ITALY 
 
 An. MDCCCII. 
 
 Italia diis sacra, hse gentes ejus, hoec oppida populorum. 
 
 ftta. Nat. Hist. iii. 20. 
 
 P.T TBS 
 
 REV. JOHN CHETWODE EUSTACE. 
 
 THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED : 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP OP ITALY, PLANS OF CHURCHES, 
 AN INDEX, &c. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 London : 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. MAWMAN, 39, LUDGATE-STREET. 
 
 1815.
 
 nARSARD ATO FARLEY, 
 Minuet -Strert, London
 
 Annsx 
 
 TO THE y^ \ 
 
 RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 JOHN LORD BROWNLOW, 
 
 LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN, 
 
 8fc. tfc. %c. 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS INSCRIBED, 
 AS A TRIBUTE TO HIS MANY VIRTUES, 
 
 AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS CONSTANT KINDNESS 
 
 AND AT THE SAME TIME 
 
 AS A MONUMENT OF AN INSTRUCTIVE AND 
 PLEASANT TOUR, 
 
 BY HIS LORDSHIP'S 
 
 FELLOW-TRAVELLER 
 
 i 
 
 AND 
 
 MOST SINCERE FRIEND, 
 
 JOHN CHETWODE EUSTACE.
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES. 
 
 Pigc 
 
 MAP or ITALY, TO FACE THE TITLE-PAGE OF VOL. I. 
 
 CHURCH OF ST. CLEMENT, TO FACE PAGE -^ 77 
 
 SECTION OF THE CHURCH OF ST. CLEMENT "77 
 
 SECTION OF THE CHURCH OF S. PIETRO ALLE 
 
 VlNCOLE 81 
 
 BASILICA OF ST. SEBASTIAN j 89 
 
 BASILICA OF ST. LAWRENCE O 105 
 
 BASILICA LIBERIANA, OR STA. MARIA MAGGIORE. .. ' 108 
 
 M 
 
 BASILICA LATERANESSIS, OR ST. JOHN LATERAN ... 112 
 BASILICA SANCT CRDCIS IN JERUSALEM, CHURCH 
 
 OF THE HOLY CROSS 118 
 
 BASILICA OF ST. PAUL. 119 
 
 BASILICA VATICANA, OR ST. PETER'S J 131
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 1 HE Author presents the following pages 
 to the Public with diffidence. He is aware 
 that the very title of " a Tour through 
 Italy" is sufficient in itself to raise expec- 
 tation, which, as he has learned from the 
 fate of similar compositions, is more fre- 
 quently disappointed than satisfied. To 
 avoid as much as possible this inconve- 
 nience, he thinks it necessary to state pre- 
 cisely the nature and object of the present 
 work, tlmt t,he reader may enter upon its 
 perusal with some previous knowledge of 
 its contents. 
 
 The Preliminary Discourse is intended 
 VOL. i. a
 
 TI PREFACE. 
 
 chiefly for the information of young and 
 inexperienced travellers, and points out 
 the qualities and accomplishments requisite 
 to enable them to derive from an Italian 
 Tour, its full advantages. The Reader 
 then comes to the Tour itself. 
 
 The epithet Classical sufficiently points 
 out its peculiar character, which is to trace 
 the resemblance between Modern and 
 Ancient Italy, and to take for guides and 
 companions in the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century, the writers that preceded 
 or adorned the first. Conformably to that 
 character, the Author may be allowed to 
 dwell with complacency on the incidents 
 of ancient history, to admit every poetical 
 recollection, and to claim indulgence, ifm 
 describing objects so often alluded to by 
 the Latin writers, he should frequently 
 borrow their expressions ;
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 Materise scripto conveniente suae.* 
 
 Citations, in fact, which notwithstanding 
 the example of Cicero, and the precept of 
 Quintilian-f-, some severe critics are dis- 
 posed to proscribe, may here be introduced 
 or even lavished, without censure; they 
 rise spontaneously from the soil we tread, 
 and constitute one of its distinguishing 
 beauties. 
 
 In Modern History, he may perhaps 
 be considered as sometimes too short ; but 
 it must be remembered that Modern His- 
 tory is not Classical, and can claim admis- 
 sion only as an illustration. As for the 
 forms of government established in many 
 provinces by the present French rulers, 
 
 * O?id, Trist. 1. v. i. 
 
 t Quintil. lib. i. cap. v. Edit. Rollin. 
 a2
 
 viii PREFACED 
 
 they are generally passed over in silence 
 and contempt, as shifting scenes or rather 
 mere jiguranti in the political drama, 
 destined to occupy the attention for a time, 
 and to disappear when the principal cha- 
 racter shows himself upon the stage. 
 
 Of the state of painting and sculpture, 
 though these arts reflect so much lustre on 
 Italy, little is said*; an acknowledgment 
 which may surprize and disappoint many 
 readers. But, on the one hand, to give a 
 long catalogue of pictures and statues, 
 without explanatory observations, appear- 
 ed absurd ; and on the other, to execute 
 such a work in a becoming manner requires 
 leisure, technical information, and the 
 
 * Little is said of the arts, when the extent and im- 
 portance of the subject are considered; but much is 
 said in comparison of other Tours and similar com- 
 positions.
 
 DEFACE. ix 
 
 pen of a professed artist, perhaps of a 
 Reynolds. The subject is therefore touch- 
 ed incidental!}' only ; but as it is extensive 
 and amusing, and affords scope to the dis- 
 pla} r of skill, taste and erudition united, it 
 will, it is to be hoped, ere long attract the 
 attention of some writer capable of doing 
 it justice. 
 
 As to the Style in the first place some, 
 perhaps many expressions, and occasionally 
 whole sentences, may have been inadver- 
 tently repeated ; a fault great without 
 doubt, but pardonable because almost 
 unavoidable in descriptive composition. 
 Who, indeed, can paint like Nature, or who 
 vary his coloring with all the tints of 
 Italian scenery, lighted by an Italian sk} r ? 
 If Lucretius has repeated at length two of 
 the most beautiful passages in his poem*. 
 
 * Lib. i. v. 925. Lib. iv. v. 
 2
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 the Author may claim indulgence, if in 
 describing the perpetual recurrence of simi- 
 lar objects, he has been betrayed into simi- 
 lar language. 
 
 In Proper Names, he has ventured 
 frequently to use the ancient appellation if 
 not i rrecoverably lost in the modern . Thus, 
 he sometimes introduces the Benacns, Liris, 
 and Athesis, instead of the Logo di (. trda, 
 Garigliano and Adige, because the former 
 names are still familiar to the learned ear 
 and by no means unknown even to the 
 peasantry. The same may be said of the 
 Arno, the Tiber, and several other rivers, 
 and may be extended to many cities and 
 mountains. He has, as much as possible, 
 attempted to discard the French termina- 
 tion in Italian names, and laments that he 
 cannot carry consistency so far as to apply 
 it to antiquity, and rejecting the semi- 
 barbarous appellations with which the
 
 PREFACE, xi 
 
 French have misnamed some of the most 
 illustrious ancients, restore to Horace, and 
 Virgil, all their Romarr majesty*. But 
 this general reformation must be left to 
 more able and more popular writers, or 
 rather perhaps recommended to the learned 
 gentlemen who preside over the Univer- 
 sities and the great Schools, and to the 
 Critics who direct the public taste in Re- 
 views, and have of late exercised no small 
 influence over custom itself. 
 
 We now come t<^ objects of greater 
 moment, and here the Author must, how- 
 ever reluctantly, obtrude himself on the 
 attention of the Reader. Religion, Poli- 
 tics, and Literature, are the three great 
 objects that employ every mind raised by 
 
 * Titus Livius owes the recovery of his Roman 
 appellation to the Bishop of Landaff, who introduces it 
 into his Apology for the Bible.
 
 xii PREFACE. 
 
 education above the level of the laborer 
 or of the mechanic; upon them every 
 thinking man must have a decided opinion, 
 and that opinion must occasionally in- 
 fluence his conduct, conversation , and 
 writings. Sincere and undisguised in the 
 belief and profession of the Roman Catholic 
 Religion, the Author affects not to con- 
 ceal, because he is not ashamed of its in- 
 fluence. However unpopular it may be, 
 he is convinced that its evil report is not 
 the result of any inherent defect, but the 
 natural consequence of polemic animosity, 
 of the exaggerations of friends, of the 
 misconceptions of enemies. Yes ! he must 
 acknowledge that the affecting lessons, 
 the holy examples, and the majestic rites 
 of the Catholic Church, made an early 
 impression on his mind ; and neither time 
 or experience, neither reading nor conver- 
 sation, nor much travelling, have weaken- 
 ed that impression, or diminished his vene-
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 ration. Yet with this affectionate attach- 
 ment to the ancient Faith, he presumes not 
 to arraign those who support other systems. 
 Persuaded that their claims to mercy as 
 well as his own, depend upon Sincerity and 
 Charity, he leaves them and himself- to the 
 disposal of the common Father of All, who, 
 we may humbly hope, will treat our errors 
 and our defects with more indulgence than 
 
 o 
 
 mortals usually shew to each other. In 
 truth, Reconciliation and Union are the 
 objects of his warmest wishes, of his most 
 fervent prayers : they occupy his thoughts, 
 they employ his pen ; and if a stone shall 
 happen to mark the spot where his remains 
 are to repose, that stone shall speak of 
 Peace and Reconciliation.. 
 
 We come next to Politics, a subject of a 
 very delicate nature, where difference of 
 opinion, like disagreement in Religion, has 
 given occasion to many rancorous and in-
 
 xiv PREFACE. 
 
 terminable contests: and here, expressions 
 apparently favorable to republicanism, or 
 perhaps the general tendency of his princi- 
 ples to the cause of freedom, may incline 
 some of his readers to suspect him of an 
 excessive and unconstitutional attachment 
 to that form of government. Without 
 doubt, Liberty, the source of so many 
 virtues, the mother of so many arts, the 
 spring of public and private happiness, of 
 the glory and the greatness of nations, is 
 and ever will be the idol of liberal and 
 manly minds, and that system which is most 
 favorable to its development must neces- 
 sarily obtain their approbation. But for- 
 tunately they need not have recourse to fine- 
 spun theories for the principles, or look to 
 past ages or to distant countries for the 
 practice of a free, and, what may justly 
 be called, a republican government. The 
 Constitution of England actually comprises 
 the excellencies of all the ancient common-
 
 PREFACE. xv 
 
 wealths, together with the advantages of the 
 best forms of monarchy; though liable, as 
 all human institutions are, to abuse and 
 decay, yet like the works of Providence, it 
 contains in itself the means of correction 
 and the seeds of renovation. Such a system 
 was considered as one of unattainable per- 
 fection by Cicero, and was pronounced by 
 Tacitus, a vision fair but transient. A 
 scheme of policy that enchanted the sages 
 of antiquity may surely content the patriot 
 and the philosopher of modern days, and 
 the only wish of both must be, that, in spite 
 of royal encroachment and of popular 
 frenzy, it may last for ever. 
 
 In Literature, if the Author differs from 
 those who have preceded him in the same 
 Tour; if he censures the opinions of any 
 other traveller or writer ; he hopes he has 
 expressed the reasons of his dissent with the
 
 xvi PREFACE. 
 
 tenderness and with the attention due to 
 their feelings and reputation. 
 
 On the merits of the Trench language 
 and literature he differs from many ; but he 
 is open to conviction even on this subject, 
 and only requests the Reader to weigh with 
 impartiality the reasons which he produces 
 against both, and the more so, as the 
 question is of greater importance than may 
 perhaps be imagined; for, to the wide cir- 
 culation of French authors may be attri- 
 buted many of the evils under which Europe 
 now labors. This observation naturally 
 leads to the following. If ever he indulges 
 in harsh and acrimonious language, it is 
 when speaking of the French, their prin- 
 ciples, and measures; and on this subject 
 he acknowledges that his expressions, if 
 they correspond with his feelings, must be 
 strong, because his abhorrence of that go- 
 vernment and of its whole system, is deep
 
 PREFACE. - xvii 
 
 and unqualified. Neither the patriot who 
 recollects the vindictive spirit with which 
 the Ruler of France carries on hostilities 
 against Great Britain, the only bulwark of 
 Europe, and the asylum of the Independ- 
 ence of Nations, because ho knows where 
 Freedom makes her last stand, 
 
 Libertas ultima mundi 
 Quo steterit ferienda loco ; 
 
 Lucan. vii. 
 
 nor the philosopher who considers th e wide 
 wasting war which the French government 
 has been so long carrying on against the 
 liberties and the happiness of mankind, will 
 probably condemn the author's feelings as 
 intemperate, or require any apology for the 
 harshness of his expressions. As long as 
 religion and literature, civilization and in- 
 dependence are objects of estimation among 
 men, so long must revolutionary France be 
 remembered with horror and detestation.
 
 xvii PREFACE. 
 
 It now only remains to inform the reader, 
 that the Tour sketched out in the following 
 pages was undertaken in company with 
 PHILIP ROCHE, Esq. a young gentleman 
 of fortune, who, while he spared no ex- 
 pence to render it instructive, contributed 
 much to its pleasures by his gentle manners, 
 and by his many mild and benevolent 
 virtues; virtues which, it was hoped, would 
 have extended their influence through a 
 long and prosperous life, and contributed to 
 the happiness, not of his family only, but 
 of an extensive circle of friends and ac- 
 quaintance. But these hopes were vain, 
 and the Author is destined to pay this un- 
 availing tribute to the memory of his friend 
 and companion. 
 
 The two gentlemen who, with the Author 
 
 and his fellow traveller, formed the party 
 
 often alluded to in the following pages, 
 
 were the Honorable Mr. GUST, now Lord 
 
 5
 
 PREFACE. xix 
 
 BROWNLOW, and ROBERT RUSHBROKE, 
 Esq. of Rushbroke Park. The information, 
 the politeness, and the good humor of the 
 former, with the liveliness, the mirth, and 
 the accomplishments of the latter, heigh- 
 tened the pleasures of the journey, and, by 
 supplying a continual fund of incident and 
 conversation, rendered even Italy itself 
 more delightful. To Lord BROWNLOW, 
 the Author must acknowledge another ob- 
 ligation, as he is indebted to his Lordship 
 for several useful observations during the 
 course of this work, and particularly for the 
 details of the excursion to the island of 
 Ischia, and the account of the solitudes of 
 Camaldoli and of Alvernia. 
 
 The publication of these volumes has 
 been delayed by frequent avocations, and 
 particularly by a more extensive and 
 scarcely less interesting excursion to parts 
 of Dalmatian the Western Coasts of Greece.
 
 xx PREFACE. 
 
 the Ionian Islands, to Sicily, Malta, &c. &c. 
 The details of this latter Tour may , perhaps, 
 be presented to the public if the following 
 pages meet its approbation. 
 
 
 Great Chesterford, Essex, 
 Sept. 14, 1812.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 Jam mens praetrepidans avet vagari: 
 Jam laeti studio pedes vigescunt. 
 O dulces comitum valete coetus, 
 Longe quos simul domo profectos, 
 Diverse variaB viae reportant. 
 
