^m 
 
 nMWllkx' l^ilP^B ^^^^1 
 
 ■<* ^y 
 
 .\S^H|^^^w9»j^hkjlk Sv^^B'^^BBl^^^I 
 
 ^^^1 
 
 fMJIaiS!wid4\^i!REI 
 
 hm 
 
 imSMW ^^Bm^i^l^^ iBCSR^bI 
 
 * > 
 
 mHlt^9^Sm^lttJsrl 
 
 ( 
 
 !»#'■•'■ Jir^^'^ 
 
 /. 
 
 '/''//' '/V 
 
 
 
 /;., \ , 
 
 #.¥ . 
 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
 J^^ 
 
'k^.wvw^u/f^^^^^ 
 
Wlbs^t^Mi^. 
 
 • 
 
 '=^^^ss^^^J2w//, /M^^'^^' 
 
 i^M'^^- 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
 sftis', 16*1. 
 
* 
 
 I 
 
 # 
 
 ■* 
 
 # 
 
 ♦ p 
 
THE 
 
 RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 IN A SERIES OF DRAWINGS FROM NATURE BY 
 
 COLONEL COCKBITRN, MAJOR IRTON ; 
 MESSRS. BARTLETT, LEITCH, AND WOLFENSBERGER. 
 
 BY THE REV. G.N.WRIGHT, M. A. 
 
 AtrnoR OF TiiE "mediterranean iixustrated." 
 
 " True Wisdom's world will be 
 Within ita own creation, or in thine, 
 Maternal Nature ! for who teems like thee, 
 TIm« on the banks of thy majestic Rhine?" Brnov 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 FISHER, SON & CO., 
 
 NEWGATE STREET, LONDON; RUE ST. HONORE, PARIS. 
 

 r R E F A C E. 
 
 The Rhine — Italy — Greece ! To what romantic associations do these cherished names 
 give birth ? The ancient, the most chivalrous history of Europe is illustrated by their 
 scenery ; and only completely illustrated by this triple alliance. Analogous and united, 
 in interest, in picturesque attraction, in classical remembrances, each still possesses 
 its distinct and peculiar features, giving out separate and varied lights, yet combining 
 for the production of one bright and splendid effect. 
 
 The Rhine, " whose banks are the very shores of old romance," has scenes and 
 recollections even more vivid than its beautiful companions. Descending from the 
 distant regions of the Alps, through fertile districts into the open sea — so does it come 
 down from remote antiquity, associated in every age with momentous events in the 
 history of neighbouring nations ; a river which presents so many historical revolutions 
 of Roman conquests and defeats — of chivalrous exploits in feudal times — of wars and 
 negociations in modern days — of coronations of kings and emperors, whose bones repose 
 by its side ; — whose banks present every variety of picturesque rocks, thick forests, 
 fertile fields, and vineyards, either sloping gently, or seated amongst lofty crags, where 
 industry has won a domain among the fortresses of nature ; whose banks are ornamented 
 with populous cities, flourishing towns and villages, castles and ruins with which a thou- 
 sand legends are connected, and associated with the most important events recorded in 
 the continuous records of European history; a river that constitutes the highway of 
 central Europe, and the varied beauty of whose banks is so forcibly felt by the thou- 
 sands that annually pass between them. 
 
 Borne up the current of this majestic river, we enter the classic lands of Italy and 
 Greece — " one the conqueror, the other the teacher of the world" — whence its waters 
 spring, as if we were retracing the stream of time to the source and fountain of history 
 and of learning. That literature, which modern Europe boasts, originated in ancient 
 Greece, passed thence to consular Rome, and, embarking on the rapid Rhine, flowed 
 through and enriched the Western nations. In topography, consequently, these three 
 fair portions of our globe are immediately connected — in their histories, they are 
 continuous ; it is in their picturesque claims alone, that any rivalry is created. 
 
 rnTlA A c;Q« 
 
8 * THE KHIKE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 with strong mural defences, and conferred upon it several valuable immunities. It is 
 also known, that in the year 966, the town and its dependencies were made over, in fee, 
 by the Emperor Otho, to the Bishops of Magdeburg. In 1215, on the accession of the 
 Emperor Frederic II. it was declared an imperial city, and was amongst the first on the 
 Rhine to pay homage to the Duke of Cornwall, brother to Henry III., as Emperor 
 Richard of Germany. In 1312, it was perfidiously pledged to Baldwin, Archbishop 
 and Elector of Treves, by his brother, the Emperor Henry VII., who was then in want 
 of funds to prosecute an expedition into Italy ; the ostensible pretext for this transfer 
 being, " in return for services rendered during the civil war," although it had obstinately 
 resisted the sovereignty of the electorate. From the extent of its commerce, and the 
 amount of its population, Oberwesel was considered, in 1689, as one of the principal 
 towns on the Rhine ; but in that year, unhappily, it was sacked, and fired in several 
 places by the French — misfortunes from which, it has not since been able to recover. 
 The present inhabitants, about 3,000 in number, sustain themselves by the productions 
 of their vineyards, by navigation, and by the salmon fishery, which last has proved highly 
 important Oberwesel differs in external appearance from the other towns of what was 
 called " the Electorate," from the number of spires and towers that still tell of its 
 greatness before its declension into that state. Of the ancient Town-House, rendered 
 unnecessary by the despotic power of Baldwin, some ruins exist, insuflScient to insult the 
 towns-people by the memory of its former use, but serving as an emblem of the effects 
 that followed the loss of freedom. 
 
 High on the summit of the rock that commands the town, are the ruins of the 
 once noble castle of Schomberg, whose proprietors, claiming a descent from chiefs 
 renowned even in the days of Charlemagne, may be said to have become extinct with 
 the fall of the most illustrious of the race. Marshal Schomberg, at the battle of the 
 Boyne, in Ireland, on the 1st of July, 1690. Frederick Duke Schomberg, son of 
 Count Schomberg and the Lady Dudley, served in the army of the United Provinces, 
 and acquired the friendship of the Prince of Orange. On the death of his patron, he 
 withdrew to Paris, where he was ranked next after Conde and Turenne in military 
 reputation. Proceeding to Portugal, he there unsheathed his sword in defence of the 
 House of Braganza, which he rescued from the power of the Castilian family. Having 
 gathered fresh laurels in this last campaign, he expected that he would have been 
 received at Paris with still increased warmth, but, being a stanch supporter of Pro- 
 testantism, the revocation of the edict of Nantz obliged him to quit that kingdom, and 
 return once more to the service of the Prince of Orange. Upon the election of that 
 prince to the throne of England, Schomberg was appointed general of the British forces, 
 was naturalized by an act of parliament, and created Baron Teys, Earl of Brentford, 
 Marquis of Harwich, and Duke Schomberg. In the support of a religion to which 
 he was conscientiously devoted, in the service of a prince to whom he was personally 
 attached, and in the cause of a country from which he derived his earthly honours, he 
 fell covered with glory. 
 
»'■«•.'• ;-:*ss-'.-j 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ■J 
 
 .$ 
 
 W' 
 
 'A 
 
ITEI ITALY. 7 
 
 Schomberg, or Belmont, (the beautiful hill,) derives its enduring name from the 
 seven beautiful daughters of one of its proud occupants, so exquisitely fair, that they 
 were sought in marriage bv all the knights-errant of those times, but so inexorably cruel, 
 that the tenderest of passions was always treated by them with cold disdain. Legends 
 tell, that these young countesses, as they sailed down the stream from Schomberg to 
 Rheinberg Castle, were met by the Lurley nymph, by whom they were transformed into 
 the seven rocks in the river, now called "Die sieben Jungfrauen," or the Seven 
 Maidens. 
 
 ITRI— ITALY. 
 
 " The sun upon the brigand's home, 
 As elsewhere shines as bright : 
 The sweet air creeps into his breast, 
 And flowers meet the light : 
 They yield their perfumes to his sense, 
 And shrink not from his sight" Emily Reeve. 
 
 The road from Fondi to Itri winds through a mountainous and romantic country, whose 
 only visible inhabitants, besides the occupants of gibbets, are painted effigies of soldiers 
 in mortal combat with professional assassins — reminding the unprotected traveller that 
 he is treading on the land which has been so long the heritage of the brigand race, the 
 fearful territory of Fra Diavolo, whose head is at Terracina, but whose spirit may still 
 wander amongst his former haunts in the deep recesses of those lonely mountains. The 
 inquisitive traveller would naturally desire to linger in this unpeopled paradise, this 
 smiling solitude, amongst these silent beauties ; but he feels instinctively urged to acce- 
 lerate his movements, and escape into the town of Itri, where communion with human 
 beings may suggest a feeling of security, however equivocal it may be. But, alas, Itri, 
 fair Itri, half buried in the deep ravme, half clinging to the towering crags that rise and 
 overshadow it, is peculiarly adapted not only to the commission, but the concealment 
 of crime. Itri is the cradle of misery, the nurse of guilt, the brigand's cherished home. 
 
 It would be difficult to imagine a spot more " fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils," 
 than the dark hollow where Itri hides her crime-stained people. It would be impossible 
 to body forth the forms of human beings better calculated to inspire the horrible ideas of 
 lawless plunder and midnight assassination, than its gaunt and grim and hunger-stricken 
 inhabitants present to the eyes of the shuddering traveller.* 
 
 To these painful notices, quoted by the author's permission, another equally forcible, 
 although drawn by a female hand, may be added, to complete the portrait cl" brigand- 
 life at Itri : — 
 
 • Vick treatise on Change of Air, by James Johnson, M.D., Physician-extraordinary to William IV. 
 
8 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 "Let those who rejoice in the failure of the Neapolitan enterprise — in the vain 
 efforts of the enlightened and the independent to shake oif the yoke of tyranny which has 
 poisoned the sources of humanity, and left the best gifts of God and nature worthless — 
 visit Itri — and see there the effects of the government, in whose restoration they 
 triumph- Let them see only once this nest of crime and malady, let them behold the 
 well-known bandit scowling at the door of that black dismantled shed, where he finds, in 
 his casual visit from the mountain, the brawling brood of famished imps, whom his por- 
 tion of spoil can scarcely maintain, for whom the last human feeling, that lingers in his 
 hardened heart, exists ! Let them see that brood destined to beggary, or their father's 
 trade, disfigured by dirt and rags, issuing forth at the noise of a carriage-wheel, throwing 
 themselves under the horses' feet to excite compassion, and raising yells that move more 
 by terror than by pity. Let them view that listless vicious mother, with her look of 
 sagacity sharpened by want, handsome in spite of filth, but the more terrible for her 
 beauty, lying at her door in utter idleness, the knife perhaps still reeking, which her 
 husband had plied too successfully within view of the gibbet, of the orange groves of 
 Fondi, perhaps near the image of the Madonna. Here is the sum-up of the Neapolitan 
 despotism of centuries' existence — want, vice, disease, bigotry, and assassination. Such 
 is Itri — the stranger's terror, the native's shame, the bandit's home."* 
 
 The road to the convent of Castiglioni passes between fragments of ancient buildings, 
 so reduced in elevation, and so totally dislocated, that their original destination must for 
 ever rest upon conjecture. There is one small structure, less ruined than the rest, which, 
 while eloquence, philosophy, and literature endure, will be viewed perhaps with greater 
 interest than any other wreck of classic times, that survives the overthrown empire of 
 Rome. This remarkable building, distinctly seen from the bridge of Itri, consists of three 
 stories, the basement a square, the second a round tower, the uppermost a circular lantern 
 pierced like a dovecot. It is a cenotaph, believed to occupy the spot where TuUy vfaa 
 inhumanly murdered ; and an inscription found in the adjoining wall, bearing the name ot 
 Demetrius, strengthens the supposition. This Demetrius was that freedman of Cicero, 
 whom he has mentioned by name in his Epistles to Atticus : " Literce quas dederas 
 Demetrio liberto." Even those who are too sceptical, both for their own and the hap- 
 piness of society, feel disinclined to deprive the classic scholar of the indulgence he 
 enjoys in believing that he looks upon the tomb of TuUy. Mr. Eustace, therefore, candidly 
 confesses " that, as long as popular belief, or tradition, however uncertain, connects the 
 name of Cicero with those ruins — and as long as ever credulity can believe that the one 
 has been his residence and the other his tomb — so long will every traveller who values 
 liberty, and reveres genius, visit them with interest, and hang over them, though nearly 
 reduced to a heap of rubbish, with delight." 
 
 • Lady Morgan's Itab/ "This lady's 'fearless and excellent work on Italy,' as Lord Byron has styled it, 
 
 abounds with information as to the actual state of society, not elsewhere to be met with ; and if the reader can 
 pardon the glitter and flippancy of the style, the bad taste of the political diatribes, and the obtrusive liberalism, 
 he cannot fail to be amused with the vividness of the descriptions, and the spirit and conversational gaiety of the 
 nerrative." — Modem Traveller. 
 
t 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 .T'^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
COLOGNE. 
 
 COLOGNE. 
 
 " And now appear as on a phosphor sea 
 Numberless barks ; 
 
 Some sailing up, some down, and some at anchor, 
 Lading, unlading at that small port-town 
 Under the promontory. 
 A quay-like scene, glittering and full of life, 
 And doubled by reflection." Rogers. 
 
 Cologne, viewed from the water, appears with more of ancient majesty tlian from 
 any other point. Its quays, extending far along the banks— its lofty ramparts, shaded 
 with old chestnuts, and crowned by many massive towers, black with age — the old gate- 
 ways opening to the Rhine, and the steeples that crowd the air, give it a character 
 romantic and picturesque. The walls are still high enough to be observed at a few miles' 
 distance ; and over the dense mass of buildings which fills their enclosure, the cathe- 
 dral, with its huge unfinished mass, presents a striking and interesting appearance. 
 The features which Cologne presents, are true indications of its history : for, ages have 
 passed away since those glories, that now are shadowy, had a real existence, and since 
 the nearer view of this venerable place, was in perfect accordance with the illusory 
 appearance which distance suggests. 
 
 The Ubii, the ancient occupants of this district, having accepted of Roman aid, 
 to repel the aggressions of the neighbouring states, were necessarily enslaved by that 
 all-absorbing power. To maintain a show of generosity, the land of the Menapii was 
 added to their territory, but a Roman colony suddenly arrived, to participate in the 
 acquisition, and secure the allegiance of the Ubii. The castra, or military station of 
 Marcus Agrippa on the left bank of the Rhine, became the site of the Civitas Ulno7-um ; 
 and here Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, the wife of Claudius, and mother of 
 Nero, was bom. In honour of this princess, the city was named Colonia Agrippina ; 
 the latter term, now obsolete, was long in use amongst the Ubii, but, in later ages, was 
 laid aside for that of Colonia, or Cologne. Colonized by Roman citizens, freedom 
 became their inheritance, and their claim was recognized under all political mutations 
 in the German empire and confederacies, until the return of tyranny with the first 
 French revolution. 
 
 The history of this " Rome of the North" is intimately connected with the revo- 
 lutions that took place in the imperial capital. Here Vitellius was first proclaimed 
 emperor; here Trajan resided as ambassador from Rome, when intelligence reached 
 him of his nomination by Nerva to the throne ; and it was on the spot where the 
 church of St. Severins now rises, that Sylvanus was assassinated, after having reigned 
 but eight and twenty days. The honour of being the favourite residence of the 
 emperor-elect, is not the solitary historic distinction of this ancient settlement; France 
 
10 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 also summoned monarchs to her throne from their retirement at Cologne-:-and Clovis 
 and Peppin thence responded to the call. 
 
 Such a degree of importance, such a character for riches, had Cologne acquired m 
 the time of Constantius, that the Franks were attracted thither by a desire of plunder, 
 and, having besieged, taken, and sacked it, added the city to their dominions. Under 
 their power it continued until the reign of Julian the Apostate, by whom it was rescued 
 from the Franks, and re-annexed to the Roman empire. In the year 1642, the fortune 
 of the Franks again prevailed, and Cologne, falling into their hands, Clovis, their king 
 was proclaimed in that city. Under this dominion it remained until some time in the 
 tenth century, when it was again conquered from the Franks by Otho the Great, 
 incorporated with the German empire, declared a free city, and endowed with many 
 valuable privileges. In the eighth century, Cologne was erected into an archbishopric ; 
 and when Otho mastered the Franks here, he conferred the spiritual and temporal 
 honours of the see upon his brother Bruno. This bold prelate is known as the first 
 elector of this district, and as the destroyer of the Roman bridge that united the banks 
 of the Rhine between Deutz and Cologne. From Bruno's government, the growth of 
 religious edifices and institutions here may be dated ; and the extraordinary number of 
 richly endowed monasteries and nunneries drew hither the pretender as well as the 
 sincere devotee, until Cologne, at last, gave shelter to so many religionists, that it 
 acquired the appellation of " The Holy City." But its reputation of sanctity saved it 
 neither from disquietude within, nor violent aggression from without, for, scarcely had 
 the internal broils, occasioned by Bishop Hanno, subsided, than Henry V. resolved to 
 punish the citizens for their fidelity to the old emperor; he was obliged, however, to 
 retire with disgrace from before the walls. The Hanseatic league, a mercantile union 
 formed at the opening of the thirteenth century, gave to Cologne a favourable oppor- 
 tunity of aggrandisement Bruges, Lubec, and Dantzig, were parties to this covenant, 
 but the amount of population, the beauty and advantage of position, and the immense 
 resources of Cologne, soon conferred upon it a commercial pre-eminence. Scaliger thus 
 celebrates this concentration of blessings : — 
 
 " Maxima cognati Regina RhenS, 
 Hoc te etiam titulo Musa supeibe canet : 
 Romani statuunt — habitat Germania — terra est 
 Belgia — ter felix ! nihil tibi diva deest." 
 
 During the thirteenth century, this city was a prey to civil strife, the archbishops 
 exercising the worst species of feudal tyranny over the citizens, and the latter resisting 
 this despotism with equal violence and resolution. At one period, society and commerce 
 here were so shaken and dissolved, that ruin was impending over the city, and the total 
 annihilation of one of the contending parties could alone have restored confidence, had 
 not the renowned Albertus Magnus, then a friar in that city, become mediator between 
 the contending parties. It was during the repetition of these bitter feuds, that the 
 famous fight took place between the stout burgomaster, Hermann Gryn, and the arch- 
 bishop's Lion. 
 
COLOGNE. 11 
 
 In the Rath Haus the members of the Hanseatic league assembled, and by this 
 preference yielded a supremacy to Cologne, an advantage which the industrious inha- 
 bitants took care to improve. Manufactures of silk and cotton were established; civiliza- 
 tion here fixed a lasting abode ; and the schools of design, sculpture, and painting, now 
 formed here, laid the foundation for that excellence in the arts, to which Flemish painters 
 subsequently attained. 
 
 Petrarch, who visited Cologne in the year 1333, thus enthusiastically describes it in a 
 letter to Cardinal Colonna : — " How glorious is this city ! How wonderful to find such 
 a spot in a barbarous land ! What dignity in the men ! What grace and tenderness in 
 the women ! But, before all things, it is surprising to find Pierian spirits under such 
 a cloudy atmosphere, for though there are no Maros (Virgils) here, there are many 
 Nasos (Ovids) in Cologne.* 
 
 Rapidly accumulating wealth, the consequence of prosperous commerce, enabled 
 the citizens to endure the extravagant expenditure lavished, by the ecclesiastics, upon 
 the purchase of relics, erection of shrines, and decorations of cenotaphs — but, on 
 St Bartholomew's day, in the year 1425, the hierarchy, blinded by bigotry, were led to 
 abuse the too great power and confidence reposed in them, and, by one vile edict, cruelly 
 and illiberally banished the whole Jewish race, exceeding 80,000 persons, from the 
 walls of Cologne. Their success in this foul enterprise inspired them with still more 
 despotic views, and, in 1618, their arrogance had grown so boundless, that they decided 
 upon expelling the Protestant population also, that industry and heresy might be wholly 
 exploded. The latter decree diminished the population considerably ; 1,500 respectable 
 and opulent families being obliged to migrate. By these wicked enactments, the 
 sources of wealth were dried up, the brightest lights extinguished — morality and virtue 
 expelled from Cologne. Retiring sadly from the place of their birth, the home of their 
 hearts, these industrious people found shelter in Diisseldorf, Elberfeld, Mullheim, and 
 other large cities, contributing to the prosperity of such respective localities, those com- 
 mercial advantages which they had involuntarily abstracted from Cologne. 
 
 From this period, the wealth, property, and splendour of the city exhibited symp- 
 toms of decay, and her descent in the rank of commercial marts was much more rapid 
 than her rise, until poverty became her portion. 
 
 Weakened in resources, Cologne left her gates open to the French in 1794, and 
 acknowledged that republic for her master until 1814, when it was occupied by the 
 Russians. In the territorial partitions, arranged by the Holy Alliance in 1814, it was 
 ceded to Prussia, and is now the capital of the duchies of Cleves and Berg. 
 
 • " In pleasing manners, in generous feelings, in warm attachments, and in all the graceful, all the attractive 
 accomplishments of life, Petrarca seems to have surpassed every public character of his time, and to have 
 engaged universal and unqualified admiration." — Classical Tour. 
 
12 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL CARMINE, 
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 ' And he whose very body was all mind 
 Flung heie by fate, or circumstance, which tame 
 The loftiest, hurried by the time and place, 
 Dash'd on like a spurr'd blood-horse in a race." 
 
 BVRON. 
 
 On St. Stephen's day in each returning year, the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine is 
 crowded by Neapolitans of all lanks, to look upon the miraculous Crucifix, which, on 
 that anniversary only, is exhibited to their admiration. When the too credulous followers 
 of a particular faith are assured, by its aged professors, that this very crucifix, during the 
 siege in 1563, stooped its head to avoid a cannon-ball, it cannot excite astonishment to 
 be informed that multitudes flock hither to adore it, and, that the magistracy, in a body, 
 pay it their most humble homage. The interior of the edifice is profusely adorned with 
 marble and stucco, and on the walls are hung an Eternal Father, with the Holy Ghost, 
 painted by Giordano, the Assumption, several Frescos, an Elijah and Elisha, by 
 Solimene. But the graces of architecture, and works of art, presented here, are inferior 
 to the historic interest attached to this sacred edifice. Here one of the most tragic 
 catastrophes, and the first regicide committed in Europe, took place ; and here, also, the 
 Fisherman of Amalfi fell by the poniard of an assassin. 
 
 Conrad IV, emperor of Germany, having entered Italy, to oblige the pope to con- 
 firm his election, amongst other conquests, took the city of Naples ; but, dying in the 
 flower of his youth, left an only son, Conradin, then but fourteen years of age, to succeed 
 him. The infamous Charles of Anjou brought the youthful monarch to the scaflbld, 
 where the only words he uttered were, " O mother ! how great will be your grief to hear 
 such intelligence of me !" This disconsolate mother, the Empress Margaret, hastened 
 from the extremity of Germany to redeem his life, but arrived too late. The useless 
 ransom was now employed in mitigation of her grief, and, in memory of her child, to 
 found the Monastery del Carmine, in which the sad circumstance is commemorated by a 
 statue of the empress holding a purse in her band. Beside the Church del Carmine, a 
 chapel was erected on the place of execution, and a small porphyry column, now 
 enclosed within the church of Santa Croce el Mercato, occupies the precise spot on 
 which the murder was perpetrated. The tombs of Conradin and of his cousin Frederick, 
 are shown in the Church del Carmine, concealed behind the high altar, and the inscrip- 
 tions may be read by the light of a lamp. 
 
i»d 't J. Tin a 
 
 '',-x/ .///,. y A . //.>A, //'/;!/... 
 
 i/J/. 
 
# 
 
 f %^ 
 
 ♦ 
 
CHURCH OF SANTA MAIIIA DEL CARMINE. 13 
 
 It was Giovanni Frangipani, lord of Astura, who made Conradin prisoner,* and 
 basely delivered him to Charles of Anjou; but, while this heartless monster had failed in 
 his allegiance, there were to be found, amongst the humblest classes, those who were 
 devoted to " the Lord's anointed." When the executioner had struck oif young Conradin's 
 head, and raised his murderous arm from the act, a man who stood close beside him 
 plunged a dagger into his heart, that the base instrument of so cruel a regicide might 
 not be permitted to survive it. 
 
 The spacious square in front of the church of Santa Maria was the scene of Mas- 
 saniello's insurrection, and the place whence he escaped the bludgeons of the assassins 
 hired to destroy him. Entering the church, on the 16th day of July, (1647), the festival 
 of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at the moment when it might be expected to have been 
 filled to overflowing, he ascended the pulpit, and addressed the people in strains of the 
 most manly eloquence. At length, becoming affected by his efforts, and still labouring 
 under the effects of those strong wines, perhaps empoisoned, which the viceroy had 
 induced him to drink, he was led away by the archbishop, and conducted into an apart- 
 ment of the Convent In the silence of this sacred dwelling Massaniello soon recovered 
 his wonted discernment, and, as he was pacing the long corridors, where those of 
 happier and holier lives had trodden undisturbed for ages, he heard " Massaniello " 
 shouted by several voices, in tones that were not to be misunderstood. At once 
 suspecting the object of this sudden and unseasonable visit, he fled for protection to the 
 altar of the Church del Carmine ; but there he found no sanctuary, for the assassins, 
 thirsting for blood, the price of which had been agreed upon, pursued and slew him on 
 the hallowed spot, while he uttered the memorable reproach of " ungrateful traitors." 
 
 His popularity, hke the current of his life, had ebbed; the one, however, was 
 influenced, and again put in motion — the other never. The very next day after the death 
 of their leader, the fickle crowd remembered his many virtues, and bewailed his loss, — his 
 murderers were put to death with torture, and his remains sought for and honoured with 
 the vain rites of public sepulture. 
 
 • He was taken and betrayed at the very place where Cicero perished ; this enchanting strand seems fatal to 
 innocence and genius. — Vide Antichita Ciccroniane. 
 
14 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 • 
 
 HALL OF THE PREGADI, 
 
 doge's palace — VENICE. 
 
 " Statues of glass — all shiver'd — the long file 
 Of her dead doges are declined to dust ; 
 But where they dwelt, the vast and sumptuous pile 
 Bespeaks the pageant of their splendid trust." Byron. 
 
 The stern and gloomy semblance of the Ducal palace is no bad emblem of the severe 
 character of the ancient government, and of the dark deeds that were done within this 
 great and costly edifice. Its air and aspect are aristocratical, its history a series of tales 
 of terror ; nor has change of government, or loss of splendour, even yet succeeded in 
 obliterating the feelings of horror with which it is contemplated. 
 
 Had the omens been recorded upon the foundation of this palace of tyranny, they 
 would, undoubtedly, have augured ill for generations then unborn. Marino Faliero, the 
 doge who commenced the building, was beheaded on a charge of treason ; and Filippo 
 Calendario, the architect, was hung as a conspirator: — every circumstance connected 
 with its history is romantic, mysterious, extraordinary. "A palace, and a prison on each 
 hand," it is a most unnatural combination, — it is the association of pleasure with pain, 
 of happiness with misery, of life with death. 
 
 The ceremonial apartments are numerous, richly decorated with carvings and stuccoed 
 work, and adorned with noble specimens of art In the Hall of the Pregadi, surrounded 
 by emblems of wealth and civilization, a council of two hundred and thirty members 
 held their meetings, and exercised the prerogative of royalty, by decreeing peace or war. 
 It is remarkable that the excitement and opportunity afforded in this council of prince- 
 merchants, never succeeded in producing a single orator of eminence. The subjects 
 discussed were of the most stirring and important character ; there was no restriction 
 imposed upon the speakers within the walls of the Ducal palace ; and, that the art of 
 oratory was admired, and its greatest professors held in high esteem at Venice, would 
 appear from the pictorial ornaments of this noble apartment, which included portraits, 
 in cama'ieii, of Demosthenes and Cicero — the former crowned, the latter speaking — both 
 from the hand of Giambattista Tiepolo. The freedom of modern republics does not seem 
 favourable to the growth of eloquence. The aristocratic liberty of Venice, the democratic 
 license of Florence, never produced an instance similar to those great spirits of antiquity, 
 who " could put such a tongue in each dumb wound of Caesar, as would make the stones 
 of Rome to rise and mutiny." Republics degenerate into oligarchies, the ambitious 
 members of which exclude the people from a share in the government, and to whose 
 
v^ ii 
 
 ?^1 
 
 I 
 
 
 ^rai 
 
HALL OF THE PREGADL 15 
 
 actions silence is better suited than publicity ; there oratory, as an art, finds no encou- 
 ragement from the great. The people, also, in such governments, sink into carelessness, 
 indifference, neglect, setting little value upon patriotism, and becoming unconscious of 
 the advantages of senatorial eloquence. 
 
 This grand and ancient council-hall contains some of the noblest and most famous 
 paintings in Venice ; the seats or stalls of the senators are here in perfect preserva- 
 tion ; and a tablet placed over the Doge's seat, contains the following admonition to the 
 members of the council, and to the aristocracy of the republic : 
 
 " Qui patriae pericula suo periculo expellunt, hi sapientes putandi sunt, cum et eum 
 quem debent honorem reipub. reddunt, et pro multis perire malunt quam cum multis. 
 Etenim, vehementer est iniquum vitam quam, a natura acceptam propter patriam 
 conservaverimus, natura;, cum cogat, reddere, patria;, cum rogat, non dare. Sapientes 
 igitur aestimandi sunt qui nullum pro salute patriae periculum vitant. Hoc vinculum 
 est hujus dignitatis qua fruimur in repub. hoc fundamentum libertatis. Hie fons 
 equitatis mens et animus et consilium et sententia civitatis posita est in legibus. Ut 
 corpora nostra sine mente, sic civitas sine lege. Legum ministri magistratus. Legum 
 interpretes judices, denique idcirci omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possimus." 
 
 Had the noble principles here recommended to the adoption of the senators, been 
 embraced, and adhered to with true patriotism, previous to the French invasion, Venice 
 would not probably have been blotted from the list of European kingdoms. 
 
 The principal paintings that decorate this hall, are — an Allegory of //ieJ/»j^, at Venice, 
 by Marco Vecellio, the nephew and pupil of Titian, the League of Cambrai, and the 
 Doges, Lorenzo and Geronimo Priuli, adoring the Saviour, by the younger Palma; besides 
 several others, either scriptural, or relating to Venetian history, by Tintoretto. The 
 subjects of these great works have been selected with equivocal taste ; and this defect 
 has given the advantage to other cities of Italy, as schools for study, while the colouring 
 and execution of the great works at Venice are nowhere exceeded. 
 
 The author of Letters from the Continent in 1841, thus describes the effect produced 
 upon him by the paintings in Venice generally : — " The endless succession of brilliant, 
 gorgeous colours, though striking at first, soon palls upon us, and becomes fatiguing : 
 and it is mere colouring ; you look in vain for anything addressed to the intellect or 
 imagination; expression, character, sentiment, and all that constitutes the poetry of 
 painting, are wanting; and in their stead, you have rich velvet hangings, embroidered 
 robes, and sumptuous ornaments. The spirit of the Venetian school appears to me very 
 similar to that of ancient sculpture in its declining days. In each case the general 
 character is sensual: the works address themselves to the senses rather than to the 
 imagination — only in the one case form and outline, in the other cblour, is the medium 
 through which it is sought to convey gratification to the eye." 
 
16 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE CASTLE OF THURMBERG. 
 
 CALLED ALSO "THE MOUSE." 
 
 " And there they stand, as stands a lofty mind, 
 Worn, but unstooping to the baser crowd. 
 All tenantless save to the crannying wind, 
 Or holding dark communion with the cloud." Byron. 
 
 This, the most perfect of all the Rhenish castles, is also one of the most closely asso- 
 ciated with the legendary lore, that gives a new grace and a fresh charm to every rock 
 and hill and plain along the banks of the " king of rivers." Two castles, nearly opposite 
 in position, once lodged two opposing chiefs, between whom a mortal feud arose, 
 allegorized and recorded by the sobriquets, then given to their rocky fortresses, of " Cat 
 and Mouse." An antiphrasis, however, seems to have been employed in the appropriation 
 of the names, for the Mouse is considerably superior in extent, inaccessibility, and 
 military strength, to its rival. 
 
 Upon the rock, now adorned by the majestic ruins of Thurmberg, a still more ancient 
 fortalice arose, which, after an existence of many centuries, was abandoned by its lord, and 
 suffered to fall into decay. Its only abiding tenant was one who was beautiful, and fair, and 
 young, for she possessed the gift of perpetual juvenility ; but whose smiles were wasteful, 
 and whose look was withering and wild. A noble youth, whose pursuit of game con- 
 ducted him towards the ruined castle, entered, and lay down within its shelter, to rest 
 himself from the fatigue of that day's sport, when the White Maiden of Thurmberg 
 appeared, addressed him in words of kindness, of affection, of love, and ministered to his 
 wants with a high-crowned beaker of the best Rhenish wine. From this moment he 
 became a prey to the most violent passions ; whenever he appeared in public, the absence 
 of his manner betrayed the all-absorbing nature of the spell that bound him ; whenever 
 he withdrew from society, his agonies were even more insupportable. It was in vain he 
 sought a renewal of the fatal interview with the fair enchantress of the castle ; she per- 
 severed in her cruel concealment until the hand of death was laid inevitably upon her 
 victim ; but then she stood beside his stony couch within the castle-walls, and seemed to 
 watch for the moment when his injured spirit could no longer abide on earth.* 
 
 To the towers of the White Maiden, in lapse of time, succeeded the Castle, whose 
 grand and varied form now fills the summit of the pyramidal rock. The famous Kuno 
 von Falkenstein — a prince possessed of the most extensive domains, in his age, on the 
 banks of the Rhine, the ability to govern them, and the wickedness to abuse his great 
 power — looking upon the site of Thurmberg as well-suited to his purposes of aggres- 
 * Vide Legend of the \Vhite Maiden, by J. Siiowe. 
 
:.k\ 
 
 Jmiiv^kA 
 
♦ 
 
 ■%■ 
 
TH» CASTLE OF THURMBEUG. 17 
 
 sioD, and provisions of defence, re-edified, enlarged, and strengthened the castle, so that, 
 while cotemporary structures have but weakly withstood the abrading power of time, the 
 wood-work, and other equally perishable portions of the building, even now are all that 
 the visiter finds wanting at Thurmberg. 
 
 Kuno, after a fashion not strictly limited * to Rhenish princes, was both a saint and 
 a soldier, and held the archdiocesses of Mayence, Treves, and Cologne; but preferring 
 this impregnable fortress to his episcopal palaces, it was not unfrcquently called, in con- 
 sequence, " Kunoburg." 
 
 This distinguished member of the church militant became celebrated for his courage 
 and address at every passage of arms ; and his adventures, in those days of chivalry, were 
 completely Quixotic. Postponing the sacred robes to a coat of mail, Kuno appeared 
 at the court of the Emperor of Germany, armed cap-a-pie, and obtained so high a repu- 
 tation for firmness and integrity, that, during a contest for the imperial throne, he was 
 chosen director of the temporalities of the electorate of Treves. In this duty he acquitted 
 himself with so much wisdom and courage, that he became an object of respect amongst 
 the feudal lords of Germany — of hatred to all the licentious and traitorous. His life 
 was frequently attempted by the latter, and his bravery alone preserved him from their 
 dastardly designs. Set upon by assassins, who lay in ambush to destroy him, lie 
 gallantly defended himself, and effected his escape: almost surrounded, on another 
 occasion, by no less inveterate enemies, he fought his way through them — when the 
 fleetness of his steed accomplished the rest. While he dwelt at Ehrenfels, many plots 
 were laid for his destruction ; his castle was at one period completely beleaguered, while 
 he lay in his bed unconscious of the danger. But the clang of arms awoke him from his 
 slumbers ; and, leaping from one of the uppermost windows, he alighted unhurt upon 
 the terrace, then killing the sentinel on the spot, escaped most probably from a cruel 
 death. 
 
 This last attack upon his life determined the aged man upon withdrawing from 
 political and military occupations; and Sir Kuno, as he was generally styled, in 1388 
 ceded the archdiocess of Treves to Werner von Konigstein, and, retiring to Thurmberg 
 or Kunoburg castle, there closed his eventful career in a manner more accordant with 
 his spiritual than his temporal profession. 
 
 Beneath the shelter of the precipitous hill on which Sir Kuno's fortress stands, is the 
 picturesque village of Welmich, distinguished by its antique church, and the massive 
 pedestal of an old gothic tower. In sublimity of character, the feudal palace of Thurm- 
 berg is unequalled ; in exquisite expression of retirement, and peaceful occupancy, the 
 vassal-village of Welmich acknowledges no rival on the Rhine. 
 
 • A prince of the blood-royal of England, not many years since, was commander-in-chief of the British army, 
 and Bishop of Osnaburg. 
 
 E 
 
18 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE GIANTS' STAIRS. 
 
 " Enter the palace by the marble stairs 
 Down which the grizzly head of old Faliero 
 Rolled from the block." Rogers. 
 
 " Crossing the ample space between the graceful Campanile and the Ducal palace, I 
 passed through a labyrinth of pillars, and entered the principal court, of which nothing 
 but the great outline was visible at so late an hour. Two reservoirs of bronze, richlj- 
 sculptured, diversify the area. In front, a magnificent flight of steps presents itself, by 
 which the senators ascend through vast and solemn corridors, which lead to the interior 
 of the edifice. The colossal statues of Mars and Neptune guard the entrance, and have 
 given the appellation of Scala del giganti to the steps below, which I mounted, not 
 without respect ; and leaning against the balustrades, formed, like the rest of the building, 
 of the rarest marbles, contemplated the tutelary divinities." 
 
 This brief description of the Giants' Stairs was written by Mr. Beckford in the year 
 1780, when the state of Venice still breathed — while the heart of the republic still throbbed 
 —before death had come over its extremities— and before its triumphing glory was eclipsed 
 by the splendour of French conquests. It was not until 1797, in the reign of Manini, 
 the 120th doge, that Venice was meanly guilty of a suicidal act, and, tamely submitting 
 to the arms of France, proclaimed the enstalment of a democratic municipality. 
 
 The horrors of the Ducal palace, as well as the respect, have now entirely vanished ; 
 the power of its princes is prostrate. The graces, the peculiarities, and the costliness 
 of its architecture, awake curiosity; and, old recollections of Othello, of Pierre, of 
 Shakspere, Otway, Byron, and a thousand other rapturous thoughts, completely absorb 
 the mind and soul of every English visiter — 
 
 " Ours is a trophy which will not decay 
 With the Rialto — Shyloek, and the Moor, 
 And Pierre, can not be swept or worn away." 
 
 In the early part, and at the close of the day, water-carriers are seen in numbers in 
 the Cortile, fiUing their vessels at the palace-well, which is closed regularly at an 
 appointed hour. Around the water-court are antique statues, of which those of Cicero 
 and Marcus Aurelius were long the most admired. Three sides of the Cortile are 
 formed by double arcades, supporting the upper parts of the structure ; and, to give 
 greater lightness to the lower parts, (the predominant idea in the whole design,) above 
 the wide arches of the basement story the wall is pierced with circular apertures. The 
 arches in the second story are pointed or gothic, and the windows over them are of 
 
0^ii_wr,-\rr W I, E\.-, 
 
 . y/C- . V/,////7 . /Z//-/^ 'z^,-/,-/// .^/^////y- /y^//r'. 
 
 iZiXiu/iet- aiu- ^<ia/n^ i/i^n/M'. J2i)-f-^ Ji^^a/*/?^ c/xif-, 
 
 ..j^. 
 
 BiaHKR. SON fc C I.OKDON *. PAT^iS . 
 
% 
 
 
THE giants' stairs. 19 
 
 various styles, ages, dimensions, placed at no regular intervals, and ornamented pro- 
 fusely, yet without uniformity of conception. The Saracenic and Roman manners are to 
 be found indiscriminately mixed in every part of the building. Still, with all its viola- 
 tions of architectural rules, the Ducal palace does not fail to count the most original- 
 minded travellers amongst its fond admirers. 
 
 " It is in vain that the fastidiousness of virtu, and the rigour of criticism, have 
 discovered innumerable faults in the Ducal palace of Venice : to the painter and the 
 poet, to the imagination that floats upon the romantic eras of the middle ages, that 
 wander from the fields of Palestine and the Roncesvalles, to the feats of the Dandoli and 
 the Falieri, this is the edifice par excellence ; and the arena of the Coliseum is not a 
 subject of more religious admiration to the classic artist, than the Cortile del Palazzo 
 Ducale, to those whose associations are made up to the bold, rigorous, and romantic 
 times, which inspired the lays of Tasso and Ariosto, and produced the warrior-merchants 
 of Venice."* 
 
 On either side of the summit of the stairs stand the colossal statues of Mars and 
 Neptune, emblems of the naval and military power of the state ; they are the work of 
 Sansovino, and give to the superb structure a name in character with the romantic history 
 of everything around. On the broad eminence behind the Giants, the doges were 
 invested with the insignia of sovereignty ; and, on this spot it was that Faliero first 
 resumed the ducal crown, and afterwards added his great name to the list of European 
 sovereigns, happily a brief one, who were assassinated by their people with all the forms 
 of justice. 
 
 Not only poets, but grave historians, disagree as to the spot on which Marino Faliero 
 suflFered death. Rogers and Lord Byron have followed the passage in the decree, "that the 
 execution should be done on the landing-place of the stone-staircase," while M. Simond 
 says, "between the two square pillars covered with Syrian inscriptions, upon which the 
 gates of the city of Acre were once suspended, and on the lowest step of St. Mark's, is 
 the spot where this first magistrate of the republic suffered," Mr. Evelyn, also, relates 
 " that two columns of white marble were erected, to hang one of their dukes on, who 
 designed to make himself sovereign." The Venetians themselves agree with the poets, 
 and believe that it was on the spot where the duke promised fidelity to the republic, that 
 he expiated the crime of its violation. In the open arcade, communicating with the 
 platform at the head of the stairs, were the lions' gaping mouths, where the fatal Deiiunzie 
 segrette were deposited, oftener the instruments of private vengeance than public justice. 
 The aperture in which the anonymous information was placed, was immediately under 
 the mouth of the lion ; but aperture, mouth, and head have all disappeared, and, in 1797, 
 the effigies underwent the ceremony of scraping, along with all the other lions of St. Mark. 
 Above the corridor of the lion is the hall of the ambassadors, painted by Paul Veronese, 
 the ante-chamber of which contains his celebrated chef d'oeuvre, " the rape of Europa." 
 
 • Lady Morgan's Italy. 
 
20 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE CASTLE AND BRIDGE OF ST. ANGELO. 
 
 HOME. 
 
 " Turn to the Mole which Hadrian rear'd on high, 
 Imperial mimic of old Egypt's piles, 
 Colossal copyist of deformity. 
 
 How smiles 
 
 The gazer's eye with philosophic mirth, 
 
 To view the huge design that sprung from such a birth." Byhon. 
 
 The massive monument, called the Castle of St Angelo, now employed as a papal 
 prison for the living, was designed and erected as a receptacle for the dead. When 
 Adrian was saturated with the pleasures of this world, and felt himself its master, he 
 nobly looked into the vista of futurity, and entered upon a rivalship in death with the 
 greatest of his predecessor^. Abandoning the imperial sepulchre, built by Augustus 
 for the lords of Rome, he caused a mausoleum to be raised in his own name, where the 
 remains of his own, and of future emperors, should be entombed ; and it is probable that 
 these mausolea, founded thus emulously, have contributed a larger share to their author's 
 immortality, than their gorgeous palaces wouldever have done. Their destinies, also, have 
 been equally eventful, though totally dissimilar : that of Augustus has been converted into 
 an arena for bull-fights, a circus for horsemanship, and a theatre for fire- works ; while 
 the Mole of Adrian (the castle of St Angelo) is a bagne and a prison. When the Goths 
 besieged imperial Rome, the Moles Adriatii served as a fortress, and was defended with 
 the most determined bravery. The Greco-Roman garrison, however, with a more than 
 Gothic barbarity, hurled down upon their Gothic assailants all the beautiful statues and 
 decorations that adorned the ancient mausoleum. For sixty years these barbarians 
 continued to desecrate ancient Rome by their presence ; and when Belisarius resumed the 
 possession, the Barbarini Faun, since found in the ditches of St Angelo, was amongst the 
 few exquisite sculptures of the Mole that had escaped destruction. It is not, however, 
 to the Goths alone, that the spoliation of this great edifice is to be ascribed, for, before 
 their arrival, Constantino had removed its splendid pillars, to form the colonnade of St. 
 Paul's church at Rome.* 
 
 * When Clement the VH. was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo, by the Imperial army, Benvenuto Cellini, 
 the sculptor, directed the artillery of his holiness ; and of his conduct, on this memorable occasion, he has left 
 the following animated, but scarcely credible account : — 
 
 " Not a day passed, that I did not kill some of the army without the castle. One day, amongst others, the 
 pope happened to walk upon the round rampart, when he saw in the public walks a Spanish colonel, whom he 
 knew by certain tokens ; and understanding that he had been formerly in his service, said something concerning 
 him, all the while observing him attentively. I, also, was above the battery, and knew nothing of the matter. 
 
c^^^ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 I 
 
 
THE CASTLE AND BBIDGE OF ST. ANGELO. 21 
 
 Boniface the IX., having been invited to return to Rome from Assisi, on the 
 approach of the jubilee in 1400, was invested with extraordinary powers, and presented 
 by the people with a large sum of money. As he had only escaped assassination 
 through the interposition of Ladislaus, king of Naples, just before he fled from Rome, he 
 resolved, at his return, to render his residence there less perilous ; and, with this object 
 he employed the funds entrusted to him for the celebration of the jubilee, in fortifying 
 the Castle of St Angelo, as an asylum in case of sudden insurrection, and a garrisoned 
 prison at other periods. Here criminals and culprits are immured, and the prison 
 population, consisting of soldiers, gaolers, brigands, and numerous other galley-slaves, 
 is one of the most extraordinary, if not romantic, assemblages in the world. Underneath 
 the castle is a series of vaults : and recent excavations have exposed the ancient door of 
 the imperial tomb, besides a winding passage paved with mosaic, communicating with 
 different sepulchral chambers. A long corridor of massive masonry, producing a fine 
 effect through the columns of the Piazza of Saint Peter's, extends from the Vatican to 
 the castle, affording a safe retreat to his holiness in any violent tumult. This monument 
 of timidity, so unworthy of the peaceful quality of an hierarchy, was constructed by 
 Pope Adrian the sixth. 
 
 Above the huge rotundo of St. Angelo appears a clumsy accumulation of buildings, 
 surmounted by a gigantic bronze figure of the archangel sheathing a sword, the work of 
 Wenschefeld, a Flemish artist. During a procession to appease the wrath of heaven, and 
 obtain an arrest of the plague which visited Rome in 59d, as St. Gregory the Great 
 was passing over the iElian bridge, the archangel appeared to him, in the attitude repre- 
 sented, and on the precise spot where the commemorating effigy now stands. The vision 
 was succeeded by an immediate cessation of the plague, and the statue was set up as an 
 evidence of faith, and an emblem of gratitude. From this circumstance, also, the name 
 " Mole Hadriano " was laid aside for that of Castel di San Angelo. From the platform on 
 
 but saw a man who was employed in getting the ramparts repaired, and who stood with a spear in his hand, began 
 to deliberate how I should lay him flat. I took my swivel, which was almost equal to a demi-culverine, turned it 
 round, and charging it with a good quantity of fine and coarse powder mixed, aimed it at him exactly ; though he 
 was at so great a distance that it could not be expected any effort of art should make such pieces carry so far, 
 I fired off the gun, and hit the man in red directly in the middle. He had arrogantly placed his sword before 
 him, in a sort of Spanish bravado, but the ball of my piece hit against his sword, and the man was seen severed 
 in two pieces. The pope, who did not dream of any such thing, was highly delighted and surprised at what he 
 •aw, as well because he thought it impossible that such a piece could carry so far, as by reason he could not 
 conceive how the man could be cut into two pieces. Upon this he sent for me, and made an inquiry into the 
 whole affair. I told him the art I had used to fire in that manner : but as for the man's being split into two 
 pieces, neither he nor I was able to account for it. So falling upon my knees, I entreated his holiness to absolve 
 me from the guilt of homicide, as likewise from other crimes which I bad committed in that castle, in the service 
 of the church. The pope lifting up his hands, and making the sign of the cross over me, said that he blessed me, 
 and gave me absolution for all the homicides I had ever committed, or ever should commit, in the service of the 
 apostolical church. Upon quitting him, I again went up to the battery, and, continuing to keep a constant fire, 
 I scarce once missed all the time : my drawing, my elegant studies, and my taste for music, all vanished before 
 this butchery business ; and, if I were to give a particular account of all the exploits I performed in this infernal 
 employment, I should astonish aU the world, but I pass them by for the sake of brevity." It is probable that veracity 
 has been consulted also by the omission. 
 
 F 
 
2'2 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 which the archangel rests, the view is extensive and interesting, and its very conspicuous 
 position has conferred upon it a still further notoriety. It is from hence, at the festivals 
 of Easter, and of St. Peter and St. Paul, that the celebrated girandola is let off, a double 
 bouquet of 4500 rockets : the design was conceived by Michael Angelo, and improved 
 by Bernini — " Of all the spectacles * exhibited by Rome to wondering nations, this is 
 the most beautiful, the most splendid, the most indescribable." From the spot on the 
 bank of the river, called the Arco di Palma, whence the accompanying view is taken, 
 this splendid display is seen to the greatest advantage, and here vast crowds are generally 
 assembled on those festal eves.f 
 
 Seven bridges formerly conducted over the Tiber to the Janiculum and the Vatican 
 Mount; of these the Pons ^lius, now Pont St Angelo, built by the emperor Adrian, as an 
 avenue to his mausoleum, remains, but much altered from its ancient appearance. During 
 the celebration of the jubilee in 1450, when a vast concourse was collected on the bridge, 
 the arches and battlements gave way, and some hundred persons perished, either amongst 
 the ruins, or in the river. After this tragical occurrence. Pope Nicholas caused new 
 arches to be thrown from the ancient piers : Clement IX. added the parapets, and placed 
 on them ten colossal figures of angels, each holding some instrument of the sufferings of 
 Christ The designs, which are draped figures with monstrous wings, are by Bernini, 
 
 • This glowing scene has been beautifully represented by the pencil of Wright, of Derby. Amongst the 
 ancient customs still preserved at Rome, that of making new-year's presents {strencsj survives still, though with 
 some modifications. The name is no longer strenje, but Befana, and the festival falls on the sixth instead of the 
 first day of the year. Rome has adopted this transposition in honour of the Epiphania, or three kings at Cologne, 
 which has also been called the first Easter of the year. The feast is intended in commemoration of the costly 
 presents which the Magi of the East laid by the cradle of the infant Christ, and thus the old heathen custom has 
 been sanctioned by its connexion with a great festival of the church. The name Befana is evidently a corruption 
 of the Greek " Epiphania ;" but the following fable is related of its origin : the Befana is a misshapen old woman 
 with negro features, who makes it her duty to visit every child during the night between the 5th and 6th of January; 
 she rewards the good with sweetmeats and presents, and whips the naughty, afterwards taking them with her 
 to her subterranean dwelling. At midnight, says the fable, the walls turn again into cream cheese (ricotta), to 
 admit Befana. When she has accomplished her mission, the walls turn again into stone. It is easy to imagine the 
 anxiety of the little ones, who, on this dreadful night address letters and petitions to Befana, and laugh and cry by 
 turns till they fall asleep. The mother then goes to the bedside, and arranges the presents of Befana. On the 
 morrow those of a more mature age interchange presents, the lover brings his tribute to his lady-love, the 
 penitent to the confessor, the bridegroom to his bride ; so that this day occasions in Rome the outlay of several 
 thousand scudi for toys, sweetmeats, dresses, plate, and j-ewels. The fun and merriment that ensue enliven the 
 eternal city, and make it look quite young again. Even in the graver circles of austere domesticity, the evening 
 passes more cheerfully and merrily than others ; the very monks and nuns unbend ; they throw dice for small stakes, 
 and play at latto and other innocent games. The merriment of the city penetrates even the Pope's palace, his 
 holiness inviting the cardinals to celebrate the Befana, along with the most distinguished members of the apostolic 
 household ; latto is played in the pontifical palace, and capons, sugar-plums, choice game, costly wines, and other 
 dainties, put up for prizes. 
 
 t The first sight of the Tiber has always occasioned a feeling of disappointment, and produced those widely 
 differing descriptions of its dignity as a river. But actual admeasurements show, that at the bridge of St. Angelo, 
 tlie narrowest part, its breadth is 220 English feet, the precise diameter of the huge round castle on its banks at 
 the same place. " If we apply to this part of the river Horace's prescription for a good night's rest : — Ter uncti 
 transnanto Tiberim somno quibus est opus alto — even less accomplished swimmers than Lord Byron and 
 Leander might object to it as inadequate." 
 
i. 
 
 
 ,<* 
 
 4 
 
 XX 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 V 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 \: 
 
 « ^ 
 
 .1 
 
THE PFALZ. 23 
 
 and executed by his pupils, with the exception of the figure bearing the cross, which is 
 from that great master's own hand. The statues, altogether, are in character with the 
 bridge, which is the finest in Rome. The similarity of the view of St Peter's at Rome, 
 from Pont St. Angelo, to that of St Paul's at London, from Blackfriars bridge, cannot fail 
 to attract the notice of the English traveller. 
 
 CAUB, CASTLE OF GUTENFELS, AND THE PFALZ, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " A double dungeon, wall and wave 
 Have made — and like a living grave, 
 Below the surface of the lake 
 The dark vault lies wherein we lay, 
 We heard it ripple night and day." Bykon. 
 
 Built on a rock, in the middle of the Rhine, the Pfalz has defied the rage of winds, 
 the lashing of angry waters, and the assaults of fierce and powerful princes. It does not 
 present an useless moral, proclaiming the superior security of an insular position over 
 the strongest structures on continuous land, for, while the Pfalz remains entire, and 
 perfect, in its strength and proportions, the proud castles on the banks have yielded either 
 to the corruption of time, or to the desolation of war. Originally destined to be a watch- 
 tower, or toll-house, belonging to the palatinate of the Middle Rhine, its strength and 
 insulated position soon recommended it as peculiarly apposite for the exercise of tyranny, 
 and infliction of the most cruel of all punishments, solitary imprisonment. Its transition 
 from a toll-house to a prison was easy, and its cells have become sadly memorable, as 
 the once dreary abodes of state criminals of the empire. " How many pining eyes may 
 have turned from those casements to the vine-clad hills of the free shore ; how many 
 indignant hearts have nursed the deep curses of hate in the dungeons below, and longed 
 for the wave, that dashed against the gray walls, to force its way within, and set them 
 free !" This idea of "the Pilgrim of the Rhine" is still more poetically expressed by the 
 prisoner of Chillon, who says — 
 
 " I could have smiled to see 
 
 The death that would have set me free." 
 
 The castle is now, and always has been, accessible by ladders only ; and, when the 
 visiter passes the single doorway which gives admission, he hears the heavy portcullis 
 fall behind him, and exclude the world. Several stories or tiers of dungeons are con- 
 structed within the polygonal part of the building, some even below the surface of the 
 encircling river ; and a supply of the purest water is obtained from a well within the 
 rock, whose source is lower still than the river's bed. 
 
