Chapter XV: April-July, 1818

Journey from Florence to Pisa and from thence by the Appennines to Genoa--Massa-Carrara--Genoa--Monuments and works of art--The Genoese--Return to Florence--Journey from Florence through Bologna and Ferrara to Venice--Monument to Ariosto in Ferrara--A description of Venice--Padua--Vicenza--Verona--Cremona--Return to Milan--The Scala theatre--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: but I preferred to go by land, and I cannot conceive why anyone should expose himself to the risks, inconveniences and delays of a sea passage, when it is so easy to go by land thro' the Appennines. I started accordingly the following morning, mounted on a mule, and attended by a muleteer with another mule to convey my portmanteau. I found this journey neither dangerous nor difficult, but on the contrary agreeable and romantic. The road is only a bridle road. I paid forty-eight franks for my two mules and driver, and started at seven in the morning from Sarzana. The wild appearance of the Appennines, the aweful solitudes and the highly picturesque points of view that present themselves at the various sinuosities of the mountains and valleys; the view of the sea from the heights that tower above the towns of Oneglia and Sestri Levante, rendered this journey one of the most interesting I have ever made. I stopped to dine at Borghetto and brought to the night at Sestri Levante, breakfasted the next morning at Rapallo, and arrived the same evening at four o'clock in Genoa. Borghetto is a little insignificant town situate in a narrow valley surrounded on all sides by the lofty crags of the Appennines. Sestri Levante is a long and very straggling town, part of it being situated on the sea shore, and the other part on the gorge of the mountain descending towards the sea beach; so that the former part of the town lies nearly at right angles with the latter, with a considerable space intervening. The road for the last four miles between Borghetto and Sestri Levante is a continual descent. The inn was very comfortable and good at Sestri Levante. The beginning of the road between Sestri and Rapallo is on the beach till near Rapallo, when it strikes again into the mountains and is of considerable ascent. Rapallo is a very neat pretty place, situate on an eminence commanding a fine view of the sea. The greater part of the road between Rapallo and Genoa is on the sea-coast, but cut along the mountains which here form a bluff with the sea. Villas, gardens and vineyards line the whole of this route and nothing can be more beautiful. The neatness of the villas and the abundance of the population form a striking contrast to the 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, and where 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 by land from the eastern side, the ramparts are so lofty as to intercept the fine view the city would otherwise afford. From the sea side it rises in the shape of an amphitheatre; a view therefore taken from the sea gives the best idea of its grandeur and of the magnificence of its buildings, for everybody on beholding this grand spectacle must allow that this city well deserves 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; they wear the _mezzara_ or veil, in the management of which they display much grace and not a little coquetry. Instead of the fan exercise recommended to women by the _Spectator_, the art of handling the _mezzara_ might be reduced 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 here for four _livres_ a day I am sumptuously boarded and lodged. There are three 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 broad and aligned with the finest buildings in Genoa. This street or streets are the only ones that can be properly called so, according to the idea we usually attach to the word. The others deserve rather the names of lanes and alleys, tho' exceedingly well paved and aligned with excellent houses and shops. In fact the streets _Nuova_, _Nuovissima_ and _Balbi_ are the only ones thro' which carriages can pass. The others are far too narrow to admit of the passage of carriages. The houses on each side of them are of immense height, being of six or seven stories, which form such a shade as effectually to protect those who walk thro' these alleys from the rays of the sun. The houses diminish in height in proportion as they are built on the slant of the mountain from the bottom to the top, those at the bottom being 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 four wheels, or even with two, is a rare conveyance in Genoa. The general mode of conveyance is on a sedan chair, carried by porters, or on the backs of mules or asses. Genoa is distinguished by the beauty of the Palaces of its patricians, which are more numerous and more magnificent than those of any other 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 splendid than many of the Palaces of individual patricians. In fact, the Ducal Palace is built in the Gothic taste and resembles a Gothic fortress, having round 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 the Genoese duly appreciate, and never can forget their illustrious countryman. The lines of Tasso, "_Un uom della Liguria avrà ardimento_," etc., and the following stanza, _Tu spiegherai Colombo a urn nuovo polo_, etc. are in the mouth of everyone.[117] The Hall of the Petty Council is neat, but it is the recollection of the history of this once famous Republic that renders the examination of this Palace so interesting. But now Genoa's glory is gone; she has been basely betrayed into the hands of a Government she most detested. The King of Sardinia is nowhere; and he is not a little proud of being the possessor of such a noble sea port, which enables him to rank as a maritime power.