 Catul. XLIV, 
 
 1 HE degree of preparation necessary for 
 travelling depends upon the motives which 
 induce us to travel. 4 He who goes from 
 home merely to change the scene and to 
 seek for novelty; who makes amusement 
 his sole object, and has no other view but 
 to fill up a few months that must otherwise 
 remain unemployed, has no need of mental 
 
 VOL.1. B
 
 2 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 preparation for his excursion. All that such 
 a loiterer can possibly want, are a con- 
 venient post-chaise, a letter of credit, and 
 a well- furnished trunk; for occupation he 
 will have recourse to inns, to coffee-houses, 
 and to theatres, with their appurtenances, 
 which cannot fail to supply him with inci- 
 dents, anecdote, and pastime in abundance. 
 But he who believes with Cicero, that it 
 becomes a man of a liberal and active mind 
 to visit countries ennobled by the birth and 
 the fesidence of the Great ; who, with the 
 same Roman, finds himself disposed by the 
 contemplation of such scenes to virtuous 
 and honorable pursuits ; he who, like Titus 
 Quintius devoting the first days of leisure 
 after his glorious achievements, to the cele- 
 brated monuments of Greece, embraces 
 the earliest opportunity of visiting the 
 classic regions of Italy; such a traveller 
 will easily comprehend the necessity of 
 providing before-hand the information re-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 3 
 
 quisite to enable him to traverse the country 
 without constant difficulty, doubt, and 
 inquiry. And indeed, if there be a Tour 
 in which such preparation is more particu- 
 larly wanting than in any other, it is that 
 to which I allude : as Italy owes more to 
 history than even to nature; and he who 
 goes over it merely with his eyes open to its 
 embellishments, and his mind intent on 
 observation, though he may see much and 
 learn much also, will yet, with all his cu- 
 riosity and diligence, discover one-half 
 only of its beauties. Even those travellers 
 who have made some efforts to qualify 
 themselves by previous application, will on 
 many occasions regret that they have not 
 extended their researches still farther, and 
 that they have not, by a longer course of 
 preparation, added to their means both of 
 amusement and of instruction *. It may, 
 
 * Vous ne sauriez croire, says the Abb6 Barthelemi to 
 the Comic De Caylus, combien mon voyage (en Italic) 
 
 *
 
 4 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 therefore, be considered as an appropriate 
 introduction to an account of Italy, to 
 point out to the reader such branches of 
 Information as are either indispensable or 
 highly advantageous in an excursion to that 
 country ; after which I mean to add a few 
 reflections and cautions, with a view either 
 to remove prejudices, or to prevent incon- 
 veniencies. 
 
 CLASSICAL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 I. As these pages are addressed solely 
 to persons of a liberal education, it is al- 
 most needless to recommend the Latin 
 Poets and Historians. Virgil and Horace, 
 Cicero and Livy, ought to be the insepa- 
 rable companions of all travellers; they 
 
 m' ahumili6; j'ai vu taut de choses que j'ignorois, et que 
 j'ignore encore, qu'il m'a paru fou de se savoir gr de 
 quelques ronnoissances superficielles. Lettre xxi. Yet 
 the author of Anacharsis was one 'of the most learned 
 and judicious antiquaries in France.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 should occupy a corner in every carriage, 
 and be called forth in every interval of 
 leisure to relieve the fatigue and to heighten 
 the pleasure of the journey. Familiar ac- 
 quaintance or rather bosom intimacy with 
 the ancients is evidently the first and most 
 essential accomplishment of a classical 
 traveller. 
 
 But there is a class of Poets who, though 
 nearly allied in language, sentiments, and 
 country, to the ancients, are yet in general 
 little known ; I mean the modern Latin 
 poets, Vida, Sannazarius, Fracastorius, 
 Flaminius, Politian, &c. * who laboured 
 so successfully to restore the pure taste of 
 antiquity. Boileau and the French critics 
 
 * Pope printed, or rather, I believe, reprinted \vith 
 additions, a collection of poems from these authors in two 
 volumes duodecimo. The Clarendon press gave the 
 public a superb specimen of typographical elegance, in 
 an edition of Vida, in three volumes octavo, in the years 
 22, 23, 24, of the last century.
 
 6 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 affected to despise these authors *, and, for 
 what reason it is difficult to discover, un- 
 dervalued their latinity. But men of equal 
 discernment, Atterbury, Pope, and John- 
 son, entertained a very different opinion 
 of their merit, and not only read but some- 
 
 * The contempt which the French critics generally 
 shew for modern Latin poetry may, perhaps, arise from a 
 consciousness of their own deficiency in this respect. 
 Cardinal Polignac, Vaniere, Rapin and Santeuil *, are 
 the only Latin poets, if I recollect well, of any consider- 
 ation that France has produced, and though they are not 
 without merit, yet they betray in the effort with which they 
 advance and in the very art which they display, somewhat 
 of the latent barbarian. Even in Latin prose the French 
 do not seem to have succeeded better. There is always 
 an appearance of study and constraint in their style, very 
 different from the easy, unaffected flow of Italian authors. 
 The latter only have either preserved or recovered the 
 certa vox Romani generis, urbisque propria, in quanihil 
 offendi, nihil displicere, nihil animadverti possit, nihil 
 sonare, out olere peregrinum. (Cicero de Or.} 
 
 Hence Mr. Roscoe has reason to mention these poets 
 with partiality, under the appellation of the rivals of 
 Virgil and Horace. 
 
 * This last author is inferior to the others, because more 
 affected. His hymns, though inserted in the Parisian Breviary, 
 and much admired by French critics, are quite disfigured by 
 conceit and antithesis.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 7 
 
 times borrowed from them. Every body is 
 acquainted with the beautiful compliment 
 which the British poet pays to Vida, and 
 through him indirectly to his fellow bards, 
 whose united rays lighted up the glories of 
 the second Augustan age ; and every reader 
 not blinded by prejudice must admit the 
 propriety of this poetical tribute, and ac- 
 knowledge, that not* Vida only, but several 
 of his contemporaries tread in the footsteps 
 of their illustrious countrymen Virgil and 
 Horace ; not unfrequently catch a spark of 
 their inspiration, and often speak their lan- 
 guage with the grace and the facility which 
 distinguish native Romans. Upon the 
 present occasion I mean to recommend, in 
 particular, only such passages in their works 
 as have an immediate connexion with Italy, 
 and are calculated to give an additional 
 interest to any part of its history, scenery, 
 or antiquities. In these passages, where 
 the subject calls forth their energies, they
 
 8 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 glow with native fire and in numbers not 
 unworthy the fathers of Roman verse, pure, 
 majestic, or pathetic, celebrate the gran- 
 deur, describe the beauties, or lament the 
 misfortunes of their country. 
 
 ITALIAN LANGUAGE. 
 
 II. It is evident that he who wishes to 
 become acquainted with the manners, or to 
 enjoy the society of the inhabitants of any 
 country, must previously learn their lan- 
 guage ; it is not therefore my intention, at 
 present, merely to recommend, what indeed 
 no traveller entirely neglects, the study of 
 Italian, but to enforce the necessity of com- 
 mencing it at a much earlier period, and of 
 continuing it for a much longer space of 
 time than is now customary. He who enters 
 Italy with an intention of applying to its 
 language particularly, must make a longer 
 residence there than our country men usually 
 do, or he will find too many external calls
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 9 
 
 upon his attention and curiosity to allow 
 him to devote his time to cabinet studies. 
 Information there, is to be gathered, not 
 from sedentary application, but from active 
 research and observation. One day is de- 
 voted to the contemplation of churches or 
 ruins, the next is passed in the examination 
 of pictures, a third is dedicated to a groupe 
 of ancient statues, and a fourth and a fifth 
 are agreeably spent in the galleries or the 
 gardens, of a villa ; then excursions are to 
 be made to spots consecrated by history or 
 by song, to Horace's Sabine farm or to 
 Virgil's tomb, to Tibur or Tusculum, to 
 Fesole, or Vallombrosa. In these delightful 
 and instructive occupations, days, weeks, 
 and months glide away with imperceptible 
 rapidity, and the few leisure hours that may 
 chance to occur at intervals are scarcely 
 sufficient to give the diligent traveller time 
 to collect his remarks and to embody his 
 recollections. Let him, therefore, who
 
 10 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 wishes to visit Italy with full satisfaction 
 and advantage, acquire, if possible, such 
 an acquaintance with its language, pre- 
 vious to his journey, that nothing may be 
 wanting to complete his command of it 
 but practice and conversation. He that 
 travelleth into a country before he hath some 
 entrance into the language, goeth to school 
 and not to travel, says Bacon. 
 
 ITALIAN HISTORY. 
 
 III. The next object which claims at- 
 tention is the History of the different Revo- 
 lutions of Italy, not only before, but during 
 the decline and after the fall of the Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 The republican part of Roman history 
 is considered as purely classical, and as 
 such is presupposed in the first paragraph. 
 The lives or the reigns of the first Em- 
 
 3
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 11 
 
 perors are contained in Suetonius, Tacitus, 
 and Herodian, whose curious and amusing 
 volumes must of course be perused with 
 attention, while the Scriptores Historic 
 Augusta will not be neglected. The Abate 
 Deninas History of the Revolutions of 
 Italy, a work in great estimation, gives a 
 very satisfactory view of the whole subject, 
 including both ancient and modern times. 
 The two Sister Histories of Lorenzo and 
 of Leo, by Mr. Roscoe, contain a full and 
 interesting account of one of the most 
 important epochs that occur in the annals 
 of Italy; they have long since attracted 
 the attention of every candid and reflect- 
 ing mind, and need not be recommended 
 to persons who mean to visit the country 
 which has been the theatre of the events, 
 and the abode of the great men so elo- 
 quently recorded in them.
 
 12 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 MEDALS. 
 
 IV. Though I do not mean to turn 
 young travellers into profound antiquaries, 
 yet I would have them at least skim over 
 all the regions of ancient learning. No 
 spot in this extensive territory is either 
 dreary or unproductive. Medals are inti- 
 mately connected with the history and the 
 manners, with the arts and even the taste 
 of the ancients. 
 
 .... And faithful to their charge of fame 
 Through climes and ages bear each form and name. 
 In one short view, subjected to our eye, 
 Gods, emp'rors, heroes, sages, beauties, lie. 
 
 They merit therefore considerable atten- 
 tion. Addison's Dialogues, written with 
 the usual felicity of that graceful author, 
 deserve to be recommended as a very pro- 
 per introduction to this amusing branch of 
 knowledge. These dialogues have also,
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 13 
 
 independently of their scientific merit, a 
 very strong claim to the attention of the 
 classical traveller, from the numberless ex- 
 tracts from the ancients, and particularly 
 the poets, introduced with art, and fre- 
 quently illustrated with elegance. 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 V. As Italy possesses some of the most 
 perfect monuments of antiquity now re- 
 maining, Res antique laudis et artis, as 
 well as the most splendid productions of 
 modern genius in Architecture, Sculpture, 
 and Painting, it is absolutely necessary to 
 acquire a general knowledge of the prin- 
 ciples of these three great arts. 
 
 With regard to Architecture, Dean Al- 
 drich's Elements, translated by Mr. Smyth 
 of New College, is a very clear and con- 
 cise treatise on the general principles, pro-
 
 14 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 portions, and terms of this art, and may 
 be recommended as a good work of the 
 kind for the use of beginners. The five 
 
 O 
 
 orders, according to Palladia's system, are 
 explained in a little treatise, and illustrated 
 in a set of neat engravings by Cypriam *. 
 Scamozzi's Lives of the principal Archi- 
 tects, preceded by a dissertation on the 
 art in general, is an useful and very enter- 
 taining work. 
 
 i 
 
 But the man who wishes to have accu- 
 rate ideas and comprehensive notions on 
 this subject, must not content himself with 
 these nor indeed with any modern compo- 
 sitions. He must have recourse to the an- 
 cients invent as qui wit am excoluere per artes 
 and in their writings and monuments 
 study the best models and the fairest spe- 
 cimens of architectural beauty. Rollings 
 
 * Roma 1801.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 15 
 
 short treatise, in his Appendix to his An- 
 cient History, enriched with several cita- 
 tions and classical references, may serve as 
 an introduction. It is not perhaps always 
 accurate, because written before an exact 
 survey of several ancient monuments had 
 been made, but it is perspicuous and in- 
 teresting, and like all the works of that 
 excellent author, admirably calculated to 
 awaken curiosity in the youthful mind. 
 Stuart's Athens, a work of surprising ex- 
 actness, presents to the eye, in one groupe, 
 a collection of the noblest specimens of 
 Grecian art and of Attic taste now exist- 
 ing*. In these matchless edifices, erected 
 during the most flourishing period of Gre- 
 cian architecture, the reader will discover 
 
 * Mr. Wilkins's magnificent work, entitled, Magna 
 Grecia, is, in execution, accuracy, and interest, equal 
 to any of the kind, and cannot be too strongly recom- 
 mended.
 
 16 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 the genuine proportions of the original 
 Doric, the first and favorite order of the 
 Grecian architects ; an order either slightly 
 mentioned or totally omitted by modern 
 artists, though it is supposed, at least as 
 employed in the Parthenon and the temple 
 of Theseus, to unite above all others, orna- 
 ment with simplicity and beauty with 
 solidity. Vitruvius must be perused or at 
 least consulted, with the assistance of the 
 Italian translation and notes, to remove 
 such difficulties as must invariably occur 
 without some explanation*. 
 
 Many works of greater length and more 
 detail might be recommended, but the few 
 alluded to are sufficient, not indeed to 
 perfect an architect, but to form the taste 
 of a young traveller. Besides, when the 
 
 * Vitruvio del Galiani, Napoli.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 17 
 
 first principles are once known and the 
 original proportions well understood, an 
 attentive observer may improve his taste 
 by comparing the best models of Greek 
 and Roman, of ancient and modern, archi- 
 tecture *. 
 
 * No art deserves more attention than Architecture, 
 because no art is so often called into action, tends so 
 much to the embellishment or contributes more to the 
 reputation of a country. It ought, therefore, at all 
 events to occupy some portion of time in a liberal edu- 
 cation. Had such a method of instruction as that 
 which is here recommended been adopted a century 
 ago, the streets of London, Oxford, and Cambridge, 
 would not present so many shapeless buildings, raised 
 at an enormous expence, as if designed for eternal 
 monuments of the opulence and of the bad taste of the 
 British nation. We should not see such a multitude 
 of absurd edifices under the names of temples, ruins, 
 &c. disgrace the scenery of England so much admired 
 by foreigners. In short, instead of allowing architects 
 to pursue novelty at the expence of taste, and seek for 
 reputation by adaptations and pretended improvements 
 of their own invention, a method which has never yet 
 succeeded, their employers would oblige them to ad- 
 here strictly to the ancients, and by adopting their 
 forms and proportions to adorn England with the no- 
 blest edifices of Greece and of Italy. 
 
 C
 
 18 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 SCULPTURE. 
 
