Chapter XIV

ROME, NAPLES, AND COMO--BADEN--WINTER AT FLORENCE--SIENA--LETTER FROM LORD BROUGHAM--MR. MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE--LIFE AT ROME--CAMPAGNA CATTLE.

[My mother was already meditating writing a book upon Physical
Geography, and had begun to collect materials for it, when my
father's long and dangerous illness obliged her to lay it aside for
a time. My father was ordered to a warmer climate for the winter,
and as soon as he was able to travel we proceeded to Rome. We were
hardly settled when my mother, with her usual energy, set to work
diligently, and began this book, which was not published for some
time later, as it required much thought and research. She never
allowed anything to interfere with her morning's work; after that
was over she was delighted to join in any plan which had been formed
for the afternoon's amusement, and enjoyed herself thoroughly,
whether in visiting antiquities and galleries, excursions in the
neighbourhood, or else going with a friend to paint on the Campagna.
My mother was extremely fond of Rome, and often said no place had
ever suited her so well. Independently of the picturesque beauty of
the place, which, to such a lover of nature, was sufficient in
itself, there was a very pleasant society during many seasons we
spent there. The visitors were far less numerous than they are now,
but on that very account there was more sociability and intimacy,
and scarcely an evening passed without our meeting. The artists
residing at Rome, too, were a most delightful addition to society.
Some of them became our very dear friends. My mother remarks:--]

* * * * *

We took lodgings at Rome, and as soon as we were settled I resumed my work and wrote every morning till two o'clock, then went to some gallery, walked on the Pincio, dined at six, and in the evening either went out or received visits at home--the pleasantest way of seeing friends, as it does not interfere with one's occupations.

We once joined a party that was arranged to see the statues in the Vatican by torchlight, at which Lord Macaulay astonished us by his correct knowledge and learning as we passed through the gallery of inscriptions. To me this evening was memorable; on this occasion I first met with John Gibson, the sculptor, who afterwards became a dear and valued friend. He must have been a pupil of Canova's or Thorwaldsen's when Somerville and I were first at Rome. Now his fame was as great as that of either of his predecessors.

* * * * *

[In spring we went to Naples for a few weeks, and returned to Rome
by the San Germano road, now so familiar to travellers, but then
hardly ever frequented, as it was extremely unsafe on account of the
brigands. We met with no adventures, although we often reached our
night quarters long after sunset, for my mother sketched a great
deal on the road. We travelled by vetturino and continued this
delightful journey to Como. My mother was a perfect travelling
companion, always cheerful and contented and interested in all she
saw. I leave her to tell of our pleasant residence at Bellaggio in
her own words:--]

* * * * *

We remained only a short time at Florence, and then went for a month to Bellaggio, on the Lake of Como, at that time the most lonely village imaginable. We had neither letters, newspapers, nor any books, except the Bible, yet we liked it exceedingly. I did nothing but paint in the mornings, and Somerville sat by me. My daughters wandered about, and in the evening we went in a boat on the lake. Sometimes we made longer excursions. One day we went early to Menaggio, at the upper end of the lake. The day had been beautiful, but while at dinner we were startled by a loud peal of thunder. The boatmen desired us to embark without delay, as a storm was rising behind the mountains; it soon blew a gale, and the lake was a sheet of foam; we took shelter for a while at some place on the coast and set out again, thinking the storm had blown over, but it was soon worse than ever. We were in no small danger for two hours. The boatmen, terrified, threw themselves on their knees in prayer to the Madonna. Somerville seized the helm and lowered the sail and ordered them to rise, saying, the Madonna would help them if they helped themselves, and at last they returned to their duty. For a long time we remained perfectly silent, when one of our daughters said, "I have been thinking what a paragraph it will be in the newspapers, 'Drowned, during a sudden squall on the lake of Como, an English family named Somerville, father, mother and two daughters.'" The silence thus broken made us laugh, though our situation was serious enough, for when we landed the shore was crowded with people who had fully expected to see the boat go down. Twice after this we were overtaken by these squalls, which are very dangerous. I shall never forget the magnificence of the lightning and the grandeur of the thunder, which was echoed by the mountains during the storms on the Lake of Como.

We saw the fishermen spear the fish by torchlight, as they did on the Tweed. The fish were plenty and the water so clear that they were seen at a great depth. There are very large red-fleshed trout in the lake, and a small very delicious fish called _agoni_, caught in multitudes by fine silk nets, to which bells are attached on floats, that keep up a constant tinkling to let the fishermen know where to find their nets when floated away by the wind.