The Genoese are laborious and make excellent sailors; but now there is nothing to animate them; and they will never exert themselves in the service of a domination which is so little congenial to them. They sigh for their ancient Government, of whose glories they had so often heard and whose brilliant exploits have been handed down to the present day not merely by historical writers and poets, but by _improvisatori_ from mouth to mouth. The Genoese nobles, those merchant Kings, whose riches exceeded at one time those of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, who were the pawn-brokers to those Sovereigns, are now in a state of decay. Commerce can only flourish on the soil of liberty, and takes wing at the sight of military and sacerdotal chains; and tho' the present Sovereign affects to caress the Genoese _noblesse_, they return his civilities with sullen indifference, and half concealed contempt and aversion. The commerce of Genoa is transferred to Leghorn, which increases in prosperity as the former 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 an immense height. Beautiful villas and grounds tastefully laid out in plantations of orange trees, pomegranates, etc., abound in the environs of this city, and everything announces the extreme industry of the inhabitants, for the soil is proverbially barren. This shews what they have done and what they could still do were they free; but now they have nothing to animate their exertions. The public promenades are on the bastions and curtains of the fortifications, on the _Esplanade_ and in the streets _Balbi_, _Nuova_ and _Nuovissima_. There is also another very delightful promenade, tho' not much used by the ladies, viz., on the Mola or Pier enveloping the harbour.

One of the most remarkable constructions in Genoa is the bridge of Carignano, which is built over an immense ravine and unites the hills Fengano and Carignano. It is so high that houses of six stories stand under its arches in the valley below. No water except in times of flood runs under this bridge and it much resembles, tho' somewhat larger, the bridge at Edinburgh which unites the old and new towns. The principal churches are: first, the Cathedral, which is not far from the Ducal Palace; it is richly ornamented and incrusted with black marble; the church of the Annunziata and that of St Sire. They are all in the Gothic style of architecture and loaded with that variety of ornament and diversity of beautiful marbles which distinguish the churches of Italy from those of any other 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 built houses the whole way; these houses are principally used as magazines and store houses.

FLORENCE, 5 May.

I left Genoa on the 30th April, returned on mule-back from Genoa to Sarzana, stopping the first night at Sestri. The second evening when near Sarzana, it being very dark, I somehow or other got out of the road and my mule fell with me into a very deep ditch; but I was only slightly bruised by the fall; my clothes however were covered with dirt and wet. The road from Genoa to Sarzana might with very little expense be made fit for carriages by widening it. At present it is only a bridle road, and on some parts of it, on the sides of ravines, it is I think a little ticklish to trust entirely to the discretion of one's _monture_; at least I thought so and dismounted twice to pass such places on foot. A winding stream is to be forded in two or three places, but it is not deep except after rains; and then I think it must be sometimes dangerous to pass, till the waters run off. Those, who are fond of mountain scenery will, like myself, be highly gratified in making this journey; for it is thro' the loftiest, wildest and most romantic part of the Appennines. From Sarzana I hired a cabriolet to return 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 following day I reached this place (Ferrara), six miles distant from Bologna. The country between these two cities is a perfect plain and very fertile. At Malalbergo (half-way) We crossed the Reno in a boat. I put up at the _Tre Mori_ in Ferrara. Having remained two and half days here I have had time to inspect and examine almost everything of consequence that the city affords. The city itself has an imposing, venerable appearance and can boast of some fine 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 in several of the streets. I believe the unhealthiness of the environing country is the cause of the decrease of population, for Ferrara lies on a marshy plain, very liable to inundation In the centre of the city stands the 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 was in this court-yard that Hugo and Parisina were decapitated. From the top of this palace a noble view of the plain of the Po represents itself, and you see 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 swollen by the torrents from the Alps and Appennines that fall into the smaller rivers, which unite their tributary streams with the Po and accompany him as his _seguaci_ to the Adriatic, this country is liable to the most dreadful inundations: flocks and herds, farm-houses and sometimes whole villages are swept away. Dykes, dams and canals innumerable are in consequence constructed throughout this part of the country, to preserve it as much as possible from such calamities. Ariosto's description of an over-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 a very fair cabinet of natural history in all its branches. The Library is very remarkable, and possesses a great number of valuable manuscripts. But my principal object in visiting this Museum was to see the monument erected in honour of Ariosto, which has been transferred here from the Benedictine church. The inkstand and chair of this illustrious bard are carefully preserved and exhibited. They exactly resemble the print of them that accompanies the first edition of Hoole's translation of the _Orlando Furioso_. Among the manuscripts what gratified me most was the manuscript of the _Gerusalemme liberata_ of Tasso. But few corrections appear in this manuscript; tho from the extreme polish and harmony of the versification one would expect a great many. It is written in an extremely legible hand.

