--Difficultiesabout a passport--The Cathedral--King-craft and priest-craft--TheRhine--Bonn and Godesberg--Goethe's "Götz von Berlichingen"--The SevenMountains--German women--Andernach--Ehrenbreitstein--German hatred againstFrance--Coblentz--Intrigues of the Bourbon princes in Coblentz--Mayence--Bieberich--Conduct of the Allies towards Napoleon--Frankfort on theMayn--An anecdote about Lord Stewart and Lafayette--German poetry--Thequestion of Alsace and Lorraine--Return to Bruxelles--Napoleon's surrender. 

LIÉGE, June 26. 

Mr L. And myself started together in the diligence from Bruxelles at seveno'clock in the evening of the 24th inst. And arrived here yesterday morningat twelve o'clock. I experienced considerable difficulty in procuring apassport to quit Bruxelles, my name having been included in that of GeneralWilson, which he carried back with him to England. Our Ambassador wasabsent, and I was bandied about from bureau to bureau without success; sothat I began at last to think that I should be necessitated to remain atBruxelles all my life, when fortunately it occurred to Mr L. That he wasintimately acquainted with the English Consul, and he kindly undertook toprocure me one and succeeded. On arrival here we put up at the _Pommeletted'Or_. The price of a place in the diligence from Bruxelles to Liége isfifteen franks. We passed thro' Louvain, but too late to see anything. Thecountry about Liége is extremely striking and picturesque; the river Meuseflows thro' the city, and the banks of the river outside the town are very_riants_ and agreeable. Liége is a large, well-built city, but rathergloomy as to its appearance, and lies in a hollow completely surrounded bylofty hills. The remains of its ancient citadel stand on a height whichcompletely commands the city; on another height stands a monastery, amagnificent building. There are a great many coal-pits in the vicinity ofLiége, and a great commerce of coals is carried on between this city andHolland by the _treckschuyte_ on the Meuse. We visited the ancientEpiscopal palace and the Churches. The Palace is completely dismantled. This city suffered much during the revolt of the Belgian provinces againstthe Emperor Joseph II, and having distinguished itself by the obstinacy ofits defence, it was treated with great rigour by the Austrian Government. The fortifications were blown up, and nothing now remains on the site ofthe old citadel but a large barrack. I remained two whole hours on thisheight to contemplate the beauties of the expanse below. The banks of theriver, which meanders much in these parts, and the numerous _maisons decampagne_ with the public promenades and allées lined with trees, exhilarate the scene of the environs, for the city itself is dull enough. Several pretty villas are situated also on the heights, and were I to dwellhere I should choose one of them and seldom descend into the valley andcity below, Where narrow cares and strife and envy dwell. 

Liége, however sombre in its appearance, is a place of much opulence andcommerce. A Belgian garrison does duty here. At the inn, after dinner, Ifell into conversation with a Belgian priest, and as I was dressed in blackhe fancied I was one of the cloth, and he asked me if I were a Belgian, forthat I spoke French with a Belgian accent; "Apparemment Monsieur estecclésiastique?--Monsieur, je suis né Anglais et protestant. " He then beganto talk about and declaim against the French Revolution, for that is thedoctrine now constantly dinned into the ears of all those who take orders;and he concluded by saying that things would never go on well in Europeuntil they restored to God the things they had taken from Him. I told himthat I differed from him very much, for that the sale of the Church domainsand of the lands and funds belonging to the suppressed ecclesiasticalestablishments had contributed much to the improvement of agriculture andto the comfort of the peasantry, whose situation was thereby muchameliorated; and that they were now in a state of affluence compared withwhat they were before the French Revolution. I added: "Enfin, Monsieur, Dieu n'a pas besoin des choses terrestres. " On my saying this he did notchuse to continue the conversation, but calling for a bottle of wine drankit all himself with the zest of a Tartuffe. I believe that he was surprisedto find that an Englishman should not coincide with his sentiments, for Iobserve all the adherents of the ancient régime of feudality andsuperstition have an idea that we are anxious for the re-establishment ofall those abuses as they themselves are, and it must be confessed that theconduct of our Government has been such as to authorize them fully informing such conjectures, and that we shall be their staunch auxiliaries inendeavouring to arrest and retrograde the progress of the human mind. Infact, I soon perceived that my friend was not overloaded with wit and thathe was one of those priests so well described by Metastasio:

 Il di cui sapere Sta nel nostro ignorar. .. . 

MAASTRICHT, 27th June. 

This morning, after a promenade on the banks of the Meuse--for I am fond ofrivers and woods (_flumina amo silvasque inglorius_)--we embarked on a_treckschuyt_ and arrived here after a passage of four hours. The sceneryon the banks of the Meuse all the way from Liége to Maastricht is highlydiversified and extremely romantic; but here at Maastricht this ceases andthe dull uniformity of the Dutch landscape begins. When on the ramparts ofthe city to the North and West an immense plain as far as the eye can reachpresents itself to view; a few trees and sandhills form the only relief tothe picture. The town itself is neat, clean and dull, like all Dutch towns. The fortifications are strong and well worth inspection. The mostremarkable thing in the neighbourhood of Maastricht is the Montagne de StPierre, which from having been much excavated for the purpose of procuringstone, forms a labyrinth of a most intricate nature. I advise everytraveller to visit it, and if he has a classical imagination he may fancyhimself in the labyrinth of Crete. 

AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, 29th June. 

We started in the morning of the 28th from Maastricht in the diligence forAix-la-Chapelle and arrived here at twelve o'clock, putting up at VanGülpen's Hotel, _Zum Pfälzischen Hofe_ (à la Cour palatine), which Irecommend as an excellent inn and the hosts as very good people. The priceof our journey from Liége to Maastricht in the water-diligence was 2-1/2franks, and from Maastricht to Aix-la-Chapelle by land was 7 franks theperson. The road from Maastricht to this place is not very good, but thecountry at a short distance from Maastricht becomes picturesque, muchdiversified by hill and dale and well wooded. As the Meuse forms theboundary between the Belgic and Prussian territory, we enter the lattersooner after leaving Maastricht. I find my friend L. A most agreeabletravelling companion; travelling seems to be his passion, as it is mine;and fortune has so far favoured me in this particular, that my professionalduties and private affairs have led me to visit the four quarters of theglobe. After dinner, on the first day of our arrival here, we went to visitthe _Hôtel de Ville_, before which stands on a pedestal in a bason anancient bronze statue of Charlemagne. It has nothing to recommend it butits antiquity. The _Hôtel de Ville_ is similar to other Gothic buildingsused for the same purpose. In the great hall thereof there is a largepicture representing the ambassadors of all the powers who assisted at thesigning of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1742; and a full lengthportrait of the present King of Prussia, as master of the city, occupiesthe place where once stood that of Napoleon, its late lord. We next went tosee the Cathedral and sat down on the throne on which the German Caesarsused to be crowned. We viewed likewise the various costly articles ofplate, the gifts of pious princes. The most remarkable things among themare several superb dresses of gold and silver embroidery, so thickly laidon that they are of exceeding weight. These dresses form part of thewardrobe of the Virgin Mary. Next to be seen is a case or chest of massysilver, adorned with innumerable precious stones of great value; which casecontains the bones or ashes of Charlemagne. His right arm bone is howeverpreserved separate in a glass case. The sword of this prince too, and theImperial crown is to be seen here. The sacristan next proceeded to show tous the other relics, but having begun with the exhibition of a rag dippedin the sweat of Jesus Christ and a nail of the Holy Cross, we began tothink we had seen enough and went away perfectly satisfied. There is noother monument in honour of Charlemagne, but a plain stone on the floor ofthe Church with the simple inscription "Carolo Magno. " On going out of thecity thro' one of the gates, and at a short distance from it, we ascendedthe mountain or rather hill called the Louisberg on which are built aRidotto and Café, as also a Column erected in honour of Napoleon with asuitable inscription; the inscription is effaced and is about to bereplaced by another in the German language in commemoration of the downfallof the _Tyrant_, as the Coalition are pleased to call him. This Tyrant ishowever extremely regretted by the inhabitants of Aix-la-Chapelle and notwithout reason, for he was a great benefactor to them and continuallyembellished the city, confirming and increasing its privileges. Theinhabitants are not at all pleased with their new masters; for thebehaviour of the Prussian military has been so insulting and overbearingtowards the burghers and students that it is, I am told, a commonexclamation among the latter, alluding to the Prussians having stiledthemselves their deliverers: _De nostris liberatoribus, Domine, liberanos_. Indeed, I can evidently discern that they are not particularlypleased at the result of the battle of Waterloo. 

In the evening I went to the theatre, which has the most inconvenient formimaginable, being a rectangle. As anti-Gallicanism is the order of the day, only German dramas are allowed to be performed and this night it was thetragedy of Faust, or Dr Faustus as we term him in England, not the Faust ofGoethe, which is not meant for nor at all adapted to the stage, but a dramaof that name written by Klingmann. [18] It is a strange wild piece, quite inthe German style and full of horrors and diableries. In this piece thesublime and terrible border close on the ridiculous; for instance the Deviland Faust come to drink in a beer-schenk or ale-house. 'Tis true the Devilis incognito at the time and is called "der Fremde" or "the Stranger"; itis only towards the conclusion of the piece that he discovers himself to beSatan. .. . The actor who played the part of the Stranger had something inhis physiognomy very terrific and awe-inspiring. In another scene, which tous would appear laughable and absurd, but which pleases a German audience, three women in masks come on the stage to meet Faust, in a churchyard, andon unmasking display three skeleton heads. 

Poor Faust had stipulated to give his soul to the Devil for aiding him inthe attainment of his desires; the Devil on his part agrees to allow him tocommit four deadly sins before he shall call on him to fulfil his contract. Faust, in the sequel, kills his wife and his father-in-law. Satan thenclaims him. Faust pleads in arrest of judgement, that he has only committedtwo crimes out of the four for which he had agreed; and that thereconsequently remained two others for him to commit before he could beclaimed. The Devil in rejoinder informs him that his wife was with child atthe time he killed her, which constituted the third crime, and that thevery act of making a contract with the Devil for his soul forms the fourth. Faust, overwhelmed with confusion, has not a word to say; and Satan seizinghim by the hair of his head, carries him off in triumph. This piece iswritten in iambics of ten syllables and the versification appeared to mecorrect and harmonious, and the sentiments forcible and poetical; thisfully compensated for the bizarrerie of the story itself, which, by thebye, with all the reproach thrown by the adherents of the classic taste onthose of the romantic, is scarcely more _outré_ than the introduction ofDeath ([Greek: _thanatos_]) as a dramatic personage in the _Alcestis_ ofEuripides. 

There is at Aix-la-Chapelle at one of the hotels a Faro Bank; it is openlike the gates of Hell _noctes atque dies_ and gaming goes forward withoutintermission; this seems, indeed, to be the only occupation of thestrangers who visit these baths. There is near this hotel a sort of Placeor Quadrangle with arcades under which are shops and stalls. At one ofthese shops I met with the most beautiful girl I ever beheld, a Tyrolese bybirth and the daughter of a print-seller. She was from the Italian Tyrol;Roveredo, I think she said, was her birthplace. She united much grace andmanner with her beauty, on account of which I could not avoid complimentingher in her native tongue, which she seemed pleased to hear. Her eyes andeyebrows brought to my recollection the description of those of Alcina:

 Sotto due negri e sottilissimi archi, Son due neri occhi, anzi, due chiari soli, Pietosi a riguardare, a mover parchi, Intorno a cui par che Amor scherzi e volí. [19]

 Two black and slender arches rise above Two clear black eyes, say suns of radiant light; Which ever softly beam and slowly move; Round these appears to sport in frolic flight, Hence scattering all his shafts, the little Love. 

 --_Trans_. W. S. ROSE. 

We then proceeded to look at the suburb of this city called Bortscheid, byfar the finest part of the city and at some elevation above it. It commandsan extensive view. We also visited the various bath establishments; thetaste of the water had some resemblance to that of Harrogate, and is goodin bilious, scrofulous and cutaneous complaints. On our return to the hotelwe learned the news of the capitulation of Paris to the Allied powers. Itis said to be purely a military convention by which the French army is toevacuate Paris and retire behind the Loire. There is no talk and no otherintelligence about Napoleon, except that he had been compelled by the twoHouses of Legislature to abdicate the throne. We are still in the dark asto the intentions of the Allies. I regret much that my friend and fellowtraveller L. Is obliged to return to Bruxelles and cannot accompany me toCologne, to which place I am impatient to go and to pay my respects to oldfather Rhine, so renowned in history. 

COLOGNE. 

I left Aix-la-Chapelle on the morning of the 2nd of July and arrived atCologne about six o'clock in the evening, putting up at the Inn _Zumheiligen Geist_ (Holy Ghost), which is situated on the banks of the river. The price of the journey in the diligence is 18 franks. On the road hitherlies Juliers, a large and strongly fortified town surrounded by a marsh. Itmust be very important as a military post. The road after quitting Juliersruns for the most part thro' a forest, and has been much improved andenlarged by the French; before they improved it, it was almost impassablein wet weather. We met on the road several Prussian waggons andreinforcements on their march to Bruxelles. Two of my fellow travellers inthe diligence were very intelligent young men belonging to respectablefamilies in Cologne and were returning thither; they likewise complainedmuch of the overbearing demeanour of the Prussian military towards theburghers. 

Cologne is a large, but very dull looking city, as dull as Liége; it wouldseem as if all towns and cities under ecclesiastical domination were dullor rendered so by the prohibition of the most innocent amusements. Thefortifications are out of repair; but the Prussian Government intend tomake Cologne a place of great strength. The name of the village on theopposite of the river is Deutz, and in the time of the French occupationthere was a _tête-de-pont_. The next morning I was obliged to appear beforethe police, and afterwards before the _Commandant de la Place_, in order tohave my passport examined and _visé_. At the bureau of the police it wasremarked to me that my passport was not _en règle_, the features of thebearer not being therein specified. I replied that it was not my fault;that it was given to me in that shape by the English Consul at Bruxellesand that it was not my province to give to the Consul any directions as toits form and tenor. The Commissary of Police then asked me what business Iwas about in travelling, and the following conversation took place: "Washaben Sie für Geschäfte?"--"Keine; ich reise nur um Vergnügen's Willen. "--"Sonderbar!"--"Worin liegt das Sonderbare, dass man reist um ein schönesLand zu sehen?"[20]--He made no answer to this, but one of his coadjutorsstanding by him said in a loud whisper, "Ein Herumreiser, " which means anadventurer or person who travels about for no good, --in a word, asuspicious character. I then said with the utmost calm and indifference:"Gentlemen, as soon as you shall have finished all your commentaries on thesubject of my passport, pray be so good as to inform me what I am to do, whether I may go on to Mayence and Frankfort as is my intention, or returnto Bruxelles. " The Commissary, after a slight hesitation, signed the _visa_and I then carried it to the bureau of the Commandant, whose secretarysigned it without hesitation, merely asking me if I were a military man. 

In the afternoon I went to visit the Dome or Cathedral. It is a finespecimen of Gothic architecture, but singular enough the steeple is not yetfinished. In this Cathedral the most remarkable thing is the Chapel of theThree Kings, wherein is deposited a massy gold chest inlaid with preciousstones of all sorts and of great value, containing the bones of theidentical three Kings (it is said) who came from the East to worship theinfant Jesus at Bethlehem. The Scriptures say it was three wise men orMagi. The legend however calls them Kings and gives them Gothic names. Letschoolmen and theologians reconcile this difference: _ce n'est point notreaffaire_. To me it appears that when the German tribes embracedChristianity and enrolled themselves under the banner of St Peter, it wasthought but fair to allow them to give vent to a little nationality and toblend their old traditions with the new-fangled doctrine, and no doubt theSovereign Pontiffs thought that the people could never be made to believetoo much; the same policy is practised by the Jesuit missionaries in China, where in order to flatter the national vanity and bend it to their purposesthey represent Jesus Christ as being a great personal friend andcorrespondent of Confucius. 

To return to these monarchs, wise men or Magi: their _sculls_ are keptseparate to the rest of the bones and each _scull_ bears a crown of gold. But if you are fond of miracles, legends, and details of relics, come withme to the Church of St Ursula in this city, and see the proof positive ofthe miraculous legend of the eleven thousand Virgins who suffered martyrdomin this city, in the time of Attila; the bones of all of whom are carefullypreserved here and adorn the interior walls of the Church in the guise ofarms arranged in an armoury. Eleven thousand sculls, each bearing a goldenor gilt crown, grin horribly on the spectator from the upper part of theinterior walls of the church, where they are placed in a row. What a finesubject this would make for a ballad in the style of Bürger to suppose thaton a particular night in the year, at the midnight hour when mortals inslumbers are bound, the bones all descending from the walls where they arearranged, forming themselves into bodies, clapping on their heads anddancing a skeleton dance round the Ghost of Attila! The people of Cologne, in the time of the ecclesiastical Electorate, had the reputation of beingextremely superstitious, and no doubt there were many who implicitlybelieve this pious tale; indeed, who could refuse their assent to itsauthenticity, on beholding the proof positive in the sculls and bones?

I recollect that in the History of the Compère Mathiew[21] the Père Jeanrates mightily the natives of Cologne for their bigotry and superstitionand for the bad reception they gave to him and to his philosophy. Thatpeople are happier from a blind belief, as some pretend, appears to meextremely problematical. For my part, under no circumstances can I thinkbliss to consist in ignorance; nor have I felt any particular discomfort inhaving learned at a very early age to put under my feet, as Lucretiusexpresses it, the _strepitum Acherontis avari_. On the contrary, it hasmade me a perfect cosmopolitan, extinguished all absurd national andreligious prejudices, and rendered me at home wherever I travel; and I meetthe Catholic, the Lutheran, the Moslem, the Jew, the Hindou and the Guebreas a brother. _Quo me cunque ferat tempestas, deferor hospes_. [22] Let meadd one word more to obviate any misrepresentation of my sentiments fromsome malignant Pharisee, that tho' I am no friend to King-craft andPriest-craft, and cannot endure that religion should ever be blended withpolitics, yet I am a great admirer of the beautiful and consolingphilosophy or theosophy of Jesus Christ which inculcates the equality ofMankind, and represents the Creator of the universe, the Author of allbeing, as the universal Father of the human race. 

Cologne derives its name from _Colonia_, as it was a Roman Colony plantedhere to protect the left bank of the Rhine from the incursions of theGerman hordes. It is here that the grand and original manufactory of thefar-famed _Eau de Cologne_ is to be seen. The _Eau de Cologne_ is asovereign remedy for all kinds of disorders, and if the _affiches_ of theproprietor, Jean-Marie Farina, be worthy of credit, he is as formidable acheck to old Pluto as ever Aesculapius was. The sale of this water isimmense. 

On my return to the inn, I met with a Dutch clergyman who was travellingwith his pupils, three very fine boys, the sons of a Dutch lady of rank. Hewas to conduct them to the University of Neuwied, on the right bank of theRhine, in order to place them there for their education. The young men seemto have profited much from their studies. Their tutor seemed to be awell-informed man and of liberal ideas; he preferred speaking German toFrench, as he said he had not much facility in expressing himself in thelatter language. He said if I were going his way he would be happy to havethe pleasure of my company, to which I very willingly acceded, and weagreed to start the next morning early so as to arrive at Bonn tobreakfast, and then to go on to Godesberg, where he proposed to remain afew days. 

From the windows of our inn we have a fine view of the river, and I havenot omitted doing hommage to old Father Rhine by taking up some of hiswater in the hollow of my hand to drink. The Rhine of later years has beenconsidered the guardian of Germany against the hostile incursions of theFrench, and Schiller represents this river as a Swiss vigilant on his post, yet in spite of his vigilance and fidelity unable to prevent his restlessneighbour from forcing his safeguard. The following are the lines ofSchiller where the river speaks in a distich:

 Treu wie dem Schwfeizer gebührt bewach'ich Germaniens Grenze, Aber der Gallier hüpft über den duldenden Strom. 

 In vain my stream I interpose To guard Germania's realm from foes; The nimble Gauls my cares deride And often leap on t'other side. 

GODESBERG, 4th July. 

The distance from Cologne to Bonn is 18 miles and Godesberg is three milesfurther. We stopped to breakfast at Bonn and after breakfast made apromenade thro' the city. Bonn is a handsome, clean, well-built andcheerful looking city and the houses are good and solid. 

The Electoral Palace is a superb building, but is not occupied and isfalling rapidly to decay. From the terrace in the garden belonging to thisPalace, which impends over the Rhine, you have a fine view of this nobleriver. This Palace was at one time made use of as a barrack by the French, and since the secularization of the Ecclesiastical Electorates it has notbeen thought worth while to embellish or even repair it. There is a Romanantiquity in this town called the _Altar of Victory_, erected on the PlaceSt Remi, but remarkable for nothing but its antiquity; it seems to be acommon Roman altar. [23] The road from Bonn to Godesberg is three miles inlength and thro' a superb avenue of horse-chesnut trees; but before youarrive at Godesberg, there is on the left side of the road a curiousspecimen of Gothic architecture called _Hochkreutz_, very like Walthamcross in appearance, but much higher and in better preservation; it waserected by some feudal Baron to expiate a homicide. The castle of Godesbergis situated on an eminence and commands a fine prospect; it is now a massof rums and the walls only remain. It derives its name of Godesberg orGötzenberg from the circumstance of its having been formerly the site of atemple of Minerva built in the time of the Romans, and thence calledGötzenberg by the Christians, _Götze_ in German signifying an idol. 

On the plain at the foot of the hill of Godesberg and at the distance of aneighth of a mile from the river, a shelving cornfield intervening, standthree large hotels and a ridotto, all striking edifices. To the south ofthese is situated a large wood. These hotels are always full of company inthe summer and autumn: they come here to drink the mineral waters, aspecies of Seltzer, the spring of which is about a quarter of a miledistant from the hotels. The hotel at which we put up bears the name of_Die schöne Aussicht_ (la Belle Vue) and well does it deserve the name; forit commands a fine view of the reaches of the river, north and south. Directly on the opposite bank, abruptly rising, is the superb andmagnificent chain of mountains called the _Sieben Gebirge_ or SevenMountains. On the summit of these mountains tower the remains of Gothiccastles or keeps, still majestic, tho' in ruins, and frowning on the plainsbelow; they bring to one's recollection the legends and chronicles of theMiddle Ages. They bear terrible awe-inspiring names such as Drachenfels, Löwenberg; the highest of them is called Drachenfels or the Rock of Dragonsand on it stood the Burg or Chateau of a Feudal Count or _Raubgraf_, whowas the terror of the surrounding country, and has given rise to a veryinteresting romance called _The Knights of the Seven Mountains_. Thisfeudal tyrant used to commit all sorts of depredations and descend into theplains below, in order to intercept the convoys of merchandize passingbetween Aix-la-Chapelle and Frankfort. It was to check these abuses andoppressions that was instituted the famous Secret Tribunal _Das heimlicheGericht_, the various Governments in Germany being then too weak to protecttheir subjects or to punish these depredations. This secret tribunal, fromthe summary punishments it inflicted, the mysterious obscurity in which itwas enveloped, and the impossibility of escaping from its pursuit, becamethe terror of all Germany. They had agents and combinations everywhere, andexercised such a system of espionage as to give to their proceedings anappearance of supernatural agency. A simple accusation was sufficient forthem to act upon, provided the accuser solemnly swore to the truth of itwithout reserve, and consented to undergo the same punishment as theaccused was subjected to, in case the accusation should be false; till thissolemnity was gone through, no pursuit was instituted against the offender. There was scarcely ever an instance of a false accusation, for it was wellknown that no power could screen the delator from the exemplary punishmentthat awaited him; and there were no means of escaping from the omniscienceand omnipotence of the secret tribunal. 

To return to Godesberg, it is a most beautiful spot and much agreeablesociety is here to be met with. The families of distinction of theenvironing country come here for the purpose of recreation and drinking themineral waters. We sit down usually sixty to dinner, and I observe somevery fine women among them. On Sunday there is a ball at the ridotto. Thepromenades in the environs are exceedingly romantic, and this place is thefavourite resort of many new married couples who come here to pass thehoneymoon. The scenery of the surrounding country is so picturesque andbeautiful as to require the pencil of an Ariosto or Wieland to do justiceto it:

 Ne se tutto cercato avessi il mondo Vedria di questo un pin gen til paese. [24]

 And, had he ranged the universal world, Would not have seen a lovelier in his round. 

 --_Trans_. W. S. ROSE. 

To the researches of the naturalist and mineralogist the Seven Mountainsoffer inexhaustible resources. The living and accommodation of the threehotels are very reasonable. For one and a half florins you have anexcellent and plentiful dinner at the table d'hôte, including a bottle ofMoselle wine and Seltzer water at discretion; by paying extra you can havethe Rhine wines of different growths and crops and French wines of allsorts. 

I am much pleased with the little I have seen of the German women. Theyappear to be extremely well educated. I observe many of them in theirmorning walks with a book in their hand either of poetry or a novel. Schiller is the favourite poet among them and Augustus Lafontaine thefavourite novel writer. [25] He is a very agreeable author were he not soprolix; yet we English have no right to complain of this fault, since thereis no novel in all Germany to compare in point of prolixity with Clarissa, Sit Charles Grandison, or Tom Jones. The great fault of Augustus Lafontaineis that of including in one novel the history of two or three generations. A beautiful and very interesting tale of his, however, is entirely freefrom this defect and is founded on a fact. It is called _Dankbarkeit undLiebe_ (Gratitude and Love). There is more real pathos in this novelettethan in the _Nouvelle Héloïse_ of Rousseau. 

EHRENBREITSTEIN, 8 July. 

After a _sèjour_ of three days at Godesberg, we left that delightfulresidence and proceeded to Neuwied to deposit the boys. We stopped, however, for an hour or two at Andernach, which is situated in a beautifulvalley on the left bank. We viewed the remains of the palace of the Kingsof Austrasia and the church where the body of the Emperor Valentinian ispreserved embalmed. 

Andernach is remarkable for being the exact spot where Julius Caesar firstcrossed the Rhine to make war on the German nations. Directly oppositeNeuwied, which is on the right bank, stands close to the village ofWeissenthurm the monument erected to the French General Hoche. We crossedover to Neuwied in a boat. Neuwied is a regular, well-built town, butrather of a sombre melancholy appearance and is only remarkable for itsuniversity. Science could not chuse a more tranquil abode. This Universityhas been ameliorated lately by its present sovereign the King of Prussia. It was not the interest of Napoleon to favour any establishment on theright bank at the expence of those on the left, the former being out of histerritory. At Neuwied I took leave of my agreeable fellow travellers, asthey intended to remain there and I to go on to Ehrenbreitstein. Anopportunity presented itself the same afternoon of which I profited. I metwith an Austrian Captain of Infantry and his lady at the inn where Istopped who were going to Ehrenbreitstein in their _calèche_, and they wereso kind as to offer me a place in it. I found them both extremelyagreeable; both were from Austria proper. He had left the Austrian servicesome time ago and had since entered into the Russian service; from that hewas lately transferred, together with the battalion to which he belonged, into the service of Prussia and placed on the retired list of the latterwith a very small pension. He did not seem at all satisfied with thisarrangement. He had served in several campaigns against the French inGermany, Italy and France, and was well conversant in French and Italianlitterature. 

We stopped _en passant_ at a _maison de plaisance_ and superb Englishgarden belonging to the Duke of Nassau-Weilburg. The house is in the styleof a cottage _orné_, but very roomy and tastefully fitted up; but nothingcan be more diversified and picturesque than the manner in which the gardenis laid out. The ground being much broken favours this; and in one part ofit is a ravine or valley so romantic and savage, that you would fancyyourself in Tinian or Juan Fernandez. We arrived late in the evening in theThal Ehrenbreitstein, which lies at the foot of the gigantic hill fortressof that name, which frowns over it and seems as if it threatened to falland crush it. My friends landed me at the inn _Zum weissen Pferd_ (theWhite Horse), where there is most excellent accommodation. Just oppositeEhrenbreitstein, on the left bank, is Coblentz; a superb flying bridge, which passes in three minutes, keeps up the communication between the twotowns. 

Early the next morning, I ascended the stupendous rock of Ehrenbreitstein, which has a great resemblance to the hill forts in India, such as Gooty, Nundydroog, etc. It is a place of immense natural strength, but thefortifications were destroyed by the French, who did not chuse to have soformidable a neighbour so close to their frontier, as the Rhine then was. The Prussian Government, however, to whom it now belongs, seem too fullyaware of its importance not to reconstruct the fortifications with aslittle delay as possible. Ehrenbreitstein completely commands all theadjacent country and enfilades the embouchure of the Moselle which flowsinto the Rhine at Coblentz, where there is an elegant stone bridge acrossthe Moselle. Troops without intermission continue to pass over the flyingbridge bound to France, from the different German states, viz. , Saxons, Hessians, Prussians, etc. , so that one might apply to this scene AnnaComnena's expression relative to the Crusades, and say that all Germany istorn up from its foundation and precipitated upon France. I suppose no lessthan 70, 000 men have passed within these few days. The German papers, particularly the _Rheinische Mercur_, continue to fulminate against Franceand the war yell resounds with as much fury as ever. From the number oftroops that continue to pass it would seem as if the Allies did not mean tocontent themselves with the abdication of Napoleon, but will endeavour todismember France. The Prussian officers seem to speak very confidently thatAlsace and Lorraine will be severed from France and reunited to theGermanic body, to which, they say, every country ought to belong where theGerman language is spoken, and they are continually citing the words of anold song:

 Wo ist das deutsche Vaterland?. .. . Wo man die deutsche Zunge spricht, Da ist das deutsche Vaterland. [26]

In English: "Where is the country of the Germans? Where the German languageis spoken, there is the country of the Germans!"

Coblentz is a clean handsome city, but there is nothing very remarkable init except a fine and spacious "Place. " But in the neighbourhood stands the_Chartreuse_, situated on an eminence commanding a fine view of the whole_Thalweg_. This _Chartreuse_ is one English mile distant from the town andmy friend the Austrian Captain had the goodness to conduct me thither. Itis a fine large building, but is falling rapidly to decay, beingappropriated to no purpose whatever. The country is beautiful in theenvirons of this place, and has repeatedly called forth the admiration anddelight of all travellers. Near Coblentz is the monument erected to theFrench General Marceau, who fell gloriously fighting for the cause ofliberty, respected by friend and foe. 

July 10th. 

We had a large society this day at the table d'hôte. The conversationturned on the restoration of the Bourbons, which nobody at table seemed todesire. Several anecdotes were related of the conduct of the Bourbonprinces and of the emigration, who held their court at Coblentz when theyfirst emigrated; these anecdotes did not redound much to their honor orcredit, and I remark that they are held in great disgust and abhorrence bythe inhabitants of these towns, on account of their treacherous andunprincipled conduct. It was from here that "La Cour de Coblentz, " as itwas called, intrigued by turns with the Jacobins and the Brissotins and, bybetraying the latter to the former, were in part the cause of thesanguinary measures adopted by Robespierre. [27] The object of thisatrocious policy was that the French people would, by witnessing so manyexecutions, become disgusted at the sanguinary tyranny of Robespierre andrecall the Bourbons unconditionally; which, fortunately for France andthanks to the heroism and bravery of the republican armies, did not takeplace; for had the restoration taken place at that time, a dreadfulreaction would have been encouraged and the cruelties of the reign ofTerror surpassed. With the same view, emissaries were dispatched from theCourt of Coblentz to the South of France in order, under the disguise ofpatriots, to preach up the most exaggerated corollaries to the theories ofliberty and equality. 

Among other things at Ehrenbreitstein is a superb pleasure barge belongingto the Dukes of Nassau for water excursions up and down the Rhine. A _coched'eau_ starts from here daily to Mayence and another to Cologne. The priceis ten franks the person. The superb _chaussée on_ the left bank of theRhine, which extends all the way from Cologne to Mayence, was constructedby the direction of Napoleon. In the evening I went to the theatre atCoblentz, where Mozart's opera of Don Giovanni was represented. Irecollected my old acquaintance "La ci darem la mano, " which I had oftenheard in England. 

MAYENCE, 12th July. 

I embarked in the afternoon of the 11th in the _coche d'eau_ bound toMayence. Except an old "Schiffer, " I was the only passenger on board, asfew chuse to go up stream on account of the delay. I, however, being masterof my own time, and wishing to view the lovely scenery on the banks of theriver, preferred this conveyance, and I was highly gratified. AfterBoppart, the bed of the river narrows much. High rocks on each bank hem inthe stream and render it more rapid. Nothing can be more sublime andmagnificent than the scenery; at every turn of the river you would supposeits course blocked up by rocks, perceiving no visible outlet. Remains ofGothic castles are to be seen on their summits at a short distance fromeach other, and where the banks are not abrupt and _escarpés_ there are_coteaux_ covered with vines down to the water's edge. The tolling of thebells at the different villages on the banks gives a most aweful solemnreligious sound, and the reverberation is prolonged by the high rocks, which seem to shut you out from the rest of the world. There are the wallsnearly entire of two castles of the Middle Ages, the one called "Die Katze"(the cat); the other "Die Maus" (the Mouse); each has its tradition, forwhich and for many other interesting particulars I refer you to Klebe's andSchreiber's description of the banks of the Rhine. 

We arrived early in the evening at St Goar, where we stopped and slept. StGoar is a fine old Gothic town, romantically situated, and is famous fromhaving two whirlpools in its neighbourhood. It is completely commanded andprotected by Rheinfels, an ancient hill fortress, but the fortification ofwhich no longer exist. It requires half an hour's walk to ascend to thesummit of Rheinfels, but the traveller is well repaid for the fatigue ofthe ascent by the fine view enjoyed from the top. I remained at Rheinfelsnearly an hour. What a solemn stillness seems to pervade this part of theriver, only interrupted by the occasional splash of the oar, and thetolling of the steeple bell! Bingen on the right bank is the next place ofinterest, and on an island in the centre of the river facing Bingen standthe ruins of a celebrated tower call'd the "Maüsethurm" (mouse tower), sonamed from the circumstance of Bishop Hatto having been devoured therein byrats according to the tradition. This was represented as a punishment fromHeaven on the said bishop for his tyranny and oppression towards the poor;but the story was invented by the monks in order to vilify his memory, forit appears he was obnoxious to them on account of his attempts to enforce arigid discipline among them and to check their licentiousness. 

Bieberich, a superb palace belonging to the Dukes of Nassau on the rightbank, next presents itself to view on your left ascending; to your right, at a short distance from Bieberich, you catch the first view of Mayence onthe left bank, with its towers and steeples rising from the glade. Wereached Mayence at 4 o'clock p. M. , and I went to put up at the three Crowns(_Drei-Kronen_). The first news I learned on arriving at Mayence was thatNapoleon had surrendered himself to the Captain of an English frigate atOléron; but though particulars are not given, Louis XVIII is said to berestored, which I am very sorry to hear. The Allies then have been guiltyof the most scandalous infraction of their most solemn promise, since theydeclared that they made war on Napoleon alone and that they never meant todictate to the French people the form of government they were to adopt. Napoleon having surrendered and Louis being restored, the war may beconsidered as ended for the present, unless the Allies should attempt towrest any provinces from France, and in this case there is no saying whatmay happen. This has finally ended the career of Napoleon. 

There is in Mayence a remarkably fine broad spacious street called "diegrosse Bleiche" and in general the buildings are striking and solid, buttoo much crowded together as is the case in all ancient fortified cities. The Cathedral is well worth seeing and contains many things of value andcostly relics. When one views the things of value in the churches here, atAix-la-Chapelle and at Cologne, what a contradiction does it give to thecalumnies spread against the French republicans that they plundered thechurches of the towns they occupied! There is an agreeable promenade linedwith trees on the banks of the river called _L'Allée du Rhin. _ Mayence isstrongly fortified and has besides a citadel (a pentagon) of greatstrength, which is separated from the town by an esplanade. The _Place duMarché_ is striking and in the _Place Verte_ I saw for the first time in mylife the Austrian uniform, there being an Austrian garrison as well astroops belonging to the other Germanic states, such as Prussians, Bavarians, Saxons, Hessians, and troops of the Duchy of Berg. This Citybelongs to the Germanic Confederation and is to be always occupied by amixed garrison. The Archduke Charles has his head-quarters here at present. I attended an inspection of a battalion of Berg troops on the _PlaceVerte_; they had a very military appearance and went thro' their manoeuvreswith great precision. From the top of the steeple of the Church of SanctStephen you have a fine view of the whole Rheingau. Opposite to Mayence, onthe right bank, communicating by an immensely long bridge of boats, is thesmall town and fort of Castel, which forms a sort of _tête-de-pont_ toMayence. The works of Castel take in flank and enfilade the embouchure ofthe river Mayn which flows into the Rhine. One of the redoubts of Castel iscalled the redoubt of Montebello, thus named after Marshal Lannes, Duke ofMontebello. 

The German papers continue their invectives against France. In one of themI read a patriotic song recommending the youth of Germany to go into Franceto revenge themselves, to drink the wine and live at the cost of theinhabitants, and then is about to recommend their making love to the wivesand daughters of the French, when a sudden flash of patriotism comes acrosshim, and he says: "No! for that a German warrior makes love to German girlsand German women only!" (_Und küsst nur Deutsche Mädchen. _) With regard tothe women here, those that I have hitherto met with, and those I saw atEhrenbreitstein, were exceedingly handsome, so that the German warriors, iflove is their object, will do well to remain here, as they may go furtherand fare worse, for I understand the women of Lorraine and Champagne arenot very striking for personal beauty. There were some good paintings inthe picture gallery here and this and the fortifications are nearly allthat need call forth the attention of a traveller who makes but a fleetingvisit. 

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAYN, 14th July. 

I arrived here the day before yesterday in the diligence from Mayence, theprice of which is two and a half florins the person, and the distancetwenty-five English miles; there is likewise a water conveyance by the Maynfor half the money. The road runs thro' the village of Hockheim, which inEngland gives the name of _Hock_ to all the wines of Rhenish growth. Thecountry is undulating in gentle declivities and vales and is highlycultivated in vines and corn. I put up here at the _Hotel Zum Schwan_ (TheSwan), which is a very large and spacious hotel and has excellentaccommodation. There is a very excellent table d'hôte at one o'clock atthis hotel, for which the price is one and a half florins the person, including a pint of Moselle wine and a _krug_ or jar of Seltzer water. About four or five o'clock in the afternoon it is the fashion to come anddrink old Rhine wine _à l'Anglaise_. That sort called _Rudesheimer_ Irecommend as delicious. There is also a very pleasant wine called the_Ingelheimer_, which is in fact the "red Hock. " At one of these afternoonmeetings a gentleman who had just returned from Paris related to us someanecdotes of what passed at the Conference between the French commissionerswho were sent after the abdication of Napoleon, by the provisionalgovernment, to treat with the Allies; in which it appeared that the Britishcommissioner, Lord S[tewart], [28] brother to the Secretary of State forForeign Affairs, made rather a simple figure by his want of historicalknowledge or recollection. He began, it seems, in rather a bullying manner, in the presence of the commissioners, to declaim against what he called theperfidy and mutiny of the French army against their lawful Sovereign; whenthe venerable Lafayette, who was one of the commissioners and who is everforemost when his country has need of his assistance, remarked to him thatthe English revolution in 1688, which the English were accustomed always tostile glorious, and which he (Lafayette) stiled glorious also, waseffectuated in a similar manner by the British army abandoning King Jamesand ranging themselves under the standard of the Prince of Orange; that ifit was a crime on the part of the French army to join Napoleon, theirancient leader who had led them so often to victory, it was a still greatercrime on the part of the English army to go over to the Prince of Orangewho was unknown to them and a foreigner in the bargain; and that thereforethis blame of the French army, coming from the mouth of an Englishman, surprised him, the more so as the Duke of Marlborough, the boast and prideof the English, set the example of defection from his Sovereign, who hadbeen his greatest benefactor. Lord S[tewart], who did not appear to be atall conscious of this part of our history, was staggered, a smile wasvisible on the countenances of all the foreign diplomatists assembledthere, and Lord S[tewart], to hide his confusion, and with an ill-disguisedanger, turned to Lafayette and said that the Allies would not treat untilNapoleon should be delivered to them. "Je m'étonne, my lord, qu'en faisantune proposition si infâme et si deshonorante, vous vous plaisez de vousadresser au prisonnier d'Olmütz, " was the dignified answer of that virtuouspatriot and ever ardent veteran of liberty. [29]

The main street in Frankfort called the _Zeil_ is very broad and spacious, and can boast of a number of splendid houses belonging to individuals, particularly the house of Schweitzer[30]; and on the Quai, on the banks ofthe Mayn, there is a noble range of buildings. The bridge across the Maynis very fine and on the other side of the river is the suburb ofSachsenhansen, which is famous for being the head-quarters of thepriestesses of the Venus vulgivaga who abound in this city. There are inFrankfort an immense number of Jews, who have a quarter of the cityallotted to them. The gardens that environ the town are very tastefullylaid out, and serve as the favourite promenade of the _beau monde_ ofFrankfort. The Cathedral will always be a place of interest as the templewherein in later times the German Caesars were crowned and inaugurated. Atthe _Hôtel de Ville_ called the _Römer_, which is an ugly Gothic building, but interesting from its being in this edifice that the Emperors werechosen, is to be seen the celebrated Golden Bull which is written onparchment in the Latin language with a golden seal attached to it. In theHall where the Electors used to sit on the election of an Emperor of theRomans, are to be seen the portraits of several of the Emperors, and a verystriking one in particular of the Emperor Joseph II, in full length, in hisImperial robes. There is no table d'hôte at the _Swan_ for supper, but thismeal is served up _à la carte_, which is very convenient for those who donot require copious meals. At the same table with me at supper sat a veryagreeable man with whom I entered into conversation. He was a Hessian andhad served in a Hessian battalion in the English service during theAmerican war. He was so kind as to procure me admission to the Casino atthe Hotel Rumpf, [31] where there is a literary institution and where theyreceive newspapers, pamphlets and reviews in the German, French, Englishand Italian languages. In Frankfort there are several houses of individualswhich merit the name of palaces, and there is a great display of opulenceand industry in this city. In the environs there is abundance of _maisonsde plaisance_. For commerce it is the most bustling city (inland) in allGermany, besides it being the seat of the present German Diet; and fromhere, as from a centre, diverge the high roads to all parts of the Empire. 

I have been once at the theatre, which is very near the _Swan_. A Germanopera, the scene whereof was in India, was given. The scenery anddecorations were good, appropriate, and the singing very fair. The theatreitself is dirty and gloomy. The German language appears to me to be betteradapted to music than either the French or English. The number of dactylicterminations in the language give to it all the variety that the_sdruccioli_ give to the Italian. As to poetry, no language in the worldsuits itself better to all the vagaries and phantasies of the Muse, sinceit possesses so much natural rythm and allows, like the Greek, thecombination of compound words and a redundancy of epithets, and it isbesides so flexible that it lends itself to all the ancient as well as themodern metres with complete success: indeed it is the only modern languagethat I know of which does so. 

As for political opinions here, the Germans seem neither to wish nor tocare about the restoration of the Bourbons; but they talk loudly of thenecessity of tearing Alsace and Lorraine from France. In fact, they wish toput it out of the power of the French ever to invade Germany again; a thinghowever little to be hoped for. For the minor and weaker Germanic stateshave always hitherto (and will probably again at some future day) invokedthe assistance of France against the greater and stronger. I observe thatthe Austrian Government is not at all popular here, and that its bad faithin financial matters is so notorious and has been so severely felt here, that a merchant told me, alluding to the bankruptcy of the AustrianGovernment on two occasions when there was no absolute necessity for themeasure, that Frankfort had suffered more from the bad faith of theAustrian Government than from all the war contributions levied by theFrench. 

BRUXELLES, 28th July. 

On arrival at Coblentz we heard that Napoleon had surrendered himselfunconditionally to Capt. Maitland of the _Bellerophon_. He never shouldhave humiliated himself so far as to surrender himself to the Britishministry. He owed to himself, to his brave fellow soldiers, to the Frenchnation whose Sovereign he had been, not to take such a step, but rather diein the field like our Richard III, a glorious death which cast a lustrearound his memory in spite of the darker shades of his character; or if hecould not fall in the field, he should have died like Hannibal, rather thancommit himself into the hands of a government in which generosity is by nomeans a distinguishing feature, and which on many occasions has shown apetty persecuting and vindictive spirit, and thus I have no hesitation inportraying the characteristics of our Tory party, which, unfortunately forthe cause of liberty, rules with undivided sway over England. He will nowend his days in captivity, for his destination appears to be already fixed, and St Helena is named as the intended residence; he will, I say, beexposed to all the taunts and persecutions that petty malice can suggest;and this with the most uncomfortable reflections: for had he been moreconsiderate of the spirit of the age, he might have set all the Monarchs, Ultras and Oligarchs and their ministers at defiance. But he wished to apeCharlemagne and the Caesars and to establish an universal Empire: a thingtotally impossible in our days and much to be deprecated were it possible. 

Consigned to St Helena, Napoleon will furnish to posterity a proverb likethat of Dionysius at Corinth. This banishment to St Helena will be veryungenerous and unjust on the part of the English Government, but I supposetheir satellites and adherents will term it an act of clemency, and some_Church and Kingmen_ would no doubt recommend hewing him in pieces, asSamuel did to Agag. 

I stopped three days at Aix-la-Chapelle to drink the waters and then camestraight to this place stopping half a day in Liége. I shall start forParis in a couple of days, as the communication is now open and the publicconveyances re-established. My passport is _visé_ in the following terms:"Bon pour aller à Paris en suivant la route des armées alliées. " I am quiteimpatient to visit that celebrated city. 

[18] Philipp Klingmann (1762-1824) was better known as an actor than as an author. --ED. 

[19] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, VII, 12, 1. --ED. 

[20] "What business have you? None, I travel for amusement. Strange! What is there strange in travelling to see a fine country?"

[21] _Le Compère Mathieu_, a satirical novel by the Abbé Henri Joseph Dulaurens, published 1765 and sometimes (though wrongly) attributed to Voltaire. One of the prominent talkers in the dialogues is Père Jean de Domfront. --ED. 

[22] Horace, _Epist_. , I, i, 15. --ED. 

[23] This altar, inscribed _Deae Victoriae Sacrum (Corpus inscr. Lat_. XIII, 8252), was erected by the Roman fleet on the Rhine at the place now called _Altsburg_ near Cologne and, after its discovery, taken to Bonn, where it was set up on the _Remigius-Platz_ (now called _Roemer-Platz_) on Dec, 3, 1809. It is now in the Provincial Museum. --ED. 

[24] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, vi, 20, 3. --ED. 

[25] August Lafontaine (1758-1831), born in Brunswick of a family of French protestants, was the very prolific and now quite forgotten author of many novels and novelettes. --ED. 

[26] From Ernst Moritz Arndt's (1779-1860) celebrated poem, _Des Deutschen Vaterland_. --ED. 

[27] There seems to be much truth in this opinion, though the question of the intrigues of Louis XVIII with Robespierre is still shrouded in obscurity. Some pages of General Thiébault's memoirs might have cleared it up, but they have been torn out from the manuscript (_Mémoires du Général Baron Thiébault_, vol. I, p. 273). Louis XVIII paid a pension to Robespierre's sister, Charlotte. --ED. 

[28] Sir Charles Stewart, created Lord Stewart In 1814; he was a half-brother of Lord Castlereagh. --ED. 

[29] The same story is given, with slight differences, by Lafayette himself (_Mémoires_, vol. V, p. 472-3; Paris and Leipzig, 1838). See also _Souvenirs historiques et parlementaires du Comte de Pontécoulant_, vol. III, p. 428 (Paris, 1863). Major Frye's narrative is by far the oldest and seems the most trustworthy. --ED. 

[30] The house in question was built about 1780 by Nicolas de Pigage for the rich merchant, Franz von Schweizer; Pigage was the son of the architect of King Stanislas at Nancy. The Schweizer palace became later on the _Hôtel de Russie_ and was demolished about 1890, the Imperial Post Office having been erected in its place. The Schweizer family is now extinct. --ED. 

[31] A _Casinogesellschaft_, still in existence (1908), was founded at Frankfort in 1805, with the object of uniting the aristocratic elements of the city, admittance being freely allowed to distinguished strangers, in particular to the envoys of the _Bundestag_. The _Gesellschaft_ or club occupied spacious rooms in the house of the once famous _tapissier_ and decorator Major Rumpf, grandfather of the German sculptor of the same name. That building, situated at the corner of the _Rossmarkt_, was demolished about 1880. --ED. 

CHAPTER III

From Bruxelles to Paris--Restoration of Louis XVIII--The officers of theallied armies--The Palais Royal--The Louvre--Protest of the author againstthe proposed despoiling of the French Museums--Unjust strictures againstNapoleon's military policy--The _cant_ about revolutionary robberies--TheGrand Opera--Monuments in Paris--The Champs Elysées--Saint-Cloud--The Hôteldes Invalides--The Luxembourg--General Labédoyère--Priests andemigrants--Prussian Plunder--Handsome behaviour of the English officers--Reminiscences of Eton--Versailles. 

PARIS, August 3rd. 

Here I am in Paris. I left Bruxelles the 29th July, stopped one night atMons and passing thro' Valenciennes, Péronne and St Quentin arrived here onthe third day. The villages and towns on the road had been pretty wellstripped of eatables by the Allied army, as well as by the French, so thatwe did not meet with the best fare. In every village the white flag wasdisplayed by way of propitiating the clemency of the Allies and avertingplunder. 

August 7th. 

I have put up at the _Hôtel de Cahors_, Rue de Richelieu, where I pay fivefrancs per diem for a single room; such is the dearness of lodgings at thismoment. It is well furnished, however, with sofas, commodes, mirrors and ahandsome clock and is very spacious withal, there being an alcove for thebed. This situation is extremely convenient, being close to the PalaisRoyal, Rue St Honoré, Théâtre Français, Louvre and the Tuileries on oneside, and to the Grand Opera, the Théâtre Feydeau, the Italian Opera andthe Boulevards on the other. The National Library is not many yards distantfrom my hotel, and a few yards from that _en face_ is the Grand Opera houseor _Académie Royale de Musique_. 

This city is filled with officers and travellers of all kinds who havefollowed the army. The House of Legislature of the Hundred Days, --as it isthe fashion to style Napoleon's last reign--dissolved themselves on thedemand of a million of francs as a war contribution made by MarshallBlucher. Louis XVIII has been hustled into Paris, and now occupies thethrone of his ancestors under the protection of a million of foreignbayonets, and the _bannière des Lis_ has replaced the tricolor on thecastle of the Tuileries. A detachment of the British army occupiesMontmartre, where the British flag is flying, and in the Champs Elysées andBois de Boulogne are encamped several brigades of English and Hanoverians. The Sovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia are expected and then it issaid that the fate of France will be decided. The Army of the Loire has atlength made its submission to the King, after stipulating but in vain forthe beloved tricolor. Report says it is to be immediately dissolved and anew army raised with more legitimate inclinations. Should the King accedeto this, France will be completely disarmed and at the mercy of the Allies, and the King himself a state prisoner. The entrance into Paris, thro' theFaubourg St Denis, does not give to the stranger who arrives there for thefirst time a great idea of the magnificence of Paris; he should enter bythe Avenue de Neuilly or by the Porte St Antoine, both of which are verystriking and superb. 

Now you must not expect that I shall or can give you a description of allthe fine things that I have seen or am about to see, for they have been sooften described before that it would be a perfect waste of time, and I cando better in referring you at once to the _Guide des Voyageurs à Paris_; sothat I shall content myself with merely indicating these objects which makethe most impression on me. 

My first visit was, as you will have no doubt guessed, to the Palais Royal:there I breakfasted, there I dined, and there I passed the whole daywithout the least _ennui_. It is a world in itself. It swarms at presentwith officers of the Allied army. The variety of uniforms adds to thesplendour and novelty of the scene. The restaurants and cafés are filledwith them. The Palais Royal is certainly the temple of animalgratification, the paradise of gastronomes. The officers are indulging inall sorts of luxury, revelling in Champaign and Burgundy, in all thepleasures of the belly, as well as _in iis quae sub ventre sunt_. 'Twill bea famous harvest for the restaurateurs and for the Cyprians who parade upand down the Arcades, sure of a constant succession of suitors. In fact, whatever be the taste of a man, whether sensual or intellectual or both, hecan gratify himself here without moving out of the precincts of the PalaisRoyal. Here are cafés, restaurants, shops of all kinds whose display ofclocks, jewellery, stuffs, silks, merchandize from all parts of the world, is most brilliant and dazzling; here you find reading-rooms wherenewspapers, reviews and pamphlets of all tongues, nations and languages areto be met with; here are museums of paintings, statues, plans in relief, cosmoramas; here are libraries, gaming houses, houses of fair reception;cellars where music, dancing and all kinds of orgies are carried on;exhibitions of all sorts, learned pigs, dancing dogs, military canarybirds, hermaphrodites, giants, dwarf jugglers from Hindostan, catawbas fromAmerica, serpents from Java, and crocodiles from the Nile. Here, soKotzebue has calculated, you may go through all the functions of life inone day and end it afterwards should you be so inclined. You may eat, drink, sleep, bathe, go to the _Cabinet d'aisance_, walk, read, make love, game and, should you be tired of life, you may buy powder and ball or opiumto hasten your journey across Styx; or should you desire a more classic_exit_, you may die like Seneca opening your veins in a bath. Deep playgoes forward day and night, and I verily believe there are some persons inParis who never quit these precincts. The restaurants and cafés are mostbrilliantly fitted up. One, _Le Café des Mille Colonnes_, so called fromthe reflection of the columns in the mirrors with which the wainscoat islined, boasts of a _limonadière_ of great beauty. She is certainly a finewoman, dresses very well, as indeed most French women do, and has aremarkably fine turned arm which she takes care to display on alloccasions. I do not, however, perceive much animation in her; she alwaysappears the same, nor has she made any more impression on me--tho' I am ofa very susceptible nature in this particular--than a fine statue or picturewould do. There she sits on a throne and receives the hommage andcompliments of most of the visitors and the money of all, which seems toplease her most, for she receives the compliments which are paid her withthe utmost _sang-froid_ and indifference, and the money she takes especialcare to count. English troops, conjointly with the National Guard, do dutyat the entrance of the Palais Royal from the Rue St Honoré; and it becamenecessary to have a strong guard to keep the peace, as frequent disputestake place between the young men of the Capital and the Prussian officers, against whom the French are singularly inveterate. 

The French, when left to themselves, are very peaceable in their pleasuresand the utmost public decorum is observed; their sobriety contributes muchto this; but if there were in London an establishment similar to that ofthe Palais Royal, it would become a perfect pandemonium and would requirean army to keep the peace. The French police keep a very sharp look-out onall political offences, but are more indulgent towards all moral ones, aslong as public decorum is not infringed, and then it is severely punished. But they have none of that censoriousness or prying spirit in France whichis so common in England to hunt out and criticise the private vices oftheir neighbours, which, in my opinion, does not proceed from any realregard for virtue, but from a fanatical, jealous, envious, and malignantspirit. Those vice-hunters never have the courage to attack a man of wealthand power; but a poor artisan or labourer, who buys a piece of meat aftertwelve o'clock on Saturday night, or a glass of spirits during church-timeon Sunday, is termed a Sabbath-breaker and imprisoned without mercy. 

In the Palais Royal the three most remarkable temples of dissipation areVery's for gastronomes, Robert's faro bank for gamesters, and the CaféMontausier for those devoted to the fair sex. The Café Montausier is fittedup in the guise of a theatre where music, singing and theatrical pieces aregiven; you pay nothing for admission, but are expected to call for somerefreshment. It is splendidly illuminated, and is the Café _parexcellence_, frequented by those ladies who have made the opposite choiceto that of Hercules, and who, taking into consideration the shortness anduncertainty of life, dedicate it entirely to pleasure, reflecting that

 Laggiù nell' Inferno, Nell' obblio sempiterno, In sempiterno orrore, Non si parla d'amore. 

Of course, this saloon is crowded with amateurs, and the Prussians andEnglish are not the least ardent votaries of the Goddess of Paphos; many avanquished victor sinks oppressed with wine and love on the breast of aDalilah: this last comparison suggests itself to me from the immensequantity of hair worn by the Prussians, as if their strength, like that ofSamson's, depended on their _chevelure_. There is a very pretty gracefulgirl who attends here and at the different restaurants and cafés with anassortment of bijouterie and other knick-knacks to sell. She is full of witand repartee; but her answer to all those who attempt to squeeze her handand make love to her is always: "_Achetez quelque chose. _" Her name isCéline and she has a great flow of conversation on all subjects but that oflove, which she invariably cuts short by "_Achetez quelque chose. _"

10th August. 

I have been to see the Museum of sculpture and painting in the Louvre, butwhat is to be seen there baffles all description:

 Se tante lingue avessi e tante voci Quanti occhi il cielo o quante arene il mare Non basterian a dir le lodi immense. 

The _Apollo Belvedere_, the _Venus de Medici_ and the _Laocoon_ firstclaimed my attention, and engaged me for at least an hour and a half beforeI could direct my attention to the other masterpieces. I admire indeed the_Laocoon_, still more the _Venus_, but the _Apollo_ certainly bears awaythe palm and I fully participate of all Winkelmann's enthusiasm for thatcelebrated statue. The _Venus_ is a very beautiful woman, but the _Apollo_is a god. One is lost, and one's imagination is bewildered when one entersinto the halls of sculpture of this unparalleled collection, amidst thestatues of Gods, Demi-Gods, Heroes, Philosophers, Poets, Roman Emperors, Statesmen and all the illustrious worthies that adorned the Greek and Romanpage. What subjects for contemplation! A chill of awe and venerationpervaded my whole frame when I first entered into that glorious temple ofthe Arts. I felt as I should were I admitted among supernatural beings, oras if I had "shuffled off this mortal coil" and were suddenly ushered intothe presence of the illustrious tenants of another world; in fact, I feltas if Olympus and the whole Court of Immortals were open to my view. No! Icannot describe these things, I can only feel them; I throw down the penand call upon expressive silence to muse their praise. 

Of the Picture Gallery too what can I say that can possibly give you anidea of its variety and extent? Here are the finest works of the Italian, Flemish, and French schools, and you are as much embarrassed to single outthe favourite object, as the Grand Signor would be, among six or sevenhundred of the most beautiful women in the world, to make his choice. Theonly fault I find in this collection is that there were rather too manyScripture pieces, Crucifixions, Martyrdoms and allegorical pictures, andtoo few from historical or mythological subjects. Yet perhaps I am wrong inclassing the Scripture pieces with Martyrdoms, Crucifixions, Grillings ofSaints and Madonnas; there are very many beautiful episodes in theScriptures which would furnish admirable subjects for painters. Why thenhave they chosen disgusting subjects such as Judith sawing off Holofernes'head, Siserah's head nailed to the bedpost, John the Baptist's on atrencher, etc. ? But the pictures representing Martyrdoms are too revoltingto the eye and should not be placed in this Museum. 

It is reported that the Allies mean to strip this Museum [of sculpture andpainting]. No! it cannot be, they never surely can be guilty of such an actof Vandalism and contemptible spite. I am aware that there is a greatclamour amongst a certain description of English for restoring thesestatues and pictures to the countries from whence they came, and that it isthe fashion to term the translation of them to Paris a revolutionaryrobbery; but let us bring these gentlemen to a calm reasoning on thesubject. 

The statues and paintings in question belonged either to Governments at warwith France, or to individuals inhabiting those countries; now, withrespect to individuals, I will venture to affirm, on the best authority, that the property of no individual was taken from him without anequivalent. Those who had statues and pictures of value and wished to sellthem, received their full value from the French Government, but there wasno force used on the occasion; in fact, many who were in want of money wererejoiced at the opportunity of selling, as they could never have otherwisedisposed of those valuable articles to individuals at the same price thatthe French Government gave. I recollect a day or two ago being inconversation with a Milanese on this subject and others connected with theoccupation of Italy by the French. I happened to mention that the conquestof Italy by the Republican armies must have been attended with confiscationof property; he assured me that no such thing as confiscation of propertytook place; that so far from being the losers by the French invasion andthe establishment of their system, they had on the contrary beenconsiderable gainers, for that the country flourished under theirdomination in a manner before unknown, and that one of the greatestadvantages attendant on the occupation was the establishment of an equalityof weight and measures, the decimal division of the coin, the introductionof an admirable code of laws free'd from all barbarisms--legal, politicaland theological--and intelligible to all classes, so that there was nooccasion to cite old authors and go back for three or four hundred years tohunt out authorities and precedents for what men of sense could determineat once by following the dictates of their own judgment. 

With respect to the statues and pictures belonging to the differentgovernments of Italy, it must never be forgotten that these governmentsmade war against the French Revolution either openly or insidiously, anddid their utmost to aid the coalition to crush the infant liberties ofFrance. Those who did not act openly did so covertly and indirectly; inshort, from their tergiversations and intrigues, they had no claim whateveron the mercy of the conquerors, who treated them with a great deal ofclemency. The destruction of these governments was loudly called for by thepeople themselves, who looked on the French as their deliverers. 

It will be admitted, I believe, that it is and has been the custom on thecontinent, in all wars, for all parties to levy war contributions on theconquered or occupied countries; but Buonoparte thought it more gloriousfor the French name to take works of art instead of money; and not a statueor picture was taken from the vanquished governments except by a solemntreaty of cession, or given in lieu of contributions at the option of theowners, and the Princes were very glad to give up their pictures andstatues, which the most of them did not know how to appreciate, in lieu ofmoney which they were all anxious to keep; and on these articles a fairvalue was fixed by competent judges. In this manner did the French becomethe possessors of these valuable objects of art, and in this manner was thenoble Museum in Paris filled up, and surely nothing could be more generousand liberal than the use made of the Museum by the French Government;foreigners were indeed more favoured than the inhabitants themselves. Tothe inhabitants of Paris this Museum is open twice a week; but toforeigners on producing their passports, it is open every day in the weekall the year round; artists of all nations are allowed, during a certainnumber of hours each day, to come to copy the statues and pictures whichsuit their taste; and stoves are lighted for their accommodation duringwinter, and all this gratis. --Now, before these objects of art werecollected here, they were distributed, some in churches, and some inGovernment palaces. To see the first, required a specific introduction tothe owner; to see the second, application to the attendants of the churchesbecame necessary, and for both these you were required to pay fees to theservants and church-attendants, who are always impatient to take your feeand hurry you through the apartments or chapels, scarcely giving you timeto examine anything. To be admitted into the Government palaces was amatter of favour, and here also fees were required. [32] Here in the Louvrethere is no introduction required; no court to be paid to _major-domos_, nofavour; it is open to all classes, high and low, without exception, and nomoney is allowed to be given. 

But there are some people, in their ridiculous fury against the FrenchRevolution, who would fain persuade us that before that epoch there was agolden age on the earth, that there were no acts of violence committed, nofrauds practised, no property injured, no individuals ill-used; that everyPrince governed like Numa; that every noble was a Bayard, and every priestlike a primitive apostle. Why I need go no further than the Seven Years'war to show that in that war, during the height of European civilisation, and carried on between the most polished nations in Europe, there were muchmore acts of violence and rapine carried on than ever were done by theFrench republicans. I by no means wish to excuse or even palliate the actsof ferocity which took place at that epoch of the French Revolution calledthe reign of Terror, which were executed by a people wrought up to frenzyby a recollection of their wrongs; and I know too well that many virtuousindividuals fell victims to their indiscriminating fury; but I do believeand aver that much more clamour was made at the execution of a handful ofcorrupt courtiers, intriguing and profligate women of quality and worthlesspriests, than all the rest put together. 

To return to the Seven Years' war (I may be permitted to take thisretrospect, I hope, since it is the fashion, and those who differ with mein opinions go much farther back than I do), let the French royalists andemigrants recollect the confiscation of property and barbarity exercised byMarshall Richelieu in Hanover, where many families were reduced to beggary. They may not chuse to recollect this; but the Hanoverians do and they havenot forgotten the _Pavillon de Hanovre_, so called by the wits of the timefrom its having been built by the Marshall with money arising from thespoils of Hanover; will they recollect also the harsh treatment inflictedon the burghers and citizens of a town in Germany, who were shut up in aroom and kept without food or drink for nearly three days because theywould not consent to fix a heavy and unwarrantable contribution on theirfellow citizens; when these unhappy but virtuous men were only allowed togo out for the necessities of nature attended by sentries, and on the thirdday, when fainting with hunger, a little bread and water was given to them, with an assurance that in future they were not to expect such luxuries. Have they forgot the devastation committed in Berlin by the Austrians inthe Seven Years' war, when they pillaged, burned or destroyed all thevaluable property of the royal Palaces, the most valuable works of art, vases, statues of antiquity, the loss of which could never be replaced;when they lopped off the heads, arms and legs of the statues? Have theyforgot the conduct of the belligerent powers at the siege of Dresden at thesame epoch, when whole families, among whom were helpless old men and womenwith children at the breast, were compelled to leave Dresden in the middleof a most rigorous winter and were driven to take refuge in the fieldswhere the most of them perished with hunger and cold; and where manyindividuals lost their reason and became insane from the treatment theyreceived? Have they forgotten the merciless barbarities inflicted by theRussians in the same war on the inhabitants of the Prussian territory?their ripping up and burning men, women, and children? and the dreadfulretaliation inflicted on them at the battle of Zorndorff, when thePrussians, exasperated at the idea of those horrors so fresh in theirmemory, on being ordered to bury the Russian dead, threw the wounded menalso belonging to that nation into the graves dug for the dead, to be thusburied alive, and hastily filled them up with earth, as if fearful thatthey might relent, did they give themselves time for reflection? These arenot exaggerations; they are given by an author celebrated for hisimpartiality and deep research and who was an eye-witness of many of theseproceedings; I mean Archenholz in his admirable history of the Seven Years'war. [33]

Then again in the war of American Independence (and here my countrymen mustexcuse me if I point out the acts of injustice committed by them, whenacting in obedience to an unprincipled and arbitrary government and in acause hostile to freedom), who does not recollect the private propertywantonly destroyed and confiscated by the English? their employing theIndian tribes, those merciless savages of the forest, to scalp, etc. , whichcalled forth the indignation of a Chatham? and the grossly unjust pillageand confiscation of property which took place at St Eustatius by thecommanders of a _religious and gracious King_?[34] Again, who does notrecollect the gentle but deep reproof given by the American GeneralSchuyler to the English General Burgoyne, when the latter was made prisonerby the Americans under Gates? General Schuyler's valuable house, barns, etc. , had been burned by the express order of Burgoyne. Nevertheless, Schuyler received him with dignified politeness, magnanimously stifled therecollection of the injury he had received, and obtained for him a goodquarter, merely remarking, "General, had my house and farms not beenburned, I could have offered you a more comfortable abode. " How Burgoynemust have felt this reproof! yet he was not by nature a harsh man, but hehad the orders of his government to exercise severities; he was educated inTory principles, and passive obedience is their motto. 

Can one forget likewise even, in the late war, Nelson's conduct toCaraccioli at Naples, whom he caused to be hanged on board of an Englishship of war, together with a number of other patriots, in violation of asolemn capitulation, by which it had been stipulated that they should beconsidered as prisoners of war and sent to France? Then again the wantondestruction of the Capitol and other public buildings at Washington notdevoted to military purposes, which it is not usual to destroy or deface;and the valuable public library too which was burned? What excuse can beoffered for this? Were the times of Omar returned? It is fair and allowedby the laws of war to blow up and destroy arsenals, magazines, containingwarlike stores and engines of destruction, but to destroy with Gothicbarbarity buildings of great symmetry and beauty, and a library too--O fie!

Why I will defy any man to point out a single instance where the Frenchrepublican armies or Napoleon ever injured or wantonly destroyed a singlenational edifice, a single work of art, a single book belonging to anyother country! On the contrary, they invariably extended their protectionto the Arts and Sciences. Why at Vienna, where there is, I understand, amost splendid museum, and many most valuable works of art and antiquity, tho' this city fell twice into their possession, they never destroyed ortook away a single article; but, on the contrary, there, as well as inBerlin, they invited the inhabitants to form a civic guard for theprotection of their property. As to the Vandalism shewn during the reign ofTerror, and I by no means seek to palliate it, that was of short duration, it was madness, if you will, but it was disinterested--and other nationswho talk a great deal about their superior morality would do well to lookat home. They would there observe, in their own historic page, that theatrocities of the French Revolution have not only been equalled butsurpassed perhaps by more dreadful scenes committed at Wexford in 1798, under the auspices of the Government then ruling Ireland and which thenoble and virtuous ----[35] disdained to serve. 

Excuse this long digression, but I feel it my duty to open the eyes of mycountrymen and prevent them from supporting on all occasions the unjustacts of their Government, which reflect dishonour on a great andenlightened nation; which can boast, among its annals, of some of the mostheroic, splendid, and disinterested characters that ever the worldproduced. 

All that I need add on the subject of the statues and pictures is, thatputting out of the question the justice or injustice of the restitution, itwill be a great loss to England and to English artists in particular, should they be removed: many an artist can afford to make a trip to Paris, who would find it beyond his means to make a journey to Florence or Rome. 

If these objects of art are to be taken away, it should be stipulated so inthe treaty of peace; and then everybody would understand it. This would beputting it on the fairest footing. You then say to France: "You gainedthese things by conquest; you lose them by defeat"; but for God's sake letus have no more of that _cant_ about revolutionary robberies!

PARIS, ----

I went for the first time to the Grand Opera, or, as it is here called, theAcadémie Royale de Musique, which is in the Rue de Richelieu. _Armida_ wasthe piece performed, the music by Glück. The decorations were splendid andthe dancing beyond all praise. The scenes representing the garden of Armidaand the nymphs dancing fully expressed in the mimic art those beautifullines of Tasso:

 Cogliam d'amor la rosa! amiamo or, quando Esser si puote riamato amando![36]

The effect of the dissolution of the palace and gardens by the waving ofArmida's wand is astonishing; it appears completely to be the work ofinchantment, from the rapidity of execution which follows the _potentissimeparole_. The French recitative however does not please me. The seriousopera is an exotic and does not seem to thrive on the soil of France. Thelanguage does not possess sufficient intonation to give effect to therecitative. 

On the contrary, the comic operas are excellent; and here the nationalmusic and singing appear to great advantage. It never degenerates to thegrotesque or absurd _buffo_ of the Italians, but is always exquisitelygraceful, simple, touching and natural. 

Among the ballets, I have seen perhaps three of the best, viz. , _Achille àScyros, Flore et Zéphire_ and _La folle par amour_. In the ballet of Floreand Zéphire, the dancers who did these two parts appeared more aerian thanearthly. To use a phrase of Burke's, I never beheld so _beautiful a vision. Nina_, or _la folle par amour_, is a ballet from private life. The titlesufficiently explains its purport; it is exquisitely touching and pathetic. O what a divine creature is Bigottini! what symmetry of form! what innategrace, what a captivating expression of countenance; and then the manner inwhich she did the mad scenes and her return to reason! Oh! I was moved evento tears. Never had any performance such an effect upon me. What amagnificent _tout ensemble_ is the Grand Opera at Paris! Whenever I feelchagrined or melancholy I shall come here; I feel as if I were in a newworld; the fiction appears reality; my senses are ravished, and I forgetall my cares. 

I have very little pleasure in visiting royal Palaces, unless they havebeen the residence of some transcendent, person like Napoleon or FrederickII of Prussia, as the sight of splendid furniture and royal pomp affords meno gratification; and I would rather visit Washington's or Lafayette'sfarms in company with these distinguished men than dine with all themonarchs of Europe. After a hasty glance at the furniture of the Tuileries, what fixed my attention for a considerable time was "La Salle desMaréchaux, " where are the portraits of all the modern French Marshalls. They are all full length portraits and are striking resemblances; some arein the Marshall's undress uniform and others in the full court costumewhich is very elegant, being the costume of the time of Francis I with theSpanish hat and plumes. I did not observe Ney's or Soult's portraits amongthem. 

In front of the great square of the Tuileries where the troops exercise, stands the Arch of Triumph erected by Napoleon, commonly called _l'Arc duCarrousel_. It is a beautiful piece of architecture, but is far too smallto tally with such a vast mass of buildings as the Palace and offices ofthe Tuileries. By the side of them it appears almost Lilliputian. It wouldhave been better to have made it in the style of the triumphal arch of thePorte St Denis. On this arc of the Carrousel are _bas-reliefs_ both outsideand inside, representing various actions of Napoleon's life. He is alwaysrepresented in the Roman costume, with the imperial laurel on his brows, with kings kneeling, and presenting the keys of conquered cities. On theoutside are statues, large as life, in modern military costume, representing the different _armes_ which compose the French army. [37] Onthe top of this Arc du Carrousel is an antique car of triumph, to which areharnessed the four bronze horses which were taken from the façade of theChurch of San Marco in Venice. They are of beautiful workmanship and ofgreat antiquity. What various and mighty revolutions have these horseswitnessed! Cast in Corinth in the time of the glories of the Greciancommonwealths and removed by conquest to Rome, they witnessed thesuccessive fall of the Grecian and Roman states; transferred toConstantinople in the time of Constantine, and from thence removed toVenice when Constantinople fell into the hands of the French and Venetians;transferred from thence to Paris in 1798, they have witnessed thesuccessive falls of the Eastern and Western Empires, of the Republic ofVenice and the Napoleonic dynasty and Empire. Report says they are to berestored to Venice; and who knows whether they may not be destined one dayto return to their original country, Greece, under perhaps Russianauspices?

The Gardens of the Tuileries which lie at the back part of the palace arevery spacious, well laid out in walks and lined with trees. Large basinsinlaid with stone, fountains and statues add to the grandeur of thesegardens; they extend from the Tuileries as far as the Place Louis XVparallel to the Seine, and are separated by a wall and parapet and abeautiful cast iron railing from the Quai, and on the other side from theRue de Rivoli, one of the new streets, and the best in Paris forpedestrians. On the side opposite the palace itself is the _Place LouisXV_, called in the time of the republic _Place de la Révolution_, and wherethe unfortunate Louis XVI suffered decapitation. The _Place Louis XV_ is byfar the most magnificent thing of the kind I have ever seen and far exceedsthe handsomest of our squares in London. On one side of it is the _Hótel duGarde Meuble_, a superb edifice. On the other the Quai, the river; and onthe other side of the river is the _Palais du Corps législatif_, now theplace where the Chamber of Deputies hold their sitting, and which has amagnificent façade. In front of this place are the Champs Elysées andavenue of Neuilly and behind the gardens and palace of the Tuileries. 

My next visit was to the _Place Vendôme_, where stands the majestic columnof the Grand Army. To me this column is the most striking thing of its kindthat I have hitherto seen. It is of bronze and of the most beautifulworkmanship, cast from the cannon taken from the Austrians in the war of1805, and on it are figured in bas-relief the various battles andachievements, winding round and round from the base to the capital. It isconstructed after the model of the Column of Trajan in Rome. 

The next place I visited was the Chamber of Deputies. It is a fine buildingwith a Doric façade and columns; it is peculiarly striking from its noblesimplicity. On the façade are bas-reliefs representing actions inNapoleon's life. The flight of steps leading to the façade is very grand, and there are colossal figures representing Prudence, Justice, Fortitudeand other legislative virtues. The Chamber itself where the Deputies holdtheir sittings is in the form of a Greek theatre; the arch of thesemi-circle forms the gallery appropriated to the audience, and comprehendsin its enclosure the seats of the deputies like the seats in a Greektheatre; on the chord of the semi-circle where the _proscenium_ should be, is the tribune and President's seat. The whole is exceedingly elegant. TheOrator whose turn it is to speak leaves his seat, ascends the tribune andfaces the Deputies. The anti-rooms adjoining this Chamber are fitted upwith long tables and fauteuils and are appropriated to the sittings of thevarious committees. These antichambers are hung round with picturesrepresenting the victories of the French armies; but they are covered withgreen baize and carefully concealed from the public eye in order to stiflerecollections and prevent comparisons. 

PARIS, August. 

I mounted on horseback and rode out to St Cloud to breakfast, passingthrough the Champs Elysées, the Bois de Boulogne and the little town ofPassy, and returned by the Quai, as far as the bridge of Jéna, which Ipassed and went to visit the _Hôtel des Invalides, le Champ de Mars_, the_Pantheon_ or Church of St Geneviève and the Palace of the Luxembourg. Thiswas pretty good work for one day; and as you will expect some littleaccount of my ideas thereon, I shall give you a _précis_ of what mostinterested me. 

In the Champs Elysées are quartered several English regiments who areencamped there, and this adds to the liveliness of the scene; our soldiersseem to enjoy themselves very much. They are in the midst of places ofrecreation of all kinds, such as guinguettes, tennis-courts, dancing salonsand cafés, and besides these (places of Elysium for English soldiers), wineand brandy shops innumerable; our soldiers seem to agree very well with theinhabitants. In the Bois de Boulogne are Hanoverian troops as well asEnglish. At Passy I stopped at the house occupied by my friend, Major C. Ofthe 33rd Regt. , [38] who was to accompany me to St Cloud. St Cloud is anexceedingly neat pretty town, well and solidly built, and tolerably large. There are a great many good restaurants and cafes, as St Cloud with itsPalace, promenades and gardens forms one of the most favourite resorts ofthe Parisians on Sundays and _jours de fête_. Diners _de société_ and_noces et festins_ are often made here; and there is both land and waterconveyance during the whole day. There are two roads by land from Paris:the one on the Quai the whole way; the other through the Bois de Boulogneand Champs Elysées. The gardens of St Cloud are laid out something in thestyle of a _jardin anglais_, but mixed with the regular old fashionedgarden; it abounds in lofty trees, beautiful sites and well arranged vistascommanding extensive views of Paris and the country environing. St Cloudwas the favourite residence of Napoleon; and the furniture in the palacehere shows him to be a man of the most refined taste. All is elegant andclassic; there is nothing superfluous; the furniture is modern, but instrict imitation of the furniture of the ancients and chiefly in bronze. There are superb vases and candelabras in marble, magnificent clocks ofvarious kinds, marble busts, and busts in bronze of great men, and bronzestatues large as life holding lamps. The chairs and sofas too are in aclassic taste, as are the beds and baths. We were informed here thatBlucher, who passed one night here, tore with his spur the satin coveringof one of the sofas and that he did it wilfully; but I never can believethat the old man would be so silly, and I rather think that this story isan invention of the keeper of the Palace, or that if it was done, it wasdone by an accident merely. But the fact is that Blucher has a contempt forand hates the Parisians and likes to mortify them on all occasions; hethreatens to do a number of things which he never seriously intends, merelyfor the sake of teasing them; and it must be owned that they deserve alittle contempt from the want of _caractère_ they showed on the entrance ofthe Allies. Be it as it may, Blucher is the _bête noire_ of the Parisiansand they are as much afraid of him as the children are of _MonsieurCroque-mitaine_. 

We returned from St Cloud by the Quai, crossed the bridge of Jéna, galloped along the _Champs de Mars_, took a hasty glance at the _Hôtel desInvalides_, a magnificent edifice and which may be distinguished from allother buildings by its gilded cupola. It is a superb establishment in everyrespect, and is furnished with an excellent library. A great many oldsoldiers are to be seen in this library occupied in reading; they are verypolite to all visitors, particularly to ladies. Nothing can betterdemonstrate the superior character, intelligence and deportment of theFrench soldiers over those of all other countries than the way in whichthey employ their time in literary pursuits, their dignified politeness tovisitors and the intelligent answers they give to questions. I am afraidour British veterans, brave as they are in the field, occupy themselves, when laid up as invalids, more in destroying their bodies by spirituousliquors than in improving their minds by reading. The Chapel of thisestablishment where were displayed the banners and trophies taken atdifferent epochs from the enemies of France, and which were much mutilatedby the wars since the Revolution, is now stripped of all the ensigns ofglory. They were all burned by the French themselves previous to thecapitulation of Paris in 1814, in order to prevent their falling into thehands of the enemy. An old soldier who was my guide related this with tearsin his eyes, but suddenly checking himself said: "_Mais telle estl'histoire_. "

The only things now in this Chapel that interest the eye of the travellerare the monuments of Vauban and Turenne. Of the rest nought remains but thebrilliant souvenirs. 

 Fuit Ilium, et ingens Gloria Teucrorum!. .. [39]

I had a great deal of difficulty in inducing this old soldier to accept ofthree franks; I told him at last that, as he did not want it himself, totake it and give it to somebody that did. I then visited the rest of theestablishment. There is a whole range of rooms which contains models orplans in relief of all the fortresses of France; they are admirably andmost minutely executed; not only the fortifications and public buildings, but the private houses, the gardens, orchards, meadows, mountains, hill anddale, bridges, trees, every feature of the ground in fine and of thesurrounding country are given in miniature. In fact it gives you the sameidea of the places themselves and of the environing country as if you wereheld up in the air over them to inspect them; or as if you viewed them froma balloon at the distance of 800 yards from the earth. The models ofStrassburg, Lille and three or four others have been taken away by theAustrians and Prussians, but I have seen those of Calais, Dunkirk, Villefranche, Toulon, and Brest, and in fact almost every other Frenchfortress. This is one of the most interesting sights in Paris, and for thiswe are certainly indebted to the occupation; for I question much iftravellers were ever permitted to see these models until Paris fell intothe hands of the Allies. Prussian sentries do duty at the doors; howgrating this must be to the old invalids! Among the models I must not omitto mention a very curious one which represents the battle of Lodi. The townof Lodi, the bridge and river are admirably executed. The soldiers arerepresented by little figures about a quarter of an inch in height andcobwebs are disposed so as to represent the smoke of the firearms, Buonaparte and his staff are on horseback on one side of the bridge. Thereis also a very fine model of the _Hôtel des Invalides_ itself. 

From hence we went to the garden and palace of the Luxembourg. Thesegardens form the midday and afternoon promenade of that part of the city. In one wing of the Palace is the Chamber of Peers, elegantly fitted up andin some respect resembling a Greek theatre. The busts of Cicero, Brutus, Demosthenes, Phocion and other great men of antiquity adorn the niches ofthis chamber and on the grand _escalier_ are the statues in natural size ofKleber, Dessaix, Caffarelli and other French generals. Report says thatthese statues will be removed. 