 VI. We come in the next place to 
 Sculpture. Some acquaintance with ana- 
 tomy is a desirable preliminary to the 
 knowledge of this art; therefore he who 
 wishes to form correct notions of the 
 statues, which he must necessarily examine 
 during his travels, would do well to attend 
 a few anatomical lectures previous to his 
 departure from the University. The best 
 method of acquiring a correct and natural 
 taste in sculpture is, without doubt, to 
 inspect frequently the masterpieces of the 
 art, to compare them with each other, and 
 to converse occasionally with the best 
 informed artists. 
 
 PAINTING. 
 
 VII. Du Fresnoy's Art of Painting, and 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds's well known dis-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 19 
 
 courses, together with much observation 
 and frequent conversation with persons 
 well versed in this enchanting art, may 
 enable attentive observers to distinguish 
 
 o 
 
 the different schools, to observe the cha- 
 racteristic excellence of each great master, 
 the peculiar beauty of every celebrated 
 piece, and give them, if not the eruditos 
 oculos, the discriminating eye of the pro- 
 fessed artist, at least the liberal satisfaction 
 of the judicious admirer. 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 VIII. As Italy is acknowledged to be 
 the first country in the world for Music, 
 both with regard to composition and exe- 
 cution, something perhaps may be ex- 
 pected on that subject also. But, much 
 as we may value music, yet I think that 
 young travellers ought rather to be cau-
 
 20 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 tioned against its allurements than exposed 
 by preparatory lessons to their dangerous 
 influence. 
 
 Music in Italy has lost its strength and 
 its dignity ; it is little calculated either to 
 kindle patriotism or to inspire devotion ; 
 it does not call forth the energies of the 
 mind, nor even touch the strings of me- 
 lancholy. It tends rather by its effemi- 
 nacy to bring dangerous passions into 
 action, and like the allegorical stream of 
 antiquity, to unman those who allow 
 themselves to be hurried down its treach- 
 erous current. Plato would have forbidden 
 such music, and banished its professors 
 from his republic ; at all events it neither 
 wants nor deserves much encouragement, 
 and we may at least be allowed to caution 
 the youthful traveller against a taste that 
 too often leads to low and dishonourable 
 connexions.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 21 
 
 JX. I have now pointed out the prepa- 
 ratory knowledge which I think necessary 
 to all travellers who wish to derive from 
 their Italian Tour, their full share of in- 
 formation and amusement. I will next 
 proceed, according to my plan, to point 
 out such dispositions, as will contribute 
 very materially to this object, by removing 
 prejudices, and leaving the mind fully open 
 to the impressions of experience and ob- 
 servation. 
 
 All the dispositions alluded to, are inclu- 
 ded in one short but comprehensive ex- 
 pression, an unprejudiced mind. This ex- 
 cellent quality is the result of time and ob- 
 servation, of docility and benevolence. It 
 does not require that we should b. indif- 
 ferent to the prosperity of our own country 
 or blind to its pre-eminence ; but, that we 
 should shew some indulgence to the errors, 
 and some compassion for the sufferings of 
 less favoured nations. Far be it from me,
 
 22 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 to wish to repress that spirit of patriotism 
 which forms one of the noblest features of 
 the national character, and still farther 
 every idea of encouraging the unfeeling 
 sect, who conceal general indifference, 
 under the affectation of philanthropy, and 
 sacrifice the feelings of the patriot, to the 
 pretended benevolence of the philo- 
 sopher. 
 
 But attachment to our own country, and 
 partiality to its reputation, do not oblige 
 us to despise those nations, which having 
 been once tumbled from the pinnacle of 
 Glory, are held by a series of disastrous 
 revolutions and irresistible circumstances in 
 a state of dependence and of consequent 
 degradation. On the contrary, the num- 
 berless evils and abuses which result from 
 slavery and oppression, cannot but excite 
 sentiments of compassion and of sympathy. 
 Scipio, when he beheld the flames of
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. S3 
 
 Carthage ascending to the skies, exclaimed 
 with a prophetic application to Rome then 
 triumphant, 
 
 Eu [*\v yap roJf c~Ja xara ppn-a, xa xara GUJUOP 
 
 tiff ~ r i V _\./ \ T , \ 
 
 E<r<TTa rpxp, or a.v TTOT oAcovtj lAo? tpn 
 
 vi. 4478. 
 
 Yet come it will, the day decreed bj Fates, 
 How my heart trembles, while my tongue relates ! 
 The day when Thou, imperial Troy ! must bend 
 And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end. 
 
 Iliad vi. 
 
 Empire has hitherto rolled westward: 
 when we contemplate the dominions of 
 Great Britain, and its wide-extended 
 power, we may without presumption ima- 
 gine that it now hovers over Great Britain ; 
 but it is still on the wing; and whether it 
 be destined to retrace its steps to the East, 
 or to continue its flight to Transatlantic 
 regions, the days of England's glory have 
 their number, and the period of her decline 
 will at length arrive. The inhabitants of
 
 24: PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 these islands may, like the sons of Greece 
 and Italy, lie prostrate at the feet of a vic- 
 torious enemy, and claim his compassion 
 as a tribute due to the greatness of their 
 ancestors. Let us therefore extend our 
 sympathy to the now enslaved offspring of 
 our predecessors in the career of glory, of 
 
 the former LORDS OF HUMAN KIND 
 
 terra dominantis alumni. 
 
 In fine, let us contemplate the different 
 forms of worship which prevail in different 
 parts of Christendom, not with the acrimo- 
 nious contempt of a narrow minded sectary, 
 but with the compassionate indulgence of a 
 mild and humble Christian. Let it be re- 
 membered that Englishmen are reproached 
 by foreigners with intolerance, and that it 
 becomes them to keep up the national re- 
 putation of candor and good sense, by con- 
 ciliatory and forbearing conduct. I do not 
 mean to recommend either compliance with
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 25 
 
 practices which they condemn, or indif- 
 ference to that form of Christianity which 
 they have adopted : but surely every candid 
 and consistent Protestant will admit, that 
 Christianity is excellent in all her forms ; 
 that all Christian Establishments^eceive the 
 same primitive creeds, and admit the same 
 moral obligations ; that it becomes a bene- 
 volent and charitable mind to consider 
 rather in \^hat they agree, than in what they 
 differ ; especially as the former is so much, 
 and the latter comparatively so little; that 
 while the spirit of Christianity is like its 
 divine author, immutable, its external 
 form may change with the age and the 
 climate, and, as public opinion and autho- 
 rity shall direct, assume or resign the 
 pomp and the circumstance of worship ; 
 that ceremonies, in themselves unmeaning, 
 signify just as much as those who employ 
 them attach to them, and that Catholic as 
 well as Protestant nations may be allowed
 
 26 PBELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 to adopt in religion as well as in civil life, 
 such forms and rites as may seem calculated 
 to ensure order and respect; that whether 
 the Gospel be read in the language and ac- 
 cording to the simple forms of the Church 
 of England, under the Gothic vaults of 
 York or of Canterbury ; or whether it be 
 chanted in Greek and Latin, with all the 
 splendor of the Roman ritual under the 
 golden dome of the Vatican; it is always 
 and every-where, the same voice of truth, 
 the same tidings of salvation : in fine, that 
 all Christians are marked on their entrance 
 into life, with the same seal of salvation ; 
 that all hope to receive at the eucharistic 
 table the same pledge of redemption, and 
 that all resign their souls in death to the 
 same merciful Father, with humble hopes 
 of forgiveness through the same gracious 
 Redeemer. That there should be such an 
 universal agreement in these great and in- 
 teresting articles must be a subject of con- 
 5
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 27 
 
 solation, and of pious acknowledgment to 
 every benevolent mind. 
 
 But I fear that Charity itself can scarce 
 look for a greater unanimity. An agree- 
 ment in all the details and consequences 
 drawn by arguments from first principles, 
 is not to be expected in our present state, 
 so chequered with light and shade, where 
 knowledge is dealt out so unequally, and 
 where the opinions of even good and wise 
 men are so biassed by education, by habit, 
 and by prejudice. But if we have not 
 knowledge enough to coincide in specu- 
 lation, we may at least have charity enough 
 to agree in practice, by treating each other's 
 op.nions with tenderness; and, in all our 
 differences and discussions, keeping in view 
 that beautiful maxim inculcated by a very 
 earned, a very zealous, and a very bene- 
 volent Father, In necessartis Unitas, in dubiis 
 libertas, in omnibus Caritas.
 
 28 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 X. It is usual to take with us as guides 
 on our journey certain works written for 
 the purpose, and Addison's Travels are 
 generally recommended ; and indeed his 
 known taste and character, together with 
 the avowed purpose of his journey, might 
 have justified the expectation of a finished 
 performance. But though Addison had 
 naturally an enlarged mind, humane feel- 
 ings, and a fancy teeming with imagery, 
 yet prejudice had narrowed his extensive 
 views, religious acrimony had soured his 
 temper, and party spirit had repressed his 
 imagination. He gave therefore to one 
 half of the nation, what he owed to the 
 whole ; he considered principally how he 
 might support one party and annoy the 
 other ; and he ran over great part of 
 Europe, particularly Italy, not so much a 
 Classic as a Whig traveller." In his eyes 
 countries appeared fertile and happy, or 
 barren and miserable, not as nature formed
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 29 
 
 them, but as they were connected with 
 France or with England, as their religion 
 was Protestant or Catholic. Hence, he 
 dwells with at least as much complacency 
 on the little miserable details of German 
 and Italian superstition, as on the interest- 
 ing remains of Roman grandeur, and fills 
 with the dreams of bigotry and the censures 
 of intolerance, those pages which ought 
 to have been devoted to the effusions of 
 classical enthusiasm, and strewed with the 
 flowers of ancient poesy.* Prejudice or 
 malevolence, in ordinary writers, excites 
 neither surprize nor regret ; the ignorance 
 or the folly of mediocrity can claim nothing 
 more than contempt ; but the errors and 
 the defects of the wise and of the good 
 awaken more serious emotions ; and while 
 we justly lament the weakness of human 
 
 * Vide seven pages devoted to St. Anthony's Ser- 
 mon to the Fish, in Italian and English.
 
 30 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 nature we are cautioned by such examples 
 against the indulgence of passions, which 
 could imbitter the benevolence, and per- 
 vert the good sense, of the mild, the judi- 
 cious Addison. Succeeding travellers have 
 improved on this author's defects, and 
 loaded their pages with misrepresentation 
 and invective : while, within the last ten 
 years, some tourists have employed their 
 journals as vehicles of revolutionary mad- 
 ness, and instead of the laudes Italia and 
 the fortia facto, patrum have given the 
 public elaborate panegyrics on the French 
 generals, and accounts of their achieve- 
 ments as exaggerated as their own des- 
 patches.* 
 
 * The best guide or rather companion which the 
 traveller can take with him, is Corinne ou FItalie, a 
 work of singular ingenuity and eloquence. In it 
 Madame de Stael does ample justice to the Italian 
 character ; though a Protestant she speaks of the reli- 
 gion of Italy with reverence, and treats even super- 
 stition kself with indulgence. She describes the
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 31 
 
 To conclude this topic, an attentive 
 traveller, after having acquired the pre- 
 paratory knowledge recommended in the 
 preceding pages, may safely rely on his 
 own diligence, aided by the observations 
 of the intelligent inhabitants, and by the 
 maps and guides to be procured in every 
 great town. Books, though necessary, are 
 an incumberance which never fails to in- 
 crease as we advance ; we ought therefore 
 to confine ourselves to the classics, if pos- 
 sible, and even then we shall find our 
 library sufficiently numerous and bulky. 
 
 XI. Maps form an indispensable part of 
 a traveller's furniture. At setting out, two 
 
 climate, the beauties, the monuments of that privi- 
 leged country with glowing animation, Musaeo con- 
 tingens cuncta lepore; she raises the reader above the 
 common level of thought, and inspires him with that 
 lofty temper of mind, without which we can neither 
 discover nor relish the great and the beautiful in art or 
 in nature.
 
 32 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 will be sufficient : one of Ancient, one of 
 Modern Italy. Of the former D'Anville's 
 is the best ; of the latter, an excellent one, 
 extremely beautiful in the execution, and 
 upon a scale large enough for information 
 without being burthensome, has been pub- 
 lished by Zannoni.* As the traveller ad- 
 vances, he must enrich his collection, and 
 procure in its principal town, the map of 
 each province or division. At Milan,, he 
 will find separate maps of the lakes and 
 the various regions of the Milanese. At 
 Mantua, a beautiful, correct, but I believe 
 scarce map, of that city and its vicinity, 
 should be inquired for. At Bologna may 
 be had the excellent maps of the Roman 
 territory by Father Boscovich. At Rome 
 
 * The map prefixed to the present edition has been 
 copied from that of Zannoni alluded to. It is very 
 accurate, and well executed, and does credit to the 
 ingenious engraver, Mr. Smith.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 33 
 
 may be purchased a map of the patrimony 
 of St. Peter, and one of Latium. These I 
 recommend, as they give the ancient and 
 modern names of each town and territory, 
 and at the same time mark the ancient 
 roads, aqueducts, and ruins. The great 
 and beautiful map of Rome must not be 
 neglected, though if it should be deemed 
 too expensive and bulky, there are two 
 others of a smaller and more convenient 
 size. The best map of the kingdom of 
 Naples is in four sheets, well printed, and 
 said to be very accurate, by Zannoni. 
 There are moreover, three maps of Naples 
 and its neighborhood, of the bay and its 
 islands, of exquisite beauty in execution 
 and ornament. These of course every tra- 
 veller will purchase.* 
 
 * Maps on the same scale, and of the same beauty, 
 of all the provinces of the Neapolitan territory, have, 
 I believe, been since published. 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 ROUTE. 
 