I also inspected the original manuscripts of the _Pastor Fido_ of Guarini and of the _Suppositi_ of Ariosto.

I then went to visit the Hospital of St Anna, for the sake of seeing the dungeon 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 could escape becoming insane altogether. The old wooden door of this cell will soon be entirely cut away by amateurs, as almost everyone who visits the dungeon chops off a piece of wood from the door to keep as a relic. The door is in consequence pieced and repaired with new wood, and in a short time will be in the state of Sir John Cutter's worsted stockings which were darned 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 Austrian Eagle 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 village on the south bank of the Po, three miles distant from Ferrara. A flying bridge wafted me across the river, which is exceedingly broad and rapid to the north bank, where a barge was in waiting to receive passengers for Venice. This barge is well fitted up and supplied with _comestibles_ of all sorts and couches to recline on. The price is twelve francs for the passage, and you pay extra for refreshments. The bark got under weigh at seven o'clock and descended rapidly this majestic river, which however, from its great breadth, and from the country on each side of it being perfectly flat, did not offer any interesting points of view. Plains and cattle grazing thereon were the only objects, for they take care to build the farms and houses at a considerable distance from the banks, on account of the inundations. After having descended the Po for a considerable distance, we entered a canal which unites the Po with the Adige. We then descended the Adige for a short distance, and entered another canal which unites the Adige with the Brenta. Here we stopped to change barges, and it required an hour and half to unload and reload the baggage. We then entered the Brenta and from thence into the Lagoons, and passing by the islands of Malamocco and Chiozzo entered Venice by the _Canale grande_ at three o'clock in the morning. The whole night was so dark as totally to deprive us of the view of the approach of Venice. The barge anchored near the Post office and I hired a gondola to convey me to the inn called _Le Regina d'Ungheria_.

VENICE, 26th May.

I was much struck, as everyone must be who sees it for the first time, at the singular appearance of Venice. An immense city in the midst of the Ocean, five miles distant from any land; canals instead of streets; gondolas in lieu of carriages and horses! Yet it must not be inferred from this that you are necessarily obliged to use a gondola in order to visit the various parts of the city; for its structure is as follows. It is built in compartments on piles on various mud banks, always covered indeed by water, but very shallow and separated from each other (the mud banks I mean) by deep water. On each of these compartments are built rows of houses, each row giving front to a canal. The space between the backs of the rows of houses forms a narrow street or alley paved with flag stones, very like Cranborn Alley for instance; and these compartments are united to each 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 which form 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 almost impracticable, for each bridge has a flight of steps for ascent and descent. All this forms such a perfect labyrinth from the multiplicity and similarity of the alleys and bridges, that it is impossible for any stranger to find his way without a guide. I lost my way regularly every time that I went from my inn to the _Piazza di San Marco_, which forms the general rendezvous of the promenaders and is the fashionable lounge of Venice; and every time I was obliged to hire a boy to reconduct me to my inn. On this account, in order to avoid this perplexity and the expence of hiring a gondola every time I wished to go to the _Piazza di San Marco_ I removed to another inn, close to it, called _L'Osteria della Luna_, which stands 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 canal and every part of the city. Almost every family of respectability keeps a gondola, 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, the finest 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 the appearance of a river. The _Rialto_ is the only bridge which connects the opposite banks of the _Canale grande_; but there are four hundred smaller bridges in Venice to connect the other canals.