In the picture gallery at the Luxembourg is a choice collection of picturesof the modern French school such as Guérin, David, etc. The subjects areextremely well chosen, being taken from the mythology or from ancient andmodern history. I was too glad to find no crucifixions, martyrdoms, noreternal Madonnas. I distinguished in particular the _Judgment of Brutus_and the _Serment des Horaces et des Curiaces_. Connoisseurs find theattitudes too stiff and talk to you of the Italian school; but I preferthese; yet I had better hold my tongue on this subject, for I am told Iknow nothing about painting. 

Poor Labédoyère[40] is sentenced to be shot by the Court Martial whichtried him, and the sentence will be carried immediately into execution. Hisfate excites universal sympathy, and I have seen many people shed tearswhen talking on this subject. He certainly ought to be protected by the12th Article of the Capitulation. The French are very uneasy; the Allieshave begun to strip the Louvre and there is no talk of what the terms ofpeace are to be, or what is the determination of the Allies. This is adreadful state of uncertainty for the French people and may lead to ageneral insurrection. The Allies continue pouring troops into France andlevying contributions. "_Vae victis_" seems their motto. France is now adisarmed nation, and no French uniform is to be seen except that of theNational Guard and the "Garde Royale. " France is at the mercy of herenemies and prostrate at their feet; a melancholy prospect for Europeanliberty!

The Allies have parades and reviews two or three times a week and theSovereigns of Russia, Austria and Prussia constantly attend; Wellington istheir showman. These crowned Heads like mightily playing at soldiers; Ishould think His Grace must be heartily tired of them. Massacres andpersecutions of the Protestants have begun to take place in the South ofFrance, and the priests are at work again threatening with excommunicationand hell the purchasers and inheritors of emigrant estates and churchlands. These priests and emigrants are incorrigible. Frequent quarrels takeplace almost every evening in the Palais Royal between the Prussianofficers and the French, particularly some of the officers from the army ofthe Loire. I rather suspect these latter are the aggressors. The Prussiansbeing gorged with plunder come there to eat, drink and amuse themselves andhave as little stomach for fighting as the soldier of Lucullus had afterhaving enriched himself; but the officers of the army of the Loire are, poor fellows, in a very different predicament; they have not even been paidwhat is due to them, and they, having none of those nice felicities (to usean expression of Charlotte Smith's)[41] which make life agreeable, areready for any combat, to set their life on any cast, "to mend it, or to berid of 't. " The Prussians indulge in every sort of dissipation, which theyare enabled to do by the plunder which they have accumulated, and of whichthey have formed, I understand, a _dépôt_ at St Germain. They send thesearticles of plunder to town every day to be sold, and then divide theprofits, which are sure to be spent in the Palais Royal, and other placesof revel and debauchery. 

They sometimes affect a fastidiousness of stomach which is quite laughable, and not at all peculiar to the Germans, who are in general blessed bynature with especial good appetites; and they spend so much money that theEnglish officers who have not had the advantages of plunder that thesePrussians have had must appear by the side of them stingy and niggardly. 

I was witness one day to a whimsical scene, which will serve to give you anidea of the airs of importance these gentlemen give themselves. I was oneday at Versailles and after having visited the palace and gardens I enteredthe Salon of a restaurateur and called for a veal cutlet and _vinordinaire_. There was a fat Prussian Major with two or three of hiscompanions at one of the tables, who had been making copious libations toBacchus in Burgundy and Champaign. He heard me call for _vin ordinaire_, and whether it was to show his own magnificence I know not, but he calledout to the _cafetière_: "Madame, votre vin ordinaire est il buvable? carj'en veux donner a mon trompette, et s'il n'est pas bon, il n'en boira pas. Faites venir mon trompette. " Now I dare say in his own country this Majorwould not have disdained even the "schwarze Bier" of Brandenburgh. 

Scarcely any quarrels, I believe, take place between the English andFrench, nor did I hear of any violent fracas but one. In this instance, theEnglish officers concerned must have been sad, brutal, vulgar fellows. They, however, after behaving in a most gross insulting manner, werecompelled by some Frenchmen not to eat but to drink their words, and thatout of a vessel not usually employed in drinking. I shall not repeat thecontemptible affair, but it furnished the subject of a caricature. 

The English officers in general behave in a handsome and liberal manner, and their conduct was spoken of in high terms of encomium by very many ofthe French themselves. I regret however exceedingly that any of the Britishofficers should have imbibed the low prejudices and vulgar hatred againstthe French, which certain people preach up in England to cover their ownpeculations and interested views. A young friend of mine, with whom I wasone day talking on political subjects, said to me: "I cannot help agreeingwith you in many things, but I am staggered when I think that your ideasand reasoning are so contrary to the ideas in which I have been brought up;so that I rather avoid entering at all on political questions. "

I do not wonder at all at this, for I recollect when I was at school atEton, the system was to drill into the heads of the boys strongaristocratic principles and hatred of Democracy and of the French inparticular; we were ordered to write themes against the French Revolutionand verses of triumph over their defeats, with now and then a sly theme onthe great advantage of hereditary nobility; in these verses God Almightywas to be represented as closely allied to the British Government and a_sleeping partner_ of the Administration. One of the fellows of EtonCollege actually told the late Mr Adam Walker, the celebrated lecturer onnatural and experimental philosophy, who was accustomed to give lecturesannually to the Etonians, that his visits were no longer agreeable andwould be dispensed with in future; as "Philosophy had done a great deal ofharm and had caused the French Revolution. "

With respect to my visit to Versailles, I was much struck with the vastsize and magnificence of the buildings and with the ingenuity displayed inthe arrangement of the grounds and the numerous groups of statues, grottos, aqueducts, fountains and ruins. Still it pleases me less than StCloud, for I prefer the taste of the present day in gardening and thearrangement of ground, to the ponderous and tawdry taste of the time ofLouis XIV, and I prefer St Cloud to Versailles, just as I should prefer aGrecian Nymph in the simple costume of Arcadia to a fine court lady rougedand dressed out with hoops, diamonds, and headdress of the tune of QueenAnne. Napoleon must have had an exquisite taste. 

[32] Exceptions to this are, I understand, the Gallery at Florence, and the Museo Vaticano at Rome, which are both open to all and no fees allowed. 

[33] Johann Wilhelm Archenholz (1743-1812), author of the _Geschichte des Siebenjährigen Krieges_, 1789. --ED. 

[34] In February, 1781, before the declaration of war was generally known in the West Indies, Rodney's fleet surrounded the Dutch island of Eustatius, which had become a sort of entrepôt for supplying America with British goods; two hundred and fifty ships, together with several millions worth of merchandise, were seized and sold at a military auction. The plunder of Eustatius was bitterly commented upon In the British House of Commons. --Lee Richard Hildreth, _The History of the United States_, vol. III, p. 335. --ED. 

[35] The name is in blank. Major Frye may have meant Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey (1762-1798), the squire of Wexford who deserted to the Irish rebels. --ED. 

[36] Tasso, _Jerusalemme liberata_, canto XVI, ottava 15. --ED. 

[37] For instance, a Cuirassier, a Dragoon, a Grenadier, a Tirailleur, an Artilleryman. 

[38] Major G. Colclough, senior major of the 33rd Regt. --ED. 

[39] Virgil, _Aen_. , II. 325. --ED. 

[40] La Bédoyere (Charles Huchet, Comte de) distinguished himself in several of the Napoleonic wars, in particular at Ratisbonne and Borodino. Being a colonel at Grenoble, in March, 1815, he deserted to Napoleon's cause and was nominated by him general and _pair de France_. In July, 1815, he was arrested in Paris, tried for high treason and shot, August 19, in spite of Benj. Constant's efforts to save him. --ED. 

[41] Charlotte Smith (1749-1806), author of _Emmeline, or the Orphan of the Castle_ (1788), _Celestina_ (1792), _The Old Manor House_ (1793), etc. --ED. 

CHAPTER IV

From Paris to Bruxelles--Visiting the plains of Waterloo--The Duke de Berriat Lille--Beauvais--Return to Paris--Remarks on the French theatre--Talma--Mlle Duchesnois--Mlle Georges-French alexandrine verse--The AbbéDelille--The Opéra Comique. 

I met with my brother-in-law and his nephew at Paris, and hearing from themthat they had an intention of returning to England by the way of Bruxelles, with the idea of visiting the plains of Waterloo, I was induced toaccompany them. We started on the 18th August, taking the exact route fromParis that was taken by Napoleon. Passed the first night at St Quentin; thesecond at a small village on the line between Mons and Charleroy in theBelgian territory. The next morning, after breakfasting at Nivelles, weproceeded to Quatre Bras and Mont St Jean. At the little cabaret called _àla belle Alliance_ we met a host of Englishmen who had been to behold thefield of battle; Lacoste, the peasant who was Napoleon's guide on the dayof battle, was about to conduct them across the fields to Hougoumont. Wefollowed them. The devastation of the place, every tree being pierced withbullets, and the whole premises being nearly burned to the ground, seemedto astonish their _weak minds_; one of them was not contented till he hadmeasured the length and breadth of the garden and orchards. 

Cuirasses, helmets, swords and various other spoils of war found on thespot, were offered for sale by some boys and eagerly bought up as relics. My brother-in-law made a purchase of a helmet, sword and cuirass, intendingto hang it up in his hall. For my part I have seen, and can see no reasonwhatever to rejoice at this event. I fear it is pregnant with infinitemischief. 

We arrived at Bruxelles on the afternoon of the 20th August and aftervisiting thePark, _Alée verte_ and Palace of Laeken, we proceeded the nextmorning on our journey to Lille. 

The Duke of Berri was at Lille and a grand _fête_ was given in the eveningto celebrate the second restoration of the Bourbons. Fireworks were letoff, the city was brilliantly illuminated and boys (hired of course) wentabout the streets singing the following refrain

 À bas, à bas Napoléon! Vivent, vivent les Bourbons!

A number of beautiful women elegantly attired paraded up and down thepublic promenades, which are exceedingly well and tastefully laid out. Thiscity is built with great regularity, and the streets are broad, neat, andclean. It is by far the handsomest city I have ever seen either in Franceor Belgium. The _Hôtel de Ville_ and the theatre both are on the _GrandePlace_ and are well worth seeing. Lille is renowned for its fortifications;I much wished to visit the citadel but I was not permitted. At dinner atthe table d'hôte at the _Hôtel du Commerce_, I remarked a French officerdeclaiming violently against Napoleon; but I heard afterwards that he wasthe son of an Emigrant; the rest of the company did not seem to approve hisdiscourse and shewed visible impatience at it. 

Lille may be easily recognised at its approach from the immense quantity ofwind-mills that are in the vicinity of this city, some of which are usedfor grinding of wheat and others for the expression of oil. A great deal offlax from whence the oil is made, grows in the country. 

I left Lille on the morning of the 24th inst. , with the courier for Amiens. From Amiens I took the diligence to Beauvais and on arrival there I put upunder the hospitable roof of my friend Major G. , of the 18th LightDragoons, lately made Lt. -Colonel for his gallantry at Waterloo. [42] I didnot want for amusement here, for the next day a _fête champêtre_ was givenjust outside the walls of the town, and I admired the grace and tournure ofthe female peasantry and their good dancing. How much more creditable arethese innocent and agreeable _fêtes_ to the fairs and meetings in England, which are generally signalized in drunkenness! The next afternoon presenteda novel sight to the inhabitants of Beauvais, it being a grand cricketmatch played between the officers of the 10th and 18th Dragoons. It was wonby the latter, mainly owing to the superior play of Colonel G. Of the 18th, who never touched a bat since he was at Burney's school. The Officersafterwards dined _al fresco_ and many toasts accompanied by the huzzas weregiven, to the astonishment of the bystanders, who seemed to consider us aslittle better than barbarians. One of the officers wishing to pay acompliment to the inhabitants of Beauvais proposed the health of LouisXVIII, but they seemed to take it coldly and not at all to be flattered bythe compliment. 

After five days very agreeable residence at Beauvais, I put myself in thediligence to return to Paris. During the journey an ardent politicalaltercation arose between a young lady, who appeared to be a warm partisanof Napoleon, on the one side, and a Garde du Corps on the other. The ladywas seconded by a young gentleman, of whom it was difficult to say, whetherhe sustained her argument from a dislike to the present order of things, orfrom a wish to ingratiate himself in her favour. The argument of the Gardedu Corps was espoused, but soberly, by one of the passengers who was amathematical professor at one of the Lyceums; he was not by any means anUltra, but he supported the Bourbons, with moderate, gentlemanly and Itherefore believe sincere attachment. This professor seemed a well informedsort of man; he told me that he was acquainted with Sir James M. , formerlyrecorder at Bombay. On our arrival at the _Bureau des Messageries_, thewhole company forgot their disputes and parted good friends; and the youngman who was partisan of the young lady in the political dispute took caretoinform himself of her abode in Paris. 

 * * * * *

Remarks on the various dramatic performances which I witnessed at Paris, with opinions on the French theatre in general. 

In my ideas of dramatic works I am neither rigidly classic nor romantic, and I think both styles may be good if properly managed and the interestwell kept up; in a word I am pleased with all genres _hors le genreennuyux_, [43] and tho' a great admirer of Shakespeare and Schiller, I amequally so of Voltaire, Racine and Corneille; I take equal delight in thepathos of the sentimental dramas of Kotzebue as in the admirable satire and_vis comica_ of the unrivalled Molière, so that on my arrival at Paris Iwas not violently prejudiced either for or against the French stage, butrather pre-occupied, to use a gentler term, in its favour; and I have notbeen at all disappointed, for I think I can pronounce it with safety thefirst, perhaps the only stage in Europe. 

I now mean to speak not of Operas, nor of Operas-comiques, nor ofmelodrames, nor of vaudevilles; all these have their respective merits; butwhen I speak of the French stage, I confine myself to the regular theatreof tragedy and comedy, of their classical pieces; in a word, to thedramatic performances usually given at the _Théâtre Français_. 

The first piece I saw performed was _Manlius_;[44] but I was too far offfrom the stage to judge of the acting, and could do little more than catchthe sounds. The parterre and the whole house was full. I was in the fourthtier of boxes, yet I could distinguish at intervals the finest and mostprominent traits, of Talma's acting, particularly in that scene where heupbraids his friend with having betrayed him. This he gave with uncommonenergy and effect. The plot of this piece is very similar to that of_Venice preserved_. [45]

The next piece I saw represented was the _Avare_ of Molière, which to mewas one of the greatest dramatic treats I had ever witnessed. Every partwas well supported. The next was _Athalie_ of Racine. Here too I was highlygratified. Mlle Georges performed the part of Athalie and gave me theperfect ideal of the haughty Queen. Her narration of the dream was givenwith the happiest effect, and in her attempt to conceal her uneasiness andher affected contempt of the dream in these lines:

 Un songe, me devrois--je inquiéter d'un songe?

she seemed in reality to labour under all the anxiety and fatigue arisingfrom it. That fine scene between Joad and Joas was well given, and thelittle girl who did the part of Joas performed with a good deal of spirit. The actor who played Joad recited in a most impressive manner the advice tothe young prince terminating in these lines:

 Vous souvenant, mon fils, que caché sous ce lin, Comme eux vous fûtes pauvre et comme eux orphelin. 

The interrogating scene between Athalie and Joad was given spiritedly, butthe rather abrupt and uncourtierlike reply to the Queen's remark, "Ils sontdeux puissans dieux"--"Lui seul est dieu, Madame, et le vôtre n'est rien"--excited a laugh and I fancy never fails to do so, every time the piece isperformed. 

Racine has several passages in his tragedies which perhaps have rather toomuch _naiveté_ for the dignity of the cothurnus; for instance in the answerof Agamemnon to Achille in the tragedy of _Iphigénie_:

 Puisque vous le savez, pourquoi le demander?

A poet of to-day would be quizzed for a line like the above, but who dareventure to point out any defect in an author of whom Voltaire has said andwith justice too, that the only criticism to be made of him (Racine) wouldbe to write under every page: "Admirable, harmonieux, sublime!"

The costume and the decorations at the _Théâtre français_ are so strictlyclassical and appropriate in every respect, that it is to me a source ofhigh delight to witness the representation of the favourite pieces ofRacine, Corneille, Molière and Voltaire, which I have so often read with somuch pleasure in the closet and no small quantity of which I have by heart. 

The next piece I saw was the _Cinnna_ of Corneille; and here it was that Ibeheld Talma for the second time. I was of course highly pleased, tho' Iwas rather far off to hear very distinctly; this was, however, no verygreat loss, as I was perfectly well acquainted with the tragedy. Talma'sgestures, his pause's, his natural mode of acting gave a great relief tothe long declamation with which this tragedy abounds. When this tragedy wasgiven it was during the time that poor Labédoyère's trial was going on, andthe allusions to Augustus' clemency were eagerly seized and applauded. Itwas hoped that Louis XVIII would imitate Augustus. Vain hope!

I have seen _Phèdre_; the part of Phèdre by that admirable actress MlleDuchesnois, who performs the part so naturally and with so much passionthat we entirely forget the extreme plainness of the person. She acts withfar more feeling and pathos than Mlle Georges. I shall never be able toforget Mlle Duchesnois in _Phèdre_. She gave me a full idea of theimpassioned Queen, nor were it possible to depict with greater fidelity the"Vénus toute entière à sa proie attachée, " as in that beautiful speech ofPhèdre to Oenone wherein she reveals her passion for Hippolyte andpourtrays the terrible struggle between duty and female delicacy on the onehand, and on the other a flame that could not be overcome, convinced as itwere of the complete inutility of further efforts of resistance andinvoking death as her only refuge. I was moved even to tears. I am so greatan admirer of the whole of this speech beginning "Mon mal vient de pluslorn" etc. , and ending "Un reste de chaleur tout prêt à s'exhaler, " that Ithink in it Racine has not only united the excellencies of Euripides, Sappho and Theocritus in describing the passion of love, but has farsurpassed them all; that speech is certainly the masterpiece of Frenchversification and scarcely inferior to it is that beautiful and ingenuousconfession of love by Hippolyte to Aricie. What an admirable _pendant_ tothe love of Phèdre! In Hippolyte you behold the innocence, simplicity andingenuousness of a first and pure attachment: in Phèdre the _embrasement_, the ungovernable delirium of a criminal passion. 

I have seen Mlle Duchesnois again in the _Mérope_ of Voltaire and admireher more and more. This is an admirable play. The dialogue is so spirited;the agitation of maternal tenderness, and the occasional bursts of feelingsimpossible to be restrained, render this play one of the most interestingperhaps on the French stage, and Mlle Duchesnois gave with the happiesteffect her part in those two scenes; the first wherein she supposes Egistheto be the person who has killed her son; in the other where havingdiscovered the reality of his person, she is obliged to dissemble thediscovery, but on Egisthe being about to be sacrificed she exclaims"Barbare, c'est mon fils!" The part of Egisthe was given by a young actorwho made his appearance at this theatre for the first tune, and he executedhis part with complete success (Firmin, I think, was his name). Lafond didthe part of Polyphonte and did it well. At this tragedy many allusions werecaught hold of by the audience according as they were Bourbonically orNapoleonically inclined; at that part of Polyphonte's speech wherein hesays:

 Le premier qui fut Roi fut un soldat heureux. Qui sert bien son pays n'a pas besoin d'ayeux. 

Thunders of applause proceeded from those who applied it to Napoleon. Atthe line:

 Est il d'autre parti que celui de nos rois?

a loud shout and clapping proceeded from the Royalists; but I fancy ifhands had been shown these last would have been in a sad minority. I haveoften amused myself with comparing the _Mérope_ of Voltaire with that ofMaffei and am puzzled to which to give the preference. Maffei has madePolyphonte a more odious and perhaps on that account a more theatricalcharacter, while Voltaire's Polyphonte is more in real life. In the play ofVoltaire he is a rough brutal soldier, void of delicacy of feeling and notvery scrupulous, but not that praeternatural deep designing villain that heis represented in the piece of Maffei. In fact Maffei's Polyphonte appearstoo _outré_; but then on the stage may not a little exaggeration beallowed, just as statues which are destined to be placed in the open air oron columns appear with greater effect when larger than the natural size?Alfleri seems to have given the preference to the Mérope of Voltaire. 

I have seen Talma a second time in the part of Nero in the Britannicus ofRacine; Mlle Georges played the part of Agrippina. Talma was Nero from headto foot; his very entry on the stage gave an idea of the fiery andimpatient character of the tyrant, and in the scene between him and hismother Agrippina nothing could be better delineated. The forced calm ofAgrippina, while reproaching her son with his ingratitude, and theimpatience of Nero to get rid of such an importunate monitress, were givenin a style impossible to be surpassed. Talma's dumb show during this scenewas a masterpiece of the mimic art. If Talma gives such effects to hisrôles in a French drama, where he is shackled by rules, how much greaterwould he give on the English or German stages in a tragedy of Shakespeareor Schiller!

Blank verse is certainly better adapted to tragedy than rhymedalexandrines, but then the French language does not admit of blank verse, and to write tragedies in prose, unless they be tragedies in modern life, would deprive them of all charm; but after all I find the harmonious pompand to use a phrase of Pope's "The long majestic march and energy divine"of the French alexandrine, very pleasing to the ear. I am sure that theFrench poets deserve a great deal of credit for producing such masterpiecesof versification from a language, which, however elegant, is the leastpoetical in Europe; which allows little or no inversion, scarce any poeticlicense, no _enjambement_, compels a fixed caesura; has in horror thehiatus; and in fine is subject to the most rigorous rules, which can on noaccount be infringed; which rejects hyperbole; which is measured bysyllables, the pronunciation of which is not felt in prose; compels thealternative termination of a masculine or feminine rhyme; and with all thisrequires more perhaps than any other language that cacophony be sedulouslyavoided. Such are the difficulties a French poet has to struggle with; hemust unite the most harmonious sound with the finest thought. In Italianvery often the natural harmony of the language and the music of the soundconceal the poverty of the thought; besides Italian poetry has innumerablelicenses which make it easy to figure in the Tuscan Parnassus, and whereanyone who can string together _rime_ or _versi sciolti_ is dignified withthe appellation of a poet; whereas from French poetry, a mediocrity is andmust be of necessity banished. Neither is it sufficient for an author tohave sublime ideas; these must be filed and pruned. Inspiration can make apoet of a German, an Italian or an Englishman, because he may revel inunbounded license of metre and language, but in French poetry inspirationis by no means sufficient; severe study and constant practise are asindispensable as poetic verve to constitute a French poet. The French poetsare sensible of this and on this account they prefer imitating theancients, polishing their rough marble and fitting it to the nationaltaste, to striking out a new path. 

The Abbé Delille, the best poet of our day that France has produced, hasgone further; he had read and admired the best English poets such asMilton, Pope, Collins and Goldsmith, and has not disdained to imitate them;yet he has imitated them with such elegance and judgment that he has leftnothing to regret on the part of those of his countrymen who are notacquainted with English, and he has rendered their beauties with such aforce that a foreigner Versed in both languages who did not previously knowwhich was the original, and which the translation, might take up passagesin Pope, Thomson, Collins and Goldsmith and read parallel passages inDelille and be extremely puzzled to distinguish the original: for none ofthe beauties are lost in these imitations. And yet, in preferring toimitate, it must not be inferred that he was deficient in originalthoughts. 

To return to the theatre, I have seen Mlle Mars in the _rôle_ of Henriettein the _Femmes Savantes_ of Molière. Oh! how admirable she is! She realizescompletely the conception of a graceful and elegant Frenchwoman of thefirst society. She does not act; she is at home as it were in her ownsalon, smiling at the silly pretensions of her sister and at the ridiculouspedantry of Trissotin; her refusing the kiss because she does notunderstand Greek was given with the greatest _naiveté_. In a word Mlle Marsreigns unrivalled as the first comic actress in Europe. 

I have seen too, _Les Plaideurs_ of Racine and _Les fourberies de Scapin_of Molière, both exceedingly well given; particularly the scene in thelatter wherein it is announced to Géronte that his son had fallen into thehands of a Turkish corsair, and his answer "Que diable allait-il faire dansla galère?"

I have seen also _Andromaque_, _Iphigénie_ and _Zaïre_. Mlle Volnais didthe part of Andromaque; but the monotonous plaintiveness of her voice, which never changes, wearies me. In _Iphigénie_ I was more gratified; forMlle Georges did the part of Clytemnestre, and her sister, a young girl ofseventeen, made her début in the part of Iphigénie with great effect. Thetwo sisters supported each other wonderfully well, and Lafond did Agamemnonvery respectably. 

Mlle Georges the younger, having succeeded in _Iphigénie_, appeared in thepart of Zaïre, a bold attempt, and tho' she did it well and with muchgrace, yet it was evidently too arduous a task for her. The whole onus ofthis affecting piece rests on the _rôle_ of Zaïre. In the part where_naiveté_ was required she succeeded perfectly and her burst: "MaisOrosmane m'aime et j'ai tout oublie" was most happy; but she was too faintand betrayed too little emotion in portraying the struggle between her lovefor Orosmane and the unsubdued symptoms of attachment to her father andbrother and to the religion of her ancestors. In short, where much passionand pathos was required, there she proved unequal to the task; but she hasevidently all the qualities and dispositions towards becoming a goodactress, and with more study and practise I have no doubt that three orfour years hence, she will be fully equal to the difficult task of givingeffect to and portraying to life, the exquisitely touching and highlyinteresting _rôle_ of Zaïre. She was not called for to appear on the stageafter the termination of the performance, tho' frequently applauded duringit. The actor who did the part of Orosmane, in that scene wherein hediscovers he has killed Zaïre unjustly, gave a groan which had an unhappyeffect; it was such an awkward one, that it made all the audience laugh; nopeople catch ridicule so soon as the French. 

What I principally admire on the French stage is that the actors are alwaysperfect in their parts and all the characters are well sustained; theperformance never flags for a moment; and I have experienced infinitelymore pleasure in beholding the dramas of Racine and Voltaire than those ofShakespeare, and for this reason that, on our stage, for one good actor youhave the many who are exceedingly bad and who do not comprehend theirauthor: you feel consequently a _hiatus valde deflendus_ when the principalactor or actress are not on the stage. I have been delighted to see Kemble, and Mrs Siddons and Miss O'Neil, and while they were on the stage I was alleyes and ears; but the other actors were always so inferior that thecontrast was too obvious and it only served to make more conspicuous theflagging of interest that pervades the tragedies of Shakespeare, _Macbeth_alone perhaps excepted. I speak only of Shakespeare's faults as adramaturgus and they are rather the faults of his age than his own; for ineverything else I think him the greatest litterary genius that the worldever produced, and I place him far above any poet, ancient or modern; yetin allowing all this, I do not at all wonder that his dramatic pieces donot in general please foreigners and that they are disgusted with the lowbuffoonery, interruption of interest and want of arrangement that ought ofnecessity to constitute a drama; for I feel the same objections myself whenreading Shakespeare, and often lose patience; but then when I come to somesublime passage, I become wrapt up in it alone and totally forget the pieceitself. In order to inspire a foreigner with admiration for Shakespeare, Iwould not give him his plays to read entire, but I would present him with a_recueil_ of the most beautiful passages of that great poet; and I am surehe would be so delighted with them that he would readily join in the "AllHail" that the British nation awards him. Thus you may perceive thedistinction I make between the creative genius who designs, and the artistwho fills up the canvas; between the Poet and the Dramaturgus. I amprobably singular in my taste as an Englishman, when I tell you that Iprefer Shakespeare for the closet and Racine or Voltaire or Corneille forthe stage: and with regard to English tragedies, I prefer as an actingdrama Home's _Douglas_[46] to any of Shakespeare's, _Macbeth_ aloneexcepted; and for this plain reason that the interest in _Douglas_ neverflags, nor is diverted. 

In giving my mite of admiration to the French stage, I am fully aware ofits faults, of the long declamation and the _fade galanterie_ thatprevailed before Voltaire made the grand reform in that particular: and onthis account I prefer Voltaire as a tragedian to Racine and Corneille. The_Phédre_ and _Athalie_ of Racine are certainly masterpieces, and littleinferior to them are _Iphigénie, Andromaque_ and _Britannicus_, but in theothers I think he must be pronounced inferior to Voltaire; as a proof of myargument I need only cite _Zaïre, Alzire, Mahomet, Sémiramis, l'Orphelin dela Chine, Brutus_. Voltaire has, I think, united in his dramatic writingsthe beauties of Corneille, Racine and Crébillon and has avoided theirfaults; this however is not, I believe, the opinion of the French ingeneral, but I follow my own judgment in affairs of taste, and if anythingpleases me I wait not to ascertain whether the "master hath said so. "

It shows a delicate attention on the part of the directors of the _ThéâtreFrançais_, now that so many foreigners of all nations are here, to cause tobe represented every night the masterpieces of the French classicaldramatic authors, since these are pieces that every foreigner of educationhas read and admired; and he would much rather go to see acted a play withwhich he was thoroughly acquainted than a new piece of one which he has notread; for as the recitation is extremely rapid it would not be so easy forhim to seize and follow it without previous reading. 

Of Molière I had already seen the _Avare_, the _Femmes savantes_ and the_Fourberies de Scapin_. Since these I have seen the _Tartuffe_ and _GeorgeDandin_ both inimitably performed; how I enjoyed the scene of the _Pauvrehomme!_ in the _Tartuffe_ and the lecture given to George Dandin by M. AndMme de Sotenville wherein they recount the virtues and merits of theirrespective ancestors. Of Molière indeed there is but one opinion throughoutEurope; in the comic line he bears away the palm unrivalled and here Ifully agree with the "general. "

I must not quit the subject of French theatricals without speaking of the_Opéra comique_ at the _Théâtre Faydeau_. It is to the sort of light piecesthat are given here, that the French music is peculiarly appropriate, andit is here that you seize and feel the beauty and melody of the nationalmusic; these little _chansons_, _romances_ and _ariettas_ are so pleasingto the ear that they imprint themselves durably on the memory, which is noequivocal proof of their merit. I cannot say as much for the tragic singingin the _Opéra seria_ at the Grand French Opera, which to my ear sounds aperfect psalmody. There is but one language in the world for tragicrecitative and that is Italian. On the other hand, in the _genre_ of the_Opéra comique_, the French stage is far superior to the Italian. In theFrench comedy everything is graceful and natural; the Italians cannot catchthis happy medium, so that their comedies and comic operas are mostly_outré_, and degenerate into downright farce and buffoonery. 

[42] Major James Grant, of the 18th Light Dragoons, was made a Brevet Lieutenant Colonel on 18th June, 1815. --ED. 

[43] A phrase in prose, often quoted as a verse, from Voltaire's preface to the _Enfant Prodigue: Tous les genres sont bons, hors le genre ennuyeux_. --ED. 

[44] A tragedy often acted by Talma, the work of Antoine d'Aubigny de Lafosse (1653-1708). --ED. 

[45] Thomas Otway's once celebrated tragedy, 1682. --ED. 

[46] _The Tragedy of Douglas_, by John Home (1722-1808). --ED. 

CHAPTER V

From Paris to Milan through Dijon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Lyons, Geneva and theSimplon--Auxerre--Dijon--Napoleon at Chalon-sur-Saône--The army of theLoire--Mâcon--French _grisettes_--Lyons--Monuments and theatricals--Geneva--Character and opinions of the Genevois--Voltaire's chateau atFerney--The chevalier Zadera--From Geneva to Milan--Crossing theSimplon--Arona--The theatres in Milan--Rossini--Monuments in Milan--Artencouraged by the French--Mr Eustace's bigotry--Return to Switzerland--Clarens and Vevey--Lausanne--Society in Lausanne--Return to Paris--TheLouvre stripped--Death of Marshal Ney. 

I left Paris on the 17th Sept. , in the diligence of Auxerre, The companywas as follows: a young Genevois who had served in the National Guard atParis, and had been wounded in a skirmish against the Prussians near thatcity; a young Irish Templar; a fat citizen of Dijon and an equally fatwoman going to Dole. We arrived the following day at 11 o'clock at Auxerre, a town situated on the banks of the Seine. Water conveyance may be had fromParis to Auxerre, price 12 francs the person: the price in the diligence is28 francs. We had during our journey much political conversation; theBourbons and the English government were the objects of attack, and neithermy friend the barrister nor myself felt the least inclined to take up theircause. The Genevois had with him Fouché's exposé of the state of thenation, wherein he complains bitterly of the conduct of the Allies. AllFrance is now disarmed and no troops are to be seen but those in foreignuniform. The face of the country between Paris and Auxerre is notpeculiarly striking; but the soil appears fertile and the road excellent. After breakfast we started from Auxerre and stopped to sup and sleep thesame night at Avallon. At Semur, which we passed on the following day, there is a one arched bridge of great boldness across the river Armançon. We arrived in the evening at Dijon. The country between Auxerre and Dijonis very undulating in gentle hill and dale, but for the want of trees andinclosures it has a bleak appearance. As you leave Avallon and approachDijon, the hills covered with vines indicate your arrival in a winecountry. I put up at the _Chapeau rouge_ at Dijon and remained there oneday, in order to visit the _Chartreuse_ which is at a short distance fromthe town and commands an extensive view. It was devastated during theRevolution. The view from it is fine and extensive and that is all that isworth notice. The country about it is rich and cultivated, and thefollowing lines of Ariosto might serve for its description:

 Culte pianure e delicati colli, Chiare acque, ombrose ripe e prati molli. [47]

 'Mid cultivated plain, delicious hill, Moist meadow, shady bank, and crystal rill. 

 --_Trans_. W. S. ROSE. 

The city of Dijon is large, handsome and well built. It has an appearanceof industry, comfort and airiness. There are several mustard manufactoriesin this town. A dinner was given yesterday by the municipality to theNational Guard, and an immense quantity of mustard was devoured on theoccasion in honor of the staple manufactory of Dijon. From Dijon I putmyself in the diligence to go to Chalon and after stopping two hours atBeaune, arrived at Chalon at 5 o'clock p. M. The country between Dijon andChalon is flat, but cultivated like a garden. It is likewise the winecountry _par excellence_. I do not know a wine more agreeable to palatethan the wine of Beaune. 

At Chalon I put up at the _Hôtel du Parc_. Chalon is beautifully situatedon the banks of the Saône. The Quai is well constructed and forms anagreeable promenade. There is an Austrian garrison in Chalon. The hostessof the inn told me that Napoleon stopped at her house on his way from Lyonsto Paris, when he returned from Elba, and she related to me with greateagerness many anecdotes of that extraordinary man: she said that such wasthe _empressement_ on the part of the inhabitants to see him, and embracehim by way of testifying their affection, that the Emperor was obliged tosay: "Mais vous m'étouffez, mes enfans!" In fact, had the army remainedneutral, the peasantry alone would have carried the Emperor on theirshoulders to Paris. It is quite absurd to say that a faction did this andthat it was effectuated merely by the disaffection of the Army. The Armydid its duty in the noblest manner, for it is the duty of every army tosupport the national cause and the voice of the people, and by no means tobecome the blind tools of the Prince; for it is absurd, as it is degradingto humanity, it is impious to consider the Prince as the proprietor of thecountry and the master of the people; he is, or ought to be, the principalmagistrate, the principal soldier paid by the people, like any othermagistrate or soldier, and like them liable to be cashiered for misconductor breach of faith. This is not a very fashionable doctrine nowadays, andthere is danger of it being forgotten altogether in the rage for what isfalsely termed legitimacy; it becomes therefore the bounden duty of everyfriend of freedom to din this unfashionable doctrine into the ears ofPrinces and unceasingly to exclaim to them and to their ministers:

 Discite justitiam moniti et non temnere gentes. [48]

In their conduct on this occasion the French soldiers proved themselves farmore constitutional than those of any other army in Europe; let despots, priests and weak-headed Tories say what they please to the contrary. 

I embarked the following morning at 12 o'clock in the _coche d'eau_ forLyons. There was a very numerous and motley company on board: there werethree bourgeois belonging to Lyons returning thither from Paris; a quietgood-humoured sort of woman not remarkable either for her beauty norvivacity; a young Spaniard, an adherent of King Joseph Napoleon, verytaciturn and wrapped up in his cloak tho' the weather was exceeding hot; heseemed to do nothing else but smoke _cigarros_ and drink wine, of which heemptied three or four bottles in a very short time--a young Piedmonteseofficer, disbanded from the army of the Loire, who no sooner sat down ondeck than he began to chaunt Filicaja's beautiful sonnet, "_Italia, Italia, O tu cui feo la sorte_, " etc. --a merchant of Lyons who had been some timein England, and spoke English well--a Lyonnese Major of Infantry, also ofthe army of the Loire, who had served in Egypt in the 32nd Demi-brigade;three Austrian officers of Artillery with their servants. A large bargewhich followed and was towed by the _coche d'eau_ was filled with Austriansoldiers, and on the banks of the river were a number of soldiers of theArmy of the Loire returning to their families and homes. 

The peaceable demeanour and honourable conduct of this army is worthy ofadmiration, and can never be sufficiently praised: not a single act ofbrigandage has taken place. The Austrian officers expressed to me theirastonishment at this, and said they doubted whether any other army inEurope, disbanded and under the same circumstances, would behave so well. Itold them the French soldier was a free-man and a citizen and drawn from arespectable class of people, which was not the case in most othercountries. Yes, these gallant fellows who had been calumniated by furiousUltras, by the base ministerial prints of England, and the venal satellitesof Toryism, who had been represented as brigands or as infuriated Jacobinswith red caps and poignards, these men, in spite, of the contumely andinsult they met with from servile prefects, and from those who never daredto face them in the field, are a model of good conduct and they preservethe utmost subordination, tho' disbanded: they respect scrupulously theproperty of the inhabitants and pay for everything. Mr. L. , the young Irishbarrister, told me at Dijon that he left his purse by mistake in a shopthere in which were 20 napoleons in gold, when a soldier of the army of theLoire, who happened to be in the shop, perceived it and came running afterhim with it, but refused to accept of anything, tho' much pressed by Mr. L. , who wished to reward him handsomely for his disinterested conduct. Yes, the French soldier is a fine fellow. I have served against them in Hollandand in Egypt and I will never flinch from rendering justice to theirexemplary conduct and lofty valour. No! it is not the French soldiery whocan be accused of plundering and exaction, but what brought the French namein disrepute was the conduct of certain _prefects_ and _administrators_ inGermany who were promoted to these posts for no other reason than becausethey were of the old _noblesse_ or returned _Emigrants_, whom Napoleonfavoured in preference to the Republicans whom he feared. These emigrantsrepaid his favours with the basest ingratitude; after being guilty of thegrossest and most infamous _concussions_ on the inhabitants of those partsof Germany where their jurisdiction extended, they had the hypocrisy afterthe restoration to declaim against the oppression of the _Usurper's_government and its system: but Napoleon richly deserved to meet with thisingratitude for employing such unprincipled fellows. I believe he was neveraware of the villany they carried on, or they would have met with hisseverest displeasure in being removed from office, as was the case withWirion at Verdun. [49]

I do not find that the French soldiers with whom I have conversed are somuch attached to the person of the Emperor as I was led to believe; butthey are attached to their country and liberty; and in serving him, theyconceived they were serving the man _par excellence_ of the People. 

The French army too was beloved by the people, instead of being dreaded bythem as the armies of most other European nations are. In short, whenever Imet with and held conversation with soldiers of this army, I was alwaystempted to address them in the words of Elvira to Pizarro when she seeks toconsole him for his defeat:

 Yet think another morning shall arise, Nor fear the future, nor lament the past. [50]

The French Major was very much inclined to take up a quarrel with anAustrian officer, on my account, but I dissuaded him. The cause was asfollows. A young Austrian boy, servant to one of the officers of Artillery, had entered the _coche d'eau_ at Chalon, some minutes before his master, and began to avail himself of the right of conquest by taking possession ofthe totality of one of the cabins and endeavouring to exclude the otherpassengers; among other things he was going to thrust my portmanteau out ofits place. I called to him to let it alone, when the French Major steppedforward and said that if he dared to touch any of the baggage belonging tothe passengers, he would punish him on the spot and his master also, forthat he longed to measure swords with those "Jean F---- d'Autrichiens. "Fearful of a serious quarrel between them and being unwilling that anydispute should occur on my account, I requested the Major not to meddlewith the business, for that I was sure the Austrian officer would check theimpertinence of his servant when he came on board; and that if he did not, I was perfectly able and willing to defend my own cause. The Austrianofficers came on board a few minutes after, when I addressed them inGerman, and explained to them the behaviour of the boy; they scolded himseverely for his impertinence to us and threatened him with the _Schlag_, should it occur again. The rest of the journey passed without any incident. I found that my friend the Major had served in the French army in Egypt inthe division Lanusse in the battle of the 21st March, 1801, (30 Ventose)and that consequently we were opposed to each other in that battle, as Iwas then serving as a Lieutenant in the Queen's Regiment, commanded by thatexcellent and amiable officer the Earl of D[alhousie] in General Doyle'sbrigade. 

The voyage on the Saône presents some pleasing and picturesque points ofview; the _coteaux_ on the banks of the river are covered with vines. Wearrived at 8 o'clock in the evening to sup and sleep at Mâcon and put up atthe _Hôtel des Sauvages_. We had a most sumptuous repast, fish, flesh, fowls, game, fruit and wine in profusion, for all which, including ourbeds, we had only to pay 2-1/2 francs the person. 

There is a spacious Quai at Mâcon, which always adds to the beauty of acity, and there are some fine buildings, public and private. I need notenlarge on the excellence of the Mâcon wine. The country girls we observedon the banks of the river as we floated along, and the _grisettes_ of thetown who were promenading on the Quai when we arrived, wore a peculiarlyelegant _costume_ and their headdress appeared to me to be somethingAsiatic. 

The voyage on the subsequent day was more agreeable than the preceding one. The country between Mâcon and Lyons is much more beautiful and diversifiedthan that which we have hitherto seen and resembles much the picturesquescenery of the West-Indian landscape. One part between Mâcon and Trévouxresembles exactly the island of Montserrat. 

Within two miles of Trévoux we were hailed by some _grisettes_ belonging tothe inns at that place, in order to invite us to dine at their respectiveinns. There was one girl exceedingly beautiful whose name was Sophie, daughter of the proprietor of the _Hôtel des Sauvages_ at Trévoux. She, byher grace and coquetry, obtained the most recruits and when we disembarkedfrom the boat, she led us in triumph to her hotel. From her beauty andgraceful manner, Sophie, in a country where so much hommage is paid tobeauty, must be a most valuable acquisition to the interests of the inn, and tho' she smiles on all, she takes care not to make herself cheap, andlike Corisca in the _Pastor Fido_ she holds put hopes which she does not atall intend to gratify. After passing by the superb scenery on the banks ofthe river (which increases in interest as you approach Lyons), the _IsleBarbe_ and _la Tour de la belle Allemande_, we arrived at Lyons at 5 p. M. And debarked on the _Quai de la Saône_. A _fiacre_ took me up and depositedme safe at the _Hôtel du Nord_ situated on the _Place St Claire_ and notmany yards distant of the _Quai du Rhône_. 

LYONS, 26th Sept. 

Lyons is situated on a tongue of land at the junction of the Saône andRhône, and there is a fine bridge on the spot where the streams unite, called _le pont du Confluent_, which joins the extremity of the tongue ofland with the right bank of the Saône. There is besides a large bridgeacross the Rhône, higher up, before it joins the Saône, leading in a rightline from the _Hôtel de Ville_; and two other bridges across the Saône. The_Quai du Rhône_ is by far the finest and most agreeable part of the city. It is spacious, well paved, aligned with trees, and boast the finestedifices public and private in the whole city; it is the favouritepromenade of the _beaux_ and _belles_ of Lyons. The sight of the broad andmajestic Rhône itself is a grand object, and on a fine day the prospect isaugmented by the distant view of the fleecy head of Mont Blanc. On thisQuai and within a 100 yards of the bridge on the Rhône are the justlycelebrated _bains du Rhône_, fitted up in a style of elegance even superiorto those called _les Bains Vigier_ on the Seine at Paris. The grandHospital is also on the Quai; the facade is beautiful; its architecture isof the Ionic order and the building itself as well as its interior economyhas frequently elicited the admiration of travellers. Among the Places inthis city the finest is that of Bellecour. 

The scenery is extremely diversified in the environs of Lyons, and in thecity there is great appearance of wealth and splendour. Lyons flourishedgreatly during the time of the continental blockade, as it was the centraldepôt of the commerce between France and Italy. Napoleon is much respectedand regretted here, and with reason, as he was a great benefactor to thiscity. The Lyonnese are too frank, too open in their sentiments and toograteful not to render justice to his great talents and good qualities, while they blame and deplore his ambition. In fact an experience of a fewdays and some acquaintance I made here has given me a very favourableimpression of the inhabitants of this city. The men are frank in theirmanners, polite, well informed, and free from all frivolity. The women arein general handsome, well shaped, and have much grace and are exceedinglywell educated; they seem totally free from the _Petite-maîtressism_ of theParisian women, and both sexes seem to possess a good deal of what theFrench term _caractère_. Had the Parisians resembled the Lyonnese, Pariswould never have fallen twice into the hands of the enemy, nor would theLyonnese women have welcomed the entry of the invaders into their city withwaving handkerchiefs, etc. These qualities of the inhabitants, the beautyof the country, and the cheapness of all the comforts and luxuries of life, would make Lyons one of the most agreeable places of residence to aforeigner of liberal sentiments and principles. 

Cloth and silk are the staple manufactures of Lyons, particularly thelatter; I accompanied my friend Mr M---- to see his fabrique of silk whichis of considerable extent and importance, and everything appeared to me, asfar as one totally ignorant of the business and its process could judge, admirably regulated and rapid in its execution. The _tournure_ of the_grisettes_ of Lyons is very striking and they possess completely the_grata protervitas_, the _vultus nimium lubricus aspici_ which Horace somuch admires in Glycera. 

I visited both the theatres here, viz. : the _Grand Théâtre_, situated nearthe _Hôtel de Ville_, and the smaller one called the _Théâtre desCélestins_. At the former was some good dancing, and at the latter I wasengaged in a conversation which I cannot forbear citing as it will serve toshow the dislike the people have to the feudal system and the dread theyhave of its re-establishment, tho' they can know nothing about it except bytradition. The piece performed was called _Le petit Poucet_ (Tom Thumb andthe Ogre); but I missed my old acquaintance the Ogre and his seven-leagueboots of Mother Goose, and found that in this melodrama he was transformedinto a tyrannical and capricious _Seigneur Féodal_. There was a very prettyyoung lady about 16 years of age accompanied by her father in the same boxwith me, and I observed to her, "Où est donc l'Ogre? il parait que l'on ena fait un Seigneur féodal. " "Oui, monsieur (she replied), et avec raison, car ils étaient bien les Ogres de ce temps là. " I entered into a longconversation with my fair neighbour and found her well informed and welleducated, with great good sense and knowledge of the world far beyond heryears. She told me that she had begun to study English and that her fatherwas a miniature painter. I took leave of her not without feeling muchaffected and my heart not a little "percosso dall' amoroso strale. "

I must not forget to mention that there is a most spacious and magnificentbuilding on the _Quai du Rhône_ to the North of the bridge, which serves asa café and ridotto or assembly room for balls, etc. I am afraid to say howmany feet it has in length; but it is the most superb establishment of thekind I have ever met with. 

Fortunately for the city of Lyons, the famous decree of Robespierre forits destruction, and the column with the inscription, "Lyon a porté lesarmes contre la liberté; Lyon n'est plus, " which was to occupy its place, was never put in execution and tho' this city suffered much fromrevolutionary vandalism yet it soon recovered and has flourished ever sincein a manner unheard of at any former period. No people are more sensiblethan the Lyonnese of the great benefits produced by the Revolution, and nopeople more deprecate a return to the _ancien régime_. 

Oct. 2nd, GENEVA. 

I started in the diligence for Geneva on the 28th Sept. And found itexceedingly cold on ascending the mountain called the _Cerdon_; the sceneryis savage and wild, and the road in many parts is on the brink ofprecipices. We stopped at Nantua for supper and partook of some excellenttrout. There is a large lake near the town, and 'tis here that the Swisslandscape begins. Commanding a narrow pass stands the fort of L'Ecluse. TheAustrians lost a great many men in attempting to force it. From this placeyou have a noble view of the Alps and Mont-Blanc towering above them. Asthis was the first time I beheld these celebrated mountains I wastransported with delight and my mind was filled with a thousand classicaland historical recollections! The scenery, the whole way from Fort l'Ecluseto Geneva, is most magnificent and uncommonly varied. Mountain and valley, winter and summer, on the same territory. Descending, the city of Genevaopens gradually; you behold the lake Leman and the Rhône issuing from it. We entered the city, which is fortified, and after crossing the doublebridge across the Rhône, we arrived at the _Hôtel de l'Eau de Genève_ at 12o'clock. The most striking thing in the city of Geneva to the traveller'seye as he enters it, is the view of the arcades on each side of the street, excellent for pedestrians and for protection against sun and rain, butwhich give a heavy and gloomy appearance to the city. An immense number ofwatch-makers is another distinguishing feature in this city. The firstthing shewn to me by my _valet de place_ was the house where Jean JacquesRousseau was born; I then desired him to shew me the spot where thatbarbarian Calvin caused to be burnt the unhappy Servetus for not having thesame religious opinions as himself. 

The most agreeable promenades of the city are on the bastions and ramparts, a place called _La Treille_ and a garden or park of small extent called_Plain Palais_. In this park stands on a column the bust of J. J. Rousseau. This park was the scene of a great deal of bloodshed in 1791 on account ofpolitical disputes between the aristocratic and democratic parties, orrather between the admirers and imitators of the French Revolution andthose who dreaded such innovations. This affair excited so much horror, andthe recollection of it operated so powerfully on the imagination of theinhabitants, that the place became entirely abandoned as a publicpromenade, and avoided as a polluted spot for many years. Very likelyhowever a sort of lustration has taken place; an oration was pronounced andthe place again declared worthy of contributing to the recreation of theinhabitants. It is now become the favourite promenade of the citizens ofGeneva, tho' there are still some who cannot get over their old prejudicesand never set their foot in it. There is likewise a pleasant walk as far asthe town of Carrouge in Savoy, which town has been lately ceded by the Kingof Sardinia to the republic of Geneva. In Geneva the sentiments of theinhabitants do not seem to be favourable either to the French Revolution, or to Napoleon. Their political ideas accord very much with those professedby the government party in England, and they make a great parade of themjust now, as a means of courting the favour of England and of the AlliedSovereigns. The government here have shewn a great disposition to secondthe views of the Allied Powers in persecuting those Frenchmen who have beenproscribed by the Bourbon government. 

This state lost its independence during the revolutionary wars and wasincorporated with France. As the citizens were suspected of being morefavourable to the English than suited the policy of the French governmentof that time, they were viewed with a jealous eye and I believe someindividuals were harshly treated; but what most vexed and displeased themwas the enforcement of the conscription among them, for the Genevois do notlike compulsion; they are besides more pacific than war-like and tho' likethe Dutch they have displayed great valour where their interest is atstake, yet Mercury is a deity far more in veneration among them thanBellona. The natural talent of this people is great, and it has beenfavoured and developed by the freedom of their institutions; and thisrepublic has produced too many eminent men for that talent to be called inquestion; they seem to have decided talents and dispositions for financialoperations. A Genevois has the aptitude of great application united to avery discerning, natural genius, and he generally succeeds in everything heundertakes. Literature is much cultivated here, and the females, who arein general handsome and graceful, excel not only in the various feminineaccomplishments, such as music, dancing and drawing, but they carry theirresearches into the higher branches of litterature and science and acquirewith great facility foreign languages. It is true that you now and thenmeet with a little pedantry on the part of the young men and some of theyoung women are _tant soit feu précieuses_; and you may guess from theirconversation, which is sometimes forced, that the person who speaks hasbeen learning his discourse by heart from some book in the morning, withthe intention of sporting it as a natural conversation in the evening. Inshort, one does not meet with that _abandon_ in society that is to be metwith in Paris; you must measure your words well to shine in a Genevesesociety. This, however, is a very pardonable sort of coxcombry; and tho' itappear sometimes pedantic, and occasionally laughable, yet it tends toencourage learning and science, and compels the young men to read in orderto shine and captivate the fair. 

The Genevese women make excellent wives and mothers; and many strangers, struck with their beauty and talent, as well as with the _agrémens_ of thecountry in general, marry at Geneva and settle themselves there for life. It is observed that the Genevoises are so attached to their country that onforming a matrimonial connection with foreigners, they always stipulatethat they shall not be removed from it. On the dismemberment of the Empireof Napoleon, Geneva was _agregé_ to the Helvetic Confederation, as anindependent Canton of which there are now twenty-two. Three, viz. Geneva, Vaud, and Neufchatel, are French in language and manners. One, the Tessino, is Italian, and the remaining eighteen are all German. It is a greatadvantage to Geneva to belong to the Helvetic Confederacy, as formerly, when she was an isolated independent state, she was in continual dread ofbeing swallowed up by one or other of her two powerful neighbours, Franceand the King of Sardinia, and only existed by their forbearance and mutualjealousy. 

I walked out one morning to Ferney in order to visit the chateau ofVoltaire and to do hommage to the memory of that great man, the benefactorof the human race. It was he who gave the mortal blow to superstition andto the power of the clergy. It is the fashion for priests, Ultras andTories to rail against him, but I judge him by his works and the effect ofhis works. His memory is held in reverence by the inhabitants of Ferney astheir father and benefactor. He spent his whole fortune in acts of the mostdisinterested charity; he saved entire families from ruin and portioned offmany a young woman who was deprived of the gifts of fortune and enabledthem to form happy matrimonial connections; in short, doing good seems tohave been one of the most ardent passions of his soul. In three memorableinstances he shewed his hatred of cruelty and injustice, and unmaskedtriumphantly ecclesiastical imposture and fanaticism. He has beenreproached with vanity, but surely that may be pardoned in a man whoreceived the hommage of the whole literary world, who was considered as anoracle, and whose every sentence was recorded; whose talent was souniversal, that he excelled in every branch of litterature that heundertook. 

Ferney, which was only a miserable village when Voltaire first took up hisresidence there, is now a large flourishing and opulent town. 

I found Voltaire's Chateau occupied by a fat heavy Swiss Officer who was onduty there, Ferney being at this moment occupied by the troops of the Swissconfederation. He was at breakfast, but on my stating to him that I wascome to see the apartments of Voltaire he directed the housekeeper to shewthem to me. On the left hand side after ascending a flight of steps, beforeyou come into the Château, is a Chapel built by Voltaire with this simpleinscription: "_Deo erexit Voltaire_. " In the apartment usually occupied byhim for the purpose of composition, are preserved his chair, table, inkstand and bed as sacred relics; and in the Salon are to be seen theportraits of several public characters, his contemporaries, and which wereconstantly appended there in his life time. Among these portraits Idistinguished those of Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine II ofRussia, Lekain, Diderot, Alembert, Franklin, Helvetius, Marmontel andWashington, besides many others. There is nothing remarkable either in theChâteau, or in the gardens appertaining to it; but as it stands on anelevation, it commands a fine view, which is so well described in that odewhich begins:

 Ô maison d'Aristippe, ô jardins d'Epicure!

I returned to Geneva and dined with my friend M. Picot the banker, whopresented me to his brother's family, which I found a very amiable one, andI was particularly delighted with his father, a fine venerable old man, whois a pastor of the Church of Geneva and a great admirer of our poetsThomson and Milton. 

I have made acquaintance at the _Ecu de Genève_ with a very gallant andaccomplished officer, the Chevalier Zadera, a Pole by birth and a Colonelin the French army. [51] He had been on the staff of the Prince d'Eckmühl atHamburgh and had served previously in St Domingo, in Germany and in Italy. He had just quitted the French service, having a great repugnance to serveunder the Bourbon dynasty, and he is about to go to Italy on privatebusiness. He seems a very well informed man and well versed in French, Italian and German litterature. He also understands well to read and writeEnglish and speaks it, but not at all fluently. He acquired his English inthe United States of America, whither he went when he escaped from thehorrors of St Domingo. By the Americans he was received with open arms andunbounded hospitality as the compatriot of Pulaski who fell gloriouslyfighting in their cause, the cause of liberty, at the battle of Savannah. He was liberally supplied with money by several individuals without thesmallest expectation or chance of repayment at the time, and was forwardedin this manner from town to town and from state to state throughout thewhole Union; so that the tour he made and the time he passed in that landof liberty, he reckons as far the most agreeable epoch of his life. Oneevening at the _Ecu de Genève_ I found Zadera in altercation on politicalsubjects with two French Ultras who had been emigrants, a Genevois and aBernois, both anti-liberal. This was fearful odds for poor Zadera to bealone against four _acharnés_. I sat down and espoused his cause and wemaintained our argument gloriously. The dispute began on the occasion ofZadera condemning the harshness shewn by the government of Geneva towardsthe _Conventionnels_ and others who were banished from France on the secondrestoration of Louis XVIII by a vote of the _Chambre introuvable_ inrefusing them an asylum in the Republic and compelling them to departimmediately in a very contumelious manner. I said it was inconsistent andunworthy of the Genevese who called themselves republicans to persecute orjoin in the persecution of the republicans of France in order to pleaseforeign despots. The others then began to be very violent with me. Ireplied, "Messieurs, vous avez beau parler; les Genevois sont de très bonscambistes et les meilleurs banquiers de l'Europe, mais il ne sont pas bonsrépublicains. "

Geneva has been so often described by tourists that I shall not attempt anydescription except to remark that there are several good Cabinets andcollections of pictures belonging to individuals. There is a magnificentpublic library. The manufactures are those of watches and models of theAlps which are exceedingly ingenious. There are no theatrical amusementshere; and during divine service on Sunday the gates of the city are shut, and neither ingress nor egress permitted; fortunately their liturgy (theCalvinistic) is at least one hour shorter than the Anglican. Balls andconcerts take place here very often and the young Genevois of both sexesare generally proficient in music. They amuse themselves too in summer withthe "tir de l'arc" in common with all the Swiss Cantons. 

October 3rd. 

I have been in doubt whether I should go to Lausanne, return to Paris orextend my journey into Italy; but I have at length decided for the latter, as Zadera, who intends to start immediately for Milan, has offered me aplace in his carriage _à frais communs_. I found him so agreeable a man andpossessing sentiments so analogous to my own that I eagerly embraced theoffer, and we are to cross the Simplon, so that I shall behold a travelover that magnificent _chausée_ made by Napoleon's orders, which I have somuch desired to see and which everybody tells me is a most stupendous workand exceeding anything ever made by the Romans. As the Chevalier has servedin Italy and was much _répandu_ in society there, I could not possibly havea pleasanter companion. He has with him Dante and Alfieri, and I haveGessner's _Idylls_ and my constant travelling companion Ariosto, so that weshall have no loss for conversation, for when our native wits areexhausted, a page or two from any of the above authors will suggestinnumerable ideas, anecdotes, and subjects of discourse. 

MILAN, 10th Oct. 

We started from Geneva at seven in the morning of the 4th October, and inhalf an hour entered the Savoyard territory, of which _douaniers_ with bluecockades (the cockade of the King of Sardinia) gave us intimation. The roadis on the South side of the lake Leman. In Evian and Thonon, the two firstvillages we passed thro', we do not find that _aisance_, comfort andcleanliness that is perceivable on the other side of the lake, in thedelightful Canton de Vaud. The double yoke of priestcraft and militarydespotism presses hard upon the unhappy Savoyard and wrings from him hishard-earned pittance, while no people are better off than the Vaudois; yetthe Savoyards are to the full as deserving of liberty as the Swiss. TheSavoyard possesses honesty, fidelity and industry in a superior degree, andthese qualities he seldom or ever loses, even when exposed to thetemptations of a great metropolis like Paris, to which they are compelledto emigrate, as their own country is too poor to furnish the means ofsubsistence to all its population. When in Paris and other large cities, the Savoyards contrive, by the most indefatigable industry and incrediblefrugality, to return to their native village after a certain lapse of time, with a little fortune that is amply sufficient for their comfort. Thepoorest Savoyard in Paris never fails to remit something for the support ofhis parents. Both Voltaire and Rousseau have rendered justice to the goodqualities of this honest people. It is a thousand pities that this country(Savoy) is not either incorporated with France, or made to form part of theHelvetic confederacy. 

On passing by La Meillerie we were reminded of "La nouvelle Héloise" andthe words of St Preux: "Le rocher est escarpé: l'eau est profonde et jesuis au désespoir. " On the opposite side of the lake is to be seen thelittle white town of Clarens, the supposed residence of the divine Julie. Alittle beyond St Gingolph, which lies at the eastern extremity of the lake, we quit Savoy and enter into the Valais, which now forms, a component partof the Helvetic confederacy. German is the language spoken in the Valais. As the high road into Italy passes thro' the whole length of this Canton, Napoleon caused it to be separated from the Helvetic union and to form aRepublic apart, with the ulterior view and which he afterwards carried intoexecution of annexing it to the French Empire. The Valais forms a long andexceedingly narrow valley, thro' the whole length of which the Rhône flowsand falls into the lake Leman at St Gingolph. The breadth of this valley inits widest part is not more probably than 1, 000 yards, and in most placesconsiderably narrower, and it is enclosed on each side, or rather walled upby the immense mountains of the higher Alps which rise here very abruptlyand seem to shut out this valley from the rest of the world. The high roadruns nearly parallel to the course of the Rhône and is sometimes on oneside of the river and sometimes on the other, communicating by bridges;from the sinuosity of the road and the different points of view presentedby the salient and re-entering angles, of the mountains the scenery isextremely picturesque, grand and striking, and as sometimes no outletpresents itself to view, you do not perceive how you are ever to get out ofthis valley but by a stratagem similar to that of Sindbad in the Valley ofDiamonds. At St Maurice is a remarkable one-arched bridge built by theRomans. We stopped at Martigny to pass the night; within one mile ofMartigny and before arriving at it, we perceived the celebrated waterfallcalled the _Pissevache_; and the appellation, though coarse, is perfectlyapplicable. From Martigny a bridle road branches off which leads across theGrand St Bernard to Aoste. The next morning we arrived at Sion, called inthe language of the country Sitten, the metropolis of the Valais; it is aneat-looking and tolerably large town, and which from its position might bemade a most formidable military post, as there is a steep hill close to itwhich rises abruptly from the centre of the valley, and commands anextensive view east and west. Works erected on this height would enfiladethe whole road either way and totally obstruct the approach of an enemy. There is besides a large castle on the southern _paroi_ of mountains whichhem in this valley, which would expose to a most galling fire and take inflank completely those who should attempt to force the passage whethercoming from St Maurice or Brieg. We stopped two hours at Sion to mend awheel and this gave me time to ascend the mountain on which the castlestands. There were several masons and workmen employed in the constructionof a church which they are erecting at the request and entire expense ofHis Sardinian Majesty. I could not ascertain what were the reasons thatinduced the King to build a church in a foreign territory. I did notobserve either on the road or in any of the village thro' which we passedany striking specimen of Valaisan female beauty; but I often remarked theprominent bosom that Rousseau describes as frequent among them. We met withseveral _crétins_ or idiots, all of whom had _goitres_ in a greater or lessdegree. These _souls of God without sin_, as the crétins are called, arevery merry souls; they always appear to be laughing. They seem to haveadopted and united three systems of philosophy: they are Diogenes as toindependence and neglect of decency and cleanliness; Democriti as to theirdisposition to laugh perpetually; and Aristippi inasmuch as they seem to beperfectly contented with their state. They are in general fat and well fed, for the poorest inhabitants give them something. They have a good deal ofcunning, and many curious anecdotes are related of them which shews thatthey are endowed with a sort of sagacity resembling the instinct ofanimals. I recollect one myself mentioned by Zimmermann in his Essay onSolitude, of a crétin who was accustomed to imitate with his voice thesound of the village clock whenever it struck the hours and quarters; oneday, by some accident, the clock stopped; yet the cretin went through thechimes of the hours and quarters with the same regularity as the clockwould have done had it been going. 

We arrived at night at the village of Brieg at the foot of the Simplon andput up at a very comfortable inn. Brieg and Glisse are two small villageslying within a quarter of a mile distance from each other. The direct roadruns thro' Brieg and is a great advantage to this town; while Glisse lostthis benefit from the opposition shewn by its inhabitants to the annexationof the Valais to the French Empire. They now deeply regret this refusal asfew travellers chuse to stop at Glisse. 

_Passage of the Simplon_. 

 Chi mi darà la voce e le parole Convenienti a si nobil soggetto?[52]

 Who will vouchsafe me voice that shall ascend As high as I would raise my noble theme?

 --Trans. W. S. ROSE. 

How shall I describe the Simplon and the impressions that magnificent pieceof work, the _chaussée_ across it, made on my mind? On arrival at thevillage of the Simplon, which lies at nearly the greatest elevation off theroad and is more than half-way across, I wrote in my enthusiasm for theauthor of this gigantic work, the following lines:

 O viaggiator, se avessi tu veduto Quel monte, pria che fosse il cammin fatto, Leveresti le mani, e stupefatto Diresti, "chi l'avrebbe mai creduto? Son come quel d'Alcide i tuoi miracoli! Vincesti, Napoleon', più grandi ostacoli!"

Imagine a fine road or causeway broad enough for three carriages to goabreast, cut in the flanks of the mountains, winding along their contours, sometimes zigzag on the flank of one ravine, and sometimes turning offnearly at right angles to the flank of another; separated from each otherby precipices of tremendous depth, and communicating by one-arched bridgesof surprising boldness; besides stone bridges at each re-entering angle, tolet pass off the water which flows from the innumerable cascades, whichfall from the summits of the mountains. Ice and snow eternal on the various_pics_ or _aiguilles_ (as the summits are here called) which tower aboveyour head, and yet in the midst of these _belles horreurs_ the road is sowell constructed, so smooth, and the slope so gentle that when there arefogs, which often happen here and prevent you from beholding thesurrounding scenery, you would suppose you were travelling on a plain thewhole time. Balustrades are affixed on the sides of the most abruptprecipices and buttresses also in order to secure the exterior part of the_chaussèe_. On the whole length of the _chaussèe_ on the exterior side areconical stones of four feet in height at ten paces distant from each other, in order to mark the road in case of its being covered with snow. There arebesides _maisons de refuge_ or cottages, at a distance of one league fromeach other, wherein are stationed persons to give assistance and food totravellers, or passengers who may be detained by the snow storms. There isalways in these cabins a plentiful supply of biscuit, cheese, salt andsmoked meats, wine, brandy and fire-wood. In those parts of the road wherethe sides of the ravines are not sloping enough to admit of the road beingcut along them, subterraneous galleries have been pierced through the rock, some of fifty, some of a hundred and more yards in length, and nearly asbroad as the rest of the road. In a word it appears to me the grandest workimagined or made by man, and when combined with its extreme utility, farsurpasses what is related of the Seven Wonders of the world. There arefifty-two bridges throughout the whole of this route, which begins at thedistance of three miles from Geneva, skirts the southern shore of the lake, runs thro' the whole Valais, traverses the Simplon and issuing from thegorges of the mountains at Domo d'Ossola terminates at Rho in the Milanese. From Brieg to the toll-house, the highest part of the road, the distance isabout 18 miles. It made me dreadfully giddy to look down the variousprecipices; and what adds to the vertigo one feels is the deafening noiseof the various waterfalls. As the road is cut zigzag, in many parts, youappear to preserve nearly the same distance from Brieg after three hours'march, as after half an hour only, since you have that village continuallyunder your eyes, nor do you lose sight of it till near the toll-house. Brieg appears when viewed from various points of the road like thecard-houses of children, the Valais like a slip of green baize, and theRhône like a very narrow light blue ribband; and when at Brieg before youascend you look up at the toll-house, you would suppose it impossible forany human being to arrive at such a height without the help of a balloon. It reminded me of the castle of the enchanter in the _Orlando Furioso_, whokeeps Ruggiero confined and who rides on the Hippogriff. 

The village of the Simplon is a mile beyond the toll-house, descending. Westopped there for two hours to dine. A snow storm had fallen and theweather was exceedingly cold; the mountain air had sharpened our appetite, but we could get nothing but fish and eggs as it was a _jour maigre_, andthe Valaisans are rigid observers of the ordinances of the Catholic church. We however, on assuring the landlord that we were _militaires_, prevailedon him to let us have some ham and sausages. German is the language here. The road from the toll-house to Domo d'Ossola (the first town at the footof the mountain on the Italian side) is a descent, but the slope is asgentle as on the rest of the road. Fifteen miles beyond the village of theSimplon stands the village of Isella, which is the frontier town of theKing of Sardinia, and where there is a rigorous _douane_, and ten milesfurther is Domo d'Ossola, where we arrived at seven in the evening. BetweenIsella and Domo d'Ossola the scenery becomes more and more romantic, varying at every step, cataracts falling on all sides, and three moregalleries to pass. Domo d'Ossola appears a large and neat clean town, andwe put up at a very good inn. At Isella begins the Italian language, orrather Piedmontese. 

The next morning we proceeded on our journey till we reached Fariolo, whichis on the northern extremity of the _Lago Maggiore_. The road from Domod'Ossola thro' the villages of Ornavasso and Vagogna is thro' a fertile andpicturesque valley, or rather gorge, of the mountain, narrow at first, butwhich gradually widens as you approach to the lake. The river Toso runsnearly in a parallel direction with the road. The air is much milder thanin Switzerland, and you soon perceive the change of climate from itstemperature, as well as from the appearance of the vines and mulberry treesand Indian corn called in this country _grano turco_. 

At Fariolo, after breakfast, my friend Zadera took leave of me and embarkedhis carriage on the lake in order to proceed to Lugano; and I who was boundto Milan, having hired a cabriolet, proceeded to Arona, after stopping onehour to refresh the horses at Belgirate. The whole road from Fariolo toArona is on the bank of the _Lago Maggiore_, and nothing can be more neatthan the appearance of all these little towns which are solidly andhandsomely built in the Italian taste. 

Before I arrived at Arona, and at a distance of two miles from it, Istopped in order to ascend a height at a distance of one-eighth of a milefrom the road to view the celebrated colossal statue in bronze of StCharles Borromaeus, which may be seen at a great distance. It is seventycubits high, situated on a pedestal of twenty feet, to ascend whichrequires a ladder. You then enter between his legs, or rather the folds ofhis gown, and ascend a sort of staircase till you reach his head. There issomething so striking in the appearance of this black gigantic figure whenviewed from afar, and still more when you are at the foot of it, that youwould suppose yourself living in the time of fairies and enchanters, and itstrongly reminded me of the Arabian Nights, as if the statue were the workof some Génie or Peri; or as if it were some rebel Genius transformed intoblack marble by Solomon the great Prophet. I am not very well acquaintedwith the life and adventures of this Saint, but he was of the Borromeanfamily, who are the most opulent proprietors of the Milanese. Every tractof land, palace, castle, farm in the environs of Arona seem to belong tothem. If you ask whose estate is that? whose villa is that? whose castle isthat? the answer is, to the Count Borromeo, who seems to be as universal aproprietor here as _Nong-tong-paw_ at Paris or _Monsieur Kaniferstane_ atAmsterdam. [53] Arona is a large, straggling but solidly built town, andpresents nothing worth notice. 

We proceeded on our journey the next morning. Shortly after leaving Arona, the road diverges from the lake and traverses a thick wood until it reachesthe banks of the Tessino; on the other bank of which, communicating bymeans of a flying bridge, stands the town of Sesto Calende. The Tessinodivides and forms the boundary between the Sardinian and Austrianterritory, and Sesto Calende is the frontier of His Imperial, Royal andApostolic Majesty. After a rigorous search of my portmanteau at the_Douane_, and exhibiting my passport, I was allowed to proceed on myjourney to Milan. 

At Rho, where I stopped to dine, stands a remarkably ancient tree said tohave been planted in the time of Augustus. The country presents a perfectplain, highly cultivated, all the way from Sesto to Milan. The _chaussée_is broad and admirably well kept up and lined on both sides with poplars. The roads in Lombardy are certainly the finest in Europe. I entered Milanby the gate which leads direct to the esplanade between the citadel and thecity, and drove to the _Pension Suisse_, which is in a street close to theCathedral and Ducal palace. 

MILAN, 12 October. 

I am just returned from the _Teatro della Scala_, renowned for its immensesize: it certainly is the most stupendous theatre I ever beheld and evensurpassed the expectation I had formed of it, so much so that I remainedfor some minutes lost in astonishment. I was much struck with themagnificence of the scenery and decorations. An _Opera_ and _Ballo_ aregiven every night, and the same are repeated for a month, when they arereplaced by new ones. The boxes are all hired by the year by the differentnoble and opulent families, and in the _Parterre_ the price is only thirtysoldi or sous, about fifteen pence English, for which you are fully as wellregaled as at the _Grand Opéra_ at Paris for three and a half francs andfar better than at the Italian theatre in London for half a guinea. Theopera I saw represented is called _L'Italiana in Algieri_, opera buffa, byRossini. 

The _Ballo_ was one of the most magnificent spectacles I ever beheld. Thescenery and decorations are of the first class and superior even to thoseof the _Grand Opéra_ at Paris. The _Ballo_ was called _Il Cavaliere delTempio_. The story is taken from an occurrence that formed an episode inthe history of the Crusades and which has already furnished to Walter Scottthe subject of a very pleasing ballad entitled the _Fire-King_, or _CountAlbert and Fair Rosalie_. Battles of foot and horse with real horses, Christians and Moslems, dancing, incantations, excellent and veryappropriate music leave nothing to be desired to the ravished spectator. Inthe _Ballo_ all is done in pantomime and the acting is perfect. TheItalians seem to inherit from their ancestors the faculty of representingby dumb show the emotions of the mind as well as the gestures of the body, and in this they excel all other modern nations. The dancing is not quiteso good as what one sees at the Paris theatre, and besides that sort ofdancing they are very fond in Italy of grotesque dances which appear to meto be mere _tours de force_. But the decorations are magnificent, and thecost must be great. 

It was a fine moonlight night on my return from the _Scala_, which gave avery pleasing effect to the _Duomo_ or Cathedral as I passed by it. Theinnumerable aiguilles or spires of the most exquisite and delicateworkmanship, tapering and terminating in points all newly whitened, gavesuch an appearance of airiness and lightness to this beautiful buildingthat it looked more visionary than substantial, and as if a strong puff ofwind would blow it away. The next morning I went to visit the Cathedral indetail. It stands in the place called _Piazza del Duomo_. On this _piazza_stands also the Ducal Palace; the principal cafés and the most splendidshops are in the same _piazza_, which forms the morning lounge of Milan. Parallel to one side of the _Duomo_ runs the _Corsia de' Servi_, the widestand most fashionable street in Milan, the resort of the _beau monde_ in theevening, and leading directly out to the _Porta Orientale_. The Cathedralappears to me certainly the most striking Gothic edifice I ever beheld. Itis as large as the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris, and the architectureof the interior is very massive. There is little internal ornament, however, except the tomb or mausoleum of St Charles Borromeo, round whichis a magnificent railing; there are also the statues of this Saint and ofSt Ambrogio. There are several well-executed bas-reliefs on the outside ofthe Church, from Scripture subjects, and the view from any of the balconiesof the spires is very extensive. On the North the Alps, covered with snowand appearing to rise abruptly within a very short horizon, tho' theirdistance from Milan is at least sixty or seventy miles; and on all theother sides a vast and well-cultivated plain as far as the eye can reach, thickly studded with towns and villages, and the immense city of Milan ninemiles in circumference at your feet. The streets in general in Milan arewell paved; there is a line of trottoir on each side of the streetequi-distant from the line of houses; so that these trottoirs seem to bemade for the carriage wheels to roll on, and not for the foot passengers, who must keep within the space that lies between the trottoirs and line ofhouses. With the exception of the _Piazza del Duomo_ there is scarcelyanything that can be called a _piazza_ in all Milan, unless irregular andsmall open places may be dignified with that name; the houses and buildingsare extremely solid in their construction and handsome in their appearance. A canal runs thro' the city and leads to Pavia; on this canal are stonebridges of a very solid construction. The shops in Milan are well storedwith merchandize, and make a very brilliant display. The finest street, without doubt, is the _Corsia de' Servi_. In the part of it that liesparallel to the Cathedral, it is about as broad as the _Rue St Honoré_ atParis; but two hundred yards beyond it, it suddenly widens and is thenbroader than Portland Place the whole way to the _Porta Orientale_. On theleft hand of this street, on proceeding from the Cathedral to the _PortaOrientale_, is a beautiful and extensive garden; an ornamental iron railingseparates it from the street. From the number of fine trees here there isso much shade therefrom that it forms a very agreeable promenade during theheat of the day. On the right hand side of the _Corsia de' Servi_, proceeding from the Cathedral, are the finest buildings (houses ofindividuals) in Milan, among which I particularly distinguished a superbpalace built in the best Grecian taste with a colonnaded portico, surmounted by eight columns. Just outside the _Porta Orientale_ is the_Corso_, with a fine spacious road with _Allées_ on each side lined withtrees. The _Corso_ forms the evening drive and _promenade à cheval_ of the_beau monde_. I have seen nowhere, except in Hyde Park, such a brilliantshow of equipages as on the Corso of Milan. I observe that the womendisplay a great _luxe de parure_ at this promenade. 

The women here appear to me in general handsome, and report says not at allcruel. They have quite a _fureur_ for dress and ornaments, hi the adaptingof which, however, they have not so much taste as the French women have. The Milanese women do not understand the _simplicité recherchée_ in theirattire, and are too fond of glaring colours. The Milanese women are accusedof being too fond of wine, and a calculation has been made that two bottles_per diem_ are drank by each female in Milan; but, supposing thiscalculation were true, let not the English be startled, for the wine ofthis, country is exceedingly light, lighter indeed than the weakestBurgundy wine; indeed, I conceive that two bottles of Lombard wine arescarce equivalent in strength to four wine glasses of Port wine. TheLombards for this reason never drink water with their wine; and indeed itis not necessary, for I am afraid that all the wine drank in Milan isalready baptised before it leaves the hands of the vendor, except thatreserved for the priesthood; such, at any rate, was the case before theFrench Revolution, and no doubt the wine sellers would oppose the abolitionof so _ancient_ and _sacred_ a custom. The Milanese are a gay people, hospitable and fond of pleasure: they are more addicted to the pleasures ofthe table than the other people of Italy, and dinner parties are inconsequence much more frequent here than in other Italian towns. The womenhere are said to be much better educated than in the rest of Italy, forNapoleon took great pains to promote and encourage female instruction, wellknowing that to be the best means of regenerating a country. 

The dialect spoken in the Milanese has a harsh nasal accent, to my earpeculiarly disagreeable. Pure Italian or Tuscan is little spoken here, andthat only to foreigners. French, on the contrary, is spoken a good deal;but the Milanese, male and female, among one another, speak invariably the_patois_ of the country, which has more analogy to the French than to theItalian, but without the grace or euphony of either. 

I have visited likewise the _Zecca_, or Mint, where I observed the wholeprocess of coining. They still continue to coin here Napoleons of gold andsilver, with the date of 1814, and they coin likewise crowns or dollarswith Maria Theresa's head, with the date of the last year of her reign. Thedouble Napoleon of forty _franchi_ of the Kingdom of Italy is a beautifulcoin; on the run are the words, _Dio protegge l'Italia_. It may not beunnecessary to remark that in Italy by the word _Napoleone_, as a coin, ismeant the five franc piece with the head of Napoleon, and a twenty francgold piece is called _Napoleone d'oro_. 

At the _Zecca_ I was shown some gold, silver and bronze medals, struck incommemoration of the formation of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, under thesceptre of Austria. They bear the following inscription, which, if Irecollect aright, is from Horace:

 Redeunt in aurum Tempora priscum, [54]

but this golden age is considered by the Italians as a very leaden one; andit seems to bear as much analogy to the golden age, as the base Austriancopper coin, daubed over with silver, and made to pass for fifteen andthirty soldi, has to the real gold and silver _Napoleoni_, which by the wayare said to be fast disappearing; they are sent to Vienna, and Milan willprobably be in time blessed with a similar paper currency to that ofVienna. 

Napoleon seems to be as much regretted by the Milanese as the AustrianGovernment is abhorred; in fact, everybody speaks with horror and disgustof the _aspro boreal scettro_ and of the _aquila che mangia doppio_, anallusion taken from the arms of Austria, the double-headed Eagle. 

I have visited the ancient Ducal, now the Royal, Palace; it is a spaciousbuilding, chaste in its external appearance, but its ulterior verymagnificent; its chiefest treasures are the various costly columns andpilasters of marble and of _jaune antique_ which are to be met with. The_salle de danse_ is peculiarly elegant, and in one of the apartments is afine painting on the plafond representing Jupiter hurling thunderbolts onthe Giants. Jupiter bears the head of Napoleon. Good God! how this man wasspoiled by adulation!

The staircase of the Palace is superb, and the furniture is of the mostelegant description, being faithfully and classically modelled after theantique Roman and Grecian. After visiting the Ambrosian library (by theway, it is quite absurd to visit a library unless you employ whole days toinspect the various editions), I went to the Hospital, which is astupendous building, and makes up 8, 000 beds. The arrangement of thishospital merits the greatest praise. I then peeped into several churches, and I verily believe my conductor would have made me visit every church inMilan, if I had not lost all patience, and cried out: _perche semprechiese? sempre chiese? andiamo a vedere altra cosa_. He conducted me thento the citadel, or rather place where the citadel stood, and which nowforms a vast barrack for the Austrian troops. We then went to visit the_Teatro Olimpico_, which was built by Napoleon. It is built in the style ofthe Roman amphitheatres, but much more of an oval form than the Romanamphitheatres were in general; that is to say, the transverse axis is muchlonger in proportion to the conjugate diameter than is the case in theRoman amphitheatres, and it is by no means so high. In the time ofNapoleon, games were executed in this circus in imitation of the games ofthe ancients, for Napoleon had a great hankering to ape the Roman Caesarsin everything. There were, for instance, gymnastic exercises, races onfoot, horse races, chariot races like those of the Romans, combats of wildbeasts, and as water can be introduced into the arena, there were sometimesexhibited _naumachiae_ or naval fights. These exhibitions were extremelyfrequent at Milan during the vice-regency of Prince Eugène Napoleon; duringthis Government, indeed, Milan flourished in the highest degree of opulenceand splendour and profited much by being one of the principal depôts of theinland trade between France and Italy, during the continental blockade, besides enjoying the advantage of being the seat of Government during theexistence of the _Regno d'Italia_. Even now, tho' groaning under the leadensceptre of Austria, it is one of the most lively and splendid cities I everbeheld; and I made this remark to a Milanese. He answered with a deep sigh:"Ah! Monsieur, si vous aviez été ici dans le temps du Prince Eugène! Maisaujourd'hui nous sommes ruinés. "

My next visit was to the _Porta del Sempione_, which is at a short distancefrom the amphitheatre, and which, were it finished, would be the finestthing of the kind in Europe; it was designed, and would have been completedby Napoleon, had he remained on the throne. Figures representing France, Italy, Fortitude and Wisdom adorn the façade and there are severalbas-reliefs, among which is one representing Napoleon receiving the keys ofMilan after the battle of Marengo. All is yet unfinished; columns, pedestals, friezes, capitals and various other architectural ornaments, besides several unhewn blocks of marble, lie on the ground; and probablythis magnificent design will never be completed for no other reason thanbecause it was imagined by Napoleon and might recall his glories. Verily, Legitimacy is childishly spiteful!