 The origin of the castle of Pfalzgrafenstein is usually ascribed to Lewis the Bavarian, 
 and the date of its construction placed in 1.326 ; — like all the strong fortresses which it 
 
24 THE IIHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 has survived, it must have experienced vicissitudes of fortune, before it fell into the 
 possession of its present owner, the Duke of Nassau. Tradition assures us tliat it was 
 in this lonely castle the heirs to the palatinate of the Middle Rhine first saw the light of 
 life, prescription requiring that the countesses of this ancient domain, when the period 
 ot their accouchement approached, should repair thither, and make it their temporary 
 abode. It is probable that pride, as well as policy, were connected with this custom, 
 the origin of which is preserved in the legend of " Agnes and Henry," and alluded to in the 
 story of " the Countess Guda," who is said to have been immured here, by her cruel 
 husband, for upwards of seventeen years.* 
 
 Frederick Barbarossa having bestowed the palatinate of the Middle Rhine upon his 
 half-brother, Conrad von Staufer, the Pfalz (palace) became thereby the property of 
 that prince. An only daughter was the representative of his house, and never were more 
 beauty and loveliness combined in the person of any princess of the German empire. 
 Had she been born to less wide domains, the conspicuous graces of her person, and the 
 eminent virtues of her mind, would have attracted to the castle of Stahleck all the young 
 princes of Germany. Amidst the scions of nobility that now sighed as suitors in her 
 father's hall, young Henry of Brunswick did not escape the notice of the fair Agnes, 
 nor his passion remain unrequited; for, in preference to the King of Spain, and to 
 the haughty Lewis of Bavaria, Agnes secretly plighted her faith to him, whom her heart 
 had told her was most deserving of her love. The fortune, the fairness, the fame of the 
 youthful countess could not be concealed from the wakeful vigilance of the emperor, who 
 had long resolved to retain the palatinate in his family, by marrying his cousin Agnes to 
 some nearer relative of his house ; and, having this object in view, he formally forbade 
 her union with a foreign prince. 
 
 It was never the wish of Conrad to disobey the emperor, nor did he deem such 
 practice safe ; and, upon the first appearance of a growing attachment between his 
 daughter and the Duke of Brunswick, he sternly dismissed the noble youth from his 
 castle. Secure, as he believed himself and his castle to be from all future intrusion 
 of the duke, Conrad set out for the imperial court, to assure the monarch that his wishes 
 should be obeyed, and that Agnes was prepared to accept as her husband him only 
 whom the emperor should select. But women are as resolute in love, as men in war, and, 
 upon the departure of Conrad, stolen interviews took place between Henry and Agnes, 
 pledges of affection were exchanged, vows of eternal love were made, and finally, with 
 the consent of her mother, the Lady Irmengarde, the fond lovers were privately married 
 at Stahleck castle. The sorrow and indignation of Conrad, when he discovered that 
 Henry had renewed his visits during his absence, were extreme; but, when he was 
 informed by the countess, that the lovers had been actually united in marriage, his rage 
 became boundless : he caused his guards to seize the duke, and convey him to the limits 
 of the palatinate ; while Agnes, whom her mother accompanied, was committed to close 
 imprisonment in the castle of the Pfalz. A few months rolled away, and intelligence was 
 communicated to the Pfalzgraf, that his lovely daughter would soon become a mother. 
 • Vide " The Rhine," by J. Snowe, and " Legends of the Rhine," by the author of " Highways and By-ways." 
 
J 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 nJ 
 
 ^ 
 
 !< 
 ^ 
 
MAYENCE CATHEDRAL. 25 
 
 At first, despair took place of every other feeling ; but suddenly recovering his firmness 
 and self-possession, he hastened to court, laid the circumstances before the emperor, and 
 became himself intercessor for his unhappy child. The emperor relented, influenced, it 
 was supposed, by the hope of extinguishing the deadly feuds then flaming forth between 
 the families of Welf and Hohenstaufen, and extended forgiveness to his disobedient 
 cousin ; but he declared that, unless the marriage between the Duke of Brunswick and Lady 
 Agnes, had been celebrated with all the forms of law and of religion, which belong to such 
 contracts amongst the great families of the empire, her children sliould not be permitted 
 to inherit the palatinate. The Lady Irmengarde, however, had been as considerate as 
 kind, and had taken the precaution to have the marriage of her daughter celebrated by 
 the chaplain of the castle, £^nd witnessed by the steward of the palatinate, — so that the 
 contract was in every respect complete ; and, when Henry returned to Agnes, their joy 
 was subject to no species of alloy. Upon this happy termination of an event that por- 
 tended the downfall of his house, Conrad directed that a chamber should be formed, and 
 fitted up, within the Pfalz, to which all future princesses of the palatinate should retire, 
 when that interesting moment of their lives arrived, which came upon fair Agnes while 
 a prisoner in this island-castle. 
 
 MAYENCE CATHEDRAL AND MARKET-PLACE, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " And even in the gold-corrupted mart 
 In the great city's heart, 
 
 They stand : and chantry dim and organ sound, 
 And stated services of prayer and praise. 
 Like to the righteous ten who were not found 
 For the polluted city, shall upraise, 
 Meek faith and love sincere — 
 Better in time of need than shield and spear !" Maby Howitt. 
 
 The Dom Kirche, or Cathedral, constitutes the most remarkable feature in the distant 
 view of Mayence,* — the. most attractive to the visiter of its municipal institutions. It 
 has seen " year roll on year ; to ages, ages yield," and is said to illustrate four different 
 and distinct eras in architecture, while its military history is equally varied and eventful. 
 From the magnitude of the original design its accomplishment extended through four 
 centuries of time, receiving in its progress the peculiar impress of each age and taste. 
 The eastern choir with its massive gothic tower, and the brazen doors opening to the Speise 
 Markt, or chief market-place, are of the tenth century. These last noble specimens of 
 art were the gift of Willigis, archbishop of Mayence, in the year 1000, who caused the 
 Magna C/iarla of the citizens, which he generously granted, to be engraven on the valves. 
 During his administration of the principality and archdiocess, he was arrested by the 
 
 * Mainz and Mentz. 
 O 
 
26 
 
 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 emperor, and thrown into prison. Enraged at the indignity offered to their city in the 
 person of their diocesan, the burghers boldly seized the emperor himself, and detained 
 him forcibly, until he consented to the unconditional release of their ruler. In grati- 
 tude for their loyalty and affection, Willigis conferred upon the citizens numerous 
 privileges and immunities ; and, as an emblem of the sincerity of his desire that they 
 should endure for ages, caused the charter to be graven in letters of brass. The 
 building of the cathedral commenced with the eastern choir — proceeded to the nave, 
 which is a century less ancient— and concluded with the western choir and tower. 
 The lateral chapels were added at subsequent periods. Four towers and two cupolas 
 adorn the great design ; and two choirs, two high altars, with numerous costly tombs, 
 constitute the ornaments and the records of the interior. 
 
 The Goths are uniformly accused of having defaced temples, broken monuments, and 
 waged war upon learning and the arts ; but, if they could appeal to history, it would be 
 found, that civilized nations have proved themselves more gothic than the rude soldiers 
 whose memory they have traduced ; for, more churches have been ruined, more altars 
 polluted, and greater havoc committed upon emblems of art by the French, and since 
 the French revolution, than by the Goths and Vandals, during the whole duration of their 
 irregular government. In the horrible conflict for the possession of Mayence in 1793, 
 between the French under D'Oyre, and the Prussians commanded by Kalkreuth, the 
 cathedral was converted by the former into a magazine and barracks, the east choir alone 
 being spared by this christian and civilized people. The brazen font, set up in 1388, 
 behind the altar, and the many mural monuments, and sepulchral honours, of the nave 
 and choirs, fortunately escaped the fate which befell similar works in England and Ireland 
 at the hands of Cromwell's soldiers. 
 
 The elector and archbishop of Mayence was originally premier-prince in the Germanic 
 confederation, presiding at diets, and at the election of emperor, on whose head he 
 claimed the privilege of placing the diadem. So unlimited did the power and influence 
 of this potentate at length become, that Archbishop Werner is represented as having 
 told the electoral college, " that if they did not approve of the candidate he proposed to 
 them, he had others in his pocket" Nor were the Canons of the cathedral more cere- 
 monious or respectful in their correspondence, for, when the pope ventured to reprove 
 them for indulging excessively in the pleasures of the table, they informed his holiness 
 that "they had more wine than was needed for the mass, and not enough to turn their 
 mills." The first archbishop of this jovial fraternity was Boniface, " the apostle of the 
 Germans."* 
 
 • He was a native of Devonshire, where he was bom in the year 670, and educated in a Benedictine monastery 
 at Exeter. Being authorized to jfteach the gospel in Germany, he was consecTfeted bishop by Gregory II., who 
 changed his name from Winifrid to Boniface. Under the auspices of Carloman and Pepin, he founded the 
 bishoprics of Wurzburg, Buraburg, Erfurt, and Aichstadt, after which he was created archbishop of Mayence. 
 Bowed down with years, he withdrew into Friesland, that he might terminate his ministry in the scene of iu 
 commencement ; but his piety and zeal were badly requited by that barbarous people, by whom he was murdered 
 in 754, together with fifty ecclesiastics who accompanied him. Boniface was interred in the famous Abbey of 
 Fulda, and canonized by the church of Rome. 
 
MAYENCE CATHEDRAL. 27 
 
 From the authority assumed by the primates of German}', it may be concluded that 
 their monuments in this cathedral are not devoid of worldly pride. On the tomb of 
 Peter von Asfeldt, who flourished about 1310, appear figures of the Emperors Henry 
 VII., Louis of Bavaria, and John the Bohemian, all in small life, together with an effigy 
 of the bishop, by whom they had been crowned, of full-life size. 
 
 Two monuments of unassuming pretensions are, however, more fraught with interest 
 than all the ostentatious piles by which it has been essayed to rescue hypocrisy and 
 sensuality from deserved oblivion. These are the tombs, or cenotaphs, of Fastrada and 
 of Frauenlob. 
 
 Fastrada, queen of Charlemagne, the fairest and fondest of his four successive wives, 
 possessed a levity of manner, that did not escape censure even in those less chaste days ; 
 and, to this deficiency of virtue \Vas added the reputation of practising the magic art 
 Having obtained from her royal husband a ring, which gave to the wearer an attractive 
 power, she thereby secured his ardent love during life, and, even after death, he could 
 not be induced to withdraw his gaze from the mouldering corpse, until Archbishop 
 Turpin, discovering the charmed object in the mouth of the dead queen, placed it on 
 his own finger,* and diverted the king's affection. The fair Fastrada expired at the 
 palace of Ingelheim, and her remains being conveyed to Mayence, were interred in the 
 Abbey of St Alban's. Upon the destruction of that noble building, the fragments of her 
 tomb were removed to the cathedral, and placed in the wall, beside the door-way that 
 leads to the cloisters. This sole remnant of a once splendid monument, was probably 
 the actual grave-stone, and bears the following inscription : — " Fastradana pia Caroli 
 conjux vocitata. Christo delecta jacet hoc sub marmore tecta. Anno septingentesimo 
 quarto, quem numerum metro claudere musa negat Rex pie, quam gessit virgo, licet 
 hie cineriseit spiritus haeres sit patriae, quae tristia nescit" In the Chronicle of Treves 
 the inscriptions, which were graven on the lost parts of the original design, may be read. 
 
 A plain monument of red stone, leaning against the cloister walls, is erected to the 
 memory of Henrich von Meissen : he was a canon of the cathedral, and founder of the 
 community of Teutonic Troubadours or Minnesangers, who revived that spirit of poesy 
 in Germany, which soon and subsequently spread over Europe. His works consisted 
 chiefly of sonnets in praise of the fair sex, whence his sobriquet of Frauenlob — " Praise 
 the Ladies," or « The Ladies' eulogist" To such a height of popularity had he attained, 
 that when his playful spirit had winged its flight to heaven, his bier was borne to tHe 
 grave by eight ladies of Mayence, while others of that gentle sex were employed in 
 pouring out libations of wine, or in shedding copious floods of tears. The author of the 
 legends of the Rhine introduces a knight-errant, on the occasion, inquiring from one of 
 the fair mourners who that noble being could have been, who was thus so highly favour- 
 ed: « Sir Knight," the dame mildly, but proudly replied, " no prince bear we to the grave ; 
 for by the women of Mainz may no sovereign on earth be so honoured ; neither is yon 
 fair corpse that of a hero, for heroes never won the wreaths he wore so worthily. But we 
 honour a poet — the poet of our sex — the poet of women— in these remains ; and greater 
 • Vide Petrarch's " Epistolae Familiares," and Suowe's " Legends of the Rhine." 
 
28 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GUEECE. 
 
 than any king or hero, and dearer — far dearer to our hearts, is he who now lies cold on 
 that bier. Behold, before the grave closes on his noble countenance for ever — behold 
 our eulogist, Frauenlob." 
 
 The poetic prose of another pilgrim to the tombs, and the temples, and the towns on 
 the Rhine, exclaims, before the gates of this ancient place — "Ever memorable Mayence! 
 memorable alike for freedom and for song, within those walls how often woke the 
 gallant music of the Troubadour ; and, how often beside that river did the heart of the 
 maiden tremble to the lay !" 
 
 ISOLA LECCHI, LAGO DI GUARDA, 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " The gentle island, and the genial soil, 
 The friendly hearts, the feasts without a ton. 
 The courteous manners but from nature caught. 
 The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbought " Byron: 
 
 Early in the sixteenth century a member of the ancient family of Lecchi lounaea a 
 school for the study of theology, on this beautiful islet which now bears his name. The 
 venerable founder considered the retirement of the scene as happily suited to a study so 
 solemn, and viewed the remoteness of the situation as a discouragement to insincerity, 
 and a security against the intrusion of curiosity. So prevalent, however, was a fervid 
 zeal for the study of divinity at that period, that in a few short years he found it 
 necessary to enlarge his college, and erect an amphitheatre for the accommodation of the 
 numbers that attended his lectures. The college, the lecture-hall, and the monastery, 
 that once occupied this little " isle of saints," have passed away, and a delightful villa, 
 which has risen from their ruins, is occupied by the Count Lecchi, the representative of 
 an ancestral line, both long and unbroken. The beauty and solitude of the " Isola Lecchi" 
 have thus been honoured by the notice of Dante : — 
 
 " Luogo e nel mezzo la dove '1 Trentino 
 Pastore e quel di Brescia e 1 Veronese 
 Segnar poria, se fesse quel cammino." Infebno Canto xx. 
 
 and the graces of the Lago di Guarda, so long neglected, or postponed to those of the 
 smiling, sunny Como, have at last found a full recognition, few parts of Italy being more 
 admired by the picturesque, or the classic tourist Near to Isola Lecchi is the isle of 
 San Vigilio del Loga, less adorned with foliage, less varied in form, and inferior in 
 extent, to the former, which is upwards of an English mile in circumference. At the 
 base of the Monte Baldo, the garden of the Alps, that tower over the lake, and form a 
 
1 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 .1 
 
ISOLA LECCHI, LAGO DI GUARDA. 
 
 29 
 
 noble distance, is the little village of Renzano, the birth-place of Ludovico Rampini, 
 afterwards Pope Adrian VI. He had been a pupil of Francesco Lecchi ; became tutor 
 to Charles V. ; and succeeded Leo X. in the pontificate. His tastes for the elegancies 
 and refinements of life and of society, were opposed to what might have been expected 
 from the romantic scenes of his youth, and the example of his predecessors, for, on his 
 arrival in Rome, he is said to have turned away from the sight of the Laocoon as from 
 a profane divinity. " This gloomy pontifi"," says an Italian historian, " seems more 
 likely to have been born at Utrecht, amid the fogs of Holland, than under an 
 Italian sky." 
 
 Every part of the shores of Lago di Guarda is connected with some legend of romance, 
 some remarkable incident in history, identified with the earliest names in the ancient 
 classics, and possessing unequalled picturesque charms. The southern shore of the lake 
 is flat, but sUflBciently elevated above the surface of the waters to command a prospect 
 over its whole extent The village and fortress of Peschiera stand at the efflux of the 
 lake, which here assumes the name of Mincio ; and the former, Ariolica, the ancient 
 Ardehca, was the scene of the celebrated interview that took place between Attila and 
 St Leo. " The Roman ambassadors," says Gibbon, " were introduced to the tent of 
 Attila, as he lay encamped at the place where the slow-winding Mhicius is lost in the 
 foaming waters of the lak^ Benachus, and trampled, with his Scythian cavalry, the 
 farms of Catullus and Virgil :" in this congress the deliverance of Italy was purchased, on 
 the part of the Emperor Valentinian, by an immense ransom, which Attila claimed as the 
 dowry of the infamous Honoria. And the Mincio is the river whose beauties are 
 immortalized in the verses of Virgil, that seem to flow on as smoothly as its clear 
 bright waters. 
 
 The Mantuan bard ascribes a treacherous character to the waters of Lago di 
 Guarda, which time does not appear to have influenced. After the voyager embarks on 
 the placid surface, which, hushed into a deceitful calm, reflects the thousand rocks, and 
 crags, and promontories around, with a vividness not inferior to that of the objects ; the 
 sky, too, may appear tranquil, long fleecy clouds sleeping on the summits of the Alps . 
 the death-like stillness of the scene, broken only by the sounds of the oar, or by the echo of 
 the hills, and serenity and silence seated in every part of the great and solemn picture : 
 but at this moment of suspense, percTiance of fearful apprehension — , 
 
 " When waves scarce heave, the face of ocean sleeps, 
 And a dim horror saddens all the deeps :" 
 
 • This is a mistake of the historian ; the river flows out of the lake, and therefore could not be lost in its 
 waves. The interesting topography of the banks of the Guarda and Mincius has been fully illustrated by the 
 learning and taste of the Marquis Maflfei : he places the villa of Catullus in the delightful] peninsula of Sirmio, 
 and discovers the Andes of Virgil in the village of Bandes, situated precisely where the hills of Verona slop* 
 down into the plams of Mantua, and mark the npot 
 
 " Tardis ingens ubi flexibus errat 
 Minciu$, et tenera pra-texit arundine ripas." 
 H 
 
30 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 the king of the winds is i)reparing to open his prison-gate, and release his unruly 
 subjects from their cave. A modern traveller,* who experienced the unaltered qualities 
 of the lake Guarda, confirms the veracity of the poet's description — " We left Sirmione 
 after sunset, and, lighted by the moon, glided smoothly over the lake to Desensano, where 
 we stepped from the boat to a good inn. So far the appearance of the Benacus was 
 very different from the description which Virgil has given of its stormy character. Before 
 we retired to rest, about midnight, from our windows we observed it still calm and 
 unruffled. About three in the morning I was roused from sleep by the door and 
 windows bursting open at once, and the wind roaring round the room. I started up, and 
 looking out, observed by the light of the moon, the lake in the most dreadful agitation, 
 and the waves dashing against the walls of the inn, and resembling the swellings of the 
 ocean more than the petty agitation of inland waters. Shortly after, the landlord 
 entered with a lantern, closed the outward shutters, expressed some apprehensions, but 
 at the same time assured me, that their houses were built to resist such sudden tempests, 
 and that I might repose with confidence under a roof, which had withstood full many a 
 storm as terrible as that which occasioned our present alarm. Next morning, the lake, 
 so tranquil and serene the evening before, presented a surface covered with foam, and 
 swelling into mountain billows, that burst in breakers every instant at the door of the 
 inn, and covered the whole house with spray. Virgil's description now seemed nature 
 itself, and, taken from the very scene actually under our eyes, it was impossible not to 
 exclaim — 
 
 -" Teque 
 
 Fluctibus et fremitu assurgens,t Benace, marino. " Georgics. 
 
 • The Rev. John Eustace — " Will it be credited that the Pope prohibits the classical tour of the amiable, 
 the enthusiastic Eustace, the eloquent advocate of the Catholic religion, because he has hinted a doubt of the 
 miraculous liquifaction of the blood of Januarius ! A Roman's faith must be as hot as a sirocco, to dissolve 
 scepticism on this point. " — Dr. James Johnson. 
 
 t Lake Guarda, the ancient Benacus, is represented, by Polybius and Strabo, as extending sixty miles in 
 length, by sixteen m breadth ; but modern geographers and tourists, amongst whom may be mentioned Cramer, 
 Bishop Burnet, Addison, agree in considering its area to measure about thirty-five miles in length, with an 
 average or mean breadth of twelve. The surrounding country was named Ager Benacensis ; and, amongst the 
 inhabitants, the appellation of Lago di Benaco is still as familiar and frequent as that of Lago di Guarda. 
 
# 
 
 % 
 
v^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^:-r 
 
 ^ ^1 
 
 
 „,'^ 
 
 •^ 
 
 ^ 
 
THE SALA REGIA. 31 
 
 THE SALA REGIA, IN THE VATICAN, 
 
 ROME. 
 
 ' So here condense thy soul 
 
 To more immediate objects, and control 
 
 Thy thoughts until thy mind hath got by heart 
 
 Its eloquent proportions." Bybo.n. 
 
 The Sala llegia of the Vatican, which is approached by the celebrated staircase called 
 the Scala Regia, is decorated with numerous frescoes. It claims a peculiar degree of 
 nobleness from its great length and elevation, from the extraordinary richness of its 
 ceiling, and from the grand proportions of its six spacious folding doors, that allow of 
 communication with the principal apartments of the papal palace. The kneeling 
 figures in the illustration are at the entrance of the Pauline Chapel, celebrated for 
 its tabernacle of rock crystal, and deriving its name from Pope Paul III., by whom it 
 was re-edified; and the closed valves nearer to the spectator belong to the Sistine 
 Chapel, the depository of Michael Angelo's " Last Judgment." 
 
 The treasures of the Sala Regia, while they command admiration for the genius of 
 their conception and the manner of their execution, suggest solemn reflections upon the 
 inconsistency of human character, and the vicissitudes of life ; but they more especially 
 represent the deep humihation to which the most elevated of men have been exposed ; 
 affording moral lessons, of great value, to after ages. The best performance of art in this 
 beautiful vestibule, and that which has conferred the greatest reputation upon its author, 
 Vasari, is the triumphal entrance of Gregory XI. into Rome, upon the reconciliation of 
 the schism, and return of the Pontiffs from their seventy years' residence at Avignon. 
 The Battle of Lepanto, also by Vasari, owes its' principal interest to the event which 
 it commemorates ; on this signal occasion the Turkish naval power, then terrible to 
 Europe, was utterly broken by the gallantry of Don John of Austria, who commanded 
 the combined fleets of the Italian States, equipped and concentrated under papal 
 auspices. 
 
 Gregory VII. absolving the Emperor Henry IV, from excommunication, in presence 
 of the Countess Matilda, was begun by Taddeo Zuccheri, but finished by his brother 
 Frederico : and the prostration of Frederic Barbarossa at the feet of Pope Alexander III., 
 is the work of Giuseppe Salviati ; these two historical productions are injudiciously sus- 
 pended amongst the trophies of the pontificate, for they reflect more disgrace upon the 
 insolent Pontiff who demanded, than on the degraded Prince who yielded, such abject 
 submission. Such representations " may swell the pride of a zealous Catholic — provided 
 he proceeds not to a distant gallery, where the humiliation of Pius VII. at Fontainbleau, 
 
32 THE RHIKE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 before Napoleon, affords an illustration of Solon's reply to Croesus, "Mark the end." — 
 These pictures represent, in a significant manner, the zenith and fall of Papal power. 
 In one, the mighty Pontiff is more dignified than the suppliant prince, in the other, the 
 captive priest is more dignified than the imperial conqueror."* 
 
 Although less pardonable in the high-priest of [a religion of peace and charity, still, 
 when the weakness of our nature is remembered, vanity may be pleaded in extenuation 
 of degenerate Rome, for thus perpetuating such pride, pomp, and folly: but where shall 
 an apologist be found for the shame of suspending on the walls of the Sala Regia, a 
 representation (by Vasari) of the murder of the Huguenots in Paris, on St Bartholomew's 
 day ? France blushes at the recollection of the deed, and in silence excludes such a 
 testimonial from the walls of the Louvre, where the assassination is supposed to have 
 been planned. Rome transfers the suspicion of its origin to the saloons of the Vatican, 
 where French historians also labour to fix its hateful birth. If they have not succeeded 
 in fastening the authorship of this dark tragedy upon the Roman priesthood, they have 
 shown that intelligence of the cruel act produced at Rome the intoxication of a victory, 
 and received the public applause of a full consistory, at which the learned and pious 
 Gregory XIII. presided, f Monsieur de Voltaire, in his Henriade, has disclaimed, on 
 the part of his countrymen generally, the disgrace of this atrocity, and ascribed it to the 
 machinations of priesthood. 
 
 " Tlie barbarous rout, whose hearts with added fire, 
 Those holy savages, their priests, inspire, ' 
 Ev'n from the caniage call upon the Lord, 
 And waving high in air the reeking sword, 
 Offer aloud to God the sacrifice abhorr'd." Canto II. 
 
 • James Johnson on Change of Air, &c. p. 206. 
 
 t Besides these famous paintings, the Sala Regia contains the following : Charles IX. confirming the Sentexce 
 of Coligny in Parliament — Coligny's Body thrown from, the window — Gregory IX. excommunicating Frederic II. — 
 Defeat of Astolfo, king of the Lombards, by Pepin, king of France, by which Ravenna was restored to the See 
 of Rome; all by Vasari — Charlemagne restoring the Patrimony to the Church, Zuccheri— Peter, of Arragon, 
 entering Rome to do homage to Innocent III., Livio Agresti — Otho I- restoring to the Church the provinces he had 
 seized, Marco da Sienna — Gregory II. compelling Luitxrand tj confirm his previous grant to the Church, Orazio 
 Sammachini. 
 
I 
 
 -i 
 
 J^ 
 
 it 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPICS. 33 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPIUS, 
 
 ATHENS. 
 
 " Here, son of Saturn I was thy fav'rite throne ; 
 Mightiest of many such ! Hence let me trace 
 The latent grandeur of thy dwelling place. 
 Yet these proud pillars claim no passing sigh; 
 Unmoved the Moslem sits, the light Greek carols by." Byron. 
 
 From the parched and arid plain of Athens rise the majestic columns of the Olympeion, 
 a temple dedicated to the Olympian Jove; — their elevation and desolateness exciting 
 the highest ideas of the grandeur of the ancient Greeks, and the most humble as to the 
 permanence of human power, or of national supremacy. Fabulous history ascribes the 
 foundation of this vast design to Deucalion ; but Aristotle, vcho compares it to the pyra- 
 mids of Egypt, is followed by Suidas and Vitruvius in giving that honour to Pisistratus. 
 The fate of this vast temple furnishes an interesting moral; it was the most extensive 
 design at Athens, perhaps, too, the earliest, and its progress and its destiny were similar 
 and simultaneous with thoge of the Athenian state. While that ancient republic flourished, 
 the building of the Olympeion proceeded ; but the consummation of both, being perhaps 
 too much tinctured with worldly pride, never arrived. When the Romans conquered 
 Greece and abolished liberty, they renewed the suspended works, and are believed to 
 have finished the building. Begun in the year before Christ 530, it was not completed 
 until the year 145; although we are told that many kings and potentates vied 
 with each other in the munificence of their contributions for that purpose. Amongst 
 the most celebrated of its patrons were Perseus, the last king of Macedon ; Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, Augustus, and, lastly, the Emperor Adrian, by whom it was dedicated.* It is 
 of this noble building that Plutarch observes, when speaking of its" unfinished state, 
 "As Athens perfected all her temples but that of the Olympian Jupiter, so Plato left 
 only his greatest work, concerning the Atlantic island, incomplete." 
 
 It is probable that the beauty and grandeur of this temple constituted Adrian's 
 chief inducement to found here his Adrianopolis to the east of old Athens ; all traces of 
 which, the arch excepted, have totally disappeared, while many of the columns, that had 
 been set up nearly seven hundred years before, still remain. 
 
 The original design of this stupendous work consisted of one hundred and twenty-four 
 large columns, and twenty-six of less dimensions, within the cell. The peristyle of the 
 latter was formed of twenty lateral and ten frontal columns, and that of the exterior was 
 double at the sides, and quadruple at the pronaos and the posticum. The entire length 
 of the building was 300 feet, its breadth 170, the foundation consisting of soft Piraean 
 • See Plutaicb, Livy, Strabo, Suetonius, Vitruvius, &c. 
 I 
 
34 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 stone, and the whole design occupied the centre of a plateau supported by buttressed 
 walls, the extent of which was about 2500 feet. Sixteen noble columns form the chief 
 remains of this great triumph of ancient art ; they rise to a height of sixty feet, have a 
 diameter of six and a half feet ; and the capitals, which, however, vary in their ornaments, 
 are in the Corinthian order. 
 
 The columns are not monolithal, but composed of blocks of such dimensions that 
 their position elevates our notions of ancient mechanism. Each capital includes two 
 large blocks, and each shaft several frusta. The entasis, or swelling of the column, 
 is scarcely perceptible, like those of the Parthenon and Theseion, and the flutings are 
 much effaced by age and weather. Part of the architrave also is shaken, and the blocks dis- 
 turbed, perhaps by an earthquake, and further dilapidation may be yearly expected. 
 
 On the architrave of the two western columns is a brick building, now inaccessible, in 
 which a disciple of Simon Stylites, of Chaquemire, once took up his abode. No staircase 
 is now visible, nor any accumulation of ruined masonry, by means of which the aerial 
 cell can be attained. The complete absence of superincumbent soil, or of ruined work, 
 leaves no hope of future interesting discovery, and excites the highest astonishment at 
 the manner in which the parts of this stupendous edifice could have so completely 
 vanished. Pliny leads his readers to suppose that some of the columns had been removed 
 to Rome by Sylla the Dictator ; but this monstrous proposition, and the infirm quality 
 of the stone of which the columns are formed, Pentelic marble, renders it more probable 
 that it was the cella of the temple which the conquerors plundered. 
 
 Four detached columns stood to the westward of the principal remains ; of these, one 
 was undermined and blown up by a voivode of Athens, to procure materials for building 
 a mosque in the bazaar. For this iniquitous conduct he was subsequently fined 8500 
 piastres by the Pasha of ^gripos, that the civilized countries of Europe might acquit 
 the Moslem government of such barbarity. The Athenians say, that after the fall of this 
 lofty column, moans were heard to issue, at night, from the three remaining sisters; 
 nor did the melancholy sounds subside until it was known that the sacrilegious voivode 
 had been taken off by poison. 
 
 In the accompanying view, the group of sixteen columns forms the principal subject; 
 the three detached ones appear towards the left, near to the Arch of Adrian, and the 
 Acropolis occupies the distance. 
 
_tra«L'iy'Wl..,,-it;'i. 
 
 J^l^(> 0-^/M4e/^/l/^\ "oS, 
 
 -/^<^ 
 
 FISHSR SON t C? XOSXiONfc PABI3 
 
THE CAMPANILE. 
 
 8d 
 
 THE CAMPANILE, 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 " Underneath 
 Where the archangel, as alighted there, 
 Blesses the city from the topmost tower. 
 His arms extended — there in monstrous league 
 Two phantom shapes were sitting, side by side, 
 Or up, and, as in sport, chasing each other, 
 Horror and mirth." 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 The foundation of the Campanile, or Tower of St. Mark, as it is frequently called, was 
 laid some time in the twelfth century, and in the doganate of Dominico Morosini, who 
 was elected in 1148; but the design was not completed until the middle of the sixteenth, 
 when the illustrious Maestro Buono, who died in 1549, was employed for that purpose. 
 This eminent artist is not to be confounded with others of similar name ; he it was who 
 raised so many and such exquisite monuments to his professional fame, not only in 
 Venice, his birth-place, but also in Florence and Naples, where all the noblest works are 
 after his great conceptions. The Campanile is a square, bold, massive structure, entirely 
 of brick, like the Bolognese bell-towers, and 330 feet in height : it has a smooth solid 
 path of brick-work to its summit, consisting of a series of inclined planes, each of such 
 trifling elevation, that Mr. Evelyn thought he might have accomplished the ascent on 
 horseback, "as, it is said, one of the French kings had done, there being no stairs or 
 steps, but returns that take up an entire square on the arches, 40 feet, broad enough 
 for a coach." This mode of ascending to the summits of lofty towers is of very ancient 
 adoption. In the oldest buildings with which we are acquainted, the stairs or planes 
 are coiled round the exterior in a spiral form, but in the Giralda of Seville, which is of 
 Moorish architecture, and other works of the middle ages, the means of ascent were 
 generally enclosed within. 
 
 It was in the dark passage leading to the summit of the Campanile, that the young 
 Count Durazzo* was so cruelly assassinated ; and it was on the summit of the tower, 
 that the illustrious victim of papal bigotry, "the starry Galileo," held his communion 
 with the skies. 
 
 The bell suspended in the Venetian Campanile is of an enormous size, and the sounds, 
 to a person in the tower, much too powerful for the ear. Within its barrel occurred an 
 illustration of fatal curiosity, in the death of a young man, upon whom the huge iron 
 tongue fell down while he was engaged in wondering at its dimensions. 
 
 * Landscape Annual for 1831. 
 
36 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The view from the balcony of the Tower is peculiarly interesting : below are seen the 
 bustling crowd, "like bees in a hive, or ants in a mole-hill," crawling about St Mark's 
 Place without any apparent or intelligible object ; and the more distant prospect affords 
 a more exquisite panorama. Venice seems rising out of the waters, like the Ark of the 
 Deluge : — every channel and shoal of the Lagune — the lengthened chain of islands, that 
 seem to float upon the surface of the glassy mirror — the broad and busy port — the 
 branching canals, intersected by hundreds of bridges, the great one crossed by the 
 glorious and memorable Rialto — seem at the very base of the tower ; — still farther are 
 distinguished the low-lying land of Lombardy — the hoary heads of the Frioulian alps — 
 and, beyond the gulf of Trieste, the blue mountains of Istria rise like distant clouds 
 above the eastern horizon. 
 
 In front of the tower stands the Loggietta, a rich and elegant piece of architecture, 
 designed by Sansovino, to whom Venice is indebted for half her charms. What Michael 
 Angelo has done for Rome, Mansard for Paris, and Wren for London, has been accom- 
 plished for this fair city by the exquisite conceptions of this Florentine artist. The 
 style of the Loggietta is Corinthian, and it was intended to have continued the design 
 quite round, so as to represent a grand base or pedestal to the tower. One screen alone 
 has been finished, and its beauty excites regret at the incompletion of the artist's taste. 
 Clustered columns adorn the facade, and four niches, occupying the intercolumnar spaces, 
 are filled with bronze figures, the size of life, of Pallas, Apollo, Mercury, and Peace, while 
 the tablets in the second story are adorned with sculptures of noble design and perfect 
 finish, from the hand of Titian Minio, the pupil of Sansovino, and of Geronimo Lombardo, 
 the most celebrated statuary of the sixteenth century. Amongst the basso relievos of 
 the latter, which decorate the exterior of the Loggietta, are the famous "Fall of Helle from 
 the Ram of Phryxus," and " Tethys aiding Leander." A Nostra Signora within, from 
 the hand of Sansovino, is one of the finest statues in Venice. The marble employed 
 in the front of the Loggietta is variously coloured, rare, and beautiful, and the general 
 character of the design has been considered monumental rather than palatial ; an idea 
 encouraged and strengthened by the tall pillar that rises above it, like the commemorative 
 columns of earlier times. A court of justice formerly sat within the Loggia, but the hall 
 has been recently applied to less noble purposes— it is the cabinet of a lottery office. 
 
1^ 
 
 M 
 
 s 
 
 .V '^ 
 
LAKE COMO. 
 
 37 
 
 LAKE COMO, 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " I love to sail along the Larian lake 
 Under the shore — though not to visit Pliny, 
 To catch him musing in his plane-tree walk. 
 Or fishing, as he might be, from his window." RocEas. 
 
 CoMO, the Larian Lake, retains its ancient character and dimensions, and, partially, 
 even its classic name. It is so irregular in form, consisting of three totally distinct 
 branches, that, in completing the voyage of its whole length, about 50 miles, the 
 intersection of these arms must be passed and revisited. The average breadth, about 
 three miles, is disproportioned to the length, but the tripartite character of the whole 
 area corrects this defect, and converts it into a peculiar beauty, such a width being 
 amply suflBcient for each natural division. At the northern extremity is the pass of the 
 Splugen, down which, through the Val San Giacomo, fall those waters that supply 
 the uppermost part of the Larian, and which are distinguished by the name of Lago di 
 * Chiavenna, or di Itiva, from " a pestiferous spot of this name, on the margin of Lake 
 Como, were the scenery is beautiful, but the atmosphere malignant. The maVaria 
 issues in such abundance from the marshy soil, that to sleep a night here is the certainty 
 of a dangerous fever." The same noxious quality of climate exists at the embouchure 
 of the Adda, where a military structure was raised, in the year 1604, by the Marquis 
 de Fuentes ; but the mal'aria, from the deadly marshes that surround it, has always 
 constituted its best defence. The traveller who approaches Lake Como by the pass of 
 the Splugen, should step from his carriage into his boat at Riva, and descend the 
 Lake ; delay here may be dangerous ; and the shallows, in this division of the waters, 
 prevent the ascent of the steam-boats above Gravedona, which is directly opposite to 
 the spot where the stream of the Adda issues from the Val Teline. The shores are 
 everywhere indented with creeks and harbours, the surface subject to frequent and 
 sudden agitation, and the depth of the waters very unequal. From the Lago di 
 Chiavenna, and at Bellaggio point, the lake extends, in a direction S.W. to Como, 
 where it is called B%o di Como ; and S.E. to Lecco, where it assumes the name of that 
 town. In the former branch the inconstancy of the waters is remarkable: pent up at 
 Como, they endeavour to return towards Bellaggio, in which effort they are frequently 
 interrupted by the eddying winds that sweep down the mountains' breasts ; and so sudden 
 is the transition from a calm to a tempest, that, before the introduction of steam-boats, 
 the navigation of Lake Como, properly so called, was perilous in the ex.reme. More 
 
 K 
 
38 THE EHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 confidence may be reposed in the tranquil aspect of Lago di Lecco, for there, as if con- 
 tent with the near approach of hberty, through the expanding channel of the Adda, the 
 waters remain continually at rest 
 
 Along the margin of the lake, towns, villages, villas, vineyards, and orchards are 
 continued with little interruption ; above which, a belt of chestnut groves marks the limit 
 of fertility on the mountains, the higher regions either giving support to forests of pine, 
 — being totally denuded, — or partly covered with perpetual snow. The whole of this 
 grand panorama, consisting of three sunny lakes, overhung by stupendous mountains, 
 at whose feet sleep so many of the happiest-looking retreats in the fairest of countries, 
 is taken in at a single glance from the point of Bellaggio.* This is the attractive spot, 
 this the principal station, on which the passing visiter should take up his position, and 
 gaze on the unrivalled beauties of Como. This view possesses all the comprehensiveness, 
 without any of the distortion, that belongs to a bird's-eye prospect. "There is nothing," 
 says the author of the Diary of an Invalid, " in the Lago Maggiore, nor perhaps in any 
 other lake, that can be put in competition with the view from this point of the Lake of 
 Como." Bellaggio is also still believed to be the site of Pliny's Villa, quaintly called 
 Comcedui, his Tragcedia being somewhere near to Lenno, where the severe character 
 of the rocks affords a clue to the description, "shod it like a buskiii;" while Comcedia, 
 which just touched the shore, " wore only sandals." Here now is the exquisite Villa of 
 Count Melzi, by whose taste, genius, and wealth it was embellished so as to be equal to 
 any in Europe. Here also are extensive and beautiful gardens, a collection of choice 
 paintings, besides groups of statuary, amongst which " Dante led by Beatrice" is oi 
 exquisite symmetry. 
 
 It appears to have formed a prominent part in every accomplished visiter's occu- 
 pation at Como, to ascertain the precise spot on which Pliny's Villa stood, and 
 Capuana, from a mosaic pavement found there, has been included in the conjectural 
 examination. Another circumstantial proof of identity between the site of the modern 
 village, and that of the Plinian Villa, is the proximity of II Fiume di Latte, so called 
 from the milky colour of its foam. Bursting from the mouth of a cavern in the moun- 
 tain's front, it falls with impetuosity down a declivity of nearly a thousand feet, into a 
 rocky basin. Its appearance, however, is but semi-annual, and its duration only from 
 March to September. The only explanation of its peculiarity is, that the cavern com- 
 municates, for a great length, with the icy summit of the mountains, and, during the 
 melting of the snow, acts as a conduit by which the waters are carried down with 
 rapidity to the valley. 
 
 II Fiume di Latte retains but an imperfect conformity with the description of the 
 intermittent spring given by Pliny; its total disappearance would uadicate that it has 
 
 • " This delightful spot, now covered with villas and cottages, was, during the anarchical contests of the 
 middle ages, not unfrequently converted into a receptacle of robbers, outlaws, and banditti, who infested the 
 borders of the lake during the night, and in the day-time concealed themselves amid those thickets, caverns, and 
 fastnesses ; indeed, when neglected, and abandoned to nature, it must have resembled the fictitious haunts of 
 Apuleius's robbers." — Classical Tour, 
 
LAKE COUO. 39 
 
 either changed its character, or is a completely different phenomenon from that described 
 by the naturalist Local tradition, and the investigations of classical writers, conducted 
 with unparralleled industry and enthusiasm, combine in surrendering to the Spring at the 
 Plima7ia, the honour of being that fountain which was observed by the elder Pliny, and 
 described by the younger. In a court-yard behind the present palace of Phniana, the 
 celebrated fountain is seen, still retaining all the properties which the philosopher gave it, 
 and his description is written, in legible characters, in the principal halL The ebb and 
 flow are tolerably regular — in fair weather thrice a-day, but in stormy seasons its motions 
 are considerably affected. These interesting phenomena, which are most probably the 
 same that are described by PUny, are beUeved to be caused by the agency of a tube, or 
 siphon, formed by nature, and passing through the clay and the rock. Other localities, 
 such as the exquisite vicinity of Lenno, where a subterraneous temple, with a statue of 
 Diana, was discovered, are admitted to possess no contemptible claims to the honour 
 of being Plinian, but, as the decision partly rests upon the selection of the most delight- 
 ful site upon the margin of Como, amongst so many beauties, time will be required to 
 make an unexceptionable, which may, perhaps, also be an invidious, choice. 
 
 Few who visit the scenery of Lake Como, will pass away without inquiring for the 
 Villa D'Este, during three years the residence of the unhappy CaroUne of Brunswick, 
 Princess of Wales, and, for a brief period, Queen of England. The neglect which 
 she had experienced from her royal husband, and the prejudice which his favourites 
 had created against her in England, induced her, indiscreetly, to quit that country, 
 and to live in exile from her kingdom. Here she exercised a boundless charity, 
 and her munificence in the execution of useful public works, is attested by the 
 inscription on a marble tablet, informing the traveller that, the first road ever opened 
 on the banks of Lake Como, owed its origin and completion to the liberality of Queen 
 Caroline of England. When the Milan Commission, a plot that reflects dishonour upon 
 the English name, was instituted, and the palace of Villa d'Este was encircled by spies, 
 the Princess abandoned her favourite home, strictly commanding her Hungarian guards 
 not to permit an English visiter to enter. In the drawing-room, as well as in the theatre 
 which she built, her cipher may still be seen. General Pino preceded the Princess in 
 the occupation of the Villa d'Este, and having, in his earlier years, besieged and taken 
 Tarragona, in order to perpetuate his military fame he caused the walls of the Villa to 
 be battlemented, and rendered • sowewhat similar to those of the city, which had been 
 captured by his gallantry. 
 
40 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE, 
 
 THE LANTERN OF DIOGENES ; OR, CHORAGIC MONUMENT OF 
 
 LYSICRATES. 
 
 ATHENS. 
 
 " Cold as the crags upon his native coast, 
 His mind as barren and his heart as hard. 
 Is he whose head conceived, whose hand prepared, 
 Aught to displace Athena's poor remains." Bybon. 
 
 An avenue that originates at the Odeum, and skirts the eastern base of the Acropolis, is 
 still distinguished by the name of the " Street of Tripods." This epithet was derived 
 from a series of tripodal temples with which it was anciently adorned, on both sides, 
 of which, however, one alone survives the ravages of time, and the mischievous propensities 
 of travellers. The Choragic monument of Lysicrates, which occupies the centre of the 
 illustration, is now vulgarly designated by French geographers the Lantern of Diogenes, 
 by others the Lantern of Demosthenes. It is an exquisite little structure, of a 
 circular form, adorned with six fluted Corinthian pillars, of white marble, and graceful 
 proportions, sustaining an enriched frieze and cupola. The ornaments and bas reliefs of 
 the frieze, which represented Bacchus punishing the Tyrrhenian pirates, were, in the 
 year 1836, very wantonly destroyed by some English visiters, in their attempts to detach 
 them, an object both foolish and disgraceful. Through the zeal of Lord Elgin, however, 
 the designs had been preserved in casts, which he caused to be made from them, and 
 which are now deposited in the British Museum. 
 
 The obscurity of the situation, the vast accumulation of ruins and of rubbish, which 
 totally concealed the lower half of this beautiful little temple, led visiters to suppose that 
 it was probably buried for ever : but the recovery of Grecian liberty has been attended 
 with the renovation of ancient Athens, and the removal of the broken walls of an adjoining 
 convent which overshadowed this locality, has revealed the Lantern of Diogenes to our 
 admiration. It was from the old Franciscan convent, which so long screened from view 
 this unique and beautiful monument, that Lord Byron dated many of his Athenian letters. 
 On the architraves of the Choragic testimonials, generally, were graven the names of the 
 victors in each successful dramatic exhibition, as well as that of the archon or chief magis- 
 trate of the period ; and, while these temples existed, the history of the Athenian drama 
 possessed an indisputable verification of every fact which it asserts. " On their summits* 
 stood the tripods, that had been dedicated to Bacchus, the patron deity of the Athenian 
 drama, by those persons who had defrayed the expense of a chorus to which a prize had been 
 adjudged in the neighbouring theatre, for the poetic and musical excellence of the drama 
 to which it belonged."! The design of the only remaining Choragic monument at Athens, 
 
 • This is extremely doubtful, it would rather appear that the tripod was preserved within the temple. 
 
 t Wordsworth's Greece. 
 
I 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 
THE LANTERN OF DIOGENES. 41 
 
 has been borrowed by British architects; and we find the roof, beautifully carved into 
 laurel leaves, elevated to the summit of many a temple of Christianity — in some 
 instances defrauded of its fair proportions ; but in one, " the cupola of St. Philip's 
 church, in Regent-street, London, accurately copied, and eminently beautiful." 
 
 Choragi, to whom such monuments were dedicated, and perhaps by whom also they 
 were erected, were persons chosen by the Athenian citizens to preside at, and to defray 
 the cost of, the singers, dancers, and musicians employed to celebrate the Dionysia, or 
 festivals of Bacchus. On these occasions tragedies and comedies were exhibited in the 
 theatre, and hymns in honour of Bacchus, accompanied by the flute, chanted in the Odeum. 
 All the extravagant magnificence of the festival was at the expense of the Choragus. 
 One of the ten tribes having chosen a Choragus, who must have attained the age of forty 
 years, entrusted to his care and superintendence the preparation, instruction, and 
 support of the musicians during the period of rehearsal, and during every other part of 
 the details. On the festival day he appeared in a magnificent costume, and with a 
 gilt crown on his head, attended by his tribe, and by the most enthusiastic of his 
 retainers. 
 
 Consecrated by religion, the functions of a Choragus were still farther ennobled by 
 the example of Aristeides, Epaminondas, and the most illustrious characters of ancient 
 Greece, who deemed it an honour to discharge them: so vast, however, was the cost of 
 this gorgeous pageant, that many men declined the adoption of such a precarious path to 
 the first oflice of the magistracy, by which a tribe was sometimes left without a conduc- 
 tor, in which case the State, not unfrequently, defrayed the expense. Violent contentions, 
 attended by corruption and intrigue, were the means sometimes employed by the 
 Choragi, and their adherents, to win the prize, which was generally a tripod : and men 
 the most eminent for their virtues were appointed to be the judges. During the celebra- 
 tion of the festival, the persons of the Choragi, and of the actors, were declared to be 
 sacred and inviolable. If the victory were attended with glory, it was also accompanied 
 with still further expenditure — liberal disbursements amongst the people, and the erec- 
 tion of a Choragic temple in which the dedicated tripod was to be deposited. To these 
 monuments the decendants of each Choragus appealed, with feelings of ostentation and 
 pride, as an indisputable testimony of the wealth ar.d the virtues of their ancestor, and 
 of the eminent distinction which he had acquired amongst the most honoured of the 
 
 citizens of Athens. 
 
 h 
 
42 THE nHINE, ITALY, AND GREr.CE. 
 
 B 11 A U B A C H. 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " Above, the frequent feudal towers 
 Through green leaves lift their walls of gray. 
 And many a rock which steeply lowers. 
 And noble arch in proud decay. 
 Look o'er this vale of vintage bowers." Byron 
 
 EvER-beautiful Braubach, though now but a lowly village, must, at one period, have 
 tenjoyed much greater eminence. Around, on all sides, traces of building are discover- 
 able ; and wherever the husbandman turns up the soil, he meets indications of a more 
 extensive occupation than the visiter of to-day could possibly imagine. In the eleventh 
 century this place was an appanage of the German empire, and, at a later period, 
 became the refuge of Henry IV. from the unnatural persecution of his ferocious son. 
 From the power of the Counts of Arnstein it passed to the Pfalsgrafs of the Rhine; and, 
 having again changed masters, now acknowledges the family of Nassau as its lords. 
 
 Above the village a bold and conical rock rises, in the Rhenish manner, to a lofty 
 elevation, having on its summit the strong and very ancient castle of Marksburg. The 
 precise date of its erection is unknown, but its foundation, or, what is more provable, its 
 re-edification, has been attributed to the Landgrave John, surnamed the Valiant ; by 
 whom it was dedicated to St. Mark the Evangelist. The situation of the little town, at 
 the foot of a towering, castle-crowned rock, is peculiarly romantic; and the vale, which 
 runs up from the Rhine, between the hills, singularly picturesque. The old chateau of 
 Philipsburg, which is close to the village, and on the water's edge, has be^n converted 
 into an inn. The castle, however, constitutes the chief attraction of the vicinity; its 
 position is one of much sublimity, its walls and apartments perfect, and it is now the 
 sole survivor, in all its fair proportions, of the numerous Rhenish castles. Once the 
 feudal home of Louis the Seventh, it has passed into the more ignoble character of a 
 prison for state criminals, and is garrisoned by a corps of invalids. — See Marksburg. 
 
• '^i^/^l^t7.1'r 
 
 ^^///ar/. /w z^- ^■^/^///f'. 
 
 iKBOW » ?AIU3 
 
t 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 1 
 
ATHENS FROM MOUNT HYMETl'US. 43 
 
 ATHENS, FROM MOUNT HYMETTUS. 
 
 " There flowery hill Hymettus, with the sound 
 Of bees', industrious murmur, oft invites 
 To studious musing ; there Dissus rolls 
 ^ His whispering stream." Milton. 
 
 Although the whole mountain-chain that extends to Sunium, and there subsides in the 
 sea, is not unfrequently called Hymettian, yet the name more correctly belongs to that 
 insulated hill that rises so conspicuously from the plain of Athens, and whose highest 
 point commands the noblest panorama in ancient Greece. Seen from Athens, Hymettus 
 presents a tame and regular outline, but, on a nearer examination its eastern and western 
 extremities will be found abrupt, precipitous, and rocky ; its sides everywhere furrowed 
 by rapid mountain torrents ; and numerous detached hills, comparatively diminished, 
 surround its base, bearing on their summits some remnants of occupation, or of defensive 
 military architecture. Towards the mountain's base occurs the green turf celebrated 
 by the poets, but vegetation gradually disappears as the summit is approached, until 
 at length total sterility and denudation alone occur. 
 
 The heathens dedicated the glorious site of the sunny Hymettus to the worship of 
 various deities ; those who flourished in subsequent ages have raised around its fertile and 
 fragrant pedestal, temples to the true God, such are the monastery of Saint John the Hun- 
 ter, Asomatos, and those of Sergiani and Kareas. The last of these is not deserted, two 
 monks continumg to reside there, and to extend, to the visiter of the Hymettian country, 
 those hospitalities, for which ancient Greece has been celebrated. Situated in a secluded 
 glen, this little hospitium and sanctuary are unperceived by the approaching traveller, 
 until he passes the range of hills encircling the great mountain, when suddenly a scene 
 of surpassing loveliness is presented. The recess of a deep glen, a profound solitude, 
 a spot deeply sequestered, overhung by rugged rocks, whose savage character is softened 
 by groups of olives and pines that spring up luxuriantly in their openings, is dedicated to 
 the religious retirement of a sacred fraternity, and the occasional repose of the traveller. 
 Here, an English tourist, a few years since, found two French ladies, with their children, 
 comfortably lodged, having fled from Alexandria and the plague, to this refuge of the house- 
 less. Above the convent is a quarry of grey marble, formerly worked to a great depth, and 
 yielding a valuable trade to its proprietors, for, numerous majestic columns of this stone 
 are still to be seen in Rome, where it appears to have been held in the highest estima- 
 tion. Large blocks, and the shafts of stately pillars, lie scattered around the entrance of 
 the hollow; and, from their time-worn appearance, ages must have rolled away since the 
 sound of the mallet and chisel reverberated within these vast excavations. The Pentelic 
 marble seems to have superseded that of Kareas, which is interspersed with green mica. 
 
44 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The venerable tenants of the convent are employed, and chiefly support themselves 
 by preparing oil and honey, both of which are allowed to possess superior qualities. 
 Ancient writers have celebrated the praises of the honey and the flowers of Hymettus* 
 while moderns laud its gum and its thyme. The excellence of these productions continues 
 undiminished, and may reasonably be attributed to the variety and abundance of 
 sweet-scented herbs that spring up amongst the rocks, and scatter their fragrance 
 around. The honey of Attica is universally superior in quality, but that of Hymettus 
 has always enjoyed a higher degree of estimation even in Greece ; the monks almost 
 sustain themselves by collecting it, and it is asserted that the best is obtained at 
 the convents of Sergiani and Kareas. Honey is much used by the Greeks generally, 
 that of Hymettus is said to possess inebriating properties, nearly as intoxicating as 
 those of opium; it is an ingredient in all Athenian cookery ; and an opinion has existed 
 from time immemorial, that it confers longevity upon its consumers. Whatever reality 
 or plausibility the last assertion may include, this of Dr. Chandler "that flies will never 
 settle upon the honey of Hymettus on account of its thymy odour," is totally incorrect, 
 for millions of these troublesome insects "with powerless wings around them," expire in 
 its sweets in each revolving year. The story, however, is an old one, related by Pliny 
 as applicable to the honey produced on Mount Carina in Crete ; and is only one, of one 
 hundred, narrated of the honey and the bees of Hymettus. Another traveller declares that 
 the bees were formidably numerous, and stung him repeatedly, angry that he should 
 have invaded their ancient solitary kingdom; while the Romaic name, which signifies the 
 Mad Mountain (TptWo fiovyo), and the corresponding Italian name of Monte Matto, have 
 probably some reference to the violence of the busy community. 
 
 The view from the summit of Hymettus is amongst the most attractive objects to 
 the visiter at Athens. Leaving the city through the Arch of Adrian, and passing to the 
 southward of Mount Anchesmos, a good bridle-road across the plain conducts to the 
 monastery of Sergiani, at the base of the mountain, about five miles from Athens. Here, 
 amidst the olive-clothed rocks that encircle the convent, with its chapel and gardens, 
 the famous Ilissus has its source. This clear and copious spring, enclosed by the 
 most verdant turf, interspersed with hyacinths and crocuses, was formerly dedicated to 
 Venus, and was placed under the tutelage of a fountain nymph. To this both maids and 
 matrons repaired, on the day peculiarly devoted to the goddess, and quaffed abundantly 
 of the waters, in consequence of the supposed alleviation of suffering, which they occa- 
 sioned to the sex, in the most eventful periods of their lives. And this is the fountain 
 too, so famed in story, near to whose running waters, Cephalus slew his too fond and 
 faithful Precis. 
 