The _Rialto_, the resort of the money changers and Jews, is a very singular and picturesque construction, being of one arch, a very bold one. On each side of this bridge is a range of jewellers' shops. A narrow Quai runs along the banks of the _Canale grande_.

I have visited several of the _Palazzi_, particularly those of the families Morosini, Cornaro, Pisani, Grimani, which are very rich in marbles of _vert_ and _jaune antique_; but they are now nearly stripped of all their furniture, uninhabited by their owners, or let to individuals, mostly shopkeepers; for since the extinction of the Venetian Republic almost all the nobility have retired to their estates on the _terra firma_, or to their villas on the banks of the Brenta; so that Venice is now inhabited chiefly by merchants, shopkeepers, chiefly jewellers and silk mercers, seafaring people, the constituted authorities, and the garrison of the place.

Tho' Venice has fallen very much into decay, since the subversion of the Republic, as might naturally be expected, and still more so since it has been under the Austrian domination, yet it is still a place of great wealth, particularly in jewellery, silks and all articles of dress and luxury. In the _Merceria_ you may see as much wealth displayed as in Cheapside 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 his quality of Viceroy of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. There were about one hundred and fifty barges, each fitted up by some department of trade and commerce, with allegorical devices and statues richly ornamented, emblematical of the trade or professions to which the barge belonged. Each barge bore an appropriate ensign, and the dresses of the crew were all tasteful, and thoroughly analogous to the profession they represented. These barges are richly gilded, and from the variety of the costumes and streamers, 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 showered down from the masthead sonnets in honor of the _féte_, printed on board of the barge itself. Every trade or profession, in short, had a barge and appropriate flag and costumes. A quantity of private barges and gondolas followed this procession. The Archduke and his staff occupied the Government barge, which is very magnificent and made in imitation of the Bucentaur. Musicians were on board of many of the barges, and the houses on both banks of the _Canale Grande_ were filled with beautiful women and other spectators waving their handkerchiefs. Guns were fired on the embarkation of the Viceroy from the _Piazzetta di San Marco_, and on his return. 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 kind in the world. It is a good deal in the style of the _Palais Royal_ at Paris, and tho' not so large, is far more striking, from the very tasteful and even sumptuous manner in which the _cafés_ are fitted up, both internally and externally; they have spacious rooms with mirrors on all sides, some in the shape of Turkish tents, others in that of Egyptian temples. The _Piazza_, forming an oblong rectangle, is arcaded on the two long sides, and of the two short ones, one presents a superb modern palace built by Napoleon, and richly adorned with the statues of all the heathen Gods on the top, which Palace was usually occupied by Eugene Napoléon; the other 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 St Mark 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 in Rome or St Paul's in London. On the top of the façade, which is singularly picturesque, stand the four bronze horses which have been brought back from Paris to their old residence.

I ascended the top of the façade in order to examine them. They are beautifully formed, in very good cast and have not at all been damaged by the journey. The _Piazza_ is paved with broad flagged stones. The Doge's palace 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 _Canale Grande_, stands the famous state prison and _Ponte de 'Sospiri_. On the _Piazzetta_ and fronting the landing place stand two columns of white marble, on one of which stands the winged Lion of St Marco and on the other a crocodile, emblematical of the foreign commerce and possessions of the Republic. The space between these two columns was allotted for the execution of State criminals. Not far from the church of St Marco, and near to that angle of the _Piazza_ which connects it with the _Piazzetta_, stands the famous _Campanile_ or Steeple of San Marco. It is a square building 800 feet in height, from the top of which one has the best view of Venice and its adjacent isles, the distant Alps and the _marina dove il Po discende_. A Quai, if Quai it may be called, which has a row of houses on each 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 Quai is very broad and well paved, and is the only thing that can be called a street in all Venice. The _Piazza di San Marco_, therefore, this Quai and the garden before mentioned form the only promenades in Venice. This garden moreover has trees, and these are the only trees that are to be met with in this city. In this garden are two _Cafés_.