 XII. We are now to speak of the time 
 requisite to make a full and complete Tour 
 of Italy, as well as of the season best 
 adapted to the commencement of such a 
 tour. A year, I think, is the shortest 
 space that ought to be allotted, and a year 
 and a half or even two years might be 
 well devoted to this useful and amusing 
 part of our travels. The want of leisure is 
 the only objection that can be made to 
 this arrangement, but it is an objection 
 seldom well grounded, as youth in general 
 from nineteen to three or four-and-twenty, 
 have more time than business, and seem 
 much more frequently at a loss for occu- 
 pation than for leisure. Occupation, ne- 
 cessary at all seasons, but particularly in 
 youth, should be furnished, and no occu- 
 pation can suit that age when the mind is 
 restless and the body active, better than
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 35 
 
 travelling. Moreover, every man of obser- 
 vation who has made a cursory visit to 
 Italy, will find that a first view of that 
 country has merely qualified him to make 
 a second visit with more advantage, and 
 will perhaps feel the cravings of unsatisfied 
 curiosity, the -iisendi stadium, at a time 
 when travelling may be inconsistent with 
 the cares and the duties of life. It is more 
 prudent, therefore, to seize the first oppor- 
 tunity, and by then allotting a sufficient 
 portion of time to the tour, gratify him- 
 self with a full and perfect view for ever. 
 Supposing therefore, that a year and a 
 half is to be devoted to this part of the 
 journey. I advise the traveller to pass the 
 Alps early in the autumn, thus to avoid 
 the inconvenience of travelling in winter or 
 cold weather, an inconvenience always felt 
 on the Continent, where ready fires, warm 
 rooms, doors and windows that exclude 
 the air, are seldom found. His route to 
 
 JD 2
 
 36 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 the Alps may be as follows. He may first 
 proceed to Brussels, thence to Liege, Spa, 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, Bonne, and along 
 the banks of the Rhine to Coblentz, Mentz, 
 and Strasburg; there cross the Rhine to 
 Manheim, traverse the Palatinate, the ter- 
 ritories of Wittenberg, Bavaria, and Saltz- 
 burg, enter the defiles of the Tyrol or 
 Rhetian Alps, and passing through Inspruck 
 and Trent turn to Bassano and to Maestre, 
 whence he may send his carriage by land 
 to Padua, and embark for Venice. From 
 Venice he may go by water up the Brenta 
 to Padua, where he may establish his 
 head quarters, and visit Arcqua, the Monti 
 Euganei, and thence pass onwards to Fer- 
 rara and Bologna; then follow the Via 
 Emilia to Forli, thence proceed to Ravenna 
 and Rimini, make an excursion to San 
 Marino, and advance forward to Ancona, 
 whence he may visit Osimo. He will then 
 continue his journey by Loretto and Mace-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 37 
 
 rata to Tolentino; thence over the Apen- 
 nines to Foligno, Spoleto, and Term, and so 
 follow the direct road through Civita Castel- 
 lana to Rome. 
 
 I suppose that a traveller passes the Alps 
 in September; of course he should reach 
 Rome by the end of November. I calcu- 
 late ten or fifteen days delay on account of 
 the autumnal rains; for it is advisable by 
 all means to stop at some large town dur- 
 ing that period of inundation. These 
 autumnal rains take place sometimes in 
 September, though they frequently fall at 
 a later period. At any rate, I would by 
 no means advise a traveller to pass the 
 Apennines, or visit any territory supposed 
 to lie under the influence of the malaria, 
 till these salubrious showers have purified 
 the air and allayed the noxious vapours 
 that hover over the Pomptine marshes, the 
 Campagna di Roma, and some other low
 
 38 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 tracts, during the latter weeks of summer 
 and the beginning of autumn : the air of 
 Venice itself is supposed by many persons 
 not to be quite exempt from this incon- 
 venience. 
 
 The traveller will devote the month of 
 December to the first contemplation of 
 Rome, and the consideration of its most 
 striking beauties. He will then do well to 
 proceed to Naples, where the months of 
 January, February, and (if Easter be in 
 April) of March, will be delightfully em- 
 ployed in visiting the numberless beauties 
 that lie in that neighborhood, and along 
 the storied shores of Magna Grecia. At 
 all events, the traveller must so time his 
 return as to be at Rome the week before 
 Easter, in order to be present at the cere- 
 monies that are performed in the Six tine 
 Cbapel, and in St. Peter's, before and dur- 
 ing that festival,
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 39 
 
 The Months of April, May, and June 
 will not appear long when passed in a 
 leisurely survey of the remains of ancient 
 magnificence and the study of the great 
 models of modern art, and when enlivened 
 by frequent excursions to Tibur, Ostia, 
 Antium^ Mount Soracte, Praneste, and the 
 Sab'ne mountains. The Alban Mount, with 
 all its tumuli and luci, may be reserved for 
 the hot months of July and August ; there 
 he may easily establish himself in some 
 villa, whose cool retreats will afford him 
 shade and refreshment during the oppres- 
 sive heats of the season. 
 
 In the course of September, or rather 
 when the autumnal rains have fallen, it 
 will be time to turn towards Florence. The 
 first object which should claim the atten- 
 tion of the traveller in the neighborhood 
 of this city is Vallombrosa, because its 
 elevated situation renders it difficult of 
 
 2
 
 40 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 access at an early period of autumn. The 
 first opportunity therefore must be em- 
 braced, and the excursion, if the weather 
 be favorable, continued to Camaldoli and 
 La Vernia, two other celebrated and highly 
 romantic solitudes. The winter may be 
 divided very agreeably between Florence 
 and the other Tuscan cities. 
 
 In the beginning of February the traveller 
 may pass the Apennines to Modena, Parma, 
 Placentia, Lodi, Cremona, Mantua, and 
 Verona, allowing four days or a week to 
 each town and its neighborhood. From 
 Verona he will visit Peschiera and the Lago 
 di Gorda (Eenacus); thence direct his 
 course by Brescia and Bergamo to Milan. 
 From Milan he will make the celebrated 
 lakes Como and Maggiore objects of 
 attention, and thence shape his course by 
 Vercelli, and Tortona, to Genoa. He will 
 then take the road of the maritime Alps by
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 41 
 
 Savona to Mce, after which he will turn 
 inland to Turin. Mount Cenis, the termi- 
 nation of his Italian Tour, then rises before 
 him in distant perspective. 
 
 If, while at Naples, he find it safe or 
 practicable to penetrate into the southern 
 provinces of Calabria and Apulia, he will 
 not neglect the opportunity; and, with the 
 addition of that excursion, by following 
 the road which I have traced out, he will 
 have seen every town of note, and indeed 
 every remarkable plain, hill, or mountain 
 in Italy, and become intimately acquainted 
 with the numberless beauties and curiosities 
 of that most interesting country. But if 
 he should not have so much time at his 
 disposal, he may retrench the first part of 
 the tour, proceed direct to Switzerland, 
 pass the Alps by Mount St. Got hard or 
 Sempiojie, and descending directly to Domo 
 D'Ossola visit the lakes, and proceed from
 
 42 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 Como to Milan, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, 
 Padua, Venice, and returning again by 
 Padua and Vicenza turn to Mantua, Pia- 
 cenza, Parma, Modena, Bologna, along the 
 Adriatic as above. He will moreover 
 abridge the time devoted to Naples and 
 Rome, pass the summer in Tuscany, go 
 by sea from Leghorn or Carrara to Genoa, 
 and pass thence by the Bccchetta direct to 
 Turin. The visit to the lakes ought to be 
 so timed as to avoid the equinoctial wirrds, 
 extremely dangerous, because very sudden 
 and very boisterous ; so that it is not un- 
 common in these seasons to see the lakes 
 pass, in the short space of half an hour, 
 from a state of perfect calm to the most 
 tremendous agitation. 
 
 XIII. The great roads in Italy are good, 
 the posts well furnished with horses, and 
 robberies not common ; travelling is there- 
 fore, in general, safe and expeditious. The
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 43 
 
 principal, and indeed almost the only 
 inconveniencies, arise from the equinoctial 
 rains and the summer heats. The influence 
 of both is felt over all Italy ; that of the 
 former is particularly inconvenient and 
 even sometimes dangerous, especially in 
 the northern provinces and along the 
 eastern coast. The immense number of 
 considerable rivers, such as the Tanaro, 
 the Tesino, the Bormida, the Adda, c. 
 that pour their tributary waters into the 
 Po, while with it they contribute so largely 
 to the luxuriancy and beauty of the plains 
 through which they glide, yet, when swelled 
 with continued rains, like it they overflow 
 their banks and inundate the level surface 
 of the surrounding country. On these 
 occasions the roads are covered with mud, 
 the fords rendered impassable, bridges not 
 unfrequently swept away, and the com- 
 munication between different towns and 
 provinces entirely suspended. Nor do
 
 44 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 these inundations always subside as soon 
 as might be expected from the general 
 heat and dryness of the climate; their 
 pernicious effects are sometimes felt for 
 months afterwards, and I recollect to have 
 myself observed in March 1802, in the 
 neighborhood of Mantua, or rather about 
 ten miles lower down, between the Mincio 
 and the Po, vast sheets of water, and 
 whole fields immerged, the effects of an 
 inundation some months before. Virgil, 
 whose farm bordered upon the Mincius, 
 seems to have had a particular apprehen- 
 sion of the consequences of inundations, 
 if we may judge from the accurate details 
 which he gives of the signs of approaching 
 rain, and the picture which he draws of 
 their disastrous consequences. The traveller 
 therefore, who may be surprised by these 
 periodical showers, if in compliance with 
 the advice given above, he establish him- 
 self in the first commodious inn, will not
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 45 
 
 find such accidental delays either useless or 
 unpleasant. 
 
 But to return to the principal object of 
 this paragraph. Though the sun in Italy 
 has, even in the cooler seasons, a sufficient 
 degree of warmth to incommode a foreigner, 
 yet the heat can scarcely be considered as 
 an obstacle to travelling, except in the 
 months of July and August; then indeed 
 it is intense, and it is imprudent in the tra- 
 veller to expose himself to the beams of the 
 sun for any time ; though Englishmen fre- 
 quently seem insensible of the danger, and 
 brave alike the rigours of a Russian winter 
 and the heats of an Italian or even of an 
 Egyptian summer. Fevers and untimely 
 deaths are sometimes the consequences of 
 this rashness, and more than one traveller 
 has had reason to regret his imprudence. 
 To avoid these dangers, persons who are 
 obliged to travel during the hot months ge-
 
 46 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 nerally proceed by night, and repose during 
 the sultry hours of the day. By this 
 method, without doubt, they guard suffi- 
 ciently against the inconveniencies and 
 dangers of the weather, but at the same 
 time they sacrifice one of the principal 
 objects, the scenery of the country; and 
 this sacrifice in Italy can, in my opinion, 
 be compensated by no advantages. The 
 best method, therefore, is to set out a full 
 hour before sun-rise, to stop at ten, and re- 
 pose till five, then travel as day light will 
 permit : by this arrangement of time the 
 traveller will enjoy the prospect of the 
 country, the freshness of the morning, and 
 the coolness of the evening, and devote to 
 rest those hours only which heat renders 
 unfit for any purpose of excursion or of en- 
 joyment.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 47 
 
 ACCOMMODATIONS. 
 
 A few words upon the inns and accom- 
 modations in Italy will be sufficient. An 
 English traveller must, the very instant he 
 embarks for the Continent, resign many of 
 the comforts and conveniencies which he 
 enjoys at home, and which he does not 
 sufficiently prize, because he is seldom in 
 the way of learning their value by privation. 
 Great will be his disappointment if, on his 
 arrival, he expects a warm room, a news- 
 paper, and a well-stored larder. These ad- 
 vantages are common enough at home, but 
 they are not to be found in any inn on the 
 Continent, not even Dessennes at Calais or 
 the Maison Rouge at Frankfort. But the 
 principal and most offensive defect abroad 
 is the want of cleanliness, a defect in a 
 greater or lesser degree common to all parts 
 of the Continent. In Italy,- to which these
 
 48 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 observations are confined, the little country 
 inns are dirty, but the greater inns, parti- 
 cularly in Rome, Naples, Florence, and 
 Venice, are good, and in general the linen 
 is clean, and the beds are excellent. As 
 for diet, in country towns, the traveller will 
 find plenty of provisions, though seldom 
 prepared according to his taste. But, 
 " il faut bien" says Mr. De la Lande, 
 " racheter par quelque chose les agr&mem de 
 I'ltalie" 
 
 This representation of Italian accommo- 
 dations, which it is hoped, will be found 
 on experience tolerably accurate, is not 
 on the whole discouraging, and our tra- 
 veller may commence his journey without 
 the apprehension of any very serious or 
 distressing inconvenience. He who can 
 content himself with plain food and a good 
 bed, will find abundant compensation for 
 the absence of the supernumerary pleasures
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 49 
 
 of accommodation, in the indulgence of 
 rational curiosity, and the acquisition of 
 knowledge. The classical reader will con- 
 sole himself in the assurance, that accom- 
 modations in the worst Italian inns at 
 present, are far better than what they seem 
 to have been in Horace's time, at least, if 
 we may be allowed to form conjectures 
 about the state of inns in general from that 
 of Beneventum in particular. 
 
 The inconvenience of which the poet 
 complains at Trevicus is at present very 
 general at the inns both of France and Italy, 
 where the shivering traveller finds himself, 
 if he happens to travel in cold weather, 
 like Horace, often ushered into a damp 
 room, and placed before a newly lighted 
 fire, diffusing a half smothered flame, 
 lacrimoso non sinefumo. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 50 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 OBJECTS OF ATTENTION. 
 
 XIV. It may not be deemed superfluous 
 to enumerate the principal objects which 
 deserve a traveller's attention, and to point 
 out, at the same time, the best method of 
 satisfying his curiosity. The manners, cus- 
 toms, and opinions, together with the dif- 
 ferent lights which religion, government, 
 and climate, throw upon the characters of 
 nations and individuals, without doubt, 
 claim our first attention. To converse with 
 the natives of the country, to frequent pub- 
 lic assemblies and courts, and, on the other 
 hand, to take an occasional range through 
 the humble walks of life, is the proper me- 
 thod of acquiring this useful information. 
 Introduction to the higher class in Italy is 
 not very difficult; they meet in evening 
 parties, either at particular houses, where 
 such assemblies are called conversazzion i ;
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 51 
 
 or at the casino, a sort of fashionable club 
 established in most towns in Italy. A letter 
 of introduction to any person of rank will 
 open all such assemblies to a stranger. But 
 the traveller, who really wishes to know the 
 manners of the Italian gentry, must endea- 
 vour to penetrate into the interior of society, 
 and form acquaintance with some of the 
 principal characters in each town, particu- 
 larly if there be any among them of literary 
 reputation. Nor would this be a difficult 
 task, if we went to Italy better versed in 
 its language ; and if we devoted more time 
 to the cultivation of our acquaintance there. 
 This private society, if it be select, and I 
 recommend no other, is, I think for very 
 obvious reasons, far preferable to larger 
 circles. 
 
 But, while speaking of society, I think 
 it necessary to make an observation, the 
 propriety of which must strike every reader, 
 
 E 2
 
 52 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 because it is founded upon the change 
 which has taken place in the higher classes 
 on the continent during the last ten years. 
 The court of Versailles was formerly consi- 
 dered as the most polished court in the 
 world, and the state of society at Paris, as 
 well as at Rome and Turin, was supposed 
 to have reached a very high degree of re- 
 finement. The principal object of travel- 
 ling then was to acquire, in some accom- 
 plished society, that ease and those graces 
 which constitute the perfection of good 
 breeding, and which were seldom, it was 
 then fancied, to be discovered in the man- 
 ners of a home-bred Englishman. How 
 far this opinion was true it is not my in- 
 tention to examine, but it was very generally 
 admitted, and in consequence no young 
 man of rank was deemed qualified to make 
 an advantageous entrance into the world 
 till, by a considerable residence in the ca- 
 pitals mentioned above, he had worn
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 53 
 
 somewhat of the native roughness of the 
 Briton. But the case is very different at 
 present. The French Revolution has been 
 as fatal to the manners as to the morals of 
 nations ; it has corrupted the one and bru- 
 talized the other. It is not to society in 
 such a state that he is to look for improve- 
 ment, nor indeed is such improvement 
 either the sole or the principal motive of 
 travelling at present, nor is it necessary to 
 wander over the Continent in quest of ac- 
 complishments* London, that has long 
 been the first city in Europe for population, 
 extent, and opulence, is now also confes- 
 sedly the first in point of society, and the 
 Capital of the polite and fashionable, as it 
 has long been of the commercial world. 
 The first class of its society, the most nu- 
 merous of that description that has ever 
 been united in any great city, comprehends 
 all the advantages of title, of fortune, and 
 of information. I do not hereby mean to
 
 54 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 depreciate continental society or represent 
 it as useless, but I wish to point out to the 
 reader the change that has taken place, and 
 to caution him against expecting from 
 foreign society, in its present state, all the 
 advantages which were formerly supposed 
 to be derived from it. 
 