 From this classic spot the way lies through thickets of aromatic" shrubs and plants, 
 affording the most delicious nourishment to the industrious bees, and imparting a peculiar 
 flavour to their honey. Besides the productions already mentioned, the lentiscus, 
 oleander, terebinth, cistus, juniper, sage, and squills grow here in great luxuriance, 
 
 • Vide Pliny's Nat. Hist., Theophrastus, Julius Pollux, &c. 
 
ATHENS FROM MOUNT HYMETTUS. 45 
 
 until the arid and burning rocks, near to the summit, deny further support to vitality 
 iu any form or degree. 
 
 On mount Hymettus, that bright classic ground, 
 Glowing with Natiu-e's varied tints around. 
 Is a sequestered spot, a calm retreat 
 For peace and heaven-bom contemplation meet. 
 Near to its purple heights a fountain flows. 
 Whose sacred waters break the deep repose 
 With murmuring music ; here no lofty trees 
 Frowning in forest gloom, obstruct the breeze, 
 But the arbutus, and sweet rosemary, 
 The varnished laurel, type of victory, 
 And the dark myrtle, with its blossom fair. 
 Cover the ground, and scent the balmy air. 
 Nor is there wanting to this peaceful scene 
 The foliage of the box-tree ever green. 
 The tender tamarisk, laburnum fine. 
 And of the graceful and majestic pine ; 
 While the soft turf, with smiling verdure drest. 
 Invites the weary traveller to rest.* 
 
 The panoramic view, from the summit, is the most interesting in the world to the 
 man of letters, the most extensive and beautiful in southern Europe, considered merely 
 as a grand display of natural objects. Every remarkable place in Attica, celebrated in 
 the military or literary history of that ancient country, is presented to the eye. Six 
 of the Attic territories lie spread out as on a map, besides all those islands, and bays, 
 and promontories, associated with the recollections of our youth, and the history of the 
 most refined nation that ever existed. The placid and lucid atmosphere admitting of 
 distinct vision to a distance of nearly one hundred miles, the isle of Chios is often 
 enumerated amongst the hallowed lands distinguished from this lofty station. Nearer 
 are seen the gulf of Salamis, the isthmus of Corinth, with its Acrocorinthus, and, lastly, 
 at the distance of six miles, the immortal city, over which the Acropolis, with its venerable 
 temples, rises in great majesty, a noble monument of Grecian refinement It will not 
 occasion the least fatigue, in a sky so clear, to trace the wanderings of the little 
 Cephissus through the Athenian plain, which imagination will rapidly people with the 
 shades of the philosophers and their disciples — to watch the winding course of the 
 Ilissus — mark the sacred way that led to Eleusis — and view the triple harbour of the 
 Piraeus, where no vestiges of the great double wall survive to enable after ages to 
 measure the magnitude of the mischief, which Lysander, vindictively, inflicted upon the 
 Athenians 
 
 • Translated from Ovid, by M. A. F. 
 
46 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE SCALA REGIA, IN THE VATICAN. 
 
 ROME. 
 
 " The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw 
 Angels ascending and descending." Milton, 
 
 This interminable flight of marble steps is now ascended with very different sensations 
 from those that must necessarily have affected the visitor of the Vatican at the period 
 of papal supremacy. While every nation of Europe smiled obsequiously in the presence 
 of Rome's legate, and even haughty Gaul 
 
 " Confessed 'twas time the lily should bow down 
 Her head, obedient to the triple crown." 
 
 when the fiery bigotry by which monkish power was accompanied, prepared torture and 
 death for those who paid a hesitating allegiance to their usurpation. With less troubled 
 feelings, in these days of knowledge and a purer creed, may the splendid halls, and 
 corridors, and chapels, and treasuries of that palace, where thunderbolts, more terrible 
 than those of Jove himself, were forged and fulminated, be visited, and their countless 
 wonders dwelt on. 
 
 There are in the Vatican two hundred minor staircases, seven or eight grand or 
 principal, one of which, the noblest in the world, is called the Scala Regia ; it consists of 
 four flights of marble steps, adorned with a double row of marble Ionic colunms ; it springs 
 or originates from the Portico of the Basilica, at the equestrian statue of Constantine, 
 and terminates in the Scala Regia,* the vestibule of the Paoline and Sixtine chapels. 
 From whatever point it is viewed, whether from the end of the Portico, or the gallery 
 communicating with the colonade, it presents a perspective of singular magnificence 
 and beauty. Of all Bernini's celebrated works, the Scala Regia is allowed to be the 
 cleverest and the most magical. This eminent artist was not alone, or unaided, in the 
 structure or decorations of the Vatican ; the greatest architects whom Rome produced 
 during many successive years, were employed in some part or other of this ostentatious 
 but exquisite palace ; amongst these were Bramante, Raffaello, San Gallo, Pirro Ligorio, 
 Fontana, and Carlo Maderno. The talents of these eminent men have been exercised 
 in the extension of the building, or decorations of some of the eleven thousand apart- 
 ments, which the Vatican is supposed to contain. Wonder may well be withheld at the 
 necessity for so numerous a list of architects, when it is stated that, the site of the 
 building occupies an area of 1,200 feet in length, by 1,000 in breadth. The galleries 
 sweep round and penetrate the centre of the building in all directions, and are always 
 
 • Vide page 31. 
 
^-^ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 5=^ 
 

 ■^ 
 ■^ 
 
 1 
 
BACHARACH, ON THE RHINE. 47 
 
 and everywhere easy of access. The saloons are on a scale of the greatest magnificence 
 and grandest proportions, possessing uniformly a loftiness that never fails to give a 
 majestic character to every apartment It has been judged improper to place here 
 furniture of more than ordinary costliness — as likely to interfere with the effect of 
 the inimitable works with which the palace is so richly stored; so that the Vatican is 
 now a temple of art, the most interesting and most magnificent in the world, consecrated 
 in an especial degree to the genius of Raffaello and of Michael Angelo. 
 
 BACHARACH, ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " But thou exulting and abounding river I 
 Making thy waves a blessing as they flow, 
 Through banks whose beauty would endure for ever, 
 Could man but leave thy bright creation so, 
 Nor its fair promise from the surface mow, 
 With the sharp scythe of conflict." Bybon. 
 
 The Rhine at Bacharach, bounded by mountain shores, presents one of those delusive 
 lakes — one of those spacious plains, where the angry current is appeased, or the 
 exhausted one obliged to rest. The gentle but continuous rolling of the waves towards 
 the banks, seems the prelude of a resolute rising of the waters, such as actually to 
 menace the security of the town on the shore — feelings that rather acquire additional 
 gloom from the sombre character of the scenery around, and the suddenness of the 
 transition from a rapid stream and sunny hills, to a deep, dark lake, and frowning cliffs. 
 Between Bacharach and Oberwesel, the endless variety and matchless beauty of the 
 voyage, produce a train of thought that leaves a never-fading impression; and it is 
 uniformly acknowledged that, if the voyager's pleasure were to be restricted to a limited 
 portion of this " king of rivers," he would unhesitatingly say of this enchanting passage, 
 "here then shall be my choice." The navigation of the river near to Bacharach, is 
 hazardous in tempestuous weather, owing to the proximity of a species of Rhenish 
 Charybdis, called ^^Das wilde Gefdhrt" by endeavouring to escape which, vessels have 
 frequently been driven against the rocky shore. But the power of steam proves superior 
 to the most violent efforts of the eddy, and navigators may now pass heedlessly by this 
 former object of their terror. 
 
 The town of Bacharach presents an ancient, sombre, picturesque aspect, standing 
 close to the margin of a gloomy lake, and beneath the shadow of rude, rocky, impending 
 mountains ; its hoary walls, strengthened and defended by twelve massive towers, seem 
 ascending a steep hill, towards the gray ruins of Stahleck Castle, with which they were 
 once united. An union which carries back the memory to the extinction of feudalism, 
 and the first connection between baronial and municipal privileges. Before that age 
 
48 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 the feudal towers stood alone, and the people enjoyed as much protection, in life, (pro- 
 perty they had none) as the lord of the land vouchsafed to aflford ; a quantity measured, 
 most likely, by the character of their obsequiousness. But now successful emancipation 
 had been obtained ; the privileges of citizenship were acknowledged ; the government 
 was henceforth to be of a more mixed form, and the baron asked permission to become 
 a party to the political compact The same mural fences, therefore, that secured the 
 citizen, extended also to the proud palace of the prince. The time-shattered walls of 
 Stahleck Castle crown the lofty rock that rises so precipitously above the town, and 
 indicate either the great power of its former lords, or the perpetual apprehension in 
 which they lived. When first this fortress was erected cannot now be ascertained from 
 the records that survive. The Roman Druses built fifty forts along the river's banks, 
 to curb the headstrong Allemanni, and control the passage of the river ; it is more 
 than probable that the rock of Stahleck was one of the chosen sites, and there is a 
 tradition that the Huns strengthened the Roman works, and garrisoned the fort. This, 
 however, is one of the oldest settlements on the Rhine and of the Palatinate ; but, from 
 the period at which it was annexed to that dominion, and its evacuation by the Romans, 
 it has scarcely any history. In the year 1190, the Electors Palatine caused the old fort 
 to be enlarged, and converted into a royal residence ; and from the toll collected here, 
 the revenues of their dominions were much augmented. From the princes palatine of 
 the Middle Rhine, the royal line of Prussia is descended, and this venerable, romantic- 
 looking old castle, with the town below, are now the property of the princess-royal of 
 that kingdom. 
 
 On a gentle eminence, that rises between the town and Stahleck Castle, stand the 
 remains of Werner's chapel, one of the most exquisite specimens of the Ught lancet 
 style of architecture in Europe. Its fairy form, raised upon a rocky pedestal, which 
 the town just conceals, seems suspended in air, and the grace and elegance of its 
 proportions, as well as the perfection of its execution, fully sanction the reputation 
 which artists have concurred in bestowing upon this very elegant little structure. The 
 child Werner, to whose memory this chapel is dedicated, was born at Bacharach, but the 
 circumstances of his cruel death belong to the legendary history of Oberwesel. Besides 
 Werner's chapel, the antiquary will find food for his appetite in the Lutheran church at 
 this place, where the Byzantine style is most happily illustrated. The inhabitants, of the 
 town, about 2,000 in number, are employed in the culture of the vine ; and, from the 
 earliest ages, the wine of Bacharach has been celebrated. The name is also believed to be 
 characteristic of this early celebrity, being a corruption of "Bacchi ara" the altar of 
 Bacchus; a large stone in the river, opposite to the island of Worth, which still retains the 
 local name of Aelterstebi, is said to have been consecrated to Bacchus by the Romans, 
 who set up here a number of Oscilla, Bacchanalian images, as guardians of the vintage. 
 The great abundance and luxuriance of the muscadine grape in this vicinity, has always 
 afforded an ample supply of the most delicious wine ; no place, therefore, could, with 
 more propriety, have been dedicated to that joyous deity, than the locale of Bacharach. 
 It is also known that the Romans constantly dedicated rocks in the sea to different 
 
BACHAnACII, ON THE RHINE. 49 
 
 deities, and Virgil desigTiates a cluster of rocks by the term Arce. The Aelter-stein 
 is only visible when the water is low, and, as it is lowest in the dryest and hottest seasons, 
 its appearance is always indicative of a prosperous vintage. This is a very sufficient 
 explanation of the vine-dresser's hailing its emersion as a favourable omen, and 
 perhaps no insufficient reason for its having been selected as an altar to the rosy god. 
 Its surface is capable of receiving upwards of twenty persons.* 
 
 It will perhaps be universally conceded, that the monks of old were the best judges 
 of choice wines, and many will even allow that merit to those of later ages ; the 
 example of Pope Pius II., (j^neas Sylvius), therefore, will be very material in con- 
 firming the just celebrity of Bacharach wine. The illustrious pontiff had such a decided 
 penchant for the produce of this district, that he imported annually to Rome, for the 
 use of his private table, 360 gallons. If this relation be doubtful, the indisputable evi- 
 dence of history still remains: the privileges of the Nuremburg citizens had been seques- 
 tered, and the weak and wicked Emperor Wenceslaus consented to their redemption, on 
 payment of 10,000 florins, but, such was his fondness for Bacharach wine, that he com- 
 muted the pecuniary ransom for four fuders annually; — a fuder contained 860 gallons. 
 
 " What boots to me kingdom and kingly power 
 With all their curst annoyance ? 
 Much better mcseems is the rich grape's shower, 
 
 And to drink without prevoyance. 
 The Emperor Wenceslaus thus spake." Snow's Legends. 
 
 More humble individuals than those whose brows were adorned with diadems, appear 
 to have sung the praises of this peculiar wine. Amongst the ballads that survive the 
 palmy period of Rhenish records, are many similar in character to the following : 
 
 " Zu Bacharach am Rhein, zu Klingenburg am Main 
 Und Wurzburg an dem Stein, wachsen die beste Weiu." 
 
 which may be translated : 
 
 " At Baccharach on the Rhine 
 At Klingenburg on the Mayne, 
 Is grown the best wine. 
 And, WUrzJ)urg, near to Stein." 
 
 The voyager, however, is not recommended to rest on records for the confirmation 
 of this high character, but rather to adopt a practical proof; "The Pilgrims of the Rhine" 
 having employed the less erring test of taste, declared that Bacharach richly deserved 
 the honour of being named from the god of wine. 
 
 In the year 1689, Bacharach was subjected to the most wanton spoliation and ruin, 
 by Louis XIV. During the last night of the French commanders stay there, he caused 
 it to be 80 carefully and methodically plundered, that he had himself nothing but straw 
 to sleep on ; and, the next day, this bedding was employed in assisting to set fire to the 
 town, which was presently reduced to ashes. 
 
 • This famous Altar-stone is situated nearly opposite the isle of Worth, and is recorded to have been seen 
 in the years 1G54, 1695, 1719, and 1750 
 
 N 
 
50 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE FORUM, POMPEII. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Why want we these encomiums on the storm. 
 Of famine, or voknnoe ? They perform 
 Their mighty deeds ; they, hero-like, can slay. 
 And spread their ample deserts in u day." Young. 
 
 PoJirEii was shattered by an earthquake in the year of our Lord sixty-three, and some 
 antiquaries have doubted whether the injuries, then inflicted upon its architecture, were 
 restored before its final inhumation, beneath the ashes and the scoriae from Vesuvius. The 
 opinion arises from the imperfect state of the superior parts of the buildings, while the 
 basement, as well as the numerous pedestals, pillars, and decorated sarcophagi, continue 
 in the most perfect state of preservation. This appearance, this fact, may, however, be 
 attributable to the superincumbent weight of ashes and pumice-stone, which fell from a 
 great height, and pressed immediately on those parts of the various buildings, during a 
 period of nearly eighteen centuries ; a solution more simple and satisfactory than the 
 conjecture of the too learned antiquary. It has also been asserted that the awful 
 visitation, which "made this solemn bequest of time and nature to posterity," came on 
 the devoted city, while all were engaged in pursuing the pleasures and gratifications of 
 a highly-civilized state of society, — that the theatres were full, banqueting halls crowded, 
 the forum thronged with money-changers, and mirth revelling uncontrolled in every 
 quarter, — that the Pompeians knew not — followed not — the counsels of one, who might 
 have been found, had they sought him ; " Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your 
 hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so 
 that day come upon you unawares," but, pursuing a reckless path, were not " accounted 
 worthy to escape." Another account, more searching in its character, more circumstan- 
 tial in its details, speaks of utter darkness having accompanied the first recorded eruption 
 of Vesuvius. If this were so, it must have presented an insurmountable obstacle to 
 the escape of the inhabitants, and awfully augmented the number of victims. In such 
 a moment, the blind would be the most favoured, and this interesting recollection was 
 the prototype of Nydia, the blind flower-girl, in the "Last Days of Pompeii," a work of 
 fiction. That the inhabitants were surprised by the suddenness, perhaps, also, impeded 
 by the darkness of the eruption, seems more than probable ; the quantity and variety of 
 property which has been found in the buried city, sufliciently shows that there had been 
 little time allowed for preservation or removal; but the small number of skeletons 
 discovered, affords almost indisputable proof, that many had effected their escape, 
 and that the places of public resort were not crowded to excess, nor at all, when death 
 came upon the city. The spectral figure of the poor being, who was found with a purse 
 

 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 ^1 
 
 I 
 'I 
 
THE FOnUM, POMPEII. 51 
 
 of gold in his hand, proves rather that one, who had probably returned for his treasures, 
 failed to escape with them, than that all perished similarly. The conclusion, that vast 
 numbers were suffocated in Pompeii, from this single example, is as fallacious, as that 
 window-glass was in general use in that devoted city, from the discovery of one glazed 
 window, — all others being unglazed. 
 
 The extent, grandeur, and splendid architectural remains of the Forum, have excited 
 the surprise of the visitor, and those from western Europe feel at a loss to account for 
 the necessity, or value, of so spacious an area for the reception of the merchants of so 
 small a city. This fact, however, presents a difficulty which is capable of removal. It 
 was the habit of the Romans, it is still so of both Italians and French, to pass the 
 greater portion of their lives in the open air, either in public gardens, open theatres, 
 temples, arcades, piazzas, caffes, and occasionally the exchange — Forum. The private life, 
 the domestic circle, the happiness of a home, belong to western Europe, to the inhabitants 
 of colder climes than Italy, perhaps more particularly to Britain. To a people possessing 
 such customs, the spacious Forum was indispensable to their enjoyments, and the splendid 
 relics of that at Pompeii, which have been exposed by excavation, are neither too 
 magnificent or widely spread, in proportion to its destined purposes. Here the great 
 men of the colony passed their political lives, and here their genius and eloquence have 
 been commemorated by statues of marble or bronze, the pedestals of which are profusely 
 covered with honorary inscriptions. The statues of Sallust, Scaurus, Rufus, Pansa, 
 Gellianus, and other eminent colonists, occupied and adorned the centre of the area of 
 the Forum Civile, and the pedestals on which they stood, still remain. 
 
 This part of the exhumed city has, unhappily, been subjected to the same Gothic 
 frenzy which has spoliated the temples and villas of everything moveable, to enrich 
 the Museo Borbonico ;* and, although the massive blocks of numerous stately columns, 
 besides very many inscribed tablets, have been permitted to occupy the position in 
 which they were found, the very pavement has been torn up, and carried away, either 
 for a different use elsewhere, or as a relic of the ruined city. So large a space as that 
 occupied by the Forum could not have been cleared by private liberality or zeal ; and, 
 while to the reigning family of Naples history is indebted for much of the excavation 
 at Pompeii, it is but justice to the memory of Murat, to state, that he not unfrequently 
 employed an entire legion in removing the ashes that filled up the Forum Civile. 
 
 • " This collection illustrates Solomon's apophthegm, 'that there is nothing new under the sun.' There is 
 
 much, that, with a little scouring, would scarcely appear old-fashioned at the present day." Diary of an Jnvaliil. 
 
52 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE THEATRE AT POMPEII. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " And here the buzz of eager nations ran, 
 In murmur'd pity, or loud-roar'd applause. 
 As man was slaughtered by his fellow-man. 
 And wherefore slaughter 'd? wherefore, but because 
 Such were the bloody Circus' genial laws." Bvkon. 
 
 No part of the ruins of Pompeii exhibits, in a more perfect manner, the pleasure-loving 
 lives which the inhabitants of this ill-fated city must have led, than the immediate locale 
 of its theatres. The square of the theatres retains such distinct traces of original beauty, 
 that it is visited with less solemn feelings than any other relique in this city of the dead. 
 Two theatres stand close by each other, and near to these a spacious amphitheatre, 
 while long porticos, of the fairest proportions, and the most exquisite workmanship — 
 the ruins of a beautiful Grecian temple, and other remains equally interesting, — eon- 
 tribute to the present attraction, as they must have done to the former grace and elegance, 
 of the civic scene. The great theatre was erected under the reign of Augustus, at 
 the private expense of Marcus Helconius Rufus, and Celer. Such munificence was 
 not unusual, for the institutions of the Romans were feudal in their principles, and 
 ostentation was a powerful motive of action amongst the noble and the wealthy. The 
 public benefactors who erected the greater theatre here, did not forget to record their 
 liberality in an inscription, which has survived for nearly 2,000 years. They have 
 assuredly had their reward. The plan and arrangements of a Roman theatre, since the 
 excavations of Pompeii have resolved the question, no longer continue the mere conjec- 
 ture of learned artists or classic enthusiasts, but are palpable to the eye and the under- 
 standing, portraying, but too plainly, the infamous and sanguinary character of the Roman 
 nation, even in what is termed the Augustan age. The front seats were occupied by the 
 decurions, by priests of various temples, and other privileged persons. The second range 
 of seats was appropriated to the citizens, soldiers, and public functionaries of inferior 
 rank. While the populace and tlie women were placed on the third and least honourable 
 benches — a violation of politeness, which could not find a patron amongst the Romans 
 of to-day. In the larger theatre the regular drama was performed, and a ticket of 
 admission, to witness one of the tragedies of JEschylus, was found amongst the ruins, 
 from which the price is concluded to have been only a few sous. The minor theatre, 
 or odeon, is also but little injured. Here musical entertainments were held, pieces for 
 representation in the greater theatre rehearsed, and the merits of dramatic and musical 
 compositions determined by competent critics, who adjudged a tripod as a reward to 
 

 iJ 
 
# 
 
THE THEATRE AT POMPEII. 53 
 
 the successful competitor. The walls of both theatres are disfigured by coarse draw- 
 ings, evidently the productions of the lowest class of spectators, during the intervals of 
 the acts or pieces. 
 
 It would "be gratifying to the feelings of the modern writer, and more honourable to 
 the memory of the Romans of old, if the description of the theatres at Pompeii presented 
 nothing less immoral, or iniquitous, than the vices already noticed ; it would be happy 
 for the name of Rome, if truth could here let fall the curtain that closes their history, 
 and say the scene had ended. But the amphitheatre, one of the best preserved in 
 Europe, so completely developes the horrors of their public spectacles, that the most 
 incredulous must here acknowledge the sufficiency of the evidence against them. It is 
 calculated that 20,000 persons, a number exceeding the whole population of Pompeii, 
 could have found accommodation within its walls, which the inhabitants of the 
 surrounding country also frequently visited. Human victims were here offered to the 
 sanguinary taste of the age, slain by each other in gladiatorial combat, or torn to pieces 
 by half-famished wild beasts. The dens in which the fierce animals were confined, and 
 whence they were released, infuriated by hunger, to spring upon some miserable victim 
 destined to become their prey, if he could not conquer their rage, are still entire; and the 
 spoliarium, to which the mangled bodies of the defeated gladiators were dragged from 
 the arena, through the gate of death, unequivocally declares its horrid appropriation. In 
 the year 79, at an exhibition of gladiators, the spectators becoming familiar with 
 sanguinary scenes, were not sufiiciently satiated when the spectacle ended ; and, upon 
 some slight occasion of offence, the Pompeians rose upon the Nucerians, who had come to 
 enjoy an entertainment given by Livinejus Regulus, when a dreadful carnage took place 
 within the amphitheatre. As a punishment for this violence, Nero prohibited gladiatorial 
 exhibitions at Pompeii, for the space of ten successive years. By people addicted to 
 such barbarous pleasures, the imperial edict must have been viewed as a public calamity 
 of no ordinary degree of severity. 
 
 It has frequently been asserted, that it was during one of these infamous spectacles, 
 and while the blood-stained Pompeians were gloating over the last pangs of their dying 
 victims, that the smoke was seen to ascend from the raging Vesuvius, and the fire to 
 issue, and the wrath of the Most High to be manifested by the menaced destruction of 
 the city. If some who are distinguished for strength of mind* have not hesit-ated 
 to call the ruin of Pompeii a judgment of Heaven, in works of fiction the same 
 idea may be successfully employed to deepen the interest of an affecting scene. " That 
 moment they felt the earth shake beneath their feet : the walls of the theatre trembled : 
 and beyond, in the distance, they heard the crash of falling roofs : an instant more, and 
 the mountain-cloud seemed to roll towards them, dark and rapid, like a torrent : at the 
 
 • "If an over-ruling Providence ever deigns to manifest its displeasure through the instrumentality of such 
 destructive operations of natural causes, this catastrophe may have been a judgment on manifold transgressions 
 against the laws of nature and of nature's God I But, although it would be presumptuous in man to pronounce 
 on such awful events, it might be wisdom in him to look upon them as indications of offended justice, in times 
 when vice prevails."— »/am«» Johtuon, 
 
 O 
 
54 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 same time it cast forth from its bosom a shower of ashes mixed with vast fragments of 
 burning stone ! over the crashing ruins — over the desolate streets — over the amphi- 
 theatre itself — far and wide — with many a mighty splash in the agitated sea — fell that 
 awful shower ! 
 
 " No longer the crowd thought of justice, or of Arbaces; safety for themselves was 
 their sole thought. Each turned to fly — dashing, crushing, pushing against the other. 
 Trampling recklessly over the fallen — amidst groans, and oaths, and prayers, and sudden 
 shrieks, the enormous crowd vomited itself forth through the numerous passages of the 
 theatres. Whither should they fly ? Some, anticipating a second earthquake, hastened 
 to their homes, to load themselves with their more costly goods, and escape while it was 
 yet time : others, dreading the showers of ashes that now fell fast, torrent upon torrent, 
 over the streets, rushed under the roofs of the nearest houses, temples, or sheds — 
 shelter of any kind — for protection from the terrors of the open air. But darker, and 
 longer, and mightier, spread the cloud above them. It was a sudden and more ghastly 
 night rushing upon the realm of noon"* 
 
 BI.SSONE, LAKE LUGANO, 
 
 ITALY 
 
 -'' Wave after wave. 
 
 If such they might be called, dashed as in sport, 
 
 Not anger, with the pebbles on the beach 
 
 Making wild music, and far westward caught 
 
 The sunbeam — save where, as entranced, a skiff 
 
 Lay with its circular and dotted line 
 
 Fishing in silence." Rogsm. 
 
 The road from Como, passing through Capo Lago, skirts the eastern shore of the lonely 
 Lugano, and enters the romantic village of Bissone. Approached in this direction, the 
 view is highly picturesque : the spire and tower of the village-church rise gracefully 
 above the pale-green foliage of the walnut trees, amongst which numerous cottages are 
 irregularly scattered. Few travellers dwell upon the scenery of Bissone with all the 
 attention to which its soft beauties are entitled ; but the fault is rather that of the guides, 
 conductors, or inn-keepers, who insist upon hurrying these victims of their cupidity, 
 with a culpable speed, through the most exquisite scenery, to the ferry-house below 
 the village. Hence boats pass across to the low promontory of Melide, where there 
 are a few houses and a comfortable inn. From this agreeable spot an excellent road is 
 
 • " The Last Days of Pompeii."— Vol. iii. 247. 
 
N; 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 T 
 
^^^ 
 
 I 
 
THE PROMONTORY OF SUNIU.M. 55 
 
 continued to the town of Lugano, winding along the base of Mount Salvadore, and 
 passing close to the margin of the lake. 
 
 Many who visit the Italian lakes return without any record of the sweetly 
 sequestered village of Bissone, having paused in its vicinity only while they stepped on 
 board the ferry-boat. The passage here is much frequented, preserving the line of 
 communication between Bellinzona, Lugano, and Como. 
 
 Perhaps Northern Italy does not afford a more picturesque line of road than that 
 from Como, through Mendrisio, to Capo Lago ; particularly where it approaches the 
 latter place, descending to the water-side, and traversing the little hamlets of Melano 
 and Maroggia. Although politically within the frontier of Switzerland, the landscape 
 is as purely Italian, as the glorious climate that lights it up, and it is characterised 
 by that peculiar aspect that belongs to the beautiful and fascinating region of the 
 Italian lakes. 
 
 There is scenery on the northern shores of lake Lugano not inferior in loveliness 
 to the brightest and most beautiful on either Como or Maggiore. Tlie tourist, who 
 still pants for new beauties amid these exquisite scenes, should ascend the Val Cavargna 
 from Porlezza, then visit the shores of Lago di Piano, a miniature of Lugano, — pass 
 over the rugged summits by Gragna and Menagio, and descend to the margin of the 
 gay and sunny Como. 
 
 THE PROMONTORY OF SUNIUM. 
 
 " Place me on Sunjum's marble steep, 
 Where nothing save the waves and I 
 May hear our mutual murmurs sweep : 
 There, swan-like, let me sing and die." Bvbon. 
 
 The deep and decided impression which the solemn, solitary aspect of Sunium produces 
 upon the mind of the educated traveller, has been eloquently, and similarly, expressed 
 by two of the most interesting writers of the present century. The one has preferred 
 the philosophic language of prose, the other the smooth-flowing measures of poetry, to 
 describe sensations that are identical "I surveyed, in the distance," writes Chateaubriand, 
 " the sea of the Archipelago, with all its islands : the setting sun shed his radiance over 
 the coasts of Zea, and the fourteen beautiful columns of white marble, at whose feet I 
 was seated. The sage and the juniper diffused an aromatic fragrance around the ruins, 
 and the murmur of the waves beneath scarcely reached my ear. As the wind had 
 lulled, we were obliged to wait for a fresh breeze. Our sailors threw themselves along 
 the bottom of the boat, and fell asleep. Throwing my cloak over my head, to protect 
 myself from the dew, and reclining against a column, I alone remained awake, 
 contemplating the sea and the skies. The most beautiful sunset was succeeded by the 
 
36 rHE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 most lovely night. The firmament, reflected in the water, seemed to rest on the bottom 
 of the sea. The evening star, the faithful companion of my way, was ready to sink 
 below the horizon ; it was perceptible only from the long rays which it threw, from time 
 to time, upon the waves beneath, like the flashes of an expiring taper. A momentary 
 breeze now and then ruffled the image of the heavens on the bosom of the deep, 
 agitated the constellations, and died away with a gentle murmur among the columns 
 of the temple. 
 
 " This spectacle was, however, cheerless, when I reflected that I was contemplating 
 it amongst ruins. Around me, on the one hand, were tombs, silence, destruction, and 
 death : on the other, a few Greek sailors sleeping, without cares and without dreams, 
 upon the relics of Greece. I was going to quit, for ever, this sacred soil: my mind, 
 filled with its past greatness and its present debasement, renewed the picture by which 
 my eye had so recently been pained." 
 
 Byron was so transported with the aflFecting character of this sublime scene, so 
 beautiful by nature, so distinguished by the relics of by-gone days, so closely connected 
 with the most interesting associations of our early years, that he insensibly introduces 
 his celebrated apostrophe to Sunium, in an ode upon the aspirations of Greece after 
 liberty. 
 
 The temple of Minerva, on the promontory of Sunium, like the barbacan of a 
 fortified city — the outworks of an antient castellated realm — the vestibule or propylceum 
 of that country which might be deemed the citadel of the arts — stands out in bold 
 relief from the land, a stern, but vigilant sentinel, watching, with jealousy, over the 
 shattered monuments of a ruined kingdom. Within the rocky promontory on which 
 the temple of Minerva Sunias stands, are those mines of silver, to which the Athenians 
 owed their ability to build ships, and extend the glory of their navy. Scoria, now 
 scattered everywhere around, indicate the precise spot where the ore was smelted, and 
 the ruins of Laurion, a village inhabited by the mining population, are still perceptible. 
 The uncertainty of mining projects at all periods of history, is corroborated by the 
 reports of various authorities on the productiveness of those at Sunium. If Strabo's 
 account be true, the works of Sunium had been discontinued in his age, — Xenophon 
 asserts, that the deficiency of wine and corn in Attica, was supplied by the silver raised 
 at Sunium, amounting to upwards of one hundred talents annually, — Diodorus Siculus 
 affirms, that the working of the Attic mines had ruined the fortunes of the adventurers; 
 and, when Pausanias wrote, the history of these workings alone survived. 
 
 Sunium belonged to the tribes of Leontis and Attalis successively — was regularly 
 fortified during the Peloponnesian war — and during the Servile war, its Acropolis was 
 garrisoned by the slaves, who from thence annoyed the surrounding country. In addition 
 to the defensive works that occupied the promontory, there were also two noble temples, 
 one to Neptune, of which no trace remains ; the other to Minerva Sunias, the ruins of 
 which still survive. 
 
 These ruins are considerable, and the original structure appears to have occupied 
 nearly the entire plateau of the promontory. The order is Doric, the design an bexastyle 
 
THE PROMONTORY OF SUNIUM. 57 
 
 of columns twenty-seven feet in height, all of white marble, and exquisitely wrought. 
 On the southern side, fronting the sea, are nine columns, divested of their entablatures ; 
 three stand on the north, and, of the pronaos, a pilaster and two columns remain. It is 
 generally supposed that this beautiful structure is less ancient than the temples at 
 Corinth and .^gina ; and, from the elegance of its proportions, even more recent than 
 the Parthenon. There was a temple of Castor, in the Flaminian Circus at Rome, similar 
 in every respect to this at Sunium. A terraced wall sustained the foundation on the 
 northern side, forming an artificial level ; and, of this massive work seventeen layers may 
 be distinctly counted. Many metopae lie scattered around — noble columns have fallen 
 down the steep, some finding a projecting ledge to repose on, while others have 
 descended to the sea. The forests of Sophocles have disappeared, and are succeeded by 
 the gloomy-coloured lentiscus and juniper, whose masses of dark-green are occasionally 
 broken by the snow-white blocks of shattered columns, that have found a resting-place 
 amidst them. Situated close to the sea, and exposed to constant winds, the standing 
 columns have become corroded by saline moisture, and the flutings have lost their 
 original sharpness; but instead of the golden jtatina, that is to be seen on the Parthenon, 
 the Sunium marble retains its primitive whiteness. The same result from proximity to 
 the sea, may be noticed in the beautiful triumphal arch of Trajan, at Ancona, where the 
 freshness and polish of the stone are in better preservation than in any situation more 
 inland. 
 
 The solemn colouring of the foliage, the bright hue of the marble columns, the 
 ethereal blue of the heavens, and the constant agitation of the sea, contribute to render 
 this wind-swept promontory one of the most picturesque in all Grecian scenerj'. Nor 
 are these accessories diminished by the extreme solitude of the scene, and the air of 
 neglect, decay, and desolation that accompany it Few attempts have been made to 
 exhume its antiquities, none to restore its ancient application or value; and the discovery 
 of human skeletons amidst the ruins, by Lechevalier, has completely deterred the 
 members of the Greek church from occasioning any further disturbance of the soil. 
 
 The eloquent author of the travels of Anacharsis the Younger, thought the view of 
 Sunium one of the most impressive objects he could present to his readers, but he has 
 unhappily placed the temple in a wrong position. Falconer has given a picture of this 
 glorious promontory, the scene of his " Shipwreck," suflScient to throw a classic halo 
 around it for ever. 
 
^Q -l-HE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 HEIDELBERG, NEAR THE RHINK 
 
 " Beneath these battlements, within those walls, 
 Power dwelt amidst her passions : in proud state 
 Each robber chief upheld his armed halls. 
 Doing his evil will : nor less elate 
 Than mightier heroes of a longer date." Bybom, 
 
 The ancient, beautiful, and agreeable town of Heidelberg is seated on the left bank of 
 the Neckar, the most crystal of rivers, on a ridge of rock that occupies the whole area 
 of the haunted valley. Every circumstance connected with this spot is romantic, 
 historic, or picturesque. The scenery around is unrivalled — the brightness of the sky is 
 equalled by that of the water — and the luxuriance of the vegetation forms a remarkable 
 contrast to the decay of the fine works of art which adorn and dignify the whole. 
 About thirteen thousand souls dwell here in cheerfulness and content, deriving much 
 happiness from literary sources, the place being an established seat of learning. The 
 most gratifying view of the castle, town, and valley, is taken from the right bank of the 
 river; by which means the fine old bridge, 750 feet in length, is included in the 
 fore-ground ; and the towei's and spires are relieved against the rock, which is crowned 
 with the majestic electoral castle. In this proud palace, now so fallen from its high 
 estate, the Electors Palatine of the Rhine long held their courts; and the evidence that 
 survives, sufiiciently attests the probable splendour which accompanied their residence 
 here. But the poet's proverb, " the greatest enemy of mankind is man," has unhappily 
 been illustrated so frequently in the history of Heidelberg, that the ruined castle suggests 
 at the same instant an association of the loftiest and most humiliating ideas, such as 
 places the abyss beside elevation, and tells that " pride shall have a fall." The age of "the 
 thirty years' war " is registered in the rjiins of many Rhenish towns, but none have more 
 melancholy cause of recollection than the people of Heidelberg. In the year 1622, 
 after a bombardment of a whole month, the town was taken by the merciless Tilly, who 
 surrendered it to the rage of a licentious soldiery during three successive days. The 
 garrison looked down upon the sacking of the place, from the embattled walls of the 
 castle, and surrendered only after their leader, Herbert, a chivalrous Englishman, 
 had been shot upon the ramparts. For eleven years the Imperialists ruled rigidly over 
 the palatinate, and held Heidelberg until the Swedes expelled them with much violence. 
 The fate that followed the fortunes of Heidelberg again immersed it in hostilities. 
 Louis XIV. of France, offended with the Elector Charles Louis, wasted his territory 
 with fire and sword. The gallant Elector, unequal to cope with such a power, nobly 
 and chivalrously proposed to decide their private quarrel by a personal contest with 
 Turenne, the marshal of France ; but that great soldier politely and prudently declined 
 the invitation, and the work of destruction and of death continued. Upon the Elector's 
 
1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ~^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 9i 
 
 =\^ 
 
 
HEIDELBERG, NEAR THE RHINE. 50 
 
 decease, soon after, France claimed the sole sovereignty of Heidelberg, and enforced her 
 claims by sending another army into the electorate, headed by a monster more inhuman 
 than the ruthless Tilly. Melau executed his orders with the most infamous fidelity to 
 his master, having butchered a number of the inhabitants, and fired the town; and there 
 was still another man to be found in France, Chamilly, who did not hesitate to disgrace 
 the name and character of a soldier, by the remorseless cruelty with which he treated 
 the poor victims of this devoted town, after the siege of 1693. Through the treachery 
 of the governor, the castle, where the towns-people had taken shelter, was surrendered 
 to the French ; whether from a feeling of rage at the resistance he had met with, or a 
 natural sanguinary temperament, the vile Chamilly put all the Protestants to cruel deaths, 
 and their companions were submitted to varieties of torture. The crimes of this monster 
 were supposed to have been arrested by a waniing from Heaven, for it was just when 
 he was about to raze the castle, that "the red right arm" of lightning twice struck the 
 walls, and, falling on the powder magazine, produced an explosion that rent the most 
 massive parts of the building : this wreck of the elements so mocked the worst efforts 
 of mere man, that the tyrant desisted from further spoliation. 
 
 The shafts of lightning have left their impression on the broken walls, without 
 eflacing the ancient majesty of this vast monument to the memory of Charlemagne : the 
 ramparts still rise, huge and desolate ; and the stately ruin, with its embattled parapets, 
 high towers, and hanging gardens, frowns from its rocky height, upon the ancient city.* 
 
 " But all the impressions produced at a distance, are as nothing, when you stand 
 within its vast area, and behold the architecture of all ages blended into one mighty 
 ruin ! The rich hues of the masonry, the sweeping fa^jades — every description of 
 building which man ever framed, for war or for luxury, is here — all having only the 
 common character — ruin. The feudal rampart, the yawning fosse, the rude tower, the 
 splendid arch — the strength of a fortress, the magnificence of a palace, all united — 
 strike upon the soul like the history of a fallen empire in all itsepochs."t 
 
 No uniformity prevails in the style of the architecture ; on the contrary, the different 
 lords to whom the castle has submitted, and the ages through which it has stood, are 
 indicated by the many and various manners of building that are discoverable. Although 
 three times visited by conflagrations, and ten times wasted by conquerors, the remnants 
 that survive are the most magnificent in the Rhenish districts. The electors Rudolph 
 and Rupert are believed to have been the founders of that part of the building which 
 is wholly castellated, of a feudal appearance, and entered by an archway defended by a 
 portcullis. That part of the ruin called the Friederichsbau, was built in 1607, by the 
 elector whose name it bears, is decorated with extraordinary richness, and adorned 
 
 * "The situation of the ruins of this splendid palace is truly magnificent, commanding a wonderful prospect 
 over the beautiful valley of the Neckar. At the foot of the rock on which they stand, is the city of Heidelberg, 
 with its handsome stone bridge over the Neckar. Behind them rises, in graceful slopes, the lofty hill called the 
 Heiligenberg, covered with the richest woods. All these objects combined, form, perhaps, the finest landscape 
 in Germany." — Captain Batty. 
 
 t " The Pilgrims of the Rhine." 
 
60 THE RHINE, ITALT, AND GREECE. 
 
 with ancestral statues of electors, beginning with Charlemagne. Although superior to 
 the noblest structures elsewhere in Germany, this graceful facade is yet inferior to the 
 part of the castle which owes its origin to Otto Henry ; this, probably built in the year 
 1556, is in the cinque ceuto manner, which was contemporary with the Elizabethan, 
 but more pure, as well as more florid. 
 
 The part of the castle called the English palace was erected by the elector Frederick 
 v., afterwards king of Bohemia, for the reception of his spouse, the princess Ehzabeth, 
 daughter of James I., of England. A triumphal arch, adorned with ivy leaves, is 
 commemorative of their nuptials, and forms the entrance to a flower-garden which was 
 laid out for her gratification. This is the princess, grand-daughter of Mary, Queen of 
 Scots, of whom Mrs. Jameson thus writes, " When her husband hesitated to accept the 
 crown of Bohemia, this high-hearted wife exclaimed, « Let me rather eat dry bread at a 
 king's table, than feast at the board of an elector.' And it seemed as if some avenging 
 demon hovered in the air, to take her literally at her word, for she and her family lived 
 to eat dry bread— ay, and to beg it before they ate it : but she would be a queen." 
 
 A valuable commentary upon the vanity of earthly greatness is written in the 
 desolation that reigns amidst the ruined courts, the deserted halls, the mutilated statues, 
 and inverted columns, of this once grand and joyous palace. If aught were wanting to 
 mark the fall of regal pomp, the fine granite columns that sustain the crazy canopy of 
 the castle-well supply it. These enduring monuments of pride were formerly set up by 
 Charlemagne, at his palace of Ingleheim, whence they were removed to give additional 
 dignity to the architecture of Heidelberg. Over all these relics of departed power, 
 nature — constant, unchanging nature — still lavishes her charms ; and the beauty, 
 luxuriance, and variety of the shrubs, the tendrils of the vine appearing in newness of 
 life amidst every opening in the ruined towers and battlements, still further illustrate 
 the victory of constancy and content over restlessness and ambition. Here nature 
 triumphs, but art decays. 
 
 One solitary remnant of the hospitality and luxury of the electors, which has 
 escaped the artillery of the enemy or the wrath of heaven, is the great Tun of 
 Heidelberg, a reservoir for wine, capable of containing 800 hogsheads, or 283,200 bottles. 
 In a gloomy cellar beneatli the castle, this huge vessel slowly moulders away, having 
 long survived its utility, and the fortunes of its owners. The platform which covered 
 the top was used as a stage for dancers, during the celebration of the vintage fetes, 
 but since the year 1769, no wine has been stowed in the tun — no ceremony celebrated 
 on its huge cover. 
 
 There are very many objects of interest both in the town and its vicinity, which a 
 faithful account of Heidelberg should enumerate: — they include the fallen tower, the 
 gardens and shrubberies, the college, the convent of Neuborg, the Konigstuhl hill, and 
 the glen of the Wolfs Brunnen. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 Ni 
 
 r^ 
 
 ^ 
 
VALLEY NEAR OBERWESEL. Gl 
 
 VALLEY NEAR OBERWESEL, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " The rolling stream, the precipice's gloom, 
 The forest's growth, and Gothic walls between, 
 The wild rocks shaped as they had turrets been. 
 In mockery of man's art : and there withal 
 A race of faces happy as the scene. 
 Whose fertile bounties here extend to all. 
 Still springing o'er thy banks, though empires near thee fall." Byrom. 
 
 The suburbs and vicinity of Oberwesel abound in romantic glens, winding through 
 steep hills that form the majestic embankments of the Rhine. In these are found 
 scenes that unite the opposite characters of cheerfulness and solemnity. The forms of 
 the impending mountains are highly picturesque, their brows rude and rocky, but, on 
 their fronts hang the most luxuriant vineyards, and at their feet the brightest verdure is 
 seen, confining the clear cold rivulets, that hold on the noisy tenor of their way, until 
 the Rhine receives them, and they are at rest. In these deep solitudes, however, the 
 lasting happiness which the humbler classes enjoy, while all traces of the more elevated 
 have fallen away or become extinct, is most strikingly marked. The ancient cottage, 
 that lends a cheerful character to the valley, is still tenanted by a race, happy, humble, 
 and, perhaps, thoughtless; everything around them is, probably, unchanged during 
 centuries of time ; while the towers of Prince Schomberg are empty, flouted by the 
 breeze, and only giving back sounds as hollow as the phantom, glory, which its brave 
 owner so fatally pursued. Pride falls, power vanishes, and wealth decays, and those who 
 have had the largest share of each have also been amongst those who were most conspi- 
 cuous for the vicissitudes of their lives. If the life of the prince or potentate be compared 
 with that of the peasant, the balance of happiness will be found to remain in favour of 
 the latter. No aspirations after unprofitable power involve him in the changeful vortex 
 of state policy ; his race maintaJVis an intercourse with nature only ; and when some fierce 
 tyrant of a neighbouring kingdom shall have wasted the baron's lands, and laid his 
 castle in ruins, he seeks a market for the produce of his farm, from those who come to 
 look upon the spot where such things were. Like the trees on their mountains, or the 
 crystal current of their rivers — like the sun's even course in the bright skies of their 
 country — the race of Rhenish peasants have continued, from time immemorial, to 
 discharge the separate duties of their creation; and, while individuals fall like the leaf, 
 or vanish as the bubble, the character and pursuits of this happy family remain 
 unchanged. The fate of the last Duke Schomberg strikingly illustrates this contrast 
 between the lives and the fortunes of the count and the cottager. Allured by ambition, 
 
 4 
 
62 
 
 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 he sought military glory upon every occasion, and in every country where such services 
 were requisite, and met death at length in the sanguinary battle of the Boyne.* The 
 race of Schomberg is now extinct, their ancient halls deserted, and the name scarce 
 known in history ; while the little glens, from which this castellated rock arises, present 
 an aspect of happiness and beauty, unequalled even along the banks of the Rhine, each 
 cottage being tenanted as in days of old. 
 
 TEMPLE OF JUPITER PANHELLENIUS. 
 
 jEGINA. 
 
 " On old iEgina's rock and Idra's isle, 
 The god of gladness sheds his parting smile , 
 O'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine, 
 Though there his altars are no more divine." Byron. 
 
 The temple at -^gina is supposed to be the most ancient in Greece after that of Corinth. 
 An idea that it was dedicated to Minerva has recently arisen amongst antiquaries, 
 but, from the high favour in which Jupiter has always been held by the ^ginetans, the 
 old hypothesis is the more probable ; and this opinion was maintained by Pausanias, 
 who ascribes the foundation of this temple to ^acus, the son of Jupiter. Mount 
 Panhellenion is one of the most picturesque objects on the Attic coast : of considerable 
 height, sudden elevation, and bold outline, it affords a clear, uninterrupted prospect over 
 the greater part of ^gina itself, the Gulf of Salamis, many islands of the Archipelago, 
 the whole extent of Attica from the promontory of Sunium to the Scironian rocks, with 
 the Acropolis and city of Athens. The grandeur and interest of this beautiful panorama 
 are much increased by the silence and solitude that reign all around. Not a human 
 habitation exists within several miles of the ruins ; and the stunted pines and humble 
 shrubs, that clothe the hill in the immediate vicinity of the temple, rather add to the 
 general character of sequestration which belongs to the scene. 
 
 To insure that permanence to which such monuments of taste, genius, and refine- 
 ment are generally entitled, the architects of ancient Greece uniformly constructed the 
 most lasting foundations. This prudent policy may be noticed in the temples of Jupiter 
 Olyrapius at Athens, and of Minerva at Sunium, but still more obviously in the base, or 
 pedestal of large polygonal stones, of which the great torus beneath the temple of iEgina 
 is constructed. Here the quality, manner, and value of this Cyclopean architecture in 
 
 • Being descended also from a noble family in England he possessed estates there, and resided at Uxbridge, 
 near London, for several years, where he built a noble mansion, afterwards occupied by the Chetwynd family. 
 The skull of the prince, with a perforation in the os frontis, made by a musket-ball, is shown in the cathedral 
 of St Patrick, at Dublin. — Vide Description of the Round Tmver at Oberwesel, p. 6. 
 
1 
 
 ». 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 •1 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 A. 
 
 
 •1 
 
TEMPLE OF JUriTER PANHELLENIL'S. 63 
 
 conferring immortality, is perhaps most successfully illustrated. The temple was origi- 
 nally hexastyle and peripteral, that is, having six columns at each end, and twelve on 
 each side — a deviation from the rule of Doric temples, which have usually on each 
 flank one more than double the number at each end. Exclusive of the thirty-six 
 columns which stood on the exterior, the cella was adorned with ten, of smaller 
 dimensions, sustaining the roof, the lower frusta of which still retain their ancient 
 beds, and present distinctly the ground-plan of the edifice. In the nineteenth century 
 twenty-five columns of this ancient and picturesque work are entire, and the greater 
 portion of the epistylion or architrave perfect ; but the cornice, with its metopae and 
 triglyphs, has fallen, and, though late, given the victory to abrading time. The same 
 enemy having overthrown the exquisite statues of Parian marble, that once adorned the 
 tympana and acroceteria at each end of the temple, they remained buried beneath the 
 ruins for years, until the laudable curiosity of two English travellers, Cockerell and Foster, 
 recovered and restored them to the world. As the arts of sculpture and painting are held 
 in abhorrence by all Mussulmans, competition for the possession of these inimitable relics 
 was confined to Christian countries ; and the Prince Royal of Bavaria becoming their 
 purchaser, at the price of 10,000 Venetian sequins, the ^Egina marbles were removed to 
 Munich. The trustees of the British Museum had actually offered a larger sum for 
 them, but, owing to the inactivity of their agents the proposal was too late. 
 
 The stone of which the columns are formed is soft and porous ; a natural deficiency, 
 which has been compensated by a thin coat of stucco, imparting to them the appear- 
 ance of marble. The pavement was also covered with a tenacious stucco, and painted 
 with a vermilion colour ; so also were the epistylia, cornice, and all the statues, even 
 those of pure white marble, subjected to the painter's art The groups of statuary 
 exhumed by Mr. Cockerell were not the only discoveries which rewarded that inquisitive 
 traveller's labours, for, amongst other relics of the cella was found an altar of stone, on 
 which sacrifices were offered, in the palmy days of paganism, to the iEginetan Jove ; it 
 is not more than two feet in height, and six in length. Beneath the temple, and within 
 the rock, is a spacious cave, receiving light from a cylindrical opening in the roof, and 
 having its sides and ceiling coated with a fine stucco. This spacious apartment has 
 been supposed, by several travellers, to have been a reservoir for water, but more diligent 
 examination tends to confirm the idea, that it was, in some manner, connected with the 
 mysteries of that false religion, to which the beautiful temple above it was devoted. 
 
64 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 TOWN-HALL, COLOGNE, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " The sceptred heralds call 
 To council in the city gates : anon 
 Greyheaded men and grave, with warriors mix'd, 
 Assemble, and harangues are heard." Shakspeare. 
 
 The Rath-Haus, or town-hall, at Cologne, is interesting, not merely from the singularity 
 of its style, but from its connexion with the traditionary history of this ancient city. 
 The portal, which is entirely of marble, consists of a double arcade in the Italian style, 
 and was erected in 1571, when the classic models of Greece and Rome were first intro- 
 duced into northern Europe, and began to supersede, or be incorporated with, the solemn 
 Gothic manner. The fa§ade is adorned with three-quarter columns, in the Corinthian 
 and Composite orders, and is the only elevation in Cologne designed after a classic 
 originaL The Gothic tower adjoining is of a more ancient date, having been erected in 
 1414, and, although ecclesiastic in external character, was designed and built as a 
 Record Office for the safe-custody of the municipal archives. From the lantern which 
 covers the roof, there is a most interesting bird's-eye view of the city, with its numerous 
 productive gardens, and of the rich country that environs it. The apartments of the 
 Rath-Haus are not numerous, but are highly adorned, containing several valuable paint- 
 ings, a curious specimen of shell-work, and other decorations. The Hanse Saal, or 
 old council-hall, is a noble apartment, and possesses a peculiar degree of interest from 
 the historic associations that belong to it Six inscriptions, by no means condensed, 
 commemorating the principal epochs in the annals of Cologne, are inserted in the 
 panels between the arcades, and, in that which is immediately above the centre arch 
 of entrance is a bas-relief, representing a man struggling with a lion. This group is 
 much effaced, but the conceit is repeated in the inner portico, where it is in the most 
 perfect state of preservation. The subject is Hermann Grein contending with the 
 archbishop's lion. 
 
 The celebrated Hermann " the forum's champion, and the people's chief," was burgo- 
 master of Cologne when Engelbert, the second of that name, was archbishop. For several 
 years before the ecclesiastical ruler of this place had endeavoured, both by stratagem and 
 violence, to make such innovations upon the municipal privileges as menaced the 
 freedom of the citizens. By exciting the worst feelings between the patricians and 
 plebeians, the archbishop basely created an opportunity for intruding, and usurping some 
 new right, until at last he sent an officer to seize the civic treasure in his name. The 
 worthy townspeople, less lavish of their persons than their purses, instantly revolted. 
 
s*Sriasflfe!^/:^,';» 
 
 ..f^j'^ 
 
 ,%wm r.^^a//, ^/"i^jf^. /'Z' /^ /^/^/K< 
 
 .A.'.-. 
 
TOWN-HALL, COLOGNE. 65 
 
 and drove the ecclesiastical troops from the city. Tlie archbishop, having learned that 
 it was Hermann Grein who had headed the struggle for freedom, resolved, since he could 
 not obtain redress, to have at least vengeance, and endeavoured to accomplish his object 
 in this manner. Dissembling his rage, he had the baseness to profess admiration at the 
 gallantry and high-heartedness of the old burgomaster, and commissioned two canons 
 of the cathedral to wait upon and invite him to the palace, to confer upon matters of 
 importance to the city. Hermann accepted the invitation, but, to guard against treachery, 
 provided himself with a short, strong dagger, which he concealed about his person. 
 Arriving at the palace, he was shown into a retired enclosure, where the base canons 
 informed him he would find the archbishop engaged in meditation, and anxiously 
 desiring his assistance. The burgomaster heard the ponderous door close heavily behind 
 him, and, as if instinctively alarmed at the silence that reigned around he drew forth 
 his dagger. Almost at the same instant a large and furious lion sprang from its con- 
 cealment upon him, irritated beyond its usual ferocity by the shouts and jeers of the 
 false canons, who beheld the cruel sport from the walls of the enclosure. ■ 
 
 Hermann had stood forth the city's champion from an innate feeling of the justice of 
 the cause and his own personal firmness ; such a man, therefore, was not to be deterred 
 by any species of danger, and, without a moment's hesitation, folding his cloak around 
 his left arm, he thrust it forward into the monster's mouth, while with the dagger in his 
 right hand, he stabbed it to the heart. As soon as he had recovered from the exhaustion of 
 the contest, he knelt down before the huge carcass, and offered up the incense of an honest 
 heart, in a prayer of gratitude to the merciful God who had preserved him, — and it was 
 while he was in this attitude that the people, who had suspected foul play, having burst 
 open the gates and doors, reached the scene of wickedness and bore away the burgo- 
 master in triumph. As for the canons, they were dragged to the entrance of the 
 monastery, and there hung up in their clerical attire, just as they were found; — the place 
 of their execution still retains the name of " The Priests' Gate." 
 