The variety of costume is another very agreeable spectacle at Venice. Here you meet with Albanians, Greeks, Turks, Moors, Sclavonians and Armenians, all in their respective national costumes. The first Armenian I met with here was sitting on a stone bench on the _Piazza di San Marco_, and this brought forcibly to my recollection the Armenian in Schiller's _Ghost-seer_.

These _Cafés_ and _Casinos_ on the _Piazza_ are open day and night. Ices and coffee superiorly made and other refreshments of all kinds at very low prices are to be had. Some of these _casinos_ are devoted to gaming. The first families in Venice repair to the _Piazza_ in the evening after the Opera, female as well as male. They promenade up and down the _Piazza_ or sit down and converse in the _Cafés_ and _Casinos_ till a late hour. Few go to bed in Venice in the summer time before six In the morning, so that sleep seems for ever banished from the _Piazza_. Music and singing goes forward in these _casinos_, and the ear is often charmed with the sound of those delightful Venetian airs, whose simple melody ravishes the soul. The Venetian dialect is very pleasing, and scarcely yields in harmony to the Tuscan. It contains a great many Sclavonic words. It is the only dialect of Italy that is at all pleasing to my ear, for I do not at all relish the nasal twang and truncated terminations of the Piedmontese and Lombard dialects, nor the semi-barbarous jargon of the Genoese and the Neapolitan and, least of all, the execrable cacophony of the Bolognese.

I visited of course the Arsenal and the Doge's Palace. The apartments in the latter are very spacious and ornamented in the Gothic taste of grandeur. The chamber of the Council is peculiarly magnificent. There is a good deal of tapestry and some fine paintings and statues: among the former I particularly noticed an allegorical picture, representing the triumph of Venice over the league of Cambray. Venice is represented by the winged Lion, and the powers of the Coalition are pourtrayed by various other beasts. Among the latter is a beautiful group in marble representing Ganymede and the Eagle. The terror depicted in the countenance of the beautiful boy, and the passion that seems to agitate the Eagle, are surprizingly well pourtrayed.

The principal theatre at Venice, the _Teatro Fenice_, is not open; but I have visited the other theatres, and among other things witnessed the representation of a new opera, call'd _Il Lupo d'Ostende_. The piece itself was rather interesting; but the music was feeble and did not seem to give general satisfaction. The singing is in general very good at Venice, but in scenery, dresses and decorations the theatres here are far inferior to those of Milan and Naples.

I find the air of Venice very hot and unpleasant, arising from the exhalation from the canals; and it appears to me as if I were on board of an 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 St Lazare, where there is a convent of Armenian monks.

Why are the gondolas hung with black? it gives to them such a dismal funereal appearance. They always resemble the bodies of hearses placed on boats. I am not fond of gaudy colours in general, yet I do think a gondola should have a somewhat livelier color than black.

PADUA, 8th June.

Padua is not above ten miles distant from Fusina. As I started from Venice at six in the morning I had a fine receding view of the Ocean Queen, with her steeples and turrets rising from the sea. Venice has no fortifications and needs them not. Her insular position protects her from land attacks, and the shoals prevent the approach of ships of war. Floating batteries therefore and gunboats are her best defence. The road from Fusina to Padua is on the banks of the Brenta the whole way, and is lined with trees. There are a great number of villas on the banks of the Brenta, well built in the best 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 of the streets give it a gloomy appearance. There are however some beautiful promenades 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 himself are a great many ornaments, among which are a crucifix in bronze and fresques representing the different actions and miracles of this patron Saint of the Padovani. Probably as this city was founded by the Trojan Antenor they have transformed his name into that of a Christian Saint and called him St Anthony, just as Virgil has been transformed into a magician at 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 a painting of the martyrdom of the Saint by Paul Veronese. But one of the greatest curiosities in this ancient city is the immense Saloon in the _Palazzo della Giustizia_. It is, I presume, the loftiest and largest hall in the world that is supported by nothing but its walls, it being three hundred feet long, one hundred feet broad and one hundred feet high. In the 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 of people, and are very industrious. I put up at the _Stella d'Oro_, a good inn.