 This subject naturally leads to a question 
 which, I believe, is generally solved rather 
 from habit and prejudice than reason. Are 
 we, as Bacon says, '* to sequester ourselves 
 from the company of our countrymen" 
 while abroad, or may we be allowed some- 
 times to associate with them ? The answer 
 to this question should be drawn from prin- 
 ciples of general or rather durable utility. 
 The object of all our travels, studies, and 
 pursuits is, or ought to be, permanent ad- 
 vantage. We do not, doubtless, travel to 
 France or to Italy to see Englishmen, but 
 yet we travel for improvement and for
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 55 
 
 amusement ; and whatever society contri- 
 butes to either, ought to be cultivated with 
 an assiduity proportioned to its advantages. 
 The traveller, therefore, ought by all means 
 to procure an introduction to the best com- 
 pany of the great towns through which he 
 may pass ; and at the same time he may 
 become acquainted with such English gen- 
 tlemen as may chance to be in the same 
 place. Such an acquaintance super-induces 
 no obligation ; it may be cultivated or 
 dropt at pleasure; but the trial ought to be 
 made; and if experience may be credited, 
 the reader may be assured, that casual ac- 
 quaintance not unfrequently ripens into 
 settled and permanent friendship. Conti- 
 nental connexions in general are of a very 
 different nature; however agreeable, they 
 are contracted only for the occasion, and 
 cannot be supposed, in general, strong 
 enough to resist the influence of absence. 
 Besides, why should we voluntarily reject 
 
 3
 
 56 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 one of the greatest advantages of travelling, 
 an opportunity of selecting friends, and 
 forming sincere and durable attachments ; 
 for, as Ovid observes in some beautiful lines, 
 there is not a stronger bond than that which 
 is formed by a participation of the acci- 
 dents and of the vicissitudes of a long and 
 eventful journey, * 
 
 SCENERY. 
 
 The general face of the country, so con- 
 spicuously beautiful all over Italy, merits 
 from this circumstance alone peculiar at- 
 tention, and when to its picturesque fea- 
 
 * Te duce, magnificas Asiae perspeximus Urbes]: 
 
 Trinacris est oculis, te duce, nota meis. 
 Vidimus Etnsea coelum splendescere flamma ; 
 
 Suppositus monti quain vomit ore gigas : 
 Hennaeosque lacus, et olentia stagna Palici, 
 
 Quaque suis Cyanen miscet Anapus aquis 
 
 Et quota pars haec sunt rerum, quas vidimus ambo, 
 
 Te milii jucundas efficiente vias !
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 57 
 
 tures we add those charms, less real but 
 more enchanting, which Fancy sheds over 
 its scenery, we give it an irresistible interest 
 that awakens all the feelings of the classic 
 youth. Our early studies, as Gibbon justly 
 observes, allow us to sympathize in the 
 feelings of a Roman ; and one might almost 
 say of every school boy not insensible to 
 the sweets of his first studies, that he be- 
 comes in feeling and sentiments, perhaps 
 even in language, a Roman. It is not then 
 wonderful, that when in a riper age he visits 
 
 Seu rate caeruleas picta sulcavimus undas : 
 
 Esseda nos agili sive tulere rota. 
 Soepe brevis nobis vicibus via visa loquendi ; 
 
 Pluraque, si numeres, verba fuere gradu. 
 Scepe dies sermone minor fuit ; inque loquendum 
 
 Tarda per ffistivos deftrit hora dies. 
 Est aliquid casus, paritcr timuisse marines ; 
 
 Junctaque ad aequoreos vota tulisse Decs : 
 Haec tibi si subeant (absim licet) omnibus horis 
 
 Ante tuos oculos, ut modo visus, ero. 
 
 Ovid. Ep. ex Pontoy lib. n. x. 21. seq.
 
 58 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 that country and beholds those very scenes 
 which he has imagined to himself so long 
 before, he should feel an uncommon glow 
 of enthusiasm, and in the moment of en- 
 chantment, should add some imaginary to 
 ! their many real charms. Besides, the 
 scenery of Italy is truly classical; I mean, 
 it is such as described by poets and histo- 
 rians. Earthquakes, the only species of 
 revolution that can permanently alter the 
 great features of nature, however common 
 they may be there, have, if we except a 
 few places in the neighborhood of Naples, 
 and some distant parts of the coasts of 
 Calabria, made in the whole but little alter- 
 ation. Even wars, invasions, and the de- 
 vastation of eighteen centuries have not yet 
 eradicated those local ornaments that arise 
 either from the tendency of the soil or from 
 the persevering attention of the inhabitants. 
 The Sylaris is still shaded with groves and 
 thickets ; the rose of Pcestum, though neg-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 59 
 
 lected, still blooms twice a year, to waste 
 its sweetness on the desert air ; while Mount 
 Alburnus still glories in the ilex and in the 
 neverfading verdure of his lofty forests. 
 
 But not to anticipate various observa- 
 tions that will occur, each in its proper 
 place, one advantage, at all events, the 
 face of nature possesses in Italy, which is, 
 that it seldom or never disappoints the tra- 
 veller, or falls short of his expectations, 
 however high they may have been pre- 
 viously raised ; on the contrary, if I may 
 form any opinion of the sentiments of fo- 
 reigners in general by my own and by those 
 of my fellow travellers, the lakes, the vale 
 of the Clitumnus, the fall of the Anio, the 
 banks of the Nar, the waters of Tibur, the 
 groves of Albano, and the plains, the hills, 
 the coasts, the bays of Campania Felix, not 
 only equal but even surpass the descrip-
 
 58 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 tions of the poets, and the bright pictures 
 of youthful imagination. 
 
 RUINS. 
 
 The same observation cannot be applied 
 to ruins, which, however interesting they 
 may be, seldom answer expectation. 
 When we read or hear of Roman ruins we 
 figure to ourselves a vast scene of broken 
 columns, shattered cornices, mutilated sta- 
 tues, hanging arches, and interrupted co- 
 lonnades. Such a magnificent scene of de- 
 solation may indeed be seen at Poestum, 
 Agrigentum, and Selinus; and such also is 
 occasionally presented on the Seven Hills, 
 in the majestic remains of the ancient City. 
 But these grand objects are rare; for, if to 
 the exceptions just mentioned, we add the 
 temple of Tivoli, the amphitheatre and 
 gates of Verona, and two or three triumphal 
 arches, we shall find little more than totter-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 61 
 
 ing walls and masses of brick. Ruins, till 
 the revival of taste in the fifteenth century, 
 were considered as quarries furnishing ma- 
 terials to those who chose to employ them : 
 and unfortunately many did employ them 
 with little or no regard to their ~ ancient 
 fame, their costly workmanship, or their 
 fair proportions. When Belisarius turned 
 the tomb of Adrian into a fortress, he paid 
 little attention to the masterpieces of sculp- 
 ture that adorned its circumference, and it 
 is said that, on that occasion the sleeping 
 Faun pleaded in vain the beauty of his 
 limbs and the grace of his attitude. What- 
 ever obstructed the machinery was tumbled 
 to the ground ; whatever was fit for defence 
 was worked into the rampart. In short, 
 first war, then convenience, and lastly, 
 Taste itself directed by self-love, destroyed 
 or defaced the works of ancient art, and 
 either left no marks of their existence be- 
 hind, or reduced them to a mere dislocated
 
 62 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 skeleton. The traveller therefore must not 
 be sanguine in his expectations of satisfac- 
 tion from the first appearance of ruins in 
 general, but content himself with the cer- 
 tainty of finding, amid numberless unin- 
 teresting masses that bear that name, 
 some few beautiful specimens, as well as 
 some grand monuments of Roman magnifi- 
 cence. 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
 Modern edifices next claim our atten- 
 tion, and among them the principal are 
 churches, particularly cathedrals. Many 
 of the latter are indeed very noble piles, 
 and either externally or internally present 
 striking instances of architectural beauty. 
 Even where there is no display of architec- 
 ture, there is generally a richness of mate- 
 rials, a profusion of marble, and not unfrc-
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 63 
 
 quently, a luxuriancy of sculpture and 
 painting that delights and surprises the 
 transalpine spectator. There' is also in 
 every cathedral a chapel of the Holy Sacra- 
 ment, which is almost universally of exqui- 
 site workmanship and of splendid decora- 
 tions. Some indeed are perfect master- 
 pieces of proportion, symmetry, and ele- 
 gance. 
 
 I have hinted above, that few churches 
 present an exterior and interior equally fi- 
 nished ; in reality one-half of the great 
 churches in Italy are left in a very imper- 
 fect state with regard to the outside ; the 
 fact is singular, but the reason obvious. 
 At the restoration of the arts, a sudden en- 
 thusiasm seized all Italy ; princes, bishops, 
 noblemen, entered the lists of taste with ar- 
 dor; each longed to signalize himself and 
 immortalize his name by some superb fa- 
 bric, and rival cathedrals, palaces, and vil-
 
 64 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 las rose on all sides. But their means were 
 not always adequate to their grand under- 
 takings. Some edifices were finished, some 
 entirely neglected, and many have been 
 continued with slow, parsimonious patience 
 down to the present period. The nobility 
 of Vicenza are said to feel even at present 
 the consequences of their forefathers' mag- 
 nificence, and the Palladian decorations of 
 their city are still supposed to prey on their 
 finances. 
 
 However, the propensity of the nation is 
 uncontrolable ; for though public and pri- 
 vate property has been exhausted by the 
 French invasion, yet the enemy were 
 scarcely withdrawn when, with laudable 
 spirit, exertions were instantly made in 
 many places to repair some of the edifices 
 which those modern Vandals had damaged, 
 and to supply the place of some of the 
 masterpieces which they had carried
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 65 
 
 away. Churches, on the whole, are very 
 interesting, as there are few that do not 
 present some object worthy the attention of 
 the traveller. 
 
 With respect to palaces, I must venture 
 to say that, in general, they are deficient 
 in strict architectural beauty, as few, I 
 fear, are to be found even in Italy, where, 
 in some point or other, the architect has 
 not sacrificed symmetry and proportion to 
 caprice and vanity. But if it be possible 
 to overlook a defect so material, it must 
 be acknowledged, that the marbles, statues, 
 and paintings that generally adorn the 
 spacious apartments, oftentimes compen- 
 sate the caprice that deforms the exterior 
 of these edifices. In fine, with regard to 
 buildings, we may generalize and apply to 
 Italy the observation which was originally 
 made on Rome, that no country presents 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 so many specimens both of good and of 
 bad architecture. 
 
 Of museums, galleries of paintings and 
 statues, public libraries, &c. I need only 
 say that they exist in almost every town in 
 Italy, and open an ample field to the 
 exercise of observation and curiosity. And 
 here let me recommend to the traveller, 
 with due attention to his health and for- 
 tune, to spare neither pains nor expense, 
 in order to acquire every previous infor- 
 mation ; and to explore, when travelling, 
 every recess and visit every object, with- 
 out relying too much on the representa- 
 tions of others : as the common guides are 
 lazy and interested, Cicerones are often 
 ignorant, and writers as often wrong, 
 through want of opportunity, of know- 
 ledge, or of exertion, and not unfrequently 
 from too great an attachment to their own 
 systems.
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 But one final observation, I wish to 
 impress strongly on the mind of the youth- 
 ful traveller, as its object is intimately 
 connected with his present repose and with 
 his future happiness. Moral improvement 
 is or ought to be, the end of all our pur- 
 suits and of all our exertions. Knowledge, 
 without it, is the amusement of an idle 
 moment, and the great and splendid ex- 
 hibitions which nature and genius present 
 to our contemplation are merely the shift- 
 ing scenery of an evening drama delight- 
 ful but momjhtary. Let him therefore 
 look continually to this most important 
 attainment, and while he endeavors every 
 day to increase his store of knowledge, let 
 him exert himself with still greater assiduity 
 to add to the number of his virtues. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 Nations, like individuals, have their 
 characteristic qualities, and present to the 
 eye of a candid observer, each in its turn, 
 much to be imitated, and something to be 
 avoided. These qualities of the mind, 
 ]ike the features of the face, are more pro- 
 minent and conspicuous in southern coun- 
 tries, and in these countries perhaps the 
 traveller may stand in more need of vigi- 
 lance and circumspection to guard him 
 against the treachery of his own passions, 
 and the snares of external seduction. 
 Miserable indeed will he be, if he shall use 
 the liberty of a traveller as the means of 
 vicious indulgence, abandon himself to the 
 delicious immorality (for so it has been 
 termed) of some luxurioiL Capital, and 
 forgetful of what he owes to himself, to his 
 friends, and to his country, drop one by 
 one as he advances, the virtues of his 
 education and of his native land, and pick 
 up in their stead the follies and vices of
 
 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 69 
 
 every climate which he may traverse. 
 When such a wanderer has left his inno- 
 cence and perhaps his health at Naples; 
 when he has resigned his faith and his 
 principles at Paris; he will find the loss of 
 such inestimable blessings poorly repaid, 
 by the languages which he may have 
 learned, the antiques which he may have 
 purchased, and the accomplishments which 
 he may have acquired in his journey. 
 Such acquirements may furnish a pleasing 
 pastime ; they may fill the vacant intervals 
 of an useful life ; they may even set off to 
 advantage nobler endowments and higher 
 qualifications : but they can never give 
 the credit and the confidence that accom- 
 pany sound principles, nor can they bestow, 
 or replace 
 
 " The mind's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy," 
 
 at once the effect and the reward of virtue. 
 These are the real, the permanent, I might
 
 70 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 
 
 almost add, the only blessings of life. He 
 who possesses them can want but little 
 more, and he who has forfeited them, 
 whatever his fortune may be, is " poor 
 indeed/'
 
 A CLASSICAL TOUR 
 
 THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Departure from Vienna Munich Saltzburg 
 Salt Mines Defile of the Alps Inspruck 
 Ascent of the Brenner Summit of the Alps 
 Descent Brixen Bolsano Trent. 
 
 oOME travellers, having 1 set out from England 
 during" the summer of 1801, met at Vienna the 
 following autumn ; and finding that their views 
 and tastes coincided, agreed to make the tour 
 of Italy together. Although eager to commence 
 their journey, and reach its confines, they were 
 detained by the charms of the Austrian Capital, 
 \vhich, since the manners of Paris have been 
 barbarized by the Revolution, has become the
 
 72 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. I. 
 
 seat of politeness, and the school of refinement. 
 An account of the state of society, as well as a 
 description of the city itself, would be both 
 entertaining and instructive; but, as Italy is 
 the grand object of these volumes, the reader 
 will probably be as impatient as the travellers 
 themselves, and dispense with details, which, 
 however amusing elsewhere, would here only 
 retard him in his progress. We shall, there- 
 fore, reserve the description of this city, as well 
 as that of Munich and the intermediate country, 
 for our German tour, and only inform the rea- 
 der, that on Thursday, January the twenty- 
 eighth, 1802, we withdrew from the attractions 
 of Vienna, and commenced our journey, which 
 we continued through deep snow, with little 
 interruption, till we reached Munich, where we 
 arrived late at night on the following Monday. 
 We devoted four days to the inspection of this 
 Capital, and the usual ceremonies of presenta- 
 tion at court; and in justice to the Elector I 
 must add, that by his affability and condescen- 
 sion, he converted this formality in general dull 
 and tiresome, into a very pleasing interview. 
 