Yesterday morning I went to see an Italian comedy represented at the_Teatro Re_. The piece was _l'Ajo nell' imbarazzo_--a very droll andhumorous piece--but it was not well acted, from the simple circumstance ofthe actors not having their parts by heart, and the illusion of the stageis destroyed by hearing the prompter's voice full as loud as that of theactors, who follow his promptings something in the same way that the clerkfollows the clergyman in that prayer of the Anglican liturgy which says "wehave erred and strayed from our ways like lost sheep. " An Italian audienceis certainly very indulgent and good-natured, as they never hiss, howevermiserable the performance. 

But in speaking of theatrical performances, no person should leave Milanwithout going to see the _Teatro Girolamo_, which is one of the"curiosities" of the place, peculiar to Milan, and more frequented, perhaps, than any other. This is a puppet theatre, but puppets so wellcontrived and so well worked as to make the spectacle well worth theattention of the traveller. It is the _Nec plus ultra of Marionettism_, inwhich Signer Girolamo, the proprietor, has made a revolution, which willform an epoch in the annals of puppetry; having driven from the stageentirely the _graziosissima maschera d'Arlecchino_, who used to be the heroof all the pieces represented by the puppets and substituted himself, orrather a puppet bearing his name, in the place of Harlequin, as theprincipal _farceur_ of the performance. He has contrived to make the puppetGirolamo a little like himself, but so much caricatured and so monstrouslyugly a likeness that the bare sight of it raises immediate laughter. Thetheatre itself is small, being something under the size of our oldHaymarket little theatre, but is very neatly and tastefully fitted up. Thepuppets are about half of the natural size of man, and Girolamo, aided byone or two others, works them and gives them gesture, by means of strings, which are, however, so well contrived as to be scarcely visible; andGirolamo himself speaks for all, as, besides being a ventriloquist, he hasa most astonishing faculty of varying his voice, and adapting it to the_rôle_ of each puppet, so that the illusion is complete. The scenery anddecorations are excellent. Sometimes he gives operas as well as dramas, andthere is always a _ballo_, with transformation of one figure into another, which forms part of the performance. These transformations are really verycurious and extremely well executed. Almost all the pieces acted on thetheatre are of Girolamo's own composition, and he sometimes chooses aclassical or mythological subject, in which the puppet Girolamo is sure tobe introduced and charged with all the wit of the piece. He speaksinvariably with the accent and _patois_ of the country, and his jokes neverfail to keep the audience in a roar of laughter; his mode of speech andslang phrases form an absurd contrast to the other figures, who speak inpure Italian and pompous _versi sciolti_. For instance, the piece I sawrepresented was the story of Alcestis and was entitled _La scesa d'Ercolenell Inferno_, to redeem the wife of Admetus. Hercules, before he commencesthis undertaking, wishes to hire a valet for the journey, has an interviewwith Girolamo, and engages him. Hercules speaks in blank verse and in aphrase, full of _sesquipedalia verba_, demands his country and lineage. Girolamo replies in the Piedmontese dialect and with a strong nasal accent:"_De mi pais, de Piemong_. " Girolamo, however, though he professes to be asbrave as Mars himself has a great repugnance to accompanying his master tothe shades below, or to the "_casa del diavolo_, " as he calls it; and whileHercules fights with Cerberus, he shakes and trembles all over, as he doeslikewise when he meets _Madonna Morte_. 

All this is very absurd and ridiculous, but it is impossible not to laughand be amused at it. An anecdote is related of the _flesh and blood_Girolamo, that he had a very pretty wife, who took it into her head one dayto elope with a French officer; and that to revenge himself he dramatizedthe event and produced it on his own theatre under the title of _Colombinascampata coll'uffiziale_, having filled the piece with severe satire andsarcastic remarks against women in general and Colombina in particular. 

The atelier of the famous artist in mosaic Rafaelli is well worthinspecting; and here I had an opportunity of beholding a copy in mosaic andnearly finished of the celebrated picture of Leonardo da Vinci representingthe _Caena Domini_. What a useful as well as admirable art is the mosaic toperpetuate the paintings of the greatest masters! I recollected onbeholding this work that Eustace, in his _Tour thro' Italy_, [55] relateswith a pious horror that the French soldiers used the original picture as atarget to practise at with ball cartridge, and that Christ's head wassingled out as the mark. This absurd tale, which had not the least shadowof truth in it, has, it appears, gained some credit among weak-mindedpeople; and I therefore beg leave to contradict it in the most formalmanner. It was Buonaparte who, the moment the picture was discovered, ordered it to be put in mosaic. No! the French were the protectors andencouragers, and by no means the destroyers of the works of art; and thisridiculous story of the picture being used as a target was probablyinvented by the priesthood, who seemed to have taken great delight inimposing on poor Eustace's credulity. To me it seems that such a storycould only have been invented by a monk, and believed and repeated by anold woman or a bigot. The priests and French emigrants have invented andspread the most shameful and improbable calumnies against the Frenchrepublicans and against Napoleon, and that credulous gull John Bull hasbeen silly enough to give full credence to all these tales, and standstaring with his eyes and mouth open at the recital, while a vulgar jobbingministry (as Cobbet would say) _picked his pockets_. 

Quite of a piece with this is the said Mr Eustace's bigotry, in not chusingto call Lombardy by its usual appellation "Lombardy, " and affectedlyterming it "the plain of the Po. " Why so, will be asked? Why because MrEustace hates the ancient Lombards, and holds them very nearly in as muchhorror as he does the modern French; because, as he says, they were theenemies of the Church and made war on and despoiled the Holy See. The factis that the Lombard princes were the most enlightened of all the monarchsof their time; they were the first who began to resist the encroachments ofthe clergy and to shake off that abject submission to the Holy See whichwas the characteristic of the age. The Lombards were a fine gallant race ofmen and not so bigoted as the other nations of Europe. Where has there everreigned a better and more enlightened and more just and humane prince thanTheodoric?[56] But Theodoric was an Arian, hence Mr Eustace's aversion, forhe, with the most servile devotion, rejects, condemns and anathematizeswhatever the Church rejects, condemns and anathematizes. For myself I lookon the extinction of the Lombard power by Charlemagne to have been a greatcalamity; had it lasted, the reformation and deliverance of Europe fromPapal and ecclesiastical tyranny would have happened probably three hundredyears sooner and the Inquisition never have been planted in Spain. I havemade this digression from a love of justice and from a wish to vindicatethe French Republic and Napoleon from one at least of the many unjustaspersions cast on them. I feel it also my duty to state on every occasionthat I, belonging to an army sent to Egypt in order to expel them from thatcountry, have been an eyewitness of the good and beneficial reforms andimprovements that the French made in Egypt during a period of only threeyears. They did more for the good of that country in this short period, than we have done for India in fifty years. 

Being obliged to be in London on the 24th December I took leave of theagreeable city of Milan with much regret on the 19th of October and engageda place in a Swiss _voiture_ going to Lausanne. My fellow travellers weretwo Brunswick officers in the service of the Princess of Wales, who werereturning to their native country; and a Hungarian and his son settled inDomo d'Ossola. Nothing occurred till we arrived at Arona, where we weredetained a whole day, in consequence of some informality in the passport ofthe two Germans, viz. , that of its not having been _visé_ by the SardinianChargé d'Affaires at Milan. 

During our detention at Arona, I fell in with a young Frenchman who wasgoing to Milan in company of some Swiss friends. The Swiss were permittedto proceed, but the other was not, for no other reason than because he wasa Frenchman; so that he took a place in our carriage in order to return toSwitzerland. I found him a very agreeable companion, for tho' muchchagrined and vexed at this harsh and ungenerous treatment on the part ofthe Piedmontese authorities, he soon recovered his good humour, andcontributed much to the pleasure of our journey. The Germans came back toArona very late at night, and during the rest of the journey gave vent totheir feelings with many an execration such as _verfluchter Spitzbube, Hundsfott_, on the heads of the inexorable police officers of Arona. Thenext day, on passing by Belgirate, we took a boat to visit the Borromeanislands, and afterwards returned to rejoin our carriage at Fariolo. Thefirst of these islands that we visited was the _Isola Bella_, where thereis a large and splendid villa, belonging to the Borromean family. The roomsare of excellent and solid structure, and there are some good familypictures. The furniture is ancient, but costly. The _rez de chaussée_ orlower part of the house, which is completely _à fleur d'eau_ with the lake, is tastefully paved, and the walls decorated with a mosaic of shells. Onewould imagine it the abode of a sea nymph. I thought of Calypso andGalatea. There are in these apartments _à fleur d'eau_ two or threeexquisite statues. 

LAUSANNE, 11th November. 

I have been now nearly three weeks at Lausanne and am much pleased bothwith the inhabitants, who are extremely affable and well-informed, and withthe beautiful sites that environ this city, the capital of the Canton deVaud. The sentiments of the Vaudois, with the exception of a few absurdfamilies among the _noblesse_, who from ignorance or prejudice aresticklers for the old times, are highly liberal; and as they acquired theirfreedom and emancipated themselves from the yoke of the Bernois, thro' themeans of the French Revolution, they are grateful to that nation andreceive with hospitality those who are proscribed by the present FrenchGovernment; their behaviour thus forming a noble contrast to the servilityof the Genevese. The Government of the Canton de Vaud is wholly democraticand is composed of a Landamman and grand and petty council, all_bourgeois_, or of the most intelligent among the agricultural class, whoknow the interests of their country right well, and are not likely tobetray them, as the _noblesse_ are but too often induced to do, for thesake of some foolish ribband, rank, or title. The _noblesse_ are in amanner self-exiled (so they say) from all participation in the legislativeand executive power; for they have too much _morgue_ to endure to share thegovernment with those whom they regard as _roturiers_; but the real stateof the case is that the people will not elect them, and the people areperfectly in the right, for at the glorious epoch when, without bloodshed, the burghers and plebeians upset the despotism of Bern, the conduct of the_noblesse_ was very equivocal. La Harpe was the leader of this beneficialRevolution, for which, however, the public mind was fully prepared anddisposed; and La Harpe was a virtuous, ardent and incorruptible patriot. 

This canton had been for a long period of years in a state of vassalage tothat of Bern; all the posts and offices of Government were filled byBernois and the Vaudois were excluded from all share in the government, andfrom all public employments of consequence. When the Sun of Revolution, after gloriously rising in America, had shone in splendour on France, andhad successfully dissipated the mists of tyranny, feudality, priestcraftand prejudice, it was natural that those states which had languished for somany years in a humiliating situation should begin to look about them andenquire into the origin of all the shackles and restraints imposed on them;and no doubt the Vaudois soon discovered that it was an anomaly in politicsas well as in reason that two states of such different origin, the onebeing a Latin and the other a Teutonic people, with language, customs, andmanners so different, should be blended together in a system in which allthe advantages were on the side of Bern, and nought but vassalage on thepart of Vaud. A chief was alone wanting to give the impulse; he was soonfound; the business was settled in forty-eight hours; and by the mediationof the French Government, Vaud was declared and acknowledged an independentstate and for ever released from the dominion of Bern. The federativeconstitution was then abolished throughout the union, and a generalGovernment, called the Helvetic Republic, substituted in its place; butthis constitution not suiting the genius and habits of the people, nor thelocality of the country, was not of long duration; troubles broke out andinsurrections, which were fomented and encouraged by the adherents of theold régime. But Napoleon, by a wise and salutary mediation, stepped inbetween them, and prevented the effusion of blood, by restoring the oldconfederation, modified by a variety of ameliorations. In the act ofmediation, Napoleon contented himself with separating the Valais entirelyfrom the confederation, and shortly after annexing it to France, on accountof the high road into Italy across the Simplon running thro' thatterritory, and which it became of the utmost importance to him to be masterof. The new Helvetic Confederation was inviolably respected and protectedby Napoleon; for never after the act of mediation did any French troopsenter in the Canton de Vaud, or any part of the Union to pass into Italy. They always moved on the Savoy side of the Lake to enter into the Valais. This act of mediation saved probably a good deal of bloodshed and in a veryshort time gave such general satisfaction, and was in every respect souseful and beneficial to the Helvetic Union, that in spite of the intriguesof the Senate of Bern, who have never been able to digest the loss of Vaud, the Allied Powers in the year 1814 solemnly guaranteed the HelveticConfederation as established by the Act of Mediation, merely restoring theValais to its independence and aggregating it as an independent Canton tothe general Union. Geneva, on its being severed from the French Empire, andrecovering its independence, solicited the Helvetic Union to be admitted asa member and component part of that Confederacy; which was agreed to, andit was and remains aggregated to it also. 

In 1815, on the return of Napoleon from Elba and on the renewal of the war, the Bern Government made a most barefaced attempt to regain possession ofthe Canton de Vaud; to this they were no doubt secretly encouraged by theAllies, and principally it is said by the British Government, the mostdangerous, artful and determined enemy of all liberty; but this project wascompletely foiled, by the penetration, energy and firmness of theinhabitants of the Canton de Vaud and of its Government in particular. Thecentral Government of the Union was at that time held at Bern and it wasagreed upon in the Diet that Switzerland should remain perfectly neutralduring the approaching conflict; an army of observation of 80, 000 men wasvoted and levied to enforce this neutrality, but the command of it wasgiven to De Watteville, who had been a colonel in the English service, andwas a determined enemy of the French Revolution and of everything connectedwith or arising out of it. On the approach of the Austrian army, DeWatteville, instead of defending the frontier and repelling the invasion, disbanded his army and allowed the Austrians to enter. No doubt he wasencouraged, if not positively ordered to do this, by the Government ofBern, many members of which are supposed to have received bribes from theBritish Government to render the decreed neutrality null and void. At thesame moment that this army was disbanded, the directoral Canton (Bern)caused to be intimated to the Canton de Valid that it was the wish andintention of the High Allies to replace Switzerland in the exact state itwas in, previous to the French Revolution; and that, in consequence, twoCommissioners would be sent from Bern to Lausanne, to take charge of theBureaux, Archives and _insignia_ of Government, etc. , and to act as aprovisional Government under the direction of Bern. The Landamman and thegrand and petty council at Lausanne, on learning this intelligence, immediately saw thro' the scheme that was planned to deprive them of theirindependence; they, therefore, passed a decree, threatening to arrest andpunish as conspirators the Commissioners, should they dare to set theirfoot in the Canton, and declaring such of their countrymen who should aidor abet this scheme, or deliver up a single document to the Commissioners, traitors and rebels; they likewise called on the whole Canton to arm indefence of its independence and proclaimed at the same time that shouldthis plan be attempted to be carried into execution, they would join theirforces to those of Napoleon and thus endanger the position of the Allies. They took their measures accordingly; the whole Canton Sew to arms; theBernois and the Allies were alarmed and consultations held; the Count deBubna, the Austrian General, being consulted, thought the attempt sohazardous and so pregnant with mischief that he had the good sense torecommend to the Allied Powers and to the Canton of Bern to desist fromtheir project and not to make or propose any alteration in the HelveticConstitution, as guaranteed in 1814. His advice was of great weight and wasadopted, and thus the Vaudois by their firmness preserved theirindependence. They met with great support likewise on this trying occasionfrom General La Harpe, preceptor to the Emperor of Russia, and a relationto the gentleman of the same name who was so instrumental in theemancipation of Vaud. La Harpe, who enjoyed the confidence of his pupil, exerted himself greatly in procuring his good offices in favour of theVaudois his countrymen, and this was no small weight in the scale. 

Lausanne is an irregularly built city, and not very agreeable topedestrians, for its continual steep ascents and descents make it extremelyfatiguing, and there is a part of the town to which you ascend by a flightof stairs; the houses in Lausanne have been humorously enough compared tomusical notes. The country in the environs is beautiful beyond descriptionand has at all times elicited the admiration of travellers. There is anagreeable promenade just outside the town, on the left hand side of theroad which leads to Geneva, called _Montbenon_, which is the fashionablepromenade and commands a fine view of the lake. On the left hand side is aCasino and garden used for the _tir de l'arc_, of which the Vaudois, incommon with the other Helvetic people, are extremely fond. On the righthand side of the road is a deep ravine planted in the style of an Englishgarden, with serpentine gravel walks, and on the other side of the ravinestands the upper part of the city, the Cathedral, _Hôtel de Ville_, and the_Chateau du Bailli_, which is the seat of Government. From the terrace ofthe Cathedral you enjoy a fine view, but a still finer and far morecomprehensive one is from the Signal house, or _Belvédère_ near the forestof Sauvabelin (_Silva Bellonae_ in Pagan times)[57]. In this wood fairs, dances and other public festivals are held, and it is the favourite spotfor parties of pleasure to dine _al fresco_; it is a pity, however, thatthe edifice called the _Belvédère_ was not conceived in a better taste; ithas an uncouth and barbarous appearance. 

Lausanne is situated about a quarter of a mile (in a right line) from thelake, and you descend continually in going from the city to the Lake Lemanby a good carriage road, until you arrive on the borders of the lake, wherestands a neat little town called Ouchy, or as it is sometimes termed _leport de Lausanne_. There is a good quai and pier. The passage across thelake from Ouchy to the Savoy side requires four hours with oars. 

I have made several pleasant acquaintances here, viz. , M. Pidon theLandamman, a litterato of the first order; Genl La Harpe, the tutor of theEmperor of Russia; but the most agreeable of all is the Baron deF[alkenskiold], an old gentleman of whose talents, merits and delightfuldisposition I cannot speak too highly. He has the most liberal andenlightened views and opinions, and is extremely well versed in English, French and German litterature. He is a Dane by birth and was exiled earlyin life from his own country, on account of an accusation of beingimplicated in the affair of Struensee; and it is generally supposed that hewas one of Queen Matilda's favoured lovers, which supposition is notimprobable, as in his youth, to judge from his present dignified andmajestic appearance, he must have been an uncommonly handsome man. He haslived ever since at Lausanne, and tho' near seventy-four years of age andtormented with the gout, he never loses his cheerfulness, and passes histime mostly with his books. He gives dinner parties two or three times aweek, which are exceedingly pleasant, and one is sure to meet there asmall, but well informed society of natives and foreigners. Most Germantravellers of rank and litterary attainments, who pass thro' Lausanne, bring letters of introduction and recommendation to the Baron and are sureto meet with the utmost hospitality and attention. 

The women of the Canton de Vaud are in general very handsome, well shapedand graceful; litterature, music, dancing and drawing are cultivated bythem with success; and among the men, tho' one does not meet perhaps withquite as much instruction as at Geneva (I mean that it is not so general), yet no pedantry whatever prevails as in Geneva. At Lausanne they havesincere and solid republican principles and they do not pay that servilecourt to the English that the Genevese do; nor have they as yet adopted thephrase "_Dieu me damne_. "

PARIS, Dec. 5th. 

I returned to Paris by Geneva and crossing the Jura chain of mountainspassed thro' Dole, Auxonne and Dijon. At Geneva, where I stopped threedays, I met, at a musical party given by M. Picot the banker, thecelebrated cantatrice Grassini, who looked as beautiful as ever, and sungin the most fascinating style several airs, particularly "_Quelle pupilletenere_" in the opera of the _Orazj e Curiazi_. To my taste her style ofsinging is far preferable to that of Catalani; there is much more pathosand feeling in the singing of Grassini; it is completely and truly the"_cantar che nell'anima si sente_. " Catalani is very powerful, wonderful, if you will, in execution; but she does not touch my heart as Grassinidoes. 

On my return to Paris from Geneva I found that the conditions of peace hadbeen made public. They are certainly hard, not so much on account of thecession of territory, which is trifling, as on account of the vast sums ofmoney that Prance is obliged to pay, and the still more galling conditionof having to pay and feed at her expense an army of occupation of 150, 000men, of the Allied troops, for a term of three or five years, and to cededuring that period several important fortresses. The inhabitants of Parislook very gloomy and nobody seems to think that the peace will last half aslong. Prussia and Austria strove hard to wrest Alsace and German Lorrainefrom France; hosts of German publicists had accompanied their armies intoFrance and had written pamphlet upon pamphlet to prove that mountains andnot rivers were the proper boundaries of nations and that wherever theGerman language prevails, the country ought to belong to the Germanic body. Ergo, the Vosges mountains were the natural boundaries of France, andAlsace and German Lorraine should revert to Germany. Russia and England, however, opposed this, and insisted that these two provinces should remainwith France; but I have no doubt that the first movements that may occur inFrance (and they will perhaps be secretly encouraged) will serve as apretext for the Allies to separate these countries definitively fromFrance. 

The Louvre has been stripped of the principal statues and pictures whichhave been sent back to the places from whence they were taken, to the greatmortification of the Parisians, most of whom would have consented to thecession of Alsace and Lorraine and half of France to boot on condition ofkeeping the statues and pictures. The English Bureaux are preparing toleave Paris and the troops will soon follow; a new French army isorganizing and several Swiss battalions are raised. It is generallysupposed that by the end of December France, with the exception of thefortresses and districts to be occupied by the Allied Powers, will be freedfrom the pressure of foreign troops. 

The Chamber of Peers is occupied with the trial of Marshall Ney, theConseil de Guerre, which was ordered to assemble for that purpose havingdeclared itself incompetent. The friends of Ney advised him to claim theprotection of the 12th Article of the Capitulation of Paris, and MadameNey, it is said, applied both to the Duke of Wellington and to the Emperorof Russia; both ungenerously refused; to the former Nature has not given aheart with much sensibility, and the latter bears a petty spite against Neyon account of his title, _Prince de la Moskowa_. It is pretty generallyanticipated that poor Ney will be condemned and executed; for tho' at therepresentation of _Cinna_ a few nights ago, at the Théâtre Français, theallusions to clemency were loudly caught hold of and applauded by theaudience, yet I suspect Louis XVIII is by no means of a relenting nature, and that he is as little inclined to pardon political trespasses as hisancestor Louis IX was disposed to pardon those against religion; for, according to Gibbon, his recommendation to his followers was: _"Siquelqu'un parle contre la foi chrétienne dans votre présence, donnez luil'épée ventre-dedans_. "

December 18th. 

I met with an emigrant this day at the Palais Royal who was acquainted withmy family in London. It was the Vicomte de B*****ye. [58] He had residedsome time in England and also in Switzerland. He is an amiable man, but amost incorrigible Ultra. He displayed at once the ideas that prevail amongthe Ultras, which must render them eternally at variance with the mass ofthe French nation. In speaking of the state of France, he said: "_Je n'aijamais cessé et jamais je ne cesserai de regarder comme voleurs tous lesacquéreurs des biens des émigrés. Il faudroit, pour le bonheur de laFrance, qu'elle fût placés dans le même état ou elle était avant laRévolution. _" He would not listen to my reasons against the possibility ofeffecting such a plan, even were the plan just and reasonable in itself. Itold him that for the emigrants to expect to get back their property wasjust as absurd as for the descendants of those Saxon families in England, whose ancestors were dispossessed of their estates by William theConqueror, to think of regaining them, and to call upon the Duke ofNorthumberland, for instance, as a descendant of a Norman invader, to giveup his property as unjustly acquired by his progenitors. We did not holdlong converse after this; his ideas and mine diverged too much from eachother. 

The English are very much out of favour with the emigrants, as well onaccount of the stripping of the Louvre as on account of not having shot allthe _libéraux_. They had the folly to believe that the Allied troops wouldmerely make war for the emigrants' interests, and after having put to deatha considerable quantity of those who should be designated as rebels andJacobins by them (the emigrants), would replace France in the exactposition she was in 1789, and then depart. 

Poor Marshall Ney's fate is decided. He was sentenced to death, and thesentence was carried into execution not on the _Place de Grenelle_ as wasgiven out, but in the gardens of Luxemburgh at a very early hour. He methis fate with great firmness and composure. I leave Paris to-morrow forLondon. 

[47] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, VI, 20, 7. 

[48] Virgil, _Aen_. , VI, 620 (temnere _divos_). --ED. 

[49] Louis Wirion (1764-1810), an officer of _gendarmerie_, commander-general of the _place_ de Verdun since 1804, was accused in 1808 of having extorted money from certain English prisoners quartered in Verdun (Estwick, Morshead, Garland, etc. ). Wirion shot himself before the end of the long proceedings, which do not seem to have established his guilt, but had reduced him to misery and despair. --ED. 

[50] Richard Brinsley Sheridan's (1751-1816) _Pizarro_, produced at Drury Lane in 1799. --ED. 

[51] Three brothers Zadera, all born in Warsaw, served in the Imperial army. --ED. 

[52] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ III, 2, i. --ED. 

[53] These words mean, or are supposed to mean, in French and in Dutch: "I don't understand" (_je n'entends pas_). --ED. 

[54] Horace, _Carm. _, IV, 2, 39. --ED. 

[55]John Chetwode Eustace (1762-1815), author of _A Tour through Italy_ (2 vol. , London, 1813), the eighth edition of which appeared in 1841. --ED. 

[56] Theodoric was a Goth, not a Lombard. --ED. 

[57] Of course, _Silva Beleni_. --ED. 

[58] Perhaps Clement François Philippe de Laâge Bellefaye, mentioned in the _Souvenirs_ of Baron de Frénilly, p. 94. His large estates had been confiscated in the Revolution. --ED. 

AFTERWATERLOO

PART II

CHAPTER VI

MARCH-JUNE, 1816

Ball at Cambray, attended by the Duke of Wellington--An Adventure betweenSaint Quentin and Compiègne--Paris revisited--Colonel Wardle and MrsWallis--Society in Paris--The Sourds-Muets--The Cemetery of Père LaChaise--Apathy of the French people--The priests--Marriage of the Duke deBerri. 

March, 1816. 

This time I varied my route to Paris, by passing thro' St Omer, Douay andCambray. At Cambray I was present at a ball given by the municipality. TheDuke of Wellington was there. He had in his hand an extraordinary sort ofhat which had something of a shape of a folding cocked hat, with divers redcrosses and figures on it, so that it resembled a conjurer's cap. Iunderstand it is a hat given to his Grace by magnanimous Alexander; StNicholas perhaps commissioned the Emperor to present it to Wellington, forhis Grace is entitled to the eternal gratitude of the different Saints, aswell as of the different sovereigns, for having maintained themrespectively in their celestial and terrestrial dominions; and it is to behoped, after his death, that the latter will celebrate for him a brilliantapotheosis, and the former be as complaisant to him and make room for himin the Empyreum as Virgil requests the Scorpion to do for Augustus:

 . .. Ipse tibi jam brachia contrahit ardens Scorpios, et coeli jusiâ plus parts reliquit. [59]

I met with an adventure in my journey from St Quentin to Compiègne, which, had it happened a hundred years ago in France, would have alarmed me muchfor my personal safety. It was as follows. I had taken my place at StQuentin to go to Paris; but all the diligences being filled, the _bureau_expedited a _calèche_ to convey me as far as Compiègne, there to meet theParis diligence at nine the next morning. It was a very dark cold night, and snowed very hard. 

Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night, half way between St Quentin andCompiègne, the axle tree of the carriage broke; we were at least two milesfrom any village one way and three the other; but a lone house was close tothe spot where the accident happened. We had, therefore, the choice ofgoing forward or backward, the postillion and myself helping the carriageon with our hands, or to take refuge at the lone house till dawn of day. Ipreferred the latter; we knocked several times at the door of the lonehouse, but the owner refused to admit us, saying that he was sure we were_gens de mauvaise vie_, and that he would shoot us if we did not go away. The postillion and I then determined on retrograding two miles, thedistance of the nearest village, and remaining there till morning. Wearrived there with no small difficulty and labour, for it snowed very fastand heavily, and it required a good deal of bodily exertion to push on thecarriage. Arrived at the village, we knocked at the door of a smallcottage, the owner of which sold some brandy. He received me very civilly, gave me some eggs and bacon for supper, and a very fair bed. 

The next morning, after having the axle tree repaired, we proceeded on ourjourney to Compiègne. I suffered much from the cold during this adventure, and did not sleep well, having fallen into a train of thought whichprevented me from so doing; and I could not help bringing to myrecollection the adventure of Raymond in the forest near Strassburg, in theromance of _The Monk_. Nothing worthy of note occurred during the rest ofthe journey; but this adventure obliged me to remain one day at Compiègneto wait for the next diligence. 

PARIS, April 8th, 1816. 

I delivered my letters to the Wardle family and am very much pleased withthem. I meet a very agreeable society at their house. Col Wardle is quite arepublican and very rigid in his principles. [60] His daughter is a younglady of first rate talents and has already distinguished herself by somepoetical compositions. I met at their house Mrs Wallis, the sister of SirR. Wilson. [61] She is an enthusiastic Napoleonist, and wears at times atricolored scarf and a gold chain with a medal of Napoleon's head attachedto it; this head she sometimes, to amuse herself, compels the old emigrantsshe meets with in society to kiss. The trial of her brother is now going onfor aiding and abetting the escape of Lavalette. I sincerely hope he willescape any severity of punishment, but I more fear the effects of Toryvengeance against him in England, in the shape of depriving him of hiscommission, than I do the sentence of any French court. Yet tho' I wish himwell, I cannot help feeling the remains of a little grudge against him forhis calumny against Napoleon in accusing him of poisoning the sick of hisown army before the walls of St Jean d'Acre. I have always vindicated thecharacter of Napoleon from this most unjust and unfounded aspersion, because having been in Egypt with Abercrombie's army and having had dailyintercourse with Belliard's division of the French army, after thecapitulation of Cairo, and during our joint march on the left bank of theNile to Rosetta, I knew that there was not a syllable of truth in thestory. Mrs Wallis, however, tells me that her brother has expressed deepregret that he ever gave credence and currency to such a report; and thathe acknowledges that he was himself deceived. But he did Napoleon anirreparable injury, and his work on the Egyptian campaign contributed in avery great degree to excite the hatred of the English people againstNapoleon, as well as to flatter the passions and prejudices of the Tories. 

In the affair however of Lavalette Wilson has nobly retrieved his characterand obliterated all recollection of his former error. It is amazing thepopularity he and his two gallant associates have acquired in France bythis generous and chevaleresque enterprise. 

I meet at Col Wardle's a very pleasant French society: conversation, musicand singing fill up the evening. 

April 15th. 

I have been presented to a very agreeable lady, Madame Esther Fournier, whoholds a _conversazione_ at her house in the Rue St Honoré every Wednesdayevening. Here there is either a concert, a ball or private theatricals;while in a separate room play goes forward and _crebs_, a game of dicesimilar to hazard, is the fashionable game. Refreshments are handed roundand at twelve o'clock the company break up. Mme Fournier is a lady of verydistinguished talent and always acts a principal rôle herself in thedramatic performances given at her private theatricals. 

I have become acquainted too with a very pleasant family, M. And MmeVanderberg, who are the proprietors of a large house and magnificent gardenin the Faubourg du Roule. M. Vanderberg is a man of very large fortune. [62]He has three daughters, handsome and highly accomplished, and one son; oneof them was married to General R----, but is since divorced; the second ismarried to a young colonel of Hussars, and the third is still unmarried;but being very young, handsome, accomplished and rich, there will be nolack of suitors whenever she is disposed to accept the connubial chain. Ihave dined several times with this family. There is an excellent table. Thechoicest old wines are handed about during dinner, and afterwards weadjourn to another room to take coffee and liqueurs. 

If there is no evening party, the company retire, some for the theatre, some for other houses, where they have to pass the evening; if the familyremain at home you have the option of retiring or remaining with them, andthe evening is filled up with music or _petits jeux_. I meet with severalagreeable and distinguished people at this house, among whom are M. Anglas, Mme Duthon from the Canton de Vaud, a lady of great vivacity and talent, and General Guilleminot and his lady. Col. Paulet, who married M. Vanderberg's second daughter, was on the staff of General Guilleminot atthe battle of Waterloo and suffered much from a fever and ague that hecaught on the night bivouacs. 

I have attended a séance of the Institution of the _Sourds-Muets_ foundedby the famous Abbé de l'Epée, and continued with equal success by hissuccessor the Abbé S[icard], [63] who delivered the lecture and exhibitedthe talent and proficiency of his pupils. The eldest pupil, Massieu, himself deaf and dumb, is an extraordinary genius and he may be said insome measure to direct all the others. Massieu, who has a very interestingand even handsome countenance, and manners extremely prepossessing, conducts the examination of the pupils by means of signs, and writing on aslate or paper; and it is wonderful to observe the progress made by theseinteresting young persons, who have been so harshly treated by Nature. Thedefinitions they give of substances and qualities are so just and happy;and in their situation, definition is everything, for they cannot learn byrote, as other boys often do, who, in the study of philology, acquire onlywords and not things or meanings. The deaf and dumb persons, on thecontrary, acquire at once by this method of instruction the philosophy ofgrammar; and then it is far from being the dry study that many peoplesuppose. A German princess who was present exclaimed in a transport ofadmiration at some of the specimens of definitions and inferences given bythe pupils; " Oh! I wish that I were born deaf and dumb, were it only tolearn grammar properly!" Sir Sidney Smith was present at this lecture andseemed inclined to make himself a little too conspicuous. For instance, before the examination began, he seated himself close by the Abbé S[icard]and pulling a paper out of his pocket said that he had found it on theground on his way hither; and that it was part of a leaf from an edition ofCicero which contained a sentence so applicable to the character andtalents of his friend the Abbé, that he requested permission to read italoud and translate it into French for the benefit of those who did notunderstand Latin. He then read the sentence. The Abbé, not to be out-donein compliments, then rose and made a most flaming speech in eulogium of hisfriend "the heroic defender of St John d'Acre" and pointed him out to theaudience as the first person who had foiled the arms of the "Usurper. "

Now this word "Usurper" applied to Napoleon did not at all please theaudience, and it shewed a great deal of servility on the part of the Abbéto insult fallen greatness, and in the person too of a man who had renderedsuch vast services to science. In fact this episode was received coldly, and somewhat impatiently by the audience; and many thought it was a thing_got up_ between the Admiral and the Abbé to flatter each other's vanity;indeed my friend Mrs Wallis, next to whom I was placed, and who does not atall agree with the gallant Admiral in politics, intimated this in awhisper, loud enough to be heard by all the audience and added: "Such ahumbug is enough to make one sick. " Sir Sidney Smith heard all this andseemed a good deal abashed and disconcerted; he, however, had the goodsense to say nothing, and the examination began. 

PARIS, May 5th. 

I formed a party with some friends to visit the cemetery of Père la Chaise. We remarked in particular the places where poor Labédoyère and Marshal Neyare buried. There is no tombstone on the former, but some shrubs have beenplanted, and a black wooden cross fixed to denote the spot where he lies. 

To Marshal Ney there is a stone sepulchre with this inscription: "_Cy-gîtle Maréchal Ney, Prince de la Moskowa_. " This cemetery is most beautifullylaid out. The multitude of tombs, the variety of inscriptions in prose andverse, some of which are very affecting, the yews, the willows, all renderthis a delightful spot for contemplation; it commands an extensive view ofParis and the surrounding country. Foreigners of distinction who die inParis are generally buried here; but it would require a volume to describeto you in detail this interesting cemetery. I think the practice ofstrewing flowers over the grave is very touching and classic; it remindedme of the description of Marcellus's death in Virgil:

 . .. Manibus date lilia plenis. 

We however strewed over the tombs of Labédoyère and Ney not lilies, butviolets, for my friend Mrs W[allis], who was of our party, has a greataversion to the lily. 

We have just heard of Didier's capture and execution at Grenoble. [64] Thereare continual reports of insurrections and plots, but it is now well knownthat the most of them are _got up_ by the Ultras to entrap the unwary. TheFrench people seem sunk in apathy and to wish for peace at any rate;nothing but the most extreme provocation will induce them to take up arms;but then, if they once do so, woe to the _Chambre Introuvable_, as thepresent Chamber of Deputies is called; certainly such a set of venal, merciless and ignorant bigots and blockheads never were collected in anyassembly. There have occurred several scandalous scenes at Nîmes and otherplaces. The Protestants are openly insulted and threatened, and thegovernment is either too weak to prevent it, or, as is supposed, secretlyencourages those excesses. In fact in Paris there are two polices; the one, that of the Government, the other, and by far the most troublesome, that of_Monsieur_[65] and the violent Ultra party, or as they are collectivelycalled the _Pavilion Marsan_. [66] The priests are at work everywheretrumping up old legends, forging communications from the Holy Ghost, receiving letters dropped from heaven by Jesus Christ, and all this is donewith the idea of working on fanatical minds, to induce them to commit actsof outrage and violence on those whom the priests designate as enemies tothe faith, and on weak ones, with the idea of frightening them intorestoring the lands and property which they have purchased or inherited andwhich formerly belonged to emigrants or to the Church. 

A lady of my acquaintance (to give you an idea of the arts of these holyhypocrites) sent for a priest to confess and to receive absolution, notfrom any faith in the efficacy of the business, but merely from a desire ofconforming to the ceremonies of the national worship. The priest arrived, but began by apologizing to her that he was sorry he could not administerto her the sacrament of absolution; she, surprized, asked the reason; heanswered that it was because her uncle had purchased Church lands, whichshe inherited, and that unless she could resolve to restore them to thechurch, he could not think of giving her absolution. The lady was at a losswhether to be indignant at his impudence or to laugh outright at his folly. She however assumed a becoming gravity and _sang-froid_, and told him thathe was very much mistaken if he thought he had got hold of a simpleton or abigot in her; that she had sent for him merely with the idea of conformingto the national worship, and not with the most remote persuasion of thenecessity or efficacy of his or any other priest's absolution; she added:"Your conduct has opened my eyes as to the views of all your cloth; I seeyou are incurable. I shall never send for any of you again; and be assuredthis anecdote shall not be forgotten. You may retire. " The priest, abashedand mortified in finding himself mistaken in his supposed prey, stammeredan excuse and retired. 

I intend to remain at Paris until after the marriage ceremony of the Dukeand Duchess of Berri, and I shall then proceed to Lausanne. It is expectedthere will be some disturbance on the occasion of this marriage. 

I have witnessed an execution by the guillotine on the Place de Grève nearthe _Hôtel de Ville_. The criminal was guilty of a burglary and murder. Itis the only execution (except political ones) that has taken place at Parisfor the last six months, whereas in England they are strung up by dozensevery fortnight. Independent of there being far less crimes committed inFrance than in England, the French code punishes but few offences withdeath. 

Why is not the sanguinary English criminal code with death in everyline--why is it not reformed, I say? 'Twould be well if our legislators, instead of their puerile and frothy declamations against revolutionaryprinciples and the ambition of Napoleon, would occupy themselves seriouslywith this subject. But then the lawyers would all oppose the simplificationof our Code. They find by experience that a complicated one, obstructed bycustoms, statutes and acts of Parliament, difficult to be correctlyinterpreted, and frequently at variance with each other, is a much moreprofitable thing, a much wider and more lucrative field for the exercise oftheir profession, than the simplicity of the Code Napoléon; and they woulddie of rage and despair at the thought of anybody not a lawyer being ableto interpret the laws himself. Now as our country gentlemen and members ofParliament are always much inclined to take lawyer's advice, and arebesides fully persuaded and convinced that there are no abuses whatever inEngland and that everything is as it should be, there is no hope of anyamelioration in this particular. All reasoning and argument is lost on suchpolitical optimists. 

The punishment of the guillotine certainly appears to be the most humanemode of terminating the existence of a man that could possibly be invented. The apparatus is preserved in the _Hôtel de Ville_, and is never exposed toview or erected on the place of execution, till about an hour before theexecution itself takes place. At the hour appointed the criminal is broughtto the scaffold, fastened to the board, placed at right angles with thefatal instrument, the head protruding thro' the groove, which embraces theneck; the executioner pulls a cord, the axe descends and the head of thecriminal falls into a basket. The whole ceremony of the execution does nottake three minutes when the criminal once arrives at the foot of theguillotine. There is none of that horrible struggling that takes place inthe operation of hanging. 

June 21st, 1816. 

The ceremony of the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Berri passed offquietly enough. Several people, it is true, were arrested for seditiousexpressions, but no tumult occurred. A great apprehension seemed to prevaillest something should occur, but the gendarmerie and police were sovigilant that all projects, had there been any, would have proved abortive. 

[59] Virgil, _Georg. _, I, 35. --ED. 

[60] Colonel Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle was the celebrated exposer of the scandal in 1808-9, when the mistress of the Duke of York was found to be trafficking in Commissions. He had retired from active service in 1802, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Financial reasons obliged him, after 1815, to live on the Continent; he died in Florence, 1833. --ED. 

[61] Sir Robert Thomas Wilson (1779-1849), author of _The History of the British Expedition to Egypt_, 1802; a French translation of that work elicited a protest from Napoleon. --ED. 

[62] Vanderberg had made a fortune as a contractor to the French army; he is mentioned in Ida Saint Elme's _Mémoires d'une contemporaine_ and elsewhere. --ED. 

[63] Abbé Sicard (Rooh Ambroise) was director of the Institution of Sourds-Muets from 1790 to 1797 and from 1800 to 1822. --ED. 

[64] Paul Didier (1758-1816) took part in a Bonapartist conspiracy at Lyons in 1816, raised an insurrection in the Isère and fled to Piedmont, whence he was surrendered to the French authorities, condemned to death and executed at Grenoble. --ED. 

[65] The King's brother, afterwards Charles X. --ED. 

[66] The N. E. Pavilion of the Tuileries. --ED. 

CHAPTER VII

Journey from Paris to Lausanne--Besançon--French refugees inLausanne--François Lamarque--General Espinassy--Bordas--Gautier--Michau--M. De Laharpe--Mlle Michaud--Levade, a Protestant minister--Chambéry--Aix--Details about M. De Boigne's career in India--English Toryism andintolerance--Valley of Maurienne--Passage across Mont Cenis and arrival atSuza--Turin. 

LAUSANNE, July 8th. 

Departing from Paris on the 24th June, 1816, I varied my journey intoSwitzerland this time, for instead of travelling thro' Lyons or Dole, Itook the route of Besangon, Pontarlier, Jougne and Orbe. The countrybetween Dijon and Besançon is a rich and fertile plain. At Besançon themountainous country begins; it is a strong fortress, and the lastconsiderable town of the French frontier. It lies in a very picturesquesituation, being nearly environed by the Doubs, which meanders under itswalls, and by very lofty mountains; on the other side of the Doubs standsthe citadel, its chief strength. The town of Besangon is exceedinglyhandsome and well built, and there are several agreeable promenades, two ofwhich I must particularize, viz. , the promenade de Chamarre and the gardenof the Palace of Granvelle. There are besides several Roman antiquities andthe remains of a large amphitheatre. I amused myself very well for a coupleof days at Besançon, and met with some agreeable society at the _Hôtel deFrance_ where I lodged. I left Besançon at eight in the morning of the 30thJune, and arrived at Pontarlier at six the same evening. Pontarlier is adreary, melancholy looking place, consisting of a very long street andseveral offsets of streets, situated in the midst of mountains, eternallycovered with snow. Winter reigns here during nine months of the year. AtPontarlier the whole garrison were under arms, when I arrived, to pay thelast duties to a most respectable and respected officer, whose death wasoccasioned by falling into the river, while at the _necessary_, by theunder board giving way. This officer had served in almost all the campaignsof Napoleon and had greatly distinguished himself. What a cruel death for awarrior who had been in fifty battles! That death should have shunned himin the field of battle, to make him fall in a manner at once inglorious andridiculous! yet such is destiny. Pyrrhus fell by a tile flung from a houseby an old woman, and I am acquainted with a gallant captain in the BritishNavy who lost his leg by amputation, having broken it (oh horror!) by afall from the top of a stage coach. 

I left Pontarlier on the 2d July, and arrived at Lausanne the same eveningat five o'clock. On my return to Lausanne I had the pleasure to form anacquaintance with several eminent Frenchmen proscribed and banished fromFrance, on account of having voted the death of Louis XVI, as members ofthe National Convention, which tried him, and for having voted, after thereturn of Napoleon from Elba, the _Acte additionnel_, which excluded theBourbons for ever from the throne of France, Among them are, 1st, MonsieurLamarque, who was one of the commissioners sent by the Convention to arrestDumouriez, but being seized by him, and delivered over to the Austrians, hepassed some time in captivity and was at length released, by beingexchanged with some others against the Duchess d'Angoulême. [67] He is avery able man and seems to have far more political talent than any of theother _Conventionnels_ who are here. On Napoleon's return from Elba hevoted for him, but made strong objections against the formation of apeerage, which he said was perfectly useless in France, and pregnant withmischief to boot, as it would only serve as an _appui_ to despotism. Hewrote a pamphlet with some excellent remarks on this, subject. He thereinpoints out the evils of an hereditary Chamber, and of a priviledgedaristocracy, who have nothing to expect from the people, but all from thePrince; and in its stead he proposes an additional elective Chamber, something on the plan of the Senate in America, but he decidedly reprobatesan hereditary peerage. 

The next is General Espinassy, a very good classical scholar and a mostupright and amiable man. [68] In his vote he was solely influenced by strongbut conscienscious republican principles; he resides here with his wife andtwo sons; he was considered as one of the best engineer officers in Franceand he opposed the nomination of Napoleon to the Imperial dignity in 1804. 

Another, M. Bordas, [69] opposed Napoleon's assumption of the Consulship onthe 18th Brumaire, and was proscribed by him for a short time, butafterwards amnestied and received into favour. He gave his vote forNapoleon on the _Champ de Mai_ in 1815, but accompanied this vote by a boldspeech towards Napoleon wherein he found fault with his former despoticpractises, and reminded him of the solemnity of his promise to govern infuture paternally and nationally, as became the sovereign of a free people. M. Bordas is a very cheerful, lively, companionable man and tho' seventyyears of age, he has an uncommon share of vivacity, with something of the_ci-devant jeune homme_ about him, and He is pleased to be considered stillas a man _à bonnes fortunes_. 

The next to him is M. Gauthier, who had been a lawyer, and held aconsiderable post as a magistrate in the time of the Republic and under theEmpire. [70] He possesses a good deal of talent, close logical reasoning, and has determined public principle. 

The next, M. Michaud, had been also an advocate, and is possessor ofconsiderable property in the department of the Doubs;[71] he is a mostrigid unbending republican, something in the style of Verrina in Schiller's_Fiesco_; he opposed the assumption of the supreme power by Buonaparte onthe 18th Brumaire; he voted against the Consulship for life, as well asagainst the assumption of the Imperial dignity. He is a very good classicalscholar. He is a widower and has with him here Mlle Elisa, his onlydaughter, who follows her father's fortunes. She is a very amiable andaccomplished young lady; she has a thorough knowledge of music and ofpainting in oils, and is classically versed in the Italian language. I soonbecame acquainted with the whole of these illustrious exiles, and I findgreat delight and instruction from their conversation; and this is a greatrelief to me, for the life one leads in a Swiss town is rather monotonous. 

LAUSANNE. 

I dine very often with my neighbour the Baron de Falkenskioeld, and at hishouse I became acquainted with M. De Laharpe, who was preceptor to thepresent Emperor of Russia. He is a native of this Canton, and has returnedhere to pass the remainder of his life. He is married to a very amiableRussian lady, and having acquired a pretty good fortune in Russia, he liveshere very happily and comfortably; but notwithstanding this, he is oftentempted to visit Paris, Milan and other great cities, and when there, sighsto return to his native mountains. 

As the Ultras of France bear a great hatred towards the inhabitants of theCanton de Vaud, on account of the asylum given and sympathy shown to the_proscrits_, they have been at the pains of trumping up and printing apretended petition from the inhabitants of the department of the Doubs, praying that the French Government would endeavor to obtain the removal ofthese _proscrits_ from the Canton de Vaud, and stating that the said Cantonwas the _foyer_ of Jacobinical principles, and the place where Napoleon'sreturn from Elba was planned and accelerated, and thro' which theconveyance of intelligence backwards and forwards was conducted. I have nodoubt that in this petition more is meant than meets the ear; that theOligarchs of Bern, as well as the Ultras of France, have a share in it, andthat it may be considered not so much as an attempt to compel the Canton torefuse asylum to these exiles, as to excite the Great Powers to enforce theabolition of the independence of Vaud, and to replace it under the dominionand authority of the Canton of Bern. 

Everybody here, however, sees thro' the drift of this petition, and manypersons whose names are put down as having signed it, have written to theirfriends at Lausanne, to declare not only that they never signed such apetition, but their entire ignorance even of the agitation of the questiontill they saw the petition itself in print. The French government, however, has not ventured to act any further upon it, than to make a pompous displayof the royalist zeal and _bon esprit_ that pervades the Department of theDoubs. 

I see a good deal of Mlle Michaud. I find her conversation extremelyagreeable. She had lent to me an Italian work by Verri entitled _Le nottiRomane al sepolcro di Stipione_. She is a very rigid Catholic, having beeneducated by a priest of very strict ideas. Her devotion however does notrender her less cheerful or less amiable. She having expressed a wish tohear the Protestant church service, I offered to accompany her and we wenttogether one Sunday to the Cathedral Church at Lausanne. But itunfortunately happened that on that day a sermon was preached which musthave given a great deal of pain to her filial feelings. Mr Levade, theminister, took it into his head to give a political sermon, in which, aftera great deal of commonplace abuse of Voltaire, Rousseau and the FrenchRevolution, and very fulsome adulation towards the English government (asubject which was brought in by the head and shoulders), of that _island_(as he termed it) _surrounded by the Ocean_, he lavished a great deal ofstill more fulsome adulation on the Bourbons; and then most wantonly andunnecessarily began a furious declamation against the _régicides_ as hetermed them, who had taken refuge in the Canton, and intimated prettyplainly how pleasing it would be to God Almighty that they should beexpelled from it. This intolerant discourse, more worthy of a raving Jesuitthan of a Protestant minister, was deservedly scouted by the inhabitants ofLausanne; but this did not hinder poor Mlle Michaud from being muchaffected at the opprobrious tirade directed against a set of men, amongwhom her father bore a conspicuous part, and who acted from patrioticmotives. I must not omit to state that in this discourse M. Levadeinterwove some hyperbolical compliments towards the young Prince of Sweden, who attended the service that morning. He told him that the eyes of allEurope were fixed upon him, and that Providence had him under his especialcare. 

Now the following is the character of M. Levade. [72] He is a time-serving, meddling priest, and a most flagrant adulator of the powers that be. Hethinks that by declaiming against the French Revolution, and againstVoltaire and Rousseau, that he will get into favor with the great peoplewho pass thro' Lausanne, with the French and English Government adherents, and with the great Tory families of England. No considerable personage everpasses through Lausanne, but Mr Levade is the first to make him a visit;and no rich or noble English family arrives with whom he does notingratiate himself, and he is not sparing of his adulations. This mode ofprocedure has been a very profitable concern to him, as he has received avast number of presents, and several valuable legacies, besides securing anumber of pupils among the English families, that come or that have beenhere. He is in short a thorough parasite and time server, in every sense ofthe word. This adulation of the Bourbon family in his sermon, besides themeanness of it, was highly misplaced, coming from the mouth of a Protestantminister, and somebody exclaimed on leaving the Church: "_Que doit-onpenser d'un ministre protestant du Canton de Vaud, qui prodigue deslouanges à une famille qui a été l'ennemie acharnée de l'Elise reformée, etqui a persécuté les protestants d'une manière si atroce?_" But Mr Levade(tho' to the honor of the clergymen of the Canton de Vaud he is singularamong _them_), yet he has many persons who perfectly resemble him among themembers of the Church of England, and who are as eager to support despotismand to crush liberty as any disciple of Loyola or any Janissary of theGrand Signor. The other Protestant ministers of this Canton were highlyindignant at this sermon; in fact, it was the first time in this city thatthe House of God had been profaned by the introduction of politicalsubjects into a religious discourse. This sermon was the common topic ofconversation for many days after. 

CHAMBÉRY, 2d August. 

I left Lausanne for Geneva on 28 July. I stopped at Nyon to pay a visit toMme Duthon, with whom I became acquainted at Paris. I dined with her andpassed a most agreeable day. Her talents are of the first order, and she isas great an enthusiast for the German language and litterature as myself, besides being well versed in Italian. She had a female relation with her. We took a boat after dinner to navigate the lake, and we visited theChâteau and domains of Joseph Napoleon. The next day I proceeded to Geneva. 

I determined on making the journey into Italy this time by Mont-Cenis, andto make it on foot as far as the foot of Mont-Cenis on the Italian side, intending to profit of the opportunity of the first conveyance I shouldmeet with at Suza to proceed to Turin. I accordingly forwarded myportmanteau to Turin to the care of a banker there, and sallied forth fromGeneva at six o'clock on the morning of 1st August. 

I stopped to dine at Frangy and reached Romilly at seven in the evening. There is nothing worthy of remark at Romilly. The next morning I stopped atAix to breakfast, and visited the bath establishment. The scenery ispicturesque on this route, and the whole road from Aix to Chambéry isaligned with remarkably fine large trees. At three in the afternoon Iarrived at Chambéry, the capital of Savoy. It is a large handsome city, situated in a fruitful valley, with a great many gardens and orchardssurrounding it. There is a strong garrison here. Among the many _maisons deplaisance_ in the environs of this city, the most distinguishable is thevilla of General De Boigne, who has passed the greatest part of his life inIndia, in the service of Scindiah, one of the Mahratta chiefs;[73] and itwas by De Boigne's assistance that Scindiah, from being a petty chief, withnot more than three or four hundred horse, became the founder of a powerfulkingdom, comprized chiefly of the provinces of the Ganges and Jumna, tornfrom the Mogol Empire, whose Sovereign fell into the hands of Scindiah. Scindiah caused the Mogol Emperor's eyes to be put out, and kept him as astate prisoner in Delhi, till the year 1805, when on the Mahrattas engagingin war with the English, Scindiah was defeated by Lake and lost the greaterpart of his conquests. De Boigne had quitted India in 1796, long beforethis rupture took place, and at that time Scindiah had a fine regular armyof thirty battalions of 1, 000 men, each disciplined, armed and equipped inthe European manner. He had likewise sixty squadrons of regular cavalry anda formidable train of artillery. At Chambéry I met with two French_voyageurs de commerce_, who with that positiveness, which is often thenational characteristic, insisted that De Boigne owed his riches andfortune to his treachery, in having betrayed and sold Tippoo Saib to theEnglish, when he was in Tippoo's service; and I find this is the currentreport all over Savoy. 

Now it is an accusation totally devoid of foundation, as I shall presentlyshow; and I took this opportunity of vindicating the reputation of DeBoigne, by simply stating that De Boigne could never have betrayd Tippoo, since he was never in his service; 2dly, that he had, when in the serviceof Scindiah, fought against Tippoo, when the Mahrattas coalesced with theEnglish against that Prince in 1792; and that had it not been for theassistance given by the Mahrattas to the English (a most impoliticcoalition on the part of the Mahrattas, as it turned out afterwards), Tippoo would not have been compelled to conclude so humiliating a treaty ofpeace; 3dly, that De Boigne had quitted India in 1796, three years beforethe second war and death of Tippoo in 1799. I stated, too, that I wasperfectly well acquainted with these particulars of De Boigne's career, from having served six years in India, and from having been personallyacquainted with a gentleman of the name of Lucius Ferdinand Smith, who wasthe ultimate friend of De Boigne and his lieutenant general in the serviceof Scindiah; I added that I could not conceive how so unjust and unfoundedan aspersion on De Boigne's character could find currency. 

I hope that what I said will be effectual towards doing away this injuriousreport; but very probably it will not, for when the vulgar once imbibe anopinion, it is difficult to eradicate it from their minds, and they are notat all obliged to the person who endeavors to undeceive them, so thatGeneral De Boigne's treachery and sale of Tippoo to the English will behanded down to posterity among the Savoyards, as a fact of which it will beas little permitted to doubt as of the treachery of Judas. 

CHAMBÉRY, August 3d. 

At the _table d'hôte_ this day I nearly lost all patience on hearing anelderly English gentleman extolling the English Ministry to the skies, andabusing the army of the Loire, calling them rebels and traitors. I stood upin defence of these gallant men, and stated that the French Army in thetime of the Republic and of the Empire were the most constitutional of allthe European armies, since they were taken from and identified with thepeople; and that it was this brotherly feeling for their fellow citizensthat induced them to join the standards of Napoleon, on his return fromElba; that they only followed the voice of the nation; that all France wasindignant at the tergiversation and breach of faith on the part of therestored Government, in a variety of instances; and that, had Napoleon andthe army been out of the question, the Bourbons would not have failed to beupset, from the indignation their measures had excited among the people. Hethen said that the Army of the Loire was a most dangerous body of men, andthat that was the reason why the Allies insisted on their being disbanded. I replied that this was the highest compliment he could pay them, and thegreatest feather in their cap, since it went to prove, that as long as thisArmy was in existence, neither the crowned despots, nor the Ultras thoughtthemselves safe; and that they could not venture to pursue theiranti-national projects, which were all directed towards depriving theFrench people of all they had gained by the Revolution and bringing themback to the _blessings_ of the ancient _régime_. He could say nothing inreply, but that he feared I had Jacobin principles, to which I maderejoinder: "If these be Jacobin principles, I glory in them. " SomeSardinian officers, who were present, seemed to enjoy my argument, tho'they said nothing; and one took me aside, when we quitted the table, andsaid he rejoiced to see me take the old man in hand, as he disgusted themevery day by his tirades against the liberal party, and by his fulsomeadulations of the British Government. The old gentleman held forth likewisein a long speech respecting the finances of England, in praise of thesinking fund, and when it was suggested to him that England from theimmense national debt must one day become bankrupt: "_Non, Monsieur_, " (hesaid), "_la Caisse d'Amortissement empêchera cela_. " In fine, the _Caissed'Amortissement_ was to work miracles. I replied that the principle of the_Caisse d'Amortissement_ was good, provided a constant and consistenteconomy were practised; but that at present and during the whole time fromits establishment, it had been a mockery on the understanding of theNation, when we reflected on the profligate expenditure of public money, occasioned by the ruinous, unjust and liberticide wars, which were enteredinto and fomented by the British Government. Indeed, I said it was like theconduct of a man who possessing an income of 200£ per annum, should setapart, in a box as a _Caisse d'épargne_, 20£ annually, and at the same timecontinue a style of living, the annual expence of which would so far exceedhis income, as to oblige him to borrow 7 or 800£ every year. The oldgentleman was all amort at this comparison, which must be obvious to everyone. Nothing shows in a more glaring light the blind and superstitiousreverence paid to great names; for because this sinking fund was proposedby Pitt, all his adherents extol it to the skies, without analysing it, andgive him besides the credit of an invention to which he had no rightwhatever. 

ST JEAN DE MAURIENNE. 

I started from Chambéry on the morning of the fourth of August, and stoppedat Montmélian to breakfast. Here begins the valley of Maurienne, and asthis valley, along which the road is cut, is extremely narrow, being hemmedin on each side by the High Alps, Montmélian, which stands on an eminencein the centre of the valley (the road running thro' the town), must be apost of the utmost importance towards the defence of this pass. It was afortified place of great consideration in the former wars, and if thefortifications were repaired and improved, it might be made almostimpregnable, as it would enfilade the road on each side. From theabove-mentioned features of the ground, the valley narrowing more and moreas you proceed, from the high mountains that align it and from itssinuosities, it follows that at every angle or curve caused by thesesinuosities, you appear as if you were shut out from all the rest of theworld and could proceed no further. The river Isère runs thro' and parallelwith this valley. It rises in the mountains of Savoy and falls into theRhône in Dauphiné. I passed the night at Aiguebelle. 

From Aiguebelle to St Jean de Maurienne is twelve leagues, and I foundmyself so tired with walking, and my legs from being swelled gave me somuch pain, that I determined to give up the _gloriole_ of making the wholejourney on foot as I intended and to remain here for two days to repose andthen profit by the first conveyance that might pass to conduct me to Turin. 

From Aiguebelle the valley becomes still more narrow, and there is acontinual ascent, tho' it is so gentle as scarcely to be perceptible. Everyspot of ground in this valley, which will admit of cultivation, is put toprofit by the industry of the inhabitants. Here one sees beans, indiancorn, and even wines; for the heat is very great indeed in summer andautumn, owing to the rays of the sun being concentrated, as it were, into afocus, in this narrow valley, and were the bed of the Isère to be deepened, or were it less liable to overflow, from the melting of the snow in springand summer, much land, which is now a marsh, might be applied toagricultural purposes. The inhabitants of this valley regret very much theseparation of Savoy from France, as during the time that Duchy was annexedto the French Empire, each peasant possessing an ass could earn threefranks per diem in transporting merchandise across Mont-Cenis. St Jean deMaurienne is a neat little town. I put up at the same inn, and slept in thesame bedroom which was occupied by poor Didier who was put to death atGrenoble for having raised the standard of liberty. He was surprized herein bed by the _Carabiniere Reali_ of the Sardinian government, thosesatellites of despotism; and according to the barbarous principles laiddown by the crowned heads, delivered over to the French authorities. Iobserved a great many _crétins_ in this valley. 

SUZA, 10th August. 

On the morning of the 8th August two _vetturini_ passed by the inn at StJean de Maurienne, and I engaged a place in one of them, as far as Turin. We arrived at the village of Modena in the evening. The landscape is muchthe same as what we have hitherto passed, but the climate is considerablycolder, from the land being more elevated. Hitherto I had suffered muchinconvenience from the heat. The next morning we reached Lans-le-Bourg, thelast town of Savoy lying at the foot of Mount Cenis. 

After breakfast we began the ascent of Mont Cenis, and I made the whole wayfrom Lans-le-Bourg to the _Hospice_ of Mont Cenis, that is, the wholeascent, a distance of twenty-five Italian miles, on foot. This _chaussée_is another wonderful piece of work of Napoleon; a broad carriage road, wideenough for three carriages to go abreast, and cut zig-zag with so gentle aslope as to allow a heavy French diligence to pass, with the utmost ease, across a mountain where it was formerly thought impossible a wheel couldever run. This _chaussée_ is passable at all seasons of the year; themountain is not so high as that of the Simplon and is less liable toimpediments from the snow; the obstacles from nature are less, and you candescend in a sledge from the _Hospice_ by gliding down the side of thecone, and thus descending in nine or ten minutes, whereas the ascentrequires four hours' time. From Lans-le-Bourg to the _Hospice_ onMont-Cenis the road is on the flank of an immense mountain and you have noravines to cross; the road is cut zig-zag on the flank of the mountain andforms a considerable number of very acute angles, as it is made with sogentle a slope that you scarcely feel the difficulty of the ascent. Theserepeated zig-zags and acute angles formed by the road, and the very slightslope given to the ascent, make the different branches appear to be almostparallel to each other, and it is a very curious and novel sight when anumber of carriages are travelling together on this road to see them withtheir horses' heads turned different ways, yet all following the samecourse, just like ships on different tacks beating against the wind toarrive at the same port, a comparison that could not fail immediately tooccur to a sailor. There is scarcely ever any detention on this road fromthe fall of snow, as there are a considerable number of persons employed to_deblay_ it as soon as it falls; but here, as well as on the Simplon, thereare _maisons de refuge_ at a short distance from each other. We stopped fortwo hours at the inn at Mont-Cenis, which is about one hundred yards fromthe _Hospice_. It was a remarkable fine day, and I enjoyed my walk verymuch. The mountain air was keen and bracing and particularly delightfulafter being shut up for some many days in the close valley. We had someexcellent trout for dinner. At Mont-Cenis, near the _Hospice_, is a largelake which is frozen during eight months of the year. Here reigns eternalwinter and the mountains are covered with snows that never melt. FromMont-Cenis to Suza the descent is very grand and striking, and the sceneryresembles that of the Simplon; there are more obstacles of nature than onthe former part of the road, and here ravines are connected by the means ofbridges, and there are subterraneous galleries to pass thro. Several_chutes d'eau_ are here observable; one of them I cannot avoid mentioning, as being very magnificent. It is formed by the Cenischia[74] which dividesSavoy from Piedmont and runs into the Dora at Suza. We were highlygratified at the sight of the sublime scenery on all sides, and at themagnificent _chaussée_, and we all (I mean the passengers in the twocoaches and myself) did hommage to the mighty genius who conceived andcaused to be executed such a stupendous work. We arrived at Suza at sixo'clock p. M. 

TURIN, 18th August. 

Suza is a tolerably large town and has a neat appearance. It is commandedand defended by the fort of Brunetti, now dismantled, but which is to berepaired according to the treaty of 1815. It will then be a very importantpost and completely barr the pass of Suza. The road from Suza to Rivoli isthro' a valley widening at every step; at Rivoli you _débouche_ at oncefrom the gorge of the mountain into a boundless plain. The road is then ona magnificent _chaussée_ the whole way to Turin, and every vegetableproduction announces a change of climate to those coming from Savoy. Hereare fields of wheat, indian corn, mulberry and elm trees and vines hung infestoons from tree to tree, which give a most picturesque appearance to thelandscape, and, together with the country houses, serve as a relief to theboundless plain. The _chaussée_ is lined with trees on each side the wholeway from Rivoli to Turin; I observed among carriages of all sorts smallcars, like those used by children, drawn by dogs. These cars contain oneperson each. They are frequent in this part of the country, and such aconveyance is called a _cagnolino_. The Convent of St Michael, situated onan immense height to the right of the road between Suza and Rivoli, is avery striking object. The mountain forms a single cone and it appearsimpossible to reach the summit except on the back of a Hippogriff:

 E ben appar che d'animal ch'abbia ale Sia questa stanza nido o tana propria. [75]

 The castle seemed the very neat and lair Of animal, supplied with plume and quill. 

 --Trans. W. S. ROSE. 

TURIN, 14 August. 

Turin is a large, extremely fine and regular city, with all the streetsbuilt at right angles. The shops are very brilliant; the two _Places_, the_Piazza del Castello_ and the _Piazza di San Carlo_, are very spacious andstriking, and there are arcades on each side of the quadrangle formed bythem. The _Contrada del Po_ (for in Turin the streets are called_Contrade_) leads down to the Po, and is one of the best streets in Turin. Over the Po is a superb bridge built by Napoleon. In the centre of the_Piazza del Castello_ stands the Royal Palace, and on one side of the_Piazza_ the Grand Opera house. The streets in Turin are kept clean bysluices. The favorite promenades are, during the day, under the arcades ofthe _Piazza del Castello_ and those of the _Contrada del Po_; and in theevening round the ramparts of the city, or rather on the site where theramparts stood. The French, on blowing up the ramparts, laid out the spaceoccupied by them in walks aligned by trees. The fortifications of thecitadel were likewise destroyed. 

In the Cathedral Church here the most remarkable thing is the _Chapelle duSaint Suaire_ (holy winding sheet). It is of a circular form, is inlaidwith black marble and admits scarce any light; so that it has more theappearance of a Mausoleum than of a Chapel. It reminded me of the _Palaceof Tears_ in the Arabian Nights. 

In the environs of Turin, the most remarkable buildings are a villabelonging to the King called _La Venezia_, and the _Superga_, a magnificentchurch built on an eminence, five miles distant from Turin. In the RoyalPalace, on the _Piazza del Castello_, there is some superb furniture, butthe exterior is simple enough. The country environing Turin forms a plainwith gentle undulations, increasing in elevation towards the Alps, whichare forty miles distant, and is so stocked with villas, gardens andorchards as to form a very agreeable landscape. From the steeple of the_Superga_ the view is very fine. 

In the University of Turin is a very good _Cabinet d'Histoire naturelle_, containing a great variety of beasts, birds and fishes stuffed andpreserved; there is also a Cabinet of Comparative Anatomy, and variousimitations in wax of anatomical dissections. Among the antiquities, ofwhich there is a most valuable collection, are two very remarkable ones:the one a beautiful bronze shield, found in the Po, called the shield ofMarius; it represents, in figures in bas-relief, the history of theJugurthine war. [76] This shield is of the most exquisite workmanship. Theother is a table of the most beautiful black marble incrusted and inlaidwith figures and hieroglyphics of silver. It is called the _Table of Isis_, was brought from Egypt and is supposed to be of the most remote antiquity. It is always kept polished. Among the many valuable pieces of sculpture tobe met with here is a most lovely Cupid in Parian marble. He is representedsleeping on a lion's skin. It is the most beautiful piece of sculpture Ihave ever seen next to the Apollo Belvédère and the Venus dei Medici; itappears alive, and as if the least noise would awake it. [77]

Turin used to be in the olden time one of the most brilliant Courts andcities in Europe, and the most abounding in splendid equipages; now veryfew are to be seen. When Piedmont was torn from the domination of the Houseof Savoy and annexed to France, Turin, ceasing to be the capital of aKingdom, necessarily decayed in splendor, nor did its being made the _Cheflieu_ of a _Préfecture_ of the French Empire make amends for what it oncewas. The Restoration arrived, but has not been able to reanimate it; an airof dullness pervades the whole city. Obscurantism and anti-liberal ideasare the order of the day. 

I witnessed a military review at which the King of Sardinia assisted. Thetroops made a very brilliant appearance and manoeuvred well. His Majestyhas a very good seat on horseback and a distinguished military air. He is aman of honor tho' he has rather too high notions of the royal dignity andauthority, and is too much of a bigot in religion; but his word can bedepended on, a great point in a King; there are so many of them that breaktheirs and falsify all their promises. He will not hear of a constitution, and endeavors to abolish or discountenance all that has been effectedduring his absence. The priests are caressed and restored to theirprivileges, so that the inhabitants of Piedmont are exposed to a doubledespotism, a military and a sacerdotal one; the last is ten times moreruinous and fatal to liberty and improvement than the former. 

I have put up in Turin in the _Pension Suisse_, where for seven franks perdiem I have breakfast, dinner, supper and a princely bed room. The housesare in general lofty, spacious and on a grand scale. 

[67] Francois Lamarque, born 1756, a member of the Convention, ambassador in Sweden, prefect of the Tarn and member of the Cour de Cassation (1804). He was exiled in 1816. --ED. 

[68] Major Frye (who wrote the name Despinassy) certainly means Antoine-Joseph Marie Espinassy de Fontanelle's (1787-1829), who was a member of the Convention, voted the King's death and served in the Republican army of the Alps. In 1816, he was banished and went to Lausanne, where he died 1829. --ED. 

[69] Pardoux Bordas (1748-1842) was a member of the Convention. Though he had not voted the death of Louis XVI, he was banished from France in 1816 and did not return there before 1828. --ED. 

[70] Antoine Francis Gauthier des Orcières (1752-1838) was elected to the Etats Généraux in 1789, and, in 1792, to the Convention, where he voted the death of Louis XVI. Later on, he was member of the Conseil des Anoiena, juge au tribunal de la Seine and conseiller à la cour impériale de Paris (1815). Banished in 1816, he returned to France in 1828. 

[71] Jean Baptists Michaud, a member of the Directoire du département du Doubs, and a member of the National Convention, voted the death of Louis XVI and against the proposed appeal to the people. --ED. 

[72] Jean Daniel Paul Etienne Levade (1750-1834), Protestant minister first in England, then in Amsterdam, finally minister at Lausanne and professor of theology at the _Académie_ of the same town. --ED. 

[73] Countess de Boigne, in her interesting _Memoirs_ (of which there is an English translation) abstained from describing her husband's career in India; this lends additional interest to the information collected by Major Frye, --ED. 

[74] The manuscript has _Sennar_, a name quite unknown at Suza. --ED. 

[75] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, iv, 13, 5. --ED. 

[76] This shield, now at the _Armoria Reale_, is not antique, but is ascribed to Benvenuto Cellini. --ED. 

[77] This statue of Cupid is not antique, and has been recently ascribed to Michelangelo (Knapp, _Michelangelo_, p. 155. )--ED. 

CHAPTER VIII

Journey from Turin to Bologna--Asti--Schiller and Alfieri--Italian_cuisíne_--The _vetturini_--Marengo--Piacenza--The Trebbia--Parma--TheEmpress Maria Louisa--Modena--Bologna--The University--The MarescalchiGallery--Character of the Bolognese. 

August ---- 1816

'Twas on a fine morning the 16th August that I took my departure from Turinwith a _vetturino_ bound to Bologna. I agreed to pay him sixty francs formy place in the coach, supper and bed. When this stipulation for supper andbed is included in the price fixed for your place with the _vetturino_, youare said to be _spesato_, and then you have nothing extra to pay for butyour breakfast. There were two other travellers in the _vettura_, bothFrenchmen; the one about forty years of age was a Captain of cavalry _enretraite_, married to a Hungarian lady and settled at Florence, to whichplace he was returning; the other, a young man of very agreeable manners, settled likewise at Florence, as chief of a manufactory there, returningfrom Lyons, his native city, whither he had been to see his relations. Inever in my life met with two characters so diametrically opposite. TheCaptain was quite a _bourru_ in his manners, yet he had a sort of dry, sarcastic, satirical humour that was very diverting to those who escapedhis lash. Whether he really felt the sentiments he professed, or whether heassumed them for the purpose of chiming in with the times, I cannot say, but he said he rejoiced at the fall of Napoleon. My other companion, however, expressed great regret as his downfall, not so much from a regardfor the person of Napoleon, as for the concomitant degradation and conquestof his country, and he spoke of the affairs of France with a great deal offeeling and patriotism. 

The Captain seemed to have little or no feeling for anybody but himself;indeed, he laughed at all sentiment and said he did not believe in virtueor disinterestedness. When, among other topics of conversation, the lossthe French Army sustained at Waterloo was brought on the _tapis_, he said, "_Eh bien! qu 'importe? dans une seule nuit à Paris on en fabriquera assezpour les remplacer!_" A similar sentiment has been attributed to the greatCondé. [78] We had a variety of amusing arguments and disputes on the road;the Captain railed at merchants, and said that he did not believe thathonor or virtue existed among mercantile people (no compliment, by the bye, to the young fabricant, who bore it, however, with great good humour, contenting himself with now and then giving a few slaps at the military fortheir rapacity, which mercantile people on the Continent have now and thenfelt, before the French Revolution, as well as after). The whole road fromTurin to Alexandria della Paglia is a fine broad _chausée_. The first day'sjourney brought us to Asti. A rich plain on each side of the road, thehorizon on our right bounded by the Appennines, on our left by the Alps, both diverging, formed the landscape. Asti is an ancient, well and solidlybuilt city, but rather gloomy in its appearance. It is remarkable for beingthe birthplace of Vittorio Alfieri, the celebrated tragic poet, who hasexcelled all other dramatic poets in the general _dénouement_ of hispieces, except, perhaps, Voltaire alone. I do not speak of Alfleri so muchas a poet as a _dramaturgus_. I may be mistaken, and it is, perhaps, presumptuous in me to attempt to judge, but it has always appeared to methat Voltaire and Alfieri have managed dramatic effect and the intrigue andcatastrophe of their tragedies better than any other authors. Shakespeare, God as he is in genius, is in this particular very deficient. Schiller, too, the greatest modern poetic genius perhaps and the Shakespeare ofGermany, has here failed also, and nothing can be more correct than theestimate of Alfieri made by Forsyth[79] when, after speaking of hisdefects, he says: "Yet where lives the tragic poet equal to Alfieri?Schiller (then living also) may perhaps excel him in those peals of terrorwhich flash thro' his gloomy and tempestuous scene, but he is far inferiorin the mechanism of his drama. "

To return to my first day's journey from Turin. It was a very long day'swork, and we did not arrive at Asti till very late, after having performedthe last hour, half in the dark, on a road which is by no means in goodrepute. The character of the lower class of Piedmontese is not good. Theyare ferocious, vindictive and great marauders. They make excellent soldiersduring war and they not unfrequently, on being disbanded after peace, byway of keeping their hand in practise and of having the image of war beforetheir eyes, ease the traveller of his coin and sometimes of his life. Ourconversation partook of these reminiscences, and during the latter part ofour journey turned entirely on bandits "force and guile, " so that we werequite rejoiced at seeing the smoke and light of the town of Asti andhearing the dogs bark, which reminded me of Ariosto's lines:

 Non molto va che dalle vie supreme De' tetti uscir vede il vapor del fuoco Sente cani abbajar, muggire armento, Viene alla villa, e piglia alloggiamenti. [80]

 Nor far the warrior had pursued his best, Ere, eddying from a roof, he saw the smoke, Heard noise of dog and kine, a farm espied, And thitherward in quest of lodging hied. 

 --_Trans_. W. S. ROSE. 

We met on alighting at the door of a large spacious inn, two ladies who hadvery much the appearance of the two damsels at the inn where Don Quixotealighted and received his order of knighthood; but, in spite of theiramorous glances and a decided leer of invitation, I had like Sacripante'ssteed more need of "_riposo e d'esca che di nuova giostra_. " The usualItalian supper was put before us, and very good it was, viz. , _Imprimis: Aminestra_ (soup), generally made of beef or veal with vermicelli ormacaroni in it and its never failing accompaniment in Italy, gratedParmesan cheese. Then a _lesso_ (bouilli) of beef, veal or mutton, or allthree; next an _umido_ (fricassée) of cocks' combs and livers, a favouriteItalian dish; then a _frittura_ of chickens' livers, fish or vegetablesfried. Then an _umido_ or ragout of veal, fish with sauce; and lastly, anarrosto (roast) of fowls, veal, game, or all three. The _arrosto_ isgenerally very dry and done to cinders almost. Vegetables are served upWith the _umidi_, but plain boiled, leaving it optional to you to usemelted butter or oil with them. A salad is a constant concomitant of the_arrosto_. A desert or fruit concludes the repast. Wine is drank atdiscretion. The wine of Lombardy is light and not ill flavored; it is farweaker than any wine I know of, but it has an excellent quality, that offacilitating digestion. A cup of strong coffee is generally made for you inthe morning, for which you pay three or four _soldi_ (sous), and in givingfive or six _soldi_ to the waiter, all your expenses are paid supposing youare _spesato_, i. E. , that the _vetturino_ pays for your supper and bed; ifnot, your charges are left to the conscience of the aubergiste, which inItaly is in general of prodigious width. I therefore advise every travellerwho goes with a _vetturino_ to be a spesato, otherwise he will have to payfour or five times as much and not be a whit better regaled. The_vetturini_ generally pay from three to three and a half francs for thesupper and bed of their passengers. As the _vetturini_ invariably make ahalt of an hour and half or two hours at mid-day in some town or village, this halt enables you to take your _déjeuner à la fourchette_, which youpay for yourself, unless you stipulate for the payment of that also withthe _vetturino_ by paying something more, say one a half franc per diem forthat. In this part, and indeed in the whole of the north of Italy not afemale servant is to be seen at the inns and men make the beds. It isotherwise, I understand, in Tuscany. 

The whole appearance of the country from Asti to Alexandria presents animmense plain extremely fertile, but the crops of corn being off theground, the landscape would not be pleasing to the eye, were it notrelieved by the frequency of mulberry trees and the vines hung in festoonsfrom tree to tree. The villages and farmhouses on this road are extremelysolid and well built. We arrived at Alexandria about twelve o'clock, andafter breakfast I hired a horse to visit the field of battle of Marengo, which is in the neighbourhood of this city, Marengo itself being a villagefive miles distant from Alexandria. Arrived on the plain, I was conductedto the spot where the first Consul stood at the time that he perceived theapproach of Desaix's division. I figured to myself the first Consul on hiswhite charger, halting his army, then in some confusion, riding along theline exposed to a heavy fire from the Austrians, who cannonaded the wholelength of the line; aides-de-camp and orderlies falling around him, himselfcalm and collected, "spying 'vantage, " and observing that the Austriandeployment was too extended, and their centre thereby weakened, suddenlyprofiting of this circumstance to order Desaix's division to advance andlead the charge which decided the victory on that memorable day, which, according to Mascheroni:

 _splende Nell' abisso de' secoli, qual Sole_. 

The whole field of battle is an extensive plain, with but few trees, and touse Campbell's lines:

 every turf beneath the feet Marks out a soldier's sepulchre. 

The Column, erected to commemorate this glorious victory, has been throwndown by order of the Austrian government--a poor piece of puerile spite, but worthy of legitimacy. Alexandria is, or rather _was_, for thefortifications no longer exist, more remarkable for being an importantmilitary post than for the beauty of the city itself. There is, however, afine and spacious _Place_, which serves as a parade for the garrison, andbeing planted with trees by the French when they held it, forms anagreeable promenade. The fortifications were blown up by the Austriansbefore the place was given over to the Sardinian authorities, a flagrantbreach of faith and contract, since by the treaty of 1814 they were boundto give up all the fortified places that were restored or ceded to the Kingof Sardinia in the same state in which they were found when the Frenchevacuated them, and the Austrians took possession provisorily. The Frenchregarding (and with reason) this fortress as the key of Lombardy alwayskept the fortifications in good repair and well provided with cannon. Butthe Austrian government, knowing itself to be unpopular in Italy andtrembling for the safety of her dominions, being always fearful that thePiedmontese Government might one day be induced to favour aninsurrectionary or national movement in the north of Italy, determined, finding that it could not keep the fortress for itself, which it strovehard to do under divers pretexts, to render it of as little use as theypossibly could do to the King of Sardinia; so they blew up thefortifications and carried off the cannon, leaving the King without asingle fortified place in the whole of his Italian dominions to defendhimself, in case of attack, against an Austrian invasion. 