VICENZA, 10th June.

I arrived at this beautiful _bijou_ of a town on the morning of the 9th June at eight o'clock. I call it a _bijou_ from its exceeding neatness, and the extreme beauty of the architecture of its edifices, which are almost all 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 the promenades about it are tastefully laid out. But the two most striking objects in point of edifices in Vicenza and both constructed by Palladio are the covered portico and the _Teatro Olimpico_. The covered portico is two miles in length and leads to the chapel of the _Madonna del Monte_, situated on an eminence, at that distance from the city. A magnificent triumphal arch stands before it, and there is an extensive view of the surrounding country. The _Teatro Olimpico_ is a small, but beautiful theatre, built strictly after the model of the ancient Greek theatres. It is peculiarly precious as being the only one of the kind in Europe. How admirably adapted both for seeing and hearing are such theatres! It has, for scenery, the model of a Palacé, curiously carved in wood, which represents a Royal Palace, for the ancients never shifted their scenes, and this may account for their adhering so strictly to the unities. Statues and bas-reliefs adorn this beautiful little theatre. Many years ago, on particular occasions, it was the custom to act plays here, either translated from the Greek, or taken strictly from the Greek model. This theatre is esteemed Palladio's _chef d'oeuvre_.

The _Campo di Marie_ is a vast _Place_ outside the town. The Place and its gate are well worth inspecting, so is the famous villa with the Rotonda, belonging to the Marchese di Capra, the original after which the villa belonging to the Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick is built. The environs of this interesting city are very beautiful and present an exceeding rich soil, highly cultivated in corn, mulberry trees and vines hanging from them in festoons.

VERONA, 12th June.

I started yesterday morning from Vicenza and arrived here in about three hours, the distance being nearly the same as between Vicenza and Padua. We crossed the Adige which divides the city into two unequal parts and drove to the _Due Torri_, a large and comfortable inn with excellent rooms and accommodations. Verona is a very handsome city, for here also Palladio was the designer or builder of many edifices. It has a very cheerful and gay appearance, tho' not quite so much so as Vicenza. The reason of this difference is that in Verona the greater part of the buildings are in the Gothic style, which always appears heavy and melancholy, whereas in Vicenza all is Grecian. The Amphitheatre of course claimed my first notice. It yields only to the Coliseum in size and grandeur and is in much better preservation, the whole of the ellipse and its walls being entire, whereas in the Coliseum part of the walls have been pulled down. Indeed the Amphitheatre of Verona may be said to be almost perfectly entire. _Tempus edax rerum_ has been its only enemy; whereas avarice and religious fanaticism have contributed, much more than time, to the dilapidation of the Coliseum. The Amphitheatre of Verona can contain 24,000 persons. In it is constructed a temporary theatre of wood, where they perform plays and farces in the open air. Verona is much embellished by several _Palazzi_ built by Palladio, which form a curious contrast with the other buildings and churches which are in the Gothic style. Verona can boast among its antiquities 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, in honour of the family Gavia.

The churches here are richly ornamented and the _Palazzo del Consiglio_ has many fine marble and bronze statues. In this city also are the tombs and monuments 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 an immense _campanile_ (steeple), from which is a fine view of the surrounding country, and the progressive risings of the Alps, the lower parts of which lie close upon Verona. Beautiful villas and farmhouses abound in the neighbourhood of this city. The favourite promenades are the _Corso_ and the _Bra_. On the _Bra_ I saw a very brilliant display of carriages, and some very pretty women in them. The theatre is by Palladio, is exquisitely beautiful, and very tastefully fitted up. I assisted at the representation of _La Gazza Ladra_, one of Rossini's best operas.