[We now crossed the Alps, by the St. Gothard, to Basle and Baden
Baden, where we passed the summer, intending to return to England in
autumn, but as soon as the rains began my father had so serious a
return of his illness that my mother was much alarmed. When he was
well enough to travel, we once more crossed the Alps, and reached
Florence, where we remained for the winter. My mother resumed her
work there.]

* * * * *

Through the kindness of the Grand Duke, I was allowed to have books at home from his private library in the Pitti Palace, a favour only granted to the four Directors. This gave me courage to collect materials for my long neglected Physical Geography, still in embryo. As I took an interest in every branch of science I became acquainted with Professor Amici, whose microscopes were unrivalled at that time, and as he had made many remarkable microscopic discoveries in natural history, he took us to the Museum to see them magnified and modelled in wax. I had the honour of being elected a member of the Academy of Natural Science at Florence.

There were many agreeable people at Florence that winter and a good deal of gaiety. The Marchese Antinori presented Somerville and me to the Grand Duke, who had expressed a wish to know me. He received us very graciously, and conversed with us for more than an hour on general subjects. He afterwards wrote me a polite letter, accompanied by a work on the drainage of the Maremma, and gave directions about our being invited to a scientific meeting which was to be held at Pisa. We were presented to the Grand Duchess, who was very civil. We spent the summer at Siena, and had a cheerful airy apartment with a fine view of the hills of Santa Fiora, and with very pretty arabesques in fresco on the walls of all the rooms, some so very artistic that I made sketches of them. In these old cities many of the palaces and houses are decorated with that artistic taste which formerly prevailed to such an extent in Italy, and, which has now yielded, here as elsewhere, to commonplace modern furniture.

* * * * *

[While we were at Siena, my mother received the following letter
from Lord Brougham, who was a frequent correspondent of hers, but
whose letters are generally too exclusively mathematical for the
general reader. My mother had described the curious horse-races
which are held at Siena every three years, and other mediæval
customs still prevalent.]

FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO MRS. SOMERVILLE.

COLE HILL, KENT, _Sept. 28th, 1840_.

MY DEAR MRS. SOMERVILLE,

I am much obliged to you for your kind letter which let me know of
your movements. I had not heard of them since I saw the
Fergusons.... We have been here since parliament rose, as I am not
yet at all equal to going to Brougham. My health is now quite
restored; but I shall not soon--nor in all probability ever--recover
the losses I have been afflicted with. I passed the greater part of
last winter in Provence, expecting some relief from change of scene
and from the fine climate; but I came back fully worse than when I
went. In fact, I did wrong in struggling at first, which I did to be
able to meet parliament in January last. If I had yielded at once, I
would have been better. I hope and trust they sent you a book I
published two years ago; I mean the "Dissertations," of which one is
on the "Principia," and designed to try how far it may be taught to
persons having but a very moderate stock of mathematics; also, if
possible, to keep alive the _true taste_ (as I reckon it) in
mathematics, which modern analysis has a little broken in upon.
Assuming you to have got the book, I must mention that there are
some intolerable errors of the press left, such as.... Excuse my
troubling you with these errata, and impute it to my wish that you
should not suppose me to have written the nonsense which these pages
seem to prove. By the way, it is a curious proof of university
prejudice, that though the Cambridge men admit my analysis of the
"Principia" to be unexceptionable, and to be well calculated for
teaching the work, yet, _not being by a Cambridge man_, it cannot be
used! They are far more liberal at Paris, where they only are
waiting for my analysis of the second book; but I put off finishing
it, as I do still more my account of the "Mécanique Céleste." The
latter I have almost abandoned in despair after nearly finishing it;
I find so much that cannot be explained elementarily, or anything
near it. So that my account to be complete would be nearly as hard
reading as yours, and not 1000th part as good.... I greatly envy you
Siena; I never was there above a day, and always desired to stay
longer. The language is, as you say, a real charm; but I was not
aware of the preservation in which you describe the older manners to
be. I fear I shall not be able to visit Provence, as I should have
wished this winter ... but my plans are not quite fixed. The
judicial business in Parliament and the Privy Council will also make
my going abroad after January difficult. I don't write you any news,
nor is there any but what you see in the papers. The Tory
restoration approaches very steadily, tho' not very rapidly; and I
only hope that the Whigs, having contrived to destroy the Liberal
party in the country--I fear past all hope of recovery--may not have
a war abroad also to mourn for....

Believe me,
Yours ever,
H. BROUGHAM.