On the morning of the 15th August we passed thro' Tortona, now no longer afortress of consequence. All this country may be considered as classicground, immortalized by the campaigns of Napoleon, when commander in chiefof the army of the French Republic in Italy, a far greater and moreillustrious _rôle_ than when he assumed the Imperial bauble andcondescended to mix with the vulgar herd of Kings. 

We arrived at Voghera to breakfast and at Casteggio at night. The countryis much the same as that which we have already passed thro', being a plain, with a rich alluvial soil, mulberry trees and a number of solidly builtstone farmhouses. The next morning at eleven o'clock we arrived at Piacenzaon the Po, and were detained a quarter of an hour at the _Douane_ of HerMajesty the Archduchess, as Maria Louisa, the present Duchess of Parma, isstiled, we being now arrived in her dominions. We drove to the _Hôtel diSan Marco_, which is close to the _Piazza Grande_, and alighted there. Onthe Piazza stands the _Hôtel de Ville_, and in front of it are twoequestrian statues in bronze of the Princes Farnesi; the statues, however, of the riders appear much too small in proportion with the horses, and theyresemble two little boys mounted on Lincolnshire carthorses. 

I did not visit the churches and palaces in this city from not having timeand, besides, I did not feel myself inclined or _bound_ (as some travellersthink themselves) to visit every church and every town in Italy. I reallybelieve the _ciceroni_ think that we _Ultramontani_ live in mud hovels inour own country, and that we have never seen a stone edifice, till ourarrival in Italy, for every town house which is not a shop is termed a_palazzo_, and they would conduct you to see all of them if you would beguided by them. I had an opportunity, during the two hours we halted here, of walking over the greater part of the city, after a hasty breakfast. Piacenza is a large handsome city; among the females that I saw in thestreets the Spanish costume seems very prevalent, no doubt from being solong governed by a Spanish family. 

On leaving Piacenza we passed thro' a rich meadow country and met with animmense quantity of cattle grazing. The road is a fine broad _chaussée_considerably elevated above the level of the fields and is lined withpoplars. Where this land is not in pasture, cornfields and mulberry trees, with vines in festoons, vary the landscape, which is additionally enlivenedby frequent _maisons de plaisance_ and excellently built farmhouses. Wepassed thro' Firenzuola, a long well-built village, or rather _bourg_, andwe brought to the night at Borgo San Donino. At this place I found thefirst bad inn I have met with in Italy, that is, the house, tho' large, wasso out of repair as to be almost a _masure_; we however met with tolerablygood fare for supper. We fell in with a traveller at Borgo San Donino, whorelated to us an account of an extraordinary robbery that had beencommitted a few months before near this place, in which the _then_ host wasimplicated, or rather was the author and planner of the robbery. Ithappened as follows. A Swiss merchant, one of those men who cannot keeptheir own counsel, a _bavard_ in short, was travelling from Milan toBologna with his cabriolet, horse and a large portmanteau. He put up atthis inn. At supper he entered into conversation with mine host, and askedif there was any danger of robbers on the road, for that he should be sorry(he said) to fall into their hands, inasmuch as he had with him in hisportmanteau 24, 000 franks in gold and several valuable articles ofjewellery. Mine host assured him that there was not the slightest danger. The merchant went to bed, directing that he should be awakened at daybreakin order to proceed on his journey. Mine host, however, took care to havehim called full an hour and half before daybreak, assuring him that lightwould soon dawn. The merchant set out, but he had hardly journeyed twomiles when a shot from behind a hedge by the road side brought his horse tothe ground. Four men in masks rushed up, seized him and bound him to atree; they then rifled his portmanteau, took out his money and jewels andwished him good morning. 

Before we arrived at Borgo San Donino we crossed the Trebbia, one of themany tributary streams of the Po, and which is famous for two celebratedbattles, one in ancient, the other in modern tunes (and probably manyothers which I do not recollect); but here it was that Hannibal gained hissecond victory over the Romans; and here, in 1799, the Russians underSouvoroff defeated the French under Macdonald after an obstinate andsanguinary conflict; but they could not prevent Macdonald from effectinghis junction with Massena, to hinder which was Souvoroff's object. In fact, in this country, to what reflections doth every spot of ground we pass, over, give rise! Every field, every river has been the theatre of somebattle or other memorable event either in ancient or modern times. 

 _Quis gurges aut quae flumina lugubris Ignara belli?[81]_

We started from Borgo San Donino next morning; about ten miles further onthe right hand side of the road stands an ancient Gothic fortress calledCastel Guelfo. Between this place and Parma there is a very troublesomeriver to pass called the Taro, which at times is nearly dry and at othertimes, so deep as to render it hazardous for a carriage to pass, and it isat all times requisite to send on a man to ford and sound it before acarriage passes. This river fills a variety of separate beds, as itmeanders very much, and it extends to such a breadth in its _débordements_, as to render it impossible to construct a bridge long enough to be of anyuse. 

This, however, being the dry season, we passed it without difficulty. Twoor three other streams on this route, _seguaci del Po_, are crossed in thesame manner. 

The road to Parma, after passing the Taro, lies nearly in a right line andis bordered with poplars. If I am not mistaken, it was somewhere in thisneighbourhood that the Carthaginians under Hannibal suffered a great lossin elephants, who died from cold, being incamped during the winter. I amtold there is not a colder country in Europe than Lombardy during thewinter season, which arises no doubt from its vicinity to the Alps. 

Opulence seems to prevail in all the villages in the vicinity of Parma, andan immense quantity of cattle is seen grazing in the meadows on each sideof the road. The female peasantry wear the Spanish costume and areremarkably well dressed. 

We arrived at Parma at twelve o'clock and stopped there three hours. 

PARMA. 

After a hasty breakfast, Mr G-- and myself sallied forth to see what waspossible during the time we stopped in this city, leaving the Captain, whorefused to accompany us, to smoke his pipe. This city is very large andthere is a very fine _Piazza. _ The streets are broad, the buildingshandsome and imposing, and there is a general appearance of opulence. Wefirst proceeded to visit the celebrated amphitheatre, called _l'AmfiteatroFarnese_ in honour of the former sovereigns of the Duchy. It is a vastbuilding and unites the conveniences both of the ancient and moderntheatres. It has a roof like a modern theatre, and the seats in the_parterre_ are arranged like the seats in an ancient Greek theatre. Abovethis are what we should call boxes, and above them again what we usuallyterm a gallery. A vast and deep arena lies between the _parterre_ and theorchestra and fills up the space between the audience and the _proscenium_. It is admirably adapted both for spectators and hearers; when a tragedy, comedy or opera is acted, a scaffolding is erected and seats placed in thearena. At other times the arena is made use of for equestrian exercises andchariot races in the style of the ancients, combats with wild beasts, etc. , or it may be filled with water for the representation of naval fights(_naumachia_); in this case you have a vast oval lake between thespectators and the stage. It is a great pity that this superb andinteresting building is not kept in good repair; the fact is it is seldomor ever made use of except on very particular occasions: it is almostuseless in a place like Parma, "so fallen from its high estate, " but weresuch an amphitheatre in Paris, London, or any great city, it might be usedfor all kinds of _spectacles_ and amusements. A small theatre from thedesign of Bernino stands close to this amphitheatre, and is built in alight tasteful manner. If fresh painted and lighted up it would make a verybrilliant appearance. This may be considered as the Court theatre. At ashort distance from the theatres is the Museum of Parma, in which there isa well chosen gallery of pictures. Among the most striking pictures of theold school is without doubt that of St Jerôme by Correggio; but I was fullas much, dare I be so heretical as to say more pleased, with theproductions of the modern school of Parma. A distribution of prizes hadlately been made by the Empress Maria Louisa, and there were manypaintings, models of sculpture and architectural designs, that did infinitecredit to the young artists. I remarked one painting in particular which isworthy of a Fuseli. It represented the battle of the river God Scamanderwith Achilles. The subjects of most of the paintings I saw here were takenfrom the mythology or from ancient and modern history; and this is perhapsthe reason that they pleased me more than those of the ancient masters. Whyin the name of the [Greek: to kalon] did these painters confinethemselves so much to Madonnas, Crucifixions, and Martyrdoms, when theirown poets, Ariosto and Tasso, present so many subjects infinitely morepleasing? Then, again, in many of these crucifixions and martyrdoms, thegross anachronisms, such as introducing monks and soldiers with match-locksand women in Gothic costume at the crucifixion, totally destroy theseriousness and interest of the subject by annihilating all illusion andexciting risibility. 

Parma will ever be renowned in history as the birthplace of Caius Cassius, the Mend and colleague of Brutus. 

The Empress Maria Louisa lives here in the Ducal Palace, which is aspacious but ornamental edifice. She lives, 'tis said, without anyostentation. Out of her own states, her presence in Italy would be attendedwith unpleasant consequences to the powers that be, on account of theattachment borne to Napoleon by all classes of society; and it is on thisaccount that on her last visit to Bologna she received an intimation fromthe papal authorities to quit the Roman territory in twenty-four hours. Wenext passed thro' St Hilario and Reggio and brought to the evening at thevillage of Rubbiera. At St Hilario is the entrance into the Duke ofModena's territory, and here we underwent again &n examination of trunks, as we did both on entering and leaving the territory of Maria Louisa. 

Reggio is a large walled city, but I had only time to visit the Cathedraland to remark therein a fine picture of the Virgin and the Chapel called"Capella della Morte. " Reggio pretends to the honour of having given birthto the Divine Ariosto:

 Quel grande che cantò l'armi e gli amorl, as Guarini describes him, I believe. The face of the country from Parma toReggio is exactly the same as what we have passed thro' already. 

The next day (20 August) we passed thro' Modena, where we stopped tobreakfast and refresh horses. It is a large and handsome city, the DucalPalace is striking and in the Cathedral is presented the famous bucketwhich gave rise to the poem of Tassoni called _La Secchia rapita. _ An airof opulence and grandeur seems to prevail in Modena. 

At Samoggia we entered the Papal territory and again underwent a search oftrunks. Within three miles of Bologna a number of villas and severaltanneries, which send forth a most intolerable odour, announce the approachto that celebrated and venerable city. On the left hand side, beforeentering the town, is a superb portico with arcades, about one and a halfmiles in length, which leads from the city to the church of San Luca. Onthe right are the Appennines, towering gradually above you. Bologna lies atthe foot of these mountains on the eastern side and here the plain ends forthose who are bound to Florence, which lies on the western side of the vastridge which divides Italy. We arrived at Bologna at half-past seven in theevening, and here we intend to repose a day or two; I shall then cross theAppennines for the first time in my life. A reinforcement of mules or oxenis required for every carriage; from the ascent the whole way you cantravel, I understand, very little quicker _en poste_ than with a_vetturino_. We are lodged at Bologna in a very comfortable inn called_Locanda d'Inghilterra_. 

BOLOGNA, 22d August. 

The great popularity of Bologna, which is a very large and handsomely builtcity, lies in the colonnaded porticos and arcades on each side of thestreets throughout the whole city. These arcades are mightily convenientagainst sun and rain, and contradict the assertion of Rousseau, whoasserted that England was the only country in the world where the safety offoot passengers is consulted, whereas here in Bologna not only are_trottoirs_ broader than those of London in general, but you areeffectually protected against sun and rain, and are not obliged to carry anumbrella about with you perpetually as in London. This arcade system, is, however, rather a take off from the beauty of the city, and gives it agloomy heavy appearance, which is not diminished by the sight of friars andmendicants with which this place swarms, and announce to you that you arein the holy land. At Bologna it is necessary to have a sharp eye on yourbaggage, on account of the crowds of ragged _fainéans_ that surround yourcarriage while it is unloading. 

The first thing that the _ciceroni_ generally take you to see in Italy arethe churches, and mine would not probably have spared me one, but I wasmore anxious to see the University. I however allowed him to lead me intotwo of the principal churches, viz. , the _Duomo_ or Cathedral, and thechurch of San Petronio, both magnificent Gothic temples and worth theattention of the traveller. On the _Piazza del Gigante_ is a fine bronzestatue of Neptune. The _Piazza_ takes its name from this statue, as at onetime in Italy, after the introduction of Christianity and when the ancientmythology was totally forgotten, the statues of the Gods were called Giantsor named after Devils and their prototypes believed to be such. 

In the Museum at the University is an admirable collection of fossils, minerals, and machines in every branch of science. There are some excellentpictures also; the University of Bologna was, you know, at all times famousand its celebrity, is not at all diminished, for I believe Bologna boastsmore scientific men, and particularly in the sciences _positives_, than anyother city in Italy. 

In the _Palazzo pubblico_ (_Hôtel de Ville_) is a Christ and a Samson byGuido Reni; but what pleased me most in the way of painting was thecollection in the gallery of Count Marescalchi. The Count has been at greatpains to form it and has shown great taste and discernment. It is a smallbut unique collection. Here is to be seen a head of Christ, the colouringof which is so brilliant as to illuminate the room in which it is appended, when the shutters are closed, and in the absence of all other light exceptwhat appears thro' the crevices of the window shutters. This head, however, does not seem characteristic of Christ; it wants the gravity, the softmelancholy and unassuming meekness of the _great Reformer_: in short, fromthe vivid fire of the eyes and the too great self-complacency of thecountenance, it gave me rather the idea

 Del biondo Dio che in Tessalia si adorá. 

I passed two hours in this cabinet. I next repaired to the centre of thecity with the intention of ascending one at least of the two square towersor _campanili_ which stand close together, one of which is _strait_, theother a leaning one. _Garisendi_ is the name of the leaning tower, and itforms a parallelipipedon of 140 feet in height and about twenty feet inbreath and length. It leans so much as to form an angle of seventy-fivedegrees with the ground on which it stands. The other tower, the straitone, is called _Asinelli_ and is a parallelipipedon of 310 feet in heightand about twenty-five feet in length and breadth. I ascended the leaningtower, but I found the fatigue so great that I was scarcely repaid by thefine view of the surrounding country, which presents on one side an immenseplain covered with towns, villages and villas, and on the other theAppennines towering one above another. When on the top of _Garisendi_, _Asinelli_ appears to be four times higher than its neighbour, and the bareaspect of its enormous height deterred me from even making the attempt ofascending it. When viewed or rather looked down upon from _Garisendi_, Bologna, from its being of an elliptical form and surrounded by a wall andfrom having these two enormous towers in the centre, resembles a boat withmasts. 

From the great celebrity of its University and the eminent men it hasproduced, Bologna is considered as the most litterary city of Italy. Galvani was born in Bologna and studied at this University, and among themodern prodigies is a young lady who is professor of Greek and who is byall accounts the most amiable _Bas bleu_ that ever existed. [82] TheBolognese are a remarkably fine, intelligent and robust race of people, andare renowned for their republican spirit, and the energy with which they atall times resisted the encroachments of the Holy See. Bologna was at onetime a Republic, and on their coins is the word Libertas. The Bolognesenever liked the Papal government and were much exasperated at returningunder the domination of the Holy Father. In the time of Napoleon, Bolognaformed part of the _Regno d'ltalia_ and partook of all its advantages. Napoleon is much regretted by them; and so impatiently did the inhabitantsbear the change, on the dismemberment of the kingdom of Italy, and theirtransfer to the pontifical sceptre, that on Murat's entry in their city in1815 the students and other young men of the town flew to arms and in a fewhours organised three battalions. Had the other cities shown equal energyand republican spirit, the revolution would have been completed and Italyfree; but the fact is that the Italians in general, tho' discontented, hadno very high opinion of Murat's talents as a political character, and hebesides _committed_ a great fault in not entering Rome on his march andrevolutionising it. Murat, like most men, was ruined by half-measures. Thelast tune that Maria Louisa was here the people surrounded the inn whereshe resided and hailed her with cries of _Viva I'Imperatrice!_ The Pope'slegate in consequence intimated to her the expediency of her immediatedeparture from the city, with a request that she would not repeat hervisit. Bologna is considered by the Ultras, _Obscuranten, _ and _Éteignoirs_as the focus and headquarters of Carbonarism. 

In the evening I visited the theatre built by Bibbiena and had the pleasureof hearing for the first time an Italian tragedy, which, however, are nowrarely represented and scarcely ever well acted. This night's performanceformed an exception and was satisfactory. The piece was _Romeo andGiulietta_. The actress who did the part of Giulietta performed it withgreat effect, particularly in the tomb scene. In this scene she reminded meforcibly of our own excellent actress, Miss O'Neill. This was the only partof the play that had any resemblance to the tragedy of Shakespeare. All therest was on the French model. I saw a number of beautiful women in theboxes. The Bolognese women are remarkable for their fine complexions; thosethat I saw were much inclined to _embonpoint_. 

[79] And also to Napoleon, after the battle at Eylau. --ED. 

[80] Joseph Forsyth (1763-1815), author of _Remarks on antiquities, arts and letters in Italy_, London, 1813. --ED. 

[81] Horace, _Carm. _, II, I, 33. --ED. 

[82] The young woman in question was Clotilda Tambroni (1768-1818). She taught Greek at the University of Bologna and was in correspondence with the great French scholar Ansse de Villoison. --ED. 

CHAPTER IX

Journey across the Appennines to Florence--Tuscan idioms andcustoms--Monuments and galleries at Florence--The Cascino--Churches--Theatres--Popularity of the Grand Duke--Napoleon's downfall notregretted--Academies in Florence. 

FLORENCE, 26th August. 

The moment you leave Bologna to go to Florence you enter the gorges of theAppennines, and after journeying seven miles, begin to ascend the ridge. The ascent begins at Pianoro. Among these mountains the scenery is wild andromantic, and tho' not so grandiose and sublime as that of the Alps, isnevertheless extremely picturesque. One meets occasionally with the ruinsof old castles on some of the heights, and I was strongly reminded, at thesight of these antique edifices, of the mysteries of Udolpho and the timesof the Condottieri. The silence that reigns here is only interrupted by thenoise of the waterfall and the occasional scream of the eagle. The wildabrupt transition of landscape would suggest the idea of haunting placesfor robbers, yet one seldom or never hears of any, on this road. In Tuscanythere is, I understand, so much industry and morality, that a robbery is athing unknown; but in his Holiness's dominions, from the idleness andpoverty that prevails, they are said to be frequent. Why it does not occurin these mountains, in that part of them, at least, which belongs to thePapal Government, I am at a loss to conceive. 

Here the chesnut and olive trees salute the Ultramontane traveller for thefirst time. The olive tree, tho' a most useful, is not an ornamental one, as it resembles a willow or osier in its trunk and in the colour of itsleaves. The chesnut tree is a glorious plant for an indolent people, sinceit furnishes food without labour, as the Xaca or Jack fruit tree doesto the Cingalese in Ceylon. On one of the heights between Pianoro andLojano you have in very clear weather a view of both the Adriatic andTyrrhene seas. We brought to the night at Scarica l'Asino and the nextmorning early we entered the Tuscan territory at Pietra Mala, where thereis a _Douane_ and consequently an examination of trunks. At one o'clock wearrived at an inn called _Le Maschere_, about fifteen miles distance fromFlorence; it is a large mansion and being situated on an eminence commandsan extensive view. One becomes soon aware of being in the Tuscan territoryfrom the number of cultivated spots to be seen in this part of theAppennines: for such is the industry of the inhabitants that they dowonders on their naturally sterile soil. One sees a number of farms. Everyspot of ground is in cultivation, between _Le Maschere_ and Florence inparticular; these spots of ground, gardens, orchards and villas forming astriking and pleasing contrast with the wild and dreary scenery of theAppennines. Another thing that indicates one's arrival among the Tuscans istheir aspiration of the letter _c_ before _a_, _o_ and _u_, which is atfirst extremely puzzling to a foreigner accustomed only to the Romanpronunciation. For instance, instead of _camera_, _cotto_, _curvo_, theypronounce these words _hamera_, _hotto_, and _hurvo_ with an exceedingstrong aspiration of the _h_. It is the same too with the _ch_ which theyaspirate, _ex gr. _ instead of _pochino_, _chiave_, they say _pohino_, _hiave_. The language however which is spoken is the most classical andpure Italian and except the above mentioned aspiration it is delightful tothe ear; peculiarly so to those who come from the north of Italy, and haveonly hitherto heard the unpleasing nasal twang of the Milanese and theexceeding uncouth barbarous dialect of Bologna. Another strikingpeculiarity is the smart appearance of the Tuscan peasantry. They are aremarkably handsome race of men; the females unite with their naturalbeauty a grace and elegance that one is quite astonished to find amongpeasants. They express themselves in the most correct and classicallanguage and they have a great deal of repartee. As the peasantry ofTuscany enjoy a greater share of _aisance_ than falls to the lot of thoseof any other country, and as the females dress with taste and take greatpains to appear smart on all occasions, they resemble rather theshepherdesses on the Opera stage or those of the fabled Arcadia thananything in real life. The females too are remarkably industrious and willwork like horses all the week to gain wherewithal to appear smart onholidays. Their dress is very becoming, and they wear sometimes jewelleryto a large amount on their persons; a very common ornament among them is acollar of gold around their necks. Their usual head-dress is either a whitestraw hat, or a black round beaver hat, with black ostrich feathers. Iprefer the straw hat; it is more tasteful than the round hat which alwaysseems to me too masculine for a woman. At the inn at _Le Maschere_ we werewaited on by three smart females. The whole road from _Le Maschere_ toFlorence is very beautiful and diversified. Vineyards, gardens, farm housesand villas thicken as one approaches and when arrived within three miles ofFlorence, which lies in a basin surrounded by mountains, one is quitebewildered at the sight of the quantity of beautiful villas and _maisons deplaisance_ in every direction. 

Every thing indicates life, industry and comfort in this charming country. We stopped at a villa belonging to the Grand Duke called _II Pratolino_, seven miles distant from Florence. Here is to be seen the famous statuerepresenting the genius of the Appennines. The Villa is unfurnished and outof repair and the garden and grounds are neglected: it is a great pity, forit is a fine building and in a beautiful position. The celebrated BiancaCapello, a Venetian by birth, and mistress of Francesco II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, used to reside here. 

FLORENCE, 27th August. 

I am extremely well pleased with my accommodations at the hotel where I amlodged. Mme Hembert, the proprietor, was once _femme de chambre_ to theEmpress Joséphine; she is an excellent woman and a very attentive hostess, and I recommend her hotel to all those travellers who visit Florence and donot care to incur the expence of Schneider's. There is an excellent andwell served _table d'hôte_ at two o'clock, wine at discretion, for which, and for my bedroom, I pay seven _paoli_ per day. This hotel has theadvantage of being in a very central situation. It is close to the _Piazzadel Gran Duca_, the post-office, the _Palazzo Vecchio_, the Bureaux ofGovernment, the celebrated Gallery of Sculpture and Painting and to theArno. It is only 300 yards from the _Piazza del Duomo_, where the Cathedralstands, and 600 yards from the principal theatre _Della Pergola_ on the oneside; while on the other side, after crossing the _Ponte Vecchio_, standsthe _Palazzo Pitti_, the residence of the Grand Duke, at a distance ofseven or 800 yards. 

The _Piazza del Gran Duca_ is very striking to the eye of the northerntraveller; the statues of the Gods in white marble in the open air wouldmake him fancy himself in Athens in the olden time. The following statuesin bronze and white marble are to be seen on this _Piazza_. In bronze are:a statue of Perseus by Cellini; Judith with the head of Holofernes byDonatello; David and Goliath; Samson. In white marble are the followingbeautiful statues: a group representing Hercules and Cacus; anotherrepresenting a Roman carrying off a Sabine woman. The Hercules, who is inthe act of strangling Cacus, rests on one leg. Nearly in the centre of the_Piazza_, opposite to the post office and in front of the _PalazzoVecchio_, is the principal ornament of the _Piazza_, which consists of agroup representing Neptune in his car or conch (or shell) drawn bysea-horses and accompanied by Tritons. The statue of Neptune is of colossalsize, the whole group is in marble and the conch of Egyptian granite. Thisgroup forms a fountain. There is likewise on this _Piazza_ an immenseequestrian statue in bronze of Cosmo the First by John of Bologna. The_Palazzo Vecchio_ is a large Gothic building by Arnulpho and has a verylofty square tower or _campanile_. 

The Gallery of Florence being so close to my abode demanded next myattention. The building in which this invaluable Museum is preserved formsthree sides of a parallelogram, two long ones and one short one, of whichthe side towards the south of the quai of the Arno is the short one. 

On the north is an open space communicating with the _Piazza del GranDuca_. The Gallery occupies the whole first floor of this vast building. The _rez de chaussée_ is occupied, on the west side, by the bureaux ofGovernment, and on the south and east sides by shopkeepers, in whose shopsis always to be seen a brilliant display of merchandize. As there arearcades on the three sides of this parallelogram, they form the favoritemeridian promenade of the _belles_ and _beaux_ of Florence, particularly onSundays and holidays, after coming out of Church. I ascended the steps froma door on the east side of the building, to visit the Gallery. 

The quantity and variety of objects of art, of the greatest value, baffleall description, and it would require months and years to attempt ananalysis of all it contains. I shall therefore content myself with pointingout those objects which imprinted themselves the most forcibly on myimagination and recollection. In a chamber on the left hand of one wing ofthe Gallery stands the Venus de' Medici, sent back last year from France. In the same chamber with her are the following statues: the extremelybeautiful _Apollino_; the spotted Faun; the _Rémouleur_ or figure which isin the act of whetting a sickle. All these were in Paris, and are nowrestored to this Gallery. In this chamber two pictures struck me inparticular: the one the Venus of Titian, a most voluptuous figure; theother a portrait of the mistress of Rafaello, called "_La Fornarina_, " fromher being a baker's daughter. 

Returning to the Gallery I was quite bewildered at the immense number ofstatues, pictures, sarcophagi, busts, altars, etc. Among the pieces ofsculpture those that most caught my attention were: the _Venus genetrix_(which I had seen before at Paris); the _Venus victrix_; the _VenusAnadyomene_; Hercules and Nessus, a superb groupe; a young Bacchus; and anexquisitely chiselled group representing Pan teaching Olympus to play thesyrinx, tho' the attitude of the former is rather indecorous from not beingin a very quiescent state; a fine statue of Leda with the swan; a Mercury, both worthy of great attention. I remarked also in particular a statue ofMarsyas attached to a tree and flayed. It is of a pale reddish marble, andtho' I perfectly agree with Forsyth, that colored marble is not at alladapted to statuary, yet in this instance it gives a wonderful effect andis strikingly suitable, as the slight reddish colour gives a full idea ofthe flesh after the skin is torn off. It makes one shudder to look at it. In one of the halls are the statues of Niobe and her daughters, a beautifulgroup. Then there is the celebrated copy of the group of the Laocoon byBandinelli, which none but the most perfect and skilful connoisseur coulddistinguish from the original. But it is totally impossible for me todescribe the immense variety of paintings, historical, portrait andlandscape; the statues single or in groups; the sarcophagi, altars, bas-reliefs, inscriptions, bronzes, medals, vases, baths, candelabra, cameos, Etruscan and Egyptian idols with which this admirable Museum isfilled. In a line on each side of the Gallery near the ceiling is asuccession of portraits in chronological order of the Grand Dukes ofTuscany, the Germanic Emperors, the Kings of France, of England, of Spain, of Portugal, of the Popes and of the Ottoman Emperors. Among theantiquities I particularly noticed a large steel mirror and a Roman Eaglein bronze of the 24th Legion. 

Having passed full four hours in this Museum, I descended the steps, crossed the Arno and repaired to the building in which is preserved the_Cabinet d'Histoire Naturelle_. In this Museum what is most remarkable arethe imitations in wax of the whole anatomy of the human body. It is thefirst collection of its kind; indeed it is unique in Europe. Theseimitations are kept in glass cases and are so true and so perfectly correctas to leave nothing to desire to the student in anatomy. These imitationsin wax not only include all the details of anatomy, but also the progressof generation, gestation, and of almost every malady to which the humanbody is liable. They are of a frightful exactitude. There are likewise inthis Museum imitations in wax of various plants and shrubs exotic as wellas indigenous and the collection of stuffed birds, beasts and fishes andthat of insects, mineralogy and conchology scarcely yields to thecollection at the _Jardin des Plantes_ at Paris. Neither here nor at theFlorentine gallery are fees allowed to be taken; on the contrary a strictprohibition of them is posted up in the French, Italian, German and Englishlanguages. 

On the _Ponte Vecchio_ on each side are jewellers' shops, who sell besidesjewellery, cameos and works in mosaic. The Quais on each side of the Arnoare very broad and spacious and form agreeable promenades in the winterseason. The buildings on the banks of the Arno are magnificent. The streetsof Florence have this peculiarity that they are all paved with large flagstones, which makes them mightily pleasant for pedestrians, but dangerousat times for horses who are apt to slip. Most of the houses in Florencehave walls of prodigious thickness; one would suppose each house was meantto be a fortress in case of necessity. 

FLORENCE, 29th August. 

On the other side of the Arno, a little beyond the _Cabinet Physique_ andMuseum of Natural History stands the _Palazzo Pitti_, the residence of theGrand Duke. It is a vast building and has a large and choice collection ofpictures; but its finest ornament in my opinion is the statue of Venus byCanova, which to me at least appears to equal the Medicean Venus in beautyand in grace. The magnificent and spacious garden belonging to the Palaceis called the garden of Boboli. These gardens form the grand promenade ofthe Florentines on Sundays and holidays. The alleys are well shaded bytrees, which effectually protect the promenaders from the rays of the sun. There are a great many statues in this garden, but the most striking is agroup which lies nearly in the centre of the garden. It is environed by alarge circular basin or lake lined with stone and planted with orange treeson the whole circumference. In the centre of the lake is a rock and on thisrock is a colossal statue in white marble of Neptune in his car. The car isin the shape of a marine conch and serves as a basin and fountain at thesame time. There are several other fountains and _jets d'eau_, among whichis a group representing Adam and Eve and the statue of a man pouring outwater from a vase which he has on his shoulder. 

The _Corso_ or grand evening promenade for carriages and equestrians is ona place called the Cascino, pronounced by the Florentines _Hascino_. TheCascino consists of pleasure grounds on the banks of the Arno outside thetown, laid out in roads, alleys and walks for carriages, equestrians andpedestrians. There is a very brilliant display of carriages every evening. There are _restaurants_ on the Cascino and supper parties are often formedhere. This place is often the scene of curious adventures. Cicisbeism isuniversal at Florence, tho' far from being always criminal, as is generallysupposed by foreigners. I find the Florentine women very graceful and manyvery handsome; but in point of beauty the female peasantry far exceed the_noblesse_ and burghers. All of them however dress with taste. Thehandsomest woman in Florence is the wife of an apothecary who lives in the_Piazza del Duomo_ and she has a host of admirers. 

On the promenade _lungo l'Arno_ near the Cascino is a fountain with astatue of Pegasus, with an inscription in Italian verse purporting thatPegasus having stopped there one day to refresh himself at this fountain, found the place so pleasant that he remained there ever since. This is apoetic nation _par excellence_. _Affiches_ are announced in sonnets andother metres; and tho' in other countries the votaries of the Muses are buttoo apt to neglect the ordinary and vulgar concerns of life, yet here it byno means diminishes industry, and the nine Ladies are on the best possibleterms with Mr Mercury. 

I shall not attempt a description of the various _palazzi_ and churches ofFlorence, tho' I have visited, thanks to the zeal and importunity of my_cicerone_, nearly all, except to remark that no one church in Florence, the Cathedral and Baptistery on the _Piazza del Duomo_ excepted, has itsfaçade finished, and they will remain probably for ever unfinished, as thecompletion of them would cost very large sums of money, and the restoredGovernment, however anxious to resuscitate the _ancient faith_, are notinclined to make large disbursements from their own resources for thatpurpose. I wish however they would finish the façade of two of thesechurches, viz. , that of _Santa Maria Novella_ and that of _Santa Croce_. _Santa Maria Novella_ stands in the Piazza of that name which is verylarge. It is a beautiful edifice, and can boast in the interior of itseveral columns and pilasters of _jaune antique_ and of white marble. Butthey have a most barbarous custom in Florence of covering these columnswith red cloth on _jours de Fête_, which spoils the elegant simplicity ofthe columns and makes the church itself resemble a _théâtre desMarionnettes_. But the Italians are dreadfully fond of gaudy colours. Inthe church of _Santa Croce_ what most engaged my attention was the monumenterected to Vittorio Alfieri, sculptured by Canova. It is a most beautifulpiece of sculpture. A figure of Italy crowned with turrets seems fullysensible of the great loss she has sustained in one who was so ardent apatriot, as well as an excellent tragic poet. This monument was erected atthe expence of the Countess of Albany (Queen of England, had _legitimacy_always prevailed, or been as much in fashion as it now is) as a mark ofesteem and affection towards one who was so tenderly attached to her, andof whom in his writings Alfieri speaks with the endearing and affectionateappellation of _mia Donna_. The beautiful sonnet to her, which accompaniesthe dedication of his tragedy of _Mirra_, well deserves the monument; thereis so much feeling in it that I cannot retrain from transcribing it:

 Vergognando talor, che ancor si taccia, Donna, per me l'almo tuo nome in fronte Di queste omai glà troppe a te ben conte Tragedie, ond'io di folle avrommi taccia;

 Or vo' qual d'esse meno a te dispiaccia Di te fregiar; benchè di tutte il fonte Tu sola fosti, e'l viver mio non conte Se non dal Di, ch'al viver tuo si allaccia. 

 Della figlia di Ciniro infelice L'orrendo a un tempo ed innocente amore Sempre da' tuoi begli occhi il planto elice;

 Prova emmi questo, ch'al mio dubbio core Tacitamente imperiosa dice, Ch'io di Mirra consacri a te il dolore. 

In this sanctuary (church of the _Santa Croce_) are likewise the tombs andmonuments of other great men which Italy has produced. There is themonument erected to Galileo which represents the earth turning round thesun with the emphatic words: _Eppur si muove. _ Here too repose the ashes ofMachiavelli and Michel Angelo. This church is in fact the Westminster Abbeyof Florence. 

To go from the _Piazza del gran Duca_ to the _Piazza del Duomo_, wherestands the Cathedral, you have only to pass thro' a long narrow street orrather alley (for it is impervious to carriages) with shops on each sideand always filled with people going to or returning from the Duomo. ThisCathedral is of immense size. The architecture is singular from its being amixture of the Gothic and Greek. It appears the most ponderous load thatever was laid on the shoulders of poor mother earth. There is nothing lightin its structure to relieve the massiveness of the building, and in thisrespect it forms a striking contrast to the Cathedral of Milan whichappears the work of Sylphs. The outside of this Duomo of Florence isdecorated and incrusted with black and white marble, which increases themassiveness of its appearance. The steeple or Campanile stands by itself, altogether separate from the Cathedral, and this is the case with most ofthe Churches in Italy that are not of pure Gothic architecture. This_Campanile_ is curiously inlaid and incrusted on its outside with red, white and black marble. The Baptistery is another building on the same_Piazza_. It is in the same stile of building as the Duomo, but inclosesmuch less space, and was formerly a separate church, called the church ofSt John the Baptist. The immense bronze doors or rather gates, both of theDuomo and Battisterio, attracted my peculiar notice. On them are figuredbas-reliefs of exquisite and admirable workmanship, representing Scripturehistories. It was the symmetry and perfection of these gates that inducedMichel Angelo to call them in a fit of enthusiasm _The Gates of Paradise_. At the door of the Battisterio are the columns in red granite, which onceadorned the gates of the city at Pisa, and were carried off by theFlorentines in one of their wars. Chains are fastened round these columns, as a memorial of the conquest. The cupolas both of the Duomo andBattisterio are octangular. There is a stone seat on the _Piazza del Duomo_where they pretend that Dante used occasionally to sit; hence it is calledto this day _Il Sasso di Dante_. 

You will now no doubt expect me to give some account of the theatres. Atthe _Pergola_, which is a large and splendid theatre, I have seen twooperas; the one, _L'Italiana in Algieri_, which I saw before at Milan lastyear; the other, the _Barbieri di Seviglia_ by Rossini, which afforded tomy ears the most delightful musical feast they ever enjoyed. The cavatina_Una voce poco fa_ gave me inconceivable delight. The _Ballo_ was of a verysplendid description and from a subject taken from the Oriental historyentitled _Macbet Sultan of Delhi_. How the Mogul Sultan came to have thename of Macbet I know not. On the _plafond_ of the _Pergola_ is anallegorical painting representing the restored Kings of Europe replaced ontheir thrones by Valor and Justice. The decorations at this theatre are notquite so splendid as those of the _Scala_ at Milan, but living horses andmilitary evolutions seem to be annexed to every historical _Ballo_. Horsesindeed appear to be an indispensable ingredient in the _Balli_ in the largecities of Italy. 

In the _Teatro Cocomera_, comedies are performed, and very generally thoseof the inexhaustible Goldoni. I saw the _Bugiardo_ very fairly performed atthis theatre. The story is nearly the same as that of our piece, _TheLiar_, which is I believe imitated from _Le Menteur_ of Corneille. Theactor who did the Liar was a very good one. The actresses screamed too muchand were rather coarse. Another night at the theatre I saw a piece call'd_II furioso_, a _comédie larmoyante_ which was interesting and well given;but the voice of the prompter was occasionally too loud. Tragedies are veryseldom played; the language of Alfieri could never, I will not say be givenwith effect, but even conceived by the modern actors. It would be like atragedy of Sophocles performed by boys at school. There is another reasontoo why these tragedies are not given; they abound too much in republicanand patriotic sentiments to be grateful to the ears of the Princes whoreign in Italy, all of whom being of foreign extraction and unshackled byconstitutions, come under the denomination of those beings called by Greeks[Greek: Turannoi], I use this word in its Greek sense. Of the TuscanGovernment it is but justice to say that from the days of Leopold to thepresent day it was and is a mild, just and paternal government, more soperhaps than any in Europe; and the only one that can any way reconcile onealtogether to those lines of Pope:

 For forms of Government let fools contest; Whate'er is best administer'd is best. [83]

In the time of Leopold the factious nobility were kept in check, and theindustrious classes, mercantile and agricultural, encouraged. The peasantrywere, and are, the most affluent in Europe; and this is no small incitementto the industry that prevails. On the elevation of Leopold to the throne ofthe Caesars, the present Grand Duke succeeded in Tuscany; and he followedthe same system that Leopold did, and was equally beloved by his subjects. Tuscany was the only country in Italy that did not desire a change at theperiod of the French conquest, and the only state wherein the French werenot hailed as deliverers. The Tuscans exhibited a very honorable spirit onthe occasion of Buonaparte's visit to the Grand Duke in 1797. They wenttogether to the Theatre della Pergola, and on their entering into the GrandDucal box, the Grand Duke was hailed with cries of _Viva il NostroSovrano_: now this proof of attachment at a period when Buonaparte wasall-mighty in Italy, when the Grand Duke was but an inferior personage, ata time too when it was doubtful whether or not he would be dethroned, andin the very presence of the mighty conqueror, reflects great honor andcredit on the Tuscan character. Buonaparte was much struck at this proof ofdisinterested attachment on the part of the Florentines towards theirSovereign, and told the Grand Duke very ingenuously that he had receivedorders to revolutionize the country, from the French Directory; but that ashe perceived the people were so happy, and the Prince so beloved, he couldnot and would not attempt to make any change. 

The applause given to the Grand Duke at this critical period is so much themore creditable to the Florentines as they in general receive their Prince, on his presenting himself at the theatre, with no other ceremonial thanrising once and bowing. There is no fulsome _God save the King_ repeatedeven to nausea, as at the English theatres. In fact none of the Italianspay that servile adulation to their Sovereigns that the French and Englishdo. 

The changes projected in Italy at the treaty of Lunéville by Napoleon thenfirst Consul, and his further views on Italy, induced him at length toeject an Austrian Prince from the sovereignty of a country which heintended to annex to the French Empire. The Grand Duke was indemnified witha principality in Germany, where he remained until the downfall of Napoleonin 1814; subsequent arrangements again restored him to the sway of the landhe loved so well, and he returned to Florence as if he had only been absenton a tour, finding scarcely any change in the laws and customs and habitsof the country; for tho' Tuscany was first erected into a Kingdom by thetitle of Etruria, and afterwards annexed to the French Empire, theinstitutions and laws laid down by Leopold and followed strictly by hissuccessor were preserved; very little innovation took place, and the fewinnovations that were effected were decided ameliorations; for the EmperorNapoleon had too much tact not to preserve and protect the good he found, tho' he abolished all old abuses. The improvements introduced by the Frenchhave been preserved and confirmed by the Grand Duke on his return, for heis a man of too much good sense, and has too much love of justice, to thinkof abolishing the good that has been done, merely because it was done bythe French. Tuscany has now a respectable military force of 8, 000 men wellarmed, clothed and equipped in the French manner. 

Tuscany is the only part of Italy where the downfall of Napoleon was notregretted; the inhabitants of Leghorn indeed rejoiced at it, for thecommerce of Tuscany being chiefly maritime, Leghorn suffered a good dealfrom the continental system. Leghorn in fact decayed in the same proportionthat Milan and other inland cities rose into opulence. 

The character of the Tuscan people is so amiable and pacific that crime isvery rare indeed. Murder is almost unknown and the punishment of death isbanished from the penal code. Where the government is good, the people areor soon become good. I know of no country in the world more agreeable for aforeigner to settle in than Tuscany. 

I omitted to remark that in the street called _Borgo d'Ognissanti_ is alarge house or _palazzo_ which belonged to Americo Vespucci. His bust is tobe seen in the Florentine Gallery. It is curious to remark the differentappellations given to the word _street_ in the different cities of Italy. In Milan a street is called _vico_ and in Turin, _contrada_; in Florence_strada_ and in Rome, I understand, _via_. 

FLORENCE, 1st Sept. 

I shall start in a day or two for Rome, being very impatient to behold theEternal City, a plan which I have had in view from my earliest days andwhich I have not been able hitherto to effect; for like the Abbé Delille Ihad sworn to visit the sacred spot where so many illustrious men had spokeand acted, and to do hommage in person to their Manes. I was always a greatadmirer of the "_Popolo Re_. "

In Florence there are a great many literary societies such as the_Infuocati, Immobili_, and the far renowned _La Crusca_. 

Frequent _Academies_, for so a sitting of a litterary society in Italy istermed, are held in Florence. There are likewise two Casinos, one for thenobility and the other for the merchants and burghers; the wives anddaughters of the members attend occasionally; and cards, music and dancingare the amusements. Florence abounds in artists in alabaster whoseworkmanship is beautiful. They make models in alabaster of the mostcelebrated pieces of sculpture and architecture, on any scale you chuse:they fabricate busts too and vases in alabaster. The vases made inimitation of the ancient Greek vases are magnificent, and some of them areof immense size. Foreigners generally chuse to have their busts taken; foralmost all foreigners who arrive here are or pretend to be smitten with anardent love for the fine arts, and every one wishes to take with him modelsof the fine things he has seen in Italy, on his return to his nativecountry. Here are English travellers who at home would scarcely be able todistinguish the finest piece of ancient sculpture--the Mercury, forinstance, in the Florentine Gallery, from a Mercury in a citizen's gardenat Highgate--who here affect to be in extacies at the sight of the Venus, Apollino, &c. , and they are fond of retailing on all occasions the terms ofart and connoisseurship they have learned by rote, in the use of which theymake sometimes ridiculous mistakes. For instance I heard an Englishman oneday holding forth on the merits of the Vierge _quisouse_, as he called it. I could not for some time divine what he meant by the word _quisouse_, butafter some explanation I found that he meant the celebrated painting of the_Vierge qui coud_, or _Vierge couseuse_, as it is sometimes called, whichlatter word he had transformed into _quisouse_. This affectation, however, of passion for the _belle arti_, tho' sometimes open to ridicule, is veryuseful. It generates taste, encourages artists, and is surely a moreinnocent as well as more rational mode of spending money and passing timethan in encouraging pugilism or in racing, coach driving and cock fighting. 

[83] Pope, _Essay on Man_, ep. III, 303-4. --ED. 

CHAPTER X

Journey from Florence to Rome--Sienna--Radicofani--Bolsena--Montefiasconewine--Viterbo--Baccano--The Roman Campagna--The papal _douane_--Monumentsand Museums in Rome--Intolerance of the Catholic Christians--The Tiber andthe bridges--Character of the Romans--The _Palassi_ and _Ville_--Canova'satelier--Theatricals--An execution in Rome. 

September----, 1816. 

I made an agreement with a _vetturino_ to take me to Rome for three _louisd'or_ and to be _spesato_. In the carriage were two other passengers, viz. , a Neapolitan lady, the wife of a Colonel in the Neapolitan service, and ayoung Roman, the son of the _Barigello_ or _Capo degli Sbirri_ at Rome. Weissued from the _Porta Romana_ at 6 o'clock a. M. The 3d September. 

The road winds thro' a valley, and has a gentle ascent nearly the whole wayto Poggibonsi, where we brought to the first night. The soil hereabouts isfar from fertile, but every inch of it is put to profit. The olive tree isvery frequent and several farms and villages are to be met with. The nextday we arrived at 12 o'clock at Sienna. The approach to Sienna is announcedby a quantity of olive trees. The situation of this city being on anelevation, makes it cold and bleak. We remained here three hours, so that Ihad time to visit some of the places worthy of remark in this venerablecity, which is handsome and very solidly built, but has rather a sombreappearance. The _Piazza Grande_ lies in a bottom to which you descend fromthe environing streets. It is in the shape of a mussel shell and of verylarge size. The Cathedral is Gothic and is a very majestic and venerablebuilding. Inside it is of black and yellow marble. The pavement of thischurch contains Scripture histories in mosaic. A library is annexed to thechurch. The librarian pointed out to me 80 folio volumes of church musicwith illuminated plates; likewise an ancient piece of sculpture muchmutilated, viz. , a group of the three Graces. In one of the chapels of thisCathedral are eight columns of _verd-antique_. I observed a monument of thePiccolomini family who belong to this city; one of which family figured agood deal in the Thirty Years' War in Germany. I saw several women in theCathedral and at the windows of the houses. The greater part of them werehandsome. The Italian language is spoken here in its greatest purity; it isthe pure Tuscan dialect without the Tuscan aspiration. The Sienneselanguage is in fact the identical _lingua Toscana in bocca Romana_. 

We arrived the same evening at Buon Convento, an old dismal dirty-lookingtown formerly fortified; but the country in the environs is pleasingenough. The inn here is very bad. On the road between Sienna and this placeI observed a number of mulberry trees. 

The next morning, the 5th Sept. , we arrived at Radicofani or rather at aninn or post house facing Radicofani. This is a very ancient city, and fromits being on an eminence it has an imposing appearance. Above it towers animmense conical shaped mountain, evidently a volcano in former times. Infact, the whole country hereabouts is volcanic, which is plainly seen fromthe immense masses of calcined stones, the exhalations of sulphur and thedreary wild appearance of the country, where scarce a tree is to be seen. Inever in my life saw so many calcined rocks and stones of great magnitudeheaped together as at Radicofani. It gave the idea as if it were theidentical field of battle between Jupiter and the Titans, and as if themasses of rock that everywhere meet the eye had been hurled at the Empyreumby the Titans and had fallen back on the spot from whence they were tornup. It is indeed very probable that this volcano which vomited forth rocksand stones in a very remote age, gave rise to the Fable of the war betweenJupiter and the Giants; just as the volcanos in Sicily and Stromboli gaverise to the story of the Cyclops with one eye (the crater) in theirforehead. But the mountain of Radicofani must have been a volcano anterioreven to Aetna; it presents the image of an ancient world destroyed by fire. 

At Ponte Centino the next morning we took our leave of

 _La patria bella Di vaghe Donne e di dolce favella;_

in plain prose, we left the Tuscan territory, and re-entered the dominionsof His Holiness. After being detained half an hour at the _Douane_, weproceeded to Acquapendente to breakfast. The country between Radicofani andAcquapendente is dreary, thinly populated, little cultivated, and volcanicsteams of sulphur assail the nostrils. Before we arrived at Acquapendentewe had a troublesome river to cross, which at times is nearly dry, and atother times the water comes down in torrents from the surrounding mountainsand precipices, so as to render its passage extremely dangerous. It isalways necessary previous to the passage of a carriage, to send on a man toford and sound it, from its meandering and forming different beds crossedseven times, twice less than Styx _novies interfusa_, and it is a very slowoperation from the number of rocks and quicksands; so that, should thetorrent come down while you are in the act of crossing, you and your wholeequipage would be swept away by the stream and drowned or dashed to pieces. Travellers going to and returning from Rome are frequently detained for aday or two at Ponte Centino or Acquapendente during the rainy season; forimmediately after heavy rains, there is always a great risk and it isbetter to halt for several hours to allow the waters to pass off. Theextent of ground that this river covers by its meandering and forming somany beds nearly parallel to each other renders it impossible to constructa bridge long enough; and it would be always liable to be swept away by thetorrent. Nobody ever thinks of crossing the river in the dark. There havingno rain fallen for several days we passed it without difficulty. 

Within a mile of Acquapendente the landscape varies and the approach tothis town is exceedingly picturesque. Acquapendente is situated on a loftyeminence from which several magnificent cascades descend into the ravinebelow and which give the name to the town. There are a great number oftrees about this town and they afford a great relief to the eye of thetraveller after so many hours' journey thro' volcanic wastes. The town ofAcquapendente is very ancient; it is very large, but ill-paved and dirty;the best buildings in it are, however, modern. The inhabitants appear lazyand dirty. On entering into conversation with some soldiers belonging tothe Papal army, who were stationed at this place, I found that most of themhad served under Napoleon. They spoke of him with tears of affection intheir eyes, and I pleased them much by reciprocating their opinions of thatgreat man. To speak well of Napoleon is the surest passport to civility andgood treatment on the part of the soldiers and _douaniers_. 

In the evening we arrived at Bolsena, the ancient Volsinium, a city of theVolscians. It is an ancient looking town, not very clean, and inhabited byindolent people. It is situated on the banks of a large lake, on whichthere are three small islands. It is very aguish and unhealthy, and theinhabitants appear sickly, with marvellous sallow complexions. The innwhere we put up was a pretty good one, and as this lake abounds in fish, wehad some excellent trout and pike for supper; among other dishes there wasone that was very gratifying to me, an old East and West Indian; and thatwas the _Peveroni_ or large red and green peppers or capsicums fried inoil. Some excellent Orvieto wine crowned our repast, and helped to restoreus from our fatigues. 

On leaving Bolsena the next morning, the 7th, and within a very shortdistance from that town we entered a thick and venerable forest, thro'which the road runs for several miles. Fine old trees of immense heightcovered with foliage and thickly studded together give to this forest anaweful and romantic appearance. It is quite a _lucus opaca ingens_. Thisforest has been held sacred since the earliest times and is even now heldin such superstitious veneration by the people that they do not allow it tobe cut. The Dryads and Hamadryads have no doubt long ago taken theirflight, but the wood, from its length and opaqueness, inspired me with someapprehension lest it might be the abode of some modern votaries of Mercury, people having confused ideas of _meum_ and _tuum_, and the _appropriativefaculty_ too strongly developed in their organization, and I expected everymoment to hear a shot and the terrible cry of _ferma_; but we met with noaccident nor did we fall in with a living soul. On issuing from this forestwe perceived on an eminence before us, at a short distance, the town ofMontefiascone. We stopped there as almost all travellers do to taste thefamous Montefiascone wine or _Est_ wine, as it is frequently called. Thiswine is fine flavored, _pétillant_ and wonderfully exhilarating. It isrenowned for having occasioned the death of a German prelate in thesixteenth century, who was travelling in Italy and who was remarkably fondof good wine. The story is as follows. He was accustomed to send on hisservant to the different towns thro' which he was to pass with directions, to taste and report on the quality of the different wines to be foundthere, and if they were good to mark the word _Est_ on the casks from whichhe tasted them. The servant, on arrival at Montefiascone, was highlypleased with the flavour of the wine, of which there were three casks atthe inn where they put up. He accordingly wrote the word _Est_ on each ofthe casks. The Bishop arrived soon after and took such a liking to thiswine that he died in a few days of a fever brought on by continualintoxication. He was buried in one of the churches at Montefiascone and themonks of the Convent there, themselves _bons-vivans_, determined to givehim a suitable epitaph. They accordingly caused to be engraved on his tombthe following Latin inscription commemorative of the event: _Est, Est, Est, propter nimium Est, Dominus Episcopus mortuus_ EST. From the abovecircumstance this wine is called _Vino d'Est_, and it affords no smallrevenue to the proprietor of the _cabaret_ on the road side who sells it. 

We arrived at Viterbo to breakfast and at Ronciglione in the evening. Viterbo is a large and handsome city and contains several strikingbuildings. It is paved with lava and contains a great variety of fountains. There is some appearance of commerce and industry in this town and thereare several _maisons de plaisance_ in the neighbourhood. From Viterbo, thro' Monterosi, to Ronciglione the road lies over a mountain of steepascent; here and there are patches of forest. There is not a house to beseen on this route and from there being a good deal of wood, and noappearance of cultivation, one fancies oneself rather in the wilds of a newcountry like America, than in so old a one as Italy. 

Ronciglione is an old rubbishing town half in ruins and contains no onething remarkable. 

The next morning at four o'clock we started from Ronciglione and reachedBaccano to breakfast. 

Baccano contains only two buildings; but they are both very large androomy; the one is the inn, and the other serves as a barrack for theMilitary. There is always a strong military detachment here for thesecurity of the road against robbers, who occasionally infest thisneighbourhood. The inn is of immense size. Travellers, who arrive herelate, would do well to halt here the whole night, as not only the road isdangerous on account of robbers, but because if they arrive at Rome afterfive o'clock p. M. , they cannot release their baggage and carriage from theCustom house till next day. Every carriage public or private that arrivesin Rome is bound, unless a special permission to the contrary be obtainedfrom the Government, to drive direct to the Custom house (_Dogana_). In thelike manner, on travelling from Rome to Florence, people generally preferto start from Rome at twelve o'clock and bring to the night at Baccano, soas to avoid the bad inn at Ronciglione and sleep in preference at Viterbo. I here speak only of those who travel by short stages as the _vetturini_do. 

Ariosto has given a celebrity to this wretched place Baccano in his poem ofthe _Orlando Furioso_, in the story of Giocondo in the 28th Canto, as beingthe identical place where Fausto, the brother of Giocondo, remained toawait the return of his brother from Rome, to which place he had gone back, when half way between Baccano and Rome, to fetch the _monile_ which he hadleft behind him, and found his wife not _alone_ and _dying with grief_ ashe apprehended, but _sotto la coltre_ with a servant of the family. 

The country between Baccano and Rome is as unpleasing and even worse thanthat between the former place and Ronciglione. It is hilly, but not a tree, nor a house, nor a sign of cultivation to be seen except the two or threewretched hovels at La Storta. There is nothing at all that announces theapproach to a capital city; and in addition to the dismal landscape thereis a sight still more dismal that salutes the eye of the traveller atintervals of two or three miles and which does not tend to inspire pleasingideas; and this is the sight of arms and legs of malefactors and murdererssuspended on large poles on the road side; for it is the custom here to cutoff the arms and legs of murderers after decapitation, and to suspend them_in terrorem_ on poles, erected on the very spot where they committed themurder. The sight of these limbs dangling in the wind is not a verycomfortable one towards the close of the evening. 

We left the _Sepolero di Nerone_, an ancient tomb so called, on the rightof our road and half a mile beyond it crossed the Tiber at the _Ponte Molle(Pons Milvius)_, where there is a gate, bridge and military post. From thispost to the _Porta del Popolo_, the entrance into the city for those comingfrom the North, the distance is one mile; there is a white wall on eachside of the road the whole way, and some farm houses and villas. Near the_Ponte Molle_ is the field of battle where Maxentius was defeated byConstantine. 

We entered the _Porta del Popolo_, crossed the _Piazza_ of the same name, where three streets present themselves to view. In the centre is the streetcalled the _Corso_, running in a direct line from the _Porta_ across the_Piazza_. We drove along the _Corso_ till we arrived at a _Piazza_ on ourright hand, which _Piazza_ is called _della Colonna_ from the Column ofAntoninus, which stands on it. We then crossed the _Piazza_ which is verylarge and soon reached the _Dogana_ or Custom house, formerly the temple ofAntoninus Pius, where vile modern walls are built to fill up the intervalsbetween eleven columns of Grecian marble. Here our baggage underwent arigorous research; this rigour is not so much directed against thefraudulent introduction of contraband or duty-bearing merchandise, asagainst _books_, which undergo a severe scrutiny. Against Voltaire andRousseau implacable war is waged, and their works are immediatelyconfiscated. Other authors too are sometimes examined, to see whether theycontain anything against Mother Church. As the people employed ininspecting books are not much versed in any litterature or language buttheir own, except perhaps a little French, it is not easy for them to findout the contents of books in other languages. I had Schiller's works withme, a volume of which one of the _douaniers_ took up and looked at; onseeing the Gothic letter he seemed as much astonished as if he had got holdof a book of _Cabbala_ or _Magic_. He detained the whole work, but it wassent to me the next day, on my declaring that there was nothing damnable orheretical in it; for there was no person belonging to the department whocould read German. When the _douaniers_ proceeded to the examination of thebooks belonging to one of my fellow travellers, the Neapolitan lady, sheexpressed great repugnance to the procedure; the _douaniers_ howeverinsisted and, behold! there were several _livres galants_ with platessomewhat _lubriques_, the discovery of which excited blushes on her partand considerable laughter on the part of the byestanders. These books, however, not being contraband, were immediately returned to her, as was anedition of Baffo, belonging to my other fellow traveller, returned to him. Now this Baffo was a Venetian poet and his works are the most profligatethat ever were penned or imagined by mortal man. Martial and PetroniusArbiter must hide their diminished heads before Baffo. The owner of thisbook chose to read out loud, quite unsolicited, several _choice_ sonnets ofthis poet for our edification during the journey; and this branch oflitterature seemed to be the only one with which he was acquainted. 

When the examination was over I took leave of my fellow travellers, andrepaired to the _German Hôtel_ in the _Via de' Condotti_, where I engagedan apartment, and sat down to dinner at an excellent _table d'hôte_ at fiveo'clock. There was a profusion of everything, particularly of fish andgame. Mullets and wild boar are constant dishes at a Roman table. Themullets at Rome are small but delicious, and this was a fish highly prizedby the ancient Romans. Game of all kinds is very cheap here, from theabundance of it that is to be met with in wild uninhabited wastes of Latiumand in the Pontine marshes. Every peasant is a sportsman and goesconstantly armed with fire-arms, not only to kill game, but to defendhimself against robbers, who infest the environs of Rome, and who sometimescarry their audacity so far as to push their _reconnaissances_ close to thevery walls of the city. At the _German Hôtel_ the price of the dinner at_table d'hôte_, including wine at discretion, is six _paoli_, about threefranks. I pay for an excellent room about three _paoli_ per diem and mybreakfast at a neighbouring _Caffé_ costs me one _paolo_. A _paolo_ isworth about five pence English. There are ten _paoli_ to a _scudo Romano_and ten _bafocchi_ to a _paolo_, The _bafocco_ is a copper coin. 

ROME, 12th Sept. 

A great number of Germans dine at the _table d'hôte_ of Franz's hotel. Among them I distinguished one day a very intelligent Bavarian Jew. Iproposed to him a walk to the Coliseum the following morning, asindependent of the benefit I derived from his conversation I was curious tosee whether it was true or not that the Jews always avoided walking underthe Arch of Titus, which was erected in commemoration of the capture ofJerusalem by the Romans under Titus, in the reign of Vespasian. On steppingout of the _Hôtel Allemand_, the first thing that met my eye was theidentical beggar described by Kotzebue in his travels in Italy, and hegives the very same answer now as then to those who give him nothing, viz. , _Pazienza_. 

We crossed the _Piazza di Spagna_, ascended the superb flight of steps ofthe _Trinità de' Monti_, where there is a French church called the Churchof St Louis: near it is the _Villa Medici_, which is the seat of the FrenchAcademy of the fine arts at Rome. We then filed along the _Strada Felice_till we arrived at the church of _Santa Maria maggiore_, a superb edifice, the third church in Rome in celebrity, and the second in magnificence. Animmense Egyptian Obelisk stands before it. We then, turning a little to theright, made the best of our way to the Coliseum where we remained nearlytwo hours. I had figured to myself the grandest ideas of this stupendousbuilding, but the aspect of it far exceeded the sketch even of myimagination. In Egypt I have seen the Pyramids, but even these vast massesdid not make such an impression on me as the Coliseum has done. I am sounequal to the task of description that I shall not attempt it; I will giveyou however its dimensions which my friend the Jew measured. It is anellipse of which the transverse axis is 580 feet in length and itsconjugate diameter 480; but it is not so much the length and breadth as thesolidity of this building that strikes the traveller with astonishment. Thearcaded passage or gallery (on the _rez de chaussée_ between the interiorand the exterior wall), which has a vaulted roof over which the seats arebuilt, is broad enough to admit three carriages abreast: and the walls oneach side of this gallery are at least twenty feet thick. What amagnificent spectacle it must have been in the time of the ancient Romans, when it was ornamented, gilded, and full of spectators, of which it couldcontain, it is said, 86, 000! The Coliseum has been despoiled by variousPopes and Cardinals to furnish stone and marble to build their palaces;otherwise, so solid is the building, Time alone would never suffice todestroy it. At present strict orders are given and sentries are posted toprevent all further dilapidations, and buttresses have been made to prop upthose parts which had given way. What a pity it is that the Arena has notbeen left empty, instead of being fitted up with tawdry niches and imagesrepresenting the different stations of the Crucifixion! In the centre is animmense Cross, which whoever kisses is entitled to one hundred daysindulgence. To what reflections the sight of this vast edifice leads! Whatcombats of gladiators and wild beasts! What blood has been spilled! Was itnot here that the tyrannical and cowardly Domitian ordered Ulpius Glabrio, of consular dignity, to descend into the arena and fight with a lion? TheChristian writers mention that many of their sect suffered martyrdom hereby being compelled to fight with wild beasts; but even this was not half sobad as the conduct of the Christians, when they obtained possession ofpolitical power and dominion, in burning alive poor Jews, Moors andheretics some centuries afterwards. Indeed the cruelty of the Pagans wasmuch exaggerated by the above writers and were it even true to its fullextent, their severity was far more excusable than that of the Christiansin later times, for the efforts of the Christian sect in the times ofPaganism were unceasingly directed towards the destruction of the wholefabric of polytheism, on which was based the entire, social and politicalorder of the Empire; and they thus brought on themselves perhaps meritedpersecution, by their own intolerance; whereas, when they got the upperhand, they showed no mercy to those of a different religion, and Orthodoxyhas wallowed successively in the blood of Arians, Jews, Moors andProtestants. 

How many a poor Jew or Moor in Spain and Portugal has been burned alive forno other reason than

 _Pour n'avoir point quitté la foi de leurs ancêtres. _

No, no; no sect or religion was ever so persecuting as the CatholicChristians! The Polytheists of all times, both ancient and modern, weretolerant to all religions and so far from striving to make proselytes, often adopted the ceremonies of other worships in addition to their own;witness the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans of old, and the Hindoos andChinese of the present day. The Jews, ferocious and prejudiced as theywere, never persecuted other nations on the ground of religion, and if theyheld these nations in abhorrence as idolaters, and considered themselvesalone as the holy people, the people of God (Yahoudi), they never dreamedof making converts. The Mussulmans tho' they hold it as a sacred precept oftheir religion to endeavour to make converts to Islam, do not use violentmeans and only compel those of a different faith to pay a higher tribute. At any rate, they never have or do put people to death merely for thedifference of religious opinions. Such were the reflections I made onwalking about the Arena of this colossal edifice so worthy of the _popoloRe_. 

On leaving the Coliseum the first thing that meets the eye is the Arch ofConstantine, under which the Roman triumphal and ovationary processionsmoved towards the Capitol. The Arch of Constantine stands just outside theColiseum. It is of immense size and extremely well preserved. The ground onwhich it stands being much filled up and only half of the Arch appearing, the rest remaining buried in the earth, it was judged adviseable toexcavate all around it in order to come to the pedestal; so that now thereis a walled enclosure all around it and into this enclosure it is a descentof at least eighteen feet from the ground outside. Several statues ofcaptive Kings and bas-reliefs representing the victories of Constantineadorn the facade of this triumphal arch. The inscriptions are perfect, andthe letters were formerly filled up with bronze; but these have been takenout at the repeated sackings that poor Rome has undergone from friend andfoe. At a short distance from the Arch of Constantine is the Arch of Titus, under which we moved along on our road towards the Capitol and my friendthe Jew was too much of a cosmopolite to feel the smallest repugnance atwalking under the Arch. Our conversation then turned on the absurd hatredand prejudice that existed between Christians and Jews; he was very liberalon this subject and in speaking of Jesus Christ he said: "Jesus Christ wasa Jew and a real philosopher and was therefore persecuted, for hisphilosophy interfered too much with, and tended to shake the politicalfabric of the Jewish constitution and to subvert our old customs andusages: for this reason he was put to death. I seek not to defend orpalliate the injustice of the act or the barbarity with which he wastreated; but our nation did surely no more than any other nation ancient ormodern has done or would still do against reformers and innovators. "

The Arch of Titus is completely defaced outside, but in the interior of theArch, on each side, is a bas relief: the one representing Vespasian'striumph over the Jews, and the Emperor himself in a car drawn by sixhorses; the other represents the soldiers and followers of the triumph, bearing the spoils of the conquered nation, and among them the famouscandlesticks that adorned the temple of Jerusalem are very conspicuous. These figures are in tolerable preservation, only that the Emperor has losthis head and one of the soldiers has absconded. 

On issuing from the Arch of Titus we found ourselves in the Forum, now the_Campo Vaccino_: so that cattle now low where statesmen and oratorsharangued, and lazy priests in procession tread on the sacred dust ofheroes. 

 Où des prêtres heureux foulent d'un pied tranquille Les tombeaux des Catons et les cendres d'Emile. 

So sings Voltaire, I believe, or if they are not his lines, they are theAbbé Delille's. [84]

The imagination is quite bewildered here from the variety of ancientmonuments that meet the eye in every direction. What vast souvenirs crowdall at once on the mind! Look all around! the _Via Sacra_, the Arch ofSeverus, and the Capitol in front; on one side of you, the temple of Peace, that of Faustina and that of the Sun and Moon: on the other the remainingthree columns of the temple of Jupiter Stator; the three also of the templeof Jupiter Tonans; the eight columns of the temple of Concord; and thesolitary column of Phocas. At a short distance the temple of Castor andPollux and that of Romulus and Remus, which is a round building of greatantiquity, whose rusticity forms a striking contrast with the elegance ofthe colonnaded temples, and which was evidently built before the conquestof Greece by the Romans and the consequent introduction of the fine artsand of the Grecian orders of architecture. 

You may wish to know my sensations on traversing this sacred ground. The_Via Sacra_ recalled to me Horace meeting the _bavard_ who addresses him:_Quid agis, dulcissime rerum_?[85] I then thought of the Sabine rape; ofBrutus' speech over the body of Lucretia; then I almost fancied I could seethe spot where stood the butcher's shop, from whence Virginius snatched theknife to immolate his daughter at the shrine of Honor; next the shade ofRegulus flitted before my imagination, refusing to be exchanged; then Ifigured to myself Cicero thundering against Catiline; or the same withdelicate irony ridiculing the ultra-rigor of the Stoics, so as to forceeven the gravity of Cato to relax into a smile; then the grand, the heroicact of Marcus Brutus in immolating the great Caesar at the altar ofliberty. All these recollections and ideas crowded on my imaginationwithout regard to order or chronology, and I remained for some time in astate of the most profound reverie, from which I was only roused by myfriend the Jew reminding me that we had a quantity of other things to see. 

The first object that engaged my attention on being roused from my reverie, was the Arch of Severus at the foot of the Capitol which towers above it. Excavations have been made around this Arch (for otherwise only half of itcould be seen) and a stone wall built around the excavated ground in thesame manner as at the Arch of Constantine. Round several of the columns ofthe temples I have above enumerated, excavations have been also made;otherwise the lower half of them would remain buried in the earth and giveto the monuments the appearance of a city which had been half swallowed upby an earthquake. By dint of digging round the column of Phocas, theancient paved road which led to the Capitol has been discovered and is nowopen to view. This ancient road is at least thirty feet below the surfaceof the present road and the ground about it. This shows how the ground musthave been filled up by the destruction of buildings at the differentsackings of Rome and the consequent accumulation of rubbish. The Frenchwhen they were here began these excavations and the Duchess of Devonshirecontinues them. [86] It is useful in every way; it employs a number of poorpeople and may be the means of discovering some valuable remains ofantiquity and objects of art. At any rate it is highly gratifying to havediscovered the identical road to the Capitol on which so many Consuls, Dictators and Emperors moved in triumph, and so many captive Kings wept inchains. 

We then ascended the steps that lead to the modern Capitol and mounted onthe _Campanile_ of the same, from whence there is a superb panoramic viewof Rome. On descending from the _Campanile_, we visited the Tarpeian rock, which is now of inconsiderable height, the ground about it and heaps ofrubbish having filled up the abyss below. We then entered the court yard ofthe Capitol. The Capitol and building annexed to it form three sides of arectangle, the centre or _corps de logis_ lying North and South, and thewings East and West, the whole inclosing a court yard open on the Southside of the rectangle, from whence you descend into the street on the plainbelow, by a most magnificent escalier or flight of steps. Of the Capitol, the _corps de logis_ or central building to which the _Campanile_ belongs, is reserved for the occupation and habitation of the _Senator Romano_, acivil magistrate, corresponding something to the mayor in France or_Oberbürgermeister_ in the German towns, and who is chosen from among thenobility and nominated by the Pope. The wings contain the _MuseumCapitolinum_ of painting and sculpture. There is a great deal to call forththe admiration of the traveller in the court yard of the Capitol. The mostprominent object is the famous bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which cannot fail to rivet the attention of the least enthusiasticspectator. I observed at each angle of the façade of the Capitol a colossalstatue of a captive King in a Phrygian dress; but still more striking thanthese are the colossal statues of Castor and Pollux leading horses, whichstand a little in front of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, andnearer the _escalier_, the one on the right the other on the left. Twolions in basalt on each side of the _escalier_ are very striking objects, and the _escalier_ itself is the most superb thing of the kind perhaps inthe world. This _escalier_ and the Marcus Aurelius, unique also in itskind, are both the workmanship of Michael Angelo. [87] We descended this_escalier_ and then fronted it to take a view of the Capitol from thebottom; but the statue of Marcus Aurelius is so prominent and so grand thatit absorbed all my attention. 

After dinner I walked a little in the gardens on the Pincian hill, and thenvisited some friends belonging to the French Academy of Painting andSculpture, who were so good as to shew me their productions, and also acopy of the superb folio edition of Denon's work on Egypt which to me, whohad been in that country, was highly gratifying. Oh! what a pity that theFrench could not keep that country! What a paradise they would have made ofit! As it is (and to their credit be it said) they did more good for thecountry during three years only, than we have done for our possessions inIndia for fifty years. 

ROME, 15th Septr. 

The next morning, after an early breakfast, I repaired to the Pantheon, nowcalled _Santa Maria della Rotonda_, and appropriated to the Catholicworship. It is easily recognizable by its rotundity and by the simplegrandeur of its façade and portico. The bronze has been taken out of theletters of the inscription. This beautiful specimen of ancient architectureis situated in a small _piazza_ or square called _Piazza della Rotonda_, where a market of poultry, game, and vegetables is held. There are only nowthree or four steps on the _escalier_ to ascend, in order to enter into theportico; but as it is known that according to the descriptions of thePantheon in ancient times there was an immense flight of steps to ascend, it is an additional proof how much the ground on which modern Rome standshas been filled up, and consequently it is evident that the greater part ofthis flight of steps remains still buried in the earth. 

If I was so struck with the appearance of this interesting edifice outside, how much more so should I have been on seeing the inside, were not theniches, where formerly stood the statues of the Gods, filled with tawdrydolls representing the Virgin Mary and _he_ and _she_ saints. The columnsand pilasters in the interior of this temple are beautiful, all of _jauneantique_ and one entire stone each. How much better would it have been toreplace the statues of the _Dii Majorum Gentium_ which occupied the niches, by statues in marble of the Apostles, instead of the dolls dressed intawdry colors, and the frippery gilding of the altars on which they stand, which disfigure this noble building. The Pantheon was built by Agrippa asthe inscription shews. In the interior are sixteen columns of _jauneantique_. The bronze that formerly ornamented this temple was made use ofto fabricate the baldachin of St Peter's. Of late years it has been thefashion to erect monuments affixed to the walls of the interior of thePantheon to the memory of the great men and heroes of poetry, painting, sculpture and music who were natives of Italy, or for foreigners, celebrated for their excellence in those arts, who have died in Rome. Hereare for instance, tablets to the memory of Metastasio, Rafael Mengs, Sacchini, Poussin, Winckelmann; the Phidias of modern days, the illustriousCanova, has recommended the placing in the Pantheon of the busts in marbleof all the great men who have flourished in Italy, as the most appropriateornament to this temple. He himself with a princely liberality has made apresent to it of the busts of Dante, Petrarca, Ariosto, Tasso, Guarini, Alfieri, Michel Angelo, Rafaello, Metastasio and various other worthies. These busts are all the production either of Canova himself, or made by hispupils under his direction; they are not the least remarkable ornament ofthe place. In the centre of the _Piazza della Rotonda_ stands an obeliskbrought from Egypt, which belonged to a temple sacred to Isis in thatcountry. 

I next repaired to the _Piazza di Navona_, a large and spacious square, where there is a superb fountain representing a vast rock with fourcolossal figures, one of which reclines at the foot of the rock, at eachangle of the pedestal that supports it, and it is surmounted by an Obeliskwhich was brought from Egypt and was found in the gardens of Sallust. Thefour colossal figures represent the four river Gods of the four greatrivers in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, viz. , the Danube, the Ganges, the Nile, and the Plata. The statue of the Nile has his head half-concealedby a cloak, emblematical of the source of that river not being discovered. In the _Piazza_ are frequently held fairs, shews of wild beasts, theatricalexhibitions and sometimes combats of wild beasts. 

I crossed the Tiber on my way to St Peter's at the _Ponte di Sant' Angelo_;directly on the other side of the river stands the castle of that name, animmense edifice formerly the _Moles Adriana_ or Mausoleum of the EmperorAdrian. It is of a circular form and is a remarkably striking object. Fromhere there is a spacious street as broad as Portland place, which leads tothe magnificent _Piazza_, where stands the Metropolitan Church of theChristian world, the pride of Christendom, the triumph of modernarchitecture, flanked on each side by a semi-circular colonnaded portico, which constitutes one of its greatest beauties and distinguishes it fromall the other temples in the world. On the Piazza, considerably in front ofthis wonderful edifice and nearly in the centre, stands an immense EgyptianObelisk, and at a short distance on each side of the Obelisk twomagnificent fountains which spout water to a great height and whichcontribute greatly to the ornament of the _Piazza_. 

Now you must not expect me to give you a description of this glorioustemple. I never in my life possessed descriptive powers, even for objectsof no great importance: how then could I attempt to delineate theinnumerable beauties of this edifice? Yet, vast as it is, the proportionsof the façade are so correct, that they, together with the semi-circularcolonnaded portico, serve to diminish its apparent size and to render itsmass less imposing, but perhaps more beautiful. On this account it appearsat first sight of less size than the Church of St Paul's in London. Thebeauty of the architecture, viz. , of the façade and of the colonnadedportico would require days to examine and admire. What shall I say then ofthe wonders of the interior, crowded and charged as it is with the finestpieces of sculpture, columns of the most beautiful _verd antique_ and of_jaune antique_; the masterpieces of painting copied in mosaic; theprecious, stones and marbles of all sorts that adorn the variety ofmagnificent chapels and altars; the immense baldachin with its twistedcolumns of bronze (the spoils of the Pantheon and of the temple ofJerusalem); the profusion of gilding and ornament of all sorts and where inspite of this profusion there seems _rien de trop_. At first entrance theeye is so dazzled with the magnificent _tout ensemble_ as to be incapablefor a long time of examining any thing in detail. Each chapel abounds inthe choicest marbles and precious stones: in a word it would seem as if thewhole wealth of the Earth were concentrated here. Without impiety orexaggeration, I felt on entering this majestic temple for the first timejust as I conceive a resuscitated mortal would feel on being ushered intothe scene of the glories of Heaven. The masterpieces of painting are hereperpetuated in mosaic, and so correctly and beautifully done, that unlessyou approach exceedingly close indeed, it is impossible to distinguish themfrom paintings. What an useful as well as ornamental art is the mosaic!There are a great variety of confessionals where penitents and pilgrims mayconfess, each in his own tongue, for there is a confessional for the use ofalmost every native tongue and language in the Catholic world. The cupola!What an astonishing sight when you look up at it from below! How can Ibetter describe it than by relating the anecdote of Michel Angelo itsconstructor, who when some one made a remark on the impossibility of makinga finer Cupola than that of the Pantheon, burst out into the followingexclamation: "Do you think so? Then I will throw it in the air, " and hefulfilled his word; for the cupola of St Peter's is exactly of the size ofthat of the Pantheon, tho' at such an elevation as to give it only theappearance of one fourth of its real size, or even less. The sublimity ofthe design can only be equalled by the boldness and success of itsexecution. Till it was done, it was thought by every artist impossible tobe done. What an extraordinary genius was this Michel Angelo! Ariosto hashot at all exaggerated in his praise when he speaks of him in punning onhis name:

 _Michel_ più che mortal, _Angel_ divino. [88]

 Michael, less man than Angel and divine. 

 --Trans, W. S. ROSE. 

Among the various splendid marble monuments with which this temple aboundsis one erected to the memory of Pope Rezzonico, constructed by Canova andreckoned one of his masterpieces. The Pope is represented in hiscanonicals. Behind and above him is a colossal statue of Religion with across in one hand and rays in form of spikes issuing from her head. I donot like these spikes. On the dexter side of this monument, is a beautifulmale youthful figure representing a funereal genius with an inverted torch. The signal delicacy, beauty and symmetry of this statue forms a strikingcontrast with the figure of an immense lion sleeping on the sinister side;and this lion is an irrefragable proof that Canova excels in thedelineation of the terrible as well as the beautiful, for it is admirablyexecuted. 

At another monument is a superb female figure of colossal size representingTruth. It was formerly naked, but they have contrived to execute incoloured marble a vestment to cover her loins and veil her secret beauties. The reason of which is, that this beautiful statue made such an impressiononce upon a traveller (some say he was an Englishman, others a Spaniard)that it inspired him with a sort of Pygmalionic passion which he attemptedto gratify one night; he was discovered in the attempt, and since thattime, to prevent further scandal or attempts of the sort and to concealfrom profane eyes the charms of the too alluring Goddess, this coloredmarble vestment was imagined and executed. This story is borrowed fromLucian. [89]

There is also here a fine statue of Pope Gregory XIII and a magnificentbas-relief, the subject of which is the reform of the calendar by thatPope. Here too is a monument to Christina Queen of Sweden, and a bas-reliefrepresenting her abjuration of the Lutheran Faith. 

But why should I attempt to detail all these monuments, while it wouldrequire folios for the purpose; let me rather introduce you to the hero andtutelary saint of this sanctuary. St Peter, a superb bronze statuesomething above the usual size of men, is seated on a curule chair in thenave of the church on the right hand side as you approach the baldachin. Heholds in his hands the keys of Heaven. He receives the adoration of all thefaithful who enter into this temple, and this adoration is performed bykissing his foot which, from the repeated kissings, is become of a brightpolish and is visibly wearing away. The statue was formerly a statue ofJupiter Capitolinus, but on the grand revolution among the inhabitants ofOlympus and the downfall of Jupiter, it was broken to pieces, melted downand fabricated into an image of St Peter, so that this statue has lostlittle of its former sovereignty and still rules Heaven and Earth if notwith regal, with at least vice-regal power, tho' under a different name. 

In the Sistine Chapel is the celebrated painting al fresco of the day ofJudgment by Michel Angelo, an aweful subject and nobly and awefullyexecuted. 

In the porch under the façade of St Peter's are two marble statues onhorseback, one at each end of the porch: they represent Constantine theGreat and Charlemagne, the two great benefactors of the holy CatholicChurch; the one, in fact, its founder, the other its preserver. 

As the Palace of the Vatican stands close to the Church of St Peter's andcommunicates with it by an _escalier_, I ascended the _escalier_ in orderto behold and examine the famous Museum of the Vatican, the first in theworld, and unique for the vast treasures of the fine arts that it contains;treasures which the united wealth of all Europe and India to boot could notpurchase at their just price. Here in fact it may be said are preserved theriches and plunder of the whole world, which was stripped of all itsvaluables by those illustrious brigands the ancient Romans. And mark inthis point the good fortune of Rome; instead of losing them again as othernations have lost their trophies, Superstition came to her aid and causedthem to be respected and preserved, 'till an enlightened age arose whichguided by Philosophy, Humanity and Science will for ever preserve themsecure against all attacks of barbarians in a sanctuary so worthy of them. 

_Museum Vaticanum_[90]

A superb flight of steps leads into a hall of immense length filled on eachside with statues, busts, sarcophagi, altars, urns, vases and candelabra, all monuments of antiquity and of the most exquisite workmanship. The wallson each side of this hall are inlaid with tablets bearing inscriptions inGreek, Latin and Etruscan. One is quite bewildered amongst such a profusionof Gods, Semi-Gods, Heroes. I must single out a few of the most remarkablefor their workmanship. Here is a group representing the sacrifice ofMithras. On ascending a few steps at the other end of this hall, in a smalloctangular room, are the statue of Meleager; the famous Torso; the tomb ofScipio with bas-reliefs. On leaving the chamber you come into an octangulargallery, issuing from which are four circular chambers; each chambercontains a masterpiece of art. In one is the Apollo Belvedere, in anotherthe Laocoon (both safely arrived from Paris); in the third Antinous; in thefourth the Perseus of Canova, with Medusa's head and his famous group ofthe two pugilists. Descriptions of the three first would be superfluous--for of them

 Mills altri han detto e con via miglior plettro, and even with respect to the Perseus of Canova, I shall content myself withremarking that the sculptor had evidently the Apollo Belvedere in hisideal, and if he has not quite equalled that celebrated statue, it isbecause it is impossible; but he certainly has given the nearest possibleapproximation to its excellence. 