 On Friday the fifth of February, we set out 
 from Munich at eleven o'clock at night. At 
 break of day the Alps, just reddened by the 
 beams of the morning, and mingling with the
 
 a. I. THROUGH ITALY. 73 
 
 clouds, presented to our eyes a new and in- 
 teresting object, and continued to attract our 
 attention during 1 the day, by shifting their situa- 
 tion with the windings of the road, and chang- 
 ing their tints with e\ery shadow that flitted 
 over them. We entered Saltzbnrg late in the 
 
 We are now at the foot of the Alps ; and con- 
 sidering ourselves as treading classical ground, 
 we may be allowed to expatiate more at large 
 on the surrounding scenery. The mountains, | 
 now rising immediately before us, were repre- 
 sented by the ancients as an insuperable rampart 
 raised by nature to separate Italy from the less 
 favoured regions of the north, and to protect 
 her beauties and her treasures from the assault 
 of barbarian invaders.* Though this natural 
 barrier has long ceased to answer that end, 
 because one or other of the petty powers posses- 
 sing the defiles has usually been in the interests 
 of the common enemies, yet it is well calculated 
 for such a purpose ; and may, in times more 
 favourable to Italy, be rendered a frontier far 
 more impenetrable than the triple range of 
 fortresses, which guarded the northern boun- 
 
 * Herodian, II. 39, viii. 2.
 
 74 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 daries of France, and on a late occasion saved 
 that country from invasion and ruin. These 
 defiles* according to the same authors, were 
 opened with incredible labor by the early inha- 
 bitants of Italy, and may be regarded as so 
 many avenues leading to the garden of Europe. 
 
 Saltzburg, a subalpine city, is placed, as if to 
 guard the entrance into the grand defile, which 
 traverses the Rhetian Alps ; and it may be con- 
 sidered, for that reason, as forming one of the 
 outposts of Italy. The cathedral is built of fine 
 stone, #nd has two towers in front. It is said to 
 be one of the earliest specimens of Italian archi- 
 tecture in Germany, and is fashioned internally 
 on the Roman model; that is, with the choir 
 behind the altar, and a canopy over the latter, 
 supported by four marble, pillars, an exact copy, 
 as onr guide pretended, of a similar ornament in 
 St. Peter's ; yet, with all these supposed advan- 
 tages, this church is neither large nor beautiful, 
 and has little to boast of besides its solidity. 
 
 There are two palaces belonging to the Prince 
 Bishop. In one there are several very fine 
 rooms, in the other a spacious and most magni- 
 ficent gallery. But the most striking object 
 that Saltzburg presents, is a very noble gate- 
 way cut through the solid rock, which rise*
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 75 
 
 perpendicularly to a considerable elevation, is 
 crowned with tall and spreading 1 elms, and 
 forms a natural rampart equally strong- and 
 beautiful. Through this mass of stone a passage 
 has been opened, three hundred feet in length, 
 thirty in height, and twenty-four in breadth. 
 The inscription, in honor of the bishop who 
 executed this noble work, is neat and appro- 
 priate Te saxa loqunntur. This grotto opens 
 on a little square, the principal ornament of 
 which is an equestrian statue of St. Sigismund, 
 in dress, attitude, and form, extremely elegant. 
 
 The situation of this city is, however, its 
 principal beauty and advantage ; in a valley 
 watered by the Salza, open only to the north, 
 and enclosed on the other sides by hills and 
 mountains of various forms and magnitude. 
 Upon one o*' these hills immediately contiguous 
 to the town, stands the citadel, an edifice large 
 and roomy, but ill supplied, ill furnished, and 
 ill supported. The bishops of Saltzburg indeed, 
 like all the petty princes of Germany, rely more 
 upon the watchfulness and jealousy of the greater 
 powers, than upon their own strength, for de- 
 fence and independence. But however neg- 
 lected the citadel may be, its situation is very bold 
 and commanding-. Behind it, on the eminence, 
 is a beautiful walk ; and from an oak near this
 
 76 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 walk, expands a most romantic view, extending 1 
 over fertile vales, deep dells, rocks and crags, 
 hills and mountains. The descent from this lofty 
 site is worked in the rock, and formed into re- 
 gular flights of steps. It brought us under the 
 wall to the gate which I have already described. 
 
 Among the mountains in the immediate 
 neighborhood of the town, the Vnterbery is the 
 most conspicuous. Rough, craggy, and wooded, 
 it seems to frown upon the city and the vale 
 below ; and by its shaggy mass, and dark sullen 
 appearance, forcibly attracts the attention. 
 Popular tradition, which seldom fails to select 
 appropriate scenery for its wayward tales, has 
 converted the Unterberg into a place of con- 
 finement for certain perturbed spirits, or rather 
 made it the haunt of a club of infernal sports- 
 men. Confined to the bowels of the mountain 
 during the day, and perhaps doomed there to 
 undergo certain unknown chastisements, these 
 hapless spirits are said to fill the cavern with 
 groans and shrieks, and yells so loud, as to 
 pierce the surface of the earth, and not unfre- 
 quently to reach the ear of the lonely woodman. 
 But at night the dungeon is opened, the im- 
 prisoned spirits are at liberty, and the woods, 
 that overhang the steep brows of the mountain, 
 echo with the sound of an infernal trumpet, with
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 77 
 
 the barking of hellish dogs, and with shouts 
 too deep and loud to proceed from mortal 
 organs. Tradition does not say, that the sports- 
 men have ever condescended to shew themselves 
 to any human being; but it is reported, that at 
 midnight, flames of blueish tint and of various 
 sizes have been seen traversing the forests of 
 the Unterberg with the velocity of lightning ; 
 and these flames the people have turned into 
 hounds and horses, huntsmen and beast, all of 
 fire. Some conjecture, that the chief of these 
 restless sportsmen is one of the former bishops, 
 who, like many of his German brethren, in ages 
 not very remote, was accustomed to pass in the 
 chace the hours and days which he ought to 
 have devoted to the duties of his station. Others 
 pretend, that it was a Count, or, what was 
 nearly the same thing in certain periods of 
 German history, a robber, who had built a 
 castle amid these fastnesses, and used to employ 
 his days in pursuing and arresting travellers, in 
 ravaging the fields and vallies below, and com- 
 pelling all the country round to pay him tribute. 
 It would be difficult to decide the question, as 
 the bishop and the Count seem both to have a 
 fair claim to the manorial honors of the Unter- 
 berg : we shall therefore wave the discussion of 
 this knotty point; and the more readily, as the 
 invisible horn has now ceased to sound; the
 
 78 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. I. 
 
 infernal pack no longer disturbs the silence of 
 the woods, and the spirits of the chace have 
 either fulfilled the days of their punishment, or 
 are sent to sport in solitudes less liable to obser- 
 vation. The Unterberg, however, is not the 
 only mountain in Germany supposed to be the 
 haunt of preternatural hunters. 
 
 The salt mines at Halleim, about four miles 
 from Saltzburg, are deservedly celebrated. The 
 entrance is near the summit of a mountain, and 
 the ascent, though over a good road, long and 
 tedious. Near the summit is a village with a 
 handsome church. Seeing a crowd assembled 
 round the door of a public house, we were in- 
 formed, that they were celebrating a jubilee, on 
 the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of an old 
 couple, and, at the same time, the wedding of 
 a grandson. We were invited in as soon as 
 observed, and treated with cake, wine, and 
 beer. The dance was going on merrily, and 
 some of our party joined in it, con spirito; a 
 circumstance which seemed to give much satis- 
 faction. The persons of the younger damsels 
 were not uncomely, nor were their countenances 
 without expression : but their dress was such 
 as would have disfigured far more perfect forms, 
 and turned beauty itself into deformity. To 
 enliven the dance, they now and then clapped
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 79 
 
 their hands, and uttered a shriek very grating 
 to ears unaccustomed to the tones of Alpine 
 merriment. We departed, pleased with the 
 novelty of the scene, and still more with the 
 hospitality of the good people. 
 
 At length we reached the summit, and entered 
 the mines by a long subterranean gallery, which 
 terminated in the mouth of the first descent. 
 We there accoutred ourselves in miners' dresses, 
 and slid down five hundred feet, iu a manner 
 perfectly safe and commodious. It is managed 
 thus. The shaft may be about four feet broad, 
 and about five high, worked above into the form 
 of an arch. The line may diverge about thirty 
 feet in the hundred from the perpendicular. 
 The space in the middle is hollowed and worked 
 into steps. On each side of these steps at about 
 a foot distance, runs a pole like the side of a 
 ladder. On these poles a miner reclines with 
 his feet extended, so that the poles pass under 
 his knees and under his arms. A traveller 
 places himself behind him in the same posture, 
 but so close, as to rest the inside of his knees on 
 the miner's shoulders. The others follow the 
 example, and form a line, in such a manner, 
 that the one above always rests gently on the 
 shoulders of the one below. Another miner 
 generally goes in the middle, and a third closes 
 5
 
 80 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. I. 
 
 the rear. The first miner regulates the motion, 
 and if he find it necessary to check or stop it 
 entirely, he need only to put his foot backward, 
 and touch one of the steps behind. The miners 
 carry torches made of the fir tree. When the 
 line is formed, upon a signal given, the miner 
 undermost lets the ropes loose (for two ropes run 
 parallel with the poles and nearly touch them) 
 and glides down with great rapidity. We sud- 
 denly found ourselves in an immense hall, lighted 
 up with a prodigious number of candles. This 
 hall was very long and broad, but extremely 
 low, and as the cieling was flat, unsupported 
 either by pillars or props, and apparently of 
 very crumbling materials, it was natural to feel 
 some apprehension of its giving way. The 
 miners, however, tranquillized us, by assuring 
 us that such accidents never happened, however 
 probable they might appear. The sides were 
 adorned here and there with basso relievos of 
 different bishops, rudely worked in the earth 
 or rock. The lights, as I said above, were 
 numerous ; but instead of being reflected from a 
 great variety of spars and shining minerals, 
 which a traveller might naturally expect to find 
 in a salt mine, the blaze falls sullen and dead 
 from the walls, and serves only to shew the 
 thickness of the surrounding gloom. From this 
 hall we passed into a gallery, and thence de-
 
 Ch.l. THROUGH ITALY. 81 
 
 scended, in the same manner as before, into a 
 second, a third, and a fourth, of nearly the same 
 form and dimensions. These halls are used for 
 the following purpose : the salt is worked from 
 the sides and deling 1 ; then water is let in, and 
 kept confined till it is impregnated with saU> 
 after which it is drained away into the salt works, 
 and the earthy particles remain deposited on the 
 floor. 
 
 We quitted the mine with as much facility as 
 we entered. We were placed astride a long 
 bench ; one miner moved before to guide, two 
 others were placed behind to push this bench 
 down a gently inclined plane. After some 
 minutes of rapid motion, we perceived the ap- 
 pearance of a star, which gradually increased 
 upon us, till we were launched once more into 
 full day. The exit is as picturesque as the 
 entrance is gloomy. It opens under a cliff, clad 
 with brambles growing out of its crevices, and 
 overhung with pines and firs, clinging to the 
 sides, and bending from the brows of the pre- 
 cipice. On one side, a torrent bursting from the 
 crag, tumbles from steep to steep, till it en- 
 gulphs itself in a deep shaded dell ; and on. the 
 other, far below, stretches the town of Halleim t 
 with its white houses and spire. On our exit, 
 the miners presented each of us with a little box, 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 containing specimens of salt. They were very 
 beautiful in color and shape, but are not easily 
 preserved, as they crumble into dust by the 
 motion of the carriage, and are dissolved by the 
 least humidity. On the whole our visit to the 
 mines of Halleim was a very pleasant, and not 
 an unimproving excursion. 
 
 Our stay at Saltzbury was much enlivened by 
 the hospitality of Prince J. Schwartzenbury, a 
 canon of the cathedral, to whom the Princess of 
 Schrvartzenburg had obligingly recommended 
 us. This young nobleman entertained us with 
 great splendor, pointed out to us the most 
 interesting objects, introduced us to the best 
 company at his dinners, concerts, and suppers, 
 and rendered the place so agreeable, that we 
 fixed the day of our departure with no small 
 reluctance. We must ever retain a grateful 
 recollection of his attention and kindness. 
 
 February the 10th. About nine in the morning 
 we set off from Saltzburg. A thick fog hung 
 over the surrounding scenery. We could only 
 perceive that the road ran over a plain, naked in 
 general, but occasionally ornamented with vil- 
 lages, whose graceful spires at intervals attracted 
 our attention. After having crossed the plain, 
 we reached the skirts of a vast mountain, pre- 
 
 2
 
 Ch.l. THROUGH ITALY. 83 
 
 senting" at first a black indistinct mass, which 
 cast a dark shade on the fog- that enveloped it, 
 and then just displayed its fir-clad summit so far 
 above the mist, that it appeared to hang in the 
 air, and to belong 1 to some other region. 
 
 Reichcnhall is a well-built little town, or rather 
 village, remarkable for its salt works, and in a 
 prosperous condition. We were now at the very 
 foot of the Alps, and entered their defiles at a 
 place called Unit in, about one mile from Reichen- 
 hall. The road first sweeps along the base of a 
 noble eminence covered with firs; a church spire 
 rises on the side of a hill ; and on the summit of 
 the same hill stands a castle in ruins. Proceed- 
 ing onwards we come to the foot of the precipice, 
 which with its castle overhangs the road in tre- 
 mendous majesty, \\ethenenteradell, a sud- 
 den turn of which presents on one side a vast 
 mountain clad with firs ; while on the other the 
 precipice, girded with a zone of forest trees, 
 increases in height and grandeur, and. surmounted 
 
 o O ' 
 
 with the old rampart walls, looks like the battle- 
 mented dwelling of a race of giants. In front, 
 an immense mass, covered with a hundred woods, 
 and half wrapped in fogs and clouds, obstructs 
 the view, and forms an awful foreground to the 
 picture. Still continuing to ascend, we wind 
 along the dell, with a torrent murmuring by the 
 
 G2
 
 Si CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 road side, and all around mountains in various 
 / grotesque forms, increasing- in height, in shag- 
 giness, and in horror. 
 