 Engelbert not only lost all control over the electorate from that moment, but 
 never after dared to enter the city, while his fellow-burghers commemorated the provi- 
 dential escape of their master, by placing the effigies of " Hermann Grein struggling 
 with the archbishop's lion," over the entrance of the council hall. 
 
60 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 FLORENCE AND FIESOLE. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Let us from the top of Fiesole, 
 Whence Gallileo's glass, by night observed 
 The phases of the moon, look round, below, 
 On Arno's vale, — and on thee. 
 Beautiful Florence ; all within thy walls, 
 Thy groves and gardens, pinnacles and towers. 
 Drawn to our feet" Rogers. 
 
 Florence, fair Florence, the Athens of Italy, the centre of refinement, is seated in a 
 valley more smiling, sunny, and luxuriant than the sombre beauty which it shelters. 
 Amongst the infinity of agreeable accidents that belong to this place of pleasure, none 
 is more delightful that the circumstance of its approaches. Descending from the hills, 
 the traveller beholds the most beautiful city in Europe, with its domes and towers, and 
 spires and cupolas, and picturesque chimneys, rising above roofs embosomed in groves 
 of olives and cypress, and intersected by hedges of myrtle and of lauristinus, so grace- 
 ful in full bloom. The Arno, famed in poetic song, runs rapidly, cheerfully, 
 eternally through the vale, and entering, divides the city into two nearly equal parts, 
 which are connected by four bridges of classical designs. As the eye ranges over the 
 prospect, and looks with or against the current of the river, the view is equally adorned 
 with numberless villas and luxuriant shrubberies; which continue in uninterrupted 
 possession of this golden vale, from the river's bank to the foot of the bold Appenines, 
 that close in the panorama. 
 
 Such is the exterior beauty of the Val d'Arno, graces more properly Tuscan than 
 Florentine, (Toscana than Firenze,) for they are not confined to the limits of this 
 happy valley, but distributed with a lavish bounty of nature over all Etruria. And 
 here in a cloudless atmosphere, and smokeless sky, where distant objects are seen with 
 a distinctness to which the northern European is a stranger, the imagination is more 
 intensely worked on by the scene, which embraces in Its bosom the wonders of ancient 
 and modern art, a concentration of objects calculated to gratify the senses, and refine the 
 taste. "Here," said an Interesting traveller, "I felt as if I could take up my abode for 
 ever, but confused with a multitude of objects, I knew not on which to bend my atten- 
 tion, and ran childishly by the ample ranks of sculptures, like a butterfly in a parterre, 
 that skims before it fixes, over ten thousand flowers." 
 
 It was while gazing upon Florence from Fiesole one evening in the spring-time, 
 that Henry Matthews thus soliloquized upon the climate of Italy, — " An evening, or 
 night, in an Italian villa, at this season of nightingales and moonlight, Is a most delicious 
 treat. How could Shakespeare write as he has done without having been in Italy ? 
 
■I 
 
 
FLORENCE AND FIESOLE. 67 
 
 Some of his garden scenes breathe the very life of reality. And yet if he had been 
 here, I think he would not have omitted all allusion to the fire-fly, a little fluttering 
 insect, that adds much to the charm of the scene. The whole garden is illuminated by 
 myriads of these sparkling lights, sprinkled about with as much profusion as spangles 
 on a lady's gown." The beauty of the fire-fly, and the magic effect of its movements 
 in the silence of an Italian night, were not first observed or recorded in the " Diary of an 
 Invalid :" just twenty years before its publication, a brother tourist wrote, — " Myriads 
 of fire-flies sparkled amongst the shrubs on the bank. I traced the course of these 
 exotic insects by their blue light, now rising to the summits of the trees, now sinking 
 to the ground, and associating with the vulgar glow-worm." 
 
 Florence is a depository of all that is elegant, interesting, and perfect in art; the 
 Val d'Arno is a garden of the most beautiful objects in nature, from which Fiesole is 
 selected, from peculiarity of feeling, not invidiousness in choice. The hill on which 
 the ancient Faesulae once stood, is elevated, rocky, and picturesquely broken. The 
 ascent, a paved road, overhung by gloomy cypresses, is marked with inscribed crosses, 
 and other emblems of the Saviour's passion : and, on the highest point of the eminence, 
 wrapped in groves of pines, ilex, and cypresses, is a venerable convent of Franciscan 
 monks. Hence may be viewed a variegated scene of villas, vineyards, cottages, gardens, 
 and tall towers, buried amidst shrubs and olives, while the distant plains and dense 
 forests are tinted with the beautiful azure which Velvet Breughel has so happily 
 imitated from such Elysian landscapes. In this venerable abbey, his learned com- 
 panions assembled around the accomplished Matteo Bosso, one of the most perfect 
 scholars of his age, and at the frugal board of the reverend sage, many eminent men passed 
 the best-spent moments of their existence, like the attic nights of Plato, or the intellectual 
 hours of TuUy and his friends at Tusculum. The abbey, which occupies the site of the 
 ancient Faesulte, owes its foundation to the Medicean family, and is no incomplete 
 emblem of the splendid tastes and projects of that illustrious house. The corridors 
 command a multiplicity of landscapes : every window presents a difi^erent scene, and as 
 the day declines, every moment changes the colouring of the whole. Leopold once led 
 his brother Joseph to this venerable spot, to show him the grandeur of his dominions, and 
 a Latin inscription, placed permanently in the walls, records the imperial visit. 
 
 Faesulae, once celebrated for its powers of divination and skill in the interpretation 
 of omens, is now a lonely, but beautiful village, adorned with an ancient and curious 
 cathedral, retaining episcopal honours, and still enjoying its classic name. When 
 Etruria submitted to the irresistible arms of consular Rome, Faesulae was colonized by 
 order of Sylla ; but he was a fierce despot, and his followers were mere victims of his 
 capricious tyranny. It must not, therefore, excite surprise, however it may occasion 
 regret, to be informed, that the colonists of this fascinating locality, were afterwards 
 found amongst the ruffian army of Catiline. Faesulae does not appear to have partici- 
 pated in the expiring struggles of Italy for freedom, but to have enjoyed a calm 
 independence until the commencement of the eleventh century, when, in an unequal 
 contest with Florence, she was reduced to submission, and the principal inhabitants 
 
68 
 
 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GBEECE. 
 
 compelled to migrate to that fair city. Thus was Fiesole the cradle of Florence, and 
 one of the most venerated names associated with her history, identified lastingly with 
 the fortunes and beauties of the more modern city. Milton dwells complacently upon 
 the charms of this scene — Politian too has panegyrised them — Picus dwelt here — 
 Lorenzo was its frequent visiter — and Niebhur, in the enthusiasm of antiquarian lore, 
 mistook the fragments of a Roman theatre at Fiesoh\ of no very ancient date, for 
 the residue of some colossal Etrurian edifice. 
 
 BRAUBACH AND THE CASTLE OF MARKSBURG. 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 *' There was a day when they were young and proud ! — 
 Banners on high, and battles pass'd below : 
 But they who fought are in a bloody shroud, 
 And those which wav'd are shredless dust ere now, 
 And the bleak battlements shall bear no future blow." Byron. 
 
 The early history of this beautiful military monument is dimmed by the distance of its 
 date, and conjecture is substituted for record. We are told, that it belonged to the 
 Hainechgau, in the ninth century, and was probably built, or chosen as a site for building, 
 about the year 1050, while the monarchy of the Franconian emperors of Germany 
 flourished. It was certainly held in the highest estimation for its defensive 'capabilities 
 before the close of that century, the Count of Arnstein having placed king Henry within 
 its walls to save him from the paricidal intentions of his ferocious son.* The Pfakgrafs 
 of the Rhine succeeded the counts of Arnstein in the possession, and they in turn were 
 followed by the lords of Eppstein, from whom it was purchased by a Count of 
 Katzenellenbogan, and passed thence, by the regular descent of real pro]:erty, to the 
 house of Nassau. 
 
 Dedicated to St. Mark, the castle seems likely to enjoy the tutelage of the saint for 
 as many coming as departed years, for, there is not a tower, a buttress, or rampart, 
 deprived of its just proportions, or in the least instance deformed by the violence of time, 
 throughout the whole structure. This giant genius of the Rhine, this triumph of ancient 
 military skill in architecture, this hall, where the haughty lords of Braubach once sat 
 enthroned amidst the clouds, is perfect in every part. Its dark intermural passages still 
 impervious to the rays of light, connect the apartments of ceremony with those of the 
 garrison, and lead to the impregnable donjon-keep, the summit of which commands one of 
 the most glorious prospects on the banks of the Rhine. Less grateful, but by no means 
 less interesting to the inquisitive historian, is the examination of the cells hewn in the 
 
 • Vide article Braubach, page 42. 
 
# 
 
 I 
 
 "t 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 *^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■« 
 
 Ih 
 
 1 
 
 1i 
 
• 
 
BRAUBACII AND THE CASTLE OF MARKSBURG. 69 
 
 living rock beneath the castle, and the various implements of torture that are still 
 preserved in the "chamber of death;" manacles, fetters, thumb-screws, the rack, and bow- 
 string, are here presented to the visiter in all their sad reality, for inspection and solemn 
 reflection. Still perfectly habitable, not even requiring re- edification, and garrisoned by 
 the troops of Nassau, the castle yet presents no abiding terrors, the defenders being 
 merely a corps of invalids, and the honour of imprisonment within the rocky-cells being 
 limited to political offenders solely. 
 
 It was here the tragical occurrence took place, detailed in the legend of " Louis the 
 Severe, and the Palatine Princess." This just, but not generous potentate, having 
 espoused the beautiful Maria of Bavaria, acknowledged the power of her charms by the 
 most devoted affection. The princess apparently returned his love with equal ardour, 
 and for several years their cup of happiness overflowed. The interests of some distant 
 province requiring Louis' personal presence, he took leave of his fair Maria, promising 
 to return to the enjoyment of her society as soon as the affairs of his government could 
 possibly permit. His absence was protracted much beyond the promised length, and it 
 was during these solitary hours of hope deferred, that the Raugraf Henry ventured to 
 approach the beautiful princess, and falsely speak of unrequited love. His official 
 situation, high steward of the palatinate, afforded him frequent opportunities of visiting 
 the enchantress, but the vigilant courtiers now suspecting her guilt, communicated their 
 suspicions to her absent lord. At first this rigid ruler refused the slightest credit to 
 the report, and, to show his confidence in the honour of his wife, took the Raugraf more 
 immediately into his service, and carried him along with him to the disturbed districts of 
 the palatinate. 
 
 A constant correspondence was preserved between the prince and his consort during 
 his absence from Marksburg, and the letters of the fair princess were numerous and 
 affectionate. At length, however, came a packet directed to the Prince Palatine as 
 usual, which, when the unhappy lord broke open, he found had been intended for the 
 Raugraf, and only fell into his hands from accidental misdirection. Never were grief and 
 rage more closely united or more violently displayed. His anguish passed into the most 
 violent frenzy, during which he slew, with his own hand, several of his attendants. — 
 Then calling for his fleetest steed and springing to his saddle, he never halted for an hour 
 until he reached the castle of Marksburg. In the same unabated paroxysm of rage he 
 threw himself from his horse, rushed up into the chamber of his faithless princess, and 
 presenting to her astonished gaze the fatal letter, bade her prepare for death and the 
 headsman do his cruel duty. 
 
 History cannot pardon or palliate the guilt of one or the cruelty of the other, and 
 the tragical fate of the Princess Palatine, naturally rendered its author unpopular amongst 
 the aristocracy of Europe. However, having entered into the bonds of matrimony 
 a second time, the faithlessness of his former wife, and the justness of his renown, were 
 pleaded, by his friends, in extenuation of his severity. 
 
70 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GKEECE 
 
 ARCH OF TRAJAN, ANCONA. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Whose arch or pillar meets me in the face, — 
 Titiis or Trajan's ?" Childe Harold's Pilgriiiiase. 
 
 The name Ancona is probably derived from the curved form* of the promontory which 
 the city occupies, and which also embraces the port: Drepanum,t in Sicily, has been so 
 called from similar circumstances, and instances precisely corresponding with both might 
 be added even from British geography. Happily situated on the shores of the Adriatic, 
 and a chief place of ancient Picenum, it was included in the Pentapolis, or Roman 
 cinque-ports, and is distinguished as much for its natural loveliness as its ancient historic 
 recollections. The bold headland, the Cumerium Promontorium of past ages, and 
 Mo)ite Cumero of to-day, attracted the commercial enterprise of the Sicilians. A band 
 of Syracusan patriots, unwilling to wear the galling yoke which the tyrant Dionysius had 
 imposed on their countrymen, emigrated from their homes and founded the city of 
 Ancona, about four hundred years before the birth of Christ. The port being sheltered, 
 spacious, secure, and picturesque, was a fair and promising nurse of commerce. From 
 the peculiar circumstances of its foundation, freedom might fairly be supposed to find 
 here a lasting home, yet modern travellers have complained of her expulsion. — " Pass- 
 ports were to be viewed, and other forms gone through, which turned this porto franco 
 of ancient and modern times into the least free port in Europe."^ Rome becoming 
 mistress of all Italy, Ancona lost its liberty, but was a favourite naval station, espe- 
 cially during the lUyrian wars ; and hither also great Julius Caesar retired, beguiled by a 
 phantom, after he had passed the inviolable waters of the Rubicon. Under imperial 
 Rome the value of this port was equally appreciated, and Trajan having constructed a 
 magnificent mole, for the still further protection of shipping and encouragement of com- 
 merce, the citizens erected a triumphal arch upon it, to commemorate his munificence 
 and their own gratitude. 
 
 This resplendent honorary work, entirely of Parian marble, and one of the finest 
 specimens of decorative architecture in the world, derives considerable advantage from 
 its proximity to the sea, the play of the moist breezes from the water preventing any 
 accumulation oi jMthia, and preserving all the natural brilliancy and whiteness of the 
 marble. Each front is adorned with four fluted half columns in the Corinthian order, 
 the capitals of which alone have been injured by time and tempest,§ the prominences of 
 the acanthus being worn and obliterated. The structure, however, is still so perfect, 
 
 * 'AyKtaPw, the elbow, t AplTravoi/, a reaping-hook. % Lady Morgan's Italy. § Vide description of Suniiim, p. 57- 
 
J- 
 
 
 I 
 
 
THE ARCH OF TRAJAN, ANCONA. 71 
 
 beautiful and bold, as to confirm our ideas of the greatness and grandeur of the Romans, 
 and notwithstanding this incipient decay, next to the Maison Quarree, at Nimes, is the 
 most entire monument of Roman taste and magnificence now surviving on the continent 
 of Europe. 
 
 The mole of Trajan, the cause or origin of the colossal arch that bestrides it, still 
 presents the character of a compact solid mass, firmly clamped with iron, the quay or 
 causeway being considerably elevated above the surface of the sea. In the lapse of 
 several centuries, the sea had possibly receded a little from the shore, and to remedy the 
 inconvenience a second, and a lower mole, was built* by Benedict XIV. who improved the 
 port of Ancona, in the fond hope of attracting thither the flags that floated over the 
 laguna of Venice. His chief architect, Vanvitelli, presumptuously aspired to rival 
 ancient excellence in art, and raised a second triumphal arch in honour of his master 
 on the modern mole. The idea was too ambitious, and the failure has only per- 
 petuated evidence of his inferiority to those whom no modern has ever equalled. The 
 ancient arch appears to have been originally decorated with metal ornaments, with 
 statues, busts, and numerous fanciful embellishments ; but the Goths, under Alaric, 
 seemed to ascribe a high pecuniary value to every species of metal, and it was in their 
 incessant searches for nails, clamps, and metallic fastenings, between the blocks of public 
 buildings, that many of the noblest monuments of art have been overthrown. Educated 
 nations are not wholly free from the charge of similar sacrilegious plundering. 
 
 A writer whose classic taste was of the purest description, has objected to the 
 position of the arch of Trajan ; but it is probable he was betrayed into this deviation 
 from just criticism, i)y a desire to depreciate the labours of Vanvitelli. "The ancient 
 part of the mole," says Mr. Forsyth, " is crowned by Trajan's arch, and the modem by 
 a pope's. But what business has a priest with triumphal arches? and v/hat business has 
 any arch on a mole ? Arches lilie these suppose a triumph, a procession, a road, the 
 entry into a city. The mole of Trajan called for a diffierent monument Here an 
 historical column, like his own, might have risen into a pharos, at once to record his 
 naval merits, to illuminate his harbour, and realize the compliment which the senate 
 inscribed on this arch, by making ' the access to Italy safer for sailors.' " 
 
 The view of Ancona from the water is highly picturesque, but the interior arrange- 
 ments present a remarkable contrast. A rising hill, covered with buildings, reflecting the 
 light from thousands of angles, descends to the waters that sleep sluggishly at its foot. 
 All this smiling aspect is transposed within — negligence, lassitude, gloomy streets, monks, 
 mendicants, and minor merchants, compose the interior picture. The mild air, genial 
 climate, and sheltered site of Ancona, have always been favourable to health, and the 
 inhabitants have been celebrated for the beauty and freshness of their complexions. The 
 
 • The stone of Istria was at first used, but the Venetians, jealous of Ancona, prohibited its exportation ; after 
 which a species of sandstone found in the vicinity was employed. With this material, mixed with lime and 
 formed into an everlasting cement, the building was completed, which measured two thousand feet in length, one 
 hundred in breadth, and sixty in height above the surface of the sea ; a stupendous work, more analogous to th« 
 power and revenue of ancient, than of modern Rome. — View of Society and Manners in Italy. 
 
72 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 queen of smiles and sports was worshipped here with peculiar veneration, and the fair 
 forms that flit past in the promenades of Ancona, afibrd a confirmation of the gratitude 
 of the goddess to her devotees. The same classic tourist, who censures the taste of 
 Trajan and his architect, confesses, unequivocally, the feminine graces to be observed 
 here amongst the gentle sex: "it would be ungallant to pass through Ancona without 
 paying homage to the multitude of fine women whom you meet there. Wherever there 
 is wealth, or even comfort in Italy, the sex runs naturally into beauty : and where should 
 beauty be found if not here, 
 
 " Ante Domum Veneris quam Dorica sustinet Ancon ?" 
 
 SORRENTO,* THE BIRTH-PLACE OF TORQUATO TASSO. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Peace to Torquato's injured shade ! 'twas his 
 In life and death to be the mark where wrong 
 Aim'd with her poison'd arrows ; but to miss. 
 Oh I Victor iinsurpass'd in modem song." 
 
 The bay, plain, and city here constitute distinct interests ; each possessing features of 
 the most agreeable character, yet totally different from the other. The first, a spacious 
 basin three miles wide, subject to frequent and violent agitations, is the only convenient 
 highway to this sequestered spot Neapolitan boats pass regularly every day between 
 both cities, and preserve a constant communication. The tall dark cliffs that rise 
 precipitously from the sea, appear to be the successors of others that have fallen, not 
 many centuries past, and subsided in the waters, the result of natural disintegration, or 
 of some volcanic rupture. It was in this beautiful bay that the Prince of Salerno, son 
 of Charles, was defeated and taken prisoner, in 1283, by Lauria, the admiral of Peter 
 of Arragon — a naval victory that secured the possession of Sicily to the conquerors. 
 
 The plateau, " Piano di Sorrento," that extends from the edge of the precipice 
 to the foot of the mountains, is of a semicircular form, the sea boundary being 
 the chord or diameter, and the mountains the circular arc. The richest woods clothe 
 the hills, the plain is adorned with villas, whose white roofs sparkle amidst the luxuriant 
 foliage that everywhere overshadows, shelters, and enriches the scene. It is highly 
 probable, from the cineritious quality of the soil on the plain, and the basaltic structure 
 of the hills, which embrace it in a crescent form, that the whole district of Sorrento is 
 of igneous origin. 
 
 Sorrento, a romantic, castellated city, is seated on the very brink of a precipice of tufa, 
 that overhangs the deep, sheltered by the mountains of Masso and Vico from the cold 
 land winds that pass over it and ruffle the bosom of the bay, and enjoying the refreshing 
 
 • It derives its name from the Sirens, whom the poets fable to have either dwelt or been worshipped 
 here, implying thereby, that such are the delights of this locality that the man who enters finds it impossible 
 to leave it 
 
■^ 
 
 ^r 
 
 ■J 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 ■X 
 
 
SORRENTO, THE BIRTH-PLACE OF TASSO. 73 
 
 breezes that are wafted from the waters towards these sunny hills. " This is considered 
 the most delicious spot on the southern coast of Naples; its climate contracts no 
 insalubrious quality from the heats of summer, and is mild and pleasant during the 
 winter season ; the scenery is more beautiful than grand, the town clean and well-built, 
 and its environs consist of luxuriant and well-cultivated gardens, that would give to the 
 country the appearance of a paradise, were it not for the enclosing walls which conceal 
 them from the passenger."* The streets are narrow, a circumstance unattended with 
 much inconvenience in a place where carriages are not in use, and where there is no 
 practicable communication with the metropolis by land. All the avenues and environs are 
 sheltered and shaded, water clear and abundant, and it is from Sorrento that Naples is 
 supplied with milk, butter, meat, and fruit ; while a large portion of the female popula- 
 tion is employed in rearing silk- worms and weaving silk. 
 
 Long celebrated for the fascinating character of its scenery, and the salubrity of a 
 climate which Galen recommended to his patients, Sorrento claims the honour of being 
 the birth-place of many illustrious scholars — Pasides, Rota, and Torquato Tasso have 
 conferred a lasting immortality upon this delightful spotf The house where the poet 
 dwelt stands on a lofty rock that rises from the sea, cut into terraces, and clothed with 
 verdure. Now a beautiful palace, it continues to be the property of his family, 
 belonging to the descendants of his eldest sister, Cornelia. It was to this sister the poet 
 returned, and at her home sought shelter after his lengthened absence and sufferings, 
 and received from her the most tender welcome. 
 
 " In latter life he visited these scenes under circumstances of singular and romantic 
 interest. Suffering from one of those afflicting delusions to which his state of mind 
 gave rise, Tasso fled from Ferrara, resolving to seek safety beneath the roof of his sister 
 Cornelia, who, having lost her husband, resided with her children in the paternal 
 mansion at Sorrento. Disguising himself, like Ulysses of old, in the dress of a shepherd, 
 he succeeded, after many difficulties and privations, in reaching his native place, where 
 he introduced himself to his sister as a messenger from her brother, who, being in 
 imminent risk of his life, had sent to demand her assistance and protection. Cornelia 
 anxiously inquired into the nature and extent of the perils that surrounded her brother; 
 and so affecting was the picture which the poet drew of his own dangers, that she 
 fainted at the recital. Affected by this touching proof of her love, Tasso gradually 
 disclosed himself, and was received by her with every demonstration of regard. He 
 remained at Sorrento for some time, under the assumed character of a distant relative, 
 and passed much of his time in wandering through the woods, in company of his niece^ 
 and nephews ; upon the former of whom, from the tallness of their stature, he bestows, 
 
 • Vide " Customs and Costumes," by Emily Reeve. 
 
 t " Sorrento was equally the resort of those darker spirits— Caravaggio, Lanfranc, and Spaguoletti, as of the 
 milder genius of Domenichino and Guido, who, with other painters, were frequently driven from their occupation 
 at Naples, by the terror of assassination at the hands of their fiercer rivals. On the same coast, overpowered 
 with fatigue and terror, and flying for his life, Michael Angelo Caravaggio sunk exhausted and terminated hi» 
 fitful career ;" and here Polidoro de Caravaggio fell by the dagger of an assassin, as he was stepping into the 
 passage-boat on his return to Naples. 
 
 T 
 
74 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 in one of his letters to his sister, the epithet of « gigantesse,' ' Pregate dio per me, e 
 bacciate le gigantesse.' The unsettled mind of Tasso, and the love of excitement to 
 which his residence in cities and courts had given birth, did not permit him long to 
 remain a wanderer amidst the beauties of Sorrento. He resided with his sister during 
 the remainder of the summer, at the close of which he departed for Rome. Yet, 
 though a voluntary exile from his native home, its delightful recollections still hovered 
 round him : and in a letter addressed to Cornelia, many years after this period, he 
 expresses a wish that he might once more, in her society, breathe his native air, and 
 once again refresh his weary thoughts amidst the sublime and delicious scenery which 
 nature had lavished round his home with so unsparing a hand. The aspiration was in 
 vain — the illustrious poet was fated never more to visit the scene of his birth."* 
 
 Several English families have successively occupied this beautiful palace, and 
 Fennimore Cooper, the American novelist, for a season dwelt in the halls of Tasso.f 
 The house in which the poet first saw the light is shown within an enclosure of laurel 
 and orange trees. Some uncertainty may hang over these material traces of his 
 existence, from the eifacing ability of time; but the beauty, brilliancy, and youthful 
 aspect of Sorrento, and of its delightful Piano are unaltered: and the intellectual traveller 
 will quickly comprehend what must have been the effect of such an association upon 
 such a mind as Tasso's. 
 
 CASTLE OF NUSS, VALLEY OF AOSTA. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Long could I have stood, 
 With a religious awe contemplating 
 That house — 
 
 With narrow windows and vast buttresses, 
 Built to endure the shocks of time and chance." Rogers. 
 
 The Romans founded a city in the vale of Piedmont, through which the rapid Doria 
 forces its way; and, in compliment to their emperor, called it Augusta Praetoria. Time, 
 which reveals truth, also corrupts it ; and amongst its latter operations, is the change of 
 the original name of this sublime valley to Aosta, or Aoste, which it has long been 
 called ; and the settlement here, of 3000 soldiers, of the Praetorian legion, a fact which 
 
 • Landscape Annual, 1832. 
 
 t " The house we took has a reputation from having been the one in which Tasso was born, or at least said 
 to have been born : it is on the cliffs within the walls, and in plain sight of every object of interest on the bay 
 from Ischia to the promontory of Vico ; Castel-a-mare, and a short reach of the coast in its vicinity, excepted." — 
 Cooper's Excursions in Italy. . ' 
 
9^ 
 
 ^ . 1 
 
 ,1 . 
 
 

CASTLE OF NUSS, VALLEY OF AOSTA. 75 
 
 the preservation of the correct title would have perpetuated, is now mystified and 
 concealed. The entire length of this romantic pass, is about thirty miles ; and the 
 Alps that issue from the Great St. Bernard, like the huge buttresses of some gothic 
 edifice, overhang and enclose the whole extent of the district, from the monarch-mountain 
 itself, to the pass of St. Martin's, near the frontiers of Yvree. 
 
 This is the most ancient approach to the fertile fields of Northern Italy, and is still 
 eminently superior in romantic beauties, in rich vineyards, and those monuments of the 
 middle-ages of European annals, which seem to connect the two great epochs of general 
 history, to the entrance through Domo d'Ossola. Here, every thing is alpine in its 
 features, the pyramidal summits of the snow-topped mountains — the thick forests 
 clothing the lower districts — the torrents and cataracts that maintain a continuous echo 
 amongst the hills, by their roaring and falling into deep ravines still lower, and the 
 devious course of the rumbling river Doria, present a combination unknown beyond the 
 regions of the Alps. An ancient military road, which traverses the valley, is perceptible 
 on both the ascent and descent of St. Bernard, and no space so limited in extent combines 
 so many, and such distinct traces of the two most warlike nations of Europe, the Romans 
 and the French, as this picturesque locality. Its military importance being acknow- 
 ledged by the Romans, who raised a castellum, or a fortified camp, upon every conspicuous 
 eminence, the warrior-lords of the middle-ages seized on those defensive sites, and on 
 them erected lasting monuments of feudal power, and unequivocal evidences of their 
 despotism. None of these splendid ruins displays a front so imposing as the castle of 
 Nuss, in which every chamber may be traced, and those devoted to the most unjust and 
 cruel purposes easily discovered. It stands upon a plateau of several acres, forming 
 the tabular summit of a detached eminence, round the base of which the rapid Doria 
 sweeps amongst huge fragments of rock, that have fallen from the overhanging precipices, 
 and bid defiance to the river's noisy powers. Before the invention of fire-arms, this 
 castle must have been impregnable, and the perpetrator of the worst acts of tyranny 
 might here find a safe asylum from mortal vengeance. In the nineteenth century, it 
 presents a beautiful but spectral form of greatness — a wreck and remnant of times gone 
 by ; it is like the skeleton hand of death, which has been withered when outstretched, 
 by that power to which alone it is inferior. 
 
 The imperfection of earthly "happiness is strongly marked by the dispositions of 
 Providence in these regions of beauty and sublimity : for it is not possible to conceive a 
 more violent contrast than that which has been placed between the glorious aspect of 
 these alpine districts, and the humbled condition of their inhabitants. Here Cretinism, 
 " that cure for the pride of man, may be studied by the philosopher and the physician, 
 on a large scale, and in its most frightful colours." 
 
 This deplorable lot of humanity seems peculiar to deep valleys in all alpine districts, 
 and is one of the most humiliating spectacles in nature. The Cretin's countenance unites 
 all that is hideous and disgusting. His stature seldom exceeds four feet ; the head is 
 deformed, and too large in proportion to the height of the whole figure ; the skin is yellow, 
 cadaverous, or of a mahogany colour, disfigured generally with unsightly eruptions ; 
 
76 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GHEECE. 
 
 the tongue is large, and often hanging out of the mouth : the eyes red, prominent, 
 watery, and frequently squinting ; the countenance devoid of all expression but that of 
 idiotism; the nose crushed; the mouth open and slavering; the limbs short and crooked; 
 the external senses imperfect ; and the Cretin often both deaf and dumb. Yet even in 
 this condition, they seem not merely contented, but happiness itself does not appear 
 foreign to the Cretin's life. 
 
 LONDON: FISHEH, SON, & CO., PRINTERS. 
 
.«;/f;J 
 
 
 ./^ 
 
 '<^^^', t-^^-' 
 
THE 
 
 RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 IN A SERIES OF DRAWINGS FROM NATURE BY 
 
 COLONEL COCKBURN, MAJOR IRTON ; 
 MESSRS. BARTLETT, LEITCH, AND WOLFENSBERGER. 
 
 ^it^ H^iitoticid mti £eg;ent)at-j) l9c;e!crtptton;^ 
 
 BY THE REV. G. N. WRIGHT, M. A. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE " MEDirERBANEAN ILLUSTRATED." 
 
 '* True Wisdom's world will be 
 Within its own creation, or in tliine, 
 Maternal Nature ! for who teems like thee. 
 Thus on the banks of thy majestic Rhine?" ByRow. 
 
 VOL. IL 
 
 FISHER, SON & C 0., 
 NEWGATE STREET, LONDON; RUE ST. HONORE, PARIS. 
 
LIST OF PLATES-VOL. II. 
 
 Fountain and Cross, Carnelo — Italy 
 
 Screen in Mayence Cathedral — Rhine 
 
 Church of S. Giorgio Maggiore — Venice 
 
 Athens, from the banks of the Ilissus — Greece 
 
 Rheinfels, above St. Goar — Rhine 
 
 Misitra, near Sparta — Greece 
 
 Church of Santa Maria della Salute — Venice 
 
 Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein — Rhine 
 
 St. Goar — Rhine 
 
 Genoa, from the Heights — Italy 
 
 Bingen — on the Rhine 
 
 Villa of Mecaenas, Tivoli — Italy 
 
 Court of the Old Palace, Florence — Italy . 
 
 Corinth, from the Acro-Corinthus — Greece 
 
 Amphitheatre, Verona — Italy 
 
 Bay of Baiae — Italy 
 
 Drachenfels and the Island of Nonnenwerth — Rhine 
 
 Ems, on the Lahn — Rhine 
 
 Tomb of St. Ambrose, Milan — Italy 
 
 Agora, Athens — Greece 
 
 Forum, Rome — Italy 
 
 Private House, Pompeii — Italy 
 
 Convent of Benedictines, Subiaco — Italy 
 
 Stolzenfels, an ancient robber fortress — on the Rhine 
 
 Vignette 8-1 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 II 
 
 13 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 21 
 
 •23 
 
 25 
 
 28 
 
 30 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 45 
 
 4-5 
 
 49 
 
 51 
 
 54 
 
 55 
 
 58 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 FAGK 
 
 Fortress of Palamedi, Napoli di Romania — Greece . . . 61 
 
 Temples of Paestum — Italy . . . . .63 
 
 Monument of Philopappus, Athens — Greece ... 65 
 
 View near Andernach — on the Rhine . . . .66 
 
 Cormayor, Valley of Aoste — Italy .... 69 
 
 Pantheon, Rome — Italy . . ^ . . .71 
 
 Boppart — on the Rhine ..... 73 
 
 Coblentz and Ehrenbreitstein — on the Rhine . . . .74 
 
 Loggia de Lanzi, Florence — Italy . . . . 77 
 
 Temple of Theseus, Athens — Greece . . . .79 
 
 Citadel of Mycenae — Greece ..... 81 
 
 Napoli de Romania — Greece . . . . .82 
 
 Interior of St Peter's — Rome . . . . . 86 
 
 Baptistry, Cathedral, and Leaning Tower, Pisa — Italy . . .88 
 
 Island of Nonnenwerth and Rolandseck — Rhine . . . 89 
 
 Oberwesel — Rhine . . . . . .90 
 
« 
 
 DtBsdL'by-'V.' 
 
 rlncraved "br J-H.Le ICtrur. 
 
 
 ^^A 
 
 
 y 
 
THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 SCREEN IN MAYENCE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 " piety ! sweet influence from above, 
 Pure emanation from the heart of love ! 
 Whose beams of fadeless radiance can pervade 
 The glooms by ignorance and folly made." Emily Reeve. 
 
 Amongst the numerous screens, altars, and mural monuments, that adorn this 
 Electoral mausoleum, the chestnut carved-work, also called the choir-chair, which consti- 
 tutes the chief feature in the illustration, is the most remarkable ; it is also the most 
 admired for the delicacy of its workmanship, and has been miraculously preserved 
 from that violence and desecration which have so often visited this noble temple of 
 worship. Its great height, elaborate execution, high finish, and chaste design, have 
 always secured for it a large share of admiration, and worshippers as devoted amongst 
 the artists of Europe, as amongst the unlettered crowd that is to be seen in the act of 
 genuflection before it at all hours of the day. Lighted by the coloured rays, that enter 
 through two painted windows, the half-shade in which it is seen enhances the solenm 
 grandeur of the great work and its accompanying objects; while the design has been 
 accommodated so as to admit into the composition the rich and graceful monument of 
 John Philip Schoenborn, who died on the twelfth of February, 1673; in which an angel is 
 represented placing on the head of the kneeling Elector, a wreath of laurel, the worldly 
 emblem of an eternal diadem. Such works occasionally convey a great moral lesson, but 
 they also mislead the judgment, by reducing the spiritual to the mere sensible con- 
 ception, while they seem to aspire after immortality by mortal means. The interests of 
 a nation, however, are often promoted by these testimonials; and it will always be 
 politically wise to encourage the living benefactors of a country, by paying public 
 honours to the memory of the dead. 
 
 The monuments in Mayence cathedral liave contributed to a double end, perpe- 
 tuating the memory of great men or actions, and ministering, in no moderate degree, to 
 the superstitions of the citizens. 
 
 II. B 
 
6 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 Here once stood, above an altar dedicated to her especial worship, a very beautiful 
 figure of the Blessed Virgin, upon the feet of which some conscience-stricken sinner 
 had placed, as a propitiatory offering, a pair of slippers of solid gold. Religious 
 reverence, and the height at which the image stood from the floor, had long secured the 
 slippers from sacrilegious hands ; and when at length they were to be applied to less 
 reverent purposes, it was effected by the miraculous co-operation of the image itself.* 
 A poor fiddler, infirm and old, the tones of whose violin had ceased to procure for him 
 that generous return which the efforts of earlier years obtained, entered the Cathedral, 
 and, finding he was alone, proceeded towards the statue of the Holy Virgin, offered a 
 fervent prayer to the saint for assistance in his dread extremity, and concluded by 
 playing one of his most finished performances on his time-honoured fiddle. Now fixing 
 his eyes stedfastly on the image, he perceived a movement in its left leg, which increased 
 into an oscillatory action, and ended in its actually kicking the slipper off the left foot 
 into his bosom. A gift so miraculously conferred was not to be rejected, and this lucky 
 Orpheus proceeded to a goldsmith's shop to dispose of his prize. But the crystal slipper 
 of Cinderella was not more notorious than those of gold at Mayence, and, with a 
 summary process, familiar to the days of chivalry, the next hour saw the poor fiddler 
 standing at the foot of the scaffold in the market-place, appeahng for mercy to that 
 Being whom he was accused of having insulted. It was vain to protest against his sen- 
 tence, but not so to claim the privilege of appearing before the sacred figure, and there 
 performing the same air upon his violin, which had previously appeased and conciliated 
 it. Accompanied by a strong guard, by public officers, and an enraged people, he 
 entered the Cathedral at the brazen gates, stood before the image, and repeated the 
 performance which had brought him into his then wretched plight. Scarcely had the 
 music ceased, when the image slowly raised its right leg, and kicked the remaining 
 slipper into his bosom, just as he had described the circumstances connected with the 
 previous miracle, in his defence before the magistrates. 
 
 He who had been miraculously saved, first from starvation, afterwards from death, 
 was obviously entitled to the favourable consideration of his fellow-citizens; and, for 
 what remained of his far-spent lifS, he was made a pensioner of the Electorate. 
 
 • Vide Snow's Legends of the Rhine, Vol. II. p. 458. 
 
t 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 i ! 
 
 K 
 
 i 
 
 ^. 
 
 •^ 
 
THE CHURCH OF S. GIORGIO MAGGIOUE. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF S. GIORGIO MAGGIORE. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 " Nor hath He scorned, who earth and heaven commands, 
 To dwell in temples made by human hands ! 
 His Spirit breathes from aisle and chantry dim, 
 In pealing organ and uplifted hymn ; 
 Breathes from the lofty dome august and still, 
 And in the beauty of the painter's skill." Mary Howitt. 
 
 The churches of Venice possess a twofold interest: glorious reminiscences of periods 
 passed, and splendid memorials of cultivated art They illustrate the deep root which 
 Christianity had taken in that country, where paganism had reigned for centuries ; and 
 they record the encouragement which rehgion gave to art towards the close of the middle 
 ages. That style of architecture which pervades the greater portion of modern Italian 
 cities may, not improperly, be called Palladian, from its inventor. It is based upon the 
 model of the early Greek and Roman manner, adapted with inimitable taste to the 
 altered customs of the times in which it was first promulgated, and has conferred 
 such popularity upon its author, that his countrymen call Palladio the " Raphael of 
 Architects." The purity and simplicity of this style are not more conspicuous in any 
 of his designs than in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, (the scene of the last 
 conclave,) in which he is said to have exceeded himself, and to have accomplished a 
 miracle in the arts — for that it would have been faultless, had he lived to complete it.* 
 Two churches, in this city of palaces and temples, Del Salute and Redentore, have 
 been compared with this, but both want that simplicity in which San Giorgio is unrivalled 
 by any modern architectural work. Seated on an island directly opposite to the Piazza 
 di San Marco, once occupied by the guardians of a wealthy Benedictine community, to 
 whom it was appropriated, but now by the warehouses of Porto Franco, this beautiful 
 structure is constantly presented to the admiration of the inhabitants. The fa5ade is 
 adorned with pilasters and pedestals in the Corinthian and Composite orders, between 
 which are niches occupiee^ with figures of the Four Evangelists, in stucco, the 
 workmanship and design of Vittoria; and, in the marble of one of the pilasters, those 
 whose vision is aided by superstition, can perceive a natural representation of the 
 cnicifixion. The chief cloisters, one of which is from the design of Sansovino, 
 although supported by coupled columns, are nobly elevated; and the windows are 
 truly grand, with pediments alternately curved and angular. A rich and beautiful 
 assemblage of marbles adorn the interior ; the tribune is exquisitely carved ; yet 
 * It was be^n in 1556, but the front was not erected until IGIO. 
 
8 - THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GUEECE. 
 
 critics have been found who are of opinion, that the transepts of the church are too long 
 for the nave, the cupola too low, and the pedestals too tall in proportion to the shafts 
 of the pillars. 
 
 Although the days of chivalry are passed, the Paladins no more, and King Arthur 
 and his knights commingled with the dust — although 
 
 " Throughout the land of Libya 
 Were good St. George to epeed, 
 No fair king's daughter would he find 
 From dragon to be freed," 
 
 j'et this noble temple continues to retain him as its tutelary saint; and a representation 
 of St George killing the Dragon, by Carpaccio, occupies a chosen place amongst its 
 pictorial treasures. A chef d'ceuvre of Paul Veronese, "the Marriage at Cana," adorns 
 the refectory, and several fine original paintings are preserved in different apartments of 
 the convent* One of the choice treasures of this sacred museum is a wooden crucifix, 
 given by Cosmo, the father of his country, when he fled for refuge to Venice ; it is the 
 workmanship of Michellozzo Michellozzi, his friend, and the faithful companion of his 
 exile. He also employed this eminent artist to build for him a library, which he fur- 
 nished with valuable books, and left to the Benedictines of San Giorgio. Such was the 
 dying gift of a Medici ! When the convent was suppressed, the library was literally 
 given up to pillage; many of the volumes found their way to Padua, but not a single 
 work reached the library of St. Mark.f Above the grand altar is a splendid effort of 
 art, designed by Aliense, and executed by Girolamo Campagna ; the group consists of 
 four bronze statues of the Evangelists supporting an enormous globe, on which the 
 Redeemer stands. It is a masterly, harmonious composition, and nobly expresses the 
 triumph of the gospel. 
 
 The life of St. Benedict is represented in the carved-work that adorns the seats in 
 the choir, from the designs of Alberto de Brules ; the body of the first martyr, St. 
 Stephen, is enshrined amongst the relics of the sacred treasury ; and the unlimited 
 extent to which indulgence was granted by the church of Rome, is recorded in an inscrip- 
 tion on one of the pillars, giving " absolute pardon of all his crimes, to every visiter of 
 this church." It was in the church of San Giorgio also, that Pius VII., being refused the 
 basilic of St Mark, was crowned, and the event is commemorated by a fine portrait of 
 that amiable but persecuted pontiff. In a narrow corridor, on one side of the choir, is 
 the monument of the Doge Domenico Micheli, the St Bernard, and the Godfrey of 
 
 * A Martyrdom, the Fall of Manna, the Last Supper, Resurrection, MartjTdom of St. Stephen, Coronation 
 of the Virgin, Christ entombed— all by Tintoretto. Adoration of the Shepherds — by Bassan. The Virgin, the 
 Flight into Egypt — by Tizianello. St. Lucia, kneeling, — by Leandro Bassano. The Virgin and Saints— by 
 Rizzi. St. George, St. Stephen, the Archangel Michael driving away Devils — by Matteo Verona. The Pre- 
 sentation — by Palma. Several pictures of Christ and the Saints — by Bellino. The Woman taken in Adultery 
 — by Rocco Marconi. Besides numerous cabinet pictures by Canaletti, Zucarelli, and others. 
 
 t Amongst the lost MSS. was one of Dante, highly illuminated ; another of Petrarch, dated 143-2i and a third 
 of Cicero ; the contents of which were said to have been unpublished. 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^•^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
ATHENS FROM THE BANKS OF THE ILISSLS. 9 
 
 Venetian crusaders — the conqueror of Jerusalem, Jaffa, Tyre, and Ascalon. He com- 
 pelled the Emperor of the East to respect the flag of his country — transported from the 
 Archipelago the two great columns of granite that stand in the Piazetta — ravaged the 
 coast of Dalmatia — and, by his heroism, justified the epitaph which is graven on his 
 tomb, " Terror Graecorum jacet hie" 
 
 ATHENS FROM THE BANKS OF THE ILISSUS. 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 " And yet how lovely in thine age of woe, 
 Land of lost gods, and godlike men ! art thou ! 
 Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of snow. 
 Proclaim thee nature's varied favourite now -. 
 Thy fanes, thy temples, to thy surface bow, 
 Commingling slowly with heroic earth." Byron. 
 
 Never was a river more celebrated in song, more honoured by the Inhabitants of its 
 banks, more closely associated with events that vary a nation's history, than the Ilissus ; 
 locality and the arid, nature of the Attic soil have conferred upon it such importance — 
 the volume of its current being insignificant, save only upon the melting of the moun- 
 tain snows, or the fall of continuous rain. Rising in Mount Hymettus, immediately 
 behind the monastery of Sirgiani, from a clear, copious fountain, it descends the sloping 
 front of the mountain, and, more full in its infancy, yields a generous supply to the 
 monks who dwell by it ; after which it appears to suffer sudden diminution, and, when it 
 reaches the foot of the mountain, is totally divested of that dignity, and value, with which 
 it commenced its course. Now assuming a tortuous channel, lined with a natural concrete 
 of rounded stones imbedded in indurated clay, it takes a western direction towards the 
 base of Mount Anchesmus, where it forms an union with the Eridanus. It was on the 
 banks of the Ilissus, a river " quanto ricco d'onor tanto povero d'acque," that Codrus 
 is believed to have offered himself a voluntary sacrifice, for his country ; on one shore, 
 there stood a temple of Diana, opposite to the Lycseum, in whose groves Aristotle 
 taught that philosophy which, for two thousand years, was received and adopted through- 
 out Europe. The Ilissian muses succeeded in establishing their right to adoration, and 
 had here a temple dedicated to their worship. The Panathenaic stadium of Herodes 
 Atticus occupied the valley of the river, near to the spot from which the accompanying 
 view has been taken, and was happily adapted to its objects, the area being oblong, with 
 hills gracefully rising on both sides, in one of which a cavern is shewn, the refuge of the 
 unsuccessful candidates : and, the reputation which this scanty stream enjoyed was still 
 further commemorated hy an allegorical sculpture on the pediment of the Parthenon, 
 II. c 
 
10 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 believed to be one of the noblest specimens of ancient art Of the value of this 
 assertion, however, the home tourist may form an individual opinion, this effigies of 
 the river Ilissus being amongst the Elgin collection of classic spoils in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 Hadrian caused a bridge to he thrown across the river's bed, and of this some ruins 
 exist, but the Turkish bridge which still spans the channel is only requisite in winter 
 or rainy weather. It is known that many other buildings stood on the immediate margin 
 of the Ilissus, and the arch of Hadrian and the Olympeion, are sufficiently near to be 
 included in the enumeration. In the caverns on the northern shore, it has been con- 
 jectured that the mysterious baskets were deposited by the kenephoroi of the Ampolis ; 
 and near to these was the celebrated Enneakrounos, or nine-mouthed fountain, the only 
 spring in the vicinity of Athens, and decorated in the most costly style by the munifi- 
 cence of Pisistratus. Solon, a legislator both humane and wise, permitted, to all who 
 dwelt within half a mile of a public well, the privilege of drawing from it, but obliged 
 those who were more remote, to sink wells for their private use ; by which regulation, 
 Athens soon became amply supplied with wholesome water. New Athens derived its 
 supply from a greater distance, and was indebted for it to the generosity of Hadrian, 
 who commenced an aqueduct, from the capital to Cephisia, the water-head, which was 
 completed by his adopted son and successor, Antoninus Pius. 
 
 The spreading platani, whose grateful shade Plato describes with so much elegance, 
 have disappeared — a circumstance attended by a change in the climate of Athens 
 from moist to arid, for, forests not only attract clouds but retain moisture, as well as 
 by a diminution in the quantity of water in the rivers of the vicinity. Here, however, 
 the laurel-rose delights the eye, the yellow-flowering thistle, and a variety of fragrant 
 plants — and several parts of the river aflbrd scenery, shaded, sheltered, picturesque, 
 and agreeable. From one of these calm retreats, near to the river's source, the view 
 over the Attic plain is extensive and magnificent — below are seen the grand columns of 
 the Olympeion and Hadrian's arch; beyond, the city sleeping at the base of the venerable 
 Acropolis; the conspicuous monument of Philopappus stands like a pharos, on the 
 left ; and, in the distant view may be discerned the harbour of the Piraeus, and even the 
 Gulf of Salamis, where Greece won all her ancient naval glory. 
 
^ 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 K 
 
 ^ 
 
 ? 
 
 s1 
 
KHEINFELS ABOVE ST. GOAR. H 
 
 RHEINFELS ABOVE ST. GOAR. 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " There Harold gazes on a work dirine, 
 A blending of all beauties ; streams and dells, 
 Fruit, foliage, crags, wood, cornfield, mountain, vine. 
 And chiedess castles breathing stern farewells. 
 From gray but leafy walls, where Ruin gravely dwells." Byron. 
 
 The scenery of the Rhine, in the vicinity of Rheinfels, partakes more of the awfully 
 sublime than elsewhere, probably, along this glorious river. It harmonizes well with 
 darkening clouds and tempestuous weather, and a thunder-storm here could not fail in 
 furnishing forth horrors enough to suit the gloomy habit of even Zanga's soul. " High 
 above rose the vast dismantled ruins of Rheinfels, the lightning darting through its shat- 
 tered casements and broken arches, and brightening the gloomy trees that here and there 
 clothed the rocks, and tossed to the angry wind. Swift wheeled the water-birds over 
 the river, dipping their plumage in the white foam, and uttering their discordant screams. 
 A storm upon the Rhine has a grandeur it is in vain to paint. Its rocks, its foliage, the 
 feudal ruins that everywhere rise from the lofty heights — speaking, in characters of stern 
 decay, of many a former battle against time and tempest — the broad and rapid course of 
 the legendary river — all harmonize with the elementary strife ; and you feel that to see 
 the Rhine only in the sunshine, is to be unconscious of its most majestic aspects. What 
 baronial war had those ruins witnessed ! From the rapine of the lordly tyrant of those 
 battlements, rose the first Confederation of the Rhine — the great strife between the new 
 time and the old — the town and the castle — the citizen and the chief. Gray and stem, 
 those ruins breasted the storm — a type of the antique opinion which once manned them 
 with armed serfs; and yet, in ruins and decay, appeals from the victorious freedom it 
 may no longer resist !* Six fortresses, citadels, or fortified towns, are discernible from 
 the heights of Rheinfels, the chief of all, which rises and impends over the town of 
 St Goar, on rocks of such enormous bulk and threatening power, that as the vessel glides 
 under them, it is necessary to remember their fixed foundations, to soften the awe they 
 might inspire. Other fortifications extend down the precipices, and margin the river at 
 their base. Further on in the perspective, and where the eastern bank of the Rhine makes 
 its boldest sweep, is the very striking and singular castle of Platz, a cluster of towers, 
 overtopped by one of immense height, that, perched upon the summit of a pyramidal 
 rock, seems ready to precipitate itself into the water below. Wherever the cliff's beneath 
 will admit of a footing, the sharp angles of fortifications appear. On another rock, still 
 
 • Pilgrims of the Rhine, page 297. 
 
I'i THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 more distant in the sublime vista, is the castle of Thurmburg ; here the Rhine winds 
 away from the eye among heights that close the scene. The number of fortresses in 
 this vicinity, over which Rheinfels is paramount, seems to be the less necessary, because 
 the river itself, suddenly swoln by many streams and vexed by hidden rocks, presents a 
 sort of natural fortification to both shores, a very little resistance from either of which 
 must render it impassable. The agitations of its surface confound the skill of naturalists, 
 the existence of a fall being an insuflScient explanation. When Mrs. Radcliffe 
 passed St Goar, " a sudden gust of wind, assisted by the current, rendered her boat so 
 unmanageable, that, in spite of its heaviness, and all the efforts of the watermen, it 
 was whirled round, and nearly forced upon the opposite bank to that on which they 
 would have directed it"* 
 
 Rheinfels has always been considered " the Gibraltar of the Rhine," being more 
 extensive, in a more defensive position, and superior in strength to every Rhenish 
 castle, that of Ehrenbreitstein perhaps excepted. In the earlier ages, the monastery of 
 Mattenburg, connected with the worship of St Goar, the patron of the place, occupied 
 the site of the present fortifications ; but, in the year 1245, the mercenary lord. Count 
 Diether der Reiche, or the Rich, of Katzenellenbogen, displaced the monks, and erected 
 this fortress for various personal projects. He rendered it strong enough for a secure 
 residence, and spacious enough for a garrison, whose presence was designed to support 
 the exaction of an exorbitant toll from vessels passing St. Goar. The tyranny and 
 cupidity of this robber-chief exasperated the Rhenish merchants, and an association was 
 formed, including the burghers of sixty towns, to resist this oppressive tax on com- 
 merce. For fifteen months, ending in the year 1395, the count was besieged in his 
 stronghold of Rheinfels, which, during that period, withstood forty distinct assaults — 
 after which his enemies reluctantly withdrew. 
 
 A change had come over the manners of men, and feudal rights and feudal rule were 
 alike disgusting and intolerable : the defeated burghers called in the aid of still greater 
 numbers, and now, for the first time, was formed that famous league, " The Confederation 
 of the Rhine," which laid the foundation of the general freedom that pervades Europe in 
 the nineteenth century. The earliest achievement of the Confederation was the siege 
 of Rheinfels, which, being at last successful, was followed by the dismantling of this 
 Raub-Nest, and, after that, by the destruction of almost all those fortresses on the Rhine 
 which ill-directed power had constructed and usurped. After the extinction of feudalism 
 by the courage and firmness of the confederates, Rheinfels became the property of the 
 Landgrave of Hesse : this nobleman restored its shattered ramparts, and strengthened 
 them against future aggression, according to the best designs of modern defensive war- 
 fare. In the year 1692, when Louis the XIV. was on the throne of France, an army 
 of 24,000 men appeared before the fortress of Rheinfels, which the brave Hessian 
 general, Gobrtz, then held for his master. Marshal Tallard, the French commander, 
 confiding in the numbers and courage of his army, promised that he would deliver the 
 castle to his majesty. King Louis, as a new-year's gift But the firmness, loyalty, and 
 
 • Germany in 1795, by Anne Radcliffe. 
 

 •V 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^3^ 
 
 \^. 
 
 t 
 
MISITRA, NEAR SPARTA. l8 
 
 skill of Goortz, aided by the great strength of the fortress itself, defeated the high 
 hopes of the French general, who was ultimately obliged to withdraw in disgrace. The 
 bright example of Goortz was lost upon his less gallant successor ; and when the French 
 army, of the first revolution, appeared before the ramparts of Rheinfels, the com- 
 mandant, yielding to either cowardice or disloyalty, abandoned his post without firing a 
 shot As it was the policy of the French republic to stimulate its troops by the pro- 
 mise of plunder, the surrender of Rheinfels afforded an opportunity of practising the 
 precept. Systematic spoliation and destruction were at once employed, by the fierce 
 soldiery of the republic, and the noble ruins of Rheinfels contribute an indisputable 
 evidence of the outrage the revolutionists committed upon that liberty which they 
 professed to worship. 
 
 It was in the castle of Rheinfels that the monster of iniquity, Priest Johann von 
 Vomich, administered poison to the Countess Anna, in the consecrated chalice, for 
 which he was burnt at Cologne, in 1472.* 
 
 MISITRA, NEAR SPARTA. 
 
 GREECE 
 
 " When riseth Lacedaemon's hardihood, 
 When Thebes Epaminondas rears again, 
 When Athens' children are with hearts endued. 
 When Grecian mothers shall give birth to men — 
 Then mayst thou be restored ; but not till then." Byron. 
 