I should think Verona would be a very delightful séjour; everything is very cheap; a fine country highly cultivated; a remarkably healthy climate; a society which unites much urbanity and a love of amusement with a taste for the fine arts and for the graver sciences, and a general appearance of opulence and comfort. The shops in Verona appear very splendid, and the _Bra_, when lighted up in the evening, is a very lively and animating scene.

MANTUA, 15 June.

I could not go to Milan without stepping a little out of my road to visit this ancient and redoubtable fortress, so celebrated in the early campaigns of Buonaparte, besides the other claims it has on the traveller's attention as the birth place of Virgil. This place is of immense strength, as a military post; being situated on a small isthmus of land, separating two lakes, and communicating with the rest of the country by an exceeding narrow causeway. This position, added to the strength of the fortifications, render the fortress impregnable, if well garrisoned and provisioned. The city is, however, unhealthy from the lake and marshy land about it, and there is but a scanty population. Grass grows in the streets and it is the dullest and indeed the only dull town in all Italy. Everything in this city announces decay and melancholy, and I met with several men looking full as halfstarved and deplorable as Shakespeare's Apothecary 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 is a fine circular promenade in the centre of which is a Monument erected in honor of Virgil by the French general Miollis, who had a great veneration for all poets. The _Palazzo pubblico_ and the Cathedral are the most striking buildings. The latter contains the tombs and monuments of the Gonzaga family, the whilom Sovereigns of Mantua. There are also several monuments in honor of some French officers, who were killed in the campaigns of Italy under Buonaparte and erected to their memory by his direction.