In another hall and just at its entrance are the statues of Menander andPosidippus in a sitting posture, one on either side. In this hall areinnumerable fine statues, but the further end of it, fronting you as youenter, is a statue which at once engages and rivets your undividedattention; it at once induces you to approach and to take no notice of thestatues on the right and left of the hall. And how should it be otherwise, since it is the identical statue of the father of the Gods and men, thefamous Jupiter Capitolinus which adorned the Capitol in ancient Rome. He issitting on a throne with a sceptre in one hand and the thunderbolts in theother, at his feet an eagle. It is a glorious statue and in every respectcharacteristic; such grandeur, such majesty in the countenance! It isimpossible not to feel awe and reverence on beholding it. It was oncontemplating this venerable statue that an Englishman who was at Rome somesixty years ago, stood wrapt for a time in silent veneration; then suddenlybreaking silence he made a profound obeisance before the statue andexclaimed: "Recollect, O father of the Gods and men, that I have paid myhommage to you in your adversity and do not forget me, should you everraise your head above water again!"

In the hall of the Muses are the statues of the tuneful Nine which werefound underground among the ruins of Hadrian's villa at Tivoli. 

In the centre of a circular chamber of vast dimensions, is an enormouscircular basin of porphyry, of forty-one feet in diameter. A superb mosaicadorns the floor of the centre of this chamber, and is inclosed. Appropriate ornaments to this immense chamber are the colossal statues ofthe _Dii majorum Gentium_. Here are Juno, Minerva, Cybele, Jupiter, Serapis, Mars, Ceres, and others. 

In another hall are two enormous Egyptian Gods in yellow granite; twosuperb sarcophagi in red marble and two immense Sphinxes in granite. Inanother chamber is an antique car drawn by two horses: the near one ismodern, the off one ancient. The wheels of this car are modern; both carand horses are of exquisite workmanship. Several fine statues adorn thischamber, among which the most remarkable are a Phocion, a Paris, anAntinous, and a Triton carrying off a Nereid. 

I must not omit to mention that in one of the halls is the famous group ofthe Nile, represented by an enormous colossal River God, surrounded byfourteen children playing with young crocodiles. Opposite to this group isanother equally celebrated, viz. , the colossal statue of the Tiber, withthe she-wolf giving suck to Romulus and Remus by his side. The mosaicpavements in this Museum surpass in richness any in the world. In one ofthe halls, among the works of modern times, are two beautiful marble tablesrichly inlaid with all sorts of stones of value, with bas-reliefs on them;the one representing the visit of the Emperor Joseph II, and the other thatof Gustavus III of Sweden to Rome, and their reception by the Pope. 

One of the halls of sculpture is appropriated to the figures of animals ofall kinds, from the lion and eagle down to the rat and crawfish in marblesof all colors, and of all sizes; the best executed among them appeared tome a group representing a greyhound bitch giving suck to her young. As forthe valuable cameos, coins, medals, and smaller remnants of antiquity inthis Museum, they are innumerable. 

With regard to the paintings that belong to this Museum, there is only asmall, collection but it is unique. Here is the Transfiguration and someother masterpieces of Rafaello. 

In the _Stanze di Rafaello_ (so they are called) are several large frescopaintings, viz. , one representing the battle of Maxentius and Constantine;another, the school of Athens and Socrates sitting among the otherphilosophers; a third representing a fire; besides others. 

In one of these _stanze_ is a work in tapestry representing Jesus Christbursting forth from the sepulchre, but he has a visage far too rubicund andwanting in dignity; he looks like a person flushed with wine issuing from atavern; in the countenance there is depicted (so it appears to me) avulgar, not a dignified triumph. 

The Palace of the Vatican is of immense size and is said to cover as muchground as the city of Turin; and I am inclined to think that there is not agreat deal of exaggeration in this statement, for the vista along thecorridors and galleries appears to be endless. The Library of the Vaticanis of course very extensive and of immense value; but the books, as well asthe manuscripts, are kept in presses which are locked, and it is ratherawkward to be continually applying to the _custode_ to take out and putback a book. 

The Museum of the Vatican is open twice a week to the public, viz. Thursdays and Sundays; but foreigners, on shewing their passports, mayobtain admission at any time. 

ROME, 17th Sept. 

My next visit was to the Capitol in order to inspect the _MuseumCapitolinum_. This time I ascended the magnificent _escalier_ of MichelAngelo, having the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in front. Onarriving at the courtyard, I entered the building on my left (which is onthe right of the façade). Under the colonnaded portico of this wing are thestatues of Caesar and Augustus; here too is the naval column of the consulDuilius, in commemoration of the first naval victory gained over theCarthaginians; also a colossal statue of the Rhine called Marforio. In oneof the halls two large statues of the Egyptian Goddess Isis and variousother Egyptian divinities. In this Museum among other things is an altarrepresenting Claudia drawing to the land the Ship of Cybele; a magnificentsarcophagus with a bas relief on its side representing the progress oflife; Amalthea giving suck to Jupiter; the God Anubis found among the ruinsof Adrian's palace at Tivoli. On ascending the staircase, I observed on theright hand fixed in the wall a tablet with a plan of ancient Rome carved onit. In one of the halls above stairs the most remarkable statue is that ofthe dying gladiator (brought back from Paris); this is certainly a noblepiece of sculpture; the bodily pain and mental anguish are singularly wellexpressed in the countenance; a superb bronze statue of Hercules; a Centaurin black marble; a Faun in _rosso antico_; a group of Cupid and Psyche; aVenus in Parian marble rather larger than the common size. One of the hallsin this museum contains the busts of all the philosophers; another those ofall the Roman emperors; there is also a colossal statue of Pyrrhus; asuperb Agrippina and the celebrated mosaic of the four pigeons. Inenumerating the above I have only to observe that they only constitute athousandth part of what is to be seen here. After passing three hours inthis wing of the building, I went over across the courtyard to the otherwing. Under the portico of this wing the following are the most remarkableamong the statues: a Roman _triumphans_, two Phrygian kings in blackmarble. In one of the rooms above stairs is a very remarkable piece ofantiquity, viz. , the bronze wolf giving suck to Romulus and Remus, whichwas found in the temple of Romulus and which was struck by lightning duringthe consulate of Julius: the marks made by the lightning are quitedistinct. There is in this wing a small but excellent collection ofpaintings, and a great variety of statues, busts, sarcophagi, candelabra, and antiquities of all sorts. 

The front part, or _corps de logis_ of the Capitol is called _Il Palazzodel Senato conservatore_, and is the residence of the _Senator Romano_ whois chosen by the Pope. By the bye, I understand this dignity is generallygiven to a foreigner, the Pontiffs being, rather jealous of the Romannobility. 

This wing of the Capitol employed me two hours; but I must visit thisMuseum as well as that of the Vatican often again; for it would requiremonths and years to examine them duly. 

ROME, 18th Sept. 

On this side of the river which is called _Transtevere_, I had anopportunity of observing the inhabitants, who are called _Transteverini_, the most of whom pretend to be the descendants of the ancient Romans, unmixed with any foreign blood. They certainly have very much of thatphysiognomy that is attributed to the ancient Romans, for they are a tall, very robust race of men having something of a ferocious dignity in theircountenance which, however, is full of expression, and the aquiline nose isa prominent feature among them. They are exceedingly jealous of theirwomen, whom they keep within doors as much as they can, and if a strangeron passing by their doors should chance to observe their wives or daughterswho may be standing there and should stop to admire them (for many of themhave an air of antique beauty and majesty of countenance which isremarkably striking), they will instantly order the females to retire, withan air of asperity. 

Whether they really be the pure descendants of the ancient Romans isdifficult to say: but it is by no means improbable, since even to this daythey intermarry solely with one another, and refuse to give their daughtersin marriage to foreigners or to those of mixed blood. 

Instances have been known of these families, who are for the most part verypoor, refusing the most advantageous offers of marriage made to theirdaughters by rich foreign merchants and artists, on the ground merely thatthe suitors were not _Romani_ but _Barbari. _

As for the _bourgeoisie_ of Rome in general, they _have been_ for somecenturies back and _are_ a very mixed race, composed of all the nations ofEurope. Most of the foreign artists who come here to study the fine arts, viz. , Belgians, Dutch, German, French, English, Swedes, Danes, Poles andRussians, as well as those from other parts of Italy, struck with thebeauty of the women, and pleased with the tranquility and agreeable societythat prevails in this metropolis, and the total freedom from all _gêne_ andetiquette, marry Roman women and fix here for life: so that among thisclass you meet with more foreign names than Roman; and it is this sort ofcolonisation which keeps up the population of Rome, which would otherwisegreatly decrease as well from the celibacy of the number that becomepriests, as from the malaria that prevails in and about the city in Julyand August. 

ROME, 19th Sept. 

I have been employed for the last two days in visiting some of thechurches, _palazzi_ and villas of modern Rome; but the number is soprodigious and there are such a variety of things to be seen in each that Ishall only make mention of a few; indeed there are many that I have notseen and probably shall not have time to see. As sacred things shouldprecede profane, let us begin with the churches. 

The first that claims the attention of the traveller after St Peter's, isthe church of St John Lateran which is the oldest church in Christendom, and was the metropolitan of Rome and of the Christian world before thebuilding of St Peter's. It lies very nearly in a right line with the_Piazza di Spagna_, and on a prolonged line, forming an obtuse angle withthe church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which, as I first visited, I shallfirst describe and afterwards resume what I have to remark on the subjectof St John Lateran. 

Santa Maria Maggiore is the third church in importance, but the second inmagnificence in Rome. Before its façade stands a single column of graniteof the Corinthian order. The façade of this church is beautiful but itwould be far better without the _campanile_, which I think alwaysdisfigures a church of Grecian architecture; besides it is not in thecentre of the building. The church is richly adorned with mosaics and itsseveral chapels are admirable from the execution of their architecture andsculpture and the value of the different rich marbles and precious stoneswith which the monuments therein are made and incrusted. Among theseChapels are those of Sixtus V, Paul V. The grand altar is of porphyry. Butthe most striking beauty of this church and which eclipses all its otherornaments, are the forty columns of beautiful Grecian marble on each sideof the nave. The ceiling, too, is superb and richly gilt; the gilding musthave cost an immense sum and was done, it is said, with the first gold thatwas brought from America. Nothing can be more rich than this plafond. Theabove forty columns belonged formerly to the temple of Juno Lucina. It issingular that the ceremony of the _accouchement_ of the Virgin and thebirth of Christ should be performed here. On the 24th December thispantomime is regularly acted, and crowds of all sorts of people attend, particularly women. At the moment that the Virgin is supposed to bedelivered a salve of artillery announces the good tidings. This issingular, I say, when one recollects the peculiar attributes of Juno Lucinaand the assistance she was supposed to give to persons in the samesituation. 

You cannot expect me to detail to you all the riches in precious stones andgifts of pious princes that adorn the several chapels of this and otherchurches; but they appear to contain every stone and jewel mentioned in theArabian Nights as being to be found in the cave where Aladdin was left bythe magician; and it must be allowed that the Popes have been remarkablyadroit inchanters in conjuring to Rome all the riches of the Earth. 

The church of St John Lateran is larger and more striking as to itsexterior and as to its architecture than that of Santa Maria Maggiore, butit is not so charged with ornament and there is scarce any gilding. Thereis a simple elegance about it that I think far more pleasing than themagnificence of Santa Maria. 

St John Lateran contains several beautiful pieces of sculpture in whitemarble, rather larger than the usual size of man, of the twelve Apostles, six on one side of the nave and six on the other; and above them arebas-reliefs, also in marble, representing the various scenes from thehistory of the Old and New Testament. These twelve statues are admirablywell executed and they give to this temple an air of simple grandeur. Inthis church are very few paintings on mosaics, but little gilding and nosuperfluous ornaments. Sculpture is, in my opinion, far more appropriate toa place of worship than paintings or dazzling ornaments. Another verystriking beauty of this noble and venerable temple are the columns itcontains some of which are in granite and others of the most beautiful_verd-antique_. There are besides two superb Corinthian columns of bronzewhich adorn one of the altars. Among the chapels of this Cathedral is onebelonging to the Corsini family, which is probably the richest in Europe, and contains more precious stones and marbles than any other. Yet as thisand the other chapels are in recesses and separated from the aisles of thechurch by large bronze gates, you cannot see their contents till you enterthe said chapels; and thus your attention is not diverted by them from thecontemplation of the simple grandeur of the columns and statues which adornthe body of the temple. 

The bronze columns above mentioned were taken from the temple of JupiterCapitolinus. On one side in front of the church of St John Lateran standsan immense Egyptian Obelisk 115 feet in height, brought from Egypt to Romein the time of Constantine. 

I think the placing of these Obelisks in front of the façade of the mostremarkable edifices is an excellent arrangement, as they are never-failinglandmarks to distinguish from afar off the edifices to which they belong. This Obelisk was found in the _Circus Maximus_, from which it was removedand placed on this spot by Sixtus V. A large Orphan establishment is closeto this church; and close to it also the _Battisterio_ of Constantine, which rests on forty-eight columns of porphyry, said to be the finest inEurope. Another church in the vicinity contains _La Scala Santa_ or holystaircase of marble which, according to the tradition, adorned PontiusPilate's palace at Jerusalem, and on which identical staircase Jesus Christascended to be interrogated by Pilate. The tradition further says that itwas transported to Rome by Angels. This staircase has twenty-eight steps, and no one is allowed to mount it except on his knees. Nobody ever descendsit, but there are two other _escaliers_ parallel to it, one on the righthand, the other on the left, by which you descend in the usual manner. Notbeing aware of this ceremony, I, on entering the edifice, began to ascendthe _escalier_ which was nearest to me, which proved to be the _ScalaSanta_, for no sooner had I begun to ascend it as I would any other flightof steps than two or three voices screamed out: "_Signore! O signore! aginocchia; o'è la scala santa_!" I asked what was meant and was then toldthe whole story, and that it was necessary to mount this staircase on one'sknees or not at all. This I did not think worth the trouble, being quitecontented with beholding it. The marble of this staircase is much worn bythe number of devout people who ascend it in this manner, and thisceremony, aided by a _quantum suff_ of faith is no doubt of great efficacy. 

The fourth church in estimation, and I believe the next ancient in Rome toSt John Lateran, is the church of _San Paolo fuor della mura_, so calledfrom its being situated outside the gates of the city. It is of immensesize, but out of repair and neglected. The most striking object of itsarchitectural contents are the 120 columns of Parian marble which supportits nave. 

_St Pietro in Vincoli_ is chiefly remarkable for its being built near thedungeon where, according to the tradition, St Peter was confined and fromwhence he was released by Angels; its chief ornament is the colossal statueof Moses. Somewhere close to this place are shewn the ruins of theMamertine prison where Jugurtha was incarcerated and died. 

There are in Rome about three hundred other churches, all of which canboast of very interesting and valuable contents. One in particular calledthe Portuguese Church is uncommonly beautiful tho' small; another, that ofSt Ignazio, or the Jesuits' church, is vast and imposing, and very finesinging is occasionally to be heard there. 

ROME, 21st Sept. 

The Palace occupied by the Pope is that of the Quirinal, standing on theQuirinal Hill, which is commonly called _Monte Cavallo_ from the statues ofthe two _Hippodamoi_ or tamers of horses, thought to be meant for Castorand Pollux which stand on this hill; this group is surmounted by anEgyptian obelisk. These statues are said to be the work of Phidias; butthere is a terrible disproportion between the men and the horses they areleading; they give you the idea of Brobdignagians leading Shetland ponies. The Quirinal palace is every way magnificent and worthy of the SovereignPontiff; there are large grounds annexed to it; it stands nearly in thecentre of Rome and from this palace are dated the Papal edicts. The Poperesides here during the whole year, with the exception of three or fourmonths in the hot season, when he repairs to Castel Gandolfo near laRiccia. 

Of the fountains the grandest and most striking is that of Trevi, whichlies at the foot of Quirinal Hill. Here is a magnificent group in marble ofNeptune, in his car in the shape of a mussel-shell drawn by Sea-horses andsurrounded by Nymphs and Tritons. An immense basin of white marble, aslarge as a moderate sized pond, receives the water which gushes from thenostrils of the Sea-horses and from the mouths of the Tritons. There is avery good and just remark made on the subject of this group by Stolberg, viz. The attention of Neptune seems too much directed towards one of hishorses, a piece of minutiae more worthy of a charioteer endeavouring toturn a difficult corner, than of the God who at a word could control thewinds and tranquillize the Ocean. 

The fountain Termina, so called from its vicinity to the Thermes ofDiocletian, is the next remarkable fountain. Here is a colossal statue ofMoses striking the rock and causing the water to gush forth. The grandeurand majesty of this statue would be more striking but for the incongruityof the arcades on each side of the rock, and the two lions in black basaltwho spout water. Moses and the rock would have been sufficient. Simplicityis, in my opinion, the soul of architecture, and where is there in allhistory a subject more peculiarly adapted to a fountain than this part ofthe history of Moses?

The Fountain Paolina is a fountain that springs from under a beautifularcade, but there are no statues nor bas-reliefs. It is a plain neatfountain and the water is esteemed the best in Rome. This fountain issituated on the Janicule Hill, from which you have perhaps the best view ofRome; as it re-unites more than any other position, at one _coup d'oeil_, both the modern and débris of the ancient city, without the view of the oneinterfering with or being intercepted by the other. From here you candistinguish rums of triumphal arches, broken columns, aqueducts, etc. , asfar as the eye can reach. It demonstrates what an immense extent of groundancient Rome must have covered. Near the fountain is the church where StPeter is said to have suffered martyrdom with his head downwards. 

The Column of Trajan is near the fountain Trevi, and it stands in aninclosure, the pavement of which is seven feet lower than the _piazza_ onwhich it stands. The inclosure is walled round. Had not this excavationbeen made, one third of the column (lower part) would not be seen. The_Piazza_, on which this column stands is called _Il foro Trajano_. Thecolumn represents Trajan's triumphs over the Daci, Quadi and Marcomanni, and is the model from whence Napoleon's column of the Grand Army in the_Place Vendôme_ at Paris is taken. A statue of St Peter stands on thiscolumn. 

The Column of Antoninus stands on the _Piazza Colonna_; on it aresculptured the victories gained by that Emperor. Round this column it hasnot been necessary to make excavations. On this column stands the statue ofSt Paul. 

Amongst the immense variety of edifices and ruins of edifices which mostinterest the antiquarian are the Thermes of Diocletian. Here are fourdifferent semi-circular halls, two of which were destined for philosophers, one for poets and one for orators; baths; a building for tennis or rackets;three open courts, one for the exercise of the discus, one for athletes andone for hurling the javelin. Of this vast building part is now amanufactory, and the hall of the wrestlers is a Carthusian church. 

I have now, I believe, visited most, if not all that is to be seen in Rome. I have visited the Pyramid of Cestius, the tomb of Metella, I haveconsulted, the nymph Egeria, smelled at the _Cloaca Maxima_; in fine, Ihave given in to all the _singeries_ of _pedantry_ and _virtù_ with as muchardour as Martinus Scriblerus himself would have done. But it yet remainsfor me to speak of the most interesting exhibition that modern Rome canboast, and of the most interesting person in it and in all Italy, and thatis the atelier of Canova and Canova himself, the greatest sculptor, perhaps, either of ancient or modern times, except the mighty unknown whoconceived and executed the Apollo of the Vatican. 

In the atelier of Canova the most remarkable statues I observed are: agroup of Hector and Ajax of colossal size, not quite finished; a Centaur, also colossal; a Hebe; two Ballerine or dancing girls, one of whichrivetted my attention most particularly. She is reclining against a treewith her cheek _appuyéd_ on one hand; one of her feet is uplifted and laidalong the other leg as if she were reposing from a dance. The extremebeauty of the leg and foot, the pulpiness of the arms, the expressivesweetness of the face, and the resemblance of the marble to wax in point ofmellowness, gives to this beautiful statue the appearance of a livingfemale _brunette_. It was a long time before I could withdraw my eyes fromthat lovely statue. 

The next object that engaged my attention was a group representing a Nymphreclining on a couch _semi-supine_, and a Cupid at her feet. The luxuriouscontour of the form of this Nymph is beyond expression and reminded me ofthe description of Olympia:

 Le parti che solea coprir la stola Fur di tanta eccellenza, ch'anteporse A quante n'avea il mondo potean forse. [91]

 Parts which are wont to be concealed by gown Are such, as haply should be placed before Whate'er this ample world contains in store. 

 --Trans. W. S. ROSE

This group is destined for the Prince Regent of England. Another beautifulgroup represents the three Graces; this is intended for the Duke ofBedford. Were it given to me to chuse for myself among all the statues inthe atelier of Canova, I should chuse these three, viz. , the Ballerina, theNymph reclining, and this group of the Graces. 

Canova certainly is inimitable in depicting feminine beauty, grace anddelicacy. Among the other statues in this atelier the most prominent are: astatue of the Princess Leopoldina Esterhazy in the attitude of drawing on atablet with this inscription:

 _Anch'io voglio tentar l'arte del bello. _

This lady is, it seems, a great proficient in painting. 

Here too are the moulds of the different statues made by Canova, thestatues themselves having been finished long ago and disposed of; viz. , ofthe Empress Maria Louisa of France; of the mother of Napoleon (_MadameMère_ as she is always called) in the costume and attitude of Agrippina; ofa colossal statue of Napoleon (the statue itself is, I believe, in thepossession of Wellington. [92]) Here too is the bust of Canova by Canovahimself, besides a great variety of bas-reliefs and busts of individuals, models of monuments, etc. 

And now, my friend, I have given you a _précis_ not of all that I haveseen, but of what has most interested me and made on my mind impressionsthat can never be effaced. I trust entirely to my memory, for I made nonotes on the spot. Many of the things I have seen too much in a hurry toform accurate ideas and judgment thereon; most of what we see here is shewnto us like the figures in a _lanterna magica_, for in the various _palazzi_and villas the servants who exhibit them hurry you from room to room, impatient to receive your fee and to get rid of you. I am about to departfor Naples. On my return to Rome I shall not think of revisiting thegreater number of the _palazzi_, villas and churches; but there are somethings I shall very frequently revisit and these are the two Museums of theVatican and of the Capitol, St Peter's, the Coliseum and antiquities in itsneighbourhood, the Pantheon, and last but not least the atelier of theincomparable Canova. 

You may perhaps be unwilling to let me depart from Rome without someinformation as to theatricals. With regard to these, Rome must hang downher head, for the pettiest town in all the rest of Italy or France isbetter provided with this sort of amusement than Rome. There is a theatrecalled _Teatro della Valle_, where there is a very indifferent set ofactors, and this is the only theatre which is open throughout the year. Comedies only and farces are given. The theatres Aliberti and Argentino areopen during the Carnaval only. Operas are given at the Argentino, andmasquerades at the Aliberti. But in fact the lovers of Operas and of theDrama must not come to Rome for gratification. It is not consideredconformable to the dignity and sanctity of an ecclesiastical government topatronize them; and it is not the custom or etiquette for the Pope, Cardinals or higher Clergy ever to visit them. The consequence is that noperformer of any consideration or talent is engaged to sing at Rome, exceptone or two by chance at the time of the Carnaval. In amends for this youhave a good deal of music at the houses of individuals who hold_conversazioni_ or assemblies; in which society would flag very much butfor the music, which prevents many a yawn, and which is useful andindispensable in Italy to make the evening pass, as cards are in England. 

I intend to stop several days here on my return from Naples, for whichplace I shall start the day after to-morrow having engaged a place in a_vettura_ for two and half _louis d'or_ and to be _spesato_. I am not to bedeterred from my journey by the many stories of robberies andassassinations which are said to occur so frequently on that road. 

By the bye, talking of robberies and murders, a man was executed the daybefore yesterday on the _Piazza del Popolo_ for a triple murder. I saw theguillotine, which is now the usual mode of punishment, fixed on the centreof the _Piazza_ and the criminal escorted there by a body of troops; but Idid not stop to witness the decapitation, having no taste for that sort of_pleasuring_. This man richly deserved his punishment. 

[84] These lines are from Voltaire's _Henriade_, a poem which no Frenchman reads nowadays, but that Major Frye could quote from memory. The correct reading of the first verse is: _Des prêtres fortunés_, etc. (_Henriade_, canto iv. Ed. Kehl, vol. X, p. 97. )--ED. 

[85] Horace, _Sat_. , 1, 9, 4. --ED. 

[86] Lady Elizabeth Hervey, second wife of William, fifth Duke of Devonshire (1809); died March, 1824. --ED. 

[87] A singular slip of the pen; Frye must have known that the equestrian statue is a Roman work--ED. 

[88] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, xxxiii, 2, 4. --ED. 

[89] See Lucian, _Imag. _, iv; _Amores_, xv, xvi. --ED. 

[90] Major Frye's description is incorrect in many particulars, on which it seemed unnecessary to draw attention. --ED. 

[91] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, XI, 67, 6. 

[92] That colossal marble statue was given to the Duke of Wellington by Louis XVIII, and is still to be seen in London, at Apsley House. --ED. 

CHAPTER XI

From Rome to Naples--Albano--Velletri--The Marshes--Terracina--Mola diGaeta--Capua--The streets of Naples--Monuments and Museums--Visit toPompeii and ascent to Vesuvius--Dangerous ventures--Puzzuoli andBaiae--Theatres at Naples--Pulcinello--Return to Rome--Tivoli. 

I started from Rome on the 26th September; in the same _vettura_ I found anintelligent young Frenchman of the name of R---- D----, a magistrate inCorsica, who was travelling in Italy for his amusement. There were besidesa Roman lawyer and not a very bright one by the bye; and a fat woman whowas going to Naples to visit her lover, a Captain in the Austrian service, a large body of Austrian troops being still at Naples. We issued from Romeby the _Porta Latina_ and reached Albano (the ancient Alba) sixteen milesdistant at twelve o'clock. We reposed there two hours which gave me anopportunity of visiting the _Villa Doria_ where there are magnificentgardens. These gardens form the promenade of the families who come toAlbano to pass the heat of the summer and to avoid the effect of theexhalations of the marshy country about Rome. 

As Albano is situated on an eminence, you have a fine view of the wholeplain of Latium and Rome in perspective. The country of Latium however isflat, dreary and monotonous; it affords pasture to an immense quantity ofblack cattle, such as buffaloes, etc. 

Just outside of Albano, on the route to Naples, is a curious ancientmonument called _Il sepolcro degli Orazj e Curiazj. _ It is built of brick, is extremely solid, of singular appearance, from its being a squaremonument, flanked at each angle by a tower in the shape of a cone. It is ofan uncouth rustic appearance and must certainly have been built before

 _Grecia capia ferum victorem cepit et artes Intulit agresti Latio. .. .. _[93]

and I see no reason against its being the sepulchre of the Horatii andCuriatii, particularly as it stands so near Alba where the battle wasfought; but be this as it may there is nothing like faith in matters ofantiquity; the sceptic can have little pleasure. 

The country on leaving Albano becomes diversified, woody and picturesque. Near Gensano is the beautiful lake of Nemi, and it is the spot feigned bythe poets as the scene of the amours of Mars and Rhea Silvia. Near Gensanoalso is the country residence of the Sovereign Pontiffs called CastelGandolfo. La Riccia, the next place we passed thro', is the ancient Aricia, mentioned in Horace's journey to Brundusium. We arrived in the evening atVelletri. 

Velletri is a large town or rather city situated on a mountain, to whichyou ascend by a winding road skirting a beautiful forest. From the terraceof one of the _Palazzi_ here, you have a superb view of all the plain belowas far as the rock of Circe, comprehending the Pontine marshes. There areseveral very fine buildings at Velletri, and it is remarkable as being thebirthplace of Augustus Caesar. There is a spacious _Piazza_ too on whichstands a bronze statue of Pope Urban VIII. Velletri is twenty-eight milesfrom Rome. 

The next morning, the 27th, we started early so as to arrive by six o'clockin the evening at Terracina. At Cisterna is a post-house and at Torre trePonti is a convent, a beautiful building, but now delapidated andneglected. Near it is a wretched inn, where however you are always sure tofind plenty of game to eat. Here begin the Pontine marshes and the famousAppian road which runs in a right line for twenty-five miles across themarshes. It was repaired and perfectly reconstructed by Pius VI, and fromhim it bears its present appellation of _Linea Pia_. This convent andchurch were also constructed by Pius VI with a view to facilitate thedraining and cultivating of the marshes by affording shelter to theworkmen. The _Linea Pia_ is a very fine _chaussée_ considerably raisedabove the level of the marsh, well paved, lined with trees and a canal sunkon one side to carry off the waters. The Pontine marshes extend all the wayfrom Torre tre Ponti to Terracina. On the left hand side, on travellingfrom Rome to Naples, you have two miles or thereabouts of plain bounded bylofty mountains; on the right a vast marshy plain bounded by the sea at adistance of seven or eight miles. Nothing can be more monotonous than thisstrait road twenty-five miles in length, and the same landscape the wholeway. The air is extremely damp, aguish and unhealthy. Those who travel latein the evening or early in the morning are recommended not to let down theglasses of the carriage, in order to avoid inhaling the pestilential miasmafrom the marshes, which even the canal has not been able to drainsufficiently. 

No one can find amusement in this desolate region but the sportsman; and hemay live in continual enjoyment, and slay wild ducks and snipes inabundance; a number of buffaloes are to be seen grazing on the marshes. They are not to be met with to the North of Rome. They resemble entirelythe buffaloes of Egypt and India, being black, and they are very terrificlooking animals to the northern traveller, who beholds them here for thefirst time. 

These marshes supply Rome abundantly with waterfowl and other game of allkinds. Every _vetturino_ who is returning to Rome, on passing by, buys aquantity, for a mere trifle, from the peasantry, who employ themselves much_à la chasse_, and he is certain to sell them again at Rome for three orfour times the price he paid, and even then it appears marvellous cheap toan Englishman, accustomed as he is to pay a high price for game in his owncountry. 

We arrived a little before six at Terracina, which is on the banks of theMediterranean and may be distinguished at a great distance by its whitebuildings. The chain of mountains on the left of our road hither form asort of arch to the chord of the _linea Pia_ and terminates one end of thearch by meeting the _linea Pia_ at Terracina, which forms what the sailorscall a bluff point. Terracina stands on the situation of the ancient Anxurand the description of it by Horace in his Brundusian journey;

 Impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur[94]

is perfectly applicable even now. It is a handsome looking city and is thelast town in the Pope's territory: part of it is situated on the mountainand part on the plain at its foot close to the sea. 

The fine white buildings on the heights, the temple of Jupiter Anxurus (ofwhich the façade and many columns remain entire) towering above them, theorange trees and the sea, afford a view doubly pleasing and grateful to thetraveller after the dreary landscape of the Pontine Marshes. There is butone inn at Terracina but that is a very large one; there is, however, butvery indifferent fare and bad attendance. The innkeeper is a sadover-reaching rascal, who fleeces in the most unmerciful manner thetraveller who is not _spesato_. He is obliged to furnish those who are_spesati_ with supper and lodging at the _vetturino's_ price; but he alwaysgrumbles at it, gives the worst supper he can and bestows it as if he weregiving alms. As the road between Terracina and Fondi (the first Neapolitantown) is said to be at times infested by robbers, few travellers care tostart till broad daylight. We did so accordingly the following morning. Onarriving at a place called the _Epitafio_, from there being an ancient tombthere, we took leave of the last Roman post. At one mile and half beyondthe _Epitafio_ is the first Neapolitan post at a place called _Torre de'Confini_, where we were detained half an hour to have our passportsexamined and our portmanteaus searched. Three miles beyond this post is themiserable and dirty town of Fondi, wherein our baggage again underwent astrict search. On leaving Terracina the road strikes inland and hasmountains covered with wood to the right and to the left, nor do we beholdthe sea again till just before we arrive at Mola di Gaeta, which is anexceeding long straggling town on its banks; several fishing vessels liehere and it is here that part of the Bay of Naples begins to open. Thecountry from Terracina to Fondi is uncultivated and very mountainous;between Fondi and Mola di Gaeta it is pretty well cultivated; Itri, thro'which we passed, is a long, dirty, wretched looking village. 

The next day at twelve o'clock we arrived and stopped to dine at St Agatha, a miserable village, with a very bad tho' spacious inn the half of which isunroofed. We arrived at Capua the same evening having passed the riversGarigliano and Volturno, and leaving the Falernian Hills on our left duringpart of the road. The landscape is very varied on this route, sometimesmountainous, sometimes thro' a rich plain in full cultivation. 

Capua is a fortified town situated in a flat country and marshy withal. Itis a gloomy, dirty looking city and whatever may have been its splendourand allurements in ancient times, it at present offers nothing inviting orremarkable. The lower classes of the people of this town are such thievesthat our _vetturino_ recommended us to remove every thing from the carriageinto our bed rooms, so that we had the trouble of repacking every thingnext morning. Capua is the only place on the whole route where it isnecessary to take the trunks from the carriage. From Capua to Naples istwenty miles; a little beyond Capua are the remains of a large Amphitheatreand this is all that exists to attest the splendour of ancient Capua. Theroad between Capua and Naples presents on each side one of the richest andmost fruitful countries I ever beheld. It is a perfect garden the wholeway. The _chaussée_ is lined with fruit trees. Halfway is the town or_borgo_ of Aversa which is large, well-built, opulent and populous. Weentered Naples at one o'clock, drove thro' the _strada di Toledo_ and fromthence to the _largo di Medina_ where we put up at the inn called the_Aquila nera_. A cordon of Austrian troops lines the whole high road fromFondi to the gates of Naples; and there are double sentries at a distanceof one mile from each other the whole way. 

NAPLES, Octr. 5th. 

In Naples the squares or _Piazze_ are called _Larghi_; they are exceedinglyirregular as to shape; a trapezium would be the most appropriatedenomination for them. The _Largo di Medina_ is situated close to the Moleand light house and is not far from the _Largo del Palazzo_ where the RoyalPalace stands, nor from the _Strada di Toledo_, which is the most bustlingpart of the town. On the Mole and sometimes in the _Largo di Medini_Pulcinello holds forth all day long, quacks scream out the efficacy oftheir nostrums and _improvisatori_ recite battles of Paladins. Here and inthe _Strada di Toledo_ the noise made by the vendors of vegetables, fruit, lemonade, iced water and water-melons, who on holding out their wares toview, scream out "_O che bella cosa_!"--the noise and bustle of the cooks'shops in the open air and the cries of "_Lavora_!" made by the drivers of_calessini_ (sort of carriage) makes such a deafening _tintamarre_ that youcan scarcely hear the voice of your companion who walks by your side. Inthe _Largo del Palazzo_ there is always a large assembly of officers andothers, besides a tolerable quantity of _ruffiani_, who fasten uponstrangers in order to recommend to them their female acquaintances. Alittle further is the Quai of St Lucia, where the fish market is held, andhere the cries increase. The quantity of fish of all sorts caught in thebay and exposed for sale in the market is immense and so much more than canbe sold, that the rest is generally given away to the _Lazzaroni_. Here aredelicious mullets, oysters, whitings, soles, prawns, etc. There is on theQuai of St Lucia a _restaurant_ where naught but fish is served, but thatis so well dressed and in such variety that amateurs frequently come todine here on _maigre_ days; for two _carlini_[95] you may eat fish of allsorts and bread at discretion. The wine is paid for extra. On the Quai ofSt Lucia is a fountain of mineral water which possesses the most admirablequalities for opening the _primae viae_ and purifying the blood. It is anexcellent drink for bilious people or for those afflicted with abdominalobstructions and diseases of the liver. It has a slight sulfurous mixedwith a ferruginous taste, and is impregnated with a good deal of fixed air, which makes it a pleasant beverage. It should be taken every morningfasting. The presidency over this fountain is generally monopolized by apiscatory nymph who expects a _grano_ for the trouble of filling you aglass or two. In reaching it to you she never fails to exclaim _"Buono perle natiche, "_ and it certainly has a very rapid effect; I look upon it asmore efficacious than the Cheltenham waters and it is certainly much moreagreeable in taste. At the end of the Quai of St Lucia is the _Castellodell 'Uovo, _ a Gothic fortress, before the inner gate of which hangs animmense stuffed crocodile. This crocodile is said to have been found alivein the _fossé_ of the castle, but how he came there has never beenexplained; there is an old woman's story that he came every day to thedungeon where prisoners were confined, and took out one for his dinner. The_Castello dell 'Uovo_ stands on the extremity of a tongue of land whichruns into the sea. After passing the _Castello dell 'Uovo_ I came to the_Chiaia_ or Quai properly so called, which is the most agreeable part ofNaples and the favorite promenade of the _beau-monde. _ The finest buildingsand _Palazzi_ line the _Chiaia_ on the land side and above them all towerthe Castle of St Elmo and the _Chartreuse_ with several villas intervening. The garden of the _Chiaia_ contains gravel walks, grass plots, alleys oftrees, fountains, plantations of orange, myrtle and laurel trees which givea delightful fragrance to the air; and besides several other statues, itboasts of one of the finest groups in Europe, called the _Toro Farnese. _ Itis a magnificent piece of sculpture and represents three men endeavouringto hold a ferocious bull. It is a pity, however, that so valuable a pieceof sculpture should be exposed to the vicissitudes of the season in theopen air. The marble has evidently suffered much by it. Why is such avaluable piece of sculpture not preserved in the Museum?

On the _Chiaia_ are _restaurants_ and _cafés_. 'Tis here also that thenobility display their carriages and horses, it being the fashionable drivein the afternoon: and certainly, except in London, I have never seen such abrilliant display of carriages as at Naples. 

The principal street at Naples is the _Strada di Toledo_. It resembles the_Rue St Honoré_ and can boast of as much wealth in its shops. The housesare good, solid and extremely lofty, and the streets are paved with lava. There are two excellent _restaurants_ at Naples, one in the _Largo delPalazzo_, nearly opposite the Royal Palace, called the _Villa di Napoli_;the other not far from it in the _Strada di Toledo_, called _La Corona diFerro_. Naples is renowned for the excellency of its ices. You have them inthe shape of all kinds of fruit and wonderfully cheap. Many of the icehouses and _caffès_ remain open day and night; as do some of the gamingtables, which are much frequented by the upper classes. The theatre of StCarlo, which was consumed last year by fire, is rising rapidly from itsashes and will soon be finished. In the mean time Operas are performed atthe _Teatro Fondi_, a moderate sized theatre. I here saw performed theopera of _Don Giovanni_ of Mozart, with the _ballo_ of _La pazza peramore_. Mme Colbran, a Spanish lady, is the _Prima Donna_ and an excellentsinger. 

In all the private societies at Naples a great deal of gaming goes on, andat some houses those visitors, who do not play, are coolly received. Thefollowing may be considered as a very fair specimen of the life of a youngman of rank and fashion at Naples. He rises about two p. M. , takes hischocolate, saunters about in the _Strada di Toledo_ or in the _Largo delPalazzo_ for an hour or two, then takes a _promenade à cheval_ on the_Chiaia_; dines between six and seven; goes to the Opera where he remainstill eleven or half-past eleven; he then saunters about in the differentCafés for an hour or two; and then repairs to the gaming table at the_Ridotto_, which he does not quit till broad daylight. The ladies find agreat resource in going to church, which serves to pass away the time thatis not spent in bed, or at the Opera, or at the _promenade en voiture_. Theladies seldom take exercise on foot at Naples. There being very littletaste for litterature in this vast metropolis, the most pleasant society isamong the foreign families who inhabit Naples or at the houses of the_Corps diplomatique_. There is, however, a good _cabinet littéraire_ andlibrary in the _Strada di San Giacomo_, where various French and Italiannewspapers may be read. The Austrians occupy the greater part of themilitary posts at Naples; at the Royal Palace however the Sicilian guardsdo duty; they are clothed in scarlet and _à anglaise_. 

NAPLES, 8th Octr. 

One day I went to visit the Museum or _Studii_, as it is called, which issituated at the extremity of the _Strada di Toledo_ on the land side. Hereis a superb collection of sculpture and painting; and this buildingcontains likewise the national library, and a choice and unique collectionof Etruscan vases. A large hall contains these vases, which were found atPompeii[96]; they are much admired for their beauty and simplicity; eachvase has a mythological or historical painting on it. In this Museum I wasshewn the rolls of papyrus found in Pompeii and Herculaneum and the methodof unrolling them. The work to unroll which they are now employed at thisMuseum is a Greek treatise on philosophy by Epicurus. It is a most delicateoperation to unroll these leaves, and with the utmost possible care it isimpossible to avoid effacing many of the letters, and even sentences, inthe act of unrolling. It must require also considerable learning and skillin the Greek language, combined with a good deal of practise, to supply thedeficiency of the words effaced. When these manuscripts are put in print, the letters that remain on the papyrus are put in black type, and the wordsguessed at are supplied in red; so that you see at one glance what lettershave been preserved, and what are supplied to replace those effaced by theoperation of unrolling; and in this manner are all the papyrus manuscripts'printed. 

_Visit to Pompeii and Ascent of Vesuvius_. 

_11th Oct_. 

We returned, Mr R---- D---- and I, from our visit to Vesuvius, half deadwith fatigue from having had little or no rest the whole night, about threeo'clock to Naples. 

We left Naples in a _calèche_ yesterday after breakfast and drove toPortici. Portici, Resina, and Torre del Greco are beautiful little towns onthe sea-shore of the bay of Naples or rather they may be termed acontinuation of the city, as they are close together in succession, and theinterval filled up with villas. The distance from the gates of Naples toPortici is three miles. The road runs through the court yard of the RoyalPalace at Portici which has a large archway at its entrance and sortie. Weproceeded to Resina and alighted in order to descend under ground toHerculaneum, Resina being built on the spot where Herculaneum stood. Thereare always guides on this road on the look out for travellers; oneaddressed us, and conducted us to a house where we alighted and entered. Our guide then prepared a flambeau, and having unlocked and lifted up atrap door invited us to descend. A winding _rampe_ under ground leads toHerculaneum. We discovered a large theatre with its proscenium, seats, corridors, vomitories, etc. , and we were enabled, having two lightedtorches with us, to read the inscriptions. Some statues that were foundhere have been removed to the Museum at Portici. This is the only part ofHerculaneum that has been excavated; for if any further excavations wereattempted, the whole town of Resina, which is built over it, would fall in. Herculaneum no doubt contains many things of value, but it would be rathertoo desperate a stake to expose the town of Resina to certain ruin, for thesake of what _might_ be found. At Pompeii the case is very different, therebeing nothing built over its site. 

After having satisfied our curiosity here, we regained the light of heavenin Resina, and proceeded to Pompeii, which is seven miles further, thetotal distance from Naples to Pompeii being ten miles. The part of Pompeiialready discovered looks like a town with the houses unroofed situated in adeep gravel or sand pit, the depth of which is considerably greater thanthe height of the buildings standing in it. You descend into it from thebrink, which is on a level with the rest of the country; Pompeii isconsequently exposed to the open air, and you have neither to go underground, nor to use _flambeaux_ as at Herculaneum, but simply to descend asinto a pit. There is always a guard stationed at Pompeii to protect theplace from delapidation and thefts of antiquarians. From its resembling, asI have already said, a town in the centre of a deep gravel pit, you comeupon it abruptly and on looking down you are surprized to see a city newlybrought to day. The streets and houses here remain entire, the roofs of thehouses excepted, which fell in by the effect of the excavation; so that youhere behold a Roman city nearly in the exact state it was hi when it wasburied under the ashes of Vesuvius, during its first eruption in the year79 of the Christian era. It does not appear to me that the catastrophe ofPompeii could have been occasioned by an earthquake, for if so the streetsand houses would not be found upright and entire: it appears rather to havebeen caused by the showers of ashes and _écroulement_ of the mountain, which covered it up and buried it for ever from the sight of day. The firstplace our guide took us to see was a superb Amphitheatre about half aslarge as the Coliseum: the arena and seats are perfect, and all theinterior is perfectly cleared out: so are the dens where the wild beastswere kept; so that you look down into this amphitheatre as into a vastbasin standing on its brink, which is on a level with the rest of theground around it, and by means of the seats and passages you may descendinto the _arena_. This Amphitheatre is at a short distance from the rest ofthe town. What is at present discovered of this city consists of a longstreet with several off-sets of streets issuing from it: a temple, twotheatres, a praetorium, a large barrack, and a peculiarly large house orvilla belonging probably to some eminent person, but no doubt when theexcavation shall be recommenced many more streets will be discovered, asfrom the circumstance of there being an amphitheatre, two other theatresand a number of sepulchral monuments outside the gates, it must have been acity of great consequence. Most of the houses seem to have had two stories;the roofs fell in of course by the act of excavation, but the columnsremain entire. I observe that the general style of building in Pompeii inmost of the houses is as follows: that in each building there is a courtyard in the centre, something like the court yard of a convent, which issometimes paved in mosaic, and generally surrounded by columns; in themiddle of this court is a fountain or basin: the court has no roof and thewings of the house form a quadrangle environing it. The windows and doorsof the rooms are made in the interior sides of the quadrangle looking intothe court yard; on the exterior there appears to be only a small latticedwindow near the top of the room to admit light. I have seen in Egypt and inIndia similarly built houses, and it is the general style of building inAndalusia and Barbary. In the rooms are niches in the walls for lamps, precisely in the style of the Moorish buildings in India. 

In many of the chambers of the houses at Pompeii are paintings _al fresco_and arabesques on the walls which on being washed with water appearperfectly fresh. The subjects of these paintings are generally from themythology. In some of the rooms are paintings _al fresco_ of fish, flesh, fowl and fruit; in others Venus and the Graces at their toilette, fromwhich we may infer that the former were dining rooms and the latterboudoirs. A large villa (so I deem it as it stands without the gates) has anumber of rooms, two stories entire and three court yards with fountains, many beautiful fresco paintings on the walls of the chambers. Annexed tothis villa is a garden arranged in terraces and a fish pond. A coveredgallery supported by pillars on one of the sides of the garden servedprobably as a promenade in wet weather. In the cellars of this villa are anumber of _amphorae_ with narrow necks. Had the ancients used corks insteadof oil to stop their _amphorae_, wine eighteen hundred years old might havebeen found here. It is not the custom even of the modern Italians to usecorks for the wine they keep for their own use: a spoonful of oil is pouredon the top of the wine in the flask and when they mean to drink it theyextract the oil by means of a lump of cotton fastened to a stick or longpin which enters the neck of the flask and absorbs and extracts the oil. 

Among the buildings discovered in Pompeii is a large Temple of Isis; hereyou behold the altar and the pillar to which the beasts of sacrifice werefastened. In this temple at the time of the first excavation were found allthe instruments of sacrifice and other things appertaining to the worshipof that Goddess. These and other valuables such as statues, coins, utensilsof all sorts were removed to Portici, where they are now to be seen in theMuseum of that place. The _Praetorium_ at Pompeii is the next remarkablething; it is a vast enclosure: a great number of columns are standingupright here and the most of them entire; the steps forming the ascent tothe elevated seat where the Praetor usually sat, remain entire. There is alarge building and court yard near one of the gates of the city supposed tohave been a barrack for soldiers; three skeletons were found here withtheir legs in a machine similar to our stocks. The scribbling andcaricatures on the walls of this barrack are perfectly visible and legible. When one wanders thro' the streets of this singularly interesting city, oneis tempted to think that the inhabitants have just walked out. What adreadful lingering death must have befallen these inhabitants who could notescape from Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius which coveredit with ashes. The air could only be exhausted by degrees, so that aprolonged suffocation or a death by hunger must have been their lot. 

Four skeletons were found upright in the streets, having in their handsboxes containing jewellery and things of value, as if in the act ofendeavouring to make their escape: these must soon have perished, but theskeleton of a woman found in one of the rooms of the houses close to a bathshews that her death must have been one of prolonged suffering. 

What a fine subject Pompeii would furnish for the pen of a Byron! As I havebefore remarked, all the valuables and utensils of all sorts found herehave been removed to Portici; it is a great pity that everything could notbe left in Pompeii in the exact situation in which it was found on itsfirst discovery at the excavation. What a light it would have thrown (whichno description can give) on the melancholy catastrophe as well as on theprivate life and manners of the ancients! But if they had been left here, they would, even tho' a guard of soldiers were stationed here to protectthem, have been by degrees all stolen. 

There were some magnificent tombs just outside the gates which must havebeen no small ornament to the city. 

We returned to Resina to dinner at six o'clock. 

We had made an arrangement with one of the guides of Vesuvius calledSalvatore that he should be ready for us at Resina at seven o'clock with amule and driver for each of us to ascend the mountain, and we found himvery punctual at the door of the inn at that hour. The terms of the journeywere as follows. One _scudo_ for Salvatore and one _scudo_ for each muleand driver for which they were to forward us to the mountain, remain thewhole night and reconduct us to Resina the following morning. The object inascending at night and remaining until morning is to combine the night viewof the eruption with the visit (if possible) to the crater, which cannotwith safety be undertaken by night, and to enjoy likewise the noble view atsunrise of the whole bay and city of Naples and the adjacent islands. Westarted therefore at a quarter past seven and arrived at half past nine ata small house and chapel, called the hermitage of Vesuvius, which isgenerally considered as half-way up the mountain. In this house dwells anold ecclesiastic who receives travellers and furnishes them with a couchand frugal repast. We dismounted here and our worthy host provided us withsome mortadella and an omelette; and we did not fail to do justice to hisexcellent _lacrima Christi_, of which he has always a large provision. Wethen betook ourselves to rest, leaving orders to be awakened at two o'clockin order to proceed further up the mountain. There was a pretty decenteruption of the mountain, which vomited fire, stones and ashes at aninterval of twenty-five minutes, so that we enjoyed this spectacle duringour ascent. A violent noise, like thunder, accompanies each eruption, whichincreases the awefulness and grandeur of the sight. At two o'clock ourguide and muleteers being very punctual, we bade adieu to the hermit, promising him to come to breakfast with him the next morning; we thenmounted our mules and after an hour's march arrived at the spot where theashes and cinders, combined with the steepness of the mountain, prevent thepossibility of going any further except on foot. We dismounted therefore atthis place, and sent back our mules to the hermitage to wait for us there. We now began to climb among the ashes, and tho' the ascent to the positionof the ancient crater is not more than probably eighty yards in height, wewere at least one hour before we reached it, from its excessive steepnessand from gliding back two feet out of three at every step we made. We atlength reached the old crater and sat ourselves down to repose tillday-break. Tho' it was exceeding cold, the exhalation from the veins offire and hot ashes kept us as warm as we could wish: for here every step isliterally

 _per ignes Suppositos cineri doloso_. [97]

We remained on this spot till broad daylight and witnessed severaleruptions at an interval of twenty or twenty-five minutes. I remarked thatthe mountain toward the summit forms two cones, one of which vomited fireand smoke, and the other calcined stones and ashes, accompanied by arumbling noise like thunder. The stones came clattering down the flanks ofthe mountain and some of them rolled very near us; had we been within theradius formed by the erupted stones we probably should have been killed. 

At daylight Mr R---- D---- proposed to ascend the two cones in spite of theremonstrances of our guide Salvatore, who told us that no person had yetbeen there and that we must expect to be crushed to death by the stones, should an eruption take place, and that it was almost as much madness toattempt it, as it would be to walk before a battery of cannon in the act ofbeing fired. Tho' I did not admit all the force of this comparison, yet Ibegan to think there was a little too much risk in the attempt; my Frenchfriend however was deaf to all remonstrance and said to me, "_As-tu peur_?"I replied: "No! that I was at all times very indifferent as to life ordeath, but that I did not like pain, and was not at all desirous to have anarm or leg broken, the former accident having happened to a German a fewdays before; nevertheless, I added, if you persist in going, I willaccompany you. " We accordingly started to ascend the cone, which vomitedfire and smoke, taking care to place ourselves on the windward side inascending, and after much fatigue we arrived in about fifteen minutes closeto the apex of the cone, after groping amidst the ashes and stumbling on avein of red hot cinders. My shoes were sadly burnt, my stockings singed andmy feet scorched; my friend was less fortunate, for he tumbled down withhis hands on a vein of red hot cinders and burned them terribly. My greatand principal apprehension in making this ascent was of stumbling uponholes slightly encrusted with ashes and that the whole might give way andprecipitate me into some _gouffre. _ On arrival at the summit of the cone wehad just time to look down and perceive that there was a hole or _gouffre, _but whether it were very deep or not we could not ascertain, for a blast offire and smoke issuing from it at this moment nearly suffocated us; weimmediately lost no time in gliding down the ashes on the side of the coneon our breech, and reached its base in a few seconds, where we waited tillan eruption took place from the other cone, in order to profit of theinterval to ascend it also. It required four minutes' walk to reach thebase of the other cone and about twelve to ascend to its apex; on arrivalat the brink, where we remained about two minutes, we had just sufficienttime to observe that there was no deep hole or bottomless _gouffre_ as weexpected, but that it formed a crater with a sort of slant and notexceeding thirty feet in depth to the bottom, which looked exactly like alime-kiln, being of a dirty white appearance, and in continual agitation, as it were of limestones boiling; so that a person descending to the bottomof this crater would probably be scorched to death or suffocated in a fewminutes, but would infallibly be ejected and thrown into the air at thefirst eruption. I mean by this that he would not disappear or fall into abottomless pit (as I should have supposed before I viewed the crater), butthat his friends would be sure of finding his body either yet living ordead, outside the brink of the crater, within the radius made by theerupted stones and ashes. 

Our guide now begged us for God's sake to descend, as an eruption might beexpected every minute. We accordingly glided down the exterior surface ofthe cone among the ashes, on our breech, for it is impossible to descend inany other way and in a few seconds we reached its base. Finding ourselveson a little level ground we began to run or rather wade thro' the ashes inorder to get out of reach of the eruption, but we had not gone thirty yardswhen one took place. The stones clattered down with a frightful noise andwe received a shower of ashes on our heads, the dust of which got into oureyes and nearly blinded us. On reaching the brink of the old crater westopped half an hour to enjoy the fine view of Parthenope in all her gloryat sunrise. We then descended rapidly, sometimes plunging down the ashes onour feet and sometimes gliding on our breech till we arrived at the placewhere we had descended from our mules, and this distance, which requiredone hour to ascend, cost us in its descent not more than seven minutes. 

We then walked to the hermitage in about an hour and a quarter, and arrivedthere with no other accident than having our shoes and stockings totallyspoiled, our feet a little singed, the hands of Mr. R. D. Severely burnedand both begrimed with ashes like blacksmiths. The ecclesiastic gave us abreakfast of coffee and eggs and a glass of Maraschino, and we gave him two_scudi_ each. Before we departed he presented to us his Album, which heusually does to all travellers, inviting them to write something. I took upthe pen and feeling a little inspiration wrote the following lines:

 Anch'io salito son sul gran Vesuvio, Mentre cadsa di cineri un diluvio; Questo cammin mi piace d'aver fatto, Ma plù mi piace il ritornare intatto. 

which pleased the old man very much to see a foreigner write Italian verse. I pleased him still more by letting him know that I was an enthusiasticadmirer and humble cultivator of the Tuscan Muse, and that having read andstudied most of their poets, particularly _il divino Ariosto_, I now andthen caught a _scintilletta_ from his verse. We now took a cordial farewellof our worthy old host, mounted our mules and descended the mountain. Onarrival at Portici we dismissed our guide Salvatore with a _scudo pourboire_, besides the stipulated price. Salvatore asked me to give him awritten certificate of his services, which he generally sollicits from allthose whom he conducts to the Volcano. I asked him for his certificatebook, and begged to know whether he would have it in prose or verse. Helaughed and said: _Vostra Excellenza è padrone_. I took out my pencil andwrote the following quatrain:

 Dal monte ignivomo tornati siam stanchissimi, E del buon Salvator siam tutti contentissimi; Felice il pellogrin che a Salvator si fida, Che di lui non si può trovare un miglior guida. 

I never saw any body so delighted as Salvatore appeared when I read to himwhat I had written in his book. 

I have another observation to make before I take leave of this celebratedmountain, which is, that the liquid lava which it ejects is far moredangerous and destructive than the eruption of stones and ashes; the lavaflows from the flanks of the mountain in a liquid stream. Sometimes therewill be an eruption and no lava flowing: at other tunes the lava flows fromthe flanks of the mountain, without any eruption from the crater; at othertimes, and then it is most alarming, the eruption takes place accompaniedby the flowing of the lava. All this demonstrates that the volcano is theeffect of the efforts of the subterraneous fire to get some vent and escapefrom its confinement. This time I did not observe any lava flowing, excepta slight vein of it on the spot where Mr R. D. Fell down and burned hishands; but it is easy to observe on the side of the mountain the course androute taken at different times by the lava, which has become hardened andis very plainly to be distinguished, as it resembles a _river_ (if I mayuse the word) of slate meandering between the green sward of the mountainand descending toward the sea. You can plainly distinguish the course anddirection of the lava which destroyed part of Torre del Greco and swept itinto the sea. 

At Portici, having washed ourselves at the inn from head to foot in orderto get rid of our blacksmith's appearance, and having purchased a new pairof shoes and stockings each, we visited the Royal Palace and Museum with aview principally of examining the objects of art and valuables discoveredin Pompeii. The Royal Palace is called _la Favorita_, its architecture isbeautiful; the garden or rather lawn which is ornamented by statues andenriched by orange groves extends to the sea. The first thing that presentsitself to the view of the visitor at the Museum of Portici are the twoequestrian statues of Marcus Balbus proconsul and procurator and of hisson, which statues were found in Herculaneum. I forgot to mention thatthere is an inscription with that name on the side of the proscenium of thetheatre easily legible by the light of _flambeaux_. 

To return to the Museum at Portici, we were then shewn into a roomcontaining curious _morceaux_ of antiquity discovered at Pompeii: a tripodin bronze and various other articles of the same metal; tables, variouslamps in bronze, resembling exactly those used in Hindostan, wooden pens, dice, grains of corn quite black and scorched, a skeleton of a woman withthe ashes incrusted round it (the form of her breast is seen on the crustof ashes; golden armlets were found on her which were shewn to us), steelmirrors, combs, utensils for culinary purposes, such as _casseroles_, frying pans, spoons, forks, pestles and mortars, instruments of sacrifice, weights and measures, coins, a _carcan_ or _stock_, &c. 

In the upper rooms are to be seen the paintings and _fresques_ found in thesame place. The paintings are poor things, and in their landscapes theRomans seem to have had little more idea of perspective than the Chinese;but the _fresques_ are beautiful: the female figures belonging thereto aredelineated with the utmost grace and delicacy. They consist of subjectschiefly from the mythology. I noticed the following in particular, viz. , Chiron teaching the young Achilles to draw the bow; the discovery ofOrestes; Theseus and the Minotaur (he has just slain the Minotaur and a boyis in the act of kissing his hand as if to thank him for his deliverance;the Minotaur is here represented as a monster with the body of a man andthe head of a bull); a Centaur carrying off a nymph; a car drawn by aparrot and driven by a cricket: a woman offering to another little Lovesfor sale (she is pulling out the little Cupids from a basket and holdingthem by their wings as if they were fowls); a beautiful female figureseated on a monster something like the Chimaera of the ancients and holdinga cup before the monster's mouth (emblematical of Hope nourishing aChimaera). The arabesques taken from Pompeii and preserved here are verybeautiful. Here also are two statues found in Pompeii: the one representinga drunken Faun, the other a sitting Mercury. We met two Polish ladies here, who were amusing themselves in copying the _fresques_. We returned toNaples at five o'clock, and dined at the _Villa di Napoli_. In the eveningwe went to the _Teatro de' Fiorentini_. The piece performed was Pamela or_La virtû premiata, _ which I understand is quite a stock piece in Italy. Itis written by Goldoni. It was very badly performed; the actors were notperfect in their parts, and the prompter's voice was as loud as usual. Thecostume was appropriate enough, which is far from being always the case atthis theatre. 

NAPLES, 13 Octr. 

We started on the 12th at six o'clock in the morning (Mr R----- D. Andmyself) in a _calèche_ in order to visit Puzzuoli, Baii and all theclassical ground in that direction. We of course passed through the grottoof Pausilippo. This grotto is thirty feet high and about five hundred feetlong. In fact, it is a vast rock undermined and a high road running thro'it, the breadth of which is sufficient for three carriages to go abreast. From its great length it is of course exceeding dark; in order therefore toobviate this inconvenience lamps constantly lighted are suspended from theroof and on the sides of the grotto, and holes pierced towards the top toadmit a little daylight. The road pierced thro' this rock and called thegrotto of Pausilippo abridges the journey to Puzzuoli very considerably, asotherwise you would be obliged to go round by Cape Margelina, which wouldincrease the distance ten miles. On issuing from the grotto on the otherside, you arrive in a few minutes on the seashore, on the bay formedbetween Cape Margelina and Puzzuoli. We stopped at the lake Agnano which isstrongly impregnated with sulfur. On the banks of this lake are the_Thermae_ or vapour baths, and here is also the famous _Grotto del Cane_, the pestilential vapour arising from which rises about three inches fromthe ground and has the appearance of a spider's web. An unfortunate dogperforms the miracle of the resurrection to all those who visit thisnatural curiosity; and we also were curious to see its effect. The guardianof the Thermes seized the poor animal and held his nose close to the placefrom whence the vapour exhales. The dog was seized with strong convulsionsand in two minutes he was perfectly senseless and to all appearance dead;but on being placed in the open air, he soon recovers. The poor beast shewsevident repugnance to the experiment, and I wonder he does not endeavor tomake his escape, for he has sometimes to perform this feat four or fivetimes a day. I should suppose that he will not be very long lived, for therepeated doses of this mephitic vapour must surely accelerate hisdissolution. The heat of the _Thermae_ and steam of the sulphur is almostinsupportable; but it has a most beneficial effect on maladies of thenerves and cutaneous complaints. 

We then proceeded on our journey to Puzzuoli, the ancient Puteoli, whereare the remains of the famous mole (or bridge as others call it) ofCaligula, intended to embrace or unite the two extremes of the bay of Baiaeformed on one side by Puzzuoli and on the other by cape Misenus. Wealighted to take a _déjeuner à la fourchette_ at Puzzuoli, and then went tovisit the temple of Jupiter Serapis, which is a vast edifice and tho' inruins very imposing. On wandering thro' the enceinte of this famous temple, I thought of Apollonius of Tyana and his sudden appearance to his friendDamis at the porch of this very temple, when he escaped from the fangs ofDomitian and when it was believed that, by means of magic art, he had beenable at once to transport himself from the Praetorium at Rome to Puteoli. As I said before, the bay included by cape Misenus and Puzzuoli is what iscalled Baiae. The land is low and marshy from Puzzuoli to a little beyondthe lake Avernus; but from Monte Nuovo it begins to rise and form highcliffs nearly all way to Cape Misenus. It was on these high cliffs that theopulent Romans built their villas and they must have been as much crowdedtogether as the villas at Ramsgate and Broadstairs. We embarked in a boatat Puzzuoli to cross over to Baiae (i. E. , the place where the villasbegin), but we stopped on our way thither at a landing place nearly in thecentre of the bay in order to visit the lake Avernus and the Cave of theCumaean Sybil, described by Virgil, as the entrance into the realm ofPluto. The lake Avernus, in spite of its being invested by the poets withall that is terrible in the mythology as a river of Hell, looks very likeany other lake, and tho' it is impregnated with sulphur, and emits a mostunpleasant smell, birds do not drop down dead on flying over it asformerly. The ground about it is marshy and unwholesome. The silence andmelancholy appearance of this lake and its environing groves of wood arenot calculated to inspire exhilarating ideas. Full of classic souvenirs wewent to descend into the Cave of the Sybil, and as we descended I could notrefrain from repeating aloud Virgil's lines:

 _Di quibus imperium est animarum umbrasque silentes_, [98] etc. 

This descent really is fitted to give one an idea of the descent to theshades below, and what added to the illusion was that when we arrived atthe bottom of the descent and just at the entrance of the cave where theSybil held her oracles, we discovered four fierce looking fellows withlighted torches in their hands standing at the entrance. My friend criedout _Voilà les Furies_, and these proved to be our boatmen who, while wewere contemplating the _bolge d'Averno_, had run on before to providetorches to shew us the interior of the grotto of the Sybil. As this grottois nearly knee-deep filled with water we got on the backs of the boatmen toenter it. It is about twenty-five feet long, fifteen broad and the heightabout thirteen feet. As we were neither devoured by Cerberus nor hustled byold Charon into his boat, we returned from the _Shades below_ to the lightof heaven, triumphant like Ulysses or Aeneas, considering ourselves nowamong the _Pauci quos aequus amavit Jupiter_. [99]

Acheron, the dreadful Acheron, is not far from Avernus and is likewise alake, tho' call'd a river in the mythology. It is also sulfuric and theground about it is woody, low, marshy and consequently aguish. 

We next ascended the cliffs of Baiae and we were shown the remains of thevillas of Cicero, Caesar, Sylla and other great names. We then went to thebaths of Nero (so called). Here it is the fashion to descend under groundin order to feel the effect of the sulfuric heat, which is intense, and myfriend who descended soon returned dripping with perspiration and callingout: _Qui n'a pas vu cela n'a rien vu!_ but I did not chuse to descend, asI could feel no pleasure in being half stifled and the _grotto del Cane_had already given me a full idea of the force of the vapour of the_Thermes_. 

We then descended from the cliffs of Baiae on the other side, and visitedthe remains of three celebrated temples of antiquity situated on the beachnearly and very close to each other, viz. , the temples of Diana, of Venusand of Mercury; all striking objects and majestic, tho' in a state ofdilapidation. Each of these temples has cupolas. We then ascended the slopeof ground leading towards cape Misensus, to visit the _Cento Camarelle_ and_Piscina mirabile_, both vast edifices under ground, serving as cellars orappendages to a Palace that stood on this spot. We then visited the lakecalled the _Mare Morto_ or Styx; and then went round to the other side ofit, to visit those beautiful _coteaux_ planted in vines and their summitscrowned with groves which have obtained the name of the Elysian fields. This Styx and these Elysian fields look like any other lake and _coteaux_and are entirely indebted to the lyre of Maro for their celebrity. 

From thence we went to the extremity of cape Misenus and embarked in ourboat (which we had sent on there to wait for us) to return to Puzzuoli bycrossing the bay at once. In this bay and near cape Misenus a Roman fleetwas usually stationed and Pliny's uncle, I believe, commanded one there atthe time of the first eruption of Vesuvius which cost him his life. 

There is a singular phenomenon in this bay of a mountain that in one of thelater eruptions and earthquakes was formed in twenty-four hours near theseashore and was named _Monte Nuovo. _

The small salt water lake called _Lacus Lucrinus_ is also on this bay. Itappears to me to be an artificial lake, made probably by the opulent Romanswho resided at Baiae to hold their mullets and other sea fish which theywished to fatten. 

Near Puzzuoli likewise is the famous _Solfaterra, _ the bed of an ancientvolcano. It is well worth examining. It has been long since extinguished, but you meet with vast beds of sulphur and calcined stones, and the smellis at times almost insupportable. We returned to Naples by half-past seveno'clock, not a little tired but highly gratified by our excursion. 

NAPLES, 14th Oct. 

At the _Teatro Nuovo_ I have seen another Italian tragedy performed. Thepiece was _Tito Manlio Torquato_, taken from the well known anecdote in theRoman history. The scenery, decorations and _costume_ were good andappropriate, not so the acting; for the actors as usual were imperfect intheir parts. I fully agree with Alfieri that Italy must be united and enjoya free popular government before one can expect to see tragedies wellperformed. It is very diverting to see the puppet shows at Naples and tohear the witticisms and various artifices of the showman of Pulcinello tosecure payment in advance from his audience, who would otherwise go awaywithout paying as soon as the performance was over. 

This performance is much attended by the _lazzaroni_ and _fainéans_ of thelower orders of Naples and the puppet showman is obliged to have recourseto various stratagems and ingenious sallies to induce a handsomecontribution to be made. Sometimes he will say with a very grave face (thecurtain being drawn up and no Pulcinello appearing) that he is very sorrythere can be no performance this day; for that poor Signor Pulcinello issick and has no money to pay the Doctor: but that if a _quête_ be made forhim, he will get himself cured and make his appearance as usual. All thewhile that one of the showmen goes about collecting the _grani_, the otherholds a dialogue with Pulcinello (still invisible). Pulcinello groans andis very miserable. At length the collection is made. Pulcinello takesmedicine, says he is well again, makes his appearance and begins. Atanother time the audience is informed that there can be no performance asPulcinello is arrested for debt and put in prison, where he must remainunless a subscription of money be made for him to pay his debts and takehim out of gaol. Then follows an absurd dialogue between Pulcinello(supposed to answer from the prison) and the showman. The showman scoldshim for being a spendthrift and leading a profligate life, calls him a_briccone_, a _birbante_, and Pulcinello only groans out in reply, _Poverome, Povero Pulcinello, che disgrazia! sventurato di me! di non averdenari!_ These strokes of wit never fail to bring in many a _grano_. 

At another time the curtain is drawn up and discovers a gibbet andPulcinello standing on a ladder affixed to it with a rope round his neck. The showman with the utmost gravity and assumed melancholy informs theaudience that a most serious calamity is about to happen to Naples: thatSignor Pulcinello is condemned to be hanged for a robbery, and that unlesshe can procure _molti denari_ to bribe the officers of justice to let himescape, he will inevitably be hanged and the people will never more beholdtheir unhappy friend Pulcinello. The showman now implores the commiserationof the audience, and now reproaches Pulcinello with his profligacy andnefarious pranks which have brought him to an untimely end. Pulcinellosobs, cries, promises to reform and to attend mass regularly in future. What Neapolitan heart can resist such an appeal? The _grani_ are collected. Pulcinello gives money to the puppet representing the executioner; downgoes the gibbet, and Pulcinello is himself again. 

I shall return in a day or two to Rome, having seen nearly all that Naplesaffords. I have now full liberty to die when I chuse according to theproverb: _Veder Napoli e poí morire_. 

Naples certainly is, taking it all in all, the most interesting city inEurope, for it unites every thing that is conducive to the _agrémens_ oflife. A beautiful city, a noble bay, a vast commerce, provisions of thebest sort, abundant and cheap, a pleasant society, a delicious climate, music, Operas, _Balli, _ Libraries, Museums of Painting and Sculpture; inits neighbourhood two subterraneous cities, a volcano in full play, andevery spot of ground conveying the most interesting _souvenirs_ andimmortalized in prose and verse. Add thereto the vapour baths of sulphurfor stringing anew the nerves of those debilitated by a too ardent pursuitof pleasure, and the Fountain of St Lucia for those suffering from aredundancy of bile. Now tell me of any other residence which can equalthis? Adieu. 

ROME, 22nd Octr. 

Nothing material occurred on my return from Naples to Rome; but on the 2dday after my arrival I made an excursion to Tivoli, which is about eighteenmiles distant from Rome. I passed the night at the only inn at Tivoli. Thenext morning I walked to the _Villa d'Este_ in this neighbourhood, which isa vast edifice with extensive grounds. Here on a terrace in front of thevilla are models in marble of all the principal edifices and monuments, ancient and modern, of Rome, very ingeniously executed. From the _Villad'Este_ is a noble view of the whole plain of Latium and of the "EternalCity. "

From hence I walked about two miles further to visit the greatest antiquityand curiosity of the place, which is the Villa or rather the ruins of thecelebrated Villa built by Adrian, which must have been of immense size fromthe vast space of ground it occupies. It was intended to unite everythingthat the magnificent ideas of a Prince could devise who wished to combineevery sort of recreation, sensual as well as intellectual, within theprecincts of his Palace; columns, friezes, capitals, entablatures andvarious other spoils of rich architecture cover the ground in profusion:many of the walls and archways are entire and almost an entire cupolaremains standing. Besides the buildings above ground, here are cellarsunder ground intended as quarters for the guards and capable of holdingthree thousand men, as well as stabling for horses. In the inclosure of andforming part of this Villa, which covers a circumference of seven miles, were a gymnasium, baths, temples, a school of philosophers, tanks, atheatre, &c. The greatest part of these buildings are choaked up andcovered with earth, since it is by excavation alone that what does appearwas brought to light. It was by excavation that a man discovered a largehall wherein he found the nine beautiful statues of the Muses, which nowadorn the Museum of the Vatican; and no doubt if the Roman government wouldrecommence the excavations many more valuables might be found. Hadrian'svilla has already furnished many a statue, column and pilaster to theMuseums, churches and Palaces of Rome. 

I was much more gratified in beholding the remains of this Villa than invisiting Tivoli and I remained here several hours. At four o'clock in theafternoon I started on my return to Rome; it was imprudent not to havestarted sooner, as it is always dangerous to be outside the walls of Romeafter dark, in consequence of the brigands who infest the environs andsometimes come close to the walls of the city. 

I reached my hotel in Rome at nine o'clock, one hour and half after dark, but had the good fortune to meet nobody. The Roman peasantry generally goarmed and those who feed cattle in the fields of the Campagna or have anylabour to perform there never sleep there on account of the _mal'aria. _

[93] Horace, _Epist. , _ II, 1, 156. --ED. 

[94] Horace, Sat. , i, 5, 26. --ED. 

[95] A _carlino_ is of the value of half a franc or five pence English. The accounts in Naples are kept in _ducati_, _carlini_ and _grani_. Ten _carlini_ make a ducat and ten _grani_ (a copper coin) make a carlino. A grano is a _sou_ French in value. The _ducato_ is an imaginary coin. The _soudo Napoletano_, a handsome silver coin of the size of an _écu de six francs_, is equal to twelve carlini. 

[96] Not one of these vases was found at Pompeii. --ED. 

[97] Horace, _Carm_. , II, 1, 7. --ED. 

[98] Virgil, _Aen_. , VI, 264. --ED. 

[99] Virgil, _Aen_. , VI, 129. --ED. 

CHAPTER XII

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1816

From Rome to Florence--Sismondi the historian--Reminiscences ofIndia--Lucca--Princess Elisa Baciocchi--Pisa--The Campo Santo--Leghorn--Hebrews in Leghorn--Lord Dillon--The story of a lost glove--From Florenceto Lausanne by Milan, Turin and across Mont Cenis--Lombardy in winter--TheHospice of Mont Cenis. 

FLORENCE, Novr. 20th. 

I bade adieu to Rome on the 28th October and returned here by the same roadI went, viz. , by Radicofani and Sienna. I arrived here after a journey ofsix days, having been detained one day at Aquapendente on account of theswelling of the waters. The day after my arrival here I despatched a letterto Pescia to Mr Sismondi de' Sismondi, the celebrated author of the historyof the Italian Republics, to inform him of my intended visit to him, and Iforwarded to him at the same time two letters of introduction, one fromColonel Wardle and the other from Mr Piton, banker at Geneva, who mentionedme in his letter to Sismondi as having _des idées parfaitement analoguesaux siennes_. I received a most friendly answer inviting me to come toPescia and to pass a few days with him at his villa. Pescia is thirty milesdistant from Florence and the same from Leghorn. I was delighted with theopportunity of seeing a man whom I esteemed so much as an author and as acitizen, and of visiting at the same time the different cities of Tuscany, particularly Lucca and Pisa. I accordingly hired a cabriolet and on themorning of the 6th Novr drove to Prato, a good-sized handsome town, solidlybuilt, ten miles distant from Florence. The country on each side of theroad appears highly cultivated, and the road is lined with villas and farmhouses with gardens nearly the whole way. Changing horses at Prato, Iproceeded ten miles further to Pistoia, a large elegant and well-built townon the banks of the Ombrone. 

The streets in Pistoia are broad and well paved and the _Palazzo pubblico_is a striking building; so is the _Seminario_ or College. Here I changedhorses again and proceeded to Pescia, where I alighted at the villa of M. Sismondi. The distance between Pistoia and Pescia is about ten or elevenmiles. 

Pescia is a beautiful little town, very clean and solidly built, lying in avalley surrounded nearly on all sides by mountains. Its situation isextremely romantic and picturesque, and there are several handsome villason the slopes and summits of these mountains. On market days Pescia iscrowded with the country people who flock hither from all parts, and one isastonished to see such a number of beautiful and well dressed countrygirls. Industry and comfort are prevalent here, as is the case indeed allover Tuscany; I mean agricultural industry, for commerce is just now at astand. 

I passed three most delightful days and which will live for ever in myrecollection, with Mr Sismondi, in whom I found an inexhaustible fund oftalent and information, combined with such an unassuming simplicity ofcharacter and manner that he appeared to me by far the most agreeablelitterary man that I ever met with. His mother, who is a lady of greattalent and perfectly conversant in English litterature, resides with him. His sister also is settled at Pescia, being married to a Tuscan gentlemanof the name of Forti. The sister has a full share of the talents andamiable qualities of her mother and brother. With a family of suchresources as this, you may suppose our conversation did not flag for amoment, nor do I recollect in the course of my whole life having passedsuch a pleasant time; and I only wished that the three days could beprolonged to three years. Politics, the occurrences of the day, livingcharacters, classical reminiscences, French, English, Italian and Germanlitterature, afforded us an inexhaustible variety of topics forconversation: and the profound local knowledge that Mr Sismondi possessesof Italy, of its history and antiquities, renders his communications of theutmost value to the traveller. Our supper was prolonged to a late hour andI question if the suppers and conversations of Scipio and Atticus, those_nodes caenaeque Deum_[100] were more piquant or afforded more variety thanours. Shakespeare, Schiller, Voltaire, Ariosto, Dante, Filangieri, MichelAngelo, Washington, Napoleon, all furnished anecdotes and reflexions inabundance. 

The last evening that I passed here, two families of Pescia came in. One ofthe gentlemen was a great reader of voyages and travels, and India suddenlybecame the subject of discourse. As I had passed six years in that country, during which time I had visited the three Presidencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, having ascended the Ganges as far as Benares, having visitedthe Mysore country and Nizam's territory, having sojourned three weeksamong the splendid and magnificent ruins of Bijanagur or Bisnagar, havingtravelled thro' the whole of the Deccan from Pondicherry to cape Comorin, besides having traversed on horseback the whole circumference of Ceylon andacross the whole island from East to West by the Wanny, I was enabled tofurnish them with many an anecdote from the Eastern world, which to themwas a great treat, and I dare say at times my narration appeared almost asmarvellous as a story in the Arabian Nights, particularly when I relatedthe various religious ceremonies, the grim Idol of Juggernaut, the swingingto _recover cast_, the exposure of old people to the holy death in theGanges by stopping up their nose, mouth and ears with mud, and placing themon the water's edge at low tide in order that they should be swept off atthe high water; the holy city of Benares; the magnificent remains ofBisnagar; the splendid Pagodas of Ramisseram; the policy of the Bramins;the appalling voluntary penances of the _Joguis_ or _Fakirs_ as theEuropeans call them; the bed of spikes; the arm held up in the air forfifteen years; the tiger hunt; the method of catching the elephant inCeylon; the pearl fishery; Sepoy establishment; in short I must haveappeared to them a Ulysses or a Sindbad, and I dare say that they thought Iadded from time to time a little embellishment from my imagination, tho' Ican safely and solemnly aver that I did not extenuate nor exaggerate anything, but simply related what I had myself seen and witnessed. 

Mr Sismondi is under a sort of banishment from his native country Geneva inconsequence of the side of the question he took in his writings on thereturn of the Emperor Napoleon from Elba. It was indeed natural for therestored government (the Bourbons) to desire the removal from France of aman of talent who had exposed their past and might scrutinize their futureconduct and wilful faults; but why the Government of Geneva should espousetheir quarrel and visit one of their most estimable citizens withbanishment for opinions not at all connected with nor influential uponGeneva, appears to me not only absurd and anomalous, but unjust in thehighest degree. But such is the state of degradation to which Europe isreduced by the triumph of the old _régime_; and the Swiss Governments arecompelled to become the instruments of the vengeance of the coalition. ButI shall dwell no more on this subject at present. Let us hope that in ashort time a more liberal spirit will arise, and the Genevese will be eagerto recall in triumph the illustrious citizen of whom they have so muchreason to be proud. 

We spent our mornings, Mr Sismondi and I, in promenades towards the moststriking points of the country immediately environing Pescia, and as I hadat this time some idea of coming to settle in Tuscany, he was so kind as toconduct me to look at several villas that were to let; and I inspectedthree very beautiful ones well furnished and each capable of holding alarge family, that were to be let for 18, 20, and 24 _louis d'or_ perannum. 

Wine and every article of life is of prodigious cheapness here, and theinhabitants are so respectable, and there is such an absence of all crime, that Pescia must be a very desirable and economical residence for anyforeign family possessing a sufficient knowledge of Italian to mix with thesociety of the natives. There are several ancient and noble families in theneighbourhood, highly respectable in point of moral character and manners, but rather in _décadence_ in point of fortune. 

It was with the greatest regret that I bade adieu to the amiable Sismondi, his mother and sister; but I hope for a time only, as I have some idea ofremoving my domicile from Lausanne to this part of the world. 

I started at 10 o'clock a. M. On the 11th of November and after two hours'journey in a cabriolet arrived at Lucca, a distance of ten miles, and putup at the _Hôtel del Pelicano. _ The road runs thro' a highly cultivatedcountry. 

Lucca is a large fortified city, situated hi a beautifully luxuriant plainor basin surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains of various slopes, contours and heights, and abounding in villas, vineyards, mulberry andolive plantations. Every spot of ground is in cultivation and the industryof the inhabitants of Lucca is proverbial. Indeed the whole territory ofthis little _ci-devant_ Republic is a perfect paradise. 