 MisiTRA, or Misithra, is of unknown, but not very ancient foundation : it was long 
 supposed to occupy the site of virtuous Sparta; an error, traceable, probably, to the 
 circumstance of the archbishop of Misitra styling himself metropolitan of Lacedaemon. 
 Neither is it identical with Pharis, as Fourmont asserts, who calls one of its suburbs 
 Pharori : for, in the first place, that author, although a profound scholar, is an unsafe 
 guide ;t and the name of the suburb is Parori, from its position at the foot of the 
 mountain, and not Pharori. The inhabitants of places similarly situated, have, from the 
 earliest periods of Grecian history, been called Paroreates, to distinguish them from the 
 
 • Vide Snow's Legends of the Ithine.—\o\. II. p. 174. 
 
 t The Abbe Fourmont, who travelled in Greece by the orders of Louis XV., in a letter to Count Maurepas, 
 boasts of having destroyed the inscriptions, in order that they might not be copied by any future traveller. But 
 it is conjectured by many, and perhaps not without reason, that his principal object in this conduct was, that he 
 might acquire the power of blending forgery and truth without detection ; and, that his fear of competition was 
 
 subordinate to that of being convicted of paleeographical imposture DodweWs Greece. 
 
 II. D 
 
14 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 Pedeians, who dwelt on the plains.* When Spartan laws were extinguished, and Spartan 
 valour a tale of other days, the degenerate descendants of the lleraclidae fled from the 
 rude unsheltered city of their forefathers, and sought that protection from the fastnesses 
 of Taygtitus, which their swords had failed to aiford them. Then might be seen the 
 countrymen of Leonidas flying before the haughty followers of Mahommed ; and then it 
 was that, that liberty, which had descended to them from antiquity, was disgracefully 
 and deservedly forfeited. 
 
 The ruins of Sparta, two miles distant from the present town, have evidently supplied 
 the materials for building Misitra: for, the increase of the one proceeds simultaneously 
 with the decrease of the other : and, in a few years, Sparta, like Nineveh and Babylon, will 
 be sought for in vain. The town stands at the foot of Tayg'etus, completely overhung 
 by a detached rock, on the lofty summit of which are the mouldering ruins of a noble 
 gothic castle, of no earlier date, most probably, than the extinction of the Greek empire. 
 The ancient Spartans did not take advantage of this impregnable site, for they 
 renounced all other defences than the terror of their martial fame, and disdained to 
 accept of protection from castles, walls, or ramparts. In the lower ages, the castle of 
 Misitra was regarded as the strongest place in the Morea, and the merciless despots of 
 the Peninsula here fixed their hated tribunals. When Mohammed the Second entered 
 Constantinople, expelled Constantino, extinguished the Greek empire, and sent his 
 savage troops to waste the Morea, Thomas and Demetrius, the brothers of Constantino, 
 found an asylum in the fortress of Misitra-t The V^enetians obtained possession of both 
 town and castle, but were compelled to evacuate them by the Turks, whose arms were 
 in that age irresistible. 
 
 The Acropolis of Misitra presents now but a scene of desolation : the battlements 
 are dilapidated, the arches broken, and the gaping mouths of many cisterns render its 
 exploration a service of considerable risk. The upper town, through which the castle is 
 approached, is deserted and ruined: the Albanians paid to it one of their military visits, 
 and left nothing standing but the walls. The floors and windows still retain traces of 
 the flames which consumed these ancient retreats of wretchedness. 
 
 Difficulty of ascent being surmounted, the view from the Acropolis of Misitra 
 returns ample compensation to the traveller. Immediately below, on the steepest part 
 of the hill, is the ruined suburb, called the Jews' quarter, at the extremity of which rises 
 the archiepiscopal church of St. Dimitri, surrounded by Greek houses and gardens. 
 Lower still is seen the Katochoriou, or town below the castle, interspersed with produc- 
 tive gardens ; and beyond it the Mesochorion, with its painted houses. The lowest town, 
 
 • Father Paclfico, Coronelli, Guillet, and their followers, believe Misitra to be built on the ruins of Sparta ; 
 while Spon, Vernon, Fourmont, Leroi, D'Anville, and Chateaubriand place Sparta two miles from this site. 
 
 t Demetrius basely submitted to slavery, and permitted his daughter to become an inmate of the conqueror's 
 harem. Thomas bravely defended the Morea for awhile ; but, being overpowered, retired into Italy, where he 
 died. His children passed into England, and resided at Llanulph in Cornwall, in the parish church of which 
 their monument may still be seen; It is remarkable, that the iirst Christian emperor was bom, and the direct 
 descendants of the last repose, in England. 
 
MISITIIA, NEAR SPARTA. 15 
 
 also the best inhabited, is separated from the castle-hill by a deep ravine, through which 
 the torrent of Pandeleimona rushes, and, passing into the plain, becomes a tributary to 
 the Eurotas. The further view, however, is not only more comprehensive, but possesses 
 the highest character of scenic prospect, combined with the most stirring classic interest 
 Here the whole valley of Laconia is extended, retaining all those grand natural features 
 with which the Spartans, so famed in story, were once familiar. This spacious, fertile, 
 and renowned area is enclosed on the north by the lofty, snow-clad range of Tayg'etus, 
 in front of which a series of detached hills, like the Acropolis of Misitra, stand out as 
 barbacans to fence the distant fortresses, and this chain of humble but most picturesque 
 eminences, extends from end to end of the Laconian vale. Mounts Thornan, Baros- 
 thenes, Olympus, and Menelaion, form the eastern boundary, while the Eurotas, winding 
 through the centre, rolls onward to the sea, the limit of the level land. The retrospect 
 is less panoramic, but more singular : Tayg'etus rises to a colossal magnitude, having 
 the richest verdure at its feet, luxuriant pine forests midway up, while eternal snows 
 rest upon its aged head. The same character prevails along the lengthened mountain- 
 front from Misitra to the sea ; but it is concealed from the traveller in the plain by the 
 range of pyramidal hills detached from the great mass of the mountain. The view of 
 Taygetus from the ruins of Sparta, nearly in the centre of the plain, although too 
 comprehensive a subject for the artist's pencil, is one of the most sublime in Greece ; 
 however, the peculiar character of the country, its structure, picturesque features, and 
 rude mode of architecture, will be perfectly understood from the accompanying illus- 
 tration which includes an extensive view of the castle and town of Misitra. 
 
 For those who shall desire to learn something veritable of ancient Sparta, the ruins 
 of which have at length been discovered, and the site of which is again about to be 
 occupied by the haunts of men, Chateaubriand has left the most feeling explanation. 
 " Tears came into my eyes when I fixed them on the miserable hut, erected on the 
 forsaken site of one of the most renowned cities of the universe, now the only object 
 that marks the spot where Sparta flourished, the solitary habitation of a goatherd, 
 whose whole wealth consists in the grass that grows upon the graves of Agis and 
 Leonidas." * 
 
 Thucydides says, that in future days, if Sparta and Athens should be destroyed, the 
 latter would, from the superior magnificence of its ruins, appear to have been the greater 
 city of the two. Never was a prophecy more perfectly fulfilled : not only have the 
 dwellings of ancient Sparta disappeared, but the scanty remains of a theatre, and a 
 building called the temple of Leonidas, which keep possession of its site, are not 
 Grecian, but referable to the Romans in the reign of Antoninus Pius. 
 
 • Cbateaubrinnd's Travels in Greece, &c. 
 
16 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA BELLA SALUTE. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 " Not for a prelate's nor a warrior's glory, 
 Nor pride of kingly throne : 
 For God — for God alone, 
 Were raised these sumptuous shrines, august and hoary." 
 
 Mary Howrrr. 
 
 Two churches in Venice, Santa Maria della Salute, and San Giorgio, were erected by the 
 senate, in performance of vows to their tutelary saints, who begged oflF terrible pesti- 
 lences with which the city was visited. The latter was designed by Palladio,* the former 
 built under the direction of Baldissera Longhena. If gratitude might be measured by 
 magnificence, this votive temple would constitute an exqisite monument to the most 
 beautiful quality of the human heart ; but so large a share of selfishness, cowardice, 
 and superstition — so much folly and presumption, in imagining the possibility of com- 
 pensating, or conciliating the Almighty by weak offerings of mortal hands, is associated 
 with such dedications, as to reduce them to the level of a mere compact for mutual bene- 
 fit. The building of this very interesting church was commenced in 1630, upon the 
 cessation of the plague ; and the senate appear to have exhausted their last notions of 
 extravagance in its completion. A spacious flight of marble steps rises from the surface 
 of the canal, and conducts to the great bronze portal, from which a most sublime spec- 
 tacle, the interior of the dome, presents itself. The centre of the building is occupied 
 by a spacious octagonal oratory, the dome of which is sustained by eight noble pillars, 
 around which an ambulatory is continued, broken by eight cells, or recesses : of these, 
 seven are converted into chapels, the eighth forms the great entrance. The windows, 
 coupled, are placed in the. sides of the upper octagonal lantern, and, from their great 
 height, aflbrd, at all times, a sort of veiled light 
 
 Critics have complained of the sumptuousness that prevails in every part of this 
 costly structure : the exterior they particularly protest against, as being overloaded with 
 ornament ; but the interior is unquestionably free from all such impeachment : it is 
 intricate without confusion, wants neither majesty nor grandeur, and is favourable to the 
 expression of richness and splendour. Mr. Forsyth says, " It is magnificent, to be sure, 
 and lofty, and rich ; but it runs into too many angles and projections, too many ' coignes 
 of vantage,' both without and within. It issues into a pyramid, from the very base- 
 ment up to the cupolas ; but those cupolas screen each other, and are shored-up with 
 vile inverted consoles."+ Had this very elegant scholar, and very generally just critic, 
 directed his entire indignation against the repetition of the cupola alone, he would have 
 
 • Vide Vol. 11. page 7. t Remarks on Italy, Vol. II. p. 116. 
 
I 
 
 t 
 
 1^ 
 
 -^ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 \. 
 
 !« 
 
 H 
 
 S| 
 
 -3 
 
THE CHUKCH OF SANTA MARIA DELLA SALUTE. 17 
 
 made more proselytes than he now can hope for. It is this unsightly introduction which 
 marks the decline of the art. It possesses neither the graces of the gothic nor the 
 simple beauty of the antique. When of very large dimensions, it is majestic ; but then 
 it crushes the structure which it adorns ! when small, it is a paltry cap, that blends with 
 no other member of the architecture, and rises above the entablature for the express 
 purpose of breaking the harmonious line of the ogee.* 
 
 The event in which the erection of this gorgeous temple originated, is finely repre- 
 sented in marble, over the grand altar. On the right of a figure of the Blessed Virgin 
 holding an infant Christ in her arms, is Venice supplicating her interference to deliver 
 the people from the ravages of a plague : while on the opposite side, " Plague" is repre- 
 sented flying before an angel with a torch in his hand. The high altar is also adorned 
 with a bronze chandelier, the work of Andrea Alessandro, more than six feet in height, 
 and, next to that at Padua, esteemed the most beautiful design of the class in Italy. 
 Many have even preferred the graceful ornaments of the upper part of Alessandro's 
 design to any part of its Paduan rival 
 
 Upon the demolition of the church of St Geminian, in 1807, the mausoleum of 
 Sansovino, with his bust by Vittoria, the most celebrated of his pupils, was transferred 
 first to St. Maurice, and afterwards, in 1822, pro tempore, to the chapel of the patri- 
 archal seminary of the Salute, where it was placed behind the benches of the scholars. 
 It is intended to replace this exquisite monument in the restored building, whenever 
 that humble imitation of Sansovino's own great masterpiece shall be completed. The 
 ashes of this eminent artist, who was a wanderer while living, and a fugitive from the sack 
 of Rome, have had no settled resting-place for more than thirty years ; and the architect 
 of so many admirable churches, palaces, and monuments, the founder of a celebrated 
 school, await their last asylum. The library of the seminary, a splendid edifice, for- 
 merly the convent of the Salute, contains about 20,000 volumes, and some interesting 
 MSS. ; amongst the latter, a letter from the Emperor Charles V. to Pope Julius II. on 
 the re-union of the Greek and Latin churches, f 
 
 • " The revolutions of taste are apparently the same in all the arts. San Micheli precedes Palladio, as 
 Lucretius precedes Virgil ; Corneille, Rncine ; Bourdaloue, Masillon. Energy comes before purity ; bad taste, 
 which deems itself good, succeeds, and. produces Seneca, Claudian, Marini, Longhena, the architect of the 
 Salute."— Valenj. 
 
 t The rich decorations of this building, and the graces of its architecture, are even less interesting than its 
 pictorial contents, which inclQde the following by Titian, the eight small ovals of the choir, in which are 
 represented the Evangetiata, and the Doctors, one of whom is a portrait of the artist himself — The Descent of the 
 Hob) Ghost, painted when Titian had attained his 64th year.— (In the Sacristy) Suint Mark sitting above, and 
 below 5A'. Sebastian and Rocco, and 5S. Cosmo and Damiano : this is one of the scarce works of the great 
 painter's youth, remarkable for the softness of the light, and the delicacy of the flesh of the St. Sebastian. On 
 the ceiling, T/ie Death of Abel, The Sacrifice of Abraham, and the Victory tf David over Goliath. The last is the 
 noblest work in the Salute, admirable for the execution of the naked parts, and truly wonderful when it is recol- 
 lected, that the study of anatomy was not tolerated in Italy at that period. The three last chefs-d'ceuvre are 
 placed too high up, and in a miserable light. In this church, Luca Giordano has exhibited some extraordinary 
 specimens of the versatility of his genius, in imitating the styles of other masters. This may be observed in 
 the following pictures from his hand:— T/ie Birth of the Viryin, the Presentation, and the Assumption, in none of 
 II. E 
 
18 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The Dogana, or Custom-house for transit goods, claims attention, not merely from the 
 intimate connexion between the commerce and the history of Venice, but from the 
 beauty and symmetry of its proportions, and its prominent position on the Grand Canal. 
 The design, which is an object of the highest admiration, is by Giuseppe Benoni, and 
 its foundation not earlier than 1683. The fagade consists of a magnificent colonnade of 
 marble pillars, supporting an enriched entablature, from which rises a square tower of 
 delicate proportions, surmounted by a group emblematic of navigation, commerce, and 
 power. A statue of Venice holds a golden globe, representing our earth, in its hands, 
 on which stands a figure of Fortune, whose fickleness is expressed by its restlessness, 
 being acted on, like a vane, by every breath of wind. 
 
 Titian was appointed to the direction of Customs at Venice, but not in the Dogana, 
 which is confined to the regulation of transit goods solely; his official residence was 
 the old brokerage-house near the Rialto, the exterior of which was painted by himself, 
 assisted by his master Giorgione. 
 
 THE FORTRESS OF EHRENBREITSTEIN, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " Here Ehrenbreitsteiii, with her shattered wall, 
 Black with the miner's blast, upon her height 
 Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball 
 Rebounding idly on her strength did light — " Byron. 
 
 The high, dark, massive rock of Ehrenbreitstein, "the broad stone of honour," an 
 appellation which this type of ancient chivalry has arrogated to itself, starts precipitously 
 from the calm surface of the Rhine, immediately opposite to Coblentz and the afflux of 
 the Moselle's crystal waters. Although the breadth of the river is here considerable, the 
 stern fortress appears to rise almost perpendicularly over the city. At the foot of the 
 rock, stands the castle of Philipstal, the ancient palace of the Electors, who preferred 
 the protection of the fortress to the mural defences of their capital. This noble struc- 
 ture was raised by the Elector Philip Christopher, of the Sotern family; and the 
 magnificence of its design was fully equalled by the agreeable character of its site on 
 the margin of the Rhine, facing the embouchure of the Moselle. Deserted by its lords, 
 
 which has he given way to his fatal expedition. Cav. Liberi has furnished these subjects -. Vetiice praying to Saint 
 Anthony of Padua, the Annunciation, and the Virgin and St. Anthony. In the choir, Salviati has painted the three 
 rounds in the ceiling over the high altar, and, in the sacristy, the Last Supper, David's triumph. Said throwing his 
 spear at David, and Aaron and Joshua. There are also a Samson, by Pulma ; a Nostra Signora della Salute, by 
 Padovanino, and the Marriage at Cana, new and vaiied, by Tintoretto. 
 
"^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 .^ 
 
 
 :1 
 
 J 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 «i 
 
THE FOUTRESS OF EHRENBREITSTEIN. 19 
 
 from the imagined dampness of its walls, a fancy not unmingled with an apprehension of 
 its being overwhelmed by the rock, that occasionally scattered its fragments upon it, it 
 was converted into a barrack and military hospital. But what the Electors sacrificed in 
 site they acquired in sumptuousness, by the erection of the present magnificent and 
 princely mansion on the city- side of the river. 
 
 In the year 336, the Emperor Julian the Apostate converted the old fortress, which 
 he found here, into a castle of still greater defensive powers ; and, so clear and accurate 
 were the military perceptions of the Romans, that all succeeding governments have 
 added to its strength, until they have rendered it impregnable. Considered as the 
 citadel of Coblentz, their histories were long identical, although its duties and destination 
 were sometimes different, being at one time the guardian, at another the destroyer of 
 its helpless associate and charge. During the middle ages, it acquired the name of 
 Irmstein, or Hermannstein,* from Hermann Hillinus, archbishop of Treves, in 1153, 
 who re-edified the old design, and extended the works over so large a space as to entitle 
 the vast fortress to its present significant name. The Elector John, Margrave of Baden, 
 amongst other improvements and additions, caused a well to be sunk in the solid rock 
 to a depth of 280 feet ; but even this great work, in which three years were passed, 
 like the great cistern that preceded it, proving insufficient for the constant supply of 
 the garrison, a further depth of 300 feet was attained, before the great labour was deemed 
 perfect An inscription in the castle wall commemorates the perseverance of the Elector, 
 who has since been called by Rhenish historians Johannes a Petra. 
 
 In the Thirty Years' war, Ehrenbreitstein frequently changed its masters ; French, 
 Imperialists, Spaniards, and Swedes, succeeding each other with every change in the 
 fortunes of each party ; and, in 1642, all nations concurred in decreeing the demolition of 
 the old castle, and the treaty of Westphalia then confirmed the possession to the Elector 
 of Treves. The old keep, the object of foreign jealousy, stood alone on the very summit of 
 the huge rock, just 800 feet above the surface of the Rhine, and included within its strong 
 embrace, a cannon foundry, and a powder magazine, the latter of which was blown up 
 by the French. On the parade in front of the barrack, stood the Fogel Greif, a monster- 
 cannon, ten tons in weight, and capable of throwing a ball 160 pounds weight to the 
 distance of several miles. This terrific engine, the gift of the Elector Greifenklau, 
 (GriflSn's Claw,) by whose order it was founded at Frankfort in 1528, was removed to 
 Metz, and there submitted once more to the process of fusion. 
 
 In the seventeenth century, the French renewed their attempts against this place of 
 strength ; a numerous army, commanded by Marshal Boufflers, sat down before the walls : 
 Vauban, one of the most celebrated engineers mentioned in modern history, directed the 
 works against them, and the soldiers were animated by the presence of Louis XIV., their 
 sovereign. This combination of power, genius, and wealth, was successfully resisted 
 by the fortified heights of Ehrenbreitstein. 
 
 • From Hermann, the German Mars ; from Hermes, Mercury ; from Hermann, or Arminiiis, a German hero ; 
 or, from Hermann, the archbishop of Treves. 
 
20 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GUEECE. 
 
 General Marceau made an ineffectual attempt to humble this proud fortress in the 
 year 1795, and twice repeated his assaults in the following year. The French having 
 crossed the Rhine, a second time, at Weissethurm, in the year 1797, Ehrenbreitstein was 
 blockaded for the fourth time, by order of General Hoche, who withdrew from the hope- 
 less attempt, upon the peace of Leoben.* In the year 1797, before the ratification of 
 the treaty of Iladstadt, this renowned fortress at length submitted to the arms of its 
 inveterate enemies, the French people ; not, however, until every thing that courage and 
 ability could perform had been exhausted by its brave defender, Colonel Faber — not until 
 famine had so thinned the ranks of the garrison, that the survivors were wholly unequal 
 to further resistance. The captors at first restored the breaches, and strengthened the 
 works ; but repenting of this policy, after the peace of Luneville, they commenced a 
 violent demolition of the ramparts, during which several towers and outworks, with 
 the portion of the rock which they occupied, fell, with a tremendous crash, into the 
 river. ' 
 
 When victory had in turn abandoned France, and the spoliations of Napoleon were 
 restored, the Prussians directed Montalembert and Carnot, two eminent engineers, to 
 restore Ehrenbreitstein to its primitive strength : and, having expended about one million 
 sterling in this object, accom^nodations are now formed for 14,000 men — stores, capable 
 of containing provisions for 8,000 men for ten years — cisterns, capacious enough to 
 supply fresh water for three years, exclusive of the well sunk to the level of the river ; 
 and 400 pieces of heavy ordnance are planted on the ramparts. 
 
 The ascent to the plateau of Fort Frederick William on the summit of the rock, is 
 steep and difficult, but the panoramic view from thence will assuage the fatigue. 
 Coblentz lies beneath, as open to inspection as a model on a table : the graceful sweeps of 
 the Rhine, the easy curves of the Moselle— the one including, the other intersecting the 
 fertile plain — lead the eye to the hills that divide the capacious level. The nearer view 
 is little less interesting ; it is varied, animated, grateful : the city, quay, and palace, the 
 floating bridge, 465 feet long, lying upon the Rhine, the solid structure that stands in the 
 Moselle, present a landscape beautifully composed, and richly, warmly coloured. 
 
 The town of Ehrenbreitstein, seated at the foot of the rock, and at the water's edge, 
 contains above 2,000 inhabitants, and extends along the shore to the entrance of the 
 picturesque valley in which the favourite mineral well of Thalborn is situated. Ehren- 
 
 * The monument of Genei'al Marceau, killed by a rifle-ball at Alterkirchen, still remains as described by 
 Lord Byron. " The inscriptions are too long, and not required: his name was enough. Fiance adored — her 
 enemies admired ; both wept over him. In the same grave General Hoche is interred : a gallant man also, in 
 every sense of the word ; but though he distinguished himself in battle, he had not the good fortune to die 
 there ; his death was attended with suspicions of poison. A separate monument (not over his remains, which 
 were buried by Marceau's,) is raised to him at Andeniach, opposite to which one of his most memorable exploits 
 was performed, in throwing a bridge to an island in the Rhine. The style is different from that of Marceau's, 
 and the inscription more simple and pleasing — ' The army of the Sambre and Meuse to its commander-in-chief, 
 Hoche.' This is all, and as it should be. Hoche was esteemed among France's earlier generals, before 
 Buonaparte monopolized her triumphs. He was the destined comm.ander of the invading army of Ireland," — 
 VUle Notes to ChOde Harold's Pilyrimage. 
 
iStiSlBBf' 
 
 N& 
 ^ 
 
 ^1 
 
ST. GOAR. 21 
 
 breitstein, as well as Rheinfels, " the Rock of the Rhine," has been called " The 
 Gibraltar* of Germany. The former has no resemblance to that historic monument, 
 the latter, in a single respect only, being called " the key" to a dominion ; in others, 
 no similarity whatever exists between them. 
 
 ST. GOAR. 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " There can be no farewell to scenes like tliine. 
 The mind is coloured by thy every hue ; 
 And if reluctantly the eyes resign 
 Their cherish'd gaze upon thee, lovely Rhine ! 
 'Tis mth the thankful glance of parting praise." Byron. 
 
 Sometimes the Rhine assumes a character solemn, sombre, and majestic ; sometimes, 
 again, gay, and sparkling, and sunny ; but nowhere does it combine its varied character 
 and charms more delightfully than in the immediate locality of St. Goar. Yielding to 
 no spot on the banks of " the exulting river," in the agreeable quality of its scenery, 
 it is more advantageously circumstanced than any other, as a central station for 
 " Pilgrims of the Rhine." The grand ruins of Rheinfels impend over the town — the 
 glorious river glides heavily by, on whose opposite shore is the picturesque village of 
 Goarshausen, reposing modestly at the foot of the wild and rugged rocks that support 
 the mouldering ruins of Katzenellenbogen. The little town of St. Goar extends along 
 the margin of the river, presenting an antique, but peculiarly cheerful aspect, and 
 numbers about 1500 souls as its permanent population. It has long continued to 
 enjoy the character here given to it. When Mrs. Radcliffe struggled up the stream of 
 Old Rhine, some fifty years ago, she found St. Goar to be a place " possessing a consider- 
 able share of the commerce of the river. Having in time of war a numerous garrison, and 
 being a little resorted to on account of its romantic situation, it had an air of somewhat 
 more animation than might be expected, mingling with the gloom of its walls, and the 
 appearance of decay, which it had in common with other German towns.' This gloom, 
 resulting from the frowns of war, has long since disappeared ; the animation of the glorious 
 picture still continues. Two churches adorn, by their tapering spires, the view of this 
 
 ',• " No man who ever viewed that renowned fortress, would have made the comparison. To compare Gibraltar 
 with Ehrenbreitstein is to compare Hyperion with a satyr, or Vesuvius with the funnel of a steam-boat. I leave 
 the prodigies of valour performed by Englishmen, in taking and keeping the key of the Mediterranean, out of 
 the question ; believing that Prussian arms would, under similar circumstances, have achieved equal exploits. 
 Of all nations, we have the least reason to doubt the prowess of Prussia. She fought at our side, when the 
 destinies of Europe vibrated in the balance T' — Jamet Johnson's Pilgrimage to the Spat. 
 U. T 
 
22 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 ancient place, to one of which much interest is attached from its having been the cell of 
 the venerable man who has bequeathed his name to the locality. Some time in the sixth 
 century, Goar, commiserating the mental poverty, as well as the worldly wretchedness, 
 under which the inhabitants of this vicinity laboured, fixed his abode here in a rocky 
 hermitage, hollowed by nature in the solid stone. His sanctity soon attracted other holy 
 men to his humble dwelling, and a religious fraternity was established. There is a fall 
 in the river, not far from St Goar, called in olden time, Geever, and near it a bank named 
 the Sand, and, in the immediate vicinity of the Sand-Geever, the navigation of the river 
 was attended with imminent danger. The pious Goar having passed the day in exhorting 
 his rude hearers to walk with God, devoted the night to watch' the passing barks, and 
 save them, when endangered, from wreck. 
 
 Sigbert, hearing of the piety and benevolence of the saint, created him archbishop of 
 Treves ; but he sought not earthly aggrandizement, and, declining the high ecclesiastical 
 dignity, asked leave to pursue his useful life at Goar. It is said that he proved to his 
 patron, Sigbert, the divine origin of his mission here, " by throwing his threadbare cloak 
 across a sunbeam in the hall of the palace, where it remained suspended as on a peg." 
 Upon the hermit's death, his royal master caused a chapel to be raised over his remains, 
 and appointed priests to watch the shrine, and protect it from intrusion. Here 
 many pilgrims have bent the knee, and offered a prayer, of either propitiation or grati- 
 tude ; and, for many centuries, the monks of St. Goar continued to receive pilgrims at 
 this shrine, and to extend the rites of hospitality to travellers, with a generosity never 
 exceeded at any ancient hospitium in the Christian world. In the elder church at Saint 
 Goar, founded in 1440, a very ancient statue of the saint is preserved, bearing the fol- 
 lowing inscription: — " S. Goar, Monachus Gallus, obiit 611." 
 
 Charlemagne visited this sacred spot, and lavished his bounty upon the shrine and its 
 guardians : a generosity afterwards repaid by the reconciliation which was effected by the 
 effigy of the saint, between the rival princes, Carloman "and Pepin. 
 
 Amongst the miracles of the shrine of St. Goar, none is more memorable than its 
 preservation from the cupidity and violence of Werner Von Boland. This fierce baron, 
 intent on sacrilege, surrounded the monastery of the saint with his infidel followers, and 
 to the earnest pleading of the monks for mercy, answered only with impious revilings. 
 Finding remonstrance vain, the abbot proceeded to the shrine of the saint, and taking 
 from it a little crucifix bearing an image of the Saviour, held it, with an extended arm, from 
 one of the church windows, in sight of the baron's whole army. The moment the sacred 
 image caught the attention of the soldiery, a thick flight of arrows was discharged against 
 it, one of which deeply pierced its side. After a few minutes, while they waited to see 
 the venerable abbot fall to the ground with his cherished crucifix, they beheld a stream 
 of blood flowing from the side of the sacred image. Divine and miraculous interposi- 
 tion being now obvious, the army gradually dwindled away, and numbers returned in 
 alarm to their homes. At length the baron himself became converted to the religion 
 of which St. Goar had been a faithful minister, and, embracing Christianity, he passed 
 over to Palestine, and fell in the crusade for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
 :i\ 
 
 # 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 vji 
 
 
 v<S 
 
GENOA, FROM THE HEIGHTS. 23 
 
 GENOA, FROM THE HEIGHTS. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Tlje haven hums with many a cheering sound, 
 The beacons blaze their wonted stations round, 
 The boats are darting o'er the curly bay, 
 And sportive dolphins bend them through the spray." Byron. 
 
 Those who have formed their acquaintance with the picturesque charms of " Genoa tlie 
 Superb," through the representations of travellers solely, will be much misled by preferring 
 the sea-view to that from the heights behind the city. From this natural observatory , 
 this tourist's station, this rocky belvedere, the noble port is spread out in the form of an 
 amphitheatre, enclosed by hills that ascend rapidly from the smooth surface of the great 
 arena, on the depths of which the peopled heights are painted by reflection. Two gigantic 
 piers, called the Old and New moles, projecting far into the sea, contribute to complete 
 the embrace in which the harbour is held, their termini approaching within 300 feet of 
 each other ; and a lofty pharos, on the summit of a pointed rock, west of the New mole, 
 lights the entrance by night, and serves as a landmark and signal-tower by day. The 
 semicircular sweep of twelve miles in extent, which nearly surrounds the basin, seen 
 from thence, presents the colour of crime au chocolat, from its burnt and sterile aspect ; 
 but when the view is reversed, the defect becomes an accession to the grandeur of the 
 scene. 
 
 The city rises on the left shore, climbing the steep acclivities, and covering them 
 with streets, and churches, and palaces ; and, on the summit are traced " high-poised 
 casinos, pendent villas, embattled forts, and slender towers." Villas and country-seats 
 look out, one above the other, from the continuous range of hills that is drawn around, 
 and behind which, in one direction, rise the Alps, with their snowy tops, in another, the 
 rugged Appenines. — ^The prospect from the port is subject to an additional detraction, 
 from the intervention of a high dark wall between the spectator and the marble palaces of 
 Genoa ; but there is a still greater deformity, one which suggests too forcibly the crimes 
 and the cruelties of man — it is the basin in which the galleys are kept afloat, and tlie crowd 
 of miserable slaves who are seen in chains on board them. During Lady Morgan's visit 
 to Genoa, she had an opportunity of witnessing the sufferings of a gang of slaves. " They 
 were yoked to a heavy waggon, and dragging some marble slates along that burning 
 shore, whose heated sands, impressed with the sun of that ardent clime and season, 
 seemed to emit particles of fire. These wretched men had no dress but canvass trousers 
 and vest; their feet, legs, arms, and (in spite of the darting sun-rays) heads, were bare: 
 their bronzed skins were crimsoned up to their dripping brows : every sinew was starting : 
 every nerve was strained ; every vein swelled : their arms were folded on their stooped 
 and panting breasts : they were chained in couples ; and on the iron ring which clasped 
 their worn ankles, was engraved the word ' Libertas.' This was a terrible sight" Every 
 
24 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GHEECE. 
 
 feeling heart will sympathize with her ladyship in her high-coloured description of the 
 galley-slaves. But it must not be forgotten that they are criminals, who have in many 
 instances, forfeited, their lives to violated laws ; a sentence which mercy has commuted 
 into the loss of liberty, and an obligation to labour. The public exposure of the con- 
 demned criminal is a more beneficial, although painful admonition to beware of guilt, 
 than the secret infliction of treadmill punishment in England. It is even more advanta- 
 geous to the prisoner, as a security against the Cruelty of a tyrannical jailor. 
 
 The streets of Genoa are narrow and dark, the projecting cornices of the lofty palaces 
 nearly meeting across the way. In the centre is a narrow causeway, paved with brick, 
 for the convenience of porters and mules ; and on either side, flagged ways for foot- * 
 passengers : carriages are inadmissible, except in the two principal streets. The lower 
 apartments of the fine houses in the Strada Balbi and Strada Nuova are occupied as 
 cellars, shops, and lumber stores, while the upper are appropriated to the residents. The 
 state-apartments are generally on the third floor, looking into the central court which 
 every palace possesses ; and the roofs, which are flat, are adorned with shrubs, trees, 
 myrtles, pomegranates, orange-trees, oleanders, and others, upwards of twenty feet in 
 height, growing in beds of earth several feet in depth, which rest upon substantial 
 arches constructed for their support. Here, also, the air is refreshed by the constant 
 play of fountains; and it is in these delightful terraces, the more elegant of the Genoese 
 pass the greater portion of their time. 
 
 The aspect of the city was formerly much varied from the usual character of such 
 scenes, by the amazing number of fortified dwellings and lofty towers, raised for defensive 
 purposes, during the mad contests of the Guelfs and Ghibelines ; but to these have 
 succeeded structures distinguished less for strength than symmetry. Neither Rome nor 
 Venice ofi«r anything comparable with the marble columns, statues, stairs, palaces, and 
 pictures of Genoa. 
 
 The Strada Nuova, which is but twelve paces broad, was designed by Rubens, who 
 has left a description of the palaces and churches which adorned it. The Palazzo Doria 
 stood here. In the Strada Balbi is the famous Durazzo palace, which the king of 
 Sardinia has purchased for a royal residence. It extends 250 feet in front, and is adorned 
 with a splendid Doric portico, of white marble: its central court is embellished with 
 fountains, hanging terraces, and broad flights of marble stairs; while the interior includes 
 an interminable suite of apartments, with porphyry floors, gilded ceilings, and walls 
 hung with the works of the most eminent masters. Amongst the latter is a portrait of 
 Anne Boleyn, by Holbein, interesting from the curious costume, extraordinary beauty, 
 and her melancholy history. The Sala Paola in this splendid palace, derives its name 
 from the chef-d'oeuvre of Paul Veronese which it contains, Mary Magdalen at our 
 Saviour's feet in the house of the Pharisee.* 
 
 • The following catalogue includes every picture and statue of celebrity in the Palazzo Durazzo : — 
 The Grand Signior giving audience to Agostino Durazzo, by Bartolotto ; a banquet given to the same noble- 
 man by the Grand Turk ; an equestrian picture of Agostino as ambassador at Constantinople ; and several other 
 portraits. Three Children, a Virgin with the Infant Jesus, and tvi'O Bacchanals— all by Pioh. Virgin, Infant Jesus, 
 
8 ^^|r 
 
■I 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 ^^ 
 
BINGEN. 25 
 
 BINGEN. 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 ■ " Then to see 
 
 Thy valley of sweet waters, were to know 
 Earth paved like heaven ; and to seem such to me 
 Even now what wants thy stream? — that it should Lethe be." Byron. 
 
 Although the antiquity of Bingen is indisputable, and one of its public entrances is 
 still called Drusithor, or the Gate of Druses, its aspect is neither rendered venerable by 
 age, nor neat by novelty ; but, like many other German towns, its streets exhibit palpable 
 symptoms of decay, and are abandoned to mere idle passengers. This is the more 
 extraordinary, when it is remembered, that it stands at the afflux of the Nahe with the 
 Rhine, and has long been celebrated by native geographers as the central point of an 
 hundred villages, the inhabitants of which might visit its market, and return, between 
 sunrise and sunset. 
 
 and St. Catherine, full-length Portrait in Spanish Costume, a Woman, Head of a Woman, Holy Family — the 
 preceding by Vandyke. A dying Seneca, Clorinda delivering Olinda and Sophronia, Phineas thrown down by 
 Medusa's head — three large pictures by Giordano. Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise — by Gitdo Cesare 
 Piocaccino. A Prelate, Bust of a Saint holding a palm branch, Virgin and Child — by Cappuccino. Bacchus and 
 Ariadne — by Franceschini. Besides the Magdalen at the Feet of Christ, there is also a fine Head by Paolo 
 Veronese. The Ceiling of the Gallery, Hagar and Ishmael, S. Catherine of Genoa — by Parodi. A Statue of 
 a Shepherd is by Parodi's father. Four pieces by Carlvne. Chiaro-oscuros, by Ferrari. Rape of Proserpine, 
 by Schiaffino. Two Statues by Baretta. Two rooms at the end of the gallery are painted, one by Mitelli and 
 Colonna, the other by Mariani. The Virtues, a series of Figures, by Valerio Caslelli. The Deluge, and another 
 picture by Giacomo Sassano. Two Heads, one of a man lighting a candle, by Alessandro Bassano. Two land- 
 scape compositions; a Woman with Animals ; Coming out of the Ark; a Satyr and Women, the last in the style 
 of Bassano — all by Castiglione, A Battle piece. A Landscape with Soldiers, by Borgognone. St. Peter denying 
 Christ. A Dead Christ. Gamesters at dice, by Caravaggio. Virgin and Child, by Carlino Dolce. A Satyr. The 
 Crucifixion (injured by fire.) Portrait of a Nobleman, by Tintoretto. A Woman, half-figure, by Cav. Cairo. 
 A Satyr, by Jordaens. Martyrdom of St. Peter, by Guido. Head of the Virgin, by Guidu Cagnacci. A series 
 of Family Portraits, by Molinaretto. The last Doge, Durazzo, by Naricci. An antique bust by ViteUius. Juno 
 fastening Argus's eyes to her Peacock, by Rubens. A Head, with a turban, by Rembrandt. Virgin and Infant, 
 Shepherds and Old Men, Our Saviour going to Calvary, by Tiziano. St. John the Baptist, by Calabrese. Virgin 
 and Infant, St. John, and St, Elizabeth, by Andrea det Sarto. Virgin, St. John, and Mary Magdalen, by Palma 
 ii Vecchio, St. Augustin, by Spagnoletto. 
 
 II. O 
 
26 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The Bingiuni of Drusus Germanicus, one of the fifty fortresses which that gallant 
 soldier and wise statesman raised, to curb the fierce AUemmanni, stood on the left bank 
 of the Nahe, whence the inhabitants emigrated to the opposite shore, their present 
 position, in the early years of the middle ages. To the same conqueror were the 
 Rhenish towns indebted for the Cpening of a passage through a great ledge of rocks, 
 that totally obstructed the navigation of the river. This aperture, called " Binger 
 Loch," or the " Hole of Bingen," had at first a breadth of but twenty feet, but the 
 Prussian government, nineteen centuries afterwards, expanded the width of water-way 
 to two hundred and ten. 
 
 From the heights behind the town, the view of Bingen, and of the sublime scenery by 
 which it is surrounded, is most distinctly seen. The Nahe pours its tributary flood 
 into the expanding river, immediately under the ruins of the Kloph, (Drusus' Castle,) 
 whose mouldering remains seem to mourn the fate of their founder. In the midst of a 
 sublime panorama, a scene of the most awful grandeur, the river first expands into 
 a broad lake with placid surface; then, suddenly assuming a gloomy aspect, pours 
 through the Binger Loch with violence and rapidity, angry at the contraction of its 
 channel, the restriction of its liberty, as it passes the Tower of Mice, and hastens 
 by the ruins of Ehrenfels; then winding, with an abrupt and rapid sweep, amongst 
 dark and frowning rocks, disappears, leaving the imagination to paint the horrors and 
 the perils of its further course. 
 
 In the agreeable, faithful, and comprehensive illustration, to which this description 
 is meant to be auxiliary, the Roman ruin stands on the right, the town in the bosom 
 of the mountains and along the water-side, while Hatto's castle or the Tower of Mice, 
 is seen in the turbid part of the stream, and the picturesque remains of Ehrenfels half- 
 way up the steep mountain on the right. 
 
 When the Roman power became obsolete, and new tyrannies were cemented upon its 
 ruins, Bingen arose, and was fortified by Carlovingian princes; and legends tell the 
 interesting history of the Lady Bertha and Prince Rupert, who were contemporary 
 with Lewis the Mild, the successor of Charlemagne. An ancient town-gate, of the date 
 of the Germanic emperors, still survives; nor are all traces of Roman rule extinct, the 
 piers of the bridge across the Nahe at this place being, most probably, as old as the 
 time of Drusus. 
 
 The views in this vicinity are numerous, varied, and highly picturesque, and the 
 objects, in which an useful curiosity may be indulged, abundant. A visit to the chapel 
 of St. Roch, on the hill above the town, will repay the inquirer by a splendid prospect, 
 and by the sight of a beautiful altar-piece in the chapel, presented by Goethe, who has 
 also written a most agreeable description of the pilgrimages to this sacred locality, on the 
 16th of August in each year, the festival of the patron saint. History claims a passing 
 notice for the ruinous walls of the Kloph, where Henry IV. was rudely deposed by the 
 orders of his unnatural son, and where the aged monarch languished during five whole 
 years of sorrow; — and the legendary muse refers to the following exquisite ballad of 
 Southey, for the tale of Hatto's Tower: — 
 
BINOEN. 
 
 27 
 
 The summer and autumn bad been so wet 
 Tbat in winter the corn was growing yet ; 
 'Twas a piteous sight to see all around 
 The grain lie rotting on the ground. 
 
 Every day the starving poor 
 Crowded around Bishop Hatto's door, 
 For be had a plentiful last year's store ; 
 And all the neighbourhood could tell 
 His granaries were furnished well. 
 
 At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day 
 
 To quiet the poor without delay ; 
 
 He bade them to his great barn repair, 
 
 And they should have food for the winter there. 
 
 Rejoiced at such tidings good to hear. 
 The pooY folk flocked from far and near. 
 The great barn was full as it could hold 
 Of women and children, and young and old. 
 
 Then when he saw it could hold no more, 
 Bishop Hatto he made fast the door ; 
 And while for mercy on Christ they call. 
 He set fire to the bam, and burnt them all. 
 
 '• r faith, 'tis an excellent bonfire !'' quoth he, 
 " And the country is greatly obliged to me 
 For ridding it, in these times forlorn. 
 Of rats that only consume the com." 
 
 So then to his palace returned he, 
 
 And he sat down to supper merrily. 
 
 And he slept that night like an innocent man, 
 
 But Bishop Hatto never slept again. 
 
 In the morning, as he entered the hall, 
 Where his picture hung against the wall ; 
 A sweat like death all over him came, 
 For the rats had eaten it out of the frame. 
 
 Another came running presently, 
 And he was pale as pale could be : 
 " Fly, my lord Bishop, fly," quoth he, 
 " Ten thousand rats are coming this way : 
 The Lord forgive you for yesterday." 
 
 " I'll go to my tower on the Rhine," replied he ; 
 " 'Tis the safest place in Germany ; 
 The walls are high, and the shores are steep, 
 And the stream is strong, and the waters deep. 
 
 Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away. 
 And he crossed the Rhine without delay ; 
 And he reached his tower, and barred with care 
 All the windows, doors, and loopholes there. 
 
 He laid him down, and closed his eyes. 
 
 But soon a scream made him arise ; 
 
 He started, and saw two eyes of flame 
 
 On his pillow, from whence the screaming came. 
 
 He listened and looked; it was only the cat ; 
 But the Bishop he grew more fearful for that : 
 For she sat screaming, mad with fear 
 At the army of rats that was drawing near. 
 
 For they have swam over the river so deep. 
 And they have climbed the shores so steep ; 
 And now by thousands up they crawl 
 To the holes and windows in the wall. 
 
 Down on his knees the Bishop fell, 
 
 And faster and faster his beads did tell, 
 
 As louder and louder, drawing near. 
 
 The saw of their teeth without he could hear. 
 
 And in at the windows, and in at the door, 
 And through the walls, by thousands they pour. 
 And down through ceiling, and up through the floor. 
 From the right and the left, from behind and before. 
 From within and without, from above and below, — 
 And all at once to the Bishop they go. 
 
 As he looked, there came a man from his farm. 
 He had a countenance white with alarm ; 
 " My lord, I opened your granaries this morn. 
 And the rats had eaten all your com." 
 
 They have whetted their teeth against the stones, 
 And now they pick the Bishop's bones : 
 They gnawed the flesh from every limb. 
 For they were sent to do judgment on him. 
 
28 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 THE VILLA OP MEC^NAS, TIVOLL 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Look back ' 
 
 Lo ! where it comes like an eternity, 
 
 As if to sweep down all things in its track, 
 
 Charming the eye with dread — a matchless cataract." Byron. 
 
 Every spot in the vicinity of Tivoli is consecrated to some classical recollection. Here 
 Cicero rehearsed his orations to the sounds of the falling waters, and Horace delighted to 
 repeat his odes; Cato Major here tilled, with his own hand, the verdant fields that have 
 been pressed by the footsteps of Catullus and his Lesbia ; Seneca meditated on the 
 sources of human happiness amidst the groves of Tibur ; and, in the fairy ground of 
 the Villa d'Este, Tasso composed the greater portion of his " Jerusalem Delivered." 
 Yet even these records, immortal as they are, do not constitute the only claims which 
 Tivoli possesses to the admiration and attention of those who love literature, or are 
 devoted to art. 
 
 Tivoli, the ancient Tibur, whose charms are celebrated by Horace, Ovid, and 
 Catullus, is of Grecian origin,* and was, probably, of no little celebrity five hundred 
 years before the foundation of Rome. On two occasions, Tibur conspired with Gaul to 
 crush the growing greatness of Rome ; but the fortunes of the young Colossus prevailed, 
 and the envy of the diminutive rival was punished by her citizens being degraded to a 
 state of entire dependence. Generous enough to acknowledge the picturesque attractions 
 of this vicinity, the most illustrious Romans erected splendid palaces here, which they 
 treated with marked and public favouritism. The vast remains of Mecaenas' villa are 
 associated with the name of Augustus, once an honoured guest within its walls : and, 
 beneath the portico of the famous temple of Hercules (the Greek patron of Tibur,) 
 now incorporated with the cathedral of St. Lawrence, a crypt is shown, wherein the great 
 monarch familiarly rendered justice. After Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, had graced the 
 triumph of Aurelian, by walking barefoot before his chariot, bound with golden chains, 
 she was permitted to descend into the rank of Roman matrons, and, with that exquisite 
 taste which she so well cultivated under Longinus, selected this delightful spot as the 
 last scene of the great drama portrayed by her life, character, and exploits. 
 
 In the revolution of empires, even the Roman power decayed ; and Totila, king of 
 the Ostrogoths, wasted this beautiful portion of the imperial territories ; but, in a few years 
 afterwards, he rebuilt the town, added a castle, and placed here a strong and permanent 
 garrison. Having laid aside its ancient name, and assumed that of Tivoli, it still retained 
 
 • Tibur Argseo positum colono. 
 
I 
 
 ^ 
 i 
 
 '^ 
 
THE CASCATELLE, TIVOLI. 29 
 
 its original predilections for republican government ; and when Rienzi raised the stan- 
 dard of liberty, the inhabitants of Tivoli rallied round it 
 
 Tivoli contains upwards of ten thousand inhabitants, and is adorned with many noble 
 buildings: on one side it is sheltered by Monte Catili and the Sabine mountain-chain, 
 that sweeps round it in a semicircular form ; while the other is open, and commands a 
 view over the Campagna, Rome, Mount Soracte, and the pyramidal hills of Rotondo, 
 the ancient Eretum, and Monticelli. 
 
 But the living glory of Tivoli is its magnificent cascade, which, as well as the equally 
 grand fall at Terni, is artificial The story of the latter is long and interesting ; that 
 of the origin of the cascatelle at Tivoli, is more readily explained, being formed by 
 turning off a branch of the river Anio from its original channel, just before it reaches 
 the highest precipice, for the purpose of supplying the town with an abundance of 
 water. The Anio, whose gentle windings through the vales of Sabina are invisible 
 from the heights of Tivoli, enters the woody precincts of the town, and, stealing beneath 
 the shelter of dense, dark, olive groves, reaches the brink of the rock, down which it 
 falls, with a startling suddenness, into a rocky basin, from which it recoils with deafening 
 noise, plunges violently through a huge chasm in the rock, and tumbles headlong into a 
 dark cavern beneath. These first efforts of the agitated waters, after their decadence 
 from the summit-level, may be witnessed with security and delight from the little bridge 
 that bestrides the narrow, rocky bed, below the final fall. 
 
 The cascatelle, which forms the chief feature of this illustration, is not inferior in 
 sublimity and beauty to the first fall of the waters, within the town. The torrent pours 
 over one ledge of rocks down upon a second, and leaps, in a foaming volume, from this 
 place of momentary rest, through thickets, shrubs, and trees, that live in endless tremu- 
 lousness, while the spray, that flits away from the great central stage of the cataract, 
 falls on the opposite banks in an eternal dew, or is lighted up with the brilliant colours 
 of the rainbow. 
 
 " The elevation and mass of these cascades ; the colours and broken masses of the 
 rocks down which they tumble ; the shrubs, plants, and brambles that hang over the 
 channel, and sometimes bathe themselves in the current; the river, below, fretting 
 through a narrow pass under a natural arch ; the olives that shade that arch, and the 
 vines that wave around it ; the bold bendings and easy sweeps of the surrounding moun- 
 tains ; and the towers of the town resting on the summit of the hill beyond the cascatelle, 
 with the ruins of Mecaenas' Villa on its shelving side, — compose one of the most deli- 
 cious pictures for softness and beauty, wildness and animation, that can be imagined, 
 even amidst the scenery that has been the school of painters.'' 
 
 II. H 
 
so THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 COURT OF THE OLD PALACE. 
 
 FLOIIENCE. 
 
 " A place of luxury — the painted rooms, 
 The open galleries and middle court, 
 Not unprepared, fragrant and gay." Rogeiis. 
 
 The piazza of the Grand Duke is less spacious in area than the principal squares of the 
 capitals of Eurojjean kingdoms, but infinitely superior to all in architectural magnificence 
 and beauty. So much above comparison with all such civic rivals, it rather resembles 
 the court-yard of some great monarch's favourite palace, surrounded by the best efforts 
 of art in all ages, than an open, accessible, public place. In the centre rises the cele- 
 brated fountain, one of the greatest compositions of modern art, and the chef-d'ceuvre of 
 its author Ammanato. The group includes Neptune drawn by four marine horses, and 
 surrounded by Tritons and other deities of the sea. Cellini, Danti, Giovanni, Bologna, 
 and others, were candidates for the design and execution of a fountain on this spot, and 
 some of their plans were preferred by the public, but the favour of Cosmo L obtained 
 the order for his protege. The loggia, a portico erected in the fourteenth century, 
 by Orgagna, is perhaps the most elegant, sumptuous, and celebrated architectural orna- 
 ment of Florence ; it is placed directly opposite to the Palazzo Vecchio, and contributes 
 to enrich the scenery of the piazza. When the Grand Duke Cosmo requested that 
 Michael Angelo would furnish him with a design of a council-hall for the magistrates 
 of Florence, the artist replied, " You have the loggia of Orgagna : I can do nothing 
 better." 
 
 In one of the angles of the piazza stands the old palace, the residence of the chief 
 magistrates, and the place of assembly of the great council, or senate, of Tuscany. The 
 original design, heavy, rich, ponderous, was by Arnolfo de Lepo, who has left many 
 enduring monuments of his merit behind him. When time had effaced some of the 
 fairest features of this characteristic work, Michellozzo was employed to reconstruct the 
 edifice, with strict injunctions from Cosmo de Medici not to depait from the original. 
 The second Cosmo caused the ornamental parts to be completely renovated by Vasari, 
 whose fidelity was such, that it was said " Arnolfo himself, were he to return to the world, 
 could not detect the traces of another's hand in his design." 
 
 If it be inquired why a design so noble, and a building devoted to the chief purposes 
 of the nation, should have been pushed into a corner of the square, while a central space 
 was left unoccupied, the answer is written in the records of passion that have so often 
 inflamed this mercurial people. In the central space, once stood the palace of the 
 Ubesti, an ancient family, whose crime consisted in their having espoused the party of 
 
'I 
 
 ^: 
 
 ¥ 
 
 s 
 
 ^ 
 
 Si 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 .1 
 
COURT OP THE OLD PALACE, FLORENCE. 31 
 
 the Ghibelines. For this alone they were pursued with hatred and persecution driven 
 from their country, and their splendid palace levelled with the ground. The verj spaf:e 
 it occupied was decreed to be accursed, and, although vacant when the foundation of the 
 old palace was about to be laid, the citizens insisted on its not being employed. If 
 this incident records a want of patriotism on one side, it perpetuates the existence of the 
 most vindictive passions on the other. 
 
 The stately facade of this picturesque old palace is ornamented with escutcheons of 
 its different governors, painted in fresco ; the windows, balconies, and door-cases, are 
 enriched with beautiful carvings, and a bold and lofty cupola adds to the dignity of the 
 whole. At the ponderous gates that open into the Cor tile, stand two colossal statues — 
 Hercules slaying Cacus, by Bandinelli, and David, from the chisel of Michael Angelo. 
 The former appears to have received some of the disdainful haughtiness of the artist, 
 who was the envious depreciator of Michael Angelo and Cellini. It was not intended 
 that these great works should have been so invidiously placed together. This unkind- 
 ness originated with Alexander de Medici, of infamous memorj-, who sought in this way 
 to gratify his malice against Michael Angelo for having withdrawn from Florence. The 
 mean attempt not only failed in its object, but produced a result precisely the contrary 
 to the vile intentions of its contriver. 
 
 The David is cut from a huge block of Carrara marble, in which it had lain hid for 
 upwards of a century. Simon, of Fiesole, attempted to give this mass the form of a 
 giant, and failed ; but Michael Angelo penetrated its opaque contents, saw the living 
 figure within, and drew it from the chaos. The first design would have been in honour 
 of Leonardo da Vinci; the second, was of the king of Israel. 
 
 When the huge colossus was set up in its present position by the ingenuity of 
 Sanjalos, the gonfalonier, Pietro Soderino, affecting the virtuoso, observed to the great 
 sculptor — " That the nose was too large." Pretending, respectfully, a conviction of the 
 magistrate's just criticism, he ascended the scaffold, appeared to chisel away the marble 
 unmercifully, if the clouds of dust that fell into the upturned eyes of Pietro could be relied 
 on as evidence, and only discontinued upon the repeated solicitations of the critic, who 
 declared "That it would do then, enough had been removed — life itself had been imparted 
 to the nose by the alteration." Michael Angelo early in life had perceived the inclination 
 of the ignorant to criticize works of art, and rightly judging that just explanation would 
 not gratify, uniformly feigned assent to their remarks. In this instance, he actually 
 took up a handful of dust with him, and at every pretended toiich of the chisel let a 
 quantity escape sufficient to obscure the vision of the chief magistrate. 
 
 During a revolutionary tumult, in the sixteenth century, the Palazzo Vecchio, was 
 attacked by the Medici, with a violence that seemed to menace its existence. While 
 battering-rams were applied to the gates, Nardi, the historian, who conducted the defence, 
 poured down stones, and moveables of every description, upon the heads of the assailants ; 
 even the cumbrous furniture of the council-room was put in requisition on this memo- 
 rable day, and a heavy bench fell on the arm of Michael Angelo's " David," and broke 
 it into three pieces. So many heads, however, were broken at the same time, that this 
 
32 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 sacrifice remained unnoticed, and, for three days, the fragments were trodden on by the 
 soldiers and the people. It happened that a boy, an enthusiast with respect to Michael 
 Angelo, who had been present during the tumult, had observed the accident. He flew 
 to the Ponte Vecchio, and, carrying off a young artist like himself, to the scene of action, 
 they had the courage to mingle in the tumultuous crowd which still occupied the 
 piazza ; and, creeping through files of soldiers and the still contending people, they 
 succeeded at last in collecting the fragments of the arm, which, when peace and serenity 
 returned, were re-united in the perfection in which it now appears. These " boys " 
 were Georgio Vasari, afterwards the pupil, friend, and biographer of Michael Angelo ; 
 and Tramesio Salvieti, the painter, and pupil of Andrea del Sarto.* 
 
 The Cortile of the palace, represented in the accompanying illustration, is entered 
 through a richly-ornamented arched-way. It is surrounded by an open arcade, the 
 supporting columns of which are covered with stuccoed work on a golden ground, and 
 the ceilings ornamented with arabesques of Raphael's school. A porphyry fountain, 
 of the most delicate design, stands in the centre of the enclosure, from which rises 
 a bronze figure of a playful boy, after a design by Verocchio. 
 