 The scene was here truly tremendous. The 
 defile is very narrow, leaving space only for the 
 road and for the torrent. The mountains rise on 
 each side so nearly perpendicular, that the vast 
 forests growing on their sides cast a dismal shade 
 over the road, and loaded as they were with a 
 weight of snow, seemed ready to fall, and bury 
 the traveller as he passed below r . Now and then, 
 a chasm broke the uniformity of this gloomy 
 scenery, and presented an object less dark, but 
 equally terrific a torrent arrested in its fall by 
 the frost, hanging from the brow of a crag in 
 solid masses, and terminating in immense pointed 
 icicles. The least of these icicles, if detached 
 from the sheet above,* would have crushed the 
 whole party; and, when contemplated thus sus- 
 pended over our heads, jamjam lapsura cadentique 
 adsimilis, could not fail to excite some emotions 
 of terror. Whenever the mountains receded 
 and sloped backwards, they only enabled us to 
 discover forests rising above each other, and 
 swelling into new regions, till they concealed 
 their extent and elevation in the clouds. The 
 snow lay deep on the road, and on the approach 
 of night began to fall again in great quantities.
 
 CA. I. THROUGH ITALY. 85 
 
 "We moved slowly on ; and when night set in with 
 all the darkness of the season, our situation ap- 
 peared such as might have discouraged even ex- 
 perienced travellers. After some hours' exertion, 
 and very little progress, our drivers were seriously 
 alarmed, and entreated us to allow them to re- 
 turn with their horses, before the depth of the 
 snow, which was every moment increasing, 
 should render the roads impassable. They pro- 
 mised to come to our assistance, early in the morn- 
 ing, with a sufficient number of persons to re- 
 move the snow, and enable us to proceed. This 
 proposal, as may be supposed, was rejected, and 
 the drivers were, partly by representations, and 
 partly by threats, induced to remain. All the 
 horses were put alternately to each carriage, 
 whilst we proceeded on foot, and with no small 
 difficulty at length reached the post house, where 
 we took sledges, and continued our journey at the 
 rate of ten miles an hour. We reached St. John 
 at a late hour. A neat collegiate church is the 
 only remarkable object in this little town. 
 
 February llth. The scenery this day did not 
 appear so grand and awful as on the preceding; 
 whether this part of the defile be more open, or 
 whether our eyes were more accustomed to its 
 gloomy magnificence I know not ; but I believe 
 the former to be the case, as the road gradually
 
 86 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 ascends, and consequently the elevation of the 
 mountains apparently diminishes; whereas, while 
 at the bottom of the defile, we beheld the whole 
 mass of the Alps in full elevation above us. 
 
 I need not, I suppose, caution even the un- 
 travelled reader against a mistake, into which 
 some have fallen, that any of the passages through 
 the Alps crosses the ridges, or even approaches 
 the summits of these mountains. The various 
 roads traversing the Alps are conducted through 
 as many defiles, and were probably traced out by 
 the paths, that have served from time immemo- 
 rial as means of communication between the fer- 
 tile valleys that lie interspersed up and down the 
 windings of this immense chain. These defiles 
 are always watered, and were perhaps formed, 
 by streams incessantly gliding down from the 
 eternal snows that mantJe the highest regions : 
 these streams, increasing as they descend, work 
 their way between the rocks, and continue for 
 ever opening and enlarging their channels. Such 
 is the Inn that now bordered our road, and such 
 is the Salza still nearer the plains of Bavaria. 
 When therefore it is asked, who first crossed the 
 Alps, or opened such a particular passage over 
 these mountains, the question means only, what 
 general or what army first forced a way through 
 this immense barrier, or made such a particular
 
 C//. I. THROUGH ITALY. 87 
 
 track or path practicable? Of these tracks, that 
 which we are now pursuing- seems to have been 
 one of the most ancient and most frequented. 
 The first people who passed it. in a body were 
 probably the Gauls ; that race ever restless, wan- 
 dering 1 , and ferocious, who have so often since 
 forced the mighty rampart, which nature raised 
 to protect the fertile provinces of Italy from the 
 rapacity of northern invaders. Of a tribe of this 
 people, Livy says, * that in the consulship of 
 Spurius Posthumitis Albinus, and Quintas Marcus 
 Philippus, that is, in the year of Rome 566, they 
 passed the Alps by roads till then undiscovered, 
 and entering* Italy, turned towards Aquileia. 
 Upon this occasion, contrary to their usual prac- 
 tice, they came in small numbers, and rather in 
 the character of suppliants than of enemies. But 
 the most remarkable army that ever crossed these 
 mountains was that of the Cimbri, who in less 
 than a century after the above-mentioned period, 
 climbed the Rhetian Alps, and rushed like a tor- 
 rent down the Tridentine defile. The first suc- 
 cesses and final destruction of this horde of sa- 
 vages are well known. At length Augustus, ir- 
 ritated by the lawless and plundering spirit of 
 some of the Rhetiau tribes, sent a Roman army 
 
 * L. xxxix. 22.
 
 88 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 into their territory under Drtisus, who in a very 
 short space of time entirely broke the spirit of the 
 mountaineers, brought their country into perfect 
 subjection, and opened a commodious commu- 
 nication through the whole range of Alps that 
 bears their name. This expedition is celebrated 
 by Horace, and forms the subject of one of his 
 most spirited productions *. Ever since this 
 event, this road has been frequented, and always 
 considered as the best and safest passage from 
 the Transalpine reg-ions to Italy. 
 
 As we had set out late, darkness fell upon us 
 before we had made any very considerable pro- 
 gress, and deprived us of the view of the cele- 
 brated vale of Inspruck. We travelled nearly 
 the whole night, and entered that city about four 
 o'clock in the morning. 
 
 Inspruck is the capital of the Tyrol, a large 
 Alpine province of the Austrian empire, and as 
 it was once the residence of a sovereign prince, 
 is still the seat of government, and has frequently 
 been visited by the emperors. It possesses some 
 noble edifices, more remarkable however, as is 
 usual in Germany, for magnitude than for 
 beauty. The style of architecture, therefore, 
 
 * L. iv, 4.
 
 O. I. THROUGH ITALY. 89 
 
 both of the palace and the churches, is, as may 
 be expected, below criticism ; and, when I 
 mention the great hall in the palace, I point out 
 to the traveller almost the only building- that de- 
 serves his notice. To this I will add another 
 object, that has a claim upon his attention far 
 superior to any that can be derived from mere 
 architectural beauty. It is a little chapel, erected 
 upon a very melancholy and interesting 1 occasion. 
 It is well known that the Emperor Francis the 
 First, husband to the celebrated Maria Teresa, 
 died suddenly at Inspruck. He was going to 
 the Opera, and while walking through the pas- 
 sage from the palace to the theatre, he fell down, 
 and instantly expired. He was conveyed to the 
 nearest room, which happened to be that of a 
 servant, and there laid upon a miserable bed. 
 Attempts were made to bleed him, but to no pur- 
 pose; and it is stated, that for a considerable 
 time the body remained with the blood trickling 
 slowly from the arm, unnoticed, and unattended 
 by a servant of any description. The Empress, 
 who loved him with unusual tenderness, shortly 
 after raised an altar on the very spot where he fell, 
 and, clearing the space around, erected over it a 
 chapel. Both the chapel and the altar are, though 
 plain, extremely beautiful, and a pleasing mo- 
 nument both of the affection and of the taste of 
 the illustrious widow. This princess, then in the
 
 90 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.L 
 
 full bloom of youth and beauty, and the first so- 
 vereign in Europe in title and in territorial pos- 
 sessions, continued ever after to wear mourning ; 
 and to some subsequent matrimonial overtures, 
 is said to have replied in the animated lines of 
 Virgil, 
 
 Hie, raeos primus qui me sibi junxit amores, 
 Abstulit, ille habeat secum servetque sepulcro ! 
 
 The inscription runs as follows, and breathes 
 more grief than elegance. 
 
 D: O: M. 
 
 Memoriae eternae fati, quo 
 
 Princ-eps optiinus 
 
 Throni decus 
 
 Populi Delicise 
 
 Franciscus D : G : Rom : Imp : Aug : 
 
 Germ : & Jerus. Rex 
 M: D: Het: Loth et Bur: D. 
 
 XV1I1 Aug : MDCCLXV. 
 
 Vitae hie loci et nobis ereptus 
 
 Monuuieutum postcritati positum 
 
 I shall say nothing of the magnificent cenotaph 
 of the Emperor Maximilian in the church of the 
 Franciscans, with its sculptured pannels and 
 bronze statues ; nor of the humble cells of the 
 Achduke of the same name in the convent of the 
 Capuchins, but proceed to a much nobler object
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 91 
 
 than either, to the vale of Inspruck. This vale 
 is perhaps the most extensive and most beautiful of 
 all that lie in the Northern recesses of the Alps. 
 It is about thirty miles in length, and, where 
 widest, as in the neighborhood of Inspruck, 
 about six in breadth. It is watered by the Inn, 
 anciently the CEnus, which glides through it, in- 
 tersecting it nearly in the middle, and bestowing 
 freshness and - fertility as it winds along. The 
 fields that border it are in high cultivation, finely 
 adorned with every species of forest-trees, enli- 
 vened with towns and villages, and occasionally 
 graced with the ruins of a castle, frowning in 
 shattered majesty from the summit of a precipice. 
 Large woods line the skirts and clothe the sides 
 of the neighboring mountains, and, with the 
 ragged misshapen rocks that swell above them, 
 form a frame worthy of a picture so extensive 
 and so beautiful. In the southern extremity of 
 this vale, stands Inspruck; and behind it rises a 
 long ridge, forming part of the craggy pinnacles 
 of the Brenner one of the loftiest mountains of 
 the Ty roli an Alps. 
 
 About five miles North of Inspruck is the town 
 of Hall, famous for its salt works; and about 
 four miles on the opposite side, on a bold emi- 
 nence, stands embosomed in trees, the castle of 
 Ambras. This edifice is of verv ancient date,
 
 92 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 and its size, form, and furniture are well adapted 
 to its antiquity. Its exterior is dignified with 
 turrets, spires, and battlements; and its large 
 halls are hung- with spears, shields, and helmets, 
 and lined with the forms of hostile knights 
 mounted upon their palfreys, with visors down 
 and spears couched, as if ready to rush forward 
 in battle. The smaller apartments are fitted up 
 with less attention to Gothic propriety than to 
 utility, and contain various natural curiosities, 
 intermingled with gems, medals, and pictures. 
 
 Though at Inspruck we had made a consider- 
 able progress in the defile, yet we had not risen 
 in elevation so much as might be imagined ; for 
 that city is said to be no more than fifteen hun- 
 dred feet above the level of the sea. But, about 
 three miles farther, the road suddenly turns, and 
 the traveller begins in reality to work up the steep. 
 The road is well contrived to lessen the labor of 
 ascent, winding gently up the mountains, and af- 
 fording every-where perfect security, though ge- 
 nerally skirting the edge of a precipice. It pre- 
 sents some striking objects, such as the Abbey of 
 Willtean, anciently Villitennm, the castle of 
 Sonenbery, and, through a break to the west, a 
 transient view of a most majestic mountain, rising 
 from the midst of the surrounding glaciers, and 
 lifting its pointed summit to the skies, Its craggy
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 93 
 
 sides are sheathed in ice, and its brow is whitened 
 with eternal snows. * Its height is supposed to~l 
 be nearly equal to that of Mont Blanc, though 
 in grandeur, the mountain of Savoy yields to. that 
 of the Tyrol; because the former heaves itself 
 gradually from* the plain, and conducts the eye, 
 by three different stages to its summit, whilst the 
 latter shoots up at once without support or gra- 
 dation, and terminates in a point that seems to 
 pierce the heavens. 
 
 The ascent still continued steep and without 
 intermission to Steinach ; and the cold, which 
 hitherto had not much incommoded us, except at 
 night, became more intense. The scenery grew 
 more dreary, gradually assuming all the bleak 
 appearances of Alpine winter. The last men- 
 tioned place, though situated amidst the pinnactes 
 of the Rhetian Alps, is yet not the highest point 
 of elevation ; and the traveller has still to labor 
 up the tremendous steeps of the Brenner. As he 
 advances, piercing blasts blowing around the bare 
 ridges and summits that gleam with ice, stunted 
 half-frozen firs appearing' here and there along 
 the road, cottages almost buried under a weight 
 
 * This mountain bears, I believe, the very barbarous appel- 
 lation of Boch K'6*ef.
 
 94 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 of snow, all announce the regions where winter 
 reigns undisturbed, and where the Alps display all 
 
 their ancient and unchangeable horrors. 
 
 " Nives ccelo prope immistce, tecta informia im- 
 " posita rupibus, pecora, jumentaque torrida 
 " frigore, homines intonsi et inculti, animalia, 
 " inauimaque omnia rigentia yelu"* 
 
 The summit, or rather the highest region of 
 the mountain which the road traverses, is crowned 
 with immense crags and precipices enclosing a 
 sort of plain or .valley : This plain was bleak 
 and dreary when we passed through it, because 
 buried in deep snow, and darkened by fogs 
 and mists, and the shades of the approaching 
 evening : yet it possesses one feature, which in 
 summer must give it some degree of animation, 
 of beauty, and even of fertility ; I mean the 
 source of the river Atagis, which, bursting from 
 the side of a shattered rock, tumbles in a noble 
 cascade to the plain. We had just before passed 
 the fountain head of the river Sill, which takes 
 a northward course, and runs down the defile 
 that leads to Inspruck, so that we now stood on 
 the confines of the north, our faces being" turned 
 
 7 O 
 
 towards Italy, and the genial regions of the 
 
 Liv. xxi.
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 95 
 
 south. At the post we once more entered 
 sledges, and with great satisfaction began to 
 descend, a vast mass of mountain hanging over 
 us on the left, and the Atagis, now called the 
 Adige, tumbling from steep to steep on our 
 right. Night soon enveloped us, and we pur- 
 sued our way with great rapidity down the 
 declivity through March and Middtewald, and 
 at length entered the episcopal city of Briren, or 
 Bressinone. 
 
 We had now passed the wildest retreats and 
 most savage scenery of the Alps, once the im- 
 penetrable abode of fierce tribes of barbarians, 
 and the haunt of associated robbers, who plun- 
 dered with the numbers, the spirit, and the 
 discipline of armies. The Roman legions were 
 not unfrequently impeded in their progress, and 
 more than once stripped of their baggage by 
 these desperate mountaineers. The expedition 
 of Drusus, before alluded to, seems to have re- 
 duced the Alpine tribes, at least the Vindelici 
 and the Rhoeti, so far to subjection, as to ensure 
 a safe and easy passage through their territories 
 for many succeeding ages. The incursions, 
 invasions, and consequent anarchy, that pre- 
 ceded and followed the dissolution of the Roman 
 empire, naturally revived the fierceness of the 
 mountain tribes, and renewed the disorders of
 
 96 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. 1. 
 
 earlier periods. But these disorders yielded in 
 their turn to the increasing influence of Chris- 
 tianity and to the authority of the clergy : two 
 causes, which, fortunately for Europe, worked 
 with increasing extent and energy, and success- 
 fully counteracted the prodigious efforts of fero- 
 city, of barbarism, and of ignorance during the 
 middle ages. So effective was their operation, 
 that the Rhetians, from the most savage, be- 
 came the most gentle of mountain tribes, and 
 have for a long succession of ages continued to 
 distinguish themselves by their innocence, sim- 
 plicity and benevolence ; and few travellers 
 have, I believe, traversed the Rhetian Alps, 
 without having witnessed some instances of these 
 amiable virtues. 
 