The city itself, from the massiveness and solidity of the edifices, hasmore of a solemn than a lively appearance; but there is a delightful walkon the ramparts which are lined with trees. The streets are well paved. Theextreme antiquity of the city and style of its edifices make it appear less_riani_ than the other cities in Tuscany. The Cathedral is Gothic and thereare in it the statues of the four Evangelists. This and the _PalazzoPubblico_ are the most conspicuous edifices. Tho' the Republic isannihilated, the word _Libertas_ still remains on an escutcheon on thegates of the city. Lucca, tho' no longer a Republic and enclavée inTuscany, is for the present an independent state and belongs to an Infantaof Spain (formerly Princess of Parma) who takes the title of Duchess ofLucca. It is generally supposed however that on the demise of Maria Louisa, ex-Empress of the French and now Duchess of Parma, this family, viz. , theDuchess of Lucca and her son will resume their ancient possessions in theParmesan, and that Lucca will then be incorporated with Tuscany. 

Before the fall of Napoleon the Princess Elisa Baciocchi his sister wassovereign of Lucca, and she it was who has embellished the outside of thecity with some beautiful promenades. She devoted her whole time, talentsand resources to the good of her subjects and is highly esteemed and muchregretted by them. The present Duchess of Lucca has no other character butthat which seems common to the Royal families of France, Spain and Naples;viz. , of being very weak and priest-ridden. Lucca furnishes excellentfemale servants who are remarkable for their industry and probity. Theironly solace is their lover or _amoroso_, as they term him; and when theyenter into the service of any family, they always stipulate for one day inthe week on which they must have liberty to visit their _amoroso_, or the_amoroso_ must be allowed to come to the house to visit them. This is anancient custom among them and has no pernicious consequences, nor does itinterfere with their other good qualities. At the back of Lucca is animmense mountain which stands between it and Pisa, and intercepts thereciprocal view of the two cities which are only ten miles distant fromeach other. This mountain and its peculiarity is the very one mentioned byDante in his _Inferno_ in the _episode_ of Ugolino:

 _Cacciando il lupo e i lupicini_ AL MONTE, PER CHE i Pisan veder Lucca NON ponno. [101]

I started from Lucca in a cabriolet and in two hours arrived at Pisa, putting up at the _Tre Donzelle_ on the Quai of the Arno. Between Lucca andPisa are the _Bagni di Lucca_, a favorite resort for the purpose of bathingand drinking the mineral waters. 

Pisa is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in Italy. The extremeelegance and comfort of the houses, the spacious Quai on the Arno whichfurnishes a most agreeable promenade, the splendid style of architecture ofthe _Palazzi_ and public buildings, the cleanliness of the streets, thesalubrity of the climate, the mildness of the winter, the profusion andcheapness of all the necessaries of life, and above all the amenity andsimplicity of the inhabitants, combine to make Pisa an agreeable andfavorite residence. Yet the population having much decreased there appearsan air of melancholy stillness about the city and grass may be seen in someof the streets. This decay in population causes lodgings to be very cheap. 

The most striking object in Pisa is the leaning tower _(Torre cadente)_ andafter that the Cathedral, Baptistery, and _Campo Santo_ which are all closeto the tower and to each other. Imagine two fine Gothic Churches in asquare or place like Lincoln's Inn Fields; a large oblong building nearlyat right angles with the churches and inclosing a green grass plot in itsquadrangle and a leaning tower of cylindrical form facing the churches: andthen you will have a complete idea of this part of Pisa. 

I must not omit to mention that there is a breed of camels here belongingto the Grand Duke; I believe it is the only part of Europe except Turkeywhere the breed of camels is attempted to be propagated. 

LEGHORN, 17 Novr. 

I left Pisa for Leghorn on the morning of the 15th November, and after adrive of two hours in a cabriolet I arrived at the latter place and put upat the _Aquila Nera. _ The distance between Pisa and Leghorn is only 10 or11 miles and a plain with few trees, either planted in corn or inpasturage, forms the landscape between the two cities. 

Leghorn (Livorno), being a modern city, does not offer anything remarkablyinteresting to the classical traveller either from its locality or itshistory. Founded under the auspices of the Medici it has risen rapidly tograndeur and opulence, and has eclipsed Genoa in commerce. It is aremarkably handsome city, the streets being all broad and at right angles;the _Piazze_ are large and the _Piazza Grande_ in particular ismagnificent. There is a fine broad street leading from the _Piazza Grande_to the Port. The Port and Mole are striking objects and considerablecommercial bustle prevails there. 

Among the few things worthy of particular notice is the Jewish Synagogue, decorated with costly lamps and inscriptions in gold in the Hebrew andSpanish languages, many of which allude to the hospitality and protectionafforded to the Hebrew nation by the Sovereigns of Tuscany. There are agreat number of Hebrew families here: they all speak Spanish, being thedescendants of those unfortunate Jews who were expelled from Spain at thetime of the expulsion of the Moors in the reign of Don Felipe III surnamed_el Discreto_, who was determined not to suffer either a Jew, Mahometan orheretic in all his dominions. This barbarous decree was the ruin anddestruction of a number of industrious families, thousands of whom died ofdespair at being exiled from their native land. In return for this what hasSpain gained? The Inquisition--despotism in its worst form--poverty--rags--lice--an overbearing insolent and sanguinary priesthood of whom themonarch is either the puppet or the slave; a degraded nobility; a halfsavage, grossly ignorant, lazy and brutal people. A proper judgment on theSpanish nation for its cruelty and fanaticism! My guide at Leghornconducted me to see the burying ground belonging to the English factory, which is interesting enough from the variety of tombs, monuments andinscriptions. Here all Protestants, to whatever nation they belong, areburied. I noticed Smollett's tomb. It is on the whole an interesting spot, tho' not quite so much so as the cemetery of Père La Chaise at Paris. 

I returned to Florence from Leghorn _tout d'une traite_ in the diligence. We stopped at Fornacetti (half way) to dine. There is a good _table d'Hôte(ordinario)_ there. 

FLORENCE, 22nd Novr. 

I have become acquainted with Lord Dillon[102] and his family, who areresiding here and from whom I have received much civility. I met at hishouse the Marchese Giuliani, one of the adherents of King Joachim, a veryamiable and clever man who speaks English fluently. Lord Dillon is a man ofmuch reading and information and his conversation is at all times a greattreat. His lady too is very amiable and accomplished. I went one day with afriend of mine to a _pique-nique_ party at the Cascino, where a laughableadventure occurred perfectly in the stile of the _novelle_ of Boccacio. Asit is not the custom in Florence that husbands and wives should go togetherto places of public amusement, the lady is generally accompanied by her_cavalier servente:_ but it by no means follows that the _cavalierservente_ is the favored lover: one is often adopted as a cover to anotherwho enjoys the peculiar favors of the lady. A gentleman who arrived at thehall where the supper table was laid out, somewhat earlier than the rest ofthe company and before the chamber was lighted, observed a gentleman andlady ascend the staircase, turn aside by a corridor and enter a chambertogether. It was dark and he could not distinguish their persons. He waitedfifteen or twenty minutes and observed them leave the chamber together, pass along the corridor and disappear. He had the curiosity to go into thechamber they had just left and found on the bed a lady's glove. He took upthe glove and put it in his pocket, determined that this incident shouldafford him some amusement at supper and the company also by putting somefair one to the blush. Accordingly, when the supper was nearly over, heheld up the glove and asked with a loud voice if any lady had lost a glove;when his own wife who was sitting at the same table at some distance fromhim called out with the utmost _sangfroid: E il mio! dammelo: l'ho lasciatocadere. _ You may conceive what a laugh there was against him, for he hadrelated the circumstances of his finding it to several of the companybefore they sat down to supper. This reminded me of an anecdote mentionedby Brantôme as having occurred at Milan in his time, a glove being in thiscase also the cause of the _désagrément_. A married lady had been muchcourted by a Spanish Cavalier of the name of Leon: one day, thinking he hadmade sure of her, he followed her into her bedroom, but met with a severeand decided repulse and was compelled to leave her _re infectà_. In hisconfusion he left one of his gloves on the bed which remained thereunperceived by the lady. The husband of the lady arrived shortly afterwardsand as he was aware of the attentions of the Spaniard to his wife and hadnoticed his going into the house, he went directly to his wife's chamber, where the first thing that captivated his attention was a man's militaryglove on the bed. He, however, said nothing, but from that moment abstainedfrom all conjugal duty. The lady finding herself thus neglected by ahusband who had been formerly tender and attentive, was at a loss to knowthe reason, and determined to come to an _éclaircissement_ with him in asdelicate a manner as she could. She therefore took a slip of paper, wrotethe following lines thereon and placed it on his table:

 _Vigna era, vigna son; Era podada, or più non son; E non sò per qual cagion Non mi poda il mio patron. _[103]

The husband, on reading these lines, wrote the following in answer:

 _Vigna eri, vigna sei; Eri podada, e più non sei; Per la gran fa del Leon Non ti poda il tuo patron. _

The lady on reading these lines perceived at once the cause of herhusband's estrangement and succeeded in explaining the mattersatisfactorily to him, which was facilitated by the ingenuous declarationof Leon himself that he had tried to succeed but had been repulsed. Thehusband and wife being perfectly reconciled lived happily and no doubt thevine was cultivated as usual. 

I left Florence the 27th November, and arrived at Turin 5th December. In anevil hour I engaged myself to accompany an old Swiss Baroness with whom Ibecame acquainted at the Hotel of Mine Hembert to accompany her to Turin. She had with her her son, a fine boy of thirteen years of age but very muchspoiled. We engaged a _vetturino_ to conduct us to Turin, stopping one dayat Milan. The Baroness did not speak Italian and generally sent for me tointerpret for her when any disputes occurred between her and the people atthe inns, and these disputes were tolerably frequent, as she always gavethe servants wherever she stopped a good deal of trouble and on departinggenerally forgot to give them the _buona grazia. _ I sometimes paid them forher myself in order to avoid noise and tumult; at other times we departedunder vollies of abuse and imprecations such as _brutta vecchia, maladettacarogna, _ and so forth. The Baroness had strong aristocratic prejudices andwas a bitter enemy of the French Revolution to which she attributedcollectively all the _désagrémens_ she had experienced during life and allthe inconveniences she met with during our present journey. The negligenceand impertinence of the servants in Italy were invariably attributed by herto the revolutionary principle and she told me that the servants in hernative canton Bern were the best in the world, but that even in them theFrench Revolution had made a great deal of difference and that they werenot so submissive as they used to be. As she sent for me to be her dragomanin all her disputes on the road, you may conceive how glad I was to arriveat Turin to be rid of her. She put me in mind of Gabrina in the _OrlandoFurioso. _ We stopped one day at Milan but we were very near being detainedtwo or three days at Fiacenza owing to an informality in the Baroness'spassport, which had not been visé by the Austrian Legation at Florence. Invain she pleaded that she was told at the inn at Florence that such _visa_was not necessary; the police officer at the Austrian _Douane_, at a shortdistance beyond Piacenza, was inexorable and refused to _viser_ herpassport to allow her to proceed. She was in a sad dilemma and it wasthought we should be obliged to remain at Piacenza. I however recommendedher to be guided by me and not to talk with or scold anybody, and that Iwould ensure her arrival at Milan without difficulty, for I had observedthat her scolding the officer at the _Douane_ only served to make him moreobstinate. I recommended her therefore that when we should arrive withinsixty or seventy paces of the gate at Milan, she should get out of thecarriage with her son and walk thro' the gate on foot with the utmostunconcern as if she belonged to the town and was returning from apromenade; and that while they stopped us who were in the carriage toexamine our passports, she should walk direct to the inn where we were tolodge, then write to the Consul of her nation to explain the business. Shefollowed my advice and passed unobserved and unmolested into Milan. On thepreceding evening at Castel-puster-lengo at supper I asked whether shethought the rigour of the Austrian government was also the offspring of theFrench Revolution. The Baroness had brought up her son in all thesefeelings and particularly in a determined hatred of the Canton de Vaud; forin the evening when we arrived at the inn and were sitting round the fire, he would shake the burning faggots about and say: _Voilà la ville deLausanne en cendres!_ If he grows up with these ideas and acts upon them, he stands a good chance of being shot in a duel by some Vaudois. It is apity to see a child so spoiled, for he was a very fine boy, tho' veryviolent in his temper which probably he inherited from his mother. Somebodyat the _pension Surpe_ at Milan who knew her told me that the Baroness wasof an aristocratic family and had married a rich _bourgeois_ of Bern whomshe treated rather too much _de haut en bas;_ in short that it was amarriage quite _à la George Dandin_, till the poor man took it into hishead to die one day. At Turin we parted company, she for Genoa and I forLausanne. 

_From Turin to Lausanne_. 

I felt the cold very sensibly in the journey from Florence to Milan andTurin. There is not a colder country in Europe than Lombardy in the winter. The vicinity of the Alps contributes much to this; and the houses beingexceedingly large and having no stoves it is quite impossible that thefireplaces can give heat sufficient to warm the rooms. I started from Turinon the morning of the 9th December in the French diligence bound to Lyon, but taking my place only as far as Chambéry. In the diligence were aPiedmontese Colonel who had served under Napoleon, and a young Scotchman, arelation of Lord Minto. The latter was fond of excursions in ice and snowand on our arrival at Suza he proposed to me to start from there two orthree hours before the diligence and to ascend Mont Cenis on foot as far asthe _Hospice_ and I was mad enough to accede to the proposal, for itcertainly was little less than madness in a person of my chilly habits andsusceptibility of cold and who had passed several years within the tropicsto scale the Alps on foot in the middle of December and to walk 24 miles insnow and ice at one o'clock in the morning, which was the hour at which westarted. I was well clad in flannel and I went thro' the journey valiantlyand in high spirits and without suffering much from the cold till withinfive miles of the Hospice, when a heavy snow storm came on; it then beganto look a little ugly and but for Napoleon's grand _chaussès_ we were lost. We struggled on three miles further in the snow before we fell in with a_maison de refuge_. We knocked there and nobody answered. We thendetermined _coûte que coûte_ to push on to the _Hospice_ which we knewcould not be more than two miles distant; indeed it was much more advisableso to do than to run the risk of being frozen by remaining two or threehours in the cold air till the diligence should come up. In standing stillI began to feel the cold bitterly; so in spite of the snow storm, we pushedon and arrived at the inn at Mont-Cenis at five in the morning. We rubbedour hands and faces well with snow and took care not to approach the firefor several minutes, fortifying ourselves in the interim with a glass ofbrandy. We then had some coffee made and laid ourselves down to sleep bythe side of an enormous fire until the diligence arrived, which made itsappearance at eight o'clock. The passengers stopped to breakfast and theScotchman proposed to me to make the descent of Lans-le-Bourg also on foot;but I was quite satisfied with the prowess I had already exhibited anddeclined the challenge. He however set off alone and thus performed theentire passage of Mont Cenis on foot. As for the rest of us we were carrieddown on a _traineau_; that is to say the diligence was unloaded and itswheels taken off; the baggage and wheels were put on one _traineau_ and thediligence with the passengers in it on another, and in this manner wedescended to Lans-le-Bourg. Nothing remarkable occurred on this journey andwe arrived at Chambéry in good case. I hired a _calèche_ to go to Geneva, remained there three days and arrived at Lausanne on the 18th December. 

[100] Horace, _Sat_. , II, 6, 65. --ED. 

[101] Dante, _Inferno_, I, 33, 29. --ED. 

[102] Henry Augustus, thirteenth Viscount Dillon (1777-1832), married (1807) to Henrietta Browne (died 1862). --ED. 

[103] Quoted from memory, with mistakes. The text has been corrected as it stands in Brantôme, _Les Dames galantes_, ed. Chasles, vol. I, p. 351. --ED. 

AFTERWATERLOO

PART III. 

CHAPTER XIII

MARCH-SEPTEMBER, 1817

Journey from Lausanne to Clermont-Ferrand--A wretched conveyance--Thefirst dish of frogs--Society in Clermont-Ferrand--General deVergeunes--Cleansing the town--Return to Lausanne--A zealouspriest--Journey to Bern and back to Lausanne--Avenches--Lake Morat--LakeNeufchatel--The Diet in Bern--Character of the Bernois--A beautifulMilanese lady. 

I started from Lausanne on the 4th March 1817, and arrived on the same dayat 4 o'clock at Geneva. On my arrival at Geneva, my banker informed me thatI had been denounced to the police, for some political opinions I hadspoken at the _Hôtel de l'Ecu de Genéve_, previous to my journey intoItaly, and that I had been traced as far as Turin. I went directly onhearing this to the police, and desired to know who my accusers were, andthat the accusation against me might be investigated immediately. Boththese propositions were however declined, and I was told it was an _affairepasseé_, and of no sort of consequence; so that from that day to this Ihave never been able to ascertain who my friends were. 

I left Lausanne with the intention of paying a visit to my friend Col. Wardle and his family at Clermont-Ferrand, in the Department of the Puy deDôme, in Auvergne, where they are residing. I staid three days at Geneva, and then set off at 7 in the evening on the 8th March with the Courier forLyons. 

I never regretted any thing so much, and was near paying severely for myrashness in putting myself into such a wretched conveyance, at such aseason of the year; but I had made the agreement with the Courier withoutinspecting his carriage, and was obliged to adhere to the bargain. It was avehicle entirely open before; it was a bitter cold, rainy, snowy night; andI had the rain and snow in my face the whole way, and on crossing theCerdon I was seized with a violent ague fit, and suffered so much from itthat on arrival at a village beyond Nantua where we stopped for supper, Idetermined to proceed no further, but to rest there that night; and I askedthe innkeeper if he could furnish me with a bed for the night. He howevermade so many objections and seemed so unwilling that I should remain, thatI was obliged to make up my mind to proceed. I allayed the _frissonnement_by a large glass of brandy and water, made fiery hot. At eight o'clock nextmorning I arrived at Lyons, more dead than alive. A warm bath, however, remaining in bed the whole day, buried in blankets, abstaining from allfood, a few grains of calomel at night and copious libations of rice gruelthe next day restored me completely to health; and after a _séjour_ of fourdays at Lyons, I was enabled to proceed on my journey to Clermont on the14th March. We arrived at Roanne in the evening and I stopped there thewhole night. 

Between Lyons and Roanne is the mountain of Tarare where the road is cutright athwart the mountain and is consequently terribly steep; indeed it isthe steepest ascent for a carriage I ever beheld. All the passengers wereobliged to _bundle out_ and ascend on foot; and even then it is a mostarduous _montée_ for such a cumbrous machine as a French diligence. 

The country between Lyons and Roanne appears diversified; but this is notthe season for enjoying the beauties of nature. Roanne consists of oneimmensely long street, but it is broad, and contains excellently builthouses and shops. There is a theatre also and baths. It is situated on theLoire which I now salute for the first time. 

The following morning at nine o'clock a _patache_ (a sort of two wheeledcarriage) was in waiting to convey me the remainder of my journey; and Iarrived at night at a large village or town called Thiers. Halfway betweenRoanne and Thiers, on stopping at a small village to dine, I observed adish of frogs at the kitchen fire at the inn; and as it was the first timeI had observed them as an article of food in France, I was desirous totaste them. They were dressed in a _fricassée_ of white sauce, and I foundthem excellent. The legs only are used. They would be delicious as a curry. The next morning we continued our journey; and crossing the river Allier attwelve o'clock, arrived at Clermont-Ferrand at 2 p. M. , and dined with Col. Wardle. Clermont and Ferrand are two towns within a mile and half distantfrom each other and this Clermont is generally called Clermont-Ferrand todistinguish it from other towns of the same name. 

CLERMONT, March 26th. 

I have taken lodgings for a month, and board with a French family for 90franks per month. On the road hither the immense mountain called the Puy deDôme is discernible at a great distance; it is said to have been a volcano. 

Clermont is a very ancient city and has an air of dullness; but the _Place_and promenades round the town are excellent. It is the capital of thisdepartment (Puy de Dôme). There is a terrible custom here of emptying the_aguas mayores y menores_ (as the Spaniards term those secretions) into thesmall streets that lie at the back of the houses. The consequence is thatthey are clogged up with filth and there is always a most abominablestench. One must be careful how one walks thro' these streets at night, from the liability of being saluted by a golden shower. The lower classesof the Auvergnats have the reputation of being dirty, slovenly and idle. 

Here is a church built by the English in the time of Edward III, when theBlack Prince commanded in this country; and it was in a chapel in thiscity, the remains of which still exist, that Peter the Hermit preached thefirst crusade. These are almost the only things worthy of remark in thetown itself, except that there is a good deal of commerce carried on, manufactures of crockery, cloth and silk stockings. But in the naturalcuriosities of the environs of Clermont there is a great deal to interestthe botanist and mineralogist and above all there is a remarkablepetrifying well, very near the town, where by leaving pieces of wood, shell-fish and other articles exposed to the dropping of the water, theybecome petrified in a short time. This water has the same effect on deadanimals and rapidly converts them into stone. I have myself seen a smallbasket filled with plovers' eggs become in eight days a perfectpetrifaction. 

CLERMONT, April 2d. 

I am arrived here at rather a dull season: the Carnaval is just over andall the young ladies are taking to their _Livres d'Heures_ to atone for anylevity or indiscretion they may have been guilty of during the hey day ofthe Carnaval. The Wardle family have a very pleasant acquaintance here, chiefly among the _libéraux_, or moderate royalists, but there are somemost inveterate _Ultras_ in this city, who keep aloof from any person ofliberal principles, as they would of a person infected with the plague. Thenoblesse of Auvergne have the reputation of being in general ignorant anddespotic. There is but little _agrément_ or instruction to be derived fromtheir society, for they have not the ideas of the age. In general thenobles of Auvergne, tho' great sticklers for feudality and for theirprivileges, and tho' they disliked the Revolution, had the good sense notto emigrate. 

There is a Swiss regiment of two battalions quartered here. It bears thename of its Colonel, De Salis. As there are a number of officers of the oldarmy here, on half pay, about three hundred in number, it is said, frequentdisputes occur between them and the Swiss officers. The Swiss are lookedupon by the people at large as the satellites of despotism and not withoutreason. It is, I think, degrading for any country to have foreign troops inpay in time of peace. Several attempts have been made in the Chamber ofDeputies to obtain their removal or _licencíement_, but without success. Asit is supposed that the song of the _Ranz des Vaches_ affects thesensibility of the Swiss very much, and makes them long to return to theirnative mountains, a wag has recommended to all the young ladies in Francewho are musicians to play and sing the _Ranz des Vaches_ with all theirmight, in order to induce the Swiss to betake themselves to their nativecountry. 

There has been a great deal of denunciation going forward here; but theGeneral de V----[104] who commands the troops in Clermont, determined toput a stop to it. He had the good sense to see that such a system, ifencouraged, would be destructive of all society, prejudicial to theGovernment, and vexatious to himself; as he would be thereby keptcontinually in hot water. Accordingly, on a delator presenting himself andaccusing another of not being well affected to the present order of things, and of having spoken disrespectfully of the King, M. De V---- said to him:"I have no doubt, Sir, that your denunciation proceeds from pure motives, and I give you full credit for your zeal and attachment to the royal cause;but I cannot take any steps against the person whom you accuse, unless youare willing to give me leave to publish your name and consent to beconfronted with him, so that I may examine fairly the state of the case, and render justice to both parties. " The accuser declined acceding to thisproposition. The General desired him to withdraw, and shortly afterintimated publicly that he would listen to no denunciation, unless thedenouncer gave up his name and consented to be confronted with the accused. The consequence of this intimation was that all denunciations ceased. Thelate Prefect however was not so prudent, and chose rather to encouragedelation; but mark the consequence! He arrested several persons wrongfully, was obliged to release them afterwards, was in continual hot water and itended by the Government being obliged to displace him. To avoid the meritedvengeance of many individuals whom he had ill-treated, he was obliged, ongiving up his prefecture, to make a precipitate retreat from Clermont. Thedelators attempted the same system with the new Prefect and Col. Wardle, having invited some of the Swiss officers to a ball, to which were likewiseinvited people of all opinions, an information was lodged against him, purporting that he wanted to corrupt the Swiss officers from theirallegiance. The Prefect sent the letter to Col. Wardle and said that it hadnot made the slightest impression on his mind, and that he treated it as amalicious report. The new Prefect adopted the same system as the Generaland tranquillity is since perfectly restored. 

Things have been taking a better turn since the dissolution of the _Chambreintrouvable_. Decazes, the present minister, is an able man, and if he isnot _contrarié_ by the _Libéraux_, he will keep the fanatical _Ultras_ ingood order. The Bishop of Clermont is a liberal man also, and as it seemsthe wish of the present public functionaries here to conciliate, it is tobe hoped that their example will not be lost on the _bons vieuxgentilshommes_ of Auvergne. 

I find an inexhaustible fund of entertainment from the conversation of M. C----. He has so many interesting anecdotes to relate respecting the FrenchRevolution. With regard to his present occupations, which are directedtowards rural economy, he tells me that he has succeeded in a plan ofcleansing the town from its Augean filth, and making it very profitable tohimself; and that he calculates to obtain a revenue thereby of twentythousand franks annually. He has, in short, undertaken to be the grand_scavenger_ of the town, and the Government, in addition to a salary of2, 500 francs per annum, which they give him for his trouble, give to himthe exclusive privilege of removing all the dung he can collect in theprecincts of the city, and of converting it to his own advantage. He beganby fitting up a large enclosure, walled on each side, and in which hedeposits all the filth he can collect in the stables, yards and streets ofClermont. He sends his carts round the town every morning to get themloaded. All their contents are brought to this repository, and shot outthere. Straw is then placed over this dung, and then earth or soilcollected from gullies and ravines, and this arranged _stratum superstratum_, till it forms an immense compact cake of rich compost; and whenit has filled one of the yards and has completed a thickness of five feet, he sells it to the farmers, who send their carts to carry it off. He hasdivided this enclosure or repository into three or four compartments. Thecompost therefore is prepared, and ready to be carried off in one yard, while the others are filling. In this he has rendered a great benefit tothe public, for the Auvergnats are incurable in their custom of emptyingtheir _pots de chambre_ out of the windows; so that the streets everymorning are in a terrible state: but thanks to the industry of C---- hiscars go round to collect the precious material, and all is cleared away bytwelve o'clock. He collects bones too, and offal to add to the compost. Heconducted me to see his premises; but the odour was too strong. .. . 

I returned to Lausanne by the same route, leaving Clermont on the 6thApril, staying four days at Lyons and as many at Geneva. Young Wardleaccompanied me. We met with no other adventure on the road than having ayoung Catholic priest, fresh from the seminary, for our travellingcompanion, from Thiers to Roanne. This young man wished to convert Wardleand myself to Catholicism. 

Among many arguments that he made use of was that most silly one, which hasbeen so often sported by the Catholic theologians, viz. : that it is muchsafer to be a Catholic than a Protestant, inasmuch as the Catholics do notallow that any person can be saved out of the pale of their church, whereasthe Protestants do allow that a Catholic may be saved. I answered him thatthis very argument made more against Catholicism than any other, and thatthis intolerant spirit would ever prevent me (even had such an idea enteredinto my head) of embracing such a religion. I then told him that, once forall, I did not wish to enter into any theological disputes; that I hadfully made up my mind on these subjects; and that I would rather take theopinion of a Voltaire or a Franklin on these matters than all the opinionsof all the theologians and churchmen that ever sat in council from theCouncil of Nicsea to the present day. This silenced him effectually. Suchis the absurd line of conduct pursued by the Catholic priests of thepresent day in France. Instead of reforming the discipline and dogmas oftheir church and adapting it to the enlightened ideas of the present age, they are sedulously employd in preaching intolerant doctrines, and revivingabsurd legends, and pretended miracles, which have been long ago consignedto contempt and oblivion by all rational Catholics; and by this they hopeto re-establish the ecclesiastical power in its former glory andpreponderance. Vain hope! By the American and French Revolutions a greatlight is gone up to the _Gentiles_. Catholicism is on its last legs, andthey might as soon attempt to replace our old friend and schoolacquaintance Jupiter on the throne of heaven, as to re-establish the Papalpower in its pristine splendour; to borrow the language of the _Pilgrim'sProgress_, the Giant _Pope_ will be soon as dead as the Giant _Pagan_. 

On arrival at Lyons we put up at the _Hôtel du Parc_, where I found cheaperand better entertainment than at the _Hôtel du Nord_. 

My friend young Wardle has fallen in love with a very beautiful _cafetière_at Lyons', and spends a great part of his time in the _café_, at which thisnymph administers, and looks at her, _sighs, looks and sighs again_. It isnot probable however that he will succeed in his suit, for she has beencourted by very many others and no one has succeeded. She remains constantto her _good man_, and the breath of calumny has never ventured to assailher. I met one day at Lyons with my old friend W----s of Strassburg, whowas a Lieutenant in the 25th Regiment in the French service and served inthe battle of Waterloo. [105] He is now here and being on _demi-solde_, employs himself in a mercantile house here as principal commis. He dinedwith us and we passed a most pleasant day together. 

I arrived on the 20th April at Lausanne. 

 * * * * *

After remaining some weeks, at Lausanne on my return from Clermont, Idetermind on making a pedestrian trip as far as Bern and Neufchatelprevious to returning into Italy, which it is my intention to do inSeptember. I sent on my portmanteau accordingly to Payerne near Avenches, intending to pay a visit and pass three days with my friend, the Revd. Mr. J[omini], [106] the rector of the parish there, from whom I had received apressing invitation. I was acquainted at Lausanne with his daughter, MmeC----, and was much pleased in her society. She had great talent ofconversation, and I never in my life met with a lady possessed of so muchhistorical knowledge. I started on the 27th June from Lausanne, passed thefirst night at Mondon and the next afternoon arrived at Avenches, the_Aventicum_ of the ancient Romans. Payerne is only a mile distant fromAvenches, and I was received with the utmost cordiality by the worthypastor and his daughter. The scenery on the road to Avenches is very likethe scenery in all the rest of the Canton de Vaud, viz. , alternate mountainand valley, lofty trees, and every spot capable of cultivation bearing somekind of produce; corn just ready for the sickle and fruit such as cherriesand strawberries in full bloom. Avenches has an air of great antiquity andlooks very gloomy withal, which forms a striking contrast to the neat, wellbuilt towns and villages of this Canton on the banks of the lake Lemanwhere everything appears so stirring and cheerful. Avenches, on thecontrary, is very dull, and there is little society. 

At Mr. J[omini] there were, besides his daughter, his son and his son'swife. All the _ministres_ (for such is the word in use to designateProtestant clergymen and you would give great offence were you to call them_prêtres_) have a fixed salary of 100£ sterling per annum, with a house andground attached to the cure; so that by farming a little they can maintainthen? families creditably. M. Jomini lost his wife some time ago, and stillremains a widower. 

I left Payerne on the fifth of July and walked to the _campagne_ of M. DeT[reytorre]us, [107] situated on the banks of the lake Morat. It is a verypretty country house, spacious and roomy, and I was received with theutmost cordiality by M. De T[reytorrens] and his amiable family. He is avery opulent proprietor in this part of the country, and has spent part ofhis life in England. He is a dignified looking man, a little too muchperhaps of the old school and no friend to the innovations and changesarising from the French Revolution. Having lived much among the Torynobility of England, he has imbibed their ideas and views of things. Hisson is now employed in one of the public offices in London. His wife andthree daughters, one of whom is married to a _ministre_, dwell with him. With this family I passed three days in the most agreeable manner. I findthe style and manner of living of the _noblesse_ (or country gentlemen, aswe should style them) of Switzerland very comfortable, in every sense ofthe word. I wish my friends the French would take more to a country life, it would essentially benefit the nation. The way of living in M. DeT[reytorre]us family is as follows. A breakfast of coffee and bread andbutter is served up to each person separately in their own room, or in the_Salle à manger_, Before dinner every one follows his own avocation oramusement. At one, the family assemble to dinner which generally consist ofsoup, _bouilli, entrées_ of fish, flesh and fowl, _entremets_ ofvegetables, a _rôti_ of butcher's meat, fowl or game, pastry and desert. The wine of the country is drunk at dinner as a table wine, and _old_ winesof the country or wines of foreign growth are handed round to each guestduring the desert. After dinner coffee and liqueurs are served. After anhour's conversation or repose, promenades are proposed which occupy thetime till dusk. Music, cards or reading plays fill up the rest of theevening, till supper is announced at nine o'clock, which is generally assubstantial as the dinner. 

On taking leave of Mr. De T[reytorre]ns' family I walked to the banks ofthe lake Neufchâtel, having a stout fellow with me to carry my _sac-denuit_. On arrival at the lake I crossed over in a boat to Neufchâtel, whichlies on the other side. I remained there the whole of the day. It is a verypretty neat little city, in a romantic position. Its government is acomplete anomaly. Neufchâtel forms a component part of the Helveticconfederacy, and yet the inhabitants are vassals of the King of Prussia, and the aristocracy are proud of this badge of servitude. The King ofPrussia however does not at all interfere with its internal government, andhis supremacy is in no other respects useful to him than in giving him aslight revenue. French is the language spoken in the canton. There is amarked distinction of rank all over Switzerland, except in Geneva, Vaud andthe small democratic cantons such as Zug and Schwytz, where it is merelynominal. In short, tranquillity is the order of the day. Each rank respectsthe privileges of the other and the peasant, however rich, is not at alldisposed to vary from his usual mode of life or to ape the noble; andhence, tho' sumptuary laws are no longer in force, they continue sovirtually and the peasantry in all the German cantons adhere strictly tothe national costume. 

BERN, 14 July. 

I put myself in the diligence that plies between Neufchatel and Bern atnine p. M. , on the 12 July, and the following morning put up at the _CrownInn_ in the city of Bern, in the _Pays Allemand_, whereas the Frenchcantons are termed the _Pays Romand_. Bern is a remarkably elegant city asmuch so as any in Italy, and much cleaner withal. The streets are broad, and in most of them are _trottoirs_ under arcades. There are a great numberof book-sellers here, and the best editions of the German authors are to beprocured very cheap. Bern is situated on an eminence forming almost anisland as it were in the middle of the river Aar; steep ravines are on allsides of it; and there is a bridge over the Aar to keep up thecommunication; and as the borders of the island, on which the city stands, are very steep, a zig-zag road, winding along the ravines, brings you tothe city gates. These gates are very superb. On each side of the gates aretwo enormous white stone bears, the emblems of the tutelary genius of thiscity. The houses are very lofty and solidly built. The promenades in theenvirons of Bern are the finest I have seen anywhere, and the groundsallotted to this purpose are very tastefully laid out. These promenades arepaved with gravel and cut thro' the forests, that lie on the _coteaux_ andravines on the other side of the Aar. There are several neat villas in theneighbourhood of these promenades, and there are _cafés_ and _restaurants_for those who chuse to refresh themselves. Such is the beauty of thesewalks, that one feels inclined to pass the whole day among them. They arelaid out in such variety, and are so multiplied, that you often lose yourway; you are sure however to be brought up by a _point de vue_ at one orother of the angles of the zig-zag; and this serves as a guide _pour vousorienter_, as the French say. Another favorite promenade is a garden, inthe town itself, that environs the whole city from which and from thesuperb terrace of the Cathedral you have a magnificent view of the glaciersthat tower above the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunn. The immense forests thatare in the neighbourhood of Bern form a striking contrast with thecornfields in the vallies and on the _coteaw. _ There are but few vineyardsin the neighbourhood of Bern. 

BERN, 16 July. 

The Diet is held this year in Bern and it is now sitting. I have met withthe two Deputies of the Canton de Vaud, MM. P----- and M-----. I am glad tohear from them that the animosity existing between the two cantons of Bernand Vaud is beginning to subside. M. P------ has made a most able andconciliating speech at the Diet. Still there is a good deal of jealousyrankling in the breast of the Bern _noblesse_ and the _avulsumimperium_ isa very sore subject with them. I recollect once at Lausanne meeting with ayoung man of one of the principal families of Bern, who had been hi theEnglish service. The conversation happened to turn on the emancipation ofthe Canton de Vaud from the domination of Bern, when the young man becameperfectly furious and insisted that the Vaudois had no right whatever totheir liberty, for that the Canton of Bern had purchased the province ofVaud from the Dukes of Savoy. _"En un mot" (said he), "ils sont nosesclaves, nos ilotes et ils sont aussi clairement notre propriété que lesnègres de la Jamaïque le sont de leurs maîtres"_

A very harsh measure has lately been passed in the Diet, evidentlysuggested by the aristocracy of Bern, which tended to fine and punish thoseSwiss officers who remained in Prance to serve under Napoleon after hisreturn from Elba, and who did not obey the order of the Diet which recalledthem. A very able objection has been made to this measure in a _brochure, _wherein it is stated that many of these officers had no means of livingout of France and that, on a former occasion, when a number of Swissofficers were serving the English Government and were employed in Americain the war against the United States in 1812 and 1818, the Diet, then underNapoleon's influence, issued a decree recalling them and commanding them toquit the English service forthwith. This they refused to do and continuedto serve. No notice whatever was taken of this act of disobedience, whenthey returned to their native country on being disbanded in 1814, and theywere very favourably received. Why then, says the author of this pamphlet, is a similar act of disobedience to pass unnoticed in one instance and tobe so severely punished in another? Or do you wish to prove that yourvengeance is directed only against those who remained in France, to fightfor its liberties, when invaded by a foreign foe, while those who remainedin America to fight against the liberties and existence of the AmericanRepublic you have received with applause and congratulation? Is suchconduct worthy of Republicans? O, fie!

Such an argument is in my opinion convincing for all the world except foran English Tory, a French _Ultra_ or a Bern Oligarch. 

The Arsenal here is well worth seeing; here is a superb collection ofancient armour, much of which were the spoils of the Austrian andBurgundian chivalry, who fell in their attempts to crush Helvetic liberty. 

By way of shewing how fond the Bernois are of old institutions and customs, they have been at the trouble to catch three or four bears and keep them ina walled pit in the city, where they are well fed and taken care of. Thepopular superstition is that the bears entertained in this mannercontribute to the safety of the commonwealth; and this establishmentcontinued ever in full force, until the dissolution of the old Confederacytook place and the establishment in its place of the Helvetic Republicunder the influence of the French directorial government. The custom, then, appearing absurd and useless, was abolished, and the bears were sold. Butsince the peace of 1814 other bears have been caught and are nourishd, asthe former ones were, at the expence of the state. 

Bern derives its name from _Büren_, the German word for _Bears_ (pluralnumber). Only the French spell _Berne_, with an _e_ at the end of it. 

There are no theatrical amusements going forward here. Cards and now andthen a little music form the evening recreations. 

In the inn at Bern I became acquainted with a most delightful Milanese ladyand her son. Her name is L------; she is the widow of an opulent banker atMilan and has a large family of children. She was about thirty-eight yearsof age and is still a remarkably handsome woman. Time has made very littleimpression on her and she unites very pleasing manners with a great tastefor litterature. She is greatly proficient in the English language andlitterature, which she understands thoroughly, tho' she speaks it withdifficulty. She is an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare, Milton andByron. She had been to Zurich for her son, who was employed in a commercialhouse there, in order to take him back with her into Italy. She spokeFrench as well as Italian, and her son had a very good knowledge of German. She offered me a seat in her carriage, on the understanding that I wasgoing to Lausanne, where she intended to stop a day or two. An offer of thekind made by so elegant and fascinating a woman you may be assured I didnot scruple to accept, and I was in hopes of improving on this acquaintanceand renewing it at Milan. Indeed, did not business oblige me to remain someweeks at Lausanne, I should certainly offer my services to escort her allthe way to Milan. She had letters of introduction for Lausanne, and duringher stay there I acted as her _cicerone_, to point out the most interestingobjects and points of view, which the place affords. 

[104] Louis Charles Joseph Gravier, vicomte de Vergennes d'Alonné, was the son of the Comte de Vergennes, who was minister under the reign of Louisi XVI. Born at Constantinople in 1766, he took service at the early age of thirteen, was promoted captain in 1782 and colonel in 1788. Having emigrated in 1791, he served in Condé's army, then took service in England from 1795 to 1797. On the 3rd March, 1815, he re-entered the army as "maréchal de camp, " and, on the 2nd November of that same year, was promoted general commander of the department of Puy de Dôme. He retired on the 8th March, 1817, and seems to have been much regretted at Clermont. Died 1821. --ED. 

[105] Jean François Wlnkens, born at Aix-la-Chapelle In 1790, is mentioned in the records of the French War Office as having served in the 25th Regiment at Waterloo. His family may have belonged to Strassburg. --ED. 

[106] Pierre Jacques Jomini, Protestant minister at Avenches from 1808 to 1819. --ED. 

[107] The Treytorrens family, of old nobility and fame, now extinct, possessed a large estate at Guévaux, on the borders of the lake of Morat. --ED. 

CHAPTER XIV

SEPTEMBER 1817-APRIL 1818

Journey from Lausanne to Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples--Residence atNaples--The theatre of San Carlo--Rossini's operas--Gaming in Naples--The_Lazzaroni_--Public writers--Carbonarism--Return to Rome--Christmas eve atSanta Maria Maggiore--Mme Dionigi--Theatricals--Society in Rome--The papalgovernment--Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino--Louis Napoleon, ex-King ofHolland--Pope Pius VII--Thorwaldsen--Granet--The Holy Week in Rome--TheDuchess of Devonshire--From Rome to Florence by the Perugia road. 

I started from Lausanne with a party of two ladies in a Milanese _vettura_on the morning of the 20th September. We arrived at Milan on the 25th latein the evening. On passing the Simplon we met with three or four men whohad the appearance of soldiers, and asked for alms something in the styleof the old Spanish soldier who accosted Gil Blas on his first journey. Ourladies were a little alarmed. On travelling over the plains of Lombardy, one of these ladies, who had never before been out of her country(Switzerland) and was consequently accustomed to see the horizon bounded ata very short distance by immense mountains on all sides, was much alarmed, on arrival at the plain, at seeing no bounds to the horizon; she wasapprehensive of _falling down_ and _rolling over_. Her remark reminded meof one of the objections made to the project of Columbus's voyage indiscovery of a western passage to India; it was said that in consequence ofthe rotundity of the earth they would roll down and never be able to get upagain. The sensation experienced by my fellow traveller, however, may bewell accounted for and explained by any one who from a plain surfacesituated on a great height looks down without a railing or balcony. 

These ladies were quite delighted with the splendour and bustle of Milanand particularly when I took them to the _Scala_ theatre, where a verysplendid _Ballo_ was given, intitled _Sammi Ré d'Egitto_. The scenery anddecorations were magnificent, being taken from Denon's drawings of Egyptianviews, and the costume was exceedingly appropriate. My fellow travellerswere much struck at the appearance of the horses on the stage and thegrotesque dancing. The last scene was the most magnificent. It representedthe great Pyramids, on the angles of which stood a line of soldiers fromthe _base_ to the _apex_ holding lighted torches. The _coup d'oeil_ wasenchanting. I took the ladies to see my old friend Girolamo and in fine wastheir _cicerone_ every where. We remained only four days at Milan and thenproceeded to Florence, where we arrived on the 7th October. We employed sixdays for our journey and one day we halted at Bologna. After remaining fourdays at Florence and taking the Radicofani road we arrived at Rome the 18thOctober. 

At Rome I met my friend P. G. And his wife who were travelling towardsNaples and I likewise made two very pleasant acquaintances, the one aPortuguese, the other a Milanese. The Milanese is a cousin of theNeapolitan minister Di M------; and the Portuguese (M. De N------) had beenemployed by his Government in a diplomatic capacity at Vienna. At Rome Iengaged appartments from the 20th of December for three months and thenstarted for Naples, with the intention of passing two months there, andreturning to Rome, to be in time to witness the fete at Christmas Eve. AtVelletri I met with a Jamaica family, Mr and Mrs O------, with theirdaughter and daughter-in-law; and we were strongly advised to take anescort as far as _Torre tre ponti_, being obliged to start very early fromVelletri in order to reach Terracina before night-fall. Nothing howeveroccurred and we arrived at Terracina without accident. The rascallyinnkeeper there made Mr O------ pay forty franks for each miserable roomthat he occupied, and fifteen franks a head for his supper; he was veryinsolent with all. I was rejoiced to find that in one instance he failed inhis hopes of extortion. As he is obliged by law to furnish supper and bedsat a fixed price to those who travel with _vetturini_ and are _spesati_, he, whenever a _vetturino_ arrives locks up all his decent chambers andsays that they are engaged, in order to keep them for those travellers whomay arrive in their own carriages and whom he can fleece _ad libitum_. Afriend of mine and his lady, who were travelling in their own carriage, had, in order to avoid this extortion, engaged with a _vetturino_ toconduct them from Naples to Rome with _his horses_, but their own carriage, and, had stipulated to be _spesati_. Mine host of Terracina, seeing a smartcarriage drive up, ordered one of his best rooms to be got ready, usheredthem in himself and returnd in half an hour to ask what they would have forsupper; when to his great astonishment and mortification, they referred himfor the arrangement of the supper to the _vetturino_, saying that they were_spesati_. He then began to curse and swear, said that they should not havethat room, and wanted to turn them out of it forcibly; but my friend MajorG---- took up one of his pistols, which were lying on the table, and toldthe innkeeper that if he did not cease to molest them and instantly quitthe room, he would blow out his brains. This threat had the desired effect, and he withdrew. It appears that this fellow has in the end outwittedhimself, for most people now, who travel on this road in their owncarriage, chuse to travel with a _vetturino_ and his horses and are_spesati_, solely in order to avoid the extortion practised upon them. 

We arrived at Naples on the 29th October without accident. A _buona grazia_of a _scudo_ at the frontier obviated the delay which would otherwise haveoccurred in examining our baggage by the _douaniers_. I put up at No 1_Largo St Anna di Palazzo_, near the _Strada di Toledo_, at the house ofone Berlier, who had been a domestic of poor Murat's. The Austrian troopsbeing now withdrawn, the military cordon of sentinels from the frontier toNaples is kept up by the Neapolitan troops; but what a contrast between thevigilance of the Austrian sentinels, and the negligence of the Neapolitans!The last time I travelled on this road, I never failed, after dusk, to hearthe shout of _Wer da?_ of the Austrian sentries, long before I came up tothem, and I always found them alert. Now that the cordon was Neapolitan, Ialways found the sentries either asleep, or playing at cards with theircompanion (the sentries being double), both having left their arms at theplace where they were posted. At night I have no doubt they all fallasleep, so that three or four active _banditti_ might come and cut thethroats of the whole chain of sentries in detail. 

30th October, 1818. 

I have begun my course of water drinking at the fountain of Sta Lucia. Since I was here the last time, the theatre of St Carlo has been finishedand I went to visit it the second night after my arrival. It is a nobletheatre and of immense size, larger it is said than the _Scala_ at Milan, tho' it does not appear so. The profusion of ornament and gilding serves todiminish the appearance of its magnitude. It is probably now the mostmagnificent theatre in Europe. The performance was _Il Babiere di Siviglia_by Rossini, and afterwards a superb _Ballo_ taken closely from Coleman's_Blue-Beard_ and arranged as a _Ballo_ by Vestris. The only difference liesin the costume and the scenery; for here the _Barbe Bleue, _ instead ofbeing a Turkish Pacha, as in Coleman's piece, is a Chinese Mandarin, andthe decorations are all Chinese. A great deal of Scotch music is introducedin this _Ballo, _ and seems to give great satisfaction. At the littletheatre of San Carlino I witnessed the representation of Rossini's_Cenerentola, _ a most delightful piece. The young actress who did the partof Cenerentola acted it to perfection and sung so sweetly and correctly, that it would seem as if the _rôle_ were composed on purpose for her. Thepart of Don Magnifico was extremely well played, and those of the sistersvery fairly and appropriately. The three actresses who did the part ofCenerentola and her sisters, were all handsome, but she who did Cenerentolasurpassed them all; she was a perfect beauty and a grace. I think the musicof this opera would please the public taste in England. Rossini seems tohave banished every other musical composer from the stage. 

I have seen, at the Theatre of San Carlo, the _Don Giovanni_ of Mozart; butcertainly, after being accustomed to the extreme vivacity of Rossini'sstyle, the music, even of the divine Mozart, appears to go off heavily. There is too much of what the French call _musique de fanfares_ in theopera of _Don Giovanni_ and I believe most of the Italians are of my way ofthinking. 

We have just heard of the death of the poor Princess Charlotte. I am nogreat admirer of Kings and Queens; and yet I must own, I could not helpfeeling regret for the death of this princess. I had formed a very highopinion of her, from many traits in her character; and I fancied and hopedthat she was destined to redeem England from the degradation and bad odourinto which she had been plunged by the borough-mongers and bureaucrats, engendered by the Pitt system. She had liberal ideas and an independentspirit. I really almost caught myself shedding tears at this event, and hadshe been buried here, I should have gone to scatter flowers upon her tomb:

 His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani Munere. [108]

Has no royalist or ministerial poet been found to do hommage to her_manes_? Had she lived to be Queen of England she would have found athousand venal pens to give her every virtue under heaven. 

There is a professor of natural philosophy now at Naples, of the name ofAmici, from Modena, who has invented a microscope of immense power. Thecirculation of the blood in the thigh of a frog (the coldest animal innature), when viewed thro' this microscope, appears to take place with therapidity of a Swiss torrent. 

Since I have been here, I have once more ascended Vesuvius; there was noeruption at all this time, but I witnessed the sight of a stream of red-hotliquid lava flowing slowly down the flank of the mountain. It was about twoand a half feet broad. 

In my letters from Naples, the last time I was there, I gave you some ideaof the state of society. Among the upper classes gaming is reduced to ascience and is almost exclusively the order of the day. There is little orno taste for litterature among any part of the native society. The upperclasses are sensualists; the middling ignorant and superstitious. Withregard to the _Lazzaroni_, I do not think that they at all deserve the illname that has been given to them. They always seem good humoured andwilling to work, when employment is given to them; and they do not appearat all disposed to disturb the public peace, which, from their being sonumerous and formidable a body, they could easily do. The Neapolitandialect has a far greater affinity to the Spanish than to the Tuscan, andthere are likewise, a great many Greek words in it. When one takes intoconsideration the extreme ignorance that prevails among the Neapolitans ingeneral, one is astonished that such a prodigy of genius as Filangiericould have sprung up among them. What talent, application, deep researchand judgment were united in that illustrious man! And yet there are manyNeapolitans of rank who have never heard of him. Would you believe that onmy asking one of the principal booksellers in Naples for Filangieri's workon legislation (an immortal work which has called forth the admiration andeulogy of the greatest geniuses of the age, of which Benjamin Franklin andSir Wm Jones spoke in the most unqualified terms of approbation; a workwhich has been translated into all the languages of Europe), I was told bythe bookseller that he had never heard either of the author or of his work. 

A very curious thing at Naples is the number of public writers; who composeletters and memorials in booths, fitted up in the streets. As the greatmajority of the people are so ignorant as to be unable to read or write, itfollows that when they receive letters, they must find somebody to readthem for them and to write the answers required. They accordingly, on thereceipt of a letter, bring it to one of these public scribes, ask him toread it for them and to write an answer, for which trouble he receives afixed pay. These writers are thus let into the secrets of family affairs ofmore than half of the city; and as some-of them are in the pay of theGovernment for communicating intelligence, you may guess how formidablethey may become to liberty and how dangerous an engine in the hands of adespotic Government. 

It appears that the theatre of San Carlo is principally kept up by gaming;that is to say, the managers and proprietors would not undertake thedirection of it without the Gaming Bank being annexed to it; for otherwisethey would lose money, the expence of the Opera on account of themagnificent decorations of the Ballets being very great, which the receiptsof the theatre are insufficient to meet; but the profits of the Casinocover all and amply reimburse the proprietors. 

With regard to political opinions here there is a great stagnation. Itcosts the Neapolitans too much trouble to think and reflect. M-----, theprincipal minister, is however no favourite; neither is N-----, who hasquitted the Austrian service, and is nominated Captain-General of theNeapolitan army. [109]

There is a great talk about the increase of Carbonarism. You will probablyask me what Carbonarism means. I am not initiated in the secret of theCarbonari; but as far as I can understand, this sect or secret society hasits mysteries like modern Free-masonry or like the Orphics of old, andseveral progressive degrees of initiation are required. Its secret objectis said to be the emancipation of Italy from a foreign despotism and theforming of a government purely national. This is the reason why this sectis regarded with as much jealousy by the different governments of Italy asthe early Christians used to be by the Pagan Emperors. Great proofs ofcourage, constancy and self denial are required from the initiated; andvery many fail, or do not rise beyond the lower degrees of initiation, forit is very difficult for an Italian to withstand sensuality. But theleaders of this sect are perfectly in the right to require such proofs, forno man is fit to be trusted with any political design whatever, who has notobtained the greatest mastery over his passions. The word _Carbonari_, Ineed not tell you, means _Coalmen_; the Italian history presents manyexamples of secret societies taking their appellation from some mechanicalprofession. 

I have now been nearly two months in Naples, and the _zampogne_ orbag-pipes, which play about the streets at night, announce the speedyapproach of Christmas, so that I shall soon take my departure for Rome. 

 * * * * *

I left Naples on the 18th of December and arrived at Rome on the 22d. I amsettled in my old lodgings, No. 29 _Piazza di Spagna_. Nothing worthmentioning occurred during the journey. 

The fete, of the birth of Christ held at Santa Maria Maggiore on theevening of the 24th December is of the most splendid description, andattended by an immense crowd of women. Guns are fired on the moment thatthe birth of the Saviour is announced, and this event occurs precisely atmidnight. The Romans seem to rejoice as much at the anniversary of thisevent, as if it happened for the first time, and as if immediate temporaladvantage were to be derived from it. 

I have mixed a good deal in society in Rome since my return from Naples. Among other acquaintance I must particularly distinguish Mme Dionigi, avery celebrated lady, possessing universality of talent. [110] She is wellknown all over Italy, for the extent of her litterary attainments, but moreparticularly for her proficiency in the fine arts, above all in painting, of which she is an adept. She also possesses the most amiable qualities ofthe heart, and is universally beloved and respected for the worth of herprivate character, and for her generous disposition. She has all thevivacity of intellect belonging to youth, tho' now nearly eighty-six yearsof age, [111] and of a very delicate physical constitution; in short sheaffords, and I often tell her so, the most striking proof of theimmortality of the soul. There is a _conversazione_ at her house twice aweek, where you meet with foreign as well as Italian _litterati_, andpersons of distinction of all nations, tongues and languages. Her eldestdaughter, Mme D'Orfei, is an excellent _improvisatrice_, and has frequentlygiven us very favourable specimens of the inspiration which breathes itselfin her soul. I have likewise witnessed the talent of two very extraordinary_improvisatori_, the one a young girl of eighteen years of age, by nameRosa Taddei. She is the daughter of the proprietor of the _Teatro dellaValle_ at Rome, and sometimes performs herself in dramatic pieces; yet, strange to say, tho' she is an admirable _improvisatrice_ and possesses athorough classic and historical knowledge, she is but an indifferentactress. 

It is a great shame that her father obliges her to act on the stage in veryinferior parts, when she ought only to exhibit on the tripod. I assisted atan _Accademia_ given by her one evening at the _Teatro della Valle_, whenshe improvised on the following subjects, which were proposed by variousmembers of the audience: 1st, _La morte d'Egeo_; 2dy, _La Madre Ebrea_;3rd, _Coriolano alle mura di Roma_; 4th, _Ugolino_; 5th, _Saffo e Faone_;6th, in the Carnaval with the following _intercalario: "Maschera ticonosco, tieni la benda al cor_!" which _intercalario_ compels a rhyme in_osco_, a most difficult one. The _Madre Ebrea_ and _Coriolano_ were givenin _ottava rima_ with a _rima obbligata_ for each stanza. The _Morted'Egeo_ was given in _terza rima_. Her versification appeared to beexcellent, nor could I detect the absence or superabundance, of a singlesyllable. She requires the aid of music, chuses the melody; the audiencepropose the subject, and _rima obbligata_, and the _intercalario_, where itis required. In her gestures, particularly before she begins to recite, shereminded me of the description given of the priestess of. Delphi. She walksalong the stage for four or five minutes in silent meditation on thesubject proposed, then suddenly stops, calls to the musicians to play acertain symphony and then begins as if inspired. Among the different rhimesin _osco_, a gentleman who sat next to me proposed to her _Cimosco_. Iasked him what _Cimosco_ he meant; he replied a Tuscan poet of that name. For my part, I had never heard of any other of that name than the King_Cimosco_ in the _Orlando Furioso_, who makes use of fire-arms; and RosaTaddei was, it appears, of my opinion, since this was the _Cimosco_ shechose to characterise; and she made thereby a very neat and happycomparison between the gun of Cimosco and the arrow of Cupid. This talentof the _improvisatori_ is certainly wonderful, and one for which there isno accounting. It appears peculiar to the Italian nation alone among themoderns, but probably was in vogue among the ancient Greeks also. It iscertain that Rosa Taddei gives as fine thoughts as are to be met with inmost poets, and I am very much tempted to incline to Forsyth's opinion thatHomer himself was neither more nor less than an _improvisatore_, the Greeklanguage affording nearly as many poetic licences as the Italian, and thefaculty of heaping epithet on epithet being common in both languages. 

The other genius in this wonderful art is Signer Sgricci. He is so farsuperior to Rosa Taddei in being five or six years older, in being a verygood Latinist and hi _improvising_ whole tragedies on any subject, chosenby the audience. When the subject is chosen, he develops his plan, fixeshis _dramatis personae_ and then strikes off in _versi sciolti_. He attimes introduces a chorus with lyric poetry. I was present one evening atan _Accademia_ given by him in the Palazzo Chigi. The subject chosen was_Sophonisba_ and it was wonderful the manner in which he varied his plotfrom that of every other dramatic author on the same subject. He _acted_the drama, as well as composed it, and pourtrayed the different characterswith the happiest effect. The ardent passion and impetuosity of Massinissa, the studied calm philosophy and stoicism of Scipio, the romantic yetdignified attachment of Sophonisba, and the plain soldierlike honorablebehaviour of Syphax were given in a very superior style. I recollectparticularly a line he puts in the mouth of Scipio, when he is endeavouringto persuade Massinissa to resist the allurements and blandishments of love:

 Chè cor di donne è laberinto, in quale Facil si perde l'intelletto umano. 

This drama he divided into three acts, and on its termination he improviseda poem in _terza rima_ on the subject of the contest of Ajax and Ulyssesfor the armour of Achilles. 

Wonderful, however, as this act of improvising may appear, it is notperhaps so much so as the mathematical faculty of a youth of eight years ofage, Yorkshireman by birth, who has lately exhibited his talent forarithmetical calculation _improvised_ in England and who in a few seconds, from mental calculation, could give the cube root of a number containingfifteen or sixteen figures. 

Is not all this a confirmation of Doctor Gall's theory on craniology? viz. , that our faculties depend on the organisation of the scull. I think I haveseen this frequently exemplified at Eton. I have known a boy who could notcompose a verse, make a considerable figure in arithmetic and geometry; andanother, who could write Latin verse with almost Ovidian elegance, and yetcould not work the simplest question in vulgar fractions. Indeed, I thinkthere seems little doubt that we are born with dispositions andpropensities, which may be developed and encouraged, or damped and checkedaltogether by education. 

I have become acquainted with several families at Rome, so that I am at noloss where to spend my evenings. Music is the never failing resource forthose with whom the spirit of conversation fails. The society at Rome isperfectly free from etiquette or _gêne_. When once presented to a familyyou may enter their house every evening without invitation, make your bowto the master and mistress of the house, enter into conversation or not asyou please. You may absent yourself for weeks together from these_conversazioni_, and nobody will on your re-appearance enquire where youhave been or what you have been doing. In short, in the intercourse withRoman society, you meet with great affability, sometimes a little _ennui_, but no _commérage_. The _avvocati_ may be said to form almost exclusivelythe middling class in Rome, and they educate their families veryrespectably. This class was much caressed by the French Government duringthe time that Rome was annexed to the French Empire, and most of theemployés of the Government at that time were taken from this class. I havemet with several sensible well-informed people, who have been accurateobservers of the times, and had derived profit in point of instruction fromthe scenes they had witnessed. 

The Papal Government began, as most of the restored governments did, bydisplacing many of these gentlemen, for no other fault than because theyhad served under the Ex-government, and replaced them by ecclesiastics, asin the olden time. But the Papal Government very soon discovered that thewhole political machine would be very soon at a stand, by such an_épuration_; and the most of them have been since reinstated. Consalvi, theSecretary of State, is a very sensible man; he has hard battles to fightwith the _Ultras_ of Rome in order to maintain in force the usefulregulations introduced by the French Government, particularly theorganisation of a vigilant police, and the putting a stop to the murdersand robberies, which used formerly to be committed with impunity. TheFrench checked the system of granting asylum to these vagabonds altogether. But on the restoration of the Papal Government a strong interest was madeto allow asylums, as formerly, to criminals. Many of these gentry began tothink that the good old times were come again, wherein they could commitwith impunity the most atrocious crimes; and no less than eighty personswere in prison at one time for murder. This opened the eyes of theGovernment, and Consalvi insisted on the execution of these men and carriedhis point of establishing a vigilant police. The Army too has been put on abetter footing. The Papal troops are now clothed and disciplined in theFrench manner, and make a most respectable appearance. The infantry isclothed in white; the cavalry in green. The cockade is white and yellow. Nogreater proof can be given of the merit and utility of the Frenchinstitutions in Italy, than the circumstance of all the restoredGovernments being obliged by their interests (tho' contrary to their wishesand prejudices), to adopt and enforce them. There is still required, however, a severer law for the punishment of post office defalcations. Simple dismissal is by no means adequate, when it is considered how muchmischief may ensue from such offences. A very serious offence of thisnature and which has made a great sensation, has lately occurred. As allforeign letters must be franked, and as the postage to England is veryhigh, one of the clerks at the Post office had been in the habit ofreceiving money for the franking of letters, appropriated it to his ownuse, and never forwarded the letters. This created great inconvenience; anumber of families having never received answers to their letters and beingwithout the expected remittances, began to be uneasy and to complain. Anenquiry was instituted, and it was discovered that the clerk abovementioned had been carrying on this game to a great extent. He used to tearthe letters and throw the fragments into a closet. Several scraps ofletters were thus discovered and, on being examined, he made an ampleconfession of his practises. He was merely discharged, and no otherpunishment was indicted on him. I am no advocate for the punishment ofdeath for any other crime but wilful murder; but surely this fellow wasworse than a robber, and deserved a greater severity of punishment. 

ROME, 10th February, 1818. 

The Carnaval has long since begun, and this is the heaven of the Romanladies. On my remarking to a lady that I was soon tired of it and after aday or two found it very childish, she replied: "_Bisogna esser donna edonna Italiana per ben godere de' piaceri del Carnevale_. "

When I speak of the Carnaval, I speak of the last ten days of it whichprecede Lent. The following is the detail of the day's amusement during theseason. 

After dinner, which is always early, the masks sally out and repair to the_Corso_. The windows and balconies of the houses are filled withspectators, in and out of masks. A scaffolding containing an immense numberof seats is constructed in the shape of a rectangle, beginning at the_Piazza del Popolo_, running parallel to the _Corso_ on each side, andterminating near the _Piazza di Venezia_; close to which is the goal of thehorse race that takes place in this enclosure. Carriages, with persons inthem, generally masked, parade up and down this space in two currents, theone ascending, the other descending the _Corso_. They are saluted as theypass with showers of white comfits from the spectators on the seats of thescaffolding, or from the balconies and windows on each side of the street. These comfits break into a white powder and bespatter the clothes of theperson on whom they fall as if hair-powder had been thrown on them. Thisseems to be the grand joke of this part of the Carnival. After thecarriages have paraded about an hour, a signal is given by the firing of agun that the horse race is about to begin. The carriages, on the gun beingfired, must immediately evacuate the _Corso_ in order to leave it clear forthe race; some move off and _rendezvous_ on the _Piazza del Popolo_ justbehind the scaffolding, from the foot of which the horses start; othersfile off by the _Via Ripetta_ and take their stand on the _Piazza Colonna_. The horse-race is performed by horses without riders, generally five or sixat a time. They are each held with a bridle or halter by a man who standsby them, in order to prevent their starting before the signal is given; andthis requires no small degree of force and dexterity, as the horses areexceedingly impatient to set off. The manes of the horses are dressed inribbands of different colours to distinguish them. Pieces of tin, smallbells and other noisy materials are fastened to their manes and tails, inorder by frightening the poor animals, to make them run the faster, andwith this view also squibs and crackers are discharged at them as they passalong. A second gun is the signal for starting; the keepers loose theirhold, and off go the horses. The horse that arrives the first at the goalwins the grand prize; and there are smaller ones for the two next. Thisrace is repeated four or five times till dusk, and then the companyseparate and return home to dress. They then repair to the balls at thedifferent casinos, and at the conclusion of the ball, supper parties areformed either at _restaurants_ or at each other's houses. During the timeoccupied in the balls and promenades, as every body goes masked either incharacter or in _domino_, there is a fine opportunity for pairing off, andit is no doubt turned to account. This is a pretty accurate account of aRoman Carnaval. A great deal of wit and repartee takes place among themasks and they are in general extremely well supported, and indeed theyought to be, for there is a great sameness of character assumed at everymasquerade, and very little novelty is struck out, except perhaps by someforeigner, who chuses to introduce a national character of his own, whichis probably but little, or not at all, understood by the natives, and veryoften not at all well supported by the foreigner himself. An Americangentleman once made his appearance as an Indian warrior with hiswar-hatchet and calumet; he danced the war dance, which excited greatastonishment. He then presented his calumet to a mask, who not knowing whatthe ceremony meant, declined it, when the Mohawk flourished his hatchet andgave such a dreadful shriek as to set the whole company in alarm. [112] Onthe whole this character was so little understood that it was looked uponas a _mauvaise plaisanterie_. 

The usual characters are Pulcinelli, Arlecchini, Spanish Grandees, Turks, fortune tellers, flower girls and Devils; sometimes too they go in thecostume of the Gods and Goddesses of the ancient mythology. I observe thatthe English ladies here prefer to appear without masks in the costume ofthe Swiss and Italian peasantry. 

There is a very large English society at Rome, and at some of the partieshere, you could suppose yourself in Grosvenor Square. 

The late political changes have brought together in Rome many persons ofthe most opposite parties and sentiments, who have fallen from the heightof political power and influence into a private station, but who enjoythemselves here unmolested, and even protected by the Government, and aremuch courted by foreigners. I have seen at the same masquerade, in the_Teatro Aliberti_, in boxes close to each other, the Queen of Spam (motherof Ferdinand VII), and the Princess Borghese, Napoleon's sister. In a boxat a short distance from them were Lucian Buonaparte, his wife anddaughters. Besides these, the following ex-Sovereigns and persons ofdistinction, fallen from their high estate, reside in Rome, viz. , KingCharles IV of Spain; the ex-King of Holland, Louis Buonaparte; theabdicated King of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel; Don Manuel Godoy, the Prince ofPeace; Cardinal Fesch, and Madame Letitia, the mother of Napoleon. 

I had an opportunity of being presented to Lucian, who bears the title ofPrince of Canino, before I left Rome for Naples, as on leaving the Pays deVaud I was charged by a Swiss gentleman to deliver a letter to him, thepurport of which was to state that he had rendered services to JosephNapoleon, when he was resident in that Canton, in consequence of which hehad been persecuted and deprived of his employment at Lausanne, which wasthat of Captain of the Gendarmerie; and in the letter he sollicitedpecuniary assistance from the Prince of Canino. I rode out one morning tothe Villa of Ruffinella where the Prince resides and was very politelyreceived; it appeared however that the Prince was totally unacquainted withthe person who wrote the letter, nor was he at all aware of thecircumstances therein mentioned. I told him that I was but littleacquainted with the writer of the letter, but that he, on hearing of myintention of going to Rome, asked me to deliver it personally. The Princetold me he would write himself to the applicant on the subject. Here thenegotiation ended; but on my taking leave the Prince said he should behappy to see me whenever I chose to call. The Prince has the character ofbeing an excellent father and husband, and seems entirely and almostexclusively devoted to his family. He has a remarkably fine collection ofpictures and statues in his house at Rome. 

I had an opportunity likewise of seeing the ex-King of Holland, LouisNapoleon, who seems to be a most excellent and amiable man, and in facteverybody agrees in speaking of him with eulogy. 

With regard to the present Pontiff Pius VII, from the excellence of hisprivate character and virtues, and from his unassuming manners and goodnessof heart, there is but one opinion respecting him. Even those who do notlike the ecclesiastical Government, and behold in it the degradation ofItaly, render justice to the good qualities of Pius VII. He alwaysdisplayed the greatest moderation and humanity in prosperity, and inadversity he was firm and dignified. In his morals and habits he is quite aprimitive Christian, and if he does not possess that great political talentwhich has distinguished some of his predecessors, he has been particularlyfortunate and discriminating in the choice of his minister, in whom areunited ability, firmness, suavity of manner and unimpeachable character. Ithink I have thus given a faithful delineation of Cardinal Consalvi. 

ROME, March 12th. 

I have made a very valuable acquaintance in M. K[ölle][113] the envoy ofthe King of Würtemberg, to the Holy See. He is an enthusiastic admirer ofhis countryman the poet Schiller, and thro' his means of procuring Germanbooks, I am enabled to prosecute my studies in that noble language. AnItalian lady there having heard much of Schiller and Bürger, and not beingacquainted with the German language, requested me to make an Italiantranslation of some of the pieces of those poets; chusing the _Leonora_ ofBürger as one, and leaving to myself the choice of one from Schiller, Irepresented the extreme difficulty of the task, but as she had read asonnet of mine on Lord Guildford's project of establishing an University inthe Italian language, she would not hear of any excuse. To work then I set, and completed the translation of _Leonora_, together with one of Schiller's_Feast of Eleusis_. These and my sonnet were the cause of my beingrecommended for admission as a member of the Academy _degli Arcadi_ in Romeand I received the pastoral name of _Galeso Itaoense_. 

The Carnaval is now over and the ladies are all at their _Livres d'Heures_, posting masses and prayers to the credit side, to counterbalance the sinsand frailties committed during the carnaval in the account which they keepin the Ledger of Heaven. Dancing and masquerading are now over and_Requiems_ and the _Miserere_ the order of the day at the _conversazioni_. 

At Mr K[ölle]'s house I have become acquainted with Thorwaldsen, the famousDanish sculptor, who is by many considered as the successful rival ofCanova; but their respective styles are so different, that a comparison canscarce be made between them. Canova excels in the soft and graceful, in thefigures of youthful females and young men; Thorwaldsen in the grave, sternand terrible. In a word, did I wish to have made a Hebe, a Venus, anAntinoüs, an Apollo, I should charge Canova with their execution. Did Iwish for an Ajax, an Hercules, a Neptune, a Jupiter, I should give thepreference to Thorwaldsen. 

In their private characters they much resemble each other, being bothhonorable, generous, unassuming, and enthusiastic lovers of theirprofession and of the fine arts hi general. 

I have been to see a remarkably fine picture, by a modern French artist, ofthe name of Granet. It may be considered as the _chef d'oeuvre_ of theperspective or dioramic art. This picture represents the ulterior of theconvent of the Capuchins, near the Barberini Palace. The picture is by nomeans a very large one; but the optical deception is astonishing. You fancyyou are standing at the entrance of a long hall and ready to enter it; onlooking at it, thro' a piece of paper rolled hi form of a speakingtrumpet--which by hiding from the sight the frame of the picture, preventsthe illusion from being dissipated--you suppose you could walk into thehall; and each figure of a monk therein appears a real human creature, seenfrom a long distance, so skilfully has the artist disposed his light andshade. This picture has excited the admiration of connoisseurs, as well asothers, and it is universally proclaimed a masterpiece. M. Granet's houseis filled every day with persons coming to see this picture, and manyrepeat their visits several tunes in the week. He has received severalorders for copies of this picture, and I fancy he begins to be tired ofeternally copying the same thing; for he told me that he wished that thegentlemen who employed him would vary their subjects, and either chuse someother themselves, or let him chuse for them. But no! such is the effect ofvogue and fashion, and such the despotic influence they exercise even overthe polite arts, that everybody must have a copy of Granet's picture of theinterior of the Convent of Capuchins _coûte que coûte_; so that poor Granetseems bound to this Convent for life; except in the intervals of hislabours, he should hit off another subject, with equal felicity, and thisalone may perhaps serve to diminish the universal desire of possessing acopy of the Convent. The original picture is destined for the King ofFrance. [114]

I remarked, in the collection of the works of this artist, a small picturerepresenting Galileo in prison, and a monk descending the steps of thedungeon bringing him his scanty meal. A lamp hangs suspended from the roof, in the centre of the dungeon, and the artist has made a very happy hit inthrowing the whole glare of the lamp on the countenance of Galileo, who isseated reading a book, while the gaoler monk is left completely in theshade. On seeing this I exclaimed: _Veramente, Signor Granet, e buonissimoquel vostro concetto!_

Easter Tuesday. 

I have at length seen all the fine sights that Rome affords during the HolyWeek, and have witnessed most of the religious ceremonies, viz. , theilluminated cross hi St Peter's on Good Friday; the high mass celebrated bythe Pope in person on Easter Sunday; the Papal benediction from a window ofthe church above the façade on the same day; the illumination of the façadeof St Peter's on Easter Monday, and the _Girandola_ or grand firework atthe Castle of St Angelo on the same evening. The ceremony of the Popewashing the feet of twelve poor men I did not see, for I could not get intothe Sistine Chapel, where the ceremony was performed: and at the massperformed by the Pope in the Sistine Chapel I did contrive to enter, butwas so oppressed by the crowd and heat, that I almost fainted away, and wasvery glad to get out of the Chapel again, before the ceremony commenced. Why in the name of commonsense do they perform these ceremonies in theSistine Chapel which is small, instead of doing them in the church of StPeter's, which would contain so many people and produce a much grandereffect?

A great many people are deprived of seeing the ceremonies in the SistineChapel from the difficulty of getting in. The Pope's Swiss Guard attend onthat day in their ancient _costume_, with helmets, cuirasses and halberds;these guard the entrance of the staircase leading to the Chapel, and theyhave no small trouble and difficulty in maintaining order, as there isalways a great scuffle to get in, and they are particularly importuned byGerman visitors, who thinking to be favored by them, in speaking to them intheir own language, vociferate; _Ich bin Ihr Landsmann!_ and hope by thisto obtain a preference. 

On Friday evening a large Cross is erected before the grand altar; everypart of this Cross is filled with lamps, and at seven in the evening thewhole is illuminated. It has a most brilliant appearance and gives thehappiest _chiaro-oscuro_ effect to the statues, columns and pilasters whichabound in this vast temple. There is no other light on this occasion thanthat reflected from the Cross. On Easter Sunday, when the Pope celebrateshigh mass in the church of St Peter's, the Papal noble Guard, composed ofyoung men from the principal families in Rome, form a hedge on each side ofthe nave of the church, from the entrance of the facade to the grand altar. The street or interval formed between this double line may be about thirtyfeet broad, and behind this guard or in any other part of the church, thespectators may stand; but as these guards wear very large feathers in theirhats, they intercept very much the sight of those who stand behind them. The uniform of the Papal Noble Guard is very splendid, being a scarletcoat, covered with gold lace, white feathers, white breeches and longmilitary boots. The approach of the Pope is announced by the thunder ofcannon, and he is brought into the Church dressed in full pontificals, withthe triple Crown on his head, on a chair borne by men, _palanquin_ fashion;he is conducted thro' the lane formed by the Papal Guard, and as he passeshe makes the sign of the cross several times with his finger, repeating thewords: _Urbi et Orbi_. He is then set down, with his face fronting thebaldachin, when he immediately takes off the tiara, and begins theceremony. That ended, he leaves the church in the same state, and thenascends the staircase, in order to prepare to give the benediction, whichis usually given from a window above the facade of the church. The Pope isthere seated on a chair with the triple Crown on his head. Troops ofcavalry and infantry are drawn up in a semi-circle before the façade of thechurch, and the whole vast _arena_ of the _Piazza di San Pietro_ is coveredwith spectators. On a sudden his Holiness rises, extends his hands towardsheaven, then spreads them open, and seems as if he scattered something heheld in them on the crowd below; a silly young Frenchman who was standingnext to me said: _Le voilà! Le voilà qui arrache la bénédiction au ciel, etqui la répand sur tout le monde!_ I could not refrain from laughing at thissally, tho' I was much impressed with the solemnity of the scene, which Ithink one of the grandest and most sublime I ever beheld. This ceremonyconcluded, salves of ordnance were fired. The Pope retires amidst clouds ofsmoke, and seems to vanish from the Earth. The troops then fire a _feu dejoie_ and move off, playing a march in quick time, and the companydisperse. 

It is the étiquette on these occasions that no person be admitted eitherinto the church of St Peter or into the Sistine Chapel except in fulltoilette. The ladies dress generally in black with caps and feathers; thegentlemen either in black full dress or in military uniform. From thevariety of foreigners of all nations that are here, most of whom aremilitary men, or intitled to wear military uniforms, much is added to thesplendour of the spectacle. 

On the evening of Easter Monday, I was present at the illumination of thefacade of St Peter's. Rows of lamps are suspended the whole length of thecolumns and pilasters and all over the cupola, so that, when illuminated, the style of the architecture is perceptible. The illumination takes placealmost at once. How it is managed I cannot say; but a splendid illuminatedtemple seems at once to drop from the clouds, like the work of anenchanter; I say _drop from the clouds_, because the illumination beginsfrom the cross and cupola and is communicated with the rapidity oflightning to every other part of the edifice. About ten o'clock the sameevening the most magnificent firework perhaps in the world begins to playfrom the castle of St Angelo. All kinds of shapes are assumed by thesefireworks: here are castles, pagodas, dragons, griffins, etc. These lastabout an hour and then conclude, and with them conclude all the ceremoniesused in commemoration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Among the sights of Rome I must not omit that of a famous robber of thename of Barbone, who was the terror of the whole surrounding country fromthe depredations he committed. Having capitulated, and surrendered himselfto the Papal Government, he is now confined in the Castle of St Angelo as astate prisoner. His wife, or a woman calling herself so, is confined therewith him, and she is said to be a woman of uncommon beauty. It is quite therage among the English here to go to see these _illustrious_ captives, andMadame Barbone, superbly dressed, receives the hommage of the visitors. TheDuchess of D[evonshire] is said to have visited her, and made her a presentof a pearl necklace. I hope this is not true. Surely the Duchess, who is awoman of talent and an encourager of the fine arts, might have found someother object worthier of her munificence. What claims the mistress, or eventhe wife, of a public robber can have on the generosity of travellers, I amat a loss to conceive; but such is the _bizarrerie_ and _inconsequence_ ofthe English, and no doubt, be this story of her Grace of D[evonshire]having given a present true or not, it will occasion many other presentsbeing made to the captive Princess by a host of silly lord-aping Englishmen and women. Barbone has, it is said, made an excellent capitulation. Hehas stipulated to be released from prison after a year and a day'sconfinement, and no doubt he will then resume his old trade of brigandage. In the meantime he has disbanded his troops, as he calls them; but will histroops obey him, now that he is a captive? will they not rather chuseanother leader?

In the time of the French occupation, nothing of this kind took place; butthe present Government is weak and timid. I have not been myself to seeeither Barbone or his wife, but I have heard quite enough about them; theyform one of the principal sights in Rome, and I am quite _unfashionable_ innot having gone to visit them; for according to the opinion of my Englishacquaintance, he who has not seen Barbone and his wife has seen nothing. 

 * * * * *

I started from Rome on the second of April with a _vetturino_, and onarrival at Baccano, we struck off into a road on the right hand, andarrived at Cività Castellana at a late hour. Cività Castellana merits nofurther attention, except that it is supposed to stand on the site of theancient city of Veii. The following day at ten o'clock we reached the smalltown of Narni. Here are the remains of a beautiful bridge, constructed overthe ravine, thro' which flows the river Nera, and which was built in thetime of Augustus. It affords a very favorable specimen of the Roman bridgearchitecture. There is a small chapel here, and it contains, engraved on astone, a description of a miracle wrought here about four years ago by theVirgin Mary, who saved the life of a postillion. He went into the river towater his horses, when he was carried off by the torrent and would havebeen drowned, had not the Virgin, on her aid being invoked, dashed into theriver and haled him out by the hair of his head. Of this story, to use aphrase of old Josephus, [115] every one may believe as much as he thinksproper; but certain it is that the postillion made oath (which oath isregistered) that his life was saved by the Virgin Mary in this manner, andhe has put up a votive tablet at her shrine, which remains to this day, commemorative of the event. There is also a Roman aqueduct in theneighbourhood, eleven Italian miles in length. 

We arrived at Terni at three o'clock and immediately hired a _calèche_ (theother travellers and myself) to visit the famous cascade of the Velino, about three miles distant from the town of Terni. The road thither is veryrugged, and is a continual ascent on the flank of a ravine. For a long timebefore you arrive on the brink of the cascade, you hear the roaring of thewaters; and it certainly is the most magnificent and awe-inspiring sight ofthe kind I ever beheld. It is far more stupendous than any cascade inSwitzerland. That of Tivoli compared to it is as an infant six months oldto a Goliath. The Velino forms three successive falls, and the last istremendous, since it falls from a height of 1, 068 feet into the abyssbelow. The foam and the froth it occasions is terrific; and the sprayascends so high that in standing at the distance of fifty yards from thefall you become as wet as if you had been standing in a shower of rain. Thefirst fall it forms is of 800 feet; the second little less; the third Ihave stated already. No painting can possibly give a faithful delineationof this, and very possibly no poetic description can give an adequate ideathereof. We passed the whole night at Terni and the next morning we stoppedto dine at Spoleto. The same evening we arrived at Foligno. Spoleto is aneat town and well paved. Several ruins of ancient buildings are in itsvicinity. Before you arrive there, on the left of the road, is an immenselyhigh two-arched bridge. There is an aqueduct likewise just outside thetown. We did not omit to read the inscription on the gate of the town, incommemoration of the repulse of Hannibal, who failed in his attempt to makehimself master of this city, after having beat the Romans near the lakeTrasymene. The gate is called in consequence _Porta Fugae_, and this gateconstitutes the principal glory of Spoleto. We were shown the rums of aPalace built by Theodoric. On leaving the town, just outside the gate, wewere shewn a bridge which had laid underground for many centuries and hadbeen lately discovered. A bridge was known to have been built here in thetime of Augustus, and it is very probably the identical one; we could onlysee the top and part of the parapet. 

Foligno is a large, well built city, neatly paved, populous and commercial, renowned for manufactories of paper, wax, and confectionary. 