 There are many apartments of state within this venerable pile, gorgeous in decora- 
 tions, unrivalled in design, and so connected with stirring recollections, that each has 
 an interesting history of its own. 
 
 CORINTH, FROM THE, ACRO-CORINTHUS. 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 " 'Tis this that ever wakes my strain, 
 And oft, too oft, implores again 
 The few who may endure my lay. 
 To follow me so far away. 
 Stranger — wilt thou foUow now. 
 And sit with me on Aero- Corinth's brow?" Bvkon. 
 
 The situation of Corinth is unequalled in picturesque character, and, in territorial and 
 political importance, was held in the highest estimation by the ancient states of Greece. 
 It was the key of the Morea — it was the narrow, nature-defended entrance into that 
 peninsular country. Here a public notice was set up, informing travellers, that on one 
 side lay Attica, on the other the Peloponnesus ; and warning the inhabitants of these 
 adjacent regions, of the perilous consequences of violating boundaries. 
 
 The city is seated at the foot of mountain-masses, in a rich level plain, extending 
 to the margin of the sea, that forms, with graceful curve, the Bay of Lepanto ; and the 
 houses are scattered over a considerable area, each embosomed in shrubberies and 
 
 • Lady Morgan's Italy, vol, ii., p. 122. 
 
1 
 
 ^ 
 
 .^ 
 
 >.^ 
 
 
 
CORINTH, FROM THE ACRO -CORINTH US. 33 
 
 groves of Cyprus, orange, and mulberry trees. Here the vine constitutes the riches of 
 the district ; and here, too, it possesses a character different from its species in other 
 countries. In Italy, it climbs the stems of forest-trees, and hangs in festoons from the 
 branches ; in France, it scarcely rears its supple tendrils from the ground ; but in the 
 plain, and on the sunny hills of Corinth, the vine assumes a character more dignified 
 and independent, standing detached from other trees, the grapes hanging from its 
 branches, in the autumnal season, like crystal drops. 
 
 The Corinthian territory was anciently of narrow limits, but the advantages of its 
 commercial position conferred upon it influence, power, and wealth. Here the arts 
 flourished ; Grecian policy had her school ; and pleasure was enthroned, during the 
 celebrated triennial games upon the Isthmus. Voluptuousness and the arts of luxury 
 effeminate a state, and these alone would, sooner or later, have laid the treasures of 
 "Corinth the Wealthy" at the mercy of ambitious, insatiable Rome; but the infatuated 
 Corinthians having become parties to the Achaean league, intended as a check on 
 Roman cupidity, accelerated the catastrophe of their city. Corinth, razed to the 
 ground by Mummius ; rebuilt by Julius Caesar, and by Adrian ; a second time destroyed 
 by Alaric ; again rebuilt by the Venetians — was sacked, for the third and last time, by 
 Mahomet II . Strabo saw it soon after its re-establishment, during the reign of Augustus ; 
 Pausanias admired it in Adrian's time; and, to judge from the monuments which 
 he has described, it must then have been a magnificent city. He speaks of a theatre, 
 odeum, stadium, sixteen temples, and many sepulchral monuments. These and others 
 had survived the havoc by Mummius and his army ; but no relic of former civic splendour 
 now survives, beyond the seven well-known Doric columns of a temple, whose date and 
 dedication are alike unknown. In this venerable relic, Chandler thought he recognized 
 the Sisypheus of Strabo; and Spon congratulated himself, too confidently, upon 
 discerning here a temple to Diana of Ephesus. There is no authority whatever for 
 either ascription. Chateaubriand, the beauties of whose eloquent recollections of 
 Grecian antiquities are deformed by even something more than extravagance, was weak 
 enough to assert, that "the last fragments of these seven columns were carried away by 
 the English." The columns still remain, and, from their vast proportions, seem likely 
 to survive the calumny of the traveller for centuries to come. If these columns actually 
 existed in the days of Roman plunder, may they not owe their preservation to the 
 affectionate pleading of the boy, who, during the siege of his native city, melted 
 Mummius into tears, by reciting these lines of Homer, " O thrice and four times blest 
 the Greek who perished before llion's walls — the allies of the Atridaj ! Would that I 
 too had met my fate upon that day, when Trojan javelins fell in showers around me, 
 while defending the lifeless body of Achilles ! Then I would have received the honour 
 of a funeral pile, and the Greeks would have preserved my name ! Now, fate decrees 
 that I should perish by an obscure and inglorious death." 
 
 The fate of capital cHies in times of peril, again visited the thrice-ruined walls 
 of Corinth, and, during the Greek revolution, it was reduced to ashes. In vain have 
 the Corinthians endeavoured to resuscitate these sleeping embers — no j)henix has yet 
 II. I 
 
34 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 arisen; in vain have they appealed to the monarch whom Providence has set over 
 Greece, in favour of their commercial position — Athens, renowned and beautiful 
 Athens, has been preferred as the capital of modem Greece. 
 
 These monuments of times long past, the theatre, odeum, and stadium, exercised a 
 powerful influence upon the tastes of the original inhabitants, and recall our recollec- 
 tions of the days passed by the Apostle of the Gentiles at Corinth ; for, from these 
 interesting remains, he not unfrequently drew his illustrations, in addressing the church : 
 — "We are become a theatre to the world, to angels, and to men." "Know ye not, 
 that they who run in the race (stadium) run all, but one receiveth the prize ; and every 
 one who coiitendeth is temperate in all things; they indeed that they may receive a 
 corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible." 
 
 The Caesars rebuilt the walls of Corinth, and the temples of the gods rose more 
 majestically than before ; but they are all vanished from the scene, while an edifice 
 raised by an architect obscure, humble, poor, and friendless, still stands, in all sublimity, 
 amidst the ruins of Corinth. Here is his account of himself, while he was engaged in 
 laying the foundation of his structure — " Thrice was I beaten with rods ; once was 
 I stoned ; thrice I suffered shipwreck. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in 
 perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils 
 in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
 brethren, in weariness and painfulness; in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness." This persecuted man, assisted by two still 
 more obscure companions, Crispus and Gaius, were the architects of an indestructible 
 temple of Corinth. 
 
 The Acro-Corinthus is a fortified mountain, commanding the city and plain, 
 encircled by three lines of circumvallation, and stupidly believed by Mussulman 
 soldiers to have been completely impregnable. The site is difficult of access, and the 
 walls not deficient in solidity ; but the area is too extensive to be defended against a 
 numerous army and skilful engineers. It has often been surprised and taken: the 
 highest enclosure of the three, included the residence of the commandant, several 
 mosques, water-tanks, magazines, &c.; and here also is a well, perhaps that called in 
 early history the Fountain of Peirene. But all now are prostrate and ruined, along 
 with the pride and the power of the Mussulman in Greece. 
 
 " Where is thy grandeur, Corinth ! shrunk from sight 
 Thy ancient treasures, and thy ramparts' height : 
 Thy godlike fanes and palaces ! Oh, where 
 Thy mighty myriads, and majestic fair ! 
 
 Relentless war has poured around thy wall, 
 
 And hardly spared the traces of thy fall." 
 
r J 1> r:'V> 'U 
 
 
 \ 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 V<S 
 
 1i 
 
 i 
 
THE AMPHITHEATRE OF \-EHONA. 
 
 THE AMPHITHEATRE, VERONA. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 • Tlirice blest Verona, — 
 Thine amphitheatre where Romans sate. 
 And Dante's exile sheltered by thy gate." Byeon. 
 
 The Amphitheatre of Verona is one of the most interesting relics of Roman customs 
 now surviving, from the perfect preservation of its interior structure. Inferior in 
 magnitude to the Colosseum, it exceeds in dimensions the Amphitheatre at Nismes and 
 Pola, and is considerably larger than those of Pompeii and Paestum. The exterior 
 circuit has yielded less to the invasions of time, than to the spoliations of modems, who 
 have, with the most gothic barbarity, carried off the great blocks of red marble that were 
 employed in the construction of the surrounding arcades. This grand elliptical facade 
 consisted of three stories of arches, ascending to the height of one hundred feet ; there 
 were seventy-two in all, of which but four have survived the active operations of the 
 destroyers. Pilasters, dressings, and bas-reliefs, in the Tuscan order, adorned the 
 exterior, and the simplicity of that style was happily suited to the sohd massive 
 character of the structure. 
 
 The interior, which is still perfect, consists of forty-five tiers of seats, ascending 
 from the arena to the level of the third story of external arches, four of which, still 
 remaining, are shown in the accompanying illustration. The seats and all the masonry 
 of the interior are of marble, so compact and solidly disposed by the founders, that the 
 vomitoria, galleries of communication, and staircases, are in their original state, and 
 carry back the visiter to the days of Roman power and inhumanity.* At each end of 
 the arena rises a portal twenty-five feet in height, forming a communication with the 
 interior, where, in recent times, theatricals, and entertaining exhibitions of various kinds, 
 have been permitted by the magistrates. 
 
 When this great edifice was raised, and who had the honour of being its founder, are 
 facts which antiquaries have long since despaired of ascertaining : conjecture has 
 placed the date of its foundation in the reign of Domitian, Nerva, or Trajan. When 
 Verona belonged to the Dukes of Milan, judicial combats took place here, and, for everj' 
 
 * The dimcBBaaa are as follow : — greater axis of the exterior ellipsis, 510 feet : of the arena, 249 : — minor 
 aiis of the exterior, 410 feet; of the arena. 146 :— external circumference, 1434 feet,— height of the cornice, 
 from the level of the street, I«) fe<?f. The amphitheatre is capable of accommodating 22,000 spectators. 
 
36 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 duel fought in the arena, a large sum was paid to the reigning prince. It was about 
 this period also, that strict laws were passed, and as strictly enforced, for the future 
 preservation of the Amphitheatre, by inflicting heavy penalties upon those convicted of 
 dilapidation ; and, in 1579, so warm was the feeling of the Veronese in favour of the 
 restoration of this interesting relic, that a tax was imposed on the citizens for the purpose. 
 The long-continued neglect of this stupendous monument, has been assigned as the 
 cause of its being unnoticed by Dante, so long a resident at Verona ; while others, 
 rather invidiously, insinuate, that the reason of the poet's silence upon this subject, 
 was to conceal the plagiarism, for that it was from this very Amphitheatre he derived his 
 idea of the circles and distribution of his Hell. Could such a mind have harboured 
 such a meanness ? 
 
 The central area is frequently degraded by puppet-shows and theatricals, that pre- 
 sent a contrast to the surrounding classic grandeur of the scene ; but it cannot be said 
 to inspire the beholders with lower ideas of the dominant nation, than the gladiatorial 
 exhibitions of the founders. The tiny objects that move upon the mimic stage in the 
 centre, are rendered still more insignificant by the colossal proportions, the Egyptian 
 solidity, of the edifice ; and, exhibitions, still more irreconcilable, have been witnessed 
 here by different travellers. One consisted of pigeons trained to perch themselves on 
 a pistol, and sit motionless whilst it was fired off. The same gentle creatures actually 
 discharged a small cannon, and let off crackers, while soaring in the air. " The intre- 
 pidity," says a French tourist, " of these pigeons, carrying thunderbolts like the eagle, 
 was little to my taste : boldness is not becoming in graceful beings, and I would have 
 preferred the tender and unfortunate pigeons of La Fontaine to these warlike ringdoves." 
 
 Twenty thousand persons seated in this vast area, must present an interesting and 
 somewhat solemn coup d'ceil ; and this sight has been witnessed more than once, in recent 
 times. On one of the great portals, surmounted by a balustrade, is an inscription comme- 
 moratory of the exhibition of a bull-bait exhibited in this arena, at the expense of the 
 governor and people of Verona, in honour of the Emperor Joseph, when every seat in the 
 theatre was filled. " On this occasion a Roman emperor was once more hailed in a Roman 
 Amphitheatre with the titles of Caesar and Augustus, by spectators who pretend, and 
 almost deserve, to be Romans. An inscription over the opposite portal records an 
 exhibition of a very different, but perhaps not less interesting, nature. Pope Pius VI. 
 in his German excursion, passed through this city, when he was requested, by the 
 ;nunicipal authorities, to allow the inhabitants a public opportunity of testifying their 
 veneration for his office and person. The venerable pontiff accordingly appeared in 
 the Amphitheatre, selected on account of its capacity as the most proper place, and, 
 when the shouts of acclaim had subsided, poured forth his benediction upon multitudes 
 collected from all the neighbouring provinces to receive it." 
 
 " The thoughtful spectator might have amused himself with the singular contrast 
 which this ceremony must have presented, to the shows and the pomps exhibited in the 
 same arena in ancient times. A multitude, in both cases equally numerous, then 
 assembled for purposes of cruel and bloody amusements, now collected by motives of 
 
■"VSTM^^-'-H^f 
 
 I 
 
 : 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .^ 
 
 ^ 
 
THE BAY OP BAI;E. S7 
 
 piety and brotherhood : then, all noise, agitation, and uproar ; now, all silence and 
 tranquil expectation : then, all eyes fixed on the arena crowded with human victims, an 
 emperor frowning on his trembling slaves ; now, all looks riveted on the venerable 
 jierson of a Christian pontiff, who, with eyes and hands uplifted to heaven, implored for 
 the prostrate crowd peace, and happiness."* 
 
 Events of very opposite characters mark the modern history of the Amphitheatre. 
 At the commencement of this century, the French incurred the contempt and avei'sion 
 of the Veronese, by erecting a wooden theatre in the arena, where farces, pantomimes, 
 and buffooneries, were enacted for the amusement of the republican army. In 1816, 
 Mr. Woods was present at an exhibition of horsemanship, tight-rope performances, and 
 dancing dogs ! and, in 1820, Mr. Pennington witnessed dramatic representations in the 
 very theatre which the French invaders had constructed. However contemptible each of 
 these particular exhibitions, they were interesting to the traveller, as affording him some 
 opportunity of seeing the rows of the Amphitheatre partially filled. In the year 
 1822, the allied sovereigns of Europe — the king of England being represented by the 
 Duke of Wellington — had the gratification of beholding 20,000 persons seated on the 
 same marble benches, which an equal number of Romans occupied nearly 1800 years 
 since. 
 
 THE BAY OF B A IJE. 
 
 ITALY, 
 
 " Then a rich lord, in wanton rapture, crieti. 
 What place on earth with pleasing Baix vies T' Horack. 
 
 The present aspects of Rome and Naples uniformly suggest to the traveller the idea 
 of comparison between the past and the present ; but " in Rome, and its surrounaing 
 deserts, everything depicts the death of nature. In Naples and its environs, all evinces her 
 vigour and activity — an activity that preys upon itself, a feverish vitality, that consumes 
 while it brightens. The air is fire, the soil a furnace. Sunbeams bring death as they 
 fall ! and the earth, when struck, sends up burning vapours ! Everywhere the ruins of 
 time and man are mingled with the fragments of an overwrought creation ; and the 
 amphitheatres of Augustus and Pompey, the villa of Cicero, and the altars of Caligula, 
 identified by prostrate masses of sculptured marbles, lie scattered amidst the extinct 
 volcanoes of Pozzuoli. In the environs of Naples there lies subject-matter for the 
 antiquary, the painter, the naturalist, and the philosopher ! Its coasts are bathed by 
 the sea of Homer ; its lakes and hills afford the topography of Virgil ; its vineyards 
 
 • Eustace's Tour. 
 II. K 
 
38 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 bloom over caves where the Cunsean Sibyl composed her oracles : and every cliff and 
 headland is a history, the register of a crime, or the land-mark of an adventure, which 
 has made the immortality of him who recorded, or him who performed them."* 
 
 The semicircular sweep of the shore that forms the bay of the classic scenery of 
 Baiae, is lined with ruins of villas, baths, and temples of the ancient Romans; some 
 present indications, sufficiently intelligible, of their primitive destinations, while lost 
 records, and the decay of time, have rendered all discovery of the objects of others 
 hopeless. Baiae was the centre of varied pleasures, the elegant resort of the gay masters 
 of the world. Thermal springs, and medicinal vapours, abound in this delightful 
 locality ; and, as bathing was the constant recreation of the Greeks in health, and their 
 remedy under disease, these waters must have attracted attention at a very early period 
 even of ancient history. It does not, however, appear that Baiaj attained that fashionable 
 celebrity, the fame of which is now immortal, until the decay of Roman virtue, and 
 growth of every vice ; when the spoils of conquered nations were no longer devoted 
 to public works, but appropriated to private and personal purposfes, luxury assumed 
 the place of frugality, and Baiae, offering an agreeable retreat to the voluptuaries of 
 the age, whose breaking constitutions and morbid tastes required an union of recreation 
 with pleasure, every spot of ground there was occupied by some palace, villa, or temple 
 of leisure. Such was the rage for building here, that when the limited tract of land 
 that margins the waters was occupied, the wealthy senators actually built villas in the 
 sea.t "Baiae was the Brighton— the Cheltenham — or, perhaps with more propriety, 
 the Bath of Rome — for it was a winter retreat." 
 
 Inhabited by the noble and the wealthy, it became a permanent city ; and this 
 miracle of art and nature continued to engross the undivided admiration of the luxurious 
 Romans, until the days of Theodoric the Goth. When the glory of Rome was eclipsed, 
 Baiae and all similar dependencies soon became extinct, for, all that superfluous wealth, 
 which can alone sustain these cities of indolence, was dispersed for ever, along with the ' 
 Roman aristocracy. The ruins that tell of ancient Baiae, extend not only along the 
 coast that embraces its tranquil bay, but may be seen at some fathoms depth — the sea 
 having thus amply recovered her lost dominions, and triumphed silently, but securely, 
 over her invaders. 
 
 The baths of Nero are still pointed out, adjoining the remains of a reservoir, into 
 which, Suetonius says, the emperor intended to have conducted all the tepid waters 
 that spring up in the vicinity. ISIany galleries cut in the rock may still be visited, 
 leading to a fountain of boiling water. Few strangers have the courage to penetrate 
 the tepid vapour which fills the cavern ; but there is an attendant generally present, who 
 
 * Lady Morgan's Italy, 
 f " Contracta pisces xquora sentiunt, 
 
 Jactis in altum molibus. Hue frequens 
 Cxmenta demittit redemptor. 
 Marisque Baiis obstrepentis urges 
 Summovcre littora, 
 Parum locuples continente ripa." — Horace. 
 
1 
 
 ,1 
 
 ■I 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 > 
 
 vN§ 
 
 I 
 
 \^ 
 
 V, 
 
DRACHEKFEL8, AND THE ISLAND OF NONNENWORTH. 39 
 
 has acquired confidence from custom, and immediately performs the ceremony of 
 bringing water from the thermal spring. Although now neglected, and heedlessly 
 regarded by the Neapolitan nobles, this was the spot which Nero used to visit, attended 
 by a thousand carriages, and two thousand mules shod with silver. 
 
 Near to the thermae, and not far from the mole-head, is a remarkable edifice, 
 octagonal in its external form, but circular within, called the Temple of Venus. Behind 
 it is a range of apartments ornamented with basso-relievos in stucco, which would 
 appear to indicate a very difierent destination of the whole structure from that of a 
 place of worship. The ruins of other rotundos, supposed to have been dedicated to 
 Diana and Mercury, still survive the general wreck, and the ruins of Agrippina's tomb 
 is happily one of the few evidences in existence of the crime of matricide. 
 
 The scenery of Baiae retains its natural beauty — its artificial glory has long since 
 passed away. Defiled by immorality, and stained with blood, it seems to have been doomed 
 to devastation. Earthquakes, war, and pestilence have wasted its fields and depopulated 
 its shores. The villas of Pompey and Caesar are levelled in the dust — their once gay 
 abodes swallowed in the sea: its salubrious fountains have become infectious pools, and 
 those gales that breathed health and balmy odours, now waft only poison and death. 
 Deserted Baiae now expiates in silent sorrow the crimes of the last and most degenerate 
 of the Romans. 
 
 DRACHENFELS, AND THE ISLAND OF NONNENWORTH. 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 ' The castled crag of Drachenfels 
 Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, 
 %\Tiose breast of waters broadly swells 
 Between the banks that bear the vine." Byron. 
 
 Drachenfels, or Dragon Rock, is the most conspicuous, picturesque, and celebrated 
 of the Seven Mountains,* whose rude eminences have formed the grand portal of 
 Rhenish scenery. The shattered front of this sentinel-crag is difficult of ascent, but it 
 is 80 entwined with the legendary lore of this realm of song, that the traveller, when 
 he reaches its crumbling pedestal, becomes spell-bound by the charms which tradition 
 has given to the locality. The first attempt to effect a direct ascent is impeded by the 
 Dombruch, a vast excavation, from whence all the stone employed in building Cologne 
 cathedral was taken ; a second cavern, that in which the Dragon of the mountain is said 
 
 • They are Stromberg, 1054 feet above the surface of the Rhine; Niederstromberg, 1065; Oelberg, 1474; 
 Wolkenberg, 1056; Dischenfels, 1057; Lowenberg, 1415; and Hemmericb, 1221. 
 
40 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 to have slept, is the next object of attraction ; and the last, before the summit is reached, 
 is an obelisk raised to commemorate the bravery and misfortunes of those Prussian 
 Landwehr, from the town of Kbnigswinter, who fell near the spot, in 1814, in 
 endeavouring to effect the passage of the Rhine. On the highest pinnacle of the 
 mountain stand the mouldering fragments of a castle, the stronghold of a petty chief- 
 tain, whose eyry was admirably adapted to watch the scudding bark that shot swiftly 
 before the gale, and the rich merchantman, whose sluggish progress exposed it to the 
 pillage and exactions of rapacious lords, whose necessities were chiefly supplied by such 
 unlawful means. Long had the founder's family resided here before the year 1580, 
 when ApoUonia, sole surviving heiress of the ancient house, having given her hand to 
 Otho Walapot von Bassanheim, her vast domains were transferred to his family. The 
 chief security of Drachenfels Castle, however, consisted in its almost inaccessible posi- 
 tion, so that when a large force assaulted it, in the reign of the Emperor Henry V., it 
 offered but a feeble resistance ; nor were the injuries it then sustained ever repaired. 
 
 The view from these venerable ruins is varied, extensive, sublime; and each object so 
 connected with the age of chivalry, with the greatest heroes of romance, that no panorama 
 in Europe can excite an interest so intense, a feeling so enthusiastic. It would be vain, 
 in such a spot, to dwell on pastoral pictures, to point to the sleepy reflections of the 
 villages and bridges and hanging rocks, in the mirror of the Rhine ; to tell of the fruit- 
 tree forests, and vine-clad brows — to analyze the operations of Nature, who here has suf- 
 fered the crater of an extinct volcano to be clothed with waving corn-fields — these, and 
 many other subjects of inquiry, amusement, and instruction, might reasonably claim 
 attention ; but reason, here, is vanquished by romance — the legends of the rock and the 
 river alone are heard: the cave of the Dragon, — the story of horned Siegfried, the 
 Dragon-killer, — the tale of Rolandseck, on which the wild and vivid imagination of 
 Ariosto founded his Orlando, and which has supplied Schiller with materials for his 
 poem of " The Knight of Toggenburg," the traditions of the Seven Mountains, and the 
 affecting narrative of the last nun of Nonnenworth. These pictures of the memory and 
 imagination alone are dwelt on, beneath the hanging cliffs of Drachenfels, which the 
 muse of Byron has immortalized. 
 
 There are two legends of the Dragon's Den ; one called Siegfried, of less interest 
 than the other, which accomplishes the release of the victim by a miraculous intervention 
 — the first, however, is a more genuine tale of a troubadour, the second belongs to those 
 mysteries which were in operation during the transition of Europe from paganism to 
 Christianity. A grisly dragon, in the good old times, lived in a den in the Drachenfels, and 
 exacted from the inhabitants the most profound worship. Like the Minotaur of antiquity, 
 he demanded human sacrifices ; and prisoners of war, and criminals of the state, were 
 given to appease his voracity. Amongst the captives brought home to Drachenfels, 
 was a Christian maiden, of exquisite beauty ajid touching qualities, and known to have 
 been nobly descended. For this inestimable prize two of the chief warriors contended^ 
 each asserting, like Achilles and Agamemnon, that the fair captive belonged to him. The 
 dispute being referred to a priest of the false god, the aged sinner decided that she 
 
DRACHENFELS, AND THE ISLAND OF NONNENWOllTH. 41 
 
 belonged to neither, but had been given by fate as an offering to the mighty dragon. 
 The old and hardened, and heartless, applauded, and the fair Gunhilda, robed in white, 
 and wreathed with garlands, was led forth, like another Iphigenia, as a peace-offering to 
 allay discord among the people — as an atonement to a false deity. When the helpless 
 being was bound to the sacred oak in the vicinity of the Dragon's Den, the multitude 
 raised hymns of thanksgiving and devotion ; and when these horrid sounds subsided, and 
 silence reigned around, the beast sallied forth from his cave. 
 
 At first advancing with his accustomed ferocity, the monster hissed, gnashed his 
 teeth, and made other demonstrations of insatiable voracity; but suddenly starting back, 
 his contortions became altered in character, from those of gratification to the most 
 maddened rage, the most tremendous fury — thrice he essayed to spring upon his victim, 
 .thrice his efforts deceived him, like those of gaping spectres — and, in the frenzy of despair 
 and disappointment, he turned from the object of his wrath, and, running furiously towards 
 the precipice, threw himself over, and disappeared for ever. 
 
 On the following morning, the inhuman priest, accompanied by his attendants, came 
 to gather the fragments of the victim, and consign them to a grave : her they found still 
 alive and unharmed, tied to the fatal tree — it was the dragon that was vanquished. On 
 inquiring into the cause of this strange event, Gunhilda explained, that, when the 
 monster beheld the cross which she wore on her breast, his power vanished, his reign 
 ended. All called out, a miracle ! A miracle ! the Cross has triumphed over Sin ! From 
 this time Gunhilda assumed the government of the surrounding territory, in which she 
 established the pure and merciful doctrines of Christianity.* 
 
 • Could the story of Gunhilda have been the origin of the following horrible tale, which appeared in the 
 public newspapers, in July, 1839, dated from Ems ? The narration is so circumstantial, and the names of the 
 actors so fully given, that it wears a truthful aspect ; still, the enthusiastic age and national character of the writer, 
 the romantic vicinity, and the legend of Gunhilda, throw an air of suspicion over the relation. It is, however, 
 not unworthy of a place amongst the notes of the traveller. 
 
 " Romantic Incident — Castle of Dbachenfki.s. — On the night of the 14th of July, 1839, this spot, con- 
 secrated by the genius of Byron, was the scene of extraordinary commotion. Mr. J. O'Brien, an Irish gentleman, 
 and a Mr. George, an Englishman, left the neighbouring island (which is now occupied by a hotel alone, the 
 former residence of Roland's betrothed, and over which the tower stands), to enjoy by moonlight the beauteous 
 view from the castle-heights of Drachenfels. On arriving at the scene, their attention was aroused by the loud 
 screams of a female in distress. On descending lower, and in the neighbourhood from whence the voice pro- 
 ceeded, they beheld a man dragging by the hair a female, and from her violent struggles and terrified appearance, 
 and the direction he was moving (a few yards more bringing him to a fall of near three hundred feet, in the 
 direction of Bonn), his bloody intention was apparent. Mr. George, the mote active of the two, and who 
 possessed a knowledge of the language, got immediately before him, and questioned him as to his meaning. 
 Nothing disconcerted by the sudden appearance of an interrupter of his bloody intentions, he drew forth a knife, 
 and declaring the woman his child, vowed vengeance ngainst any one who would interfere between them. During 
 the parley of words, Mr. O'Brien arrived upon the spot, and seeing, in two, a fresh obstacle to his first intent, he 
 rushed with an open knife at the girl, who had, during the interruption, disentangled herself from him. Mr. 
 O'Brien, from behind, immediately struck him with a heavy bludgeon ; the effect of which extended farther 
 than he purposed. Stunned by the blow, the miscreant reeled, and fell nearly fifteen feet, to all appearance, 
 lifeless. From the appearance of the body by the light of the moon, and the heavy breathing of the man, Mr. 
 O'Brien, not supposing that he could live for any time, remained by the body, while Mr. George alarmed the 
 neighbouring village. The man was immediately removed to his house, within one mile of the scene, and medical 
 IX. L 
 
42 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The love-tale of Roland and Adelaide, being sung by one of the greatest of modern 
 poets, need not here be related any farther than the history of Nonnenworth requires. 
 There were three brothers, of violent dispositions, predatory lives, but noble origin, who 
 dwelt in their respective castles on the pinnacles of Drachenfels, Wolkenbourg, and 
 Lowenbourg. They had an only sister, Adelaide, famed for beauty, virtue, and accom- 
 plishments, whose care, on the early deaths of her parents, devolved on them. The 
 hand of Adelaide was sought by Roland, a young knight of the greatest promise, whose 
 territory was on the opposite bank of the Rhine. Whether an ancient feud between 
 this family and that of Roland, like that which separated the Montagues and Capulets, 
 — or that the brothers looked for a more splendid alliance — might have been the cause, 
 they did not wish to consent to the union, yet wanted courage to reject it. Taking a 
 middle course, they stipulated that Roland should first earn renown in the wars of 
 Charlemagne, and on his return, Adelaide should be his. 
 
 Taking a reluctant farewell of his lady-love, Roland set out for the wars of the 
 Pyrenees, where he was soon distinguished by his impetuous career — while Adelaide, 
 in solitary fidelity, awaited his return to Drachenfels. But her false brothers had 
 resolved that he should not return for her. One evening a toil-worn knight arrived at the 
 castle, and asked the rights of hospitality. Being questioned as to his adventures, he 
 related the incidents of the recent wars, and told of the exploits of Roland, who fell, 
 nobly fighting, in the field of Roncesvalles. Adelaide credited the tale, and, devoting 
 herself to the memory of her lover and the nourishment of her sorrow, the gloom of a 
 cloister at last became necessary to the melancholy of her imagination ; and, having 
 obtained the consent of her cruel brothers, who had practised this infamous deception, 
 she founded a convent on Nonnenworth Island, which lies between her brothers' castles 
 and the domains of Roland, and there passed some years in the placid performance of 
 her religious duties. At length Roland returned, covered with glory ; and then both 
 discovered the heartless stratagem by which they had been separated for ever. Adelaide 
 passed the remainder of her life in her convent ; and Roland, emulating her fidelity, built 
 a small castle on a point of land that overlooks the island, where he wasted his days in 
 vain regret, and in looking on those walls that shrouded his Adelaide.* 
 
 When the whirlwind of revolution swept across France, the females of many noble 
 families fled for shelter to the tomb of Adelaide, and became Sisters of the Cistercian 
 convent of Nonnenworth. When republicanism ended in absolutism, as scepticism does 
 in dogmatism, aftd Napoleon became uncontrolled ruler of France, with one dash of the 
 
 assistance from the town of Bonn was procured. He had suffered a slight fracture and a hurt on the right side, 
 but was soon declared in no danger. His name was Brementhal, and his daughter's seduction reaching his ears, 
 led him to this bloody intention. So free from all censure did the neighbours suppose Mr. O'Brien, from the 
 mutual explanations of Mr. George and the daughter, that they peremptorily refused his surrendering himself to 
 any constituted authorities, or leaving their protection. The morning after the miscreant's life was declared free 
 from danger, the poor girl, accompanied by her companions, arrived at the banks of the hotel, presenting flowers 
 to her deliverers. Mr. George, whose benevolence is only equalled by his large fortune to support it, has held out 
 no small hopes to the author of all the misery, and honoured marriage crowned the scene of strife. 
 • Vide Notes to Orlando Furioso — Legends of the Rhine, SfC. ^c. 
 
i 
 
 
 
EMS, ON THE LAHK. 43 
 
 imperial pen, he obliterated all monastic institutions, dissolved all religious orders, and 
 reformed the national religion. The refugees of Nonnenworth petitioned for an 
 exemption, and the wise and virtuous Josephine advocated their cause ; the emperor 
 was not inexorable, and, granting half the prayer of the petitioners, allowed the nuns 
 then in possession to retain the convent during their natural lives, after which it was to 
 revert to the state. 
 
 The concession was at first received as an act of the most royal condescension and 
 mercy, and as time flowed on, and carried away some members of the sisterhood in its 
 stream, reflection upon the virtues of the deceased, presented only a suitable occasion 
 for meditating upon the vanity, brevity, and uncertainty of human life. When, however, 
 these ravages extended, and the attendants at matins were reduced to a contracted 
 circle, the painful thought of, who should be the first to follow, obtruded itself on their 
 thoughts, and occupied their waking and their sleeping moments. But when the number 
 of sisters was reduced to twelve, a thought still more startling, yet wholly difl^erent, suc- 
 ceeded — it was no longer who should be the first to follow, but the last to survive her 
 companions. This idea was still more painful than all others, and, when the number 
 was reduced to six only, became altogether insupportable. "There are physical pains 
 which the body cannot long sustain, and so are there moral prospects on which the eye of 
 reason is unable to dwell This was one of them. The remaining nuns took immediate 
 steps to secure other asylums, and soon after separated from each other and from Non- 
 nenworth — for ever ! The island reverted to the state, and the convent was converted 
 into a caravansarai."* 
 
 EMS, ON THE LAHN. 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 " The river nobly foams and flows, 
 The charm of this enchanted ground, 
 And' all its thousand turns disclose 
 Some fresher beauty varying round." Byeon. 
 
 Amongst the many beautiful dependencies of the Rhenish regions of romance and 
 picture, Ems holds a conspicuous place : embosomed in wooded hills, whose summits are 
 swept by the most refreshing breezes, it occupies a narrow winding vale, which no rude 
 blast can ever visit too roughly. The Lahn, a graceful tributary to the Rhine, winds 
 rapidly along between the impending hills, leaving but a limited margin between its 
 waters and the abruptly rising brows of the Baederley range, for the site of convenient 
 dwellings. The Romans were not ignorant of the character of those thermal springs 
 
 • The Pilgrim of the Spas. 
 
44 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 that have conferred notoriety upon this secluded little glen, nor insensible of the 
 peculiar graces of the spot itself. Here stood the Amasia, or the Ambasis, of that 
 nation, the extent of which cannot now be discovered with any degree of certainty, but 
 considerable architectural remains are occasionally met, and coins, and other relics of 
 Roman occupancy, frequently found. 
 
 Under the German empire. Ems still possessed some esteem, and visitors who sought 
 restoration of health, rather than relaxation from the fatigues of a winter's campaign 
 in the field of fashion, found here every comfort suitable to their infirmity, and in a beauti- 
 ful and sequestered retreat Then the kurhaus stood alone in the middle of the valley, 
 and in the panoramic view of the locality appeared the ancient mansion of some little 
 principality — the river rolling majestically in front, the hills rising precipitously at its 
 back, and thick woods clothing their steep fronts. For many years, however, popular 
 favour shone on the baths and brunnens of other districts — the waters of Ems were 
 deserted, the hills stripped of their rich clothing, the vale in consequence deprived of 
 its most grateful shelter, and the best houses allowed to fall into decay. But, within 
 the last ten years, prosperity, wafted by the aura poptilaris, has revisited this 
 romantic glen ; and the few humble dwellings on the right bank of the Lahn, have 
 assumed the dignity of a respectable town. A continued range of buildings, presenting 
 an imposing fa9ade, extends for upwards of a mile along the narrow bank of the river, 
 with a sumptuous kursaal in the centre ; a handsome promenade separates them from 
 the stream ; and similar improvements are still in rapid progress. The air is charged with 
 heat during the day, from the concentration of sunbeams in this mountain-pass, and the 
 strong reflection from the slate-hills that hang over it ; but ample shelter is to be found 
 amidst the forests that are every day recovering their ancient majesty. 
 
 The waters of Ems, which issue from the Mont de Bains, a hill of slate formation, 
 are " clear and perfectly transparent in a clean glass. The temperature of the foun- 
 tain of Kesselbrunnen is 115° of Fahrenheit, that of Krachenchen only 83°. These 
 are the chief drinking springs. There are several others, used as baths, varying in 
 temperature from 80° to 124°. They have the taste of chicken-broth, with a slight 
 smack of iron." With the fair sex these waters have always been in favour, and modern 
 analysis confirms the wisdom of their selection. Thilenius thus describes their agreeable 
 character — " They have a soothing and tranquilizing effect on the nervous system; no 
 waters, with the exception of Schlangenbad, produce such a pleasing and salutary effect 
 on the skin, which they clear, soften, and leave in a satiny state, thus improving the 
 complexion, and giving additional fairness to the skin generally." 
 
 To the preceding recommendation, Hufeland adds another, not less important — 
 " We know how few mineral springs there are that can be used with safety in diseases 
 of the lungs. Patients with such affections are commonly prohibited from visiting a 
 mineral spring. Here, the reverse is the case ; and Ems stands alone, with Selters, 
 in this respect" 
 
N. 
 
 .K 
 
 S: 
 
 1x4 
 
 1 
 
 "^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 fM 
 
 1 
 
TOMB OF ST. AMBROSE. 45 
 
 TOMB OF ST. AMBROSE, 
 
 MILAN. 
 
 " The dead are everywhere, 
 Where'er is love, or tenderness, or faith ; 
 Where'er is power, pomp, pleasure, pride ; where'er 
 
 Life is or was, is death. Mary Howitt. 
 
 St. Ambrose was one of the most virtuous and sincere amongst the haughty prelates of 
 the early church, whose ambition, arrogance, and intolerance have never been exceeded 
 by any other class of men that has appeared in history. Born in Gaul, about the year 
 340, and descended from a noble Roman family, he received a liberal education, and, 
 having attained to manhood, was made consular of Liguria, within which province the 
 imperial residence of Milan was included. The moral and religious views which he 
 had acquired under the tender care of an exemplary mother, and of his pious sister, 
 Marcellina, disposed the young magistrate favourably towards the Catholic church, and 
 qualified him to take part in the disputed succession to the see of Milan, consequent upon 
 the death of Auxentius, the great advocate of Arianism. At the close of one of those 
 tumultuous contests, between the Arians and Catholics, relative to the vacant see, when 
 first a moment of silence occurred, an infant voice exclaimed, " Ambrose is bishop." — 
 The superstitious disputants replied, with one accord, " A miracle ! a miracle ! " elected 
 the learned Ambrose to the dignity, and compelled the emperor Valentinian to confirm 
 what they designated "the peculiar work of God." 
 
 Having submitted to the right of baptism, he was duly consecrated; and, settling 
 his lands upon the church, giving his money to the poor, he entered upon a still more 
 severe course of theological study, disencumbered of all future secular cares. The 
 Arian controversy afforded ample opportunity for the display of that learning, and those 
 talents, of which he was possessed ; and, his desire to fix the faith of Gratian and of 
 V^alentinian, induced him to compose and publish his treatise on the Trinity, the 
 eflfects of which were counteracted by the zeal of Justina, the younger, Valentinian's 
 mother, who was an avowed favourer of Arianism. Paganism had also to encounter 
 the opposition of this orthodox prelate, whose letter to Valentinian procured the defeat 
 of an attempt made by Symmachus, an eloquent and wealthy senator, to restore the 
 altar of Victory, and the temple of Vesta- 
 
 But Arianism had not been conquered by the labours, or the zeal, or the learning of 
 Ambrose ; to Justina and her son it still was acceptable, and the former peremptorily 
 demanded the surrender of two churches in Milan, Portia and Basilica, into her 
 power. The bishop refused, on the plea, " that the palaces on earth were Caesar's, the 
 churches God's." " If," said he, " you demand my patrimony, which is devoted to the 
 II. M 
 
46 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 poor, take it : if you demand my person, I am ready to submit — carry me to prison, or 
 to death, I will not resist ; but 1 will never betray the church of Christ. I will not call 
 upon the people to succour me ; I will die at the foot of the altar, but not desert it. 
 The tumult I will not encourage; but God alone can appease." The saint was sincere 
 — a body of Goths advancing towards the Basilica, to take forcible possession, were met 
 at the threshold by the resolute prelate, who demanded their authority, and menaced 
 them with excommunication. Struck with superstitious awe, the barbarians remained 
 for a moment in suspense ; and Ambrose, seizing the propitious crisis, poured forth the 
 denunciations of the church against sacrilege, and completed his triumph. 
 
 Valentinian now complained that none would rid him of this tyrannical churchman, 
 but the virtuous life of Ambrose saved him from the fate of Becket; and the emperor 
 contented himself by desiring the bishop to retire, whithersoever he pleased, from Milan. 
 Taking advantage of his popularity, he neglected the imperial decree, and practised 
 upon the credulity of his followers, by the pretended discovery of the skeletons of 
 Gervasius and Protasius, the martyrs, which he said he had found lying in blood, and to 
 which he had been directed by a dream. These relics were employed, immediately, in 
 working miracles ; they constituted the subject of the bishop's sermons for some time ; 
 and were auxiliary to his still widely-extending reputation as a saint. It was the 
 eloquence of Ambrose that dissuaded Maximus from invading Italy, after the assassina- 
 tion of Gratian ; and when the tyrant did cross the Alps, and put Valentinian and 
 Justina to flight, the bishop remained resolutely at the altar of his church ; beheld, with 
 sorrow, the depredations committed upon the city ; and, when the barbarians withdrew, 
 he humanely ordered the church-plate to be sold, and the produce of the sale to be 
 distributed amongst the sufferers by the pillage. 
 
 Ambrose next directed his vigilant care towards the Jews and Christians, under the 
 government of Theodosius ; and remonstrated boldly with the emperor, in favour of 
 those that were in any degree oppressed by his deputies. When the emperor ordered 
 the sacrifice of three thousand human beings to the mattes of his murdered general, 
 Botheric, Ambrose expressed the utmost horror and anguish at the relation of the deed ; 
 reproached Theodosius with the enormity of his crime ; stopped him on his approach to 
 the church of Milan, declaring, in a tone of the bitterest remonstrance, that private 
 contrition could never be sufficient to atone for so heinous a public offence. Theodosius 
 replied, that David, the man after God's own heart, had also flagrantly violated the 
 commandments; but Ambrose undauntedly answered— "You have imitated the king of 
 Israel in his crime ; imitate him also in his repentance." The emperor laid aside all 
 emblems of state, entered the church in a supplicating posture, asking pardon for his 
 sins ; and signed an edict, enjoining the intervention of thirty clear days between any 
 sentence of death and its execution. The saint did not long survive his imperial 
 master, at whose obsequies he assisted, having expired in the year 397, after a short 
 apd not painful illness. To his ft-iends who knelt around his bed, he calmly observed, 
 that " he had not conducted himself so amongst them, as to be either ashamed to live, 
 or afraid to die." 
 
TOMB OF ST. A!^BROSE. 47 
 
 Fable and superstition have combined to give a species of sanctity to the bones of 
 St. Ambrose : the old story of a swarm of bees settling on his infant face, as he slept in 
 the cradle ; of the paralytic woman, whom he restored, by only praying at her bedside ; 
 of the two Arians, who mocked him, being thrown from their horses, and killed on the 
 spot ; of the globe of fire, which enveloped his head, like a nimbus, in his last illness, 
 insinuating itself into his mouth, while his face remained of a snowy whiteness ; and of 
 the voice which proclaimed, in the hearing of a bishop, just as he was expiring, " Arise, 
 and hasten to him, for he is departing;" with many others, as little entitled to the 
 respect of the rational believer, are gravely related by authors conspicuous for their 
 learning and abilities. As a theological writer, and scriptural commentator, Ambrose is 
 deservedly esteemed ; and the piety, charity, and other virtues, that shed a lustre over his 
 life, afford some extenuation of the Becket-like pride with which he treated Theodosius. 
 
 It was not in the grand cathedral of his diocese that Ambrose generally officiated, 
 but in the convent now dedicated to his memory: erected in the year 387, it may, 
 probably, be esteemed the oldest monument of Christianity in Milan ; and the frequent 
 re-edifications have been so clumsily executed, that it now presents a most incongruous 
 and chaotic specimen of art. To restore, would appear more difficult than to invent 
 de novo ; for the instances in which restorations in painting, statuary, or architecture 
 have succeeded, are singularly rare. This error has led to the production of the 
 heterogeneous mass of building called St. Ambrose Church ; each different restoration 
 being a degree still more unlike the original, which it aspired to imitate. In front, is a 
 spacious court, such as the architects of the middle ages thought necessary to every 
 ecclesiastic edifice, for the maintenance of that silence and solemnity which should 
 characterize such designs. Within these graceful enclosures, with their richly-carved 
 balustrades, the profane awaited, in pagan times ; and public penance was afterwards 
 performed within these half-hallowed spaces, that separated the sanctuary from the city. 
 The decay of the surrounding buildings, during fifteen centuries of time, has so raised 
 the external surface, that the floor of the church is some feet below the outer level; 
 a circumstance that creates a feehng and an aspect of dampness and cold within. The 
 beautiful doors, that fold back to give admission, are said to be the very same valves 
 of bronze which the saint so boldly closed against Theodosius, after the massacre of 
 Thessalonica. Their identity is sometimes doubted, but that is immaterial, if sober 
 history affirms that no gates of any sort were shut, on that celebrated occasion, when 
 liberty fled for refuge to religion. 
 
 The relics of architecture and superstition that are here presented, are, perhaps, the 
 most interesting in this ancient city. A large rude stone pulpit, like the rostrum 
 whence the Roman orators declaimed, and which was spacious enough to permit the 
 speaker to walk about, stands on the north side of the choir; the modern pulpit is 
 a wrong deduction from the sitggeslum of the ancients, which gave more freedom of 
 action, and therefore of thought, to the speaker. 
 
 Beneath the high altar, the bones of Saint Ambrose are believed to repose ; sur- 
 rounded by those of his brother Satyr, his sister Marcellina, and Saints Gervase and 
 
48 THE RHINE, ^TALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 Protase. A pilaster, near the tomb, is distinguished by a figure of the saint, the face 
 of which is of black marble, while the costume is of lighter colours. The inscription 
 states that it was copied from life ; a strange'circumstance, if true, as the original was a 
 native of Gaul. Beneath the pulpit, is a large sarcophagus of white marble, supposed 
 to be the tomb of Stilicho, the imperial general, and of his wife Serena, the adopted 
 daughter of Theodosius. Two great slabs, at the eastern end of the choir, both com- 
 pletely covered with posthumous praises, shelter the remains of Louis II., a famous 
 warrior and lawgiver ; and of Anspent, archbishop of Milan, whose noble qualities are 
 elegantly described in one short line — "Effiector voti, propositique tenax." A curious 
 mosaic chair, in the choir, represents our Saviour on a golden throne, embellished with 
 precious stones, with Saints Gervase and Protase, seated near him. In another, of an 
 earlier date, perhaps the ninth century. Saint Ambrose appears to have fallen asleep 
 while at mass ; while a sacristan is striking him on the shoulder, and pointing to the 
 people waiting. — Fenelon fell asleep during the sermon, but in a sitting attitude ; Saint 
 Ambrose was standing before the altar when he yielded to the drowsy influence. The 
 nave boasts another relic, not less revered than those described, but less entitled to the 
 character of originality ; this is a brazen serpent, said to be the identical typical image 
 which Moses 'set up in the desert. In England, where relics have long since ceased to 
 be respected, the credulity of the Milanese must be inconceivable. These deluded 
 people entertain a belief, that at the end of the world, this serpent will utter loud 
 sibilations ; and when, during the progress of some repairs and cleaning of the church, 
 the serpent's head was accidentally turned towards the door, the utmost terror prevailed 
 in the city — a terror only removed by the speedy restoration of the reptile to its original 
 posture. 
 
 One object remains to be spoken of, more valuable and affecting than all the silly 
 fragments which hypocrisy here presents to credulity ; ,this is an exquisite fresco 
 painting, by Borgognone, of Christ in his agony, supported by two angels. 
 
i 
 
 '•^ 
 
THE AGORA. 49 
 
 THE AGORA, 
 
 ATHENS. 
 
 " Two or three columns, and many a stone, 
 Marble and granite, with grass o'er-grown I 
 Remnants of things that have passed away. 
 Fragments of stone, rear'd by creatures of clay." Bvron. 
 
 The Agora is situated between the Pnyx on the south, and the Acropolis on the 
 north ; and the approach to the latter, from the city, is beneath a fine massive Doric 
 portico, of four fluted columns, supporting a pediment. The original area, appropriated 
 not only to commercial, but to all great civic purposes, was of a circular form — the 
 longest diameter extending about quarter of a mile — and was entered between two long 
 colonnades or stoae ; the one dedicated to Jupiter the Liberator, the other occupied by 
 a magistrate, styled Basileus, who here held a species of consistorial court. A third 
 colonnade, adorned with fresco paintings of the battle of Marathon, and frequented by 
 the stoics, stood near to both the others. This was called the Painted Porch, (Pcecile 
 Stoa,) and lent its name to that sect, whose cold philosophy was discussed within its 
 marble aisles. The council-hall, where the senate of five hundred assembled, also stood 
 on one side of this centralization of all municipal offices; and amongst the principal 
 decorations of the animating scene, were statues of the ten heroes of Athens, on the 
 pedestals of which, every newly-proposed question was suspended, for public perusal, 
 previous to its discussion in the assembly. The refectory of the Prytanes, or the town- 
 hall, in which the chief citizens were entertained, on days of public business, or 
 rejoicing, also constituted one of the great features of the Agora, in the centre of which 
 stood the altar of the twelve dii majores, the geographical focus from which all Attic 
 roads diverged, and from which all were measured. 
 
 That the thoughts of the spectator should not dwell on legislative institutions 
 solely — those artificial means of correcting the evil propensity of our nature — but receive 
 a nobler impression, and be led, insensibly, to form a higher, happier, estimate of 
 mankind, statues of heroes, demigods, merciful legislators, philanthropists, and those 
 who had made some addition to the happiness of their country, were placed all around 
 the market-place. Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who released their country from the 
 tyranny of the Pisistratida?, were allotted a hallowed space ; no monument, effigy, or 
 testimonial being permitted to stand in their immediate locality. Conon and Timotheus 
 had their statues here ; Apollo and Cybele their altars ; and, the great Solon admon- 
 ished the citizens to a strict observance of the laws, from his lofty pedestal in front of 
 the Pcecile Stop. 
 
 II. N 
 
50 THE HHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 None of these memorials deserve to be remembered with more respect than the 
 altar of pity, or philanthopy, which was the most ancient design in this museum of 
 sculpture, painting, and architecture. The Athenians, only, of all the Greeks, acknow- 
 ledged the influence of this deity, in the casualties of life, and vicissitudes of hulnan 
 affairs ; and it was one of their maxims, that he who gave pity would receive prosperity. 
 When the Heraclidae fled from Eurystheus, they sought shelter at the altar of pity, in 
 the Agora of Athens ; and a herald, who attempted to drag them thence, being slain 
 by a party of young men, all such public officers, in commemoration of the outrage, wore 
 mourning robes, until the time of Atticus Herodes, when they resumed their white 
 chlamys again. The altar was overshadowed by the olive, to which suppliants so 
 often fled, and by laurels, decked with fillets. The surrounding steps afibrded the only 
 place of rest to the heart-broken, or the guilty ; and the waving foliage above them 
 was hung with votive garments, tresses of hair, or some other memorial of dissipated 
 sorrow. 
 
 Stalls, or stations, for buying and selling, were erected in the most open and 
 convenient places, temporary in their character, but protected sufficiently against the 
 scorching heat of sunshine. The city-guard anciently had an encampment in the centre 
 of the Agora, but their tents were afterwards removed to the Areopagus ; still the 
 Athenian cavalry were always reviewed in this arena. Xenophon recommended that, 
 on such occasions, they should be led round the Agora, setting off from the Mercuries, 
 saluting the temples and statues of the gods, as they passed ; and, when the circuit 
 was completed, should gallop off in squadrons, from the Mercuries, as far as the 
 Eleusinium. 
 
 Such were the various purposes to which this vast municipal enclosure was devoted 
 — such the assembled decorations, which once attracted to its precincts the philosopher, 
 the soldier, the statesman, and the merchant A solitary relic of all this national 
 greatness alone survives — the noble entrance-gate, a view of which precedes these 
 memoranda ; near to which may be read Adrian's market tariff, as legible, and perfect, 
 as when prostrate Greece yielded a silent submission to its conditions. 
 
-f - 
 
THE FORl'M. 61 
 
 THE FORUM, 
 
 ROME. 
 
 " High towers, fair temples, goodly theatres. 
 
 Strong walls, rich porches, princely palaces. 
 
 Large streets, brave houses, sacred sepulchres, 
 
 Sure gates, sweet gardens, stately galleries, 
 
 Wrought with fair pillars, and fine imageries ; 
 All these, oh, pity ! now are turned to dust, 
 And overgrown with black oblivious rust" Spenxeb. 
 
 Whether forums, amongst the ancients, were mere market-places, or devoted to civil 
 purposes, or to both in combination, they appear to have constituted a necessary part 
 of every great city ; and the history of every country in Italy is literally identified with 
 that of its forum, or public square. The Roman forum, coeval with the city, is connected 
 with all the glory and shame of Rome. Circumscribed, by the invasion of numerous and 
 magnificent public buildings, upon an originally limited area, it was hallowed by the 
 performance of religious rites, consecrated by auguries and omens, and rendered 
 memorable by acts of patriotism. A spot so sacred must necessarily have been visited 
 on a number of occasions, and when Rome became the capital of the world, her vast 
 population had far outgrown the dimensions of that space which the founder had 
 prescribed to his little band of adventurers. Julius Caesar, ever considerate for the 
 comforts of the people, and scrupulously respectful to their prejudices and supersti- 
 tions, granted a second forum for the city's accommodation, declaring at the same time, 
 that the great area should retain its pre-eminence and dignity inviolate. The Julian 
 forum is believed to have been opened and adorned at an expense of nine hundred 
 thousand pounds ; and a temple to Venus the Victorious, constituted its most splendid 
 architectural decoration. Imitating the popular example of his predecessor, Augustus 
 caused a forum to be thrown open at his expense, and dedicated in his name. A splen- 
 did portico enclosed the space on either side, and the grand vista was terminated by a 
 temple to Mars the Avenger. Beneath one of the long-drawn colonnades stood 
 the kings of Latium and of Rome, from Pius vEneas, down to Tarquin the Proud ; 
 while the heroes of the Roman republic, dressed in their triumphal costume, filled the 
 corresponding pedestals, or niches, in the other ; and here the history of the I^oman 
 people might be collected, from the inscription on each pedestal, setting forth the 
 services of the individual to his country. The statue of the founder occupied the 
 centre of the area; and Pliny describes the forum of Augustus as "the fairest work 
 that ever was executed." Nerva is said to have excelled his rivals in the costliness and 
 extravagance of the forum which he erected, but neither its history nor its ruins have 
 
62 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 survived, to establish his claim. More fortunate in these respects, was the Trajani 
 forum, of which ApoUodorus was the architect. The design consisted of four porticoes, 
 supported by columns of marble, the roofs resting on brazen beams, and covered with 
 plates of brass. Statues, triumphal chariots, and other decorative introductions, were 
 of brass, gilt ; and the whole floor of the enclosure was paved with variegated marble. 
 A triumphal arch stood at the principal entrance, through which was seen the celebrated 
 Trajan's pillar, in the centre of the forum ; and the distant scene was a temple to one 
 of the dii majores. Considerable remains of this splendid structure were to be seen in 
 the time of Gregory the Great, and its destruction is generally attributed to the 
 cupidity or violence of the citizens themselves, in some of their intestine contests. 
 