On going to Rome I required a good many books for continuing my work on "Physical Geography," and had got "Transactions of the Geographical Society" and other works sent from London, The Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone who was then at Rome, was an old acquaintance of ours. He was one of the most amiable men I ever met with, and quite won my heart one day at table when they were talking of the number of singing-birds that were eaten in Italy--nightingales, goldfinches, and robins--he called out, "What! robins! our household birds! I would as soon eat a child!" He was so kind as to write to the Directors of the East India Company requesting that I might have the use of the library and papers that were in the India House. This was readily granted me; and I had a letter in consequence from Mr. Wilson, the Orientalist, giving me a list of the works they had on the geography of Eastern Asia and the most recent travels in the Himalaya, Thibet, and China, with much useful information from himself. I was indebted to Sir Henry Pottinger, then at Rome, for information relating to Scinde, for he had been for some years British Envoy at Beloochistan. Thus provided, I went on with my work. We lived several winters in an apartment on the second floor of Palazzo Lepri, Via dei Condotti, where we passed many happy days. When we first lived in Via Condotti, the waste-pipes to carry off the rain-water from the roofs projected far into the street, and when there was a violent thunderstorm, one might have thought a waterspout had broken over Rome, the water poured in such cascades from the houses on each side of the street. On one occasion the rain continued in torrents for thirty-six hours, and the Tiber came down in heavy flood, inundating the Ghetto and all the low parts of the city; the water was six feet deep in the Pantheon. The people were driven out of their houses in the middle of the night and took refuge in the churches, and boats plied in the streets supplying the inhabitants with food, which they hauled up in baskets let down from the windows. The Campagna for miles was under water; it covered the Ponte Molle so that the courier could not pass; and seen from the Pincio it looked like an extensive lake. Much anxiety was felt for the people who lived in the farm houses now surrounded with water. Boats were sent to rescue them, and few lives were lost; but many animals perished. The flood did not subside till after three days, when it left everything covered with yellow mud; the loss of property was very great, and there was much misery for a long time.

Our house was in a very central position, and when not engaged I gladly received anyone who liked to come to us in the evening, and we had a most agreeable society, foreign and English, for we were not looked upon as strangers, and the English society was much better during the years we spent in Rome than it was afterwards.

I had an annual visit of an hour from the astronomer Padre Vico, and Padre Pianciani, Professor of Chemistry in the Collegio Romano. I was invited to see the Observatory; but as I had seen those of Greenwich and Paris, I did not think it worth while accepting the invitation, especially as it required an order from the Pope. I could easily have obtained leave, for we were presented to Gregory XVI. by the President of the Scotch Catholic College. The Pope received me with marked distinction; notwithstanding I was disgusted to see the President prostrate on the floor, kissing the Pope's foot as if he had been divine. I think it was about this time that I was elected an honorary associate of the Accademia Tiberiana.

I had very great delight in the Campagna of Rome; the fine range of Apennines bounding the plain, over which the fleeting shadows of the passing clouds fell, ever changing and always beautiful, whether viewed in the early morning, or in the glory of the setting sun, I was never tired of admiring; and whenever I drove out, preferred a country drive to the more fashionable Villa Borghese. One day Somerville and I and our daughters went to drive towards the Tavolata, on the road to Albano. We got out of the carriage, and went into a field, tempted by the wild flowers. On one side of this field ran the aqueduct, on the other a deep and wide ditch full of water. I had gone towards the aqueduct, leaving the others in the field. All at once we heard a loud shouting, when an enormous drove of the beautiful Campagna grey cattle with their wide-spreading horns came rushing wildly between us with their heads down and their tails erect, driven by men with long spears mounted on little spirited horses at full gallop. It was so sudden and so rapid, that only after it was over did we perceive the danger we had run. As there was no possible escape, there was nothing for it but standing still, which Somerville and my girls had presence of mind to do, and the drove dividing, rushed like a whirlwind to the right and left of them. The danger was not so much of being gored as of being run over by the excited and terrified animals, and round the walls of Rome places of refuge are provided for those who may be passing when the cattle are driven. Near where this occurred there is a house with the inscription "_Casa Dei Spiriti_"; but I do not think the Italians believe in either ghosts or witches; their chief superstition seems to be the "_Jettatura_" or evil eye, which they have inherited from the early Romans, and, I believe, Etruscans. They consider it a bad omen to meet a monk or priest on first going out in the morning. My daughters were engaged to ride with a large party, and the meet was at our house. A Roman, who happened to go out first, saw a friar, and rushed in again laughing, and waited till he was out of sight. Soon after they set off, this gentleman was thrown from his horse and ducked in a pool; so the "_Jettatura_" was fulfilled. But my daughters thought his bad seat on horseback enough to account for his fall without the Evil Eye.