 It is indeed fortunate, that religion has pene- 
 trated these fastnesses impervious to human 
 power, and spread her influence over solitudes 
 where human laws are of no avail ; that where 
 precaution is impossible, and resistance useless, 
 she spreads her invisible /Egis over the traveller, 
 and conducts him secure under her protection, 
 through all the dangers of the way. While 
 rapidly skimming the edge of a precipice, or 
 winding cautiously along under the loose masses 
 of an impending cliff, he trembles to think that 
 a single touch might bury him under a crag
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 97 
 
 precipitated from above, or that the start of a 
 horse purposely alarmed, might hurl him into 
 the abyss below, and give the ruffian a safe 
 opportunity of preying upon his plunder. When 
 in such situations the traveller reflects upon his 
 security, and recollects that these mountains, so 
 savage, and so well adapted to the purposes of 
 murderers and of banditti, have not in the 
 memory of man, been stained by human blood, 
 he ought to do justice to the cause, and gratefully 
 acknowledge the beneficent influence of reli- 
 gion. Impressed with these reflections, he will 
 behold with indulgence, perhaps even with 
 interest, the crosses which frequently mark the 
 brow of a precipice, and the little chapels 
 hollowed out of the rock where the road is 
 narrowest : he will consider them as so many 
 pledges of security, and rest assured, that as 
 long as the pious mountaineer continues to 
 adore the* Good Shepherd, and to beg the 
 
 * Pastor bonus, Mater dolorosa ; such are the titles 
 often inscribed over those rustic temples ; sometimes a 
 whole sentence is subjoined, as, Pastor bonus qul animam 
 suam dot pro ovibus suis.* Under a crucifix on the brow of 
 a tremendous crag, I observed some lines taken from the 
 Dies IrfK, a funeral hymn, which, though disfigured by 
 
 St. John, x. 11. 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 prayers of the afflicted Mother, he will never 
 cease to befriend the traveller, nor to discharge 
 the duties of hospitality. If French principles 
 should unfortunately pass from the courts and 
 the cities in the plains, to the recesses of these 
 mountains, the murderer may shortly aim his 
 rifle from behind the ruins of the cross, and the 
 nightly banditti lurk, in expectation of their 
 prey, under the roof of the forsaken chapel. 
 
 Bressinone, in German Brixen, presents 
 nothing very remarkable to the attention of the 
 traveller. Its cathedral is neither large nor 
 beautiful ; and its claim to antiquity is rather 
 dubious, as the name of Brixentes in ancient 
 authors, belongs not so much to the town, as to 
 the inhabitants of the surrounding country. I 
 need scarcely inform the reader, that the Brixia, 
 alluded to by Catullus, is now Brescia, a well 
 known and flourishing city in the plain below, 
 between the lake Benacus and Cremona. 
 
 rhyme, was justly admired by Johnson and by Lord Ros- 
 common for its pathos and sublimity. The lines were, 
 
 Recordare, Jesu pie ! 
 Quod sum causa tune viae 
 Quaerens me sedisti lassus, 
 Redemisti crucem passus ; 
 Tantus labor uon sit cassus.
 
 Ck. I. THROUGH ITALY. 90 
 
 Brixia Chinrea supposita specula ; 
 
 Flavus quam molli percurrit flumine Mela. 
 
 Brixia, Veronae mater amata meae.* 
 
 The River Mela, described in these verses as a 
 yellow and smooth flowing stream, and repre- 
 sented by Virgil as meandering through culti- 
 vated valleys still retains its ancient name and 
 character, and runs near the last mentioned 
 townf. 
 
 The descent from the little plain of Bressinone 
 is not so steep as the road which leads to it. On 
 a hill not far from Chiusa stands the abbey of 
 Sabiona the only remains of the ancient Sabina : 
 thus bearing its former name, with little varia- 
 tion. Chiusa or Clausen, once Ciusium, takes 
 its name, as other towns of similar appellations, 
 from its situation ; as the plain, in which it 
 stands, is terminated by a tremendous defile, 
 whose rocky sides jut out so far and rise so 
 high, as almost to hide the face of heaven : while 
 the river, contracted into a torrent, or rather a 
 
 * Catull. LXV. 32. 34. 
 
 t tonsis in vallibus ilium (florem) 
 
 Pastores, et curva legunt prope flumina Mellae. 
 It is remarkable, that while Virgil calls this river Mella, 
 Catullus, a citizen of Verona, gives it the exact appellation 
 which it still retains, and which probably was then current 
 in its neighborhood. 
 
 H 9
 
 100 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. I, 
 
 continual cascade, rolls in thunder from steep 
 to steep, hurrying shattered fragments of rock 
 clown its eddy, and filling the dell with uproar. 
 The numberless chapels hewn out of the rock on 
 the road, answer the double purposes of devo- 
 tion and of security, protecting the traveller 
 agrainst the sudden bursts of storm in summer, 
 
 o 
 
 and against the still more sudden and destruc- 
 tive masses of snow that roll from the mountains 
 towards the termination of winter. The road 
 which leads to this dell, runs along the edge of 
 a most tremendous precipice, and is so near it, 
 that from the carriage, the eye without per- 
 ceiving the parapet, looks all at once into the 
 abyss below, and it is scarcely possible not to 
 draw back with involuntary terror. The defile 
 to which the road leads, seems yawning as if 
 ready to swallow up the traveller, and closing 
 over him as he advances, has less the appearance 
 of a road in the land of the living, than of a 
 descent to the infernal regions. A heavy snow, 
 falling as we passed, added to the natural gloom 
 of the scene, and made it truly terrific. 
 
 We entered ~Dolsano late. The name of this 
 town is converted by the Germans into the bar- 
 barous appellation of Botzen. It is a commer- 
 cial and busy place. Its situation, at the open- 
 ing of several valleys, and near the confluence
 
 Ch. I. THROUGH ITALY. 101 
 
 of three rivers, is advantageous ; its neighbor- 
 hood well cultivated and romantic. It contains, 
 however, no remarkable object. A little below 
 Bolsano the Atagis flows into the Athesis ; rivers, 
 which from the resemblance of their names, are 
 frequently confounded j especially as they now 
 go under the same appellation, and are called 
 the Adige, sometimes the Adese. The former 
 name may be derived from "either of the ancient 
 titles ; the latter can come from the Athesis 
 only. This river takes its rise near a little town 
 called Bury, not far from Cluras and Tiroli, 
 anciently Tirioli, whence the territory takes its 
 modern name, and after traversing the valley of 
 Venosta, joins the Atagis at Bolsano. 
 
 From Bolsano the road presents nothing pecu- 
 liarly interesting as Alpine scenery. Some 
 castles, however, finely situated, project into 
 the valleys of Sole and Anemia-, Monte Cerno 
 and Monte Mendala are objects grand and 
 beautiful. We left the village of Mezzo Te- 
 
 O 
 
 desco, and entered that on the opposite side of 
 the river called Mezzo Lombardo, with pleasure. 
 Salurno interested us by its antiquity, of which 
 its name is a memorial. Night had already 
 closed upon us, when we entered Trent.
 
 102 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck.ll* 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Trent Council of Trent Castello della Pietra 
 Roveredo Slavini di Marco Ala Chiusa 
 Verona, its Antiquities and History. 
 
 TRENT is the seat of an archbishop. Its 
 ancient name was Tridentum, and the tribes 
 and Alps in its vicinity were not unfrequently 
 called Tridentini. It is seated in a small but 
 beautiful valley, exposed, however, from its 
 elevation, to intense cold in winter, and from 
 the reflection of the surrounding* mountains, to 
 heat as intense in summer. When we passed 
 (February the sixteenth) the ground was still 
 covered with snow, and the frost, notwithstand- 
 ing 1 the influence of the sun, very severe. The 
 town is well built, and boasts some palaces. 
 That of the prince bishop contains some very 
 noble apartments, but it had been plundered 
 and disfigured by the French in their late inva- 
 sion. The cathedral is Gothic, and not remark- 
 able either for its beauty or magnitude. Its 
 organ is admired, though supposed to be inferior 
 to that of the church Santa Maria Maggiore, in 
 the same city,
 
 a. II. THROUGH ITALY. 103 
 
 But Trent owes its fame neither to its situation 
 nor to its edifices, but to the celebrated Council 
 held within its walls about the middle of the six- 
 teenth century *. It was opened in the cathedral, 
 but generally held its sessions in the church of 
 Santa Maria Mayyiore, where a picture still exists, 
 representing the Council sitting in full Synod. 
 The most conspicuous figures are supposed to be 
 portraits taken from the life. This assembly sat, 
 with various interruptions, under three successive 
 pontiffs, during the space of eighteen years. It 
 was convoked by Paul the Third, and consisted 
 of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots, chiefs 
 of religious orders, representatives of the univer- 
 sities, and ambassadors from the Emperor, Kings 
 of France, Spain, Portugal, Sec. from the re- 
 publics of Venice, of Genoa, and from the cantons 
 of Switzerland, from the German Electors, &c. 
 These ambassadors were called Oratores, and 
 were accompanied each by a certain number of 
 lawyers and divines selected by their respective 
 sovereigns. The whole number of persons com- 
 posing the general assemblies amounted to one 
 thousand, t 
 
 * One thousand five hundred and forty-two. 
 
 f Gibbon says of the council of Constance, that the num- 
 ber and weight of civil and ecclesiastical members might seem 
 to constitute the States general of Europe ; a remark equally 
 applicable to the council of Trent.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.ll. 
 
 The subjects of discussion were prepared in 
 committees, and definitively settled in the general 
 assemblies. The bull of convocation, issued by 
 Paul the Third, is a master-piece of its kind. The 
 style of the Acts is pure and dignified, and the dis- 
 sertations and observations that precede the 
 canons, cannot be perused, even by an impartial 
 and pious protestant, without instruction and edi- 
 fication. One of the great objects of the Council 
 was the restoration of peace and unity among 
 Christians. In this respect it failed: animosity 
 prevailed over charity: conscious authority on 
 one side, rage of innovation on the other, would 
 submit to no concession. The other object was 
 the reformation of the church. Here its efforts 
 were attended, if not with total, at least with very 
 general success, and must receive the approbation 
 of every impartial reader. Many of its regula- 
 tions have been adopted by the civil authority, 
 even in Protestant countries ; such, for instance, 
 as those relating to matrimony ; and where ad- 
 mitted, their utility has been felt and acknowledg- 
 ed. Intrigue, without doubt, was not inactive 
 at Trent : and where so many persons of such 
 Tank and weight, so many diplomatic agents from 
 almost all the countries and all the corporate 
 bodies in Christendom, were brought together, 
 it must have been frequently and strongly exerted. 
 Yet with such an obstacle in its way, the Council
 
 0.11. THROUGH ITALY. 105 
 
 drew up a set of articles clear and concise, com- 
 prehending all the principal points then in debate, 
 and fixing the faith of the Catholic with logical 
 precision. 
 
 .After having thus represented the Council in a 
 favourable light, I must now, reluctantly I con- 
 fess, turn to the charges advanced against it ; the 
 first of which is the influence supposed to have 
 been exercised over it by the Roman court ; an 
 influence which, after all, seems to have been 
 confined to subjects connected with the temporal 
 interests and with the interior concerns of that 
 Court, and never extended either to the deliber- 
 ations or to the final decrees of the Council. In 
 the second place, many a benevolent man, many 
 a true friend of the peace and union of the Chris- 
 tian body, has deplored the degree of precision, 
 with which the articles in debate were defined, 
 and a line was drawn between the contending: 
 
 O 
 
 parties, to separate them perhaps for ever ! 
 Real union, indeed at that time of delirious con- 
 test, was not to be hoped for ; but some latitude 
 allowed to the wanderings of the human mind, a 
 greater scope given to interpretation, and a re- 
 spectful silence recommended to the disputants on 
 subjects too mysterious to be explained, and 
 too awful to be bandied about in scholastic dispu- 
 tation, might, perhaps, at a more favorable
 
 106 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.ll. 
 
 season, have soothed animosity, and disposed all 
 temperate persons to terms of accommodation. 
 Remote, however, as we now are from that sera 
 of discord, and strangers to the passions which 
 then influenced mankind, it might seem to border 
 upon temerity and injustice, were we to censure 
 the proceedings of an assembly, which combined 
 the benevolence, the sanctity, and the moderation 
 of the Cardinals Pole and Sadoleti, Contareni 
 and Seripando.* 
 
 February 18th. From Trent the road con- 
 tinues to run through a narrow valley, watered 
 by the Adige (or Athesis) and covered with vines 
 conducted over trellis work, or winding from tree 
 to tree in garlands. High mountains rise on each 
 side, and the snow, though occasionally deep, was 
 
 * Vida has made a beautiful allusion both to the City and 
 the Council of Trent, in the form of a devout prayer, at the 
 cod of one of his hymns. 
 
 Nos primum pete, qui in sedern convenimus imam, 
 Saxa ubi deprcssum conduntpraerupta Tridentum 
 Hinc, atque hinc, variis acciti e sedibus orbis, 
 Ut studiis juncti, atque animis concordibus una 
 Tendamus, duce te freti, succurrere lapsis 
 Legibus, et versos revocare in pristina mores. 
 Teque ideo catu celebramus, et ore ciemus, 
 Sancte, veni, penitus te mentibus insere nostris, 
 Aura potens, amor omuipotens, caeli aurea flam ma ! 
 
 Hym. Spir : San ;
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 107 
 
 yet sensibly diminished. After the first stage, the 
 snow appeared only on the mountains, while in the 
 valley we enjoyed some share of the genial influ- 
 ence of an Italian sun. The number of neat vil- 
 lages seemed to increase on both banks of the 
 river ; though in all, the ravages of war and that 
 wanton rage for mischief which, upon all occa- 
 sions, distinguishes an invading army, were but 
 too discernible. Cottages destroyed, houses burnt 
 or damaged, and churches disfigured forced them- 
 selves too frequently upon the attention of the 
 traveller. A fortress covering the brow of a steep 
 hijl, rises on the left at some distance from the 
 road, and forms too conspicuous an object to pass 
 unnoticed. Its ancient name was, according to 
 Cluverius, Verrucca Castellum; it is now called 
 Castello della Pietra, from its site. It was taken 
 and re-taken twice by the French and Austrians 
 during the last war, though its situation might 
 induce a traveller to consider it impregnable. 
 
 Roveredo, anciently Roboretum, the second