 The subject of this illustration is the original forum Romanum, where herds depas- 
 tured in Evander's time, and which has returned again, after the lapse of more than 
 two thousand years, to its original destination ; being the cumpo vaccino of modern 
 Romans. No desecration can obliterate the associations that are connected with this 
 spot — the most illustrious in the ancient classic history of the world. Of unsurpassed 
 magnificence, it was surrounded by temples and statues, approached beneath triumphal 
 arches, overhung by the Palatine Hill, with its gorgeous imperial palace glittering on 
 its summit; and by the capitol, that memorable civic record, ascending, with galleries, 
 and colonnades, and temples, to the summit of its dizzy height. It was here, amidst 
 all these emblems of pride, pomp, and power, that the people assembled — that their 
 majesty was enthroned, to decide upon the fate of nations — to consign their greatest 
 heroes to lasting infamy — to decree the deposition of the richest monarchs. From this 
 spot, Manlius pointed to the capitol, and, while that glorious object was in view, 
 succeeded in suspending his luckless fate. Gracchus, while standing in the forum, and 
 pointing to the same sanctuary, subdued his auditors to tears, by the affecting accents 
 in which he described the sacred pavement as streaming with a brother's blood. Scipio 
 Africanus invited the crowd that surrounded him in the forum, to accompany him to the 
 temple of Jupiter, that stood above them in the capitol, and thank the gods for the 
 defeat of Hannibal. There is an influence attached to locality everywhere ; it is analo- 
 gous to affection for our country, and our home; we feel more strongly the efficacy of 
 great events in our national history than foreigners can ; we even imagine, that none but 
 ourselves can fully understand or appreciate them, because they are so purely domestic ; 
 this is the feeling of patriotism — a feeling not exceeded in strength of influence by any 
 other of which mankind is susceptible, and to which the most illustrious actions 
 recorded in history are to be ascribed. 
 
 But we now look in vain for those venerated spots, where the eloquence of 
 Tully enraptured his hearers — eternal silence hangs over the ruined rostra. The 
 temples, raised to appease the gods of the Gentiles, are now trampled under-foot by 
 flocks and herds ; the gulf through which Curtius plunged into eternity, is closed and 
 unmarked ; and the very gods, whom he worshipped, have been put to flight. The 
 insulated columns, broken shafts, marble capitals, rich specimens of sculptured marble, 
 that lie scattered around, produce an extraordinary degree of excitement in every 
 
THE FORUM. 58 
 
 educated traveller, and the feelings of those whose imaginations partake of that refine- 
 ment which a cultivated taste in literature and art produce, are vividly portrayed by 
 Gibbon : — "At the distance of twenty-five years," writes this very elegant scholar, " I can 
 neither forget, nor express, the strong emotions which agitated my mind, as I first 
 approached, and entered the eternal city. After a sleepless night, I trod with lofty 
 steps the ruins of the forum. — Each memorable spot — where Romulus stood, or Tully 
 spoke, or Csesar fell— was at once present to my eye; and several days of intoxication 
 were lost, or enjoyed, before I could descend to a cool and minute investigation." 
 
 Sufficient memorabilia still hold their empire here, to render the forum an object of 
 the highest interest to the visiter. Passing under the shadow of the vast pile called 
 the tabularium, the antiquary finds himself in the centre of the forum, surrounded by a 
 crowd of objects fraught with beauty and interest. A majestic, but heavy arch, 
 dedicated to Septimius Severus, announces the epoch when the arts declined. This 
 proud monument was raised, as the inscription details, to commemorate the victory 
 gained over the Parthians and Arabians by Severus, and his sons Caracalla and Geta. 
 The name of the latter was effaced by his unnatural brother, who, with unaccount- 
 able hypocrisy, decreed him, at the same moment, an apotheosis. 
 
 Three beautiful columns, which have constituted the admiration and study of 
 artists for centuries of time, are the only remains of the temple of Jupiter Tonans — 
 an edifice raised by Augustus, in gratitude for his escape from a thunderbolt, which 
 fell near his litter, during the Spanish war. Antiquaries have imagined that the prin- 
 cipal colonnade here, was a part of the temple of Concord ; but, it is more probable 
 that it belonged to a temple of Fortune, or to the Julian Basilica. It is an incongruous 
 fragment, combining specimens of various epochs ; some, of the best days of Roman 
 art, and others when that correct taste had declined. A solitary column has withstood 
 the ravages of many hundred years ; and, by clearing away the rubbish in which the 
 pedestal was buried, an inscription was discovered, stating that Smaragdus the Exarch 
 dedicated that column to his master, Phocas. The elegance of the form, justness of 
 the proportions, and general chasteness of the design, would ascribe this column to 
 the time of the Antonines, and induce the conclusion that it had been only taken from 
 some ruined temple elsewhere, . and set up, in memory of a tyrant, on this ancient 
 theatre of freedom. 
 
 There is one group of columns, three in number, more beautiful than any relics of 
 the republic, that have outlived its liberty ; these superb objects, miracles of art, are of 
 the Corinthian order, and have long been known as part of the temple of Jupiter Stator, 
 but it is ascertained, with almost perfect certainty, that they never did form any part of 
 that building; they belonged to a Grsecostasis, or hall for the reception of ambas- 
 sadors, and this grand diplomatic tribune was named from the Greek envoys sent by 
 Pyrrhus— the first that were ever received in that state at Rome. Those who have 
 dwelt with so much enthusiasm, on the contemplation of these columns, the glory 
 of the ruined forum, need experience little disappointment at their appropriation to 
 a less dignified object than the honour of Jupiter. 
 
 II. o 
 
54 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 A PRIVATE HOUSE, 
 
 POMPEII. 
 
 " Years have grown into centuries grey, 
 The king and his people, where are they ? 
 Where are tlie houses of carved stone? 
 Look in the dust — to dust they are gone." L. E. L. 
 
 A SIMILARITY of design, and uniformity of arrangement, appear to have pervaded the 
 private residences at Pompeii ; for, with the exception of the villa of Diomede, in the 
 suburbs, one description will comprehend all the examples which have been exhumed. 
 Nor is this singular, or doubtful ; for the habits of life are sufficiently indicated by the 
 recovery of lost witnesses in the buried cities; and the modern Romans even yet 
 preserve customs and habits analogous to those of their luxurious ancestors. The 
 ancient Roman led a species of double life, public and private, or at home and abroad. 
 The head of each family passed his time in the senate, the temple, the theatre, the 
 forum, or lounged away his hours of leisure under some majestic portico ; in these 
 public places the larger share of his existence was consumed, the residue being 
 divided between the two distinct portions of his private house. The family received 
 their visiters in the pillared porch, which formed the great court of the house ; and there 
 all those courtesies passed, those civilities were interchanged, which constituted the 
 bonds of intimacy and friendship in private life. Here, also, it may be supposed, the 
 females sat, and cultivated the arts of needlework and embroidery, in which the fair sex 
 in the olden times have so singularly excelled. To these conclusions the visiter of 
 Pompeii must necessarily come — the inner apartments of every private house were 
 darksome cells, in some instances lighted through the door only ; in others, by a narrow 
 unglazed loop-hole ; and the whole dimensions of each scarcely exceeding six feet 
 square. The matron generally sat beneath the colonnade that adorned the court-yard, 
 and, surrounded by the females of her family, enjoyed the genial climate of those 
 cloudless countries, enthroned, at all events, amidst architectural dignity. 
 
 The Italian and the Frank of the present century resemble, in their manner of 
 living, the inhabitants of Pompeii : how large a portion of each man's life is spent in the 
 theatre, cafes, and public gardens ! and how little of the fireside happiness enjoyed in 
 England is observed amongst them ! " tempora mutantur, sed non mutantur in illis." 
 
 Diomede's villa being on a large scale, and three stories in height originally, is the 
 most perfect specimen of the Roman gentleman's residence remaining. The entrance, 
 or public front, is composed of the vestibule and the atrium; which included, always, 
 and in the same order, the court, the audience-chamber, the wings or aisles, and the 
 
jN 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 I 
 
 ■I . 
 
 Jt.^ 
 
 ^ 
 
<! 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 • 
 
 -9 
 
 ^ 
 
CONVENT OF BENEDICTINES, SUBIACO. 55 
 
 corridors. The court was surrounded by a covered portico, with a fountain in the 
 middle ; while the doors of the various sleeping apartments opened all around, into the 
 principal area. Those apartments devoted entirely to private accommodation, included 
 the dining-room, bed-room, picture-gallery, library, baths, and portico, in which flowers 
 and shrubs were ranged along. On the walls of the private rooms, various designs are 
 painted; sometimes basso-relievos are the chief decoration, in which, however, a very 
 morbid taste is generally exhibited ; but the floors are inlaid with elaborate and often 
 beautiful mosaic work ; yet, these costly decorations can scarcely compensate for the 
 absence of many domestic comforts which moderns enjoy. No glass, save in the villa 
 of Diomede, has been discovered at Pompeii, and no fire-places adorn their apartments, 
 or contribute to their ventilation. The roof of the house was generally a terrace, 
 protected by a trellis; and the women's apartments looked towards the garden, a prac- 
 tice still observed in the East Besides the superiority of Diomede's villa in other 
 respects, it contained a bath-room, supplied with stoves and flues ; and, in the dressing- 
 room of his lady was found a toilet, fully furnished with paints and cosmetics for 
 beautifying the skin. 
 
 One peculiarity of this rich man's dwelling testifies honourably to the quality of his 
 hospitality — the extent of his wine-cellars. These repositories extended not only 
 under his house, but the garden also; were well lighted and ventilated, and more 
 capacious than the sum of all the apartments above ground, within this sumptuous 
 residence. 
 
 CONVENT OF BENEDICTINES, SUBIACO, 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " Their's must have been a life of dreams, 
 
 Exalted and sustained 
 By that enthusiastic faith 
 
 Which such a victory gained. 
 Yet hold I not such sacrifice 
 
 Is for the Christian's creed ; 
 I question of its happiness — 
 
 I question of its need." L. E. L. 
 
 Nature has been lavish of her bounties in the vicinity of the holy citadel of Subiaco 
 — fertile fields, reclaimed from rudeness, are spread at the foot of a stem and broken 
 mountain, that rises boldly, in endless variety of forms, and adorned with venerable 
 forest-trees, between which the waters of the Anio, falling from cliff" to cliffj force an 
 impetuous way to their inevitable destination. In the vicinity of imperial Rome, no 
 spot presents and retains a greater number of interesting remains, or affords a more 
 exquisite panorama of plain and mountain. Its lake, suhluqueum, whence its name, 
 
56 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 is a scene of tranquil beauty, around which are many natural grottoes, grotesque rocks, 
 and splendid cascades, forming a never-failing attraction to foreign artists, who here 
 study the beauties of Italian landscape, and enjoy the exquisite sensations of an 
 Italian climate ; while the works of art that are scattered around, give fresh vigour to 
 that enthusiasm which is the only basis of professional fame. 
 
 Nero had a sumptuous villa at Subiaco, the site and foundations of which are yet 
 distinct ; and, it was while he was at dinner here one day, that a thunderbolt fell upon 
 his rustic palace, shattering its walls, overthrowing the table at which he sat, and 
 breaking the cup from which he was about to drink. Would it not have been a great 
 moral lesson to mankind, had this monster of iniquity been struck down by such a 
 violent and sudden death ? Nero slain by the vengeance of an offended God, would 
 have been a great example in the history of nations. " Vengeance is mine, I will 
 repay, saith the Lord ;" but man must not dictate the period when the wicked shall no 
 longer be spared. — There were spacious baths attached to Nero's villa, large remains of 
 which may be seen on the heights above the Anio ; and it was on this spot, and almost 
 amongst the ruins of those walls which had witnessed the orgies of the tyrant, that the 
 pious and learned Benedict founded a retreat for conspicuous virtues — an asylum of 
 boundless hospitality. 
 
 Besides the Roman ruins, that indicate the popularity of Subiaco in heathen times, 
 a splendid castle was erected here by one of the popes ; and, for many years, it was a 
 favourite papal residence. This substantial structure has been appropriated to more 
 humble, but not less useful objects — the accommodation of the abbot of the Benedictine 
 convent ; and no hierarch in Europe enjoys a more salubrious climate, or beholds from 
 his sanctuary a more animating or glorious prospect of mountain, plain, and valley. 
 
 It was in the sixth century, that Benedict, the founder of the church and convent 
 here, flourished in Italy ; his rule is a moral treatise, recommending virtue, enjoining 
 piety, and desiring that hospitality may be cultivated. Establishing themselves 
 amongst deserted ruins, stagnant marshes, dreary forests, or mountain heights, the 
 Benedictines' unremitting labour won over the smiles of fortune; and their solitudes, 
 in time, were converted into fertile, populous districts, over which happiness flowed 
 from the abbey in the centre. Piety, finding shelter in these monastic retreats, invited 
 learning to participate in her welcome ; and, while the northern barbarians wasted the 
 rich plains of Italy and Gaul, they often spared the abodes of literature and refine- 
 ment. The Benedictines having, according to the rules of their order, collected copies 
 of the most valuable records, assigned their agricultural implements to their happy 
 tenantry, and devoted themselves wholly to the diffusion of science, and the accumula- 
 tion of historic annals. Such were the monasteries of Vallombrosa, Monte Cassino, 
 Padua, and Cluni ; and it is to the order of St. Benedict, that England is indebted for 
 the foundation of her two Universities, duo lumina regni ; as well as for the most splen- 
 did of her Cathedral churches. Never were there more glorious monuments to the 
 taste, learning, and refinement of any fraternity, than the mouldering ruins of Valle 
 Crucis, the majestic remains of Fumess, and the ivy-mantled arches of Tin tern Abbey. 
 
CONVENT OF BENEDICTINES, SUBIACO. 57 
 
 Venerating the piety and learning of Benedict, Pope Pius VI. raised a beautiful 
 church here, at the foot of the hill on which the convent and castle stand; its architec- 
 ture is grand, but in an impure style, and it is deficient in that quality of solemnity 
 which attends a jealous admission of light into the aisles of our first Gothic churches. 
 A much-loved sister, a venerated mother, or some other representative of feminine 
 virtue, seems to have been an inseparable associate of the saints of the early centuries ; 
 and Saint Scholastica, his twin-sister, was as dear to Benedict, as the pious Marcelina 
 to Saint Ambrose. The ancient monastery, founded at Subiaco by the former, was 
 pillaged by the ruthless enemies of Christianity, in the seventh century ; but rebuilt, 
 with more than its original splendour, by the abbot Stefano. In the different styles 
 that pervade its parts, the gradual growth of the Gothic manner in Italy may be traced ; 
 and the combination marks an epoch in the decline of art In the walls of the first, 
 which is also the least ancient cloister, is an antique sarcophagus, representing three 
 Bacchic subjects; and here, also, are two beautiful porphyry columns, brought hither 
 from the ruins of Nero's villa. The more ancient cloister, ascribed to the tenth century, 
 has its arcades in ogives ; the principal arch, which is of marble, and richly adorned 
 with basso-relievos, is surmounted by a figure of the Virgin Mary, seated between two 
 lions. Two extraordinary monumental designs are erected in the ambulatory — one, 
 bearing the date of 981, records the foundation of the church of Saint Scholastina, and 
 of its dedication, by Pope Benedict VII. ; the inscription being carved on the flanks of 
 a roebuck drinking at the same cup with a stag, and beaten by a cock. The inscrip- 
 tion on the second monument enumerates the different domains that belonged to the 
 monastery in 1052; and also ascribes the erection of the steeple, by the abbot Humbert, 
 to the same year. A third cloister, of more degraded and modern style, perhaps built 
 in the thirteenth century, very much resembles, in its architectural embellishments, the 
 church of St Paul extra niuros, at Rome. The church contains several paintings, all 
 of inferior merit ; but there is a clever Madonna, after the manner of Carlo Maratti, 
 in the sacristy. 
 
 . When the rules of Benedict shall have become obsolete, and monachism grown 
 into disuse, the fame of the Convent of Subiaco will still retain some freshness ; for 
 here, in the solitude of the Appennines, the first printing-press was established in Italy, 
 in 1465, by some German monks; and here, also, that chef-d'ceiivre of the typography 
 of the fifteenth century, the first edition of Lactantius, was printed. 
 
 A mile from the church of Saint Scholastina, several memorials of the super- 
 stition of the middle ages are exhibited : in the Sacro Speco, a church excavated from 
 the rock, Benedict counted his beads, and uttered his orisons ; several paintings of the 
 fifteenth century adorn this gloomy cell, which is paved with polished marble obtained 
 from Nero's villa, and contains a fine statue, by Bernini, of young Saint Benedict, who 
 passed an eremitic life in this sacred cavern, which he entered at the age of sixteen 
 years. The pencil of Correggio, or of the Caracci, has been employed in furnishing 
 some splendid specimens of art, for the decoration of this hermitage, adjoining which 
 is a parterre of roses, formerly the field of thorns on which the good Benedict rolled 
 II. p 
 
58 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 himself, to subdue the ardour of his passions — an example imitated on the same arena 
 by Saint Francis. Although the trees and shrubs that overhang the Speco, are now 
 upright, stately, and contending, yet legends hint that these haughty children of nature 
 once bowed their fair, well-furnished heads to the Saint of Subiaco, when he came 
 and sought their refreshing shade. 
 
 STOLZENFELS, 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 " More mighty spots may rise— more glaring shine. 
 But none unite in one attaching maze 
 The brilliant, fair, and soft — the glories of old days." Bybon. 
 
 The Rhine expands into the form and aspect of a spacious lake, between the embou- 
 chure of the Lahn and the little Prussian village of Kapellen ; a majestic rock here 
 impends over the river, throwing the village into shadow, rising in broken and pictu- 
 resque masses to a considerable height, and crowned with the castle of Stolzenfels. 
 The name, which signifies "the proud rock," is very ancient, and that antiquity 
 demonstrates the fact, that its beautiful and stately form has been an object 
 of admiration for many centuries of time. While sites less commodious and secure 
 were chosen by the feudal warrior, an humble churchman, Werner, archbishop of 
 Treves, raised a strong fortress on this rock of pride — rather, it is said, for the purpose 
 of practising magic arts, than for the virtuous objects of his sacred calling. The wars in 
 which Kuno, his predecessor, had engaged, wasted his territories, and exhausted his 
 treasures : the industry of his subjects might repair the one, but who was to repair the 
 other.'' In that age (1400) the art of alchymy was much practised; the occult sciences 
 intensely studied ; the elixir vitae was sought with an insatiable thirst ; and the discovery 
 of the philosopher's stone engaged the attention of the best scholars of the day. It 
 was the pursuit of these delusive objects that gave birth to the society of Rosicrucians, 
 whose doctrines have been so ably ridiculed in Mrs. Sheridan's tale of Nourjahad, and 
 Godwin's novel of St. Leon. The superstition, credulity, and impiety of this imbecile 
 monk merited no better fate than befell his projects; for, the designing accomplices of 
 the black art, whom he had associated and shut up with himself in the castle, after 
 they had expended his remaining treasures in the transmuting of dross into gold, aban- 
 doned him to his uncomfortable reflections. The canons of Treves completed the shame 
 and ruin of the infatuated prelate, for, being disgusted with his folly, they prayed the 
 pope to silence him, and appoint a coadjutor in the performance of his clerical duties. 
 

 <^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 s 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 .S \-. 
 
 i^ 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 « 
 
STOLZENFELS. 59 
 
 Treated but too leniently, Werner made Stolzenfels his permanent residence, and dwelt 
 there the remainder of his life, despised and neglected. The mystery in which his life 
 was involved, was not totally dissipated by his death, for an idea long prevailed that 
 immense treasures, accumulated by magic means, lay buried in the dungeons of the 
 castle. 
 
 There was another archbishop of Treves, John of Baden, also tinctured with a 
 predilection for the occult sciences ; and, when he had nearly ruined his fortunes by the 
 vain pursuit, was persuaded by an Apulian monk to make extensive excavations under 
 Stolzenfels, in the expectation of finding the treasures of Werner: he found even 
 less, however, than the prince who disturbed the ashes of the Babylonian queen. 
 
 Having retained its proud position for nearly three centuries, the castle was at 
 length ruined by the French, in 1682, and exhibited a memento of fallen dignity, until 
 the early part of the nineteenth century, when it was presented to the crown-prince 
 of Prussia, afterwards Frederick William IV., by the city of Coblentz. This amiable 
 monarch, a patron of literature, and an encourager of the fine arts, has directed the 
 expenditure of handsome sums, annually, in the restoration of Stolzenfels, where the 
 Coblentzers fondly hope his majesty will become an occasional resident. The approaches 
 have been cleared — their borders planted — and a laudable zeal, accompanied by good 
 taste, employed in every part of the restoration. 
 
 It was in the picturesque castle of Stolzenfels, that the knight Ottmar and his 
 sister, the beautiful Williswind, once dwelt — honoured by the feudal lords that reigned 
 in the neighbouring territories, and beloved by the vassals of their own. The smooth 
 course of their happy and dignified life was, however, destined to be interrupted by the 
 war between Count Julich and the prince-palatine of the Rhine, to the latter of whom 
 Ottmar owed allegiance. The grief of parting was mitigated by the prospect of 
 military glory, to which the young knight aspired ; and Williswind felt no other anxiety 
 in his absence than as to the measure of his future fame. 
 
 A robber-chieftain, who led a predatory life in the forests and glens of the palatine, 
 taking advantage of Ottmar's absence, and the unprotected state of the castle, obtained 
 admission, in the disguise of a belted knight, and made a fervid declaration of his love. 
 Williswind asked a few days for consideration, but, being resolved not to accept the 
 stranger's suit, accompanied by a female attendant, she withdrew from her castle, 
 intending to take shelter in a lonely tower, in a neighbouring glen. Unhappily, 
 while going towards the place of concealment, she met the robber-chieftain and his 
 band, and, persisting in her refusal to become his bride, the villain carried her to a 
 tower in his own wild territories, where she was imprisoned, with the assurance that her 
 liberty could only be acquired by a return of his love. To compel a more speedy 
 surrender of her high resolve, the monster denied them either food or drink ; but that 
 Providence which protects the guiltless was not unmindful of this sorrowing lady and 
 her companion ; and, when their persecutor returned, after three days' absence, he 
 found Williswind more obdurate than before, and wholly unsubdued by the merciless 
 privations to which she had been subjected. 
 
60 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 As human access was impossible, the fair captive must inevitably have perished from 
 want of food, had not a pet raven, the faithful companion of Lady Williswind, watched 
 the flight of its mistress from the home of her infancy ; and, hovering over her prison, 
 descended to the window when first the robber-chief withdrew. It was in vain the 
 faithful creature attempted to force an entrance between the closely-crossing bars, to 
 return to the bosom of its fond mistress; instinct, which is the substitute for reason 
 among its kind, alone saved it from that death which must have attended the continu- 
 ance of its efforts. Frustrated in reaching the object of its fondness, the raven flew 
 away to the fields and the woods, and there picking wild fruits and berries, carried them 
 constantly, during the day, to the grated window, and dropped them in between the 
 bars. It was in this miraculous manner, that Lady Williswind, like Elijah by the 
 brook of Cherith, was fed by a raven — 
 
 " By that Power on high that can shield the good • 
 
 Thus from the tyrant of the wood." 
 
 Until, at length, one day when the robber-chieftain, enraged at her utter rejection of 
 his suit, was turning away from the tower for ever, he was met by a gallant young 
 knight, who demanded instant liberty for the captives. A fierce encounter followed, 
 in which the robber was slain ; and his vanquisher, the brave Ottmar, taking the key 
 from his girdle, released his gentle sister, whose life and honour had been so miracu- 
 lously preserved. The raven had still another duty to perform ; decoying a multitude 
 of his brethren from the surrounding country, these descended in one dense cloud upon 
 the carcass of the robber, and commenced their cruel operations. An effigy of a raven 
 over the castle-gate of Stolzenfels commemorates the faithful services of Lady 
 Williswind's pet bird, and gives a character of probability to the legend.* 
 
 * Vide *' Snowe*s Legends," " Johnson's Pilgrims of the Spas," &c. ^ 
 
^ 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 1 
 
 S^ 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 \J 
 
 ^ 
 
 ll^< 
 
 ■f 
 
 ^f 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 "" 
 
 ■j\ 
 
 
 N^ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 ,-«! 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^' 
 
THE FORTRESS OF PALAMEDI, NAPOLI DE ROMANIA. 61 
 
 THE FORTRESS OF PALAMEDI, NAPOLI DE ROMANIA, 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 ' How worthy of that ancient hind, 
 To every thoughtful spirit dear, 
 Are all the features soft and grand, 
 That we behold depicted here." Maby Howitt. 
 
 Palamedes, the son of Nauplius — he who detected the feigned insanity of Ulysses, 
 and who was afterwards so unjustly sacrificed to the artifice and resentment of the wily 
 Ithacan, by the Greeks, during the Trojan war — was the founder of Nauplia, the 
 Napoli of modern times ; and the strong fortress that crowns the hill, and frowns upon 
 the town, is still called the Palamedi. Its commercial position, and the impregnable 
 character of its defences, must have recommended it, from the earliest period, as a port 
 for delivery, and place for storage ; and these advantages rendered the name of Nauplia 
 familiar to the sailors of the Archipelago during the middle ages. 
 
 The citadel, or fortress, of Palamedi is elevated 700 feet above the sea, and is 
 inaccessible on all sides, save the east, where it is chained to the main-land by a 
 detached ridge of rocks. Travellers describe it as impregnable, if held by disciplined 
 soldiers, but add, that a palikar once reached the summit by climbing up the front 
 of the precipitous rock. This tale, even if true, detracts but little from its defensive 
 character; for, an expert individual, like the Gaul who reached the capitol, only to be 
 hurled head-foremost by the gallant Manlius — or a peculiar people, like the Ligurians, 
 80 celebrated for their activity — might accomplish a feat which, to all others, would be 
 impracticable. The princely merchants of Venice were the authors of the military 
 works that still survive at Nauplia ; and fifty-seven brass guns, now mounted in the 
 fortress, bear the date of 1687, .together with the once dreaded lion of St. Mark. All 
 the rain that falls within the fortified area is conducted, by due adjustments, into 
 spacious cisterns, excavated in the rock, and these reservoirs are capable of containing 
 a three-years' supply for as numerous a garrison as the fortress can accommodate. 
 Below the Palamedi, is a second fort, called Itch-kali, occupying the summit of a 
 peninsular rock, which the Venetians endeavoured to make completely an island ; and 
 its foundations are, probably, the earliest vestiges of architecture discernible in this 
 vicinity. The town was also fortified by the republican government, whose arms may 
 still be seen above the entrance-gate from Tiryns, surrounded by a lofty curtain-wall, 
 and defended by three strong batteries. The land-fort mounts seven guns; the sea- 
 battery is converted into a cannon-foundery ; and the fortress which commands the 
 harbour is called Les cinq Freres, from its mounting five venerable sixty-pounders. 
 
 II. Q 
 
62 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 With the advantage of deep water, good anchorage, secure shelter, and protection from 
 the batteries, it need not excite surprise that Nauplia should be the centre of Grecian 
 commerce. 
 
 The plan of the town is irregular, the streets narrow and inconvenient, with the 
 exception of those laid out by Count Capo d'Istria in the first instance, by the regency, 
 and king Otho subsequently. The square de la Platani, is the most spacious and 
 regular area in the town, and receives an air of animation, and a character of business, 
 from the coffee-houses and public offices which surround it : there is a second square, 
 less spacious, but more retired : here is the house which Capo d'Istria occupied, and 
 which afterwards became the royal palace . From the revolution, to the removal of the 
 court to Athens in 1834, the progress of Nauplia towards wealth and general pros- 
 perity was rapid, and it then promised to excel all other towns in Greece ; but, while 
 its commercial advantages continue, those that must necessarily accompany the seat of 
 government being transferred, the rapid growth of her commerce has received a tem- 
 porary check. The population had nearly doubled during the regency and kingly 
 government, and, when Otho removed to Athens, it amounted to upwards of 10,000 
 souls. When the admirable geographical, or rather commercial, character of Nauplia 
 is considered, and compared with the artificial one of Athens, it cannot fail to excite 
 some regret that this place should have been so hastily abandoned ; and it must appear, 
 even to the uninitiated in classic lore, that the spell, which accompanies the name of 
 Athens, bound the Hellenic king and council in coming to that decision. Had a council 
 of merchants been convened from the different countries of Europe, to select the spot 
 where Grecian commerce ought to centre, they would have placed Corinth first, Nauplia 
 next, and Athens last, in the order of excellence and advantage. 
 
 Few remarkable events are connected with the history of this picturesque port: 
 here Mavrocordato, president of the revolutionists, resided; and here, also, at the 
 porch of St George's church. Capo d'Istria was cruelly assassinated by Mavromikhali. 
 
«.«_w 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 
 ■ I 
 
 1 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^1 ^^ 
 
 
TEMPLES OF PiESTUJI. 63 
 
 TEMPLES OF PJESTUM. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " A fair and sumptuous city then stood here, 
 Lifting its marble forehead o'er the sea, 
 And glittering in the sunny atmosphere. 
 
 With calm, white masonry." Mary Howitt. 
 
 There is not a scene, in all the sunny region of fair Italia, more sad, solitary, or 
 singular than the desolate plain where ancient Paestum stood, the sole memorials of 
 which are the three grand buildings called the Temples. " Taking into view their 
 immemorial antiquity, their astonishing preservation, their grandeur, or rather gran- 
 diosity, their bold columnar elevation, at once majestic and open, their severe simplicity 
 of design — that simplicity in which art generally begins, and to which, after a thousand 
 revolutions of ornament, it again returns — I do not hesitate to call these the most 
 impressive monuments I ever beheld on earth."* The modem history of these beautiful 
 architectural forms is, if possible, more wrapped in mystery than the ancient; for many 
 centuries their very existence remained in obscurity ; and though their dim gray temples 
 are discernible with the aid of a glass from Salerno, the Calabrian road commands a 
 distant view of them, the city of Capaccio looks down on them, yet they remained unno- 
 ticed by the best Neapolitan antiquaries down to the middle of the last century. Whether 
 this accident is owing to the actual ignorance or culpable indifference of learned tra- 
 vellers, the unsafe and lawless state of the country, or other causes, the merit of the 
 discovery is due to the miserable shepherds of the Paestan plain, who drew to these 
 splendid ruins the attention of a young artist, who had thoughtlessly rambled from 
 Capaccio in search of employment for his pencil. 
 
 The origin, founder, or destination of these magnificent monuments, has occasioned 
 as much controversy as the cause of their concealment from observation during so many 
 centuries of time ; yet nothing is supplied by the labours of the disputants, but learned 
 conjecture — none have been able to decide, with accuracy, to what class of buildings 
 they belong. 
 
 -Temples, Baths, or Halls ? 
 
 Pronounce who can ; for all that learning reap'd 
 From her search hath been — that these are walls. 
 
 Etymology will sustain, with equal probability, the antiquary's choice, whether he 
 shall assign a Phoenician, Etruscan, Dorian, or Sybaritic origin to these remains. The 
 
 • Forsjth's Fragments. 
 
64 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 latter were expelled from the city and plain of Paestum by the Lucanians, who themselves 
 deserting their conquest, left it to be colonized by the Romans. Virgil and Claudian seem 
 to have delighted amongst its shrubberies and gardens, and to have borrowed illustrations 
 from the hiferique rosaria Fasti. But this poetic celebrity did not avail the ancient 
 city, which, though built in the Cyclopean manner, with huge polyhedric stones, was 
 plundered by the Saracens, and dispeopled by the Norman ravagers. Robert Guiscard 
 carried away the columns, sculptures, and ornaments, to embellish the church of 
 St. Matthew at Salerno ; and the sacrifices which Paestum made to his devotional inclina- 
 tion was more fatal to her duration than the injuries of the infidel. 
 
 These sublime structures have survived the extinction of the city in which they were 
 once included ; and, although Paoli can perceive the Tuscan order alone, he alone can 
 perceive it, for the temples of Paestum are in the Doric style ; not the Doric of the 
 Parthenon, but perhaps a later, perhaps of the age between the Egyptian and Grecian 
 manners, and the first attempt to pass from the huge masses of the one to the delicate 
 gracefulness of the other. " The temples of Paestum, Agrigentum, and Athens, exem- 
 plify the commencement, improvement, and perfection of the Doric order." 
 
 The ruins include two temples, the larger consecrated to Neptune, the less to 
 Ceres; and a basilica, or kind ofpcccile, divided longitudinally by a row of columns, besides 
 a Roman amphitheatre. Another temple, evidently of Roman origin, was discovered 
 in the year 1830, between those of Neptune and Ceres ; but the ruins are hardly suf- 
 ficient to attest its original area. The three principal structures are all peripteral, the 
 peristyles being still entire : the columns are not five diameters in height, and the intervals 
 between closer than in the pycnostyle itself. The shafts are frusta of cones, fluted as in 
 the Grecian-Doric ; and the mouldings, with the exception of the ovolo of the capitals, are 
 angular. In the Paestan-Doric, the members which support are larger than those sup- 
 ported ; the architraves higher than the frieze, the latter than the cornice ; " yet these 
 very peculiarities create such an exaggeration as awes every eye, and a stability which, 
 from time unknown, has sustained in the air these ponderous entablatures. The walls 
 are fallen, the columns stand ; the solid has failed, the open resists." It is impossible 
 not to be amazed at the secret equilibrium by which these solid masses have been 
 upheld for centuries, neither cement, iron-cramps, nor any artificial aid being discern- 
 ible in maintaining their association. The other properties which they possess in 
 common are, being built of a porous stone found near the sea-shore, and being all 
 elevated on plateaus, or substructions, from which the columns rise directly without 
 any pedestal or plinth. 
 
 The smallest of the temples has six columns at each end, and thirteen on each side, 
 including the angular columns in both directions : the architrave is entire, and also the 
 pediment at the west end. The cella occupied more than one third of the length, and had 
 a double portico, the shafts and capitals of which, now overgrown with weeds, fill up the 
 contracted dimensions of the interior. These temples, from the limited extent of their 
 enclosures, rather appear to have been sanctuaries for images of the gods, into which 
 the pontifices alone were permitted to enter, than places for all to worship in common 
 

 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ¥ 
 
MONUMENT OF PHILOPAPPUS. 65 
 
 The Temple of Neptune is more perfect, varied, and majestic : it has two peris- 
 tyles, separated by a wall ; the outer having fourteen columns on each side, and six at 
 each end or front; the inner having two stories of columns, separated only by an 
 architrave. Of this singular design, seven columns remain at one side of the cella, and 
 five at the other. The summit of the upper tier is somewhat higher than the external 
 cornice, and appears, therefore, to have been intended to support a roof of gentle incli- 
 nation. The foundations of the wall that enclosed the cella are distinct, as well as 
 the opening by which a descent was effected into a spacious crypt beneath. 
 
 The largest structure, called a basilica, is unparalleled in architectural remains : it 
 has nine columns at the ends, eighteen on each side, including those that stand at the 
 angles, and is divided from end to end by a row of pillars, extending between the 
 central columns at each end. The destination of this anomalous edifice has not been 
 assigned : the terms, atrium, basilica, curia, or any other, are applied in vain, while 
 the example remains unique. The odd number of columns in front, and the bisected 
 cella, are so contrary to anything hitherto known, that antiquaries do not feel disposed 
 to allow to this building the dignity of a temple. One of the most enlightened of 
 our classical tourists — one who illumined every subject which he touched — confesses 
 " that having exhausted conjecture, he returned to the idea of a temple : an open temple, 
 which had no front-doors to fix the distribution of columns, a temple, perhaps, parted 
 between two divinities, like that of Venus and Rome." 
 
 THE MONUMENT OF PHILOPAPPUS. 
 
 ATHENS. 
 
 " Cold is the heart, fair Greece, that looks on thee. 
 Nor feels as lovers o'er the dust they loved ; 
 Dull is th& eye that will not weep to see 
 Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed." 
 
 The space between the Olympeion and the Museum is strewn with fragmenfs of over- 
 thrown temples, huge blocks of stone, and sculptured marble ; — the graceful little foun- 
 tain by the Albanian gate, the majestic columns of Olympian Jove, and Adrian's gate, 
 giving increased severity to the desolate character of the scene by rendering the desola- 
 tion more conspicuous. On the site of the Museum, and near to the banks of the 
 Ilissus, are the remains of a structure, composed of brick, small stones, and cement, 
 originally cased, or coated with marble. The cell or chamber is arched, and the sub- 
 struction, whichis exposed by the falling away of the embankment that concealed it, is 
 placed upon the solid rock. The basenient story built of the grey Hymettian marble, 
 
 11. B 
 
66 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 and the soft stone from the Piraeus, is adorned with a bold alto-relievo, representing a 
 warrior standing in a chariot drawn by four horses, preceded by a crowd of servitors, 
 and followed by the goddess of Victory; the figures all in large life. The superstruc- 
 ture, of Pentelic marble, terminates in the form of a large pedestal, which is believed to 
 have supported an equestrian statue, the workmanship of Praxiteles. A form of the 
 surviving ruin is semicircular, the convex front being towards the Piraeus ; it consists 
 of two niches, but there must have been a third on the left side of the facade to complete 
 the symmetry. The niche on the right was occupied by a statue, sedent, and under- 
 neath, in Greek, this inscription : " King Antiochus, son of King Antiochus." In the cen- 
 tral niche was another figure, on a tablet beneath which were these words " Philopappus, 
 son of Antiochus Epiphanes of Bisa;" and the inscription under the third figure was 
 as follows " Basileis Seleucos Antiachou Nikator." In the Barbarini library at Rome 
 there is a MS. dated 1465, copied from Cyriac of Aneona, in which the monument 
 of Philopappus is represented as having been eighty feet in height, and a drawing of 
 the original design accompanies the description. King Antiochus was a great bene- 
 factor to the Athenians, who assigned, in gratitude, this demi or quarter of the town to 
 the tribe Antiochis. Here they remained located until the supremacy of Pompey the 
 Great, who removed them to Rome, and degraded their descendants to the rank of 
 citizens. 
 
 The architecture of Philopappus' monument has divided the applause of travellers, 
 some have discovered in the design not only faults but deformities, others, on the contrary, 
 contend that it is chaste, elegant, and imposing, even in the last moments of its existence. 
 None who visit Athens, however, will neglect the scene, or fail to participate in this 
 question of taste and criticism from the compensation which the panorama from the spot 
 must inevitably afford. 
 
 NEAR ANDERNACH. 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 On the dark heights that overlook the Rhine, 
 Flinging long shadows on the watery plains, 
 Cro\vii'd with grey towers, and girdled by the vine, 
 How little of the warlike past remains. l. e. l. 
 
 At Andernach the dark basaltic mountains rise abruptly from the water in whose glassy 
 surface they are reflected ; and the prevalence of sombre colouring in all such geological 
 formations, throws an air of melancholy and seclusion over the scene where they occur. 
 Nor is this effect diminished in this locality, by the gloomy character of the crumbling 
 ruins that present themselves on all sides, — records so mutilated by time, that the chief 
 
m 
 
 ^ 
 
 r 
 
 ^ 
 s 
 
 r 
 
 i% 
 
# i^ 
 
NEAR ANDERNACH. 67 
 
 evidence they afford is of the fleeting and perishable nature of all that's made by mortal 
 hands. The civic infancy of this very ancient place is ascribed to the early ages of 
 the Roman empire, and Marcellinus, who wrote the life of Julian the Apostate, asserts 
 that in the year 359 Antonacum was a town of commercial importance.* The usual 
 corruptions of language would perhaps sufficiently account for the transition from the 
 ancient to the modern name, but etymologists contend, that this place being the second 
 city after Treves, in the electorate, was described as " Aiidere darnach" that is, " next 
 after." 
 
 Like many other towns along the banks of " the king of rivers " this venerable place 
 owes its origin to Drusus Germanicus, who erected here one of the fifty castles which 
 military policy suggested as necessary for the preservation of the imperial conquests. 
 This trophy of tyranny and triumph was overturned by Civilis, the Batavian chief, who 
 headed a patriotic band against the forces of the emperor Galba. After These vicissitudes 
 Andernach became a frontier city of the empire and the head quarters of a military 
 prefect. Its massive ramparts, lofty watch-towers, and vaulted portals, bear lasting 
 evidence of the perfection of masonry in those early ages, while the few mouldering 
 fragments, that are, with hesitation, pronounced to be the ruins of Slgebert's palace, 
 mark the rapid decay of art simultaneously with that of political power. 
 
 When the Franks acquired the ascendancy in central Europe, Sigebert king of 
 Austrasia, and third son of Charles I., king of the Franks, erected a palace here, and, 
 made it his favourite residence, but, after the daring assassination of that brave prince, 
 in 575, his palace was not used as the home of royalty. Glowing descriptions have 
 been given by poets and historians of the glories of Sigebert's castle, in which the king 
 is said " to have fished out of his palace window," this, however, could not have referred 
 to the principal building, the ruins of which are at some distance from the water, but, to 
 a tower, erected for the purpose of enjoying the pleasures of angling, or netting, in a 
 truly royal manner. It is impossible that the river, even in the lapse of thirteen centuries 
 of time, could have escaped from the iron boundaries which enclose its waters at Andernach. 
 
 The commerce, that flourished here in the middle ages, was checked by the despotism 
 of the Electors of Treves, but, the Archbishop of Cologne, Frederick the First, having 
 aided Henry V. against the Saxons in 1114, was rewarded by the assignment of this 
 town which he rendered municipal. In the war of succession between Otto IV. and the 
 emperor Philip, the citizens favoured the former, and the excesses which they com- 
 mitted, upon all who were suspected of favouring the emperor, were disgraceful to the 
 cause which they espoused. The nuns of a convent in the town being supposed to be 
 partial to the cause of the besiegers, the youngest lady in the sisterhood was seized, 
 stripped entirely naked, and, in that painful situation, paraded through the streets on 
 the back of an ass. Such an unmanly outrage could not soon have been forgotton, and, 
 upon the surrender of the city, soon after, the emperor caused the perpetrators of the 
 cowardly insult to be thrown into cauldrons of boiling water. 
 
 • The name, however, was variously written : Antunnacum, — Antonence, — Castellum, Antenacum, — 
 Artonacum, &c. 
 
68 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The military history of Andernach, continued during many subsequent years, to occupy 
 no uninportant share in that of Germany generally ; taking an active part in ecclesi- 
 astical broils, the citizens brought down ruin on their fortunes in 1496, when they were 
 deprived of their ancient immunities, and incorporated, without any distinctive mark, 
 with the principality of Cologne. 
 
 The citizens of Andernach appear to have lent themselves too readily to the 
 intrigues of princes and prelates, or to have possessed rather too mercurial a temparament, 
 for, they were involved in almost every feud that affected the Frank empire from its 
 origin to its extinction. The burgers of Lintz, disgusted with their partizanship, under 
 the reign of the emperor Charles V. surprised the city, massacred a number of the inha- 
 bitants, and cut off the ears of those whose lives they spared. This atrocious act was 
 commemorated for many years, by the delivery of a sermon in the market-place of 
 Andernach, on St. Bartholomew's day, vilifying the Lintzers ; nor was the unchristian 
 practice of keeping vengeance awake for ever, discontinued, until the city fell into 
 the hands of the French. In 1632, Andernach having become implicated in the 
 Thirty year's War, was stormed by the Swedes, and, in 1688 was captured and plun- 
 dered by the French. It was opposite to this city also that Hoche, the favourite general 
 of the French republic, displayed his military talents by the rapid formation of a bridge 
 for the passage of his army ; and a monument, erected near the scene of this memorable 
 exploit, reminds the traveller of the fate that so often attends the most highly-gifted of 
 mortals. 
 
 The Dome, or Parish Church, is dedicated to St. Genevieve, whose legend is not 
 confined to the Brabantines, but sang affectingly by the vine-dressers on the Rhine. 
 It was built in the twelth century and is adorned with antique ornaments. Local histo- 
 rians ostentatiously assert, that an old Roman tomb within the Dome covers the ashes 
 of Valentinian the First, but their assertions must be received with caution, the emperor 
 having expired of a fit of rage, at Bregetio, on the Danube, near Presburg. The beau- 
 tiful gothic portal, Rcimerthor, opening from the city to the Coblentz-road, is shown as a 
 Roman remain, but, notwithstanding the adhesive character of its masonry, the pointed 
 archway indicates|a later period. Beneath the Town Hall (Rath-haus) are several spacious 
 vaults, unquestionably of Roman origin, but called familiarly the Jews' baths. What- 
 ever connection may have existed between these ancient constructions and the Israelitish 
 race, is uncertain, but, since the year 1396, no Jew has been permitted to reside within 
 the city. Immediately adjoining the Romerthor are the ruins of the archiepiscopal 
 palace, a spacious castellated building, erected on the side of Sigebert's royal residence, 
 and, in its vicinity, some tombs are shown for which a very ancient date is claimed. 
 
 Two towers at Andernach present themselves as conspicuous landmarks to the navi- 
 gators, and have long distinguished this little port, one was erected in 1520, as a 
 watch-tower, by the municipal authorities, whose armorial bearings ornament its doorway, 
 and consists of two stories, the lower round, the upper octagonal ; the other, called the 
 Crane-tower, was built in 1 354, to facilitate the loading of vessels with the mineral pro- 
 ductions of the district. These, which are of considerable value, were not unknown to the 
 
^ 
 
 ^' ;~ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 v 
 
CORMAYOR. 69 
 
 Romans, and still constitute an excellent trade : they consist of millstones of trap or 
 basalt, with tufa, trass, oven-stones, pipeclay, and such other mineral substancesas are 
 usually found in basaltic districts. There are also some exports of wine, as well as of 
 mineral waters, the latter obtained from the springs of Heilbrunnen, Jonniestein and 
 Ponterbrunnen. 
 
 CORMAYOR, VALLEY OF AOSTE. 
 
 ITALY, 
 
 Above me are the Alps, 
 
 The palaces of Nature, whose vast walls 
 
 Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, 
 
 And throned Eternity in icy halls 
 
 Of cold sublimity, where forms and falls 
 
 The avalanche — the thunderbolt of snow?" Byhon. 
 
 EbfCLOSED by barriers of ice and snow, which obstruct the approach of the most adven- 
 turous traveller, and impede the egress of the villagers, Cormayor is seated in a deep 
 secluded hollow, so sad, solitary, and separated, that the villagers seem to live for them- 
 alone, to forget the outer world and be themselves forgotten. Yet still the cares of 
 life excite as much anxiety as amidst the more busy haunts of men, happiness continues 
 to be the constant aim of every age and occupation, nor is the love of gold a passion 
 of which these otherwise innocent mountaineers are guiltless. In the whole long range 
 of this stupendous valley, the terrors and rude forms of which have appalled the hardy 
 nations that dwell on either side of the alpine chain, and urged them to seek for less 
 perilous passes amidst the snowy summits, — less rude and broken valleys between them, 
 through which, less fearful intercourse might be maintained, — it would appear, from the 
 selection of Aoste, as the chosen line of conveyance and traffic under the Roman rule, and 
 the subsequent occupation of so many commanding points in this majestic pass, that the 
 climate, many centuries ago, was less inclement than at present The republic did 
 not hesitate to keep their standing army quartered in the defiles of Aoste, and the bold 
 barons of the middle ages, from choice, not necessity, set up their standards and received 
 their vassals in the picturesque, but impregnable castles, that crown the conspicuous 
 heights at Verrex, St, Germains, and other equally inaccessible positions. In the 
 immediate vicinity of Cormayor the climate is mild during four months of the year, and 
 the pastoral life, during that time, affords employment that demands activity, and contri- 
 butes, therefore, to content ; but, at other periods of the year, the cold is intense, 
 vegetation repressed, and all but in-door labours suspended. 
 
 II. 8 
 
70 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 Here unhappily, those scenes, so vividly described by a philosophic traveller of the 
 nineteenth century, as of no unfrequent occurrence in these regions of wonder, may 
 be witnessed, and the impetuosity of an Alpine storm beheld with little personal appre- 
 hension on the part of the spectator. "The prelude," says Dr. Johnson, "of that 
 dreadful hurricane, destined to transform so many Alpine valleys into scenes of deso- 
 lation, manifested itself in continuous sheets of lightning ; while an oppressive stillness 
 pervaded the surcharged atmosphere, and induced that peculiar langour of mind and 
 body which few can conquer, and none who have experienced can ever forget At 
 length the wind rose, rapid and heavy showers succeeded, and lightning and thunder 
 peals, in quick alternation exhibited the true characters of an Alpine storm, I had 
 witnessed a Chinese tiffoon, an eastern tornado, and a western hurricane, but the scene 
 which for seven hours passed before our eyes, might claim kindred with the wildest of 
 these. The gale was from the west, and, during its prevalence, swept down every pass 
 of the Alps from the maritime range to the Tyrol. 
 
 "The order of the phenomena was this: — first, the terrific flash of lightning' 
 which blinded us for an instant by the intensity of its glare, then succeeded the thunder- 
 crash, like the rending of mountains, suspending for a time all sense of hearing, and 
 rendered still more dreadful by the profound stillness that ensued. Then again as the 
 ear recovered, and the paralizing shock passed oif, the storm was heard to perform the 
 same regular round. Looking towards the Alps, we saw dense and jet black masses of 
 clouds rolling along their flanks, and discharging their electric batteries, as if armies of 
 contending spirits had there driven their chariots to battle. Many of the trees were bent 
 prostrate, others were torn up by the roots. It was here that I observed an atmospheric 
 phenomenon which I had not previously witnessed in either hemisphere. At the same 
 instant a mass of clouds rushed forward with great velocity to a certain point, around 
 which, like a pivot, they continued to move in rapid gyration, like the circumvolutions of a 
 whirlwind, and then suddenly disappeared in clouds of intense darkness, from the centre 
 of which open, as if by explosion, a speck of bright sky emitted a profusion of rays 
 from every point of its circumference. Then again succeeded the dazzling leven — 
 the terrific thunder, and a deluge of rain which set every torrent in motion, and trans- 
 formed the simple stream into a cataract. This terrible scene lasted from eleven in 
 the morning till five in the afternoon, when the clouds suddenly vanished, the sun shone 
 forth, the agitation softened down, the Alps shot their glittering summits into the sky, 
 but from every height and hill, torrents like threads of foam in the distance, leaped and 
 roared into the abyss beneath. The bridges were all burst up, the roads impassable, 
 villages swept away, men and cattle drowned in the sudden inundation, and all the 
 lateral vales reduced, in one night, from a scene of fertility to that of a marshy 
 desert." 
 
m.: 
 
THE PANTHEON. 
 
 THE PANTHEON. 
 
 ROME. 
 
 " Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime — ' 
 Shrine of all saints, and temple of all gods, 
 From Jove to Jesus — spared and blest by time ; 
 Looking tranquillity — while falls or nods 
 Arch, empire, each thing round thee, and man plods 
 His way through thorns to ashes. Glorious dome I 
 Shalt thou not last? Time's scythe and tyrant's rods 
 Shiver upon thee. Sanctuary and home 
 Of art and piety— Pantheon ! — pride of Rome ," Byron. 
 
 71 
 
 The Roman Pantheon is the most perfect specimen of ancient art in existence, the most 
 magnificent evidence of the refinement of that nation which time has spared to 
 posterity. The idea of a temple to all the Gods was itself ambitious, and the sump- 
 tuousness with which the comprehensive thought was embodied, is a model for after 
 ages in the execution of public works. Athens had its Pantheon, but the Roman 
 emperor Adrian was its founder, and Paris has raised a grand mausoleum to the shades 
 of the people's demi-gods, which is amongst the noblest monuments of modern times. 
 
 In front of the Church of the Pantheon at Rome is a piazza, adorned with a foun- 
 tain, above which rises a sculptured obelisk of Egyptian granite, and around this beauti- 
 ful embellishment a common market is daily held. The noble portico of Agrippa con- 
 sists of a double row of Cbrinthian columns, of oriental granite, sixteen in number, and 
 fifteen feet in circumference. This chef-d'ieuvre of antient art displays a prodigious 
 knowledge of statics, and presents an endless variety of festoons, paterae, candelabra, and 
 other raised basso-relievos, all of exquisite performance. The grand simplicity of the 
 fa9ade has been violated by the vulgar taste of Pope Urban VII. who compelled 
 Bernini to erect the two little spires that rise above the pediment at either end, and 
 which the Italian architects have deservedly compared to " asses' ears." The space 
 between the two central pillars, wider than the other intercolumniations, opens an avenue 
 to the celebrated brazen portal, the beautiful valves of which, as they unfold, disclose to 
 view the noble rotunda so consecrated by antiquity, and by the mastery of art which it 
 exhibits. In niches, on each side of the portal, were colossal statues of Agrippa and 
 Augustus, the emperor being unwilling to be ranked amongst the gods. The majestic 
 interior retains much of its antique lining of precious marble, and, being more judici- 
 ously disposed than St. Peter's, of which it was the prototype, deceives, by the 
 appearance of greater magnitude than it possesses. The pavement is also ancient 
 and perfect ; it consists of porphyry, and Egyptian granite, and, were it the only relic 
 of ancient art which expiring Rome bequeathed to after ages, would be sufficient to 
 
72 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE 
 
 establish her claims to a just appreciation of beauty and magnificence of style. Eight 
 niches received the effiges of so many of the dii nuijores, between which stood as many 
 pedestals for the support of inferior deities. Constantine carried away the sacred 
 statues to his new capital — Adrian erected noble pilasters in the vacancies, and Pope 
 Boniface IV, when he consecrated the Pantheon to all the martys, placed eight altars where 
 the pedestals stood, enclosed between two marble pillars of diminished proportions. 
 A cornice of white marble runs round the whole rotunda, sustained by sixteen columns, 
 and by as many pilasters of Giallo antico, and this beautiful circle is the rim from which 
 the glorious dome, of solid stone, arises to the height of 137 feet, the exact diameter of 
 the temple itself. The light descends upon the floor in one bright flood, through an 
 opening in the dome of twenty-seven feet diameter, and the efl'ect of this arrangementj 
 when the brazen doors are first thrown open for admission, is truly astonishing. At 
 night the effect of the moon's rays through the lantern of the cupola, and of the fleecy 
 clouds which float in the sky, and pass over the silvery disc of our satellite, is curious 
 and interesting. It is like the passing visions of a dream. The encircling walls of the 
 Pantheon are believed to be republican architecture, but the porch and portico are uni- 
 formly ascribed to Agrippa : — Domitian and Severus contributed to its decoration ; 
 Genseric, the Vandal, plundered it of some of its bronze ornaments, but Constantine, the 
 son of Heraclius, in the seventh century, so completely despoiled it of its antique embellish- 
 ments that he has been designated by indignant history "the scourge of Rome." 
 
 The Pantheon itself is an object of so much beauty, excellence, and admiration, that 
 works of art, when placed within it, lose too great a portion of their fair and deserved 
 applause. One coincidence is extraordinary, — the greatest artist of modern ages, 
 Raffaelle, begged that no other tomb might be placed above his remains than the 
 cupola of the Pantheon, — the monument is suited to the man. Lorenzetto, under the 
 overwhelming impulse of ardent friendship, ventured to place his beautiful statue of the 
 Madonna del Sasso as a guardian angel of the great painter, and the bones of Annibal 
 Caracci have also been laid within the sphere of the same vain tutelage. Thorswalden 
 too, had the good taste to avoid all meritricious ornament, all rivalry of attraction,. in 
 the simple cenotaph, with a beautiful and life-like bust, which he has placed here to 
 the memory of Consalvi. 
 
 The form, effect, and whole design of this admirable monument are most distinctly 
 understood by an introspect from the opening of the cupola. When Charles V. visited 
 Rome, in 1536, he desired to be conducted to the exterior of the cupola, for the purpose 
 of looking down upon the Pantheon's symmetrical proportions ; Crescenzi, a young 
 Roman gentleman, was appointed to be his guide, and discharged the honourable trust 
 with becoming grace. Upon his return home, however, he confessed to his father that 
 he felt inclined to have thrown the emperor down upon the pavement, to revenge the 
 sack of his native city just nine years before, " my son," replied the modern Roman, 
 " such things should be^done, not talked of." 
 