The whole road between Spoleto and Foligno is thro' a beautiful valley inhigh cultivation. There is a good deal of rich pasture ground, and it iswatered by the river called in ancient tunes Clitumnus. Here are to be seena fine breed of white cattle for which this part of the country has beenlong renowned, which cattle were used, in preference, for sacrifices(_Albi, Clitumne, greges_). [116] A similar breed is to be found in Indiaand Egypt. 

The streets in Foligno are broad. I remarked the _Palazzo Pubblico_ andCathedral as very fine buildings. Our next day's journey brought us toPerugia, after passing by Assisi, the birth place of the famous St Francis, founder of the order of Franciscans. It is situated on an eminence:convents and churches abound therein. 

Perugia is a large and opulent city, standing like a fortress on amountain, and towering over the plain below. It is of steep ascent from theplain, and there are various terraces along the ramparts, commandingseveral fine points of view of the rich and fertile plains all round. Theseterraces are planted with trees and form the promenades appertaining to thecity. The architecture of the various churches and Palaces is verysuperior. The streets are broad and every building has an air ofmagnificence. The Cathedral, dedicated to St Laurence, is well worthvisiting; it stands on the _Piazza del Duomo_, where there is a finefountain ornamented with statues. In the church of St Peter's there aresome fine columns of marble and some pictures of Perugino and Raffaello. 

[108] Virgil, _Aen_. , VI, 886. --ED. 

[109] Of the two persons here mentioned, by their initials only, the first, Luigi de' Medici, was chosen as Chancellor of the Exchequer by King Ferdinando in June, 1815. The second was Nugent, an Austrian _marescallo_, who became _capitano generale_ of the Neapolitan army, August, 1816, and _capo del supremo comando_, February, 1817. --ED. 

[110] This most distinguished lady, Marianna Candidi, was born in Rome in 1756; her mother, Magdalena Scilla, was the daughter of a well known antiquary of Messina, Agostino Scilla. Marianna learned Latin, drawing and music; she achieved a reputation as landscape painter, and was elected a member of the Academies of St Luke in Rome, of Bologna, Pisa and Philadelphia. She married the lawyer Domenico Dionigi, and gave him seven children, one of whom, Henrietta, became Madame Orfei, and was much esteemed as "improvisatrice. " Madame Dionigi herself published several works, among which a _Storia de' tempi presenti_, written in view of the education of her children. Her _salon_ in Rome was frequented by many men of distinction, such as Visconti, d'Agincourt, Erskine, etc. She died on the 10th June, 1826, at the age of seventy. --ED. 

[111] She was no more than sixty-two at that time. --ED. 

[112] To present the calumet is an offer of peace and amity among the aborigines of North America and to refuse it is regarded as the greatest insult. 

[113] Frye gives only the initial of the name, which I have completed from the _Almanach de Gotha_, 1818. --ED. 

[114] The Interior of the Convent of the Capucini was first painted by Granet in the year 1811. None of the numerous replicas are in the Louvre, but there is one in London (Buckingham Palace) and one at Chatsworth. --ED. 

[115] The author may have meant "old Herodotus. "--ED. 

[116] Virgil, _Georg. _, II, 146. --ED. 

CHAPTER XV

APRIL-JULY, 1818

Journey from Florence to Pisa and from thence by the Appennines toGenoa--Massa-Carrara--Genoa--Monuments and works of art--TheGenoese--Return to Florence--Journey from Florence through Bologna andFerrara to Venice--Monument to Ariosto in Ferrara--A description ofVenice--Padua--Vicenza--Verona--Cremona--Return to Milan--The Scalatheatre--Verona again--From Verona to Innspruck. 

It is the custom for most travellers going to Genoa to embark on board of a_felucca_ at Spezia, which lies on the sea coast, not far from Sarzana: butI preferred to go by land, and I cannot conceive why anyone should exposehimself to the risks, inconveniences and delays of a sea passage, when itis so easy to go by land thro' the Appennines. I started accordingly thefollowing morning, mounted on a mule, and attended by a muleteer withanother mule to convey my portmanteau. I found this journey neitherdangerous nor difficult, but on the contrary agreeable and romantic. Theroad is only a bridle road. I paid forty-eight franks for my two mules anddriver, and started at seven in the morning from Sarzana. The wildappearance of the Appennines, the aweful solitudes and the highlypicturesque points of view that present themselves at the varioussinuosities of the mountains and valleys; the view of the sea from theheights that tower above the towns of Oneglia and Sestri Levante, renderedthis journey one of the most interesting I have ever made. I stopped todine at Borghetto and brought to the night at Sestri Levante, breakfastedthe next morning at Rapallo, and arrived the same evening at four o'clockin Genoa. Borghetto is a little insignificant town situate in a narrowvalley surrounded on all sides by the lofty crags of the Appennines. SestriLevante is a long and very straggling town, part of it being situated onthe sea shore, and the other part on the gorge of the mountain descendingtowards the sea beach; so that the former part of the town lies nearly atright angles with the latter, with a considerable space intervening. Theroad for the last four miles between Borghetto and Sestri Levante is acontinual descent. The inn was very comfortable and good at Sestri Levante. The beginning of the road between Sestri and Rapallo is on the beach tillnear Rapallo, when it strikes again into the mountains and is ofconsiderable ascent. Rapallo is a very neat pretty place, situate on aneminence commanding a fine view of the sea. The greater part of the roadbetween Rapallo and Genoa is on the sea-coast, but cut along the mountainswhich here form a bluff with the sea. Villas, gardens and vineyards linethe whole of this route and nothing can be more beautiful. The neatness ofthe villas and the abundance of the population form a striking contrast tothe wild solitudes between Sarzana and Sesto, where (except at Borghetto)there is not a house to be seen and scarce a human creature to be met, andwhere the eagle seems to reign alone the uncontrolled lord of the creation. 

GENOA, 23rd April. 

The view of Genoa from the sea is indisputably the best; for on entering byland from the eastern side, the ramparts are so lofty as to intercept thefine view the city would otherwise afford. From the sea side it rises inthe shape of an amphitheatre; a view therefore taken from the sea gives thebest idea of its grandeur and of the magnificence of its buildings, foreverybody on beholding this grand spectacle must allow that this city welldeserves its epithet of _Superba_. 

I observe in my daily walks on the _Esplanade_ a number of beautiful women. The Genoese women are remarkable for their beauty and fine complexions. They dress generally in white, and their style of dress is Spanish; theywear the _mezzara_ or veil, in the management of which they display muchgrace and not a little coquetry. Instead of the fan exercise recommended towomen by the _Spectator_, the art of handling the _mezzara_ might bereduced to a manual and taught to the ladies by word of command. 

I put up at the house of a Spanish lady on the _Piazza St Siro_, and herefor four _livres_ a day I am sumptuously boarded and lodged. There arethree principal streets in Genoa, viz. , _Strada Nuova_, _Balbi_, and_Nuovissima_. Yet these three streets may be properly said to form but one, inasmuch as they lie very nearly in a right line. These streets are broadand aligned with the finest buildings in Genoa. This street or streets arethe only ones that can be properly called so, according to the idea weusually attach to the word. The others deserve rather the names of lanesand alleys, tho' exceedingly well paved and aligned with excellent housesand shops. In fact the streets _Nuova_, _Nuovissima_ and _Balbi_ are theonly ones thro' which carriages can pass. The others are far too narrow toadmit of the passage of carriages. The houses on each side of them are ofimmense height, being of six or seven stories, which form such a shade aseffectually to protect those who walk thro' these alleys from the rays ofthe sun. The houses diminish in height in proportion as they are built onthe slant of the mountain from the bottom to the top, those at the bottombeing the loftiest. Carriages are scarcely of any use in the city of Genoa, except to drive from one end of the town to another thro' the streets_Nuova_, _Balbi_ and _Nuovissima_; and accordingly a carriage with fourwheels, or even with two, is a rare conveyance in Genoa. The general modeof conveyance is on a sedan chair, carried by porters, or on the backs ofmules or asses. Genoa is distinguished by the beauty of the Palaces of itspatricians, which are more numerous and more magnificent than those of anyother city, probably, in the world. 

The Ducal Palace or Palace of Government, where the Doge used to reside, claimed my first attention; yet, tho' much larger, it is far less splendidthan many of the Palaces of individual patricians. In fact, the DucalPalace is built in the Gothic taste and resembles a Gothic fortress, havinground towers at each angle. The Hall, where the Grand Council used to sit, is superb, and is adorned with columns of _jaune antique_. On the _plafond_is a painting representing the discovery of America by Columbus; for theGenoese duly appreciate, and never can forget their illustrious countryman. The lines of Tasso, "_Un uom della Liguria avrà ardimento_, " etc. , and thefollowing stanza, _Tu spiegherai Colombo a urn nuovo polo_, etc. Are in themouth of everyone. [117] The Hall of the Petty Council is neat, but it isthe recollection of the history of this once famous Republic that rendersthe examination of this Palace so interesting. But now Genoa's glory isgone; she has been basely betrayed into the hands of a Government she mostdetested. The King of Sardinia is nowhere; and he is not a little proud ofbeing the possessor of such a noble sea port, which enables him to rank asa maritime power. 

The Genoese are laborious and make excellent sailors; but now there isnothing to animate them; and they will never exert themselves in theservice of a domination which is so little congenial to them. They sigh fortheir ancient Government, of whose glories they had so often heard andwhose brilliant exploits have been handed down to the present day notmerely by historical writers and poets, but by _improvisatori_ from mouthto mouth. The Genoese nobles, those merchant Kings, whose riches exceededat one time those of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, who were thepawn-brokers to those Sovereigns, are now in a state of decay. Commerce canonly flourish on the soil of liberty, and takes wing at the sight ofmilitary and sacerdotal chains; and tho' the present Sovereign affects tocaress the Genoese _noblesse_, they return his civilities with sullenindifference, and half concealed contempt and aversion. The commerce ofGenoa is transferred to Leghorn, which increases in prosperity as theformer decays. 

The climate of Genoa is said to be exceedingly mild during the winter, being protected on the north by the Appennines, which tower above it to animmense height. Beautiful villas and grounds tastefully laid out inplantations of orange trees, pomegranates, etc. , abound in the environs ofthis city, and everything announces the extreme industry of theinhabitants, for the soil is proverbially barren. This shews what they havedone and what they could still do were they free; but now they have nothingto animate their exertions. The public promenades are on the bastions andcurtains of the fortifications, on the _Esplanade_ and in the streets_Balbi_, _Nuova_ and _Nuovissima_. There is also another very delightfulpromenade, tho' not much used by the ladies, viz. , on the Mola or Pierenveloping the harbour. 

One of the most remarkable constructions in Genoa is the bridge ofCarignano, which is built over an immense ravine and unites the hillsFengano and Carignano. It is so high that houses of six stories stand underits arches in the valley below. No water except in times of flood runsunder this bridge and it much resembles, tho' somewhat larger, the bridgeat Edinburgh which unites the old and new towns. The principal churchesare: first, the Cathedral, which is not far from the Ducal Palace; it isrichly ornamented and incrusted with black marble; the church of theAnnunziata and that of St Sire. They are all in the Gothic style ofarchitecture and loaded with that variety of ornament and diversity ofbeautiful marbles which distinguish the churches of Italy from those of anyother country. Near the bridge of Carignano is a church of the same name, wherein are four marble colossal statues. 

On the west of the city and running two miles along the sea-beach is the_faubourg_ of St Pietro d'Arena, which presents a front of well builthouses the whole way; these houses are principally used as magazines andstore houses. 

FLORENCE, 5 May. 

I left Genoa on the 30th April, returned on mule-back from Genoa toSarzana, stopping the first night at Sestri. The second evening when nearSarzana, it being very dark, I somehow or other got out of the road and mymule fell with me into a very deep ditch; but I was only slightly bruisedby the fall; my clothes however were covered with dirt and wet. The roadfrom Genoa to Sarzana might with very little expense be made fit forcarriages by widening it. At present it is only a bridle road, and on someparts of it, on the sides of ravines, it is I think a little ticklish totrust entirely to the discretion of one's _monture_; at least I thought soand dismounted twice to pass such places on foot. A winding stream is to beforded in two or three places, but it is not deep except after rains; andthen I think it must be sometimes dangerous to pass, till the waters runoff. Those, who are fond of mountain scenery will, like myself, be highlygratified in making this journey; for it is thro' the loftiest, wildest andmost romantic part of the Appennines. From Sarzana I hired a cabriolet toreturn to Pisa and from thence I took the diligence to Florence. 

FERRARA. 

On the 9th of May I set out from Florence on my journey hither. Two days'journey brought me to Bologna where I stopped one day; and the followingday I reached this place (Ferrara), six miles distant from Bologna. Thecountry between these two cities is a perfect plain and very fertile. AtMalalbergo (half-way) We crossed the Reno in a boat. I put up at the _TreMori_ in Ferrara. Having remained two and half days here I have had time toinspect and examine almost everything of consequence that the city affords. The city itself has an imposing, venerable appearance and can boast of somefine buildings; yet with all this there is an air of melancholy about it. It is not peopled in proportion to its size and grass is seen growing inseveral of the streets. I believe the unhealthiness of the environingcountry is the cause of the decrease of population, for Ferrara lies on amarshy plain, very liable to inundation In the centre of the city standsthe ancient Palace of the Dukes of Ferrara, a vast Gothic edifice, square, and flanked with round towers, and a large court-yard in the centre. It wasin this court-yard that Hugo and Parisina were decapitated. From the top ofthis palace a noble view of the plain of the Po represents itself, and yousee the meanderings of that King of Rivers, as the Italian poets term it. As the Po runs thro' a perfectly flat country, and is encreased and swollenby the torrents from the Alps and Appennines that fall into the smallerrivers, which unite their tributary streams with the Po and accompany himas his _seguaci_ to the Adriatic, this country is liable to the mostdreadful inundations: flocks and herds, farm-houses and sometimes wholevillages are swept away. Dykes, dams and canals innumerable are inconsequence constructed throughout this part of the country, to preserve itas much as possible from such calamities. Ariosto's description of anover-flowing of this river is very striking, and I here transcribe it:

 Con quel furor che il Re de' fiumi altero, Quando rompe tal volta argine e sponda, E che ne' campi Ocnei si apre il sentiero, E i grassi solchi e le biade feconde, E con le sue capanne il gregge intero, E co' cani i pastor porta neil' onde, etc. [118]

 Even with that rage wherewith the stream that reigns, The king of rivers--when he breaks his mound. And makes himself a way through Mantuan plains-- The greasy furrows and glad harvests, round, And, with the sheepcotes, nock, and dogs and swains Bears off, in his o'erwhelming waters drowned. 

 --Trans. W. S. ROSE. 

The next place I went to see was the Lyceum or University, where there is avery fair cabinet of natural history in all its branches. The Library isvery remarkable, and possesses a great number of valuable manuscripts. Butmy principal object in visiting this Museum was to see the monument erectedin honour of Ariosto, which has been transferred here from the Benedictinechurch. The inkstand and chair of this illustrious bard are carefullypreserved and exhibited. They exactly resemble the print of them thataccompanies the first edition of Hoole's translation of the _OrlandoFurioso_. Among the manuscripts what gratified me most was the manuscriptof the _Gerusalemme liberata_ of Tasso. But few corrections appear in thismanuscript; tho from the extreme polish and harmony of the versificationone would expect a great many. It is written in an extremely legible hand. 

I also inspected the original manuscripts of the _Pastor Fido_ of Guariniand of the _Suppositi_ of Ariosto. 

I then went to visit the Hospital of St Anna, for the sake of seeing thedungeon where poor Tasso was confined and treated as mad for several years. When one beholds this wretched place, where a man can scarce stand upright, one only wonders how he could survive such treatment; or how he couldescape becoming insane altogether. The old wooden door of this cell willsoon be entirely cut away by amateurs, as almost everyone who visits thedungeon chops off a piece of wood from the door to keep as a relic. Thedoor is in consequence pieced and repaired with new wood, and in a shorttime will be in the state of Sir John Cutter's worsted stockings which weredarned so often with silk that they became finally all silk. 

Ferrara has a strong citadel which is still garrisoned by Austrian troops;and they will probably not easily be induced to evacuate it. The AustrianEagle seldom looses his hold. 

VENICE, 18th May. 

On the 16th May at six o'clock in the morning I left Ferrara in a_cabriolet_ to go to the _Ponte di Lago oscuro_, which is a large villageon the south bank of the Po, three miles distant from Ferrara. A flyingbridge wafted me across the river, which is exceedingly broad and rapid tothe north bank, where a barge was in waiting to receive passengers forVenice. This barge is well fitted up and supplied with _comestibles_ of allsorts and couches to recline on. The price is twelve francs for thepassage, and you pay extra for refreshments. The bark got under weigh atseven o'clock and descended rapidly this majestic river, which however, from its great breadth, and from the country on each side of it beingperfectly flat, did not offer any interesting points of view. Plains andcattle grazing thereon were the only objects, for they take care to buildthe farms and houses at a considerable distance from the banks, on accountof the inundations. After having descended the Po for a considerabledistance, we entered a canal which unites the Po with the Adige. We thendescended the Adige for a short distance, and entered another canal whichunites the Adige with the Brenta. Here we stopped to change barges, and itrequired an hour and half to unload and reload the baggage. We then enteredthe Brenta and from thence into the Lagoons, and passing by the islands ofMalamocco and Chiozzo entered Venice by the _Canale grande_ at threeo'clock in the morning. The whole night was so dark as totally to depriveus of the view of the approach of Venice. The barge anchored near the Postoffice and I hired a gondola to convey me to the inn called _Le Reginad'Ungheria_. 

VENICE, 26th May. 

I was much struck, as everyone must be who sees it for the first time, atthe singular appearance of Venice. An immense city in the midst of theOcean, five miles distant from any land; canals instead of streets;gondolas in lieu of carriages and horses! Yet it must not be inferred fromthis that you are necessarily obliged to use a gondola in order to visitthe various parts of the city; for its structure is as follows. It is builtin compartments on piles on various mud banks, always covered indeed bywater, but very shallow and separated from each other (the mud banks Imean) by deep water. On each of these compartments are built rows ofhouses, each row giving front to a canal. The space between the backs ofthe rows of houses forms a narrow street or alley paved with flag stones, very like Cranborn Alley for instance; and these compartments are united toeach other (at the crossings as we should say) by means of stone bridges;so that there is a series of alleys connected by a series of bridges whichform the _tout ensemble_ of this city; and you may thus go on foot thro'every part of it. To go on horseback would be dangerous and almostimpracticable, for each bridge has a flight of steps for ascent anddescent. All this forms such a perfect labyrinth from the multiplicity andsimilarity of the alleys and bridges, that it is impossible for anystranger to find his way without a guide. I lost my way regularly everytime that I went from my inn to the _Piazza di San Marco_, which forms thegeneral rendezvous of the promenaders and is the fashionable lounge ofVenice; and every time I was obliged to hire a boy to reconduct me to myinn. On this account, in order to avoid this perplexity and the expence ofhiring a gondola every time I wished to go to the _Piazza di San Marco_ Iremoved to another inn, close to it, called _L'Osteria della Luna_, whichstands on the banks of the _Canale grande_ and is not twenty yards from the_Piazza_. 

I then hired a gondola for four days successively and visited every canaland every part of the city. Almost every family of respectability keeps agondola, which is anchored at the steps of the front door of the house. After the _Piazza di San Marco_, of which I shall speak presently, thefinest buildings and Palaces of the nobility are on the banks of the_Canale grande_, which, from its winding in the shape of an S, has all theappearance of a river. The _Rialto_ is the only bridge which connects theopposite banks of the _Canale grande_; but there are four hundred smallerbridges in Venice to connect the other canals. 

The _Rialto_, the resort of the money changers and Jews, is a very singularand picturesque construction, being of one arch, a very bold one. On eachside of this bridge is a range of jewellers' shops. A narrow Quai runsalong the banks of the _Canale grande_. 

I have visited several of the _Palazzi_, particularly those of the familiesMorosini, Cornaro, Pisani, Grimani, which are very rich in marbles of_vert_ and _jaune antique_; but they are now nearly stripped of all theirfurniture, uninhabited by their owners, or let to individuals, mostlyshopkeepers; for since the extinction of the Venetian Republic almost allthe nobility have retired to their estates on the _terra firma_, or totheir villas on the banks of the Brenta; so that Venice is now inhabitedchiefly by merchants, shopkeepers, chiefly jewellers and silk mercers, seafaring people, the constituted authorities, and the garrison of theplace. 

Tho' Venice has fallen very much into decay, since the subversion of theRepublic, as might naturally be expected, and still more so since it hasbeen under the Austrian domination, yet it is still a place of greatwealth, particularly in jewellery, silks and all articles of dress andluxury. In the _Merceria_ you may see as much wealth displayed as inCheapside or in the Rue St Honoré. 

I have had the pleasure of witnessing a superb regatta or water _féte_, given in honour of the visit of the Archduke Rainier to this city, in hisquality of Viceroy of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. There were about onehundred and fifty barges, each fitted up by some department of trade andcommerce, with allegorical devices and statues richly ornamented, emblematical of the trade or professions to which the barge belonged. Eachbarge bore an appropriate ensign, and the dresses of the crew were alltasteful, and thoroughly analogous to the profession they represented. These barges are richly gilded, and from the variety of the costumes andstreamers, I thought it one of the most beautiful sights I ever beheld. Here were the bankers' barge, the jewellers', the mercers', the tailors', the shoe-makers', and, to crown all, the printers' barge, which showereddown from the masthead sonnets in honor of the _féte_, printed on board ofthe barge itself. Every trade or profession, in short, had a barge andappropriate flag and costumes. A quantity of private barges and gondolasfollowed this procession. The Archduke and his staff occupied theGovernment barge, which is very magnificent and made in imitation of theBucentaur. Musicians were on board of many of the barges, and the houses onboth banks of the _Canale Grande_ were filled with beautiful women andother spectators waving their handkerchiefs. Guns were fired on theembarkation of the Viceroy from the _Piazzetta di San Marco_, and on hisreturn. The _Piazza_ itself was splendidly illuminated, and the _cafés_which abound there, and which constitute one half of the whole quadrangle, were superbly and tastefully decorated. 

The _Piazza di San Marco_ is certainly the most beautiful thing of the kindin the world. It is a good deal in the style of the _Palais Royal_ atParis, and tho' not so large, is far more striking, from the very tastefuland even sumptuous manner in which the _cafés_ are fitted up, bothinternally and externally; they have spacious rooms with mirrors on allsides, some in the shape of Turkish tents, others in that of Egyptiantemples. The _Piazza_, forming an oblong rectangle, is arcaded on the twolong sides, and of the two short ones, one presents a superb modern palacebuilt by Napoleon, and richly adorned with the statues of all the heathenGods on the top, which Palace was usually occupied by Eugene Napoléon; theother presents the church of St Marco and the old palace of Government, where in the time of the Republic the Doge used to reside. The church of StMark is unique as a temple in Europe, for it is neither Grecian nor Gothic, but in a style completely Oriental, from the singularity of its structure, its many gilded cupolas and the variety of its exterior ornaments. At_first sight_ it appears a more striking object than either St Peter's inRome or St Paul's in London. On the top of the façade, which is singularlypicturesque, stand the four bronze horses which have been brought back fromParis to their old residence. 

I ascended the top of the façade in order to examine them. They arebeautifully formed, in very good cast and have not at all been damaged bythe journey. The _Piazza_ is paved with broad flagged stones. The Doge'spalace is a vast building, very picturesque withal, and seems a _mélange_of Gothic and Moorish architecture. At right angles to it and facing the_Piazzetta_, which issues from the _Piazza_ and forms a quai to the _CanaleGrande_, stands the famous state prison and _Ponte de 'Sospiri_. On the_Piazzetta_ and fronting the landing place stand two columns of whitemarble, on one of which stands the winged Lion of St Marco and on the othera crocodile, emblematical of the foreign commerce and possessions of theRepublic. The space between these two columns was allotted for theexecution of State criminals. Not far from the church of St Marco, and nearto that angle of the _Piazza_ which connects it with the _Piazzetta_, stands the famous _Campanile_ or Steeple of San Marco. It is a squarebuilding 800 feet in height, from the top of which one has the best view ofVenice and its adjacent isles, the distant Alps and the _marina dove il Podiscende_. A Quai, if Quai it may be called, which has a row of houses oneach side, one row of which is on the water's edge, leads from the_Piazzetta_ to some gardens, which terminate on a point of land. This Quaiis very broad and well paved, and is the only thing that can be called astreet in all Venice. The _Piazza di San Marco_, therefore, this Quai andthe garden before mentioned form the only promenades in Venice. This gardenmoreover has trees, and these are the only trees that are to be met with inthis city. In this garden are two _Cafés_. 

The variety of costume is another very agreeable spectacle at Venice. Hereyou meet with Albanians, Greeks, Turks, Moors, Sclavonians and Armenians, all in their respective national costumes. The first Armenian I met withhere was sitting on a stone bench on the _Piazza di San Marco_, and thisbrought forcibly to my recollection the Armenian in Schiller's_Ghost-seer_. 

These _Cafés_ and _Casinos_ on the _Piazza_ are open day and night. Icesand coffee superiorly made and other refreshments of all kinds at very lowprices are to be had. Some of these _casinos_ are devoted to gaming. Thefirst families in Venice repair to the _Piazza_ in the evening after theOpera, female as well as male. They promenade up and down the _Piazza_ orsit down and converse in the _Cafés_ and _Casinos_ till a late hour. Few goto bed in Venice in the summer time before six In the morning, so thatsleep seems for ever banished from the _Piazza_. Music and singing goesforward in these _casinos_, and the ear is often charmed with the sound ofthose delightful Venetian airs, whose simple melody ravishes the soul. TheVenetian dialect is very pleasing, and scarcely yields in harmony to theTuscan. It contains a great many Sclavonic words. It is the only dialect ofItaly that is at all pleasing to my ear, for I do not at all relish thenasal twang and truncated terminations of the Piedmontese and Lombarddialects, nor the semi-barbarous jargon of the Genoese and the Neapolitanand, least of all, the execrable cacophony of the Bolognese. 

I visited of course the Arsenal and the Doge's Palace. The apartments inthe latter are very spacious and ornamented in the Gothic taste ofgrandeur. The chamber of the Council is peculiarly magnificent. There is agood deal of tapestry and some fine paintings and statues: among the formerI particularly noticed an allegorical picture, representing the triumph ofVenice over the league of Cambray. Venice is represented by the wingedLion, and the powers of the Coalition are pourtrayed by various otherbeasts. Among the latter is a beautiful group in marble representingGanymede and the Eagle. The terror depicted in the countenance of thebeautiful boy, and the passion that seems to agitate the Eagle, aresurprizingly well pourtrayed. 

The principal theatre at Venice, the _Teatro Fenice_, is not open; but Ihave visited the other theatres, and among other things witnessed therepresentation of a new opera, call'd _Il Lupo d'Ostende_. The piece itselfwas rather interesting; but the music was feeble and did not seem to givegeneral satisfaction. The singing is in general very good at Venice, but inscenery, dresses and decorations the theatres here are far inferior tothose of Milan and Naples. 

I find the air of Venice very hot and unpleasant, arising from theexhalation from the canals; and it appears to me as if I were on board ofan enormous ship. I begin to pant for _terra firma_ and green fields. 

I have visited in a gondola some of the islands, viz. , Malamocco and StLazare, where there is a convent of Armenian monks. 

Why are the gondolas hung with black? it gives to them such a dismalfunereal appearance. They always resemble the bodies of hearses placed onboats. I am not fond of gaudy colours in general, yet I do think a gondolashould have a somewhat livelier color than black. 

PADUA, 8th June. 

Padua is not above ten miles distant from Fusina. As I started from Veniceat six in the morning I had a fine receding view of the Ocean Queen, withher steeples and turrets rising from the sea. Venice has no fortificationsand needs them not. Her insular position protects her from land attacks, and the shoals prevent the approach of ships of war. Floating batteriestherefore and gunboats are her best defence. The road from Fusina to Paduais on the banks of the Brenta the whole way, and is lined with trees. Thereare a great number of villas on the banks of the Brenta, well built in thebest style of architecture, the most of them after the designs of Palladio, the Prince of modern architects. 

Padua is an exceedingly large city: but its arcades and the narrowness ofthe streets give it a gloomy appearance. There are however some beautifulpromenades in the suburbs. There are also the remains of an ancient Arena. Padua is famous for its Seminario or University, which is a superb edifice. The Church of St Anthony of Padua is of vast size, having six cupolas. There are four organs in this church. In the chapel of the Saint himselfare a great many ornaments, among which are a crucifix in bronze andfresques representing the different actions and miracles of this patronSaint of the Padovani. Probably as this city was founded by the TrojanAntenor they have transformed his name into that of a Christian Saint andcalled him St Anthony, just as Virgil has been transformed into a magicianat Naples. There is a fine view from the steeple of this immense edifice. There is another magnificent church also in this city, that of St Justine, built after the designs of Palladio, the principal ornament of which is apainting of the martyrdom of the Saint by Paul Veronese. But one of thegreatest curiosities in this ancient city is the immense Saloon in the_Palazzo della Giustizia_. It is, I presume, the loftiest and largest hallin the world that is supported by nothing but its walls, it being threehundred feet long, one hundred feet broad and one hundred feet high. Inthe Saloon is the tomb of Livy, the Historian, who was a native of Padua. The inhabitants of Padua dress much in black, seem a quiet, staid sort ofpeople, and are very industrious. I put up at the _Stella d'Oro_, a goodinn. 

VICENZA, 10th June. 

I arrived at this beautiful _bijou_ of a town on the morning of the 9thJune at eight o'clock. I call it a _bijou_ from its exceeding neatness, andthe extreme beauty of the architecture of its edifices, which are almostall after the designs of Palladio, of white stone and in the Greek taste. Palladio was a native of Vicenza. The _Piazza_ and _Palazzo Pubblico_perfectly correspond with the beauty of the rest of the city, and thepromenades about it are tastefully laid out. But the two most strikingobjects in point of edifices in Vicenza and both constructed by Palladioare the covered portico and the _Teatro Olimpico_. The covered portico istwo miles in length and leads to the chapel of the _Madonna del Monte_, situated on an eminence, at that distance from the city. A magnificenttriumphal arch stands before it, and there is an extensive view of thesurrounding country. The _Teatro Olimpico_ is a small, but beautifultheatre, built strictly after the model of the ancient Greek theatres. Itis peculiarly precious as being the only one of the kind in Europe. Howadmirably adapted both for seeing and hearing are such theatres! It has, for scenery, the model of a Palacé, curiously carved in wood, whichrepresents a Royal Palace, for the ancients never shifted their scenes, andthis may account for their adhering so strictly to the unities. Statues andbas-reliefs adorn this beautiful little theatre. Many years ago, onparticular occasions, it was the custom to act plays here, eithertranslated from the Greek, or taken strictly from the Greek model. Thistheatre is esteemed Palladio's _chef d'oeuvre_. 

The _Campo di Marie_ is a vast _Place_ outside the town. The Place and itsgate are well worth inspecting, so is the famous villa with the Rotonda, belonging to the Marchese di Capra, the original after which the villabelonging to the Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick is built. The environs ofthis interesting city are very beautiful and present an exceeding richsoil, highly cultivated in corn, mulberry trees and vines hanging from themin festoons. 

VERONA, 12th June. 

I started yesterday morning from Vicenza and arrived here in about threehours, the distance being nearly the same as between Vicenza and Padua. Wecrossed the Adige which divides the city into two unequal parts and droveto the _Due Torri_, a large and comfortable inn with excellent rooms andaccommodations. Verona is a very handsome city, for here also Palladio wasthe designer or builder of many edifices. It has a very cheerful and gayappearance, tho' not quite so much so as Vicenza. The reason of thisdifference is that in Verona the greater part of the buildings are in theGothic style, which always appears heavy and melancholy, whereas in Vicenzaall is Grecian. The Amphitheatre of course claimed my first notice. Ityields only to the Coliseum in size and grandeur and is in much betterpreservation, the whole of the ellipse and its walls being entire, whereasin the Coliseum part of the walls have been pulled down. Indeed theAmphitheatre of Verona may be said to be almost perfectly entire. _Tempusedax rerum_ has been its only enemy; whereas avarice and religiousfanaticism have contributed, much more than time, to the dilapidation ofthe Coliseum. The Amphitheatre of Verona can contain 24, 000 persons. In itis constructed a temporary theatre of wood, where they perform plays andfarces in the open air. Verona is much embellished by several _Palazzi_built by Palladio, which form a curious contrast with the other buildingsand churches which are in the Gothic style. Verona can boast among itsantiquities of three triumphal arches, the first, _Porta de' Bursari_, erected in the year 252 in the reign of the Emperor Gallienus; the second, called _Porta del Foro_; and the third, built by Vitruvius himself, inhonour of the family Gavia. 

The churches here are richly ornamented and the _Palazzo del Consiglio_ hasmany fine marble and bronze statues. In this city also are the tombs andmonuments of the Scala family, who were at one time Sovereigns of Verona. They are in the Gothic style and of curious execution. The Cathedral has animmense _campanile_ (steeple), from which is a fine view of the surroundingcountry, and the progressive risings of the Alps, the lower parts of whichlie close upon Verona. Beautiful villas and farmhouses abound in theneighbourhood of this city. The favourite promenades are the _Corso_ andthe _Bra_. On the _Bra_ I saw a very brilliant display of carriages, andsome very pretty women in them. The theatre is by Palladio, is exquisitelybeautiful, and very tastefully fitted up. I assisted at the representationof _La Gazza Ladra_, one of Rossini's best operas. 

I should think Verona would be a very delightful séjour; everything is verycheap; a fine country highly cultivated; a remarkably healthy climate; asociety which unites much urbanity and a love of amusement with a taste forthe fine arts and for the graver sciences, and a general appearance ofopulence and comfort. The shops in Verona appear very splendid, and the_Bra_, when lighted up in the evening, is a very lively and animatingscene. 

MANTUA, 15 June. 

I could not go to Milan without stepping a little out of my road to visitthis ancient and redoubtable fortress, so celebrated in the early campaignsof Buonaparte, besides the other claims it has on the traveller's attentionas the birth place of Virgil. This place is of immense strength, as amilitary post; being situated on a small isthmus of land, separating twolakes, and communicating with the rest of the country by an exceedingnarrow causeway. This position, added to the strength of thefortifications, render the fortress impregnable, if well garrisoned andprovisioned. The city is, however, unhealthy from the lake and marshy landabout it, and there is but a scanty population. Grass grows in the streetsand it is the dullest and indeed the only dull town in all Italy. Everything in this city announces decay and melancholy, and I met withseveral men looking full as halfstarved and deplorable as Shakespeare'sApothecary in Romeo and Juliet. Yet the city is by no means an ugly one. The buildings are imposing, the streets broad and well paved, and there isa fine circular promenade in the centre of which is a Monument erected inhonor of Virgil by the French general Miollis, who had a great venerationfor all poets. The _Palazzo pubblico_ and the Cathedral are the moststriking buildings. The latter contains the tombs and monuments of theGonzaga family, the whilom Sovereigns of Mantua. There are also severalmonuments in honor of some French officers, who were killed in thecampaigns of Italy under Buonaparte and erected to their memory by hisdirection. 

Outside the town, at a short distance from the causeway and _tête de pont_, is the celebrated palace called the T, from its being in the form of thatletter, which was the usual residence of the Dukes of Mantua. It is a nobleedifice and its gardens are well laid out. These gardens have thispeculiarity, that at the entrance of each of the grand avenues is a figureof a man on horseback caparizoned in armour, like the Knights of old. Thisis all I have to say about Mantua. The Mincio beset with "osiers dank"flows into the lake. 

CREMONA, 16th June. 

From Mantua I directed my course to this city, which is large andfortified, situated on the Po which forms many little islands in theenvirons. This city is of great antiquity, and has a number of Gothicbuildings. You do not find here the specimens and imitations of Grecianarchitecture as at Vicenza and Verona. The _campanile_ of the Cathedral isof immense height, but one is repaid for the fatigue of ascending by theextensive view from its summit. There are 498 steps. I put up at the_Colombina_, a very good inn. The Cremonese seem to be an industriouspeople. There is a great deal of pasture land in the environs of this cityand much cheese is made here and in the Lodesan. Several ricefields arealso to be met with between this place and Lodi. 

MILAN, 25 June. 

I have been on a visit to the ancient and venerable city of Pavia, which isabout eighteen miles distant from Milan, thro' a rich highly cultivatedplain. The road lies in a right line the whole way. About three milesdistant from Pavia on the Milan side stands the celebrated _Certosa_, whichwe stopped to visit. The church of the _Certosa_ contains the greatestquantity of riches in marbles, and precious stones, of any building in theworld, probably. The architecture is Gothic, and the workmanship of theexterior exquisite; but the ulterior is most dazzling; and at the sight ofthe rich marbles and innumerable precious stones of all kinds with which itabounds, I was reminded of Aladdin and began to fancy myself in the cavernof the Wonderful Lamp. This church was built by Galeazzo Visconti, whosecoffin is here, and his statue also, in white marble. There are severalbas-reliefs of exquisite workmanship. There are no fewer than seventeenaltars here and of the most beautiful structure you can conceive, beinginlaid in mosaic with jasper, onyx and lapis-lazuli. Besides these preciousmarbles of every colour and quantity under heaven, here are abundance ofrubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines and topazes, incrusted in thedifferent chapels and altars. Here again is a proof of the falsehood andinjustice of the aspersions cast on the French army, as being theplunderers of churches; for if they were so, how comes it that the_Certosa_ the richest of all, was spared? Mr Eustace[119] in his admirationof Church splendour, should at least have given the French no small degreeof credit for their abstinence from so rich a prize. A canal runs parallelto the road the whole way from Milan to Pavia, where it joins the Tessino. The banks of the Canal and each side of the road are lined with poplars. Pavia is one of the most ancient cities in Italy and has something veryantique and solemn in its appearance. It is quite Gothic and was thecapital city of the Lombard Kings. The streets are broad and the _Piazza_is large. I could not find any traces of the ancient palace of the LombardKings, which I should like much to have done; for then I should haveendeavoured to make out the chamber into which Jocondo peeped anddiscovered what cured him of his melancholy, and where the impatient Queenreceived the petulant answer from her beloved Nano, conveyed by one of herwaiting maids who told her:

 E per non stare in perdita d'un soldo, A voi nega venire fl manigoldo. [120]

 Nor, lest he lose a doit, his paltry stake, Will that discourteous churl his game forsake

 --_Trans. _ W. S. ROSE. 

MILAN, 28th June. 

I have been to the _Scala_ theatre, to see the _Ballet of the Vestal_, oneof the most interesting Ballets I ever beheld. Oh! what a mighty magicianis the ballet master Vigano, and as for the prima ballerina, Pallerini, what praises can equal her merit? then, the delightful soul soothing music, so harmonious, so pathetic, and the decorations so truly tasteful andclassical! I can never forget the impression this fascinating Ballet madeon me. It is called _La Vestale_. It opens with a view of the Circus inancient Rome, and various gymnastic exercises, combats of gladiators, ofathletes, and ends with a chariot race with real horses. The Roman Consulsare present in all their pomp, surrounded by Lictors with axes and fasces. The Vestal virgins assist at this spectacle, and from one of them thevictor in the games receives a garland, as the recompense of his prowess. The victor is the son of one of the Consuls and the hero of the piece; theheroine is the Vestal Virgin who crowns him with the garland. The youngvictor becomes desperately enamored of the Vestale, and she appears also tofeel an incipient flame. After the games are over, the victor returns tohis father's house, and meeting there one of his friends, discloses to himhis love for the Vestale and his idea of entering by stealth into thetemple of Vesta, where his beloved was appointed to watch the sacred fire. His friend endeavors, but in vain, to dissuade him from so rash an attempt, which can only end in the destruction, both of his beloved and himself. Allthe remonstrances, however, of the friend are vain; and the hero fixed inhis resolve watches for the opportunity, when it is the turn of his belovedto officiate in the temple of Vesta, and enters therein. The Vestale isterrified and supplicates him to retire: in vain; and after a long butineffectual struggle she sinks into his arms at the foot of the altar. Suddenly the sacred flame becomes extinguished; a noise is heard; theVestals enter; the unfortunate fair is roused from her stupor by the noiseof footsteps and has just time to oblige her lover to retire, which hereluctantly does, but not unperceived by the Vestals. The Matron of theVestals reproaches her with the crime she has committed and orders her tobe placed in a dungeon. She is brought out to be examined by the HighPriest, found guilty and condemned by him to the usual punishment of theVestals for a breach of their vow, viz. , the being buried alive outside thegates of Rome. The moment the sentence is pronounced a black veil is thrownover her. The scene then changes to the place of execution; the funeralprocession takes place; the vault is dug and a man stands by with a pitcherof water and loaf of bread, to deliver to her when she should descend. TheConsuls are present, attended by the Lictors and Aediles. All the othervestals are present, of whom the culprit takes an affectionate leave and isabout to descend into the vault. Suddenly a noise of arms and shouts areheard. It is her lover who having collected a few followers come rushingforward with arms in their hands to arrest the execution. He forces his wayinto the presence of the Consuls, but the sight of his father inspires himwith awe; he staggers back; at this moment a Lictor at the command of theother Consul plunges a spear into his breast. The Vestal is hurried to thebrink of the vault, into which she is forced to descend to theaccompaniment of mournful music, while her dying lover vainly endeavours tocrawl towards her. The curtain falls. 

The exquisite acting of La Pallerini drew tears from my eyes: it was indeedtoo horrible a subject for a _Ballo_, which in my opinion ought to endhappily. The scenery was the finest of the kind I think I ever witnessed. The first scene represents the _Circus maximus_; the interior of the templeof Vesta and the place of execution outside the walls of Rome were mostclassically correct and appropriate: the music was beyond all praise andsingularly affecting. This Ballet has excited such an enthusiasticapprobation that Vigano the Ballet master, Pallerini who acts the Vestaland the young man who performs the hero of the piece were summoned everyevening after the termination of the Ballet, to appear on the stage, andreceive applauses, which seemed to increase at every representation. I havebeen to see this ballet six or seven times, and always with increaseddelight. I was there on the last night of its representation, when someamateurs and people connected with the theatre put in practice whatappeared to mean ill-judged _concetto_, however well merited the complimentit meant to convey. When the Vestal was about to descend into the vault, agenius with wings rose from it and repeated a few lines beginning _Tu nonmorrai_ and telling her that the suffrages of the Insubrian people haddecreed to her immortality, and printed sonnets were showered down on thestage from all parts of the house. I think it would have been much betterto let the piece finish in the usual way, and then at its termination callfor La Pallerini to advance and receive the garlands and hommage so justlyher due. 

I was in the _loge_ belonging to my friend Mme L-----; there were three orfour _litterati_ with her, and they were all unanimous that it was anabsurd and pedantic _concetto_. 

In a day or two I shall start from Milan for Munich thro' Brescia andVerona and the Tyrol. 

CHAPTER XVI

JULY-SEPTEMBER 1818

Innspruck--Tyrol and the Tyrolese--From Innspruck to Munich--Monuments andchurches--Theatricals--Journey from Munich to Vienna on a floss--Troublewith a passport--Complicated system of Austrian money--Description ofVienna--The Prater--The theatres--Schiller's _Joan of Arc_--A_Kinderballet_--The young Napoleon at Schoenbrunn--Journey from Vienna toPrague. 

INNSPRUCK, 15th July. 

I had engaged with a _vetturino_ to convey me from Verona to Innspruck forfour _louis d'or_ and to be _spesato_. A Roman gentleman and his lady weremy fellow travellers; they were going to pass the summer months at a small_campagne_ they possess in the Tyrol. We stopped the first night atRoveredo. The road from Verona to Roveredo is on the banks of the Adige(called in German the Etsch) in a narrow and deep valley, shut up on bothsides by mountains, almost immediately on leaving Verona. We found theweather extremely hot in this valley. Roveredo seems to be a very neatclean little city, and the Adige flows with astonishing rapidity along thisnarrow valley. The women of Roveredo have the reputation of being verybeautiful; and I recollect having seen two Roveredo girls at Venice, whowere models of female beauty. They have a happy mixture of German andItalian blood and manners, but Italian is the language of the country. Thesecond morning of our journey we arrived and stopped to dinner at thevenerable and celebrated city of Trent. The country we passed thro' is muchthe same as that between Verona and Roveredo, the Adige being on our left. Trent lies also in the valley of the Adige, shut up between the Alps. Thewhole valley appears in high cultivation. The streets of Trent are broad;the Cathedral is a remarkably fine Gothic building. In the church of StaMaria Maggiore was held the famous council of Trent. There are a great manysilk mills in Trent. German as well as Italian is spoken; indeed the twolanguages are equally familiar to most of the inhabitants. In the eveningwe arrived at Sabern after passing thro' Lavis. One description will servefor these towns and indeed for most of the towns in the Tyrol, viz. , thatof being neat, clean and solidly built. The inns are excellent and theinhabitants very civil. The Adige runs close to the road and parallel toit, nearly the whole way to Bolsano or Botzen, where Italian ceases to bespoken and German is the national tongue. Botzen is a large and flourishingplace. 

One general description will serve for the Tyrol, regarding the towns, adjacent country, customs, inns, inhabitants, dress and manners. 

First the towns are fully as neat, clean and well built as those inSwitzerland; the country too is very similar, tho' not quite on so grand ascale of sublimity; but you have fully as much variety in mountain andvalley, glacier and cascade. The climate is exactly the same as that ofSwitzerland, being very hot in the valleys in summer. The inns are cleanand good, the provisions excellent and well cooked, the wines much betterthan those of Switzerland; there is good attendance by females and all at afar cheaper rate than in Switzerland. The Tyroleans are much more courteousin their manners than the Swiss; they have not that boorishness and are ofmore elegant figure than their Helvetic neighbours. The women of the Tyrolare in general remarkably beautiful, exceedingly well shaped and of finecomplexions. 

In the towns the bourgeoises dress well, something in the French style, andit is their custom to salute travellers who pass by kissing their hands tothem. The dress of the female peasantry, however, is unpleasing to the eyeand so uncouth, that it would make the most beautiful women appear homely. In the first place I will speak of their head dress, of which there arethree different kinds, two of which are as _bizarre_ as can be imagined. The first sort is a cap of sheepskin, the fleece of which is as white assnow, and the cap is of conical shape, the base being exceeding large inproportion to its height, and resembles much the sugar loaves made inEgypt. The second is a black scull cap, with the three pieces of stiffblack _gaze_, sticking out like the vanes of a windmill; so that when puton the head, one vane stands upright from the forehead and the other twofrom each ear. The third head dress is a broad straw hat, and I wish theywould stick to this coiffure, and discard the two others. Then the waist oftheir dress is as long as

 . .. Du pole antarctique an détroit de Davis. [121]

Their petticoats are exceedingly short, scarcely reaching the calf of thelegs, which are enveloped in a pair of flaming red stockings. Who the devilcould invent such an ungraceful dress for a female?

The costume of the men on the contrary is becoming and graceful. Itresembles very much the costume of the Andalusians. The hat is exactly thesame, the crown being small and the rim very broad. 

The Tyroleans are a fine gallant race of men and are excellent marksmen. They were formerly much attached to the House of Austria; but thatattachment is now entirely changed to dislike, from the ingratitude theyhave met with, since they have been replaced under that scepter. 

The only fault I find in the Tyroleans, is that they are rather too devoutand consequently too much under the influence of the clergy. Yet in theirdevotion there is not the smallest tinge of hypocrisy and they are esteemeda highly moral people. 

If you arrive at an inn in the evening, while the family are at prayer, neither master nor servants will come to wait on you, till prayers areover; and then you will be served with sufficient alacrity; but the prayersare rather long. 

I believe the priests extort a good deal of money from these good people. The road thro' the Tyrol was made by the Romans, in the time of SeptimusSeverus. An immense number of Crucifixes on the road attest and command thedevotion of the people. 

How Kotzebue can call Innspruck a dirty town I am at a loss to conceive. Hemust have visited it during very rainy weather; for to me it appears one ofthe cleanest and most chearful towns I have ever seen. There are severalvery fine buildings, for instance the Jesuits' College, and the Franciscanmonastery; Nothing can be more picturesque than the situation of this cityin the valley of the Inn and its romantic windings. The suburbs are veryextensive and can boast several fine houses. The cupola of the GovernmentHouse is gilded, which gives it a splendid appearance. In the _Hofkirche_or church of the court there are a number of statues, large as life, inbronze; among which my guide pointed out to me those of Clovis, Godfrey ofBouillon, Albert the Wise, Charles V, Philip II of Spain, Rudolph ofHapsburgh, and to my great astonishment the British King Arthur; there weretwenty-eight statues altogether. But on my return to my inn, I found thatmy guide had made a great error respecting King Arthur, and that the saidstatue represented Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII, King of England, andnot the old Hero of Romance; and my hostess' book further informed me thatthese statues were those of the Kings and Princes belonging to familiesconnected by descent and blood with Maximilian I. In the same _Hofkirche_is a fine monument erected to Maximilian and a statue of bronze of thisEmperor is figured kneeling between four bronze figures representing fourVirtues. In the gardens of the Palace of the Archduke Ferdinand in thiscity is a fine equestrian statue which rests entirely on the hind feet ofthe horse. From Innspruck there is a water passage by the river Inn all theway to Vienna, as the Inn flows into the Danube at Passau. The banks of theInn are so romantic and picturesque that I would willingly prolong my_séjour_ at Innspruck, but as I mean to take the journey from Mittenwald toMunich by the river Isar, I must take advantage of the raft which startsfrom that place the day after to-morrow. 

MUNICH, 20th July. 

I left Innspruck in a _chaise de poste_ on the 16th, and arrived the sameevening at five o'clock at Mittenwald. At a short distance before I arrivedat Mittenwald, I entered the Bavarian territory, which announces itself bya turnpike gate painted white and blue, the colours and _Feldzeichen_ ofBavaria. In the Austrian territory the barriers are painted black andyellow, these being the characteristic colors of Austria. 

Mittenwald is a small neat town, offering nothing remarkable but a churchyard or _Ruhe-garten_ (garden of repose) as it is called, where there are anumber of quaint inscriptions on the tombstones. At Mittenwald I had sometrouble about my passport, as it was not _visé_ by a Bavarian authority;but I explained to the officer that I had never fallen in with any Bavarianauthority since I left Rome, and that, while at Rome, I had no intention ofgoing thro' Bavaria; that at Milan the Austrian authorities had _visé_ mypassport for Vienna and that I should only pass thro' Munich, withoutmaking a longer stay than one week. He acquiesced in my argument, butinserted my explanation on the passport. At half a quarter of a mile beyondMittenwald I met the raft just about to get under weigh at eleven o'clocka. M. This raft is about as long as the length of a thirty-six gun frigate, and formed of spars fastened together; on this is a platform about one anda half feet high. The Isar begins its course close to Mittenwald, and theplace on which the raft stood, previous to departure, was very shallow; butwater was quickly let in from sluices to float the raft, and off we setwith a cargo of peasants, male and female, and merchandise bound forMunich. As the river Isar rushes between immense mountains, and forms acontinual descent until the plains of Bavaria open to view, you mayconceive with what rapidity we went. We encountered several falls of waterof two, three, four and sometimes five feet which we had to _shoot_, whichno boat could possibly do without being upset. The lower part of the raftwas frequently under water in making these _shoots_ and we were obliged tohold on fast to our seats to prevent being jerked off. Nothing can be moreromantic and picturesque than this journey, and there is something awefulin _shooting_ these falls; these rafts are, however, so solidly constructedthat there is no danger whatever. They can neither sink nor upset. Wearrived and halted the evening at Tölz, a large village or town on theright bank of the Isar. What gives to Tölz a remarkably singular appearanceis, that on a height at a short distance from the town, and hangingabruptly over the river, you perceive several figures in wood, larger thanthe life, which figures form groups, representing the whole history of thepassion of Jesus Christ. At a short distance, if you are not prepared forthis, you suppose that they are real men, and that a procession orexecution is going forward. On landing I immediately ascended this hill inorder to observe this curiosity, and there I beheld the following groups, first: Christ in the midst of his disciples preaching; secondly: thedisciples asleep in a cave, and Christ watching and praying; next was Judasbetraying Christ to the soldiery; then the judgment of Christ beforePilate; then Christ bearing his cross to the place of execution; and lastlythe crucifixion on Mount Calvary. The ground is curiously laid out so as torepresent, as much as possible, the ground in the environs of Jerusalem. Tölz is a pretty village, but contains nothing more remarkable than theabove groups. 

The next day at twelve o'clock we perceived the spires of Munich, and attwo anchored close to one of the bridges from whence, having hired awheelbarrow to trundle my portmanteau, I repaired to the inn called theGolden Cross--_Zum goldenen Kreutz_. At Tölz the Rhetian Alps recede fromthe view; the landscape then presents a sloping plain which is perfectlylevel within four miles of Munich. The river widens immediately on issuingfrom the gorges of the Tyrol and for the last five miles we were followedby boys on the banks of the river, begging for wood, with which our raftwas laden, and we threw to them many a faggot. Wood is the great exportfrom the Tyrol to Bavaria, as the latter is a flat country and has not muchwood, with which on the contrary the Tyrol abounds. A sensible differenceof climate is now felt and the air is keener than in the Tyrol. The priceof a place on the raft from Mittenwald to Munich cost only one florin, andat Tölz an excellent supper, bed and coffee in the morning cost me only oneflorin. 

MUNICH, 23rd July. 

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is an ancient Gothic city of venerableappearance. The houses are very solid in structure, and the streetssufficiently broad to give to the city a cheerful appearance. There aresome suburbs added to it, built in the modern taste, which embellish itgreatly. A large Place outside the old town, called the _Carolinen-Platz, _presents a number of villas disposed in the form of a circus. In thesesuburbs the people assemble on holidays and Sundays, to smoke and drinkbeer, of which a great quantity is consumed, it being the favorite andnational beverage. From the lively scene of the lower class of thebourgeoisie, male and female, meeting here in the _Biersschanks_ and_Tanzsaale_ I was reminded of the lines in Faust:

 Gewiss man findet hier Die schönsten Mädchen, und das beste Bier, which may be thus rendered:

 Here let us halt! 'tis here we're sure to find Beer of the best and maidens fair and kind!

There are other very agreeable promenades outside the town, laid out as_jardins anglais, _ the garden of Ostenwald for instance; and should youwish to extend your walk further, there is Nymphenburg, a royal Palace andgardens, just one league distant from the city. 

The _Residenz-schloss_ or Palace of the King is a solid building. Theinterior is well worth seeing. There is a superb saloon with a vast numberof valuable miniatures appended to the wainscoating. An enormously heavybed, groaning with gold and silver embroidery and pearls and which is saidto weigh a ton, is to be seen here. There is a very good collection ofpictures, chiefly portraits, of the Electoral, now Royal family. There is afine chapel too belonging to this palace; a superb staircase of marble, andsome fine old tapestry representing the actions of Otto von Wittelsbach. There is likewise a curious miniature copy of Trajan's column in gold andincrusted with precious stones, besides a variety of other things of value. 

There are two theatres in Munich; one called the Hof or Court theatre, where there is a company of comedians for tragedy and comedy, the expencesof which are defrayed principally by the King. The boxes are generally letto the nobility and the _parterre_ is open to every body on payment. Iwitnessed the representation of Mozart's _Nozze di Figaro. _ The King waspresent and was greeted with much affection. He has a very benignantexpression of countenance. He is much beloved by his subjects, for he hasgoverned them paternally. He has given to them a constitution _unasked;_for they were so contented with the old Government, that they desired nochange; but he, with his usual good sense, saw the propriety of consultingand complying with the spirit of the age. A German writer of some eminenceat the time of the French Revolution, when the aristocrats and alarmists ofall countries were crying out against it, and proposing harsh measures toarrest its progress, said: "Sovereigns of Europe, do you wish to set boundsto the progress of French principles? Nothing can be more simple; you haveonly to govern your people like Maximilian of Bavaria and Frederick ofSaxony, and your subjects will never desire a change. "

At the German (national) theatre which is a fair sized one, I saw a tragedyperformed called _Der Wald bey Herman-stadt_ (the Forest nearHermanstadt), [122] It was an interesting piece taken from a feudal legend. The part of Elisene was performed by Mlle Vohs, a very good actress. Imissed very much one thing in Munich, and that is the want of _cafés_ likethose in France and Italy, which have so brilliant an appearance. They makecoffee here at the inns; and there are two or three dull places up one pairof stairs, where they play at billiards, and make as indifferent coffee asis made in England. The hour of dining at Munich is in general one o'clock. A slice of ham or sausage with beer form the _goûter, _ usually taken atfive or six o'clock; and at nine follows a supper as solid as the dinner. The Germans are not loungers as the French and Italians, who, for the mostpart, spend all their spare time in coffee-houses. When I mentioned to aBavarian that I could find no _cafés_ in Munich resembling those in Franceand Italy, he said with emphasis! _Gott bewahre_ (God forbid)! I could nothelp thinking he was in the right; for those splendid _cafés_ are veryseducing to young people and tend to encourage a life of idleness and tokeep them from their studies. The lower _bourgeoisie_ and _Stubenmädchen_(_maidservants_) wear a singular head dress. It is made of stuff workedwith silver or gold and resembles two horns sticking out one at each ear. This head dress must be costly. This class of women wear also on _fête_days gold crosses, collars and earrings. 

The Bavarians seem a frank, honest set of people, tho' sometimes a littlerough, in their exterior deportment. The character of Otto of Wittelsbach, in the tragedy of that name, gives the best idea of the Bavarian character. 

I have made acquaintance here with a Mr F-----, an Austrian gentleman, andtwo Polish gentlemen, the one an officer and the other a medical man. Theyare brothers and had both served in the French army. We have agreed totravel to Vienna together on board of the raft which starts every week fromMunich to Vienna. This raft brings to every day between twelve o'clock andtwo near some town or village on the banks of the river, in order to allowthe passengers to dine, and anchors every evening at seven o'clock nearsome town or village to sup and sleep. You have only to tell the_Flossmeister_, or Master of the Raft, at what inn you mean to put up, orif you have no preference, he will recommend you one; and at five the nextmorning he goes his rounds to the different inns to collect his passengers, and at six gets under weigh. 

VIENNA, 2nd August. 

I left Munich on the 25th July and arrived on the 6th day of our journey, 30th July, at Vienna, The _Floss_, or raft, on board of which we embarked, is about as long as the main deck of an eighty-four gun ship and aboutforty feet in breadth. It is constructed of strong spars lashed together. On the spars is constructed a large platform and on the platform severalcabins, containing tables and chairs. Mr F----, the Poles and myself hireda cabin to ourselves. On the raft was a great deal of merchandize going toVienna. At Vienna the _Flossmeister_, after landing his passengers andmerchandize, sells his raft and returns on horseback to Munich. A raft isconstructed weekly at Munich from wood felled in the Tyrol and floated onthe Isar down to Munich. We arrived the first evening at Freysingen, but itwas nearly dark when we arrived; it seemed however as far as we couldobserve to be a neat village; at any rate, we met with a very comfortableinn there with good fare and good beds. We met with a very pleasant familyon board the raft, bound to Landshut; M. And Mme S. Were extremelywell-informed people and their two daughters very fine girls. 

We arrived the following day at twelve o'clock at Landshut, which is a veryfine town. There is an immense Gothic tower or steeple to the Church of StMartin, about 450 feet in height. At Deckendorf, where the Isar flows intothe Danube, I saluted for the first time that noble river. We stopped thenight at Pillshofen and arrived the following day at twelve o'clock atPassau. Passau is a large, well built and handsome city, and is situated onthe confluent of three rivers, the Inn, the Illst and the Danube; for herethe two former flow into the latter, one on each side. Each of these riversjust before the point of juncture seem to be of different colors; forexample the Danube appears blue, the Inn white, and the Illst black. AtPassau we put up at the Wild Man (_Zum Wilden Mann_), a favorite sign forinns in these parts. 

The Cathedral and _Residenz-Schloss_ are striking buildings, and the cityhas a lively and grand appearance. The women appear to be in generalhandsome and well dressed. We brought to the evening at Engelhardtzell, where the barrier, painted black and yellow, announced our return to theAustrian territory. We underwent at the Customs house a rigid search fortobacco: they even took away the tobacco that some passengers had in theirpouches. They were likewise very rigid about our passports. The Englishpassports do not please them at all, on account of the features of thebearer not being specified therein, and as I answered their questions inGerman, they supposed me to be a native of that country and asked me whatbusiness I had with a British passport. I replied: _Weil ich ein Engländerbin. --Sie ein Engländer? Sie 'sind gewiss aus Nord Deutschland. Siesprechen recht gut Deutsch. --Meine Herren, ich bin ein Engländer: vieleEngländer studieren und sprechen Deutsch, und wenn Sièmit mir einelangeUnterredung gehalten hätten, so hätten Sie bald ausgefunden durchmeine Sprachfehler, dass ich kein geborner Deutscher bin. --Aber Sie habenunsere Fragen vollkommen gut beantwortet. --Warum nicht? man hat mir dienehmlichen Fragen so wiederholten Malen gestellt, dass ich die dazugehörigen Antworte auswendig habe, wie em Katechismus_. [123] The officerlaughed, took up a pen, _viséd_ and gave me back my passport. 

The whole of the country on the banks of this noble river the Danube ispicturesque and presents much variety. There cannot be a more delightfulsummer tour than a descent down this river. The next town of consequencethat we arrived at was Linz, a large, populous and beautifully built cityand capital of Upper Austria. The circumjacent country is in partmountainous. The Danube is very broad here, and there is an immensely longwooden bridge. We put up at the inn _Zum goldenen Kreutz_ (golden cross). Here it became indispensably necessary to change our money for Austrianpaper, for that sort of it called _Wiener Währung_ (Vienna security), sinceneither foreign coin nor another description of Austrian paper, called_Conventions-Münze_ (conventional currency), are current for ordinarypurposes; and it is necessary to get them changed for the current paper_Wiener Währung. _To explain this matter more fully and clearly: there aretwo sorts of paper money in the Austrian Dominions. One is called_Conventions-Münze_ (conventional currency), which is fully equivalent togold and sliver and cannot be refused as such throughout the whole of theAustrian dominions; the other, called _Wiener Währung_ (Vienna security) iscurrent and payable in Austria proper only, and bears a loss, out of theArchduchy. The value of the _Wiener Währung_ fluctuates considerably, butthe usual par of exchange is as 2 to 1: that means, two hundred florins_Wiener Währung_ are equal to one hundred _Convenzions-Münze_ or gold andsilver money. Even the _Convenzions-Münze_ bears a loss, tho' trifling, outof the Imperial Dominions. The exchange has been known to have been at 400per cent; that is, four hundred florins _Wiener Währung_ were only worthone hundred florins gold and silver; but just now it may be reckoned alittle beyond par, fluctuating from 200 to 220. In fact, the value of aflorin _Wiener Währung_ may be calculated at a frank in French money. Allthis is exceedingly troublesome to travellers, particularly to those who donot understand the German language; for as they cannot read theinscription, it would be difficult for them to know the difference betweenone sort of paper money and the other and they might be seriously imposedupon. I advise therefore all travellers, before they arrive at the Austrianfrontier, whether coming from Bavaria, Saxony, or Italy, to buy up the_Wiener Währung_ notes they may meet with, and which may be purchased atgreat profit, probably, beyond the frontier, whereas if they deferpurchasing till they arrive within the Austrian frontier, they can onlyprocure the _Wiener Währung_ at the common rate of exchange current. 

At Linz we find ourselves again in a wine country. Linz is renowned for thebeauty of its women, and we had a most favorable specimen in our landlord'sdaughter, one of the most beautiful girls I ever beheld. We talked to her agreat deal, and a scene ridiculous enough occurred. She has very beautifularms which we all seemed to admire; and all at once, by instinct as itwere, the two Poles lifted up one arm and I the other, and our respectivelips were fastened on either arm at the same moment as if by word ofcommand. We apologized for the liberty we took, saying that her arms wereperfectly irresistible and that we had never seen such fine ones before. She accepted our excuse with the utmost good nature, and laughed veryheartily. Her father is a man of information and a good classical scholar, a thing which is by no means uncommon among the inn-keepers of Germany. Westopped here that night, and the ensuing forenoon. We had an excellentsupper, very good wine, and we drank to the health of the fair Amalia, thehost's daughter. Our host, who was a friend of Mr F----'s, gave us thebest of every thing, and our expences did not amount to more than sevenflorins _Wiener Währung_, for supper, bed, breakfast and dinner. We passedthe forenoon in visiting the different parts of the city and we were struckwith the appearance of opulence and industry that prevails. 

Before we arrived at Mölk, which is the next important place, we passed thetown of Ens and beyond that the famous _Strudel_ or Whirlpool which isdangerous at times for boats. Our raft was completely whirled round. Thiswhirlpool is caused by rocks rising abruptly out of the water. The populartradition is that this whirlpool is the abode of a very malicious andspiteful _Wassernixe_, Undine or Water Goblin, who delighted in drowningpassengers. The scenery hereabouts is more wild and romantic than what wehave hitherto passed and bears a great resemblance to the landscape on theRhine between Mayence and Coblentz. Mölk is an Abbey and a very magnificentedifice it is, situated on an eminence which forms the angle with the riverand rises quite _à pio_ from the water's edge; it lies quite _en face_ tothose who approach it, descending the stream, so that the river seems to beterminated by it. It commands a noble prospect. I had only time to inspecthastily the church. Beyond Mölk is a range of rocks that bear a greatresemblance to a wall, and jut out a great deal towards the river. It iscalled the _Devil's wall_ from the tradition of the Devil havingendeavoured to make a wall to dam up the river. Above this wall is thefamous castle and vineyard called _Spitz am Platz_, and further on is thecastle of Dierenstein, situated on a mountain on the left bank of theDanube. The ascent is very steep; this castle, now in ruins, was the placewhere Richard Coeur de Lion was confined. The walls only of the castle andpart of the chapel are all that remain; we did not fail to visit a place ofsuch celebrity. A convent lies below it. 

We brought to the night at a large village where there is an excellent inn;and the next day, the Leopoldsberg, bursting forth to view, announced to usthe approach to Vienna. We anchored at Nussdorf, where there is a Customhouse, and from whence the distance to Vienna is about one and half mileEnglish. After having my trunk examined, I hired a hackney coach and droveinto Vienna. The barriers beyond the suburb are called _Lines_, and betweenthe Suburbs and the old town is an Esplanade. We entered the Suburbs by the_Währinger Linie_, and the old town by the _Rothes Thor_ (Red gate); andfrom thence I repaired to the inn _Zum weissen Wolf_ (white Wolf) in the_Altem Fleischmarkt_ (old meat-market). 

VIENNA, Augt. 4. 

The old town of Vienna is not very large, since you can walk round itscircumference on the ramparts in two hours. It was formerly fortified, butthe French blew up the fortifications, leaving only the rampart; and by sodoing they did a thing of great utility for the Viennese, and gave to theAustrian government an excellent opportunity of joining the old town to themagnificent faubourgs, by filling up the esplanade which separates themwith streets and squares, which would prevent the unpleasant effects ofdust in dry, and the mud in wet weather, for this dust and mud renders theesplanade almost at all times a disagreeable promenade, there being a sharpwind prevalent almost the whole year at Vienna, which blows about the dust_en tourbillons_. Here then was an excellent opportunity, afforded by theblowing up of the fortifications, of paving the whole of the esplanade andfilling it up with streets. But no! the Austrian government seem determinedupon restoring the fortifications, and a considerable number of workmen areemployed. This is very silly, for these fortifications are not of the leastuse against a foreign enemy, inasmuch as the enemy can always erect hisbatteries among the faubourgs and need only make one parallel, theprotection and cover afforded to him by the faubourgs rendering the othertwo superfluous. The faubourgs are by far the finest part of the city, andthe garrison of the old town, in endeavouring to defend it, would destroyby every shot they should fire the fine buildings on the faubourgs. Of thefolly of making such a defence they were made fully sensible in 1809. Oneof the Archdukes threw himself into the old town of Vienna, with anintention of defending it to the last and refused to surrender. Napoleoncaused batteries to be erected on the _Rennweg_ or _Corso_ covered by thechurch of St Charles, the Manege and Palace of the Hungarian noble guard, all magnificent buildings in the faubourgs. He then summoned the garrisonof the old town again to surrender saying: "Every shot fired against thebesiegers destroys your own most valuable property and finest edifices. "This argument, backed by the entreaties of the citizens, had its effect andthe capitulation was signed. This shows the perfect inutility of fortifyingthe old town of Vienna against a foreign enemy. Indeed a capital cityshould never be fortified; it generally contains too many things of value, ever to be exposed to the risk of a bombardment. It would seem, however, that the object of the Austrian government in reconstructing these workswere to keep its own subjects at Vienna in check. But in this case it wouldbe much more advisable to construct a fortress on the heights of Kahlenbergor of Leopoldsberg, both of which command the city and the whole expansebelow. The Turks were encamped on the Kahlenberg at the famous siege ofVienna. 

Vienna proper, the old town, is a Gothic city, but a very handsome one. Thestreets are in general broad and well paved; but the _Places_ or Squaresare small. With the exception of the _Herrengasse_, where the nobilityreside, the rest of Vienna is inhabited by shopkeepers and wholesaledealers; and the shops are brilliant and well fitted up. The _KärnthnerStrasse_, a long and tolerably broad street, and the _Kohlmarkt_ presentthe greatest display of wealth. Indeed the _Kärnthner Strasse_ may beconsidered as the principal street; this street and the _Kohlmarkt_ have agreat resemblance to the finest parts of Holborn. The _Graben_ also presenta fine display of shops and may be termed the Bond Street of Vienna. The_Sanct Stephans Platz_ where the Cathedral church of Vienna, called _StStephans Kirche_, stands, is the largest _Place_ in Vienna. The Cathedralis a very ancient and curious Gothic edifice, and the steeple is nearly 450feet high. I happened to enter the Cathedral one day on the occasion of asolemn requiem celebrated for the soul of Prince Metternich's father. Hadit been for the son, instead of the father, many an honorable manpersecuted at the instigation of that most machiavelic of all ministers, might exclaim in making a slight alteration in a well known epitaph:

 Cy-gît M---- ah! qu'il est bien Pour son repos et pour le mien!

Among the other striking buildings in the old town is the _Hofburg_ orImperial Palace, a very extensive quadrangular building, with a large courtin its centre. A Guard mounts here every day at eleven o'clock. It was inone of the saloons of this palace that the celebrated Congress of Viennawas held; a Congress whose labours will be long and severely felt by Europeand duly appreciated by posterity, who will feel any other sentiment butthat of gratitude for the arrangements entered into there. The _Hofburg_was built by Leopold VII in 1200. This building, from its being extremelyirregular and from its having received additions at intervals in thedifferent styles of architecture, has been aptly enough considered as thetype of the Austrian monarchy, and of its growth from a Markgraviate to anEmpire; in _this_, by the continued acquisition of foreign territoriesdiffering from each other in manners and hi speech; in _that_, by thecontinued addition of various specimens of architecture and style ofbuilding in its augmentation. 

VIENNA, Aug. 8th. 

I am very well content with my abode at the _Weisser Wolf_, tho' it is nota first-rate hotel. They are very civil people, and I have an excellent andspacious room for two florins _Wiener Whärung_ per diem. Lodgings are theonly things that are dear in Vienna, every other article is, however, cheaper than in any other city I have yet been in. All kinds of Hungarianwine may be had at the most reasonable prices. I generally breakfast at aneighbouring _Café_ in the _Fleischmarkt_ for the sake of reading the_Allgemeine Zeitung_ which is taken in there, and which is the only journalhaving a shade of liberality which is permitted in the Austrian dominions. From the hours of twelve to three, dinners _à la carte_ are served at the_Weisser Wolf_. For two and half florins _W. W. _, I get an excellent dinnerwith a bottle of Offener wine. The wine of Offen resembles much that ofBordeaux in its quality and flavor. The tariff however of the dinners andwines varies daily a few kreutzers, in consequence of the eternalfluctuation of the _W. W. _, so that every morning a fresh tariff is affixedto the wainscot of the saloon where the dinners are served. Supper, servedlikewise _à la carte_, is at its full tide between the hours of eight andten o'clock; and as Vienna is renowned for the celebrity of its beefsteaksand cutlets, called here _Rostbraten_, these and a salad seem to be thefavourite dish for supper. My mornings I have hitherto passed in loungingabout the _Kärnthner Gasse, St Stephen's Platz, Kohlmarkt_, etc. For anhour before dinner the fashionable promenade is on the rampart in front ofthe palace of Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen; in the evening on the _Prater_, in a carriage, on horseback, or on foot. The _Prater_ is of immense extentand offers a great variety of amusements and sights. I generally returnhome at night pretty well fatigued from my rambles. 

There is another great inconvenience at Vienna, resulting from thefluctuation of the current money, and this is that a stranger, dwelling atan inn, is sure to be disturbed five or six times in the morning, sometimesas early as five or six o'clock, by Jews who rap at his door to enquire ifhe wants to exchange gold and silver against currency or _vice versâ_. Iused to lose all patience at being so disturbed in the morning, and wasobliged in self-defence to put an affiche on the door of my room to thiseffect: "_Man kauft und verkauft hier nichts; kein Wechsler darfhereintreten_. " "Here there is no buying and selling; no money changer isallowed to come in, " and I hereby recommend to all strangers not to treatwith these Jews, but on their arrival, or at any time they think fit, to goto a banking establishment in this city, where every day after eleveno'clock you can exchange your gold and silver for paper at the just rate ofexchange, as published at the Bourse, paying only a very slight premium, and on leaving Vienna to go to the same establishment to change yoursuperfluous _Wiener Währung_ for _Convenzions Münze_ or gold and silvermoney. For when the Jews tell you the rate of exchange is so and so, youconclude probably your bargain with them, and on enquiring at the Bourseyou find that the Jew has made a percentage of six or eight per cent, outof you. _Louis d'or_ are the best foreign coin to bring into the AustrianDominions. Next to them in utility are the Dutch ducats, or _GeharnischteMänner_ as they are termed, from the figure of the man in armour upon them. All other corns suffer a loss in proportion. The bankers in Vienna pay theforeign bill of exchange in _Convenzions Münze_, which you must afterwardschange for _Wiener Währung_, the only current money in Vienna and Austria. But what makes it additionally troublesome is that here in Vienna there areparticular payments, which must absolutely be paid in gold or silver or_Convenzions Münze_, and _not Wiener Währung_; for instance the franking offoreign letters at the post office, where they do not take the _WienerWährung_. In vain you may intreat them to take the _Wiener Währung_ at anyrate they please; no! you must go elsewhere and buy from the first personyou can meet with as much gold and silver as is required for the frankingof the letters; so bigotted are they in the Austrian dominions to theletter of the law! This happened to me: I wanted to frank three letters forEngland and I went to the post office with _Wiener Währung_ paper, notbeing aware of this regulation, and I was obliged to return to my Hotel, tolay hold of a Jew, and to buy from him as much gold and silver as wasrequisite for the franking of the letters. 

At the _Wechselbank_ or Bank of Exchange I have before mentioned, the crowdthat attends daily is immense; but the business is carried on without hurryor confusion. You hand in your paper or your gold and silver coin, theclerk who receives it gives you an order on paper for the amount specified, which paper you take into another room and therein receive the amount. Thisestablishment, however, remains open only two hours every day, betweeneleven and one I believe; so if you are too late for this interval of time, you must apply to the brokers, Christian or Israelite. 

VIENNA, August 11th. 

We left the old town by the _Burg-thor, _ and crossing the Esplanade, directed our course to the _Rennweg, _ one of the suburbs, in order to viewthe majestic edifice of St Charles, which is equal in the beauty of itsarchitecture to many of the finest churches in Rome. Its façade and cupolarender it one of the most striking buildings belonging to Vienna. We nextvisited the _Manège_ and the Palace called the palace of the HungarianNoble Guard. They are both beautiful edifices. The faubourgs of Vienna arebuilt in the modern style and their buildings, both public and private, excellent in their way and in the best state. The streets of the faubourgsare broad but not paved. The most celebrated of these faubourgs are _MariaHülf_, _Leopold-stadt_, _Landstrasse_, the _Rennweg_, the _WühringerGasse_; and I am persuaded that if the old town were united to the faubourgby means of streets and squares and the esplanade filled up with buildings, Vienna would perhaps be the handsomest city in Europe and the fourth insize, for the best buildings and palaces are in the faubourgs, viz. , theMilitary College, the Polytechnic School, St Charles' Church, the Porcelainfabric, the Palaces of Esterhazy, Kaunitz, Stahremberg, Schwarzenberg, Palfy, and the beautiful Palace and ground of Belvedere in which last is anoble collection of pictures open to the public. At the Polytechnic schoolone of the principal professors is a friend of Mr F------'s, and heexplained to us the nature of the establishment and the course of studiespursued. The apparatus for every branch of science is on the grandestscale. After dinner we repaired to the _Prater_, crossing a branch of theDanube which here forms several islands. The _Prater_ requires and deservesparticular mention. Part of it is something in the style of the _ChampsElysées_ at Paris, and it is fully equal to it in the variety of amusementsand enjoyments to be met with there; but it is far larger and morebeautiful on account of its landscape and the diversified manner in whichthe grounds are laid out. The _Prater_, then, is an immense park, laid outon an island of considerable extent on the Danube. The nearest faubourg toit is the _Leopoldstadt_, which is also the most fashionable one, and abridge conducts you from that faubourg direct into the _Prater_. The_Prater_ presents a mixture of garden, meadow, upland and forest; the loftytrees arranged in avenues or in clumps give a delightful protecting shade. On the road destined for the carriages there is every afternoon a mostbrilliant display of carriages. Another avenue is destined for equestrians, and two avenues, one on each side of these two, for pedestrians. There arebesides winding footpaths, that conduct you all over this vast extent ofground, and circular grass plots surrounded by trees where the pedestrianmay repose and eat and drink if he will. Here are _restaurants_ in plenty, _cafés_, Panoramas, exhibitions of wild beasts, swings, tennis courts, places for running at the ring, do for burlesque dramatic performances, _farceurs_, jugglers, De Bach's Equestrian Amphitheatre in the style ofFranconi, _Salles de Danse_, baths, billiard rooms, gaming tables, and evenhouses appropriated to gallantry. In fact, the _Prater_ is quite theParadise of the bourgeoisie of Vienna, who are fond of the pleasures of thetable and take every opportunity of making dinner and supper parties. Thebourgeois of Vienna are far more sensual than spiritual and not at alldisposed to self-denial. 

Excellent hams and sausages are to be had here; and the Viennese who dinesand sups heartily at his own house never fails, during his eveningpromenade, to take a tolerable good portion of ham or sausage, with aproportion of Offen wine or Maylander Beer, by way of staying his stomachduring the tedious interval between dinner and supper. I need scarce addthat smoking is universal, as indeed it is all over Germany, for I scarcelyever see a German without a pipe either in his mouth or fastened to hiscoat and a bag or pouch of tobacco either in his pocket or attached to hisbutton hole. In the _Prater_ dances often take place in the open airbetween the grisettes of Vienna, who are in general handsome and well made, and who dress well, and their lovers and admirers. The _Prater_ was firstopened to the public by the Emperor Joseph II. The _Au-garten_ is anotherplace of recreation and amusement, but on a smaller and much more tranquiland sober scale, than the _Prater_. None of the lower classes think ofcoming here, tho' it is open to every body decently dressed: there is notthat profuse eating and drinking going forward. It is more properlyspeaking a promenade, and forms a garden with alleys of trees where musicis often performed and there is a superb saloon where refreshments may behad. The _Au-garten_ is frequented chiefly by the _Noblesse_ and _HauteBourgeoisie_. In the morning likewise it is a fashionable resort to drinkthe mineral waters. It adjoins the _Prater_, being on the same island. Itwas the favourite lounge of Joseph II, who opened it to the public byaffixing this inscription on one of the gates:

 Allen Menschen gewidmete Erlustigung von ihrem Schätzer

 "Place of recreation open to all Men by their esteemer. "

VIENNA, Aug. 13th. 

There are a great number of theatres at Vienna. Two are situated in the oldtown, viz. , the _Hof-theater_ and the _Burg-theater_. The _Hof-theater_ isonly open when the Court are at Vienna, and they are now at Baden, tenleagues distant. The _Burg-theater_ is open all the year round, and may beconsidered as the national theatre. It is much frequented by thebourgeoisie and inhabitants of the old town, who do not chuse to take thetrouble to go to the _Wieden-theater_, which is situated in the faubourgs, and which is more of a classical and fashionable theatre than the other, inasmuch as it is more elegantly and classically built, better fitted up, and has a far better company of comedians. At the _Burgtheater_ I sawKotzebue's _Edelsinn und Armuth_ performed. The Wieden theatre which is, asI have said, in the faubourgs, is the handsomest theatre perhaps in Europefor its size. It is not large, but it is fitted up with so much taste andyou see and hear so well; every ornament is so chaste and there is nothingat all tawdry or superfluous. It is, I really think, a model of what everytheatre ought to be. There is a good deal of bronze about it which gives ita classical appearance, and the boxes are supported by Caryatides inbronze. There is a peculiarity in all the theatres at Vienna, which is, that in the _parterre_ you must sit in the place the number of which ismarked on your ticket. These places are called _Gesperrte Sitze, _ and eachseat resembles an armchair. When not occupied, the seat is folded up andlocked to the back of the chair, until the person who holds the ticketcorresponding to its number comes to take it; so that no other but theperson holding the ticket corresponding to the number can take it, and youare thus never likely to be shoved out of your place, as you are at most ofthe theatres in Europe. There are men stationed at the doors who follow youinto the _parterre_ to unlock and let down a seat for you, and to them yougive your ticket with a slight gratification, which is however quiteoptional; your ticket you previously pay for at the door. 

VIENNA, Augt. 20th. 