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 that letter, which was the usual residence of the Dukes of Mantua. It is a noble edifice and its gardens are well laid out. These gardens have this peculiarity, that at the entrance of each of the grand avenues is a figure of a man on horseback caparizoned in armour, like the Knights of old. This is 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 and fortified, situated on the Po which forms many little islands in the environs. This city is of great antiquity, and has a number of Gothic buildings. You do not find here the specimens and imitations of Grecian architecture as at Vicenza and Verona. The _campanile_ of the Cathedral is of immense height, but one is repaid for the fatigue of ascending by the extensive view from its summit. There are 498 steps. I put up at the _Colombina_, a very good inn. The Cremonese seem to be an industrious people. There is a great deal of pasture land in the environs of this city and much cheese is made here and in the Lodesan. Several ricefields are also 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 is about eighteen miles distant from Milan, thro' a rich highly cultivated plain. The road lies in a right line the whole way. About three miles distant from Pavia on the Milan side stands the celebrated _Certosa_, which we stopped to visit. The church of the _Certosa_ contains the greatest quantity of riches in marbles, and precious stones, of any building in the world, probably. The architecture is Gothic, and the workmanship of the exterior exquisite; but the ulterior is most dazzling; and at the sight of the rich marbles and innumerable precious stones of all kinds with which it abounds, I was reminded of Aladdin and began to fancy myself in the cavern of the Wonderful Lamp. This church was built by Galeazzo Visconti, whose coffin is here, and his statue also, in white marble. There are several bas-reliefs of exquisite workmanship. There are no fewer than seventeen altars here and of the most beautiful structure you can conceive, being inlaid in mosaic with jasper, onyx and lapis-lazuli. Besides these precious marbles of every colour and quantity under heaven, here are abundance of rubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines and topazes, incrusted in the different chapels and altars. Here again is a proof of the falsehood and injustice of the aspersions cast on the French army, as being the plunderers of churches; for if they were so, how comes it that the _Certosa_ the richest of all, was spared? Mr Eustace[119] in his admiration of Church splendour, should at least have given the French no small degree of credit for their abstinence from so rich a prize. A canal runs parallel to 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 very antique and solemn in its appearance. It is quite Gothic and was the capital 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 Lombard Kings, which I should like much to have done; for then I should have endeavoured to make out the chamber into which Jocondo peeped and discovered what cured him of his melancholy, and where the impatient Queen received the petulant answer from her beloved Nano, conveyed by one of her waiting 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_, one of the most interesting Ballets I ever beheld. Oh! what a mighty magician is 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 and classical! I can never forget the impression this fascinating Ballet made on me. It is called _La Vestale_. It opens with a view of the Circus in ancient Rome, and various gymnastic exercises, combats of gladiators, of athletes, and ends with a chariot race with real horses. The Roman Consuls are present in all their pomp, surrounded by Lictors with axes and fasces. The Vestal virgins assist at this spectacle, and from one of them the victor 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; the heroine is the Vestal Virgin who crowns him with the garland. The young victor becomes desperately enamored of the Vestale, and she appears also to feel an incipient flame. After the games are over, the victor returns to his father's house, and meeting there one of his friends, discloses to him his love for the Vestale and his idea of entering by stealth into the temple 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. All the remonstrances, however, of the friend are vain; and the hero fixed in his resolve watches for the opportunity, when it is the turn of his beloved to officiate in the temple of Vesta, and enters therein. The Vestale is terrified and supplicates him to retire: in vain; and after a long but ineffectual struggle she sinks into his arms at the foot of the altar. Suddenly the sacred flame becomes extinguished; a noise is heard; the Vestals enter; the unfortunate fair is roused from her stupor by the noise of footsteps and has just time to oblige her lover to retire, which he reluctantly does, but not unperceived by the Vestals. The Matron of the Vestals reproaches her with the crime she has committed and orders her to be placed in a dungeon. She is brought out to be examined by the High Priest, found guilty and condemned by him to the usual punishment of the Vestals for a breach of their vow, viz., the being buried alive outside the gates of Rome. The moment the sentence is pronounced a black veil is thrown over her. The scene then changes to the place of execution; the funeral procession takes place; the vault is dug and a man stands by with a pitcher of water and loaf of bread, to deliver to her when she should descend. The Consuls are present, attended by the Lictors and Aediles. All the other vestals are present, of whom the culprit takes an affectionate leave and is about to descend into the vault. Suddenly a noise of arms and shouts are heard. It is her lover who having collected a few followers come rushing forward with arms in their hands to arrest the execution. He forces his way into the presence of the Consuls, but the sight of his father inspires him with awe; he staggers back; at this moment a Lictor at the command of the other Consul plunges a spear into his breast. The Vestal is hurried to the brink of the vault, into which she is forced to descend to the accompaniment of mournful music, while her dying lover vainly endeavours to crawl towards her. The curtain falls.

The exquisite acting of La Pallerini drew tears from my eyes: it was indeed too horrible a subject for a _Ballo_, which in my opinion ought to end happily. The scenery was the finest of the kind I think I ever witnessed. The first scene represents the _Circus maximus_; the interior of the temple of Vesta and the place of execution outside the walls of Rome were most classically correct and appropriate: the music was beyond all praise and singularly affecting. This Ballet has excited such an enthusiastic approbation that Vigano the Ballet master, Pallerini who acts the Vestal and the young man who performs the hero of the piece were summoned every evening after the termination of the Ballet, to appear on the stage, and receive applauses, which seemed to increase at every representation. I have been to see this ballet six or seven times, and always with increased delight. I was there on the last night of its representation, when some amateurs and people connected with the theatre put in practice what appeared to mean ill-judged _concetto_, however well merited the compliment it meant to convey. When the Vestal was about to descend into the vault, a genius with wings rose from it and repeated a few lines beginning _Tu non morrai_ and telling her that the suffrages of the Insubrian people had decreed to her immortality, and printed sonnets were showered down on the stage from all parts of the house. I think it would have been much better to let the piece finish in the usual way, and then at its termination call for La Pallerini to advance and receive the garlands and hommage so justly her due.

I was in the _loge_ belonging to my friend Mme L-----; there were three or four _litterati_ with her, and they were all unanimous that it was an absurd and pedantic _concetto_.

In a day or two I shall start from Milan for Munich thro' Brescia and Verona and the Tyrol.