^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
BOPPAHT. 73 
 
 B O P P A R T, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 And hills all rich with blossom'd trees, 
 And fields which promise com and wine, 
 
 And scatter'd cities crowning these, 
 Whose fair white walls along them shine.' 
 
 Byron. 
 
 A VOYAGE on the Rhine is a practical lesson in history ; a source of reflection upon the 
 transitory character of political power; a reproof to the longings of ambition. Each 
 town and village illustrates the by-gone glory of the dominant nation at the period of 
 its prosperity : ruined palaces and crumbling city walls have long outlived the lustre of 
 their lords ; and the deserted halls, where impetuous pride once exercised a fierce and 
 arbitrary rule, now withered, or shaken, or desolate, are the most splendid monuments 
 of feudalism in the world The narrow streets, the lofty, gloomy, over-hanging houses ; 
 the air of melancholy, well suited to old superstitions, that pervade this venerable place, 
 resemble a sort of local sorrow for the loss of that light that once shone here, but will 
 return no more. At this spot Roman Drusus raised a castle which promised protection to 
 the people, and the place, and the traffic on the river. His Boperdia, or Bodabriga, was 
 the origin of that flourishing town, which commerce nurtured here during the middle ages, 
 when the Franconian kings made Boppart their favourite and constant place of residence. 
 Some fragments of their palace, dismantled by the French in 1764, are discernible, and a 
 stream, tributary to the Rhine, in the immediate vicinity, still retains the name of Konigs- 
 bach, or King's river. Raised by Conrad III. in 1140 to the dignity of an imperial 
 city, where diets were frequently held, in 1312 it was transferred to Baldwin, archbishop 
 of Treves, by his brother the emperor Henry VH., and was by him incorporated with the 
 electorate ; it now, however, belongs to Prussia. 
 
 The beauty of the scene, the fertility of the river's banks adjacent to the town, and 
 the protection which a royal residence might naturally have been expected to afford, 
 attracted hither many religious communities ; and, the well-known taste of these educated 
 classes is a favourable testimony to the original charms and advantages of the locality. 
 A spacious monastery, dedicated to St. Martin, has long been suppressed ; but the sump- 
 tuous Benedictine nunnery and abbey of Marienburg, on the eminence behind the 
 town, still dignify the scene. It was an institution founded in the eleventh century, 
 for the advantage of noble families only, and enriched by the donations of emperors 
 and kings. After its dissolution it was first converted into a cotton -factory, and 
 subsequently into an institution for female instruction. The most conspicuous, however, 
 of the civic features of Boppart, as the voyager descries its form from the river, is the 
 
 II. T 
 
74 THE lUUNE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 church called Ottosburg, with its twin-spires, light and graceful, and united by a gallery 
 between the battlements of their towers. A large tract of level, fertile land, both here and 
 at Kemp, on the opposite bank of the river, contributes to supply the market of Boppart 
 with agricultural produce ; while the richly-clad hills yield vast quantities of wine, as 
 well as charcoal, which is shipped here for the bloomeries at Bendorf. A less interest- 
 ing and romantic trade, but not less profitable to the four thousand inhabitants of Bop- 
 part, is the manufacture of tobacco-pipes : this occupation is carried on to an extraor- 
 dinary extent, and, next to their wine-trade, is the most important. 
 
 Less busy than elsewhere in recording the fables of feudalism, that give interest to 
 the classic banks of this majestic river, legend has neglected Boppart, but expended all 
 her graces, and employed all her powers, in commemorating the rocks of Liebenstein 
 and Sternfels, that are seen from the quays. The Brothers, to which curiosity is 
 directed, are two ruined castles, occupying the summits of a majestic bicipitous moun- 
 tain. They were the solitary homes of two noble barons, twin-brothers, who had 
 unhappily fixed their aifections on a princess of the empire, but being frustrated in their 
 pursuit of happiness by the waywardness of fate, retired to these impregnable for- 
 tresses, and passed the remainder of their sentimental lives in seclusion from the world- 
 There is another version of the legend, called " The Story of the Knight and his 
 Ladye-love," in which the chief characters are Sir Conrad Bayer, the false one, Maria, 
 the fair one, and her heroic brother. 
 
 COBLENTZ AND EHRENBREITSTEIN, 
 
 ON THE RHINE. 
 
 " While castles and palaces, seen by reflection, 
 
 In the depth of its clear placid bosom to shine, 
 
 So long shall we guard it with pride and affection, 
 
 The foe shaU enslave not our beautiful Rhine." 
 
 Mas. AjiDV. 
 
 The afflux of the Moselle with the Rhine forms a spacious expanse between the city 
 walls and the huge pyramidal rock crowned by the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein. The 
 embouchure of this glorious tributary here presents also a noble bay ; — it is the efflux of 
 the streams that descend from a thousand hills covered with vines, and rich in their pic- 
 turesque and multiplied forms. An ancient stone bridge, thrown across the Moselle, leads 
 to the northern gate of Coblentz, and the approach to the city is adorned by several large 
 chateaux, commanding a view of the meeting of the waters. Built upon a delta 
 between two rivers, the base of the triangle alone being open to the land, its site is con- 
 
J 
 
 
 ,^ 
 
 ^ ''^ 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 V 
 
COBLENTZ AND EHHENBREITSTEIN. 75 
 
 venient for commerce, and adapted to war. The Romans did not overlook these local 
 advantages, and, when Drusus Germanicus resolved on raising fifty fortresses to shelter 
 the Roman governors, he selected Conjluentia {the conflux of the Rhine and Moselle) as 
 one of the most important positions. Ehrenbreitstein formed into a fortress by nature, 
 aided in making Coblentz the key to Germany, as it is now its bulwark ; and it did not 
 fail to maintain that military defensive importance until the industry of maritime coun- 
 tries, and the complicated constitution of the empire, reduced Germany in the scale of 
 nations. The Franconian kings resided here, and the emperors also made this their 
 occasional abode. In the year 806 there was a famous ecclesiastical council held in 
 St. Castor's collegiate church, at which three kings and eleven bishops were present ; 
 and the successors of Charlemagne found Coblentz the most central city in the empire for 
 the residence of the court, as well as for the convenience of intercourse between France 
 and other parts of the empire. In 1018, the territory of Treves (Treveri of the Romans), 
 regained its distinction, by a grant of the emperor, Henry II. to Archbishop Pappo : by 
 which transfer Coblentz also recovered its independence. The " thirty years' war" left 
 traces of its cruelties and desolation in Coblentz, which became successively the prize 
 of Frank Imperialists, German Protestants, Swedes, and Spaniards, and in 1688 a great 
 portion of the city was destroyed by the fire of artillery from Ehrenbreitstein, of which 
 the French had then got possession. 
 
 During the first French revolution, Coblentz had given offence to the terrorists, by 
 harbouring the emigrant nobles, and permitting the Prince of Conde and the jjveux che- 
 valiers to hold their royalist councils here; and, in 1794, a large force, commanded by 
 Marceau, besieged and took the city. This was the hero whose fame Byron celebrates, 
 whose fortune he laments, 
 
 " Honour to Marceau ! o'er whose early tomb 
 Tears, big tears gush'd from the rough soldier's lid;" 
 
 and whose ashes repose beneath a monument in the vicinity of the city. The French made 
 this city the capital of the republican department of Eifel ; but "when justice retunied 
 upon earth," it was restored to Prussia, and is now the chief place in her Rhenish 
 provinces. 
 
 The trade of Coblentz is considerable ; the transit of tourists and invalids affords a 
 large revenue; and the numerous garrison in the fortress give employment to various 
 trades and occupations. The old town has yielded to the decay of time, and suffered 
 from the ravages of war, but still retains some traces of gloomy grandeur ; but the new 
 town is graceful in architecture, and animated by the presence of visitors, of military, 
 and votaries of commerce. Four towers distinguish the venerable church of St. Castor, in 
 which the grandsons of Charlemagne agreed to partition the empire into Germany, Italy, 
 and France; and, in front of which Edward III. was installed Vicar of the Empire, by 
 Lewis of Bavaria. A splendid piece of sculpture in the chancel commemorates the active 
 virtues of the ambitious Kuno of Falkenstein, Archbishop of Treves, who died in the 
 
76 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 fourteenth century. In the Castorplatz stands an ornamented fountain, raised in the 
 year 1812, by the prefect of Coblentz, to commemorate the invasion of Russia by the 
 French, and, by a refinement in the art of adulation, the anticipated triumphs were 
 actually engraven on its front. When the Russian armies passed through Coblentz to 
 invade France, the inscription was shown to their general, who, seizing the happy oppor- 
 tunity of chastising vanity and falsehood, caused the following sarcastic recognition 
 to be subscribed — " Read and approved by the general commanding the Russians at 
 Coblentz . — Josephowitch." 
 
 The public buildings include some of antiquarian interest, some associated with 
 historical and political recollections, and others memorable as chaste examples of modern 
 art. The Town Hall and Castle of the Electors are venerable and rich in design ; the 
 family mansion of Prince Metternich, although deserted, cannot be forgotten ; and, the 
 modern Palace of the Electors is a spacious building, of brick but stuccoed, and in the 
 Ionic order. It presents a fagade five hundred and fifty feet in length, and is used as 
 " The Palace of Justice," or government-house. The last elector, Clemens Wenceslaus, 
 constructed an aqueduct for supplying the city, in 1791. The water is conveyed from 
 Krummelberg, near Metternich, by conduits, which pass over the Moselle bridge, to a 
 public fountain near the Clemenstadt 
 
 The trade of Coblentz consists in the reception, and delivery, of goods and produce, 
 brought hither down the Lahn, Moselle, and Rhine, including choice wines, mineral 
 waters, corn, iron, mill-stones, and timber. 
 
 The continual passing of vast rafts that descend the river, the navigation by steam- 
 vessels, and the arrival and departure of Rhenish craft, contribute to animate this sunny 
 and cheerful scene, which probably is nowhere more delightfully enjoyed than from 
 the bridge of boats that connects the city with Ehrenbreitstein. 
 

 
 A 
 
 \1 
 
 I. 
 
THE LOGGIA DE LANZI. 77 
 
 THE LOGGIA DE LANZI. 
 
 FLORENCE, ITALY. 
 
 " Here, Lorenzo, who in Phoebus' train, 
 Might well of glory the least gifts disdain — 
 Lorenzo, of the muse the sure report, 
 Oft held his peaceful hospitable court." 
 
 The term Loggia is consecrated to architectural phraseology, and has acquired a species 
 of respectful application from the great artists with whose names it is so constantly 
 associated. Raphael's loggia in the Vatican is adorned by the hand of that celebrated 
 master, aided, it is believed, by some fifty painters, who never failed to form his train, 
 and acknowledge a vassalage to his genius, whenever he visited the pontifical palace. 
 At Genoa " there is a very skilful structure, the Loggia de Banchi, the design of 
 Galeaso Alessi, which, for the boldness of its roof, consisting simply of ships masts, is 
 called ' un bel azzardo,' as if such hazards did not commonly befall every man of genius." 
 Florence boasts a loggia of still more extended celebrity, of still higher claims to 
 admiration as a work of art The Loggia de Lanzi d'Orgagna is one of the most splendid 
 monuments of Italian art in existence ; the chief embellishment of the famous ducal 
 Piazza, — the finest portico in the world. There is not a quality, requisite to the character 
 of nobleness in style, that is not included in this grand design ; here are height, breadth, 
 solidity, lightness, elegance, combined with a taste and grandeur that acknowledge 
 none superior. Critics have objected to the Corinthian pilasters, as a barbarism of the 
 times, which the artist had not the courage to reject, but they confess that the sculptures 
 and cornice possess the highest merit, and harmonize perfectly with every other part. 
 
 So universal has been the praise conceded to the architect, that his successors have 
 not only never withheld its concession, but the greatest of them all, Michael Angelo, 
 refused to erect any rival to the Loggia de Lanzi in the Piazza, although commanded by 
 Cosmo I. to present a design for the completion of that glorious square. There is, it is 
 true, a violent contrast between the sullen, heavy, rustic work, that makes a palace look 
 a prison, and the lofty light arcades of the archducal palace ; but, the profusion of 
 statues and other elegant works, which adorn the Piazza, carry the imagination captive, 
 and palliate all faults. The enviable gifts of painting and architecture were the privi- 
 lege of Michael Angelo ; Lanzi added to these the characters of sculptor and poet. 
 Frequent assaults of flattery overcame his judgment; and, becoming a victim to vanity, 
 he was careful in recording the versatility of his talents by inscribing on his pictures 
 Orgagiia sculptor, on his statues Orgagna pictor. 
 
 Were the architectural magnificence of the Loggia inferior, the collection of statues 
 which adorns it, would alone render it the noblest and most interesting open promenade 
 
 n. u 
 
78 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 in Europe. The Judith, a colossal effigy, stood formerly in the palace of Pietro de 
 Medici, where it was reckoned amongst the chief works of art in the museum of his 
 family. Upon the flight of that cowardly tyrant, and entry of Charles VIII, of France 
 into Florence, Judith was removed to the Loggia, and there erected as a public allego- 
 rical monument, having the following popular admonition inscribed on its pedestal : — 
 " Exemplum salut. puhl. cives posuere. Mccccxcv." The Virtues, six in number, 
 represented in half-relief, were erected in 1368, by Jacopo di Pietro ; they have been 
 hitherto erroneously ascribed to Orgagna. The Perseus of Benvenuto Cellini is not 
 only one of the most perfect works of that great artist, but also recalls to memory 
 one of the most singular incidents in the professional life of that eccentric character. 
 Exhausted with the fatigue of attending the casting of this statue, and parched with 
 fever, such was the spirit that animated him, that, leaping from his bed, he hastened to 
 the foundry and urged on the melting, throwing into the bronze all the pewter vessels 
 of the household. This ceremony was followed by a devout and fervent prayer for the 
 success of the work ; upon which, becoming suddenly restored to perfect health and 
 vigour, he sat down with all his men, and partook of an exhilarating repast The 
 pedestal of the Perseus is adorned with four exquisite little figures; beneath one of 
 them, a Jupiter, these words are inscribed — " Te, fill, si quis Iceserit, ultor era" a motto 
 equally applicable to the artist and the deity. 
 
 The Rape of a Saline is a coarse, indecent, colossal group, the elevation of which 
 was hailed throughout all Italy with rapturous acclamations : it is the work of Giovanni 
 Bologna. Flaminius Vacca, a sculptor of the sixteenth century, was the author of 
 the famous lions of the Loggia : he was a careful student of the Grecian school, and his 
 works are amongst the best productions of modern art ; in fact, he has been excelled 
 by Canova alone. Six large statues, representing priestesses of Romulus, adorn the 
 promenade, all productions of the highest class of art; one of them, however, having 
 her hand raised towards her face, is more admired than the rest, for the expression of 
 melancholy which it so admirably represents. 
 
 The arcade of the Loggia was originally the rostra of the city, to which the people 
 were summoned by the old palace bell. From thence they were harangued by the 
 orators ; there the Golfaloniere was installed, the generals received their batons, knights 
 the insignia of their order ; and the decrees of the state were also first promulgated 
 from this sumptuous arcade. Once the lancers of Cosmo's guard made this stately 
 edifice their habitual quarters; and, it was then that the name which still it bears, and 
 with which all artists and travellers are familiar, was first conferred upon it 
 
■^-^ 
 
 4 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 
 i 
 
TEMPLE OF THESEUS, 79 
 
 THE TEMPLE OF THESEUS, 
 
 ATHENS. 
 
 *' Near Theseus" fane, yon solitary palm. 
 All tinged with varied hues, arrests the eye. 
 And dull were his, that past both heedless by." 
 
 With the history or mythology of Theseus, the recorded annals of Athens, as a well- 
 regulated political community, may perhaps with propriety be said to commence. It is 
 obvious to the reflecting scholar, that the story of his life, to which the Athenians with 
 so much vanity appeal, is altogether allegorical. His destinies afford an occasion for 
 eulogizing military valour ; the code of jurisprudence which he is believed to have 
 digested, forms a pretext for applauding the quality of justice ; his kindred with Daedalus 
 implies the love and patronage of the arts ; Patriotism is praised, in detailing his Cretan 
 expedition; and, when Pirithous is introduced, it is for the purpose of holding up 
 inviolable friendship as an object of universal admiration. But Jupiter himself did not 
 exhibit to mankind a perfect moral example ; it would have been inconsistent, therefore, 
 with the doctrine of pagan deification, that a hero should have been represented as 
 immaculate. The same people, therefore, who point to the reign of Theseus as one of 
 political justice, as one of public wisdom, which the very name yJthens, the gift of 
 Theseus, plainly indicates, do not deny that their second founder laboured under the 
 failings of humanity. And this concession is made, not to detract from a fame which is still 
 superior to that of all other Grecian princes, but, in the same strain and spirit of allegory, 
 to condemn vice and repudiate immorality. When, therefore, Theseus had the cruelty and 
 ingratitude to desert his benefactress Ariadne, on a solitary island, the generous-hearted 
 Bacchus comes to her relief, and suffering innocence receives protection : but, when 
 Theseus was himself sent into exile, he is not released, but permitted, as a punishment 
 for his enormities, to pine and perish in the land of the stranger. Whether, therefore, 
 Theseus be a real character in Attic historj', or an allegorized picture of the early state 
 of the Athenian people, the conclusion that virtue was an object of admiration, and vice 
 of odium, appears to rest on solid foundations. Chastised for the crime of ingratitude, 
 his countrymen reflected on his virtues and his services, and, finding that they prepon- 
 derated much beyond his errors, repented of their own cruelty and ingratitude, sent to 
 Scyros for their prince's bones, and, conveying them, with all the honour due to royalty, 
 to his native city, erected over them the splendid structure that still survives, " as his 
 temple and his tomb." 
 
80 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 This fabric, in which the most enduring stability, and a simplicity of design peculiarly 
 striking, are united with the highest elegance and accuracy of workmanship, the cha- 
 racteristics of the Doric style, whose chaste beauty is not, in the opinion of the first 
 artists, to be equalled by the graces of any of the other Orders, was commenced in the 
 year b.c. 476, just four years after the battle of Salamis. The Theseion is situated only 
 a few hundred yards north of the Areopagus, in the district of Melite, and is the most 
 perfect temple in Greece. It probably furnished a model for the Parthenon ; but the 
 impression which it never fails to produce arises more from its symmetry than its mag- 
 nitude. Most of the ancient temples of Greece are elevated on a grand torus of three 
 steps ; the Theseion on two only. These steps, as well as all the other parts of the 
 building, are of Pentelic marble, with the exception of the sculptured parts, which 
 are of Parian. It has six columns at each end, and twelve at each side, making a total 
 of thirty-four, which are all standing, together with a considerable part of the frieze ; that 
 of the pronaos is sculptured in alto-relievo with a battle-piece, supposed to be the war 
 of Theseus with the Pallantidae. On the inner frieze of the western end or portico is 
 the conflict of the Centaurs and Lapithae. Pausanias mentions another subject — the 
 battles of the Athenians and Amazons, executed by Mikon — but omits all notice of the 
 labours of Hercules, which, together with those of Theseus, his rival, occupy eighteen 
 of the sixty-eight metopae which adorn the temple ; all the rest being left plain and 
 unornamented. 
 
 The cella is entire ; the walls are coated with a durable stucco, obviously ancient, 
 but its roof is modem, raised to convert this gorgeous pagan temple into a place of 
 Christian worship. The preservers of this noble relic of the early refinement of Athens 
 have, however, surrendered the cella again, as a cabinet for the assemblage, and exhi- 
 bition, of whatever antiquities shall be exhumed in sinking the foundations of the modem 
 city; and, already has a variety of sculptured fragments, inscriptions, and mutilated 
 statues been brought hither, which are now likely to be preserved on that classic spot, 
 their removal from which would appear a desecration. The spoliation of the glories 
 of the Theseion was long and unjustly attributed to the influence, interference, and power 
 of the British government, but, the detection of the real author of the sacrilege has 
 rescued the national character. However England may congratulate herself upon the 
 possession of the Elgin marbles in the British Museum, all travellers and scholars 
 concur in censuring the individual by whom they were removed. On the plastered wall 
 of the cella these words perpetuate his Lordship's crime — 
 
 " Quod non fecerunt Goti 
 Hoc fecerunt Scoti ;" 
 
 and Lord Byron, in his " Curse of Minerva," has given to the spoiler an unenviable 
 immortality. The noble poet thus translates the " handwriting on the wall" of the cella — 
 
 •• 'Scaped from the ravage of the Frank ard Goth, 
 Thy country sends a spoiler worse than both." 
 
^ 
 
 
 >^ 
 
CITADEL or MYCENiF. 81 
 
 CITADEL OF MYCENiE, 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 ' Look on its broken arch, its mined wall, 
 Its chambers desolate, its portals foul : 
 Yes, this was once Ambition's airy hall, 
 The dome of thought, the palace of the soul. " 
 
 Here are the homes of the heroes of Homer ; here the anxious gaze of classic education 
 seeks some traces of the " wide- ways," and " the well-built walls," in whose solid construc- 
 tion the gods themselves participated. Here the great tragedy of Orestes was enacted ; 
 here Clytemnestra dishonoured the name of queen, and the fall of Troy was avenged 
 in the death of Agamemnon, " king of men." Even Athens is young compared with 
 the age-honoured fragments of Cyclopian architecture, which here struggle with old 
 time itself for the mastery. So long is it since the sun of prosperity has shone upon 
 Mycenae, that Sophocles only alludes to the ruins of the palace ; and other authors 
 evidently confound the remains of the Acropolis, (the subject of the illustration,) with 
 the dome of the dramatic poet 
 
 But the foundations of the city-walls may still be traced, for the colossal nature of 
 the architecture obstructed their total demolition by the Argives, and their extent was 
 much more considerable than the circumference of the citadel. It is known that the 
 tombs of Agamemnon and his faithful band were within the walls of the city, but not 
 of the citadel ; and, with equal certainty concluded, that Clytemnestra and her para- 
 mour were deemed unworthy of a sepulchre within these hallowed precincts. The 
 stone-roofed building called the " Treasury of Atreus," closely resembling that of 
 Minyas at Orchomenos, is of sq indefinite a character, that its real destination is never 
 likely to be assigned ; but, there are several roofless chambers here, some circular, others 
 oblong, which are probably identical with those tombs described by Pausanias. 
 
 Excavation amidst these venerable remains might not repay with sculptured statues, 
 like those of Athens and of Rome, for desolation visited these walls before the arts had 
 attained maturity in Argolis, yet ceramic vases would be found ; and, although coined 
 money probably formed no part of the contents of Atreus' treasury, ingots of gold were 
 as much coveted in that monarch's reign as in the nineteenth century. Solomon had 
 shekels — Homer speaks of talents — and Croesus bribed the gods with ingots : in all 
 these instances the precious metal had not been submitted to the impress of the 
 royal mint. 
 
 II. X 
 
82 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 The Acropolis is entered by the Gate of Lions, — a porch of similar design and solid 
 architecture as the doorway of the treasury. An avenue just thirty feet in breadth, 
 enclosed between two massive parallel walls, leads to the Gate of Lions, so called from 
 a triangular stone above it, the base of which is eleven feet in length, and the altitude nine, 
 on which the lions are sculptured. All the remaining doorways resemble the Egyptian 
 form, diminishing in breadth as the height increases. The stone of which the walls are 
 composed is a species of hard breccia, found in the locality, but the block on which the 
 lions are represented is green basalt There is a columnar monument near the treasury, 
 composed also of basalt, the grotesque design of which is evidently Egyptian ; and an 
 attentive reflection upon the proofs which the ruins of Mycenae afford, will lead to the 
 conclusion, that the arts of Egypt were first cultivated at Mycenae, on their arrival in 
 Greece, and here they are seen in their transit from Thebes to Athens. 
 
 The ground-plan of the citadel is triangular, conforming exactly to the sinuosities of 
 the rock, built partly in the Cyclopian manner, but finished with more accurately joined 
 polygonal stones. The fortress was not supplied with flanking towers, but had several 
 entrances of narrow dimensions, not admitting more than two persons abreast Traces of 
 bolts, doors, and means of security, are distinctly observable, and appear to indicate massive 
 dimensions. Few other records of this ancient place survive the many centuries that have 
 rolled over since the age of Agamemnon and of Orestes. A circular chamber in the rock, 
 resembling the Treasury of Atreus, was probably a cistern for the supply of the garrison 
 with water ; but, immediately outside the walls the fount of Perseus springs up, in a clear 
 and copious stream of wholesome water. This is the classic rivulet that once supplied 
 Mycenae, and its issue from the rock is so abundant still, that, being received at once 
 into a conduit, it is conveyed to the village of Kahata, and to the khan at the verge of 
 the plain ; and to both affords a plenteous supply. 
 
 NAPOLI DE ROMANIA. 
 
 GREECE. 
 
 •" Dark with age, these towers look down 
 Over theii once vassal town ; 
 Warlike — yet long years have past 
 Since they looked on slaughter last." 
 
 Napoli, the Nauplia of the ancients, has probably been more conspicuous in the present 
 than the past history of Greece. Insignificant in population, but important from its 
 military strength, it must, under all governments, have been a garrisoned position. In 
 the vicity there are extensive eaves, the work of art, productions of Cyclopian ingenuity. 
 Mr. Dodwell, who visited Greece in 1806, appears to have had a presentiment of the 
 
NAPOLI DE ROMANIA. 83 
 
 approach of Grecian freedom ; describing these subterraneous works near Nauplia, he 
 observes : — " The remains that are yet unknown will be brought to light, when the 
 reciprocal jealousy of the European powers permits the Greeks to break their chains, 
 and to chase from their outraged territory that host of dull oppressors who have spread 
 the shades of ignorance over the land that was once illuminated by science, and who 
 unconsciously trample on the venerable dust of the Pelopidse and the Atridse." 
 
 Whatever may have been the object of these recesses, which were the occasion of 
 this prophecy, Nauplia, on the release of Greece from thraldom, became the very residence 
 of royalty. Here, for a while, the provisional government fixed the chief tribunal of jus- 
 tice and seat of the executive ; nor was it foreseen that this preference to Athens would, 
 one day, be the occasion of inflicting a memorable stain upon the local history, by the 
 cowardly assassination of the Russian resident. Count Capo d'Istria, in the public street 
 This unfortunate functionary arrived in Greece in 1827, and his first measures had all the 
 characteristics of hberahty; but, growing haughty by familiarity with power, his popularity 
 faded away. With one bold stroke he abolished the republican form of government, and 
 substituted a council, styled the Panhellennium, of which he was the perpetual dictator. 
 The Constitutionalists, who had periled life and lavished property in the protracted 
 struggle for liberty, finding themselves excluded from any share in the government, 
 ventured to remonstrate with the president upon the partiality of this policy, but were 
 cooly informed that he considered them unfit to be trusted with the reins of government, 
 unworthy of that freedom to which they aspired. Irritated by this indignity, the chiefs 
 withdrew in sullen moodiness, and, in the year 1831 assumed an attitude of resistance 
 to the government. Miaulis, Mavrocordato, and Conduriottis demanded a convocation 
 of the national assembly, the establishment of the liberty of the press, and release of 
 certain patriots who had been arbitrarily imprisoned, amongst whom was Mavromicha- 
 lis. Impatient of delay, they seized the harbour of Poros, with the Greek fleet, then at 
 anchor within it ; and, upon the approach of the Russian squadron, Miaulis blew up his 
 own ships, to prevent them from becoming the prize of hie enemies. He destroyed a 
 second fleet for the same objects, while co-operating with the Mainots. Feeling that 
 their efforts to frustrate Russian designs against their liberties only weakened the national 
 strength, they resolved on ascending to the fountain-head of the stream of sorrow, and cut 
 off" the source, the president, from whom they believed those despotic practices emanated. 
 In the month of October, 1831, George the son, and Constantino the brother, of PietrO 
 Mavromichalis, entered Napoli in disguise, and, as the president was about to enter the 
 church, one of the conspirators discharged a pistol at his head, while the other stabbed 
 him in the back. This act of barbarity, the most perfect demonstration of the ill-fated 
 Capo d' letria's assertion, that Greece was not yet ripe for the reception of freedom, 
 extinguished Russian influence in Greece ; nor did that government afterwards exhibit 
 any desire to regain the confidence which the early part of the president's administration 
 had acquired. 
 
84 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 FOUNTAIN AND CROSS AT CARNELO. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 " It ie that fountain and that well 
 
 Where pleasure and repentance dwell." Raleigh. 
 
 The district in the vicinity of Sora is one of the most romantic in the Appenines; the 
 little city itself is sequestered and lonely ; but the very silence and solitude that reign 
 around rather give an additional charm to the scene. If there be a spot more particularly 
 consecrated to beauty in this region of the Abruzzi, it is the peaceful village of Carnelo. 
 Here the Fibrenus, the chillness of whose waters Cicero commends, falls down the moun- 
 tain's brow in numberless cascades, and diffuses a freshness to the air that mitigates the 
 sultry atmosphere of autumn on these summits. This is the celebrated stream on whose 
 banks the great Roman orator was born, and in one of his dialogues he makes Atticus 
 exclaim, " What can be more delightful than this island, which like the prow of a ship 
 divides the waters of the Fibrenus I These, flowing swiftly along its shores, and soon 
 reuniting, leave just space enough for a wrestling game ; they hence hasten to mingle 
 with the Liris, and render it still cooler by their mixture with its waters." It is the 
 Isola di Sora that TuUy describes, a spot which, in addition to its classic interest, 
 presents more varied views, more enchanting prospects, than any other in the kingdom 
 of Naples. The vale of Fucino, to which it forms the rich vestibule, disputes with 
 Tivoli the admiration of the traveller. Here, on the mountain-road between Sora and 
 the Isola, Carlo III. caused the beautiful fountain, represented in the vignette, to 
 be erected; — one of the most exquisite specimens of the Italian manner: and it may 
 with reason be questioned, whether it is surpassed by any antique model. That this 
 scion of the Bourbon race had himself a pure, and admirable taste, is sufficiently shown 
 by the works which were executed in Italy during his reign. To him belongs the merit of 
 the Caserta, the noblest palace in Europe, as well as of the Albergo di Povero at Naples. 
 " This king," says Forsyth, " sought grandeur here from every dimension, and the plan 
 he prescribed to the architect must have astonished the world." 
 
Ibasrji "by Y'.S-BariletL. 
 
 .^^^^, ."^^m^^. 
 
 r.,t'ii>:'. 
 
 ■.lOP fc C t.ONniiN fc i-AKil*. 
 
INTERIOIl OF ST PETEu's. 85 
 
 INTERIOR OF ST. PETER'S. 
 
 ROME. 
 
 " Imperial splendour all the dome adorns ; 
 These towers a monarch built to God, and graoed 
 With golden pomp the vast circumference ; 
 With gold the beams he covered, that witliiu 
 The light might emulate the rays of morn. 
 Beneath the glittering ceiling, pillars stood 
 Of Parian stone, in fourfold ranks disposed : 
 Each curving arch with glass of various dye 
 Was decked." Passio Bkat. Apost. 
 
 Rome is the chief object of the traveller's attention who visits Italy, and St. Peter's the 
 most splendid monument of religion and art in that immortal city. Although it is 
 uniformly the first scene of inquisitive examination, it would probably prove more 
 conducive to the instruction and gratification of the tourist, if the study of its glories 
 were postponed to the latest moment. The overwhelming majesty of this temple of 
 Christianity, so completely eclipses the best efforts of modern art exhibited in the 
 numerous churches of Rome, and throws even the temple of Capitoline Jove so wholly 
 into shadow, that satiety of beauty, genius, and extravagance renders the merits of minor 
 productions insipid. 
 
 As if it were designed to heighten first impressions by contrast, the visitor enters 
 the grand colonnade, the chef-d'oeuvre of Bernini's dramatic style, through the meanest 
 suburb of the city. This vast oval piazza seems as a proscenium to the colossal peristyle 
 of the sumptuous temple of St. Peter ; the double colonnade is of Travertine marble, 
 light, simple, and elegant in character. In the centre rises an obelisk of red granite, 
 imitated from the Egyptian pillars imported by Caligula, elevated in its present position 
 by Domenico Fontana, and more than once celebrated in the verses of Tasso. Two 
 majestic fountains throw up their pearly waters almost as high as the pyramidal obelisk, 
 presenting brilliant rainbows in the splendour of mid-day, and sheets of white and dazzling 
 foam under the influence of moonlight. It is said, that the first view of St. Peter's is 
 uniformly accompanied by a feeling of disappointment; a feeling, however, which is 
 seldom confessed, from the regret that it is not otherwise, as well as from respect for the 
 universal judgment of the world of art. But this sensation very rapidly subsides; and 
 scarcely has the idea of pleasure arisen, when farther examination leads to unqualified 
 admiration, and ultimately closes with rapturous astonishment. 
 
 Modern Italian architecture is so entirely associated with the erection of St. Peter's, 
 that their histories are identical. This description of the chief basilic of Europe must, 
 therefore, be limited to the details of the building as they exist, rather than be extended 
 to the men and the means engaged in producing such a wonder of art. Begun in 1502 
 
 u. V 
 
Sfi THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 by Bramante, the building was continued by Giuliano, San Gallo, Giacondo, Raphael, 
 Peruzzi, and Michael Angelo, and finished, in the seventeenth century, by Carlo Maderno. 
 lu the portico, near to the staircase of the Vatican, are, the equestrian statues of 
 Constantine, by Bernini, an exaggerated work, and of Charlemagne, by Cornacchini, a 
 performance unworthy of such a place. Opposite the principal entrance is the famous 
 mosaic called " The Boat of St. Peter," by Giotto, and his pupil Cavillini. The middle 
 valves are adorned with basso-relievos of our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter and 
 St. Paul, separated by smaller basso-relievos representing the conference of Eugene IV. 
 and the Emperor Paleologus relative to the union of the Latin and Greek churches. 
 The former are relics of ancient Rome, and represent mythological groups, amongst 
 which may be distinguished Jupiter and Leda, the Rape of Ganymede, nymphs, satyrs, 
 and other devices equally inappropriate for the entrance of a Christian temple. 
 
 Equal disappointment attends the first view of the interior; the justness of the 
 proportions producing only the impression of fitness ; so that no dimension startles by 
 exaggeration, or disturbs the harmony of the whole. Frequent and future inspection of 
 each part in detail, soon corrects this error of inexperience, and restores to the imagi- 
 nation all that enthusiasm with which it approached this grand sanctuary. Familiar with 
 its aisles, the visitor wanders on through their immensity, and enjoys a peculiar light, 
 too brilliant to be religious, but piercing a temperature of unequalled softness : for, an 
 agreeable vapour, of unvarying mildness, is observed to float for ever beneath these 
 airy domes. Nor does the resemblance to a covered city cease with the comparison of 
 its avenues and climate ; here, also, is an immense population, variously employed — 
 peasants, loaded with their baggage, are prostrate on the marble pavement, before altars 
 resplendent with gold and precious stones; penitents appear in converse with some 
 venerable father at the confessional : confraternities are arranged in order ; monks, 
 whose special duty it is, take their stations at the altars ; while the solemn chant of 
 the priests performing high mass in the choir, the pealing of the organ, or slow chiming 
 of the great bell, fall on the ear. There are moments of solitariness and desertion, when 
 not a whisper breaks the deep silence of the scene ; then the rays of the declining sun 
 penetrate the recesses of the sanctuary, illuminating some exquisite mosaic, hitherto 
 wrapped in shade, and passed unnoticed, or discovering some artist so enslaved by his 
 ruling passion that he had long forgotten he was alone. 
 
 Beneath the dome, the cross over which is elevated 450 feet above the pavement, 
 stands the high altar. It consists of a grand canopy, supported by four bronze pillars, 
 120 feet in height. But, to judge of the magnitude and design of St Peter's, and to do 
 justice to the genius and the memory of Michael Angelo, the cupola must be visited, 
 and the interior viewed from thence. In accomplishing the ascent, the immensity of the 
 structure discovers itself; for in the summit of the temple a population of workmen is 
 found, who are continually employed in executing repairs. The bronze ball is capable 
 of containing sixteen persons, and the prospect thence over the City, Campagna, Appe- 
 nines, and the sea, is clear and magnificent. On the interior entablature of the dome, 
 in letters six feet high, is inscribed the glorious promise made to the first apostle — 
 
INTERIOR OF ST. PETER's. 87 
 
 " Tu es Petrus, et super hayic petram cedijicabo ecclesiam meam, et tibi daho claves 
 regni ccelorum." 
 
 The objects of curiosity, admiration, and instruction that have been accumulated 
 within this sanctuary are infinite in number, of extraordinary value, and the most con- 
 spicuous merit Rich marbles compose the pavements and line the walls; admirable 
 paintings adorn its cupolas ; bronze ornaments enrich its altars and balustrades ; gilding 
 decorates its panelled vaults, and mosaics rise one above the other in brilliant succession 
 upon its dome ; sheets ot gold overlay the most elaborate workmanship ; diamonds, 
 agates, chrysolites, and every species of precious stones, encircle the most celebrated 
 productions of sculpture and painting, and by their multiplied and brilliant reflections 
 literally dazzle the spectator. 
 
 In this mausoleum of princes and pontiffs the statuary art is displayed in all its powers. 
 The bronze statue of St. Peter is a work of the fifth century; it retains its primitive 
 merit, with the exception of an imperfection in one of the feet, occasioned by the frequent 
 kisses of devotees. When Pope Pius VI. was in captivity, he committed to Canova the 
 execution of his monument, and prescribed the place where his remains were to be 
 deposited. The effigy of the pontiff, kneeling on his tomb, is universally admired, as 
 well as the simplicity, grandeur, and expression of the design. Next after the baldachin 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul, the pulpit of St Peter (also by Bernini) is the most considerable 
 work in bronze. The four doctors of the Greek and I<atin churches support the apostle's 
 pulpit, every part of which is adorned with some device or allegory ; the elaborateness 
 of the whole has been objected to by critics. Michael Angelo's design for the tomb of 
 Paul III. is the finest mausoleum in St Peter's. It consists of a group, in which Justice 
 and Prudence are in attendance on the little hunch-backed pope ; these deities have 
 secured the admiration of Europe, although the most accomplished artists consider that 
 they are both inferior to the figure of Paul. 
 
 There is an enormous basso-relievo of Attila and his Page at the altar of St. Leo, 
 which attracts attention without being entitled to it ; but the ancient tomb of Innocent III. 
 deserves a larger share of admiration than it has yet received. Here the sorrows, the 
 caprices, and the vanities of princes are recorded by tombs of the most costly and 
 distinguished materials. The exiled Stuarts found rest only beneath the dome of 
 St. Peter's; where the philosophic Christina directed also her form to be commemorated, 
 and opposite her tomb is that of the generous and high-hearted Countess Matilda. 
 
 A modern production, the monument of Rezzonio, is probably the most popular in 
 this boundless collection. An aged man, in the attitude of prayer, is attended by two 
 lions: the roaring lion is allegorical of the pontiflPs firmness in refusing to abolish 
 Jesuitism ; the sleeping lion represents firmness and meekness united. The group was 
 first uncovered on the Wednesday before Easter, 1795, under the glare of the great cross 
 of fire that illuminated St Peter's during the festival. Amongst the valuable relics, 
 gifts, and ornaments that enrich and embellish the sanctuary, is a magnificent ciborium, 
 of lapis-lazuli, in the form of a diminutive temple, and imitated from the circular model 
 at St. Peter's in Pontorio, a chef iFcEuvre of Bramante's. 
 
88 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GUEECE. 
 
 BAPTISTRY, CATHEDRAL, AND LEANING TOWER. 
 
 PISA. 
 
 " Each ray that brightens, and each hue that falls, 
 Attest some sacred sign upon those walls. 
 Some sculptur'd saint's pale head — some graven line 
 Of promise, precept, or belief divine." 
 
 The chief architectural records of Pisa stand in the same broad area — they are 
 detached, removed considerably from all other objects, and the solitude that pervades 
 the scene is in character with the deserted appearance of the whole city. But the 
 group which forms the subject of the accompanying view, is the finest of this description 
 in the world. The Duomo, or Cathedral, raised in 1603, from the design of Buschetto, 
 may be regarded as the precursor of the revival of art. The prevailing feature 
 throughout the exterior is the circular arch, which, rising from single columns, stunted, 
 and of Greek orders, presents a combination sometimes found in Gothic and Saxon 
 works. But the style is too impure for Greek, and rejects the clustered column 
 and the Gothic arch ; and, as it first appeared in Italy under the Lombard princes, 
 their name may be employed to characterize it The same style pervades the interior 
 of the cathedral, which is divided into five aisles, and obeys the form of a Latin cross. 
 Insulated columns of Oriental granite support a series of arches, on which a low and 
 elliptic dome rests, and columns of like material and execution divide the noble aisles. 
 Amongst the innumerable treasures of art and nature preserved here, the pulpit and 
 altar, resting on porphyry pillars, are the most admired ; but the gilded roof and great 
 bronze doors are also objects of admiration. 
 
 The Lombardic style also pervades the Baptistry, which is a rotunda of two stories, 
 consisting of pillars and arches, supporting a third, terminating in pinnacles and pedi- 
 ments, above which a dome rises, intersected by lines of fretwork, and surmounted 
 by a statue of John Baptist. The interior of the dome is famous for its echo, and the 
 enclosure itself forms a whispering gallery. Storied arcades, with granite columns, as 
 in the cathedral, sustain the dome ; and the reading-desk and font beneath it, the 
 workmanship of Nicolao Pisano, are the master-pieces of that celebrated artist. This 
 singularly beautiful temple is after a design of Dioti Salvi, and was commenced in 1132, 
 during the consulate of Cocco Griffi. 
 
 The Campanile, or leaning tower, is one of the six splendid belfries of Italy. It has 
 long been celebrated for its lightness, form, beauty of its marble, workmanship of its 
 staircase, and deviation from perpendicularity. It is supposed, and with evident truth, 
 that the architects William of Inspruck and Bonnano of Pisa, having discovered the 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
« 
 
 
 I 
 
THE ISLAND OF NONNENWOUTH, AND llOLANDSECK. 89 
 
 settlement that had taken place in the work, assured themselves by examination that 
 the foundation would sink no further, and continued the structure on the original plan. 
 The fact that the pillars of the lower stories are all of equal lengths, is confirmatory 
 of this conclusion. The view from the summit is celebrated by travellers ; it embraces 
 the city, Campo Santo, the rugged mountains, and placid Mediterranean. The deviation 
 of this famous tower assisted Galileo in finding a measure of time, and in calculating the 
 fall of heavy bodies ; nor was this scientific discovery the occasion of his exile from his 
 native city, but his injudicious criticism of a piece of mechanism contrived by Don 
 Giovanni de Medici. 
 
 THE ISLAND OF NONNEN WORTH, AND ROLANDSECK. 
 
 nHINE. 
 
 " Yet here for ever, ever must I stay ; 
 Sad proof how well a lover can obey ! 
 Death, only death, can break the lasting chain ; 
 And here, even then, shall my cold dust remain : 
 Here all its frailties, nil its flames resign. 
 And wait till 'tis no sin to mix with thine." Pope. 
 
 When the lady Hildegunde, deceived by the stories of her Roland's death, resolved on 
 withdrawing from a world whence happiness had been irretrievably banished, she chose 
 the convent on the little isle of Nonnenworth as her retreat ; and, when the renowned 
 Rolando, who had subdued the fierce nations of the East, but was himself the slave of 
 love, returned to his country, he fixed his melancholy abode on the ambitious crag that 
 overlooked the lonely island-home of his ladye-love. So completely is this romantic spot 
 consecrated by the story of Roland and Hildegunde, that Schiller has adopted it as the 
 scene of his *' Knight of Toggenburge, " and Ariosto, as a field for displaying the fairest 
 flowers of poetry. Although his " Orlando Furioso " is founded on the legend of 
 " Rolandseck," yet its application cannot be perfectly understood without an acquaint- 
 ance with the " Orlando Inamorato" of Boiardo, of which it is the continuation. Fide 
 " Drachenfeh and Nonnenworth," Vol. ii. p. 39. 
 ir. z 
 
00 THE RHINE, ITALY, AND GREECE. 
 
 OBERWESEL. 
 
 RHINE. 
 
 " Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, 
 Here earth and water seem to strive again, 
 Not chaos-like, together crush'd and bruis'd, 
 But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd." Pope. 
 
 In the earlier pages of these volumes, some of the most interesting objects in the town 
 and vicinity of Oberwesel, have been illustrated and described. The accompanying 
 view is a panoramic representation of its picturesque site and locality.* Extending 
 along the margin of the river, whose majestic width and bold sinuosities impart to it the 
 grandeur of some estuary, into which the tide is impelled by the whole force of the 
 ocean, it is sheltered and overhung by lofty, wooded, and precipitous hills. On the most 
 conspicuous eminence, immediatiately overshadowing the Church of the Virgin Mary, the 
 splendid ruins of Castle Schomberg attest the vanity of worldly ambition. Many features, 
 more remarkable in outline than those that distinguish the ancient towns and cities in 
 the Rhenish territory, give a character to the river-view of Oberwesel. Its numerous 
 churches and spires, its tall round tower on the very brink of the flood, its colossal 
 collegiate church of Notre Dame, and the singular form of Werner's gothic chapel, 
 present a novel and an interesting combination. Nor has history or legend neglected the 
 advantage which association with a spot so romantic must contribute ; the life of 
 Schomberg is identified with the records of the dominant European nation at the period 
 of his celebrity. The legend of the boy Werner, the Crucified Child, is more mystic 
 than any of those that so much enhance the charm of a voyage up the Rhine. 
 
 • Vide " Round Tower at Oberwesel," p.i>. " Valley of Enngeholle and Schomberg's Castle," Vol. i. p 61. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
«if.)m,vf;^^ 
 
 JSk- 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ■S 
 
 '--■*^\ 
 
 '-^:^i 
 
 
 
 %ii 
 
 
 
 :^^ 
 
 WJlii 
 
 ir^% 
 
 ^S 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^s 
 
 
 1^^ 
 
 >N§ 
 
 s^^ 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ^^- 
 
 
 >i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Agora, Athens, ii. 49. 
 Amphitheatre, Verona, Italy, ii. 3* 
 Aocons^ Arch of Trajan at, Italy, i. 70. 
 Andeniach, Rhine, ii. 66. 
 Arch of Trajan, Aiicona, Italy, i. 70. 
 Athens, from Mount Hymetlus, i. 48, 
 Athens, from the Ilissus, Greece, ii. 9 
 
 B 
 
 Bacharach, on the Rhine, i. 47. 
 
 Baise, Bay of, Italy, ii. 37. 
 
 Baptistry, Cathedral, and Leaning Tower, Pisa,ii. 88. 
 
 Bingen on the Rhine, ii. 25. 
 
 Bissone, Lake of, Italy, i. 54. 
 
 Boppart, on the Rhine, ii. 73. 
 
 Brabauch, on the Rhine, i. 42. 
 
 Braubach, and Castle of Marksburg, Rhine, i. 68. 
 
 Bridge and Castle of St. Aiigelo, Rome, i. 20. 
 
 Campanile, Venice, Italy, i. 35. 
 
 Camelo, Fountain and Cross at, Italy, [Vignette] ii. 84. 
 
 Castle and Bridge of St. Angelo, Rome, i. 20. 
 
 Castle of Gutenfels, Rhine, i. 23. 
 
 Castle of Marksburg, and Braubach, Rhine, i, 08. 
 
 Castle of Nuss, Valley of Aoste, Italy, i. 74. 
 
 Castle of Thurmberg, Rhine, i. 16. 
 
 Cathedral, Baptistry, and Leaning Tower, Pisa, ii. 88. 
 
 Cathedral and Market Place, Mayence, Rhine, i. 25. 
 
 Caub, Castle of Gutenfels, and the Pfalz, Rhine, i. 23. 
 
 Church of St. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, ii. 7. 
 
 Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Naples, i. 12. 
 
 Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, ii. 16. 
 
 Citadel of Mycenae, Greece, ii. 81 . 
 
 Coblentz and Ehrenbreitstein, on the Rhine, ii. 74. 
 
 Cologne, on the Rhine, i. 9. 
 
 Cologne, Town Hall of, Rhine, i. 64. 
 
 Como, Lake of, Italy, i. 37. 
 
 Convent of Benedictines, Subiaco, Italy, ii. 55. 
 
 Corinth, from the Acro.corinthus, Greece, ii. 32. 
 
 Cormayor, Valley of Aoste, Italy, ii. 09, 
 
 Court of the Old Palace, Florence, ii. 30. 
 
 Diogenes, Lantern of, or Choragic Monument of Ly- 
 
 sicrates, Athens, i. 40. 
 Drachenfels and the Island of Nonncnworth, Rhine, 
 
 ii. 39. 
 
 E 
 Ehrenbreitstein, Fortress of, Rhine, ii. 18. 
 Ehrenbreitstein and Coblentz, ii. 74. 
 Ems, on the Lahn, Rhine, ii. 43. 
 
 Fiesole and Florence, Italy, i. 66. 
 
 Florence and Fiesole, Italy, i, 66. 
 
 Florence, Loggia of Lanzi at, Italy, ii. 77. 
 
 Fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, Rhine, ii. 18. 
 
 Fortress of Palamedi, Napoli di Romania, Greece, 
 
 ii. 61. 
 Forum, Rome, Italy, ii. 51. 
 Forum, Pompeii, Italy, i. 50. 
 
 Genoa, from the heights, Italy, ii. 23. 
 Gutenfels, Castle of, Caub, and the Pfalz, Rhine 
 i. 23. 
 
 H 
 Hall of the Pregadi, Doge's Palace, Venice, i. 14. 
 Heidelberg, near the Rhine, i. 58. 
 Hymettus, Athens from, Greece, i. 48. 
 
 I 
 
 Ilissus, Athens from the banks of the, Greece, 
 
 ii. 9. 
 Island of Nonnenworth, and Drachenfels, Rhine, 
 
 ii. 39. 
 Island of Nonnenworth, and Rolandseck, Rhine, 
 
 ii.89. 
 Isola Lecchi, Lago di Guarda, Italy, i. 28. 
 Isola di Sora, Italy, ii. 84. 
 
 Jupiter Olympius, Temple of, Athens, i. 33. 
 Jupiter Panhelleniua, Temple of, iGgina, Greece, 
 i.02. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Lago di Guarda, It^y, i.28. 
 
 Lake Como, Italy, i. 37. 
 
 Lake Lugano, Bissonc on, Italy, i. 54 
 
 Lantern of Diogenes, Athens, i. 40. 
 
 Leaning Tower, Baptistry, and Cathedral, Pisa, ii. 88. 
 
 Loggia de Lanzi, Florence, Italy, ii. 77. 
 
 Lysicrates, Cboragic Monument of, Athens, i. 40. 
 
 M 
 Marceau, Monument to, ii. 75. 
 Marksburg and Braubach, Rhine, i. 68. 
 Mayence, Cathedral, and Market Place, Rhine, i. 25. 
 Mayence Cathedral, Screen in, Rhine ii. 5. 
 Misitra, near Sparta, Greece, ii. 13. 
 Monument of Philopappus, Athens, ii. 65. 
 Mycenae, Citadel of, Greece, ii. 81. 
 
 N 
 Napoli di Romania, and Fortress of Palamedi,Grecce, 
 
 ii. 61. 
 Napoli di Romania, Town and Harbour, Greece, 
 
 ii.82. 
 Nonnenworth, Island of, and Drachenfels, Rhine, 
 
 ii. 39. 
 Nonnenworth and Rolandseck, Rhine, ii. 89. 
 Nuss, Castle of. Valley of Aoste, Italy, i. 74. 
 
 O 
 
 Oberwesel, General View, Rhine, ii. 90. 
 Oberwesel, Round Tower at, Rhine, [Vignette] i. 1. 
 Oberwesel, Valley of Engenhoile at, Rhine, i. 61. 
 Olympius, Temple of Jupiter, Athens, i. 33. 
 
 Paestum, Temples of, Italy, ii. 63. 
 
 Palace, Court of the Old, Florence, Italy, ii. 30. 
 
 Palamedi, the Fortress of, Napoli de Romania, Greece, 
 
 ii. 6. 
 Panhellenius Jupiter, Temple of, iEgina, Greece, 
 
 i.62. 
 Pantheon, Rome, ii. 71. 
 Peter's, Interior of St., Rome, ii. 85. 
 Pfalz, Caub, Castle of Gutenfels, Rhine, i. 23. 
 Philopappus, Monument of, Athens, ii. 65. 
 Pisa, Baptistry, Cathedral, Leaning Tower at, ii 88. 
 Pompeii, Forum of, Italy, i. 50. 
 
 Pompeii, Private House at, Italy, ii. 55. 
 
 Pompeii, Theatre at, Italy, i. 52. 
 
 Pregadi, Hall of, Doge's Palace, Venice, i. 14. 
 
 R 
 
 Rheinfels, above St. Goar, Rhine, ii. II. 
 Rolandseck and Nonnenworth, Rhine, ii. 89. 
 Rome, the Forum of, Italy, ii. 51. 
 Rome, the Pantheon at, Italy, ii. 71. 
 
 Sala Regia, in the Vatican, Rome, i. 31. 
 
 Santa Maria del Carmine, Church of, Naples, i. 12. 
 
 Santa Maria della Salute, Church of, Venice, ii. 16. 
 
 Scala Regia, in the Vatican, Rome, i. 46. 
 
 Screen in the Cathedral of Mayence, Rhine, ii. 5. 
 
 Sora, Italy, ii. 84. 
 
 Sorrento, the birth-place of Tasso, Italy, i. 72. 
 
 St. Ambrose, Tomb of, Milan, Italy, ii. 45. 
 
 St. Angelo, Castle and Bridge of, Rome, i. 20. 
 
 St. Giorgio Maggiore, Church of, Venice, ii. 7. 
 
 St. Goar, on the Rhine, ii. 21. 
 
 St. Peter's, Rome, ii. 85. 
 
 Stolzenfels, Rhine, ii. 58. 
 
 Subiaco, Convent of Benedictines at, Italy, ii. 55. 
 
 Sunium, the Promontory of, Greece, i. 55. 
 
 Temple of Jupiter Olympius, Athens, i. 33. 
 
 Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, iEgina, Greece, i. 62. 
 
 Temples of Paestum, Italy, ii. 63. 
 
 Temple of Theseus, Athens, ii. 79. 
 
 Thurmberg, Castle of, Rhine, i. 16. 
 
 Tivoli, Cascade and Villa of Mecaenas, Italy, ii. 28. 
 
 Tomb of St. Ambrose, Milan, ii. 45. 
 
 Torquato Tasso, birth-place of, Sorrento, Italy, i. 72. 
 
 Tovra-Hall, Cologne, on the Rhine, i. 64. 
 
 Vatican, Sala Regia in the, Rome, i. 31. 
 Vatican, Scala Regia in the, Rome, i. 46. 
 
 Valley of Aoste, Castle of Nuss, Italy, i 
 Valley of Aoste, Cormayor, Italy, ii. 69. 
 Valley near Oberwesel, Rhine, i. 61. 
 Verona, Amphitheatre at, Italy, ii. 35. 
 Villa of Mecaenas, Tivoli, Italy, ii. 28. 
 
 . 74. 
 
 1 ONI ON : (ISIIER, SON, AND CO., IKIKTEUS. 
 
LOAN PERIOD 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 HOME USE 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 
 
 1-menfh teans may b« renewed by calling 642-3405 
 
 ^nBwlffa?nirfI^ recharged by bringing the booka lo the Circulation De^^ 
 
 Renewals and recharaes may be made 4 days ptiot to aw •»»•■• 
 
 DUE AS STAMPED BELOW 
 
 EB13t966 
 
Rk general 
 
 BE iiiii 
 
 LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 
 
 BDD07SaaQ2 
 
 M3115S6