I have been to see Schönbrunn, the usual residence of the young Napoleon;but he is now at Baden with the Imperial family, where his mother, who islately arrived from Italy, is also on a visit. The young Napoleon is saidto be a remarkable fine boy, and a great favorite with his grandfather theEmperor. Many are the anecdotes related of him. I shall mention one. He hadheard so often talk of his father, that shortly after the arrival of hismother, he wished to see his father also and asked his attendantsrepeatedly and not in a very patient tone: _Wo ist denn mein Vater?_[124]This was told to his grandfather the Emperor; and he gave directions thatthe child should be brought to him, the very next time he should put thequestion. He then said to him: _Du möchtestwissen wo dein Vater ist? Er istin Verhaft. Man hat es mit ihm gut gemeint; weil er aber unruhig war, sohat man ihn in Verhaft gestellt, und Dich wird man auch verhaften, wenn Duunruhig bist. _[125]

So much for this anecdote; but I did not hear what was the answer of theyoung prince. The young Napoleon is, it appears, a great favorite of thesoldiers, who quite adore him, and he will sometimes go into the kitchen toget bread and meat to give to the soldiers on Guard at the Palace. Asingular event happened lately to Maria Louisa. During her stay atSchõnbrunn, her _chatouille, _ with several things of value in it, _bijouterie, _ etc. , was stolen from her. She caused enquiries to be made, and researches to be set on foot. Nobody has been able to find out who tookit; but it was put back in the precise place from whence it was taken, andnot a single article of the _bijouterie_ or things of value was missing. Itis supposed this theft was made for political purposes, in order todiscover the nature of her epistolary correspondence, if any existed. Hadit been taken by a vulgar thief, it is not probable that the articles ofvalue would have been restored. Such is the unhappy condition of thatPrincess to be always an object of suspicion and espionnage. 

_Journey to Prague_. 

I left Vienna on the 28th August in a _Landkutsche_ and arrived at Pragueon the first of September. 

These _Landkutsche_ are on the same plan and footing with the _vetture_ inItaly, and travel in the same manner, with this difference, however; thatthe _Landkutscher_ do not usually, as the _vetturini_ do, undertake toprovide for the supper and bed of their passengers. In a word, you are not_spesato;_ and in Germany there is not the least necessity for it, forthere is no such thing as extortion on the part of the German innkeepers, who are by far the most respectable of that profession. Besides, in mostplaces, everything is _tariffed, _ and where it is not, the landlord nevermakes an unreasonable demand, or attempts to make foreigners pay more thannatives; whereas in Italy if you are not _spesato_ there are no bounds tothe rapacity of the innkeepers, witness mine host of Terracina. Both Italyand Germany present the greatest convenience for travellers, as the_Landkutsche_ or _vetture_ are continually passing from town to town. Thereis however this difference between them, that the Italian _vetturini_ willabate their price, if their carriage is full excepting one place, and thatthey must start, whereas the German _Landkutscher_ never abate their price. 

I paid for my journey from Vienna to Prague thirty-five florins _WienerWährung, _ and we made the journey in five days. Our first day's journeybrought us to Höllabrunn, having stoppd to dinner at Stockeran. The road isexcellent and the several towns and villages we past thro' clean and wellbuilt. The landscape was either a plain, or gently undulating and extremelywell cultivated. 

Bohemia resembles Moravia, being an exceedingly rich corn country, generally open; not many trees about the country near the road side, exceptat the _Chateau_ and farm houses. The language is a dialect of theSclavonic, mixed with some German; but at the inns there is always one ortwo servants who speak German. In Bohemia a traveller not speaking German, and who has no interpreter with him, would find himself greatlyembarrassed. The Bohemians call themselves in their own language_Cherschky_, and the Hungarians call themselves _Magyar_. 

[117] Tasso, _Gerusalemme liberata_, canto XV, ottave 31, 32:

 Un uom della Liguria avrà ardimento All' incognito corao esporsi in prima. .. Tu spiegherai, Colombo, a un nuovo polo Lontane si le fortunate antenne. .. --ED. 

[118] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XL, 31, 1. --ED. 

[119] See reference to Eustace p. 131. 

[120] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, XXVIII, 38, 7. --ED. 

[121] Boileau, _Satires_, XI, v. 117. 

[122] The drama, _Der Wold bei Hermannstadt, _ is the work of Johanna Fraenul von Weissenthurn (1773-1847), a celebrated Viennese actress and authoress. An opera was written on the same text by W. Westmeyer, --ED. 

[123] Because I am an Englishman--You are an Englishman? you are certainly a North-German; you speak very correct German. --Gentlemen, I tell you I am an Englishman; many English study and speak the German language and if you had held a long conversation with me, you would soon have perceived from my faults in speaking, that I am not a German. --But you have answered our questions so correctly. --Why not, the same questions have been put to me so often that I have all the necessary answers by heart like a catechism. 

[124] Where is my father?

[125] "You wish to know where your father is? He is under arrest; people were well disposed to him; but he is placed under arrest, because he was unruly, and if you are unruly you will be placed under arrest likewise. "

CHAPTER XVII

SEPTEMBER 1818-MARCH 1819

The splendid city of Prague--The German expression, "To give thebasket"--Journey from Prague to Dresden--Journey from Dresden to Berlin--Adescription of Berlin--The Prussian Army--Theatricals--Peasants talk aboutNapoleon--Prussians and French should be allies--Absurd policy of theEnglish Tories--Journey from Berlin to Dresden--A description ofDresden--The battle of Dresden in 1813--Clubs at Dresden--Theatricals--German beds--Saxon scholars--The picture gallery--Tobacco an ally ofLegitimacy--Saxon women--Meissen--Unjust policy of Europe towards the Kingof Saxony. 

PRAGUE, 4 Sept. 

Prague is a far more striking and splendid city than Vienna, without itsfaubourgs. The streets are broader; and it has a more cheerful and lessconfined appearance than the old town of Vienna. The position of Prague toois very romantic and picturesque, part of it lying on a mountain and parton a plain; and it stands on the confluent of two rivers, the Mulda and theBraun. The upper part of the city, called Oberburg, stands on a heightcalled Ratschin, and on this height stands a most magnificent palace andother stately buildings. There is a beautiful panoramic view from this partof Prague. In this part of the city too is the cathedral of St Wenzel orWenceslaus, who was its founder. His tomb and that of St John Nepomucene, afavorite saint of the Bohemians, is in this church. The Cathedral is ofextreme solidity, but little ornamented, having been plundered by theSwedes in 1648. The canopy over the shrine of St John Nepomucene has aprofusion of votive offerings appended to it. The lower part of Prague isdivided into two parts by the Mulda. The bridge across the Mulda is one ofthe finest in Europe. It has twenty-four arches, its length is 1700 feetand its breadth 35. Among several statues on this bridge is a veryremarkable one of Jesus Christ, made of bronze gilt, which cost a large sumof money to its founder, a Jew! There is a Latin inscription on it whichexplains the paradox. There stood on the same spot a wooden statue ofChrist in the XVI century. One day an opulent Jew, on passing by, made somescoffing or contemptuous remark on it. He was overheard by some of thepeople, accused of blasphemy and condemned to die; but on expressing greatcontrition and offering to pay a fine to any amount, he was pardoned, onthe condition of his promising to erect a bronze statue gilt of JesusChrist on the same spot, at his own expense, with an inscription explainingthe reason of its construction; which promise he punctually performed. Prague abounds in Jews. Two-thirds at least of its population are of thatpersuasion. In the lower town the most striking edifices are the palace ofthe Wallenstein family, descendants of the famous Wallenstein, sodistinguished in the Thirty Years war. Annexed to this Palace is a spaciousgarden, which is open to the public as a promenade. It is well laid out. There is a large aviary. This Palace covers a vast extent of ground. TheColloredo family, who are descended from Wenceslaus, have a superb Palacein this city; and there is a stable belonging to it, partly in marble andof rich architecture, capable of containing thirty-six horses. No travellerwho comes to Prague should omit visiting these two Palaces of Wallensteinand Colloredo. On the bridge over the Mulda before mentioned, is the statuein bronze of St John Nepomucene, on the spot from whence he was thrown intothe river by his brother saint, King Wenceslaus, for refusing to divulgethe gallantries of his (Wenceslaus') wife, to whom he was confessor. Afavorite promenade on Sundays is on the _Färber Insel_ or Dyers island, which is a small island on the Mulda. Here the young men of the town cometo dance with the _grisettes_ and milliner girls of Prague, who arerenowned for their beauty and complaisance. 

The Jewish burying ground is a curiosity for a person who has never visitedthe Oriental countries. The tombstones are stowed thick together. Everybodyrecollects the anecdote of the ingenious method adopted by Joseph II forsqueezing a large sum of money from the Jews of Prague, by giving out thathe intended to claim this cemetery, in order to build therein a Palace. TheJews who, like all the Orientals, have the most profound veneration for thespot where their ancestors are buried, presented a large sum of money tothe Emperor, to induce him to renounce his design. 

The _Stadt-Haus_ (Hotel de Ville) is a fine building; and the _Marktplatz_(market square) is very spacious, and contributes much to the beauty of thetown. In the centre of it stands an ancient fountain of a dodecagonal form. The basin is of red marble, and near it stands a large stone column, with astatue of the Virgin, bronze gilt, on its summit. A well supplied market, or rather fair, is carried on here every day in the week. The Theatre is afine building and is of immense size. I witnessd the representation of aburlesque tragedy called _Die Belagerung von Ypsilon_ (the siege ofYpsilon), but I could not at all comprehend the cream of the jest. MadameCatalani, who is here, sang at this theatre one night. The theatre wascompletely filled and the price of admission to the boxes and _parterre_ aducat. The street adjoining to the theatre was crowded by peopleendeavoring to catch the sweet sounds. Immense hommage has been paid toCatalani by the authorities here. 

The balls of the _bourgeoisie_ of Prague are splendid and well attended. The _bourgeoisie_ is very opulent in this city. There are but few residents_Noblesse_. The expences at the inns here are rather greater than those atVienna, wine being a foreign commodity and beer the national beverage. Mydaily expences here for lodging, dinner, supper and breakfast amounted tofour florins _Convenzions Münze_, about nine franks nearly, French money. The country environing Prague is rich and abounding in corn; there arelikewise hops. The walls of Prague still bear the marks made by Frederic'sshot when he blockaded Prague. 

PRAGUE, 7th Sept. 

To-morrow I shall start for Dresden, The diligence goes off only once aweek, but I have engaged a car or rather light basket waggon drawn by twohorses (a vehicle very common in Germany) to convey me to Dresden in twodays and half. I am to pay for half of the waggon, and another travellerwill pay for the remaining half. 

Before I leave Prague I must tell you that I have found out the origin ofthe German phrases _Jemand den Korb zu geben (to give the basket)_, whichmeans a refusal of marriage. Thus when a young lady refuses an offer ofmarriage on the part of her admirer, the phrase is: _Sie hat ihm den Korbgegeben_ (_She has given him the basket_). Hitherto I have not met with anyone who could explain to me satisfactorily the origin of so singular aphrase; but on reading lately a volume of the _Volksmährchen_ (_Populartales_) I found not only the derivation of this phrase, but also that ofthe name of the city of Prague. Both are connected in the same story, andboth concern the history of Prague. The story is as follows. 

Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia, had three lovers, two of whom were notremarkably intelligent, but the third possessed a great deal of talent andwas her favorite. She was much importuned by the rival suitors. Sheappeared before them one day with a basket filled with plums in her hand;and said she would give her hand in marriage to whoever of them shouldguess the following arithmetical riddle. She said: "One of you shall takehalf the plums that are in this basket, and one over: another shall takehalf of what remains, and one over: the third shall take half of what stillremains and three over, and then all the plums will have been taken. Nowtell me how many plums there are in the basket. " Her favorite was the onlyone who could guess the number of plums which was _thirty_. To himtherefore she gave her hand and the plums, and to the other suitors theempty basket. Hence the phrase. The solution of the question is as follows:

 A takes half of the plums in the basket (30) and one over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 + 1 = 16 B half of what remained (14) and one over . . . . . 7 + 1 = 8 C half of what remained (6) and three over . . . . . 3 + 3 = 6 --- Total 30

Now with regard to the origin of the city of Prague. The former residencewas much too small, and Libussa directed her workmen to build a town on thespot, where they should find at midday a man making the _best use of histeeth_. They began their research and one day at that hour discovered acarpenter sawing a block of wood. It struck them that this laborious manwas making a better use of his teeth (viz. , teeth of his saw) than the merefeeder and they judged that this ought to be the place where the townshould be built. They therefore proceeded to trace with a plough thecircumference of the town. On asking the carpenter what he was about tomake with the block he was sawing, he said " A threshold for a door, " whichis called _Prah_ or _Praha_ in the Bohemian language and Libussa gave tothe city the name of _Praha_ or _Prag_. 

BERLIN, 24th Sept. 

Berlin has a splendid and cheerful appearance, with fine broad streets, superb white buildings and Palaces, for the most part in the Grecian taste;it has quite the appearance in short of an Italian city. Nearly all thestreets are at right angles; they are kept very clean and the shops make abrilliant display. I felt so much pain in my legs, from the effect of mypedestrian journey, that I was obliged to remain in my chamber one entireday. There is a very good _table d'hôte_ at my bin for twelve _Groschen_. Wine is paid for extra, and at the rate of from 12 to 18 _Groschen_ thebottle. The sort usually drunk here is the Medoc. The prices of articles ofprune necessity are dearer in Berlin than either at Dresden or Vienna;particularly the article of washing, which is dearer than in any country Ihave yet visited. 

The next morning I began my rambles, and directed my course to the favoriteand fashionable promenade of the _beau monde_, at all hours of the day, Imean in the fine street or alley _Unter den Linden_, so called from itbeing planted with lime trees. There is a range of elegant buildings oneach side, and at the end, near the _Thier Garten_ (Park), is a superb gatecalled the _Brandenburger Thor_ in the shape of a triumphal arch ornamentedwith a statue of Peace, with an olive branch in her hand, standing on a cardrawn by four horses abreast, the whole groupe being of bronze and ofexquisite workmanship. The four horses are imitated from the Corinthianhorses at Venice and yield to them in nothing but antiquity. Indeed theyhave a much more pleasing and striking effect, in being thus attached to acar, than standing by themselves, as the Venetian ones do, on the top ofthe façade of a church. This _Brandenburger Thor_ is constructed after themodel of the Propylaeum of Athens. 

The Opera House, a building in the Grecian taste erected by Frederic theGreat with the inscription _Apollini et Musis_, and after that the Academyof the Fine Arts engaged my attention. Both these buildings are remarkable, and they are near the _Linden_. The old town is much intersected by canalscommunicating with the Spree which divides it. I call it the old town, todistinguish it from the quarter composed of streets of recent constructionbetween the former _enceinte_ of the town and the Brandenburger Thor. TheHotel of the Invalides, a ponderous building, bears the followinginscription: _Laesis non victis_. The Bank and the Arsenal next engaged myattention, as also a Guard House of recent construction in the shape of aDoric temple. The Royal Palace is an immense building, partly in the Gothicand partly in the Grecian style. It is very heavy but imposing. Theinterior of this Palace is royally fitted up, except the little roomoccupied by the great Frederic, which is left in the same state as when heoccupied it; and you know he was not fond of superfluous ornament. In thegreen before the Palace stands the statue of the Prince of Anhalt Dessau, the founder of the Prussian Infantry system, and at a short distance fromthis, on the _Lange Brücke, _ stands the colossal equestrian statue inbronze of the Great Elector. 

The _Königstrasse_ is the principal street and a very fine one it is; nextto it in point of beauty is the _Französische_ _Strasse_. The _WilhelmPlatz_ is adorned with the statues in marble of Schwerin, Seidlitz, Keith, Winterfeld, and Ziethen. But I cannot enumerate all the splendid publicestablishments and fine things to be seen in this beautiful city. The moststriking church is that of St Hedwig. I call it the most striking from itsresemblance to the Pantheon at Rome. The Cathedral is perhaps a finerbuilding. 'Tis in this last that the Electoral and Royal remains aredeposited. 

The streets 'here swarm with military, and indeed the profession of armsseems to have too much sway in the Prussian dominions. The subalterns andyoung men of the Prussian Army are said to have republican sentiments, andthey, in common with all the burghers, desire a constitution. It galls themto see one enjoyed by the Bavarians, whom they affect to look upon asinferior to them in intelligence, and that it should be refused to them. Most of the nobility and the greater part of the General and field officersare however inveterate aristocrats. 

You have heard, I dare say, of the attempt made by some officers among thenobility to exclude from the service, after the peace, those officers whowere not noble. When it is considered that their best and most zealousofficers sprung from the burghers, and that Prussia, when abandoned by herKing and nobles, was saved from permanent subjection only by theunparalleled exertions of her burghers and peasantry, one is shocked atsuch ingratitude and absurdity. But the officers of the Royal Guard went sofar as to draw up a petition to the King, requesting him to dismiss all theofficers of the corps who were not noble, and Blucher was applied to topresent this petition to the King. Blucher read the paper and ordered allthe officers to assemble on the parade and thus addressed them: "Gentlemen, I have received your paper and read its contents with the utmostastonishment. All the remarks that I shall permit myself to make on thesubject of this petition, are, that it makes me ashamed of being myself anoble. " He then tore the petition in pieces and dismissed them. 

I have been once at the theatre. _Lodoiska_ was performed. I saw a numberof fine women in the boxes. Formerly gallantry and pleasure were the orderof the day at Berlin; but now, the Court assuming the exterior of rigidmorality and strictly exercised religious devotion, mystic cant anddullness is the order of the day. The death of the Queen of Prussia threw agreat damp over the amusements of the Court. At Charlottenburg, which is ashort distance from Berlin, in the grounds there, they point out to you herfavourite spots. She was a most amiable Princess, and united to greatpersonal beauty so much grace and fascination and so many good qualitiesthat she was beloved by all, and the breath of calumny never ventured toassail her. 

The alley _Unter den Linden_ in the evening presents a great assemblage ofCyprian nymphs, who promenade up and down; they dress well and areperfectly well behaved. There is a superb establishment of this kind atBerlin, which all strangers should visit out of curiosity. It is notindispensably necessary to sacrifice to the Goddess whose worship iscarried on there; but you may limit yourself to admire the temple, call forrefreshments and contemplate the priestesses. 

There is the utmost moral and political freedom at Berlin, and tho' theGovernment is despotic in form, freedom of speech is allowed. An army of200, 000 men admirably disciplined and armed, of these a garrison of 15, 000men in Berlin and as many at Potsdam, are quite sufficient to keep in checkall attempts to put political theories and speculations into practice. Indeed, it would be very difficult to excite a revolt; the various Germangovernments are carried on very paternally and the government is scarcelyfelt; habits of obedience have taken deep root among the people, and aGerman peasant as long as he gets enough to eat and drink, does notconceive himself unhappy, or thinks of a change. I could not help laughingthe other day, at a little village near Berlin, when I heard some peasantstalking of Napoleon; one of them, who seemed to have some partiality forhim, exclaimed, meaning to blame him for leaving Elba: _Aber warum verliesser seine Insel? Er hatte doch zu essen und trinken so viel er wolte_ (Whydid he leave Elba? He had surely plenty to eat and drink). This goodpeasant could not conceive that a man blessed with these comforts shouldlike to change his situation or run any risks to do so. 

French as well as German is commonly spoken in Berlin, and I am glad to seethat the prejudice against the French is wearing off. If the French andPrussians could understand one another, and knew their own interests, or ifthe French had a liberal national Government, I mean, one more identifiedwith the interests of the people than the present one is, what advantagemight not rise therefrom? They are natural allies, and united they might beable effectually to humble the overbearing insolence and politicalcoxcombry of the Czar, shake to its centre the systematic despotism andlight-fearing leader of Austria, and keep in check the commercialgreediness, monopolizing spirit and Tory arrogance of England. The Germanpolitical writers duly appreciate the illiberal policy of England towardsthe continental nations, by which she invariably helps to crush liberty onthe Continent in the hopes of paralysing their energies and industry, inorder to compel them to buy English manufactures, and in fine to make themdependent on England for every article of consumption. England, ever sincethe beginning of the reign of George III to the present day, has beenalways ready to lend a hand to crush liberty, to perpetuate abuses and torivet the fetters of monarchial, feudal and ecclesiastical tyranny. 

These are facts and cannot be denied. The English people have been taxed tothe last farthing to support a war of privileges against Freedom; andEurope is in consequence prostrate at the feet of an unprincipledcoalition, thro' England's arms and England's gold; and then an Englishminister, and his vile hireling journals, tell you that the continentalnations are not ripe for and do not deserve liberty. Even the Pope andGrand Turk, both so much dreaded by our pious ancestors, have beensupported, caressed and subsidized, in order to help to put down allefforts made to obtain rational liberty, which the courtiers always affectto stigmatize with the name of "Jacobinism, " while a number of needyindividual have enriched themselves by the public plunder and byaiding andabetting the system, all _novi homines_, men who, had there been more togain on the other side than by espousing Toryism, would not have beenbackward; men who are Jacobins in the real sense of the word, however theycloak themselves under the specious names of Church and King men; upholdersof Pitt and his system, for which they affect a veneration they are farfrom really feeling; men, in fact, whose political scruples of whatevernature they be, would soon melt away. 

DRESDEN, 5th October. 

I have been fortunate in getting into very comfortable lodgings, having tworooms and as much firing as I chuse for eight _Reichsthalers_ per month. Coffee is made for me at home in the morning, and I generally dine and supat a _restaurant_ close by near the bridge. The _Platz_ in the Neustadt isclose to my lodgings, and being very large and well paved and lined withtrees, it affords a very agreeable promenade. Rows of elegant houses linethe sides of this Plata, among which the _Stadthaus_ is particularlyremarkable. The famous _Japan Palace_, as it is called, is also in the_Neustadt_, and but a short distance from the _Platz_. The gardens of CountMarcolini afford also a pleasant promenade; but by far the most agreeablewalk, in my opinion, is on the _Zwinger_, a sort of terrace on the leftbank of the Elbe in the old town, adjoining the palace and gardens of CountBruhl. From this place you have a noble view of a long reach of the Elbe. It is besides the favorite promenade of the ladies. On the _Zwinger_ too isa building containing a fine collection of paintings. Here are _cafés_likewise and a _restaurant_. The evening promenades are in the gardens ofthe _Linkischer Bad_ (Bath of Link) on the banks of the Elbe, where thereis a summer theatre. This is the favourite resort of the _bourgeoisie_ onSundays and _jours de fête; goûters_ and supper parties are formed here andvery good music is heard. The Elbe bridge is of beautiful structure, andthere is a good regulation with respect to those who pass over this bridge;which is that one side of the bridge is reserved for those going from thenew to the old town, and the other side for those going from the old to thenew town, and if you attempt to go on the wrong side you are stopped by asentry, so that there is no jostling nor lounging on this bridge. An archof this bridge was blown up by Marshal Davoust in order to arrest theprogress of the Russians, and a great deal of management was necessary toeffectuate it, for the worthy Saxons have a great veneration for thisbridge, and in order to inforce the execution of this resolution on thepart of the Marshal, the personal order of the King and the employment ofSaxon troops were necessary. It has been rebuilt since, and no one wouldknow that the arch had ever been blown up, but from the extreme whitenessof the new arch, contrasting with the darker color of the old ones. 

In the old town or Dresden proper, the finest buildings are: the Catholicchurch, standing near the bridge, an edifice yielding in beauty but to fewin Italy and to none in other countries. Here you hear excellent musicduring the church service; and the King and Royal family, all of whom areCatholics, attend constantly. The Royal Palace is very near the church andnot far from it is the theatre. Saxony being a Lutheran country, the publicexercise of the Catholic religion was not permitted until Napoleon's time, when he proposed an arrangement to permit to the King and all otherCatholics the public celebration of their religion, which proposition wasacceded to with universal approbation on the part of the Protestants, andnow the Host is frequently displayed in the streets. There are however butfew Catholics in Dresden among the natives. So great is the respect forusages and customs in Germany, that the Electors of Saxony, on going overto Catholicism, never thought even of requesting the indulgence ofexercising their religion publicly, and the granting it has produced noevil consequence, liberalism and the most unreserved toleration in mattersof religion being the order of the day. 

The Royal Palace is a very fine and extensive building and the interior iswell worth seeing, particularly the superb _Riesen-Saal_ where Augustus IIused to give his magnificent _fêtes_. One of the last and most brilliant_fêtes_ given here was that given by the King of Saxony to the EmperorNapoleon just before the Russian campaign, at which the Emperor and Empressof Austria and most of the Sovereigns of Germany assisted, to do hommage tothe great Conqueror. 

The _Schloss-gasse_ or Castle Street leads from the Palace into the _MarktPlatz_ where the markets and fairs are held. In this place, in the_Schloss-gasse_ and in another street parallel to it, that leads from theporcelain Manufactory to the _Grosser Platz_ (_Grande Place_), are thefinest shops and greatest display of wealth. On the _Grosser Platz_ standsthe _Frauen-Kirche_, a superb Protestant church, and which may beconsidered as the cathedral church of Dresden. The _Platz_ is large. Thereis great cleanliness in all the streets of Dresden, and the houses are wellbuilt and uniform; but there are few other very prominent edifices exceptthose I have mentioned. On going outside the town by the gate of Pirnastands, almost immediately on the right, on turning down a road, theGardens and Palace of Prince Anthony. Leaving this on your right andproceeding along the _chaussée_ or high road which is nearly parallel tothe river, at the distance of three-quarters mile from the Gate, stands thePalace and Gardens called _Der Grosse Garten_ (grand garden), which youleave on your right, if you continue your route on the _chaussée_ towardsPirna. I have not yet visited the _Grosse Garten_. There is likewise a finepromenade on the banks of the Elbe, but quite in an opposite direction tothe Pirna gate, for to arrive at it from this gate, you must traverse thePirna street and _Grosser Platz_; and on arrival near the bridge directyour course to the left, which will lead you out of one of the gates intoan immensely long avenue of elm trees parallel to the river which forms thepromenade. 

DRESDEN, Oct. 10th. 

I have been to see the Palace and grounds of the _Grosser Garten_. Thegarden and park, for it unites both, is of great extent, and beautifullylaid out; but a number of fine trees have been knocked down and mutilatedby cannon shot during the battle of Dresden in 1818, when this garden wasoccupied by the Allied troops and exposed to a heavy fire of fifty piecesof cannon, from a battery erected by Napoleon on the opposite side of theriver, which completely commanded and enfiladed the whole range of thegarden. How the Palace itself escaped being knocked to pieces is wonderful;but I suppose Napoleon must have given orders to spare it as much aspossible. This Palace is of beautiful structure and in the style of anItalian villa; statues of the twelve Caesars and bas-reliefs adorn theexterior. The columns and pilasters are of the Corinthian order. As for theinterior, it is unfurnished, and has been so since the Seven Years' war, when it was plundered by the enemy, and has never since been inhabited bythe Electoral family. There is a superb rectangular basin of water in thisgarden. These gardens are delightfully laid out; why they are not morefrequented I cannot conceive, but I have hitherto met with very few peoplethere, tho' they are open to all the world. They will form my morning'spromenade, for I prefer solitude to a crowd in a morning walk. But one ofthe gardeners here tells me that on Sunday evening there is generally agood deal of company, who come to listen to the music which is played in abuilding fitted up for the purpose at one side of the garden. Wine, coffee, beer and other refreshments are to be had; but beer is the favoritebeverage. Smoking is universal among the young men; the most ardentadmirers of the fair sex never forget their pipe. During the courtship thesurest sign that the fair one does not intend to _give_ her lover _thebasket_ is when she presents him with a bag to hold his tobacco. Herconsent is implied thereby. 

During the battle of Dresden, the slaughter in this garden was immense, andthe Allies were finally driven out of it. The gardener related to me anaffecting story of a young lady of Dresden, whose lover was killed in thisbattle and buried in the _Grosser Garten_. She has taken it so much toheart that she comes here three or four times in the week to visit thisgrave and strew flowers over it. She remains for some time absorbed insilent meditation and then withdraws. She has a settled melancholy, but ithas not yet affected her understanding. 

DRESDEN, Oct. 15th. 

I met with my old friend, Sir W. I. , who was travelling to Berlin, with theidea of passing the winter there and of proceeding in the summer to Moscow. Thro' the interests of my friends, Col. D------ and Baron de F------ I havebeen ballotted for and admitted a member of a club or society here calledthe _Ressource_. It is held in a large house on the _Markt Platz_, and isindeed a most agreeable resource to all foreigners; for 'tis in thissociety that they are likely to meet and form acquaintance with the_noblesse_, principal _bourgeoisie_ and _litterati_. It is conducted on themost liberal scale and not confined to those of birth and fortune. Goodcharacter, polite behaviour and litterary requirements will ensureadmittance to a candidate. This society consists of members and honorarymembers; among the honorary members are foreigners and others whose stay inDresden is short; but whoever remains for more than one year must cease tobe an honorary member and must be ballotted for in order to become apermanent member, and should he be blackballed he ceases to belong to thesociety altogether. This is a very good regulation. A year is a sufficienttime of proof for the character and conduct of a person, and should heduring this interval prove himself obnoxious to the members of the society, they can at its expiration exclude him for ever afterwards. 

No enquiry is made as to the character and conduct of a person who isadmitted as an honorary member: it is sufficient that he be recommended bya permanent member, which is deemed a sufficient guarantee for hisrespectability. In this society there are dining rooms, billiard rooms, card rooms, a large reading room. Here too is a small but well chosenlibrary and three or four newspapers in every European language; all theGerman newspapers and reviews and the principal periodical works in theGerman, French, English and Italian languages. The English papers taken inhere are the _Times, Courier_ and _Chronicle_. Of the French, the_Moniteur, Journal des Débats, Constitutionel, Journal du Commerce, Gazettede France_ and _Gazette de Lausanne_, and of the Italian the _Gazette diMilano, di Venezia, di Firenze_ and _di Lugano_. Every German newspaper is, I believe, to be found here. The Society lay in their stock of wine, whichis of the best quality; good cooks and servants are kept. Dinners goforward from one to three. You dine _à la carte_ and pay the amount of whatyou call for to the waiters. Coffee, liqueurs and all sorts of refreshmentsare likewise to be had. Supper, likewise _à la carte_, goes forward betweennine and eleven. The evening before supper may be employed, if you chuse, in cards, billiards, or reading. Very pleasant and useful acquaintances aremade at the _Ressource_, since if a foreigner renders himself agreeable tothe gentlemen who frequent this society, they generally propose taking himto their houses and introducing him to their families. After anintroduction, you may go at any hour of the evening you please: but morningvisits are not much in fashion, since the _toilette_ is seldom made tillafter dinner, which is always early in Germany. There is no getting dinnerafter three o'clock in any part of Dresden. Besides the _Ressource_ thereare several other Clubs here, such as the _Harmonic_ and others. The publicballs are given at the _Hôtel de Pologne_ twice a week, viz. , one for the_Noblesse_ and one for the _Bourgeoisie_. None of the female _Bourgeoisie_are admitted to the balls and societies of the _Noblesse_, and only such ofthe males as occupy posts or employments at Court or under Government suchas _Königs-rath_, _Hof-rath_, or officers of the Army. It is thereforeusual, when the Sovereign wishes to introduce a person of merit among the_Bourgeoisie_ into the upper circles, that he gives him the title of _Rath_or Counsellor; but this priviledge of being presentable at Court does notextend to their wives and daughters. All the Military officers, fromwhatever class of life they spring, have introduction _de jure_ into theballs and societies of the _Noblesse_, and are always in uniform. But whenthey attend the balls of the _Bourgeoisie_, it is the etiquette for them towear plain clothes: at the balls of the _Bourgeoisie_, therefore, not anuniform is to be seen. I observed by far the prettiest women at the ballsof the _Bourgeoisie_, and very many are to be found there who in educationand accomplishments fully equal those of the _Noblesse_, and this is nosmall merit, for the women in Saxony of the higher classes are extremelywell educated; most of them are proficient in music and are versed inFrench and Italian litterature. They seem amiable and goodnatured and by nomeans _minaudières_, as Lady Mary Wortley Montague has rather unjustlytermed them; for they appear to me to be the most frank, artless creaturesI ever beheld, and to have no sort of _minauderie_ or _coquetterie_ aboutthem. Beauty is the appanage of the Saxon women, hence the proverb inrhyme:

 Darauf bin ich gegangen nach Sachsen, Wo die schönen Mädchen auf den Baümen wachsen. 

In English:

 Behold me landed now on Saxon ground, Where lovely damsels on the trees are found. 

A taste for litterature is indeed general throughout the whole nation; andthis city is considered as the Athens of Germany. 

DRESDEN, Nov. 8th. 

I have been at the theatre and witnessed the representation of a tragedycalled _Die Schuld_, written by Adolphus Müllner. It is a most interestingpiece, and the novelty of it has made a striking impression on me. It iswritten in the eight-footed trochaic metre, similar to that in which theSpanish tragedies are written. It hinges on a prophecy made by a Gipsey, inwhich the person to whom the prophecy is made, in endeavoring to avert it, hastens its accomplishment. The piece is full of interest and theversification harmonious. I have been twice at the Italian opera, where Isaw the _Gazza Ladra_ and _Il Matrimonio secreto_. I came here with theidea of giving myself up entirely to the study of the German language; butsuch is the beauty of the country environing Dresden that, though winterhas commenced I employ the greatest part of the day in long walks. Forinstance I have been to Pillnitz, which is on the right bank of the Elbeabout seven miles from Dresden, ascending the river. The road is on thebank of the river the whole way. The Palace at Pillnitz is vast and wellbuilt. During a part of the year the Royal family reside there. Pillnitzwill remain "damn'd to everlasting fame" as the place where the famoustreaty was signed, the object of which was to put down the FrenchRevolution, which Mr Pitt and the British ministry knew of and sanctioned, tho' they pretended ignorance of it and professed to have no desire tointerfere with the affairs of France. 

Every thing pleases me at Dresden except the beds. I wish it were thefashion to use blankets and _édredons_ for the upper covering instead ofthe _lits de plumes_; for they are too heavy and promote rather too intensea perspiration, and if you become impatient of the heat, and throw them offyou catch an intense cold. You know how partial I am to the Germans, andcan even put up with their eternal smoking, tho' no smoker myself, but totheir beds I shall never be reconciled. A German bed is as follows: a_paillasse_, over that a mattress, then a featherbed with a sheet fastenedto it, and over that again another featherbed with a sheet fastened to it;and thus you lie between two featherbeds; but these are not always ofsufficient length, and you are often obliged to coil up your legs or beexposed to have them frozen by their extending beyond the featherbeds; forthe cold is very great during the winter. 

The more I see of the people here, the more I like them. The nationalcharacter of the Germans is integrity, tho' sometimes cloaked under a roughexterior as in Bavaria and Austria; but here in Saxony it is combined witha suavity of manners that is very striking, for the Saxons are the Tuscansof Germany in point of politeness, and they are far more accomplishedbecause they take more pains in cultivating their minds. 

A savant in Italy is a man who writes a volume about a coin, filled withhypotheses, when, with all his learning forced into the service, he provesnothing; and this very man is probably ignorant in the extreme of modernpolitical history, and that of his own times, and has more pedantry thantaste. Such a man is often however in Italy termed a _Portento_, but inDresden and in most of the capitals of Germany where there are so many ofscience and deep research, a man must not only be well read in antiquities, but also well versed in political economy and in analysis before he canventure to give a work to the public. Latin quotations, unsupported byreason and philosophical argument will avail him nothing, for the German isa terrible _Erforscher_ and wishes to know the _what_, the _how_ and the_when_ of every thing; besides an Italian _savant_ is seldom versed in anyother tongue than his own and the Latin, with perhaps a slight knowledge ofFrench; whereas in Germany it is not only very common to find a knowledgeof French, English, Italian, Latin and Greek united in the same person, butvery many add Hebrew, Arabic and even Sanscrit to their stock of Philology. As a specimen for instance of German industry, I have seen, at the club ofthe _Ressource_, odes on the Peace in thirty-six different languages, andall of them written by native Saxons. This shows to what an extentphilology is cultivated in Germany; indeed, it is quite a passion and avery useful one it is. I know that many people regard it as a loss of time, and say that you acquire only new words, and no new ideas; but I deny this. I maintain that every new language learned gives you new ideas, as it putsyou at once more _au fait_ of the manners and customs of the people, whichcan only be thoroughly learned by reading popular authors in their originallanguage: for there are several authors of the merit of whose style it isimpossible to form an adequate idea in a translation, however correct andexcellent it be. Indeed I wonder that the study of the German language isnot more attended to in England, France, and Italy; but to the English, methinks, it is indispensable. All the customs and manners of Europe aretaken from the German; all modern Europe bears the Teutonic stamp. We areall the descendants of the Teutonic hordes who subjugated the Roman Empireand changed the face of Europe; 'tis they who have given and laid down thegrand and distinguishing feature between modern Europe and ancient Europeand Asia: I mean the respect paid to women. To what nation, I say, is duethe chivalrous respect to women which is the surest sign of civilization, and which was unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans, except to theGermans, who even in their most uncivilized state paid such veneration totheir women as to consult them as oracles on all occasions and to admitthem to their councils? Tacitus particularly mentions this; and speaking ofthe Germans of his time, he says, "They have an idea that there issomething divine about a woman. "[126] It is this feeling, handed down to usfrom our Teutonic ancestors, that contributes mainly to make the Europeanso superior to all the Asiatic nations, where woman still remains adegraded being, and 'tis this feeling that gives to us the palm above allGreek and Roman glory. What are the modern European nations, the English, French, Italians, Switzers, even Spanish and Portuguese, but thedescendants of these warlike Teutonic tribes who swept away the effeminateRomans from the face of the earth? and do we not see the Teutonic policyand usages, defective and degenerated as they sometimes are, the bestsafeguard of liberty against the insidious interpretation of the Roman law, which is founded on the pretended superiority of one nation, the inferredinferiority of all the rest?

With regard to theatricals, I have witnessed the representation of atragedy, lately published, called _Sappho_, by a young poet of the name ofGrillparzer. This tragedy is strictly on the Greek model. Its versificationin iambics is so beautiful that it is regarded as the triumph of the_Classics_ over the _Romantics_; and by this piece Grillparzer has provedthe universality of his genius; for he wrote a short time ago a dramaticpiece in the _romantic_ style and in the eight rhymed trochaic metre called_die Anhfrau_ (the ancestress) where supernatural agency is introduced. This I have read; it is a piece full of interest; still it was thought too_outré_ by the _Classiker_. It was supposed that this was the peculiarstyle of the author, and that he adopted it from inability to compose inthe classic taste, when behold! by way of proving the contrary, he hasgiven us a drama simple in its plot, where all the unities are preserved, and where the subject one would think was too well known to produce muchinterest; he has given, I say, to this piece (Sappho), from the extremeharmony of its versification and the pathos of the sentiments expressedtherein, an effect which I doubt any tragedy of Euripides or Sophoclessurpasses. The character of Sappho and her passion for Phaon; hisindifference to her and attachment to the young Melitta, an attendant andslave of Sappho's, and Sappho throwing herself into the sea after unitingPhaon and Melitta, constitute the plot of the drama. But simple as theplot, and old as the story is, it excites the greatest interest, and neverfails to draw tears from the audience. What can be more artless andpathetic, for instance, than these lines of the young Melitta when sheregrets her expatriatioa:

 Kein Busen schlägt mlr bier in diesem Lande, Und meine Freunden wohnen weit von hier. 

In English:

 No bosom beats for me in this strange land, And far from here my friends and parents dwell. 

I have no doubt that some of these days _Sappho_ will be translated intothe idiom of modern Greece and acted in that country. The actress, who didthe part of Sappho, gave it full effect, and the part of the young Melittawas fairly performed; but I did not approve of the acting of the performerwho played Phaon. He overstepped the modesty of nature and the intention ofthe author; for he was in his gesture and manner grossly rude and insolentto poor Sappho, whereas, tho' his love to Melitta was paramount, he oughtto have shown no ordinary struggle in stifling his gratitude to hisbenefactress Sappho. 

I admire the German word _Gebieterinn_ (mistress). It is majestic andharmonious, and the only word, in any modern language that I know of, poetic enough to render aptly the Greek word [Greek: Despoina]. 

DRESDEN, Decr. 1st. 

I have been to visit the famous Gallery of paintings here; but you must notexpect from me a description. I shall send you a catalogue. It would beendless to describe the various _chefs-d'oeuvre_ which are contained inthis valuable collection. Dresden has always been considered as theFlorence of Germany and has always been renowned for its Gallery ofpaintings; hence the almost innate taste of the Saxons for the _Beaux Arts_and the great encouragement given to them at all tunes by this Government. It is here and at Meissen that the best German is thought to be spoken, tho' Hanover disputes this prerogative with Dresden. 

I have been to see the antiquities and curiosities of the _JapanischerPalast_ (Palace of Japan), as it is called. In this Palace is a quantity ofancient armour and the most superb collection of porcelain I believe inEurope. The collection of precious stones is also immense; and I never inmy life saw such a profusion of diamonds, emeralds, turquoises, sapphirs, amethysts and topazes. In this Museum are three statues found inHerculaneum on its first discovery or excavation, viz. , an Athlete, anEsculapius, and a Venus. Here too, and from this circumstance, the Palacetakes its name, is a collection of Japanese antiquities and ornaments, lacker work in gold and silver, which is unique in the world. From theRoyal Library, a foreigner, on being recommended, may have at his own houseall such books to read as can be replaced if lost or spoiled; but themanuscripts and scarce and valuable editions are not permitted to be takenout of the Library. Any person once admitted on recommendation may go toread in this Library at stated hours and may consult any book or manuscripthe pleases on applying to the librarian. 

A person fond of music will be in a continual state of enjoyment atDresden. Besides the fine music in the Royal Chapel, the band of the King'sGuard is composed of first rate musicians, who attend regularly at Guardmounting and play for an hour together. There is also a band of music everyevening during the summer months that plays in the gardens of the_Linkischer Bad_. Then there are various other places of recreation andamusement, at all of which musicians are in attendance; for a Saxon cannotenjoy his repast or his pipe without music and good music too to facilitatehis digestion. There is a custom in Dresden that on the occasion of thedeath of a person the young choristers of the Cathedral are sent for tosing hymns, standing in a semi-circle round the door of the house of thedefunct. These choristers are all dressed in black and their style ofsinging is melodious, solemn and impressive. 

Smoking is so prevalent here and in all parts of Germany that if you wishto denote one of the male sex, _smoker_ would be quite a synonymous word. Such is the passion for this enjoyment that even at the balls the youngmen, the moment they have finished the waltz, quit the hands of theirpartners and rush into another room in order to smoke; nor would the beautyof Venus nor the wit of Minerva be powerful enough to restrain the youngGerman from giving way to his darling practise. Smoking tobacco has I thinkthis visible effect, that it serves to calm all tumultuous passions, andwhat confirms me in this idea is, that most young Germans, in commencinglife as adults, are full of enthusiastic and even exaggerated notions ofliberty and equality. They are romantic to a degree that is difficult to beconceived, and seem to be restrained by no selfish or worldly ideas. Thisyou would suppose would tend to render them rather turbulent subjects, under an autocratical government; but all this _Schwärmerey_ evaporatesliterally in smoke: they take to their pipe, and by degrees the fumes oftobacco cause all these lofty ideas to dissipate: the pipe becomes more andmore necessary to their existence, and consoles them for their wrongs realor imaginary; and in three or four years they sit down contentedly to theirseveral occupations, as strait-forward, painstaking, plodding men, quitesatisfied to follow the routine chalked out for them, and either totallyforget all ambitious views, or become too indolent to make any sacrifice toobtain them, and this _virtue comes from tobacco_!! The German Hippogriffbecomes an Ox, dull and domestic, and treads out the corn placed beforehim, content to have his share thereof in peace and quietness. 

The German Governments, which are mild and paternal, are fully aware ofthis and allow the utmost liberty of speech; well knowing that, thanks tothat friend and ally of Legitimacy, tobacco, the romantic visionary andsomewhat refractory youth will subside into a tranquil _ganz alltäglicherMann_ and become totally averse to any innovation which demands thesacrifice of repose. 

The pipe which has this sedative effect on political effervescence, has astill stronger similar effect, it is said, on the passion of love; hencethe German husbands are proverbially sluggish. But the ladies, none of whomsmoke, preserve their romanticity during their whole lives, and would, ifthey had their choice, give their hands to foreigners, who are moreattentive to them than their own countrymen. 

The young ladies here are, 'tis said, extremely romantic in their ideas oflove and capable of the strongest attachment. They think that any thingshould be pardoned to sincere passion. It has been related to me that sometime ago a young man, who was devotedly attached to a girl, on the fatherrefusing his consent to the marriage, stabbed the girl and then himself. Animmense number of young ladies attended their funeral, to throw flowersover the grave of the two lovers. Assuredly the young man was only anoviciate in smoking. 

Everybody must, I think, admire the Saxon women. They are in generalhandsome and have fine shapes; they are warm hearted and affectionate; andthey are almost universally well educated. Indeed the whole Saxon peopleare so amiable that foreigners find themselves so happy here that they areunwilling to quit the country. Very many form matrimonial attachments. Inshort, this people fully merit the epithet a celebrated English traveller(Sherlock)[127] has bestowed on them when he called them a _herrlichesVolk_. 

DRESDEN, Jan. 8d, 1819. 

I have made an excursion to Meissen which lies on the same bank of theriver with the old town of Dresden at a distance of twelve miles. As thereis no road on the left bank of the river to Meissen, you must cross theriver twice to arrive at it, viz. , once at Neustadt and once at Meissen, the road being on the right bank. I put up at the _Hirsch_ (Stag), a verycomfortable inn. I went to Meissen with a view of seeing the Russiancontingent pass the Elbe on their return from France, which has beenevacuated in consequence of the arrangement at Aix-la-Chapelle. Theyappeared a fine body of men, clothed _à la française_ and seemed in highspirits. They seem to have imbibed liberal ideas during their residence inFrance, for some of the officers who dined at the inn at Meissen spoke veryfreely on passing events. 

The return of the Saxon contingent is expected in Dresden in a day or two, and there will no doubt be a great deal of rejoicing among the military andtheir relations to meet their old comrades and friends; and potentlibations of _Doppel Bier_ will no doubt be made. Meissen is said to befamous for the beauty of its women and the few that I saw in the streetsdid not contradict this reputation. 

DRESDEN, Jany. 5th, 1819. 

We have had several balls here. Waltzing is the only sort of dance infashion at Dresden, excepting now and then a Polonaise. 

I have witnessed an interesting spectacle in the _Grosser Garten_. The pondor basin is completely frozen over, and a Russian Prince, Gallitzin, who ishere, has fitted up a sort of _Montagnes Russes_ as they are called. Blocksof ice are placed on an inclined plane to the top of which you mount bymeans of a staircase; and then, seating yourself in a sort of sledge, youslide down the inclined plane with immense velocity. The Prince oftenpersuades a lady to sit on this sleigh on his lap and descend together; andthis no doubt serves to _break the ice_ of many an amorous intrigue. Thisconstruction of the Prince Gallitzin has contributed to fill the _GrosserGarten_ with the _beau monde_, every day from twelve to two o'clock; sothat you see we are in no want of amusements at Dresden. 

The King frequently attends the theatre; he is a tall, fine looking man, and is usually dressed in the uniform of his Foot-Guards, which is scarletfaced with yellow. The poor King has taken much to heart the injustice withwhich he has been treated by the coalition, and no doubt will not easilyforget the ill-bred and insolent letter of Castlereagh to the Congress, wherein he said that the King of Saxony deserved to lose his dominions foradhering to Napoleon. But how the King of Saxony could act otherwise I amat a loss to find: so little could he possibly deserve this treatment foradhering to Napoleon, that had his advice been taken in the year 1805, theFrench would never have been able to extend their conquests so far, nor todictate laws to Germany. But Lord Castlereagh seems to have either neverknown or wilfully forgotten the anterior political conduct of Saxony. Hadhe been more versed in German affairs, or had studied with more accuracythe events passing before his eyes, it would have been a check upon hisarrogance; but here was a genuine disciple of the Pitt school (that schoolof ignorance and insolence), who sets himself up as the moral regeneratorof nations and as a distributor of provinces, while he is grossly ignorantof the political system of the country on whose destinies he pretends todecide so peremptorily. Had Castlereagh paid attention to what was goingforward in Germany in 1805, he would have seen too that of all powersPrussia was the very _last_ who with any _shadow of justice_ could pretendto an indemnification at the expense of Saxony. In the year 1805, the King, then Elector of Saxony, strongly advised the Prussian Cabinet to forget itsancient rivalry and jealousy of Austria and to coalesce with the latterpower, in resisting the encroachments of Napoleon, in order to prevent thelatter from attempting the overthrow of the whole fabric of theconstitution of the Holy Roman Empire, with the intricacy and fragility ofwhich no prince in Germany was better acquainted than the Elector ofSaxony. Prussia however was still reluctant to engage in the contest andgave no support whatever to Austria. Napoleon defeats the Austrians atAusterlitz and dictates peace. Six months after the Prussian Cabinet, excited by a patriotic but rash and ill-calculating party, has recourse toarms, not from any generous policy, but because she sees herself outwittedby Napoleon, who refuses to cede to her Hanover in perpetuity. Prussiabegins the war and calls on Saxony, who always moved in her orbit, to joinher. To the Elector of Saxony this war (in 1806) appeared then ill-timedand too late; but with that good faith, nevertheless, which invariablycharacterized him, he remained faithful to his engagement and furnished hisquota of troops to Prussia. The Saxon troops fought nobly at the battle ofJena. This battle annihilates all the power of Prussia, and lays Saxonyentirely at the mercy of the Conqueror; but Napoleon not only treats Saxonywith moderation, but with rare generosity; he does not take from her asingle village, but aggrandizes her and gives to her the Duchy of Warsawand to her Sovereign the title of King. Saxony becomes in consequence amember of the confederation of the Rhine and is bound to support theProtector in all his wars offensive and defensive. The Russian war in 1812begins: every German state, Austria and Prussia in the number, furnishesits contingent of troops. The campaign is unsuccessful, the climate ofRussia having annihilated the French Army, and Napoleon returns to Paris. Saxony is now exposed to invasion and harassed by the incursions of theCossacks. The King of Saxony is perplexed in what manner to act, so as toensure to his subjects that protection which was ever uppermost in histhoughts; feeling however with his usual sagacity that every thing wouldultimately depend on the dispositions of Austria, he repairs himself toPrague, in order to have an interview with one of the Austrian ministers, and to sound that Cabinet. Austria however still vacillates and declinesstating what her intentions are. Napoleon returns from Paris, defeats thePrussians and Russians at Bautzen and re-occupies all Saxony. He thenwrites to the King of Saxony to desire him to return immediately to hisdominions and to fulfil his engagements. What was the King to do? Austriastill refusing to declare herself, was he to sacrifice his crown anddominions uselessly to the vengeance of Napoleon, to please the Emperor ofRussia and King of Prussia, who for aught he knew might patch up a peacethe next day? and this was the more probable from their having been beatenat Bautzen, which circumstance also might with equal probability induceAustria to coalesce with, instead of against France. All the other membersof the Confederation of the Rhine remained staunch to Napoleon and pouredtheir contingents into Saxony; was he to be the only unfaithful ally andtowards a Monarch who had always treated him with the strongest marks ofattachment and regard? and when neither Russia nor Prussia were likely togive him the least assistance? He therefore returned to Dresden; andNapoleon took up his grand position the whole length of the Elbe, from themountains of Bohemia to Hamburgh, thus covering the whole of Saxony withhis army. Austria however at last comes forward to join the coalition. Fortune changes; the Saxon troops, tired of beholding their country theperpetual theatre of war and trusting to the generosity of the Allies, goover to them in the middle of a battle, and decide, thereby, the fate ofthe day at Leipzig. The King of Saxony is made a prisoner, and then he ispunished for what he could not help. Why was he to be punished more thanany other member of the Confederation of the Rhine? One would think thatthe seasonable defection of his troops at Leipzig should have induced theAllies to treat him with moderation. The other States of the Confederationdid not abandon Napoleon until after he was completely beaten at Leipzig;and Austria refused to accede to the coalition until a _carte blanche_ wasgiven her to help herself in Italy. 

Let every impartial man therefore review the whole of this proceeding andthen say whether the King of Saxony, so proverbial for his probity, soadored by his subjects, deserved to be insulted by such an unfeeling letteras that of Castlereagh. No! the King of Saxony better deserves to reignthan any King of them all. Would they had even a small share of hisvirtues! Another proof and a still stronger one of the great integrity andhonor of this excellent Prince, is, that when Napoleon offered to mediatizein his favor the various ducal Houses in Saxony, such as Weimar, Gotha, Cobourg, etc. , and to annex these countries to his dominions, he declinedthe offer. Would Prussia, Austria, or Hanover have been so scrupulous?

The young ladies here, tho' well versed and delighting in various branchesof litterature, cannot overcome that strong national propensity to talesand romances wherein the _terrific and supernatural_ abounds; in all theirromances accordingly this taste prevails strongly; nay, even in some of theromances, where the scene is laid in later times, there is some suchanachronism as the story of a spectre. 

I recollect reading a novel, the scene of which is laid in Italy about thetime of the battle of Marengo, wherein a ghost is introduced whocontributes mainly to the unravelling of the piece. A young lady here ofconsiderable talent and of general information confessed to me, when Iasked her, what subjects pleased her most in the way of reading, thatnothing gave her so much delight as "_Geistergeschichten_. " Lewis' romanceof "_The Monk_" is a great favorite in Germany. [128] By the bye, hispoetical tale of _Alonzo and Imogen_ is evidently taken from a similarsubject in the _Volks-mährchen_. 

The weather has set in very cold and the Elbe is nearly frozen over. It isimpossible to go out of the house without a _Pelz_ or cloak lined with fur;for otherwise, on leaving a room heated by a stove, the effect of the coldis almost instantaneous and brings on an ague fit. This I attribute to theexcessive heat kept up in the rooms and houses by the stoves. As smoking isso prevalent here, this contributes much also to keeping the body in apraeternatural heat and rendering it still more obnoxious to cold onremoval from a room to the open air. It has been remarked by a medicalauthor, in the Russian campaign in 1812, that the soldiers of the southernnations and provinces, viz. , Provençaux, Gascons, Italians, Spaniards, andPortuguese, endured the cold much better and suffered less from it than theGermans and Hollanders. The reason is sufficiently obvious: the former livein the open air even in the middle of winter and seldom make use of a fireto warm themselves; whereas the Germans and Dutch live in an atmosphere ofstove-heat and smoke and seldom like to stir abroad in the open air duringwinter, unless necessity obliges them. Hence they become half-baked, as itwere; their nerves are unstrung, their flesh flabby and they become sochilly, as to suffer from the smallest exposure to the atmosphere. In thehouses in Germany, on account of the stoves, the cold is never felt, whereas it is very severely in Italy and Spain where many of the houseshave no fireplaces. On this account I prefer Germany as a winter residence, for I think there is no sensation so disagreeable as to feel cold in thehouse. In the open air I do not care a fig for it, for my cloak lined withbearskin protects me amply. The climate here in winter is a dry cold, whichis much more salubrious and agreeable to me than the changeable, humidclimate of Great Britain, where, though the cold is not so great, it ismuch more severely felt. 

[126] Tacitus, _Germania_, C, VIII. --ED. 

[127] Martin Sherlock (d. 1797), author of _Lettres d'un voyageur anglais_, which were published in Paris 1779 and, the year after, in London. 

[128] Matthew Gregory Lewis, 1775-1818, published _Ambrosio or the Monk_ in 1795. --ED. 

CHAPTER XVIII

MARCH-APRIL 1819

Journey from Dresden to Leipzig--The University of Leipzig--Liberalspirit--The English disliked in Saxony--The English Government hostile toliberty--Journey to Frankfort--From Frankfort to Metz and Paris--A. F. Lemaître--_Bon voyage_ to the Allies--Return to England. 

I left Dresden on the 2nd March, 1819. A _Landkutsche_ conveyed me as faras Leipzig in a day and half, stopping the first night at Oschaly, wherethere is a good inn. At Leipzig I put up at the _Hôtel de Bavière_ andremained five days. Leipzig is a fine old Gothic city. It is, as everybodyknows, famous for its University and its Fair, which is held twice a year, in spring and in autumn, and which is the greatest mart for books perhapsin the world. The University of Leipzig and indeed all the Universities ofGermany are in bad repute among the _Obscuranten_ and _éteignoirs_ of theday, on account of the liberal ideas professed by the teachers andscholars. In the University of Leipzig every thing may be learned by thosewho chuse to apply, but those who prefer remaining idle may do so, as thereis less compulsion than at the English Universities. There is however sucha national enthusiasm for learning, in all parts of Germany, that the mostcareless and ill-disposed youth would never be about to support theridicule of his fellow students were he backward in obtaining prizes, butafter all I have heard of the dissipation, lawlessness, and want ofdiscipline at Leipzig, I can safely affirm that all these stories aregrossly exaggerated: and I fancy there is little other dissipation goingforward than amours with _Stubenmädchen_. I do not hear of any drunkenness, gaming or horse racing; nor do the professors themselves, who ought to bethe best judges of what is going on, complain of the insubordination oftheir pupils. But what I principally admire in this, and indeed in otherGerman Universities, is that there are no distinctions of rank, such asgold tassels, etc. , no servile attention paid to sprigs of nobility, as inthe Universities in England, where the Heads of Colleges and Fellows aresingularly condescending to the son of a Peer, a Minister, or a Bishop. Perfect equality prevails in Leipzig and the son of the proudest_Reichsgraf_ is allowed no more priviledges than the son of a barber; nordo the professors make the least difference between them. In fact, in spiteof the vulgar belief in England respecting the _hauteur_ of the German_noblesse_ and the vassalage of the other classes, I must say, fromexperience, that the German nobility show far less _hauteur_ and have ingeneral more really liberal ideas than most part of our Englisharistocracy, and a German burgher or shop-keeper would disdain to cringebefore a nobleman as many shopkeepers, aye, and even gentry, are sometimesknown to do in England. Another circumstance too proves on how much moreliberal a footing Leipzig and other German Universities are than ourEnglish ones, which is, that in England none but those who profess thereligion of the Church of England, or conform to its ritual, are admitted;but here all sects are tolerated and admitted, and all live in perfectharmony with each other. The students are at liberty to chuse their placeof worship and the sermons that are preached in the Catholic as well as theProtestant churches are such as sensible men of whatever opinion mightlisten to with profit, and without being shocked by absurdities orintolerant ideas. 

Mysteries, theologic sophistry and politics are carefully avoided, and apure morality, a simple theosophy, comprehensible to the meanestunderstanding, pervades these simple discourses. The consequence of thistoleration and liberal spirit is that an union between the Lutheran andCalvinistic churches has been effected. 

I met a number of mercantile people at the _table d'hôte_ at Leipzig in the_Hôtel de Bavière_, and I entered a good deal into conversation with them;but when they discovered I was an Englishman, I could see a sudden coldnessand restraint in their demeanour, for we are very unpopular in Germany, owing to the conduct of our Cabinet, and they have a great distrust of us. The Saxons complain terribly of our Government for sanctioning thedismemberment of their country and of the insolent letter of Castlereagh. It is singular enough that Saxony is the only country where English goodsare allowed to be imported free of duty; but our great and good ally theKing of Prussia (as these goods must pass thro' his territory) has imposeda tolerably heavy transit duty. I am glad of it; this is as it should be. Irejoice at any obstacles that are put to British commerce; I rejoice when Ihear of our merchants suffering and I quite delight to hear of abankruptcy. They, the English merchants, contributed with their gold touphold the corrupt system of Pitt and to carry on unjust, unreasonable andliberticide wars. Yes! it is perfectly fit and proper that the despoticgovernments they have contributed to restore should make them feel theirgratitude. If the French since their Revolution have not always fought forliberty, they have done so invariably for science; and wherever theycarried their victorious arms, abuses were abolished, ameliorations of allkinds followed, and the arts of life were improved. Our Government sincethe accession of George III has never raised its arm except in favor of oldabuses, to uphold despotism and unfair privileges, or to establishcommercial monopoly. Our victories so far from being of beneficial effectto the countries wherein we gained them, have been their curse. We caninterfere and be prodigal of money and blood to crush any attempt of thecontinental nations towards obtaining their liberty; but when it isnecessary to intercede in favour of oppressed patriots, then we are toldthat we have no right to interfere with the domestic policy of othernations. We can send ships to protect and carry off in safety a worthlessRoyal family, as at Naples in 1799, but we can view with heartlessindifference, and even complacency, the murders committed in Spain by theinfamous Ferdinand and his severities against those to whom he owes hiscrown, all of whom had the strongest daim to our protection as havingfought with us in the same cause and contributed to our success. 

The _Platz_ at Leipzig is large and here it is that the fair is held. Thetheatre is an elegant building and lies just outside one of the gates ofthe city. Innumerable shops of booksellers are here and it is astonishingat how cheap a rate printing in all languages is carried forward. 

There are some pleasant promenades in the environs of Leipzig; but this isnot a time of the year to judge of the beauty of the country. I went, however, to view the house occupied by Napoleon on the eve of the battle ofLeipzig. A monument is to be erected to the memory of Poniatowsky in thespot where he perished. 

I started from Leipzig on 7th March at eleven o'clock. I was five days enroute from Leipzig to Frankfort, tho' the distance does not exceedforty-five German miles. I travelled in the diligence, but had I known thatthe arrangements were so uncomfortable, I should have preferred going in a_Landkutsche_, which would have made the journey in seven days and affordedme an opportunity of stopping every night to repose; whereas in thediligence, tho' they go _en poste_, they travel exceedingly slow and it isimpossible to persuade the postillion to accelerate his usual pace. He isfar more careful of his horses than of his passengers. This I howeverexcuse; but it is of the frequent stoppages and bad arrangement of themthat I complain. Instead of stopping at some town for one whole night ortwo whole nights out of the five, they stop almost at every town for three, four and five hours; so that these short stoppages do not give you timeenough to go to bed and they are besides generally made in the day time orearly in the morning and evening. We passed thro' the following cities andplaces of eminence, viz. , Lutzen; the spot where Gustavus Adolphus waskilled is close to the road on the left hand with a plain stone and theinitials G. A. Inscribed on it. Weimar is a very neat city and where Ishould like much to have staid; but I had only time to view the outside ofthe Palace and the _Stadthaus_. Erfurt and Gotha are both fine lookingcities. In Gotha I had only time to see the outside of the _ResidenzSchloss_ or Ducal Palace, which is agreeably situated on an eminence, andto remark in the _Neumarkt Kirche_ the portrait of Duke Bernard of SaxeWeimar and the monuments of the princes of that family. At Erfurt there isthe tomb of a Count Gleichen who was made prisoner in the Holy Land, in thetime of the Crusades, and was released by a Mahometan Princess on conditionof his espousing her. The Count was already married in Germany and there hehad left his wife; but such was his gratitude to the fair Musulmane, thathe married her with the full consent of his German wife and they all threelived happily together. Fulda, where we stopped four hours, appears a finecity, and is situated on an eminence commanding a noble view of a veryfertile and extensive plain. The Episcopal Palace and the churches aremagnificent, and the general appearance of the town is striking. TheBishopric of Fulda was formerly an independent ecclesiastical state, butwas secularised at the treaty of Lunéville and now forms part of theterritory of Hesse-Cassel. 

The _Feld-zeichen_ of Hesse-Cassel is green and red. After passing thro'Hanau, where we halted three hours, which gave me an opportunity of viewingthe field of battle there, we proceeded to Frankfort and arrived there attwelve o'clock the 12th of March. I put up at the _Swan_ inn. In summertime the country about Fulda and in general between Fulda and Frankfortmust be very pleasing from the variety of the features of the ground. Welived very well and very cheap on the road. The price of the diligence fromLeipzig to Frankfort was eleven _Reichsthaler_. 

After remaining three days to repose at Frankfort I took my place toMayence and from thence to Metz and Paris. In the diligence from Mayenceand indeed all the way to Paris I found a very amusing society. There weretwo physicians and M. L[emaître], a most entertaining man and ofinexhaustible colloquial talent; for, except when he slept, he never ceasedto talk. His conversation was however always interesting and entertaining, for he had figured in the early part of the French Revolution and was wellknown in the political and litterary world as the editor of a famousjournal called _Le Bonhomme Richard_. [129]

Metz is a large, well built and strongly fortified city. Verdun, thro'which we passed, became quite an English colony during the war from thenumber of _detenus_ of that nation who were compelled to reside there. AtEpernay we drank a few bottles of Champagne and a toast was given by one ofthe company, which met with general applause. It was _Bon voyage_ to theAllies who have now finally evacuated France to the great joy of the wholenation, except of the towns where they were cantoned, where theycontributed much towards enriching the shopkeepers and inhabitants. 

I remained in Paris six days and then proceeded to England. 

[129] _Le bonhomme Richard aux bonnes gens_ was not a "famous journal, " as only two numbers appeared in 1790 (M. Tourneux, _Bibliographie de l'histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution_, vol. 11, p. 585, n. 10, 511). The publisher, Antoine-François Lemaître, whom Major Erye mentions in this passage, was the author of some other revolutionary pamphlets, e. G. , _Lettres bougrement patriotiques_, etc. --ED. 

INDEX

Acheron, Lake. Adam, Major-General commands Light Brigade of General Sir H. Clinton's division. Aix-la-Chapelle: Hotel-de-Ville; Cathedral; relics of Charlemagne; Napoleon's benefactions; overbearing demeanour of Prussian soldiers; Faro bank; interesting Tyrolese girl; baths. Albanot Villa Doria, ancient monument. Albany, Countess of, her claim to be the legitimate Queen of England; Alfieri's attachment to. Alexandria: Austrian Government destroys fortifications ofAlfieri: compared with Shakespeare, Schiller, and Voltaire, monument erected to, by Canova; his sonnet to Countess of Albany. Alsace-Lorraine: severance of, from France anticipated by Prussian officers. Andernach: ruins of palace of Kings of Austrasia, church containing embalmed body of Emperor Valentinian; crossing of Rhine by Julius Caesar at. Angoulême, Duchesse d': temperament and religious fanaticism of. Antwerp: English families fly from Brussels to. Archenholz: historian of the Seven Years' War. Army of the Loire: exemplary conduct of, when disbanded. Arona: colossal statue of St Charles Borromeus at. Austria: fluctuations in the value of the paper currency of Napoleon's policy as regarded. Avernus, Lake. 

Baciocchi, Princess Elise: sister of Napoleon and Sovereign of Lucca. Baffo, Venetian poet. Baiae: baths of Nero, ruins of temples; the Styx; Elysian Fields. Belgium: dislike to severance from France; feeling towards Holland; attachment to Napoleon; preparations for the Campaign; all inhabitants requisitioned for the repair of fortifications. Berlin: occupation of, after Jena, excellent conduct of French troops of occupation; excesses committed by troops of Rhenish Confederation; insolent conduct of troops raised by Prince of Isenburg; art treasures of, respected by French Republican Armies; Unter den Linden; Brandenburger Thor; public buildings; streets; statues of great men in the Wilhelm Platz; Churches; the officers of the Army; anecdote of Blucher. Bern: attempts in 1815 to regain possession of the Canton de Vaud. Bigottini: fine performance at the Grand Opera, Paris. Bingen: Mausethurm, Bishop Hatto. Blacas, Vicomte de: at Court of Louis XVIII at Ghent. Blucher: popularity of, in London, encourages the excesses of his soldiery; nicknames of; narrowly escapes capture at Ligny; saves English at Hougoumont; anecdote related of. Bohemia: dialect of. Bologna: arcades, remarkable picture in gallery of Count Marescalchi; leaning tower; lady-professor of Greek; Carbonari; theatre; women; barbarous dialect. Bonn: Electoral palace; Roman antiquity; legends of the Sieben Gebirge; Das Heimliche Gericht. Bordas, M, politics of. Borgo San Donino, remarkable highway robbery at. Borromean Islands, splendid villa in Isola Bella. Bourbons, the: want of patriotism of the Duc de Berri, their injudicious conduct; Louis XVIII and Monsieur at Ghent; amusing nickname of Louis XVIII; dislike of the French people to; their atrocious policy; send emissaries to South of France from Coblentz; unpopularity of; fulsome adulation of; cause removal of Sismondi from Geneva; character of royal families of France, Spain, and Naples. Brussels: description of, historical associations; Place du Sablon, celebrated fountain; theatres; humanity of inhabitants of, to the wounded after Waterloo. 

Caffarelli, Statue of, in Palais du Luxembourg. Canova, works of, in St Peter's, master-pieces in his atelier in Rome; character of his genius. Capellen, Baron de, proclamation of, to the inhabitants of Brussels. Capua, thievishness of lower classes of. Carbonari, degrees and initiation, object; meaning of name. Castlereagh, Lord: insolent letter of, respecting King of Saxony. Catalani: singing of. Ceylon: Frye's travels in. Chalon: affection felt for Napoleon in, Austrian officers in. Charleroy: defeat of Prussian army at. Chateaubriand: at the Court of Louis XVIII at Ghent. Chatham, Earl of: indignation of, at employment of Indians in the War of Independence. Clermont: Peter the Hermit preaches First Crusade in, petrifying well; Swiss regiment; anonymous denunciations; method of cleansing town. Coblentz: monument to Marceau, Bourbon intrigues with Jacobins and Brissotins. Code Napoléon: simplicity and advantages of, as compared with English criminal law. Cologne: Cathedral, the three kings; the eleven thousand virgins; etymology of the name; Jean-Marie Farina. Cremona: Gothic buildings, Campanile of Cathedral. Consalvi, Cardinal: character and abilities of. Campagna: limbs of quartered malefactors hung up on roadsides, armed peasants; the malaria. 

David: pictures by, in Palais du Luxembourg. De l'Epée, Abbé: founder of the Institution of the _Sourds-Muets_. Dessaix: Statue of, in Palais du Luxembourg. De Watteville: disbands his army. Delille, Abbé, his poetry. De Boigne, General: his great services to Scindiah, unjustly accused of treachery towards Tippoo Sahb. Didier: handed over by the Sardinian Government to the French, his execution at Grenoble. Dijon: the town, manufactories of. Dionigi, Mme: literary and artistic attainments of. D'Orfei, Mme. Dresden: The Japanischer Palast, music in; Prince Galhitzin; the King; bridge over the Elbe; Marshal Davoust; Grosser Garten; Ressource Club; etiquette; title of "Rath"; theatres; beds; scholars. Duchesnois, Mlle: fine acting of. 

Egypt: striking testimony to the good done by the French in. Ehrenbreitstein: flying bridge, great natural strength; beauty of women of. Ellis, Col. Sir H. : perishes at Waterloo. Emigrés, the: incorrigibility of; ingratitude to Napoleon; their foolish expectations; efforts to cause restoration of lands formerly theirs. Ens: whirlpool; the Waternixie. Erfurt: legend of Count Gleichen. Espinassy, General: republican principles of. Eton: principles instilled into boys at. Eustace, Mr: examples of his credulity and bigotry. 

Ferrara: Hugo and Parisina; the Po; relics of Ariosto; MSS of Ariosto, Tasso, Guarini; Hospital of St Anna. Firmin: acting of. Fleurus: Prussian army defeated at. Florence: the Duomo; Battisterio; il Sasso di Dante; theatres; public buildings; statues; Gallery; Venus; de Medici; paintings and sculpture; portraits of sovereigns; Roman antiquities; remarkable imitations in wax of human anatomy; Ponte Vecchio; street paving; thickness of walls of houses; Palazzo Pitti; Canova's Venus; Boboli Gardens; Cascino; beauty of the women; Pegasus; Italian fondness for gaudy colours; Canova's monument to Alfieri; Church of Santa Croce; the Florentine Westminster Abbey; academies; La Crusca; English travellers; Lord Dillon; story illustrating Florentine life. Fouché: complains of the conduct of the Allies. Frankfort: Venus Vulgivaga; Jews; cathedral; inauguration of Roman Caesars in the Römer; the Golden Bull; portraits of the Emperors; theatre; adaptation of German language to music; political opinion in; dislike to Austria. French Revolution: worst excesses of, surpassed. 

Galileo: monument erected to, in church of Santa Croce. Gauthier, M. : exiled to Lausanne. Geneva: scenery, Fort de l'Écluse; arcades; J. J. Rousseau; Calvin; Servetus; sentiments of Genevese towards Napoleon and the Revolution; literary aptitude of Genevese; attachment to their country; the women; French refugees refused an asylum in; admitted into Helvetic Confederation. Genoa: the women of, peculiarities of the streets; ducal palace; Columbus; bridge of Carignano; churches. Georges, Mlle: fine acting of, her rendering of "Agrippina"; plays the part of "Clytemnestra, " supported by her sister as "Iphigénie". Ghent: Court of Louis XVIII at. Girolamo, Signor: anecdote of. Godesberg: interesting ruins near. Granet: remarkable pictures by. Grassini: singing of. Grillparzer, author of the tragedy "Sappho". Grotto of Pausilippo. Grotto del Cane. Guérin: pictures by, in Palais du Luxembourg. Guillotine, the. 

Helvetic Confederation: guaranteed by the Allied Powers in 1814, Geneva admitted into. Herculaneum. Hockheim; Rhenish wines. Holland: feeling towards the House of Orange, regret at loss of Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon. Hougoumont: Bulow and Blucher march to the assistance of the English at devastation of. Hulin, General: cashiers a Prussian officer in the French service. 

India: Frye's travels in. Innspruck: the Hofkirche, statues of kings and princes connected with Maximilian I. 

Kléber: statue of, in Palais du Luxembourg. Klingmann, Philipp: plot of his tragedy "Faust". 

Labédoyère: execution of. Lacoste: acts as Napoleon's guide at Waterloo. Lafayette: rebukes British Commissioner at the Conference. Lafond: acting of. Lafontaine, Augustus: comparison of works of, with the "Nouvelle Heloise" of Rousseau. La Harpe, General: influences Emperor of Russia in favour of the Vaudois. Lamarque: sent by the Convention to arrest Dumouriez, delivered over to the Austrians; votes for Napoleon. Landshut: Church of St Martin at. Language: influence of, upon the poetry and plays of Italy, France, England and Germany. Lausanne: steep ascents, beauty of environs; Republican principles of; intolerant discourse of minister. Leipzig: Saxon troops go over to the Mies during the battle of, the University; unpopularity of the English in. Leghorn: Hebrew families in, Don Felipe III; Smollett's tomb. Liége: situation of, coal-pits near; commerce with Holland; fortifications; destroyed by Joseph II. Linz: beauty of the women, curious incident; learned innkeepers. Lodi: interesting model in the Hôtel des Invalides of battle of. Louvre: works of art in, stripping of, by the Allies. Lucca: female servants, the amoroso; Dante's mountain. Lyons: buildings, scenery; feelings towards Napoleon; character of inhabitants; manufactures. 

Maastricht: situation, Montagne de St Pierre. Machiavelli: entombed in church of Santa Croce. Mâcon: quai, wine; grisettes. Maffei: his "Polyphonte" compared with that of Voltaire. Maitland, Captain: Napolean surrenders to. Mantua: situation, Cathedral; monuments of the Gonzagas; the T palace and gardens. Marengo: the Battle of, Commemoration column thrown down. Maria Louisa: ordered to quit papal territory, enthusiastic reception of, at Bologna; victim of a strange theft. Mars, Mlle: graceful acting of. Massieu: pupil of the Abbé Sicard. Mayence: Cathedral, Citadel. Michel Angelo: anecdote of. Milan: _Teatro della Scala_, the _Duomo_; the women of; dialect; the _Zecca_; palace; Ambrosian Library; hospital; _Teatro Olimpico_; Porta del Sempione; Italian comedy and audiences; Teatro Girolamo; Milanese twang; ballet; acting of La Pallerini. Mittenwald: great raft, interesting journey. Mölk: tradition of the Devil's Wall, ruins of Castle of Dierenstein; Richard Coeur de Lion. Mont Cenis: description of the Chaussée. Mont St. Jean: dreadful sight on plateau of. Montefiascone: story of the _Vino d'Est_. Morice, Colonel: death at Waterloo. Munich: the King, national theatre; social life in; female head-dress. Murat: Italian opinion of. 

Namur: situation of, Citadel demolished by Joseph II; complaints against. Prussian soldiery. Napoleon: takes tribute of works of art from vanquished Governments, calumniated by the _émigrés_; unjust aspersions on; narrow escape from capture; confident of success before Waterloo; constructs Chaussée of Mont Cenis. Naples: life of a man of fashion in; Etruscan vases and papyri in museum; theatres; _Pulcinello_; social advantages; lazzaroni; dialect; effect of general ignorance. Nelson, Lord: conduct towards Caraccioli, Neuwied: University of. Ney, Marshall: Wellington and Emperor of Russia refuse to interfere in favour of

Padua: University; Church of St Anthony; Palazzo della Giustizia; tomb of Livy. Paris: Louis XVIII in, Kotzebue on the _Palais Royal_; Café Montausier; the Louvre; statues and paintings collected by the French Government; productions at the Grand Opera; Column of the _Place Vendôme_; Gardens of the Tuileries; Chamber of Deputies; the _Invalides_; models of the fortresses of France; Picture Gallery of the Palais du Luxembourg; frequency of quarrels between French and Prussian officers in the; _Palais Royal_; behaviour of English officers in; masterpieces performed in the _Théâtre français_; Ney shot in the Gardens of the Luxembourg. Parma: "L'Amfiteatro Farnese", paintings; birthplace of Cassius. Passau: junction of the Danube, Inn and Illst. Perugia. Pescia, advantages of living in. Picton, Lieut-Genl Sir T. : perishes at Waterloo. Piedmont: character of the lower classes of. Pillnitz: the palace; Treaty of. Pisa. Pitt: credited with the invention of the sinking fund. Pius VII: character and virtues of. Pompeii: amphitheatre; houses; Temple of Isis; Praetorium; antiquities removed to Museum of Portici. Pontine Marshes. Prague: situation, bridge over the Mulda; remarkable statue; Jews; palaces of the Wallensteins and Colloredos; St John Nepomucene; Joseph II's ingenious method of extorting money from the Jews; Catalani; story of the Duchess Libussa. 

Rafaelli: mosaic work of. Rho: ancient tree. Rome: censorship of books at the Dogana, Coliseum; Arch of Constantine; _Via Sacra_--excavations; Tarpeian Rock; Capitol; St Peter's; anecdote of Michel Angelo; statue of St Peter; masterpieces of sculpture in Capitoline Museum; Transteverini; effect of the settling of foreign artists in; Santa Maria Maggiore; Church of St John Lateran; Egyptian obelisk; La Scala Santa; Quirinal; fountains; Column of Trajan; baths of Diocletian; theatres; masterpieces of art in the Vatican Museum; statue of Jupiter Capitolinus; stanze di Rafaello; Appian Road; social life in; the _Avvocati_; Papal Government; post office defalcations; the Carnival; races in the Corso; masquerades; Sovereigns and persons of distinction living in Rome in 1818; Easter in; Swiss Guard; Noble Guard; papal benediction; illumination of St Peter's; fireworks from Castle of St Angelo; the brigand Barbone; his wife. 

Savoy: character of inhabitants of. Schönbrunn: anecdote of Napoleon's son. Schuyler, General: his reproof of General Burgoyne. Scindiah: career of. Sgricci, Signor: his genius for improvisation. Sicard, Abbeé; director of the Institution of the _Sourds-Muets_, eulogises Sir Sidney Smith. Sienna: cathedral, Piccolomini monument; dialect. Simplon: road over the, Chaussée; _maisons de refuge_. Sismondi, the historian banished from Geneva. Smith, Lucius F. : friend of De Boigne. Smith, Sir Sidney: his eulogy of the Abbé Sicard. Spoleto: ruins of ancient buildings. St Cloud: favourite residence of Napoleon. St Eustatius: pillaged by Admiral Rodney. St Germain: depôt for articles plundered by Prussian officers. St Helena: injustice of Napoleon's banishment to. Stewart, Lord: conduct of, at Conference of French Commissioners with the Allies. 

Taddei, Rosa: her talent for improvisation. Talma, his ailing at the Théâtre Français. Thorwaldsen: character of his genius. Tivoli: the Villa d'Este, Adrian's Villa. Tölz: remarkable groups of figures in wood, representing history of Christ. Tournay, citadel of. Trévoux: scenery on the road between Mâcon and, hotel-keeper's beautiful daughter. Turin: Chapelle du Saint Suaire, remarkable works of art in; the King of Sardinia. Tuscany: contrast with papal dominions, pronunciation; peasantry; fondness of Tuscan women for dress; feeling towards Napoleon in; character of the people; house of Americo Vespucci. Tyrol, the: general description of, dress of the peasant women. 

Valais: crétins of. Vaud, Canton de: character of inhabitants of, gratitude to France; democratic spirit; La Harpe; defends its independence; hatred of French Royalists to. Velino: remarkable cascade. Venice: Canale Grande, Rialto; palaces of great families; the Merceria; water-fête; Piazza di San Marco; Church of St Mark; Campanile; variety of costumes in; dialect; social life in; Doge's palace; theatres; gondolas. Verbruggen, H. : work of, in church of St Gudule, Brussels. Verona: amphitheatre, Palladio; Scala family; social advantages in. Versailles: magnificence of. "Vertraute Briefe" the. Vesuvius: eruptions, lava. Vicenza. Vienna: Art treasures of, respected by French Republican armies, great raft; streets; Cathedral; Hofburg; Congress of; Wechselbank; Belvedere Palace; Prater; theatres. Visconte, Galeazzo: builds church of the Certosa. Volnais, Mlle: Acting of. Voltaire: his play, "Mérope", his benefactions to Ferney; relics of; portraits of contemporaries in his château. 

Walker, Adam: his lectures to Etonians stopped. Wardle, Col. : republican principles of, anonymous denunciation of. Waterloo: French officer's remarks on. Wellington: his confidence in the result of the campaign, gallantry of; checks frequency of corporal punishment in the army. Wilson, Maj. -Genl: accompanies Frye on a tour through the theatre of War. Wilson, Sir R. : his charges against Napoleon. Wirion: removed from office by Napoleon. 

York, Duke of, opposes frequent corporal punishment in the Army. 

Zedera, Chevalier: political dispute with Genevese, his journey with Frye to Italy; his parting with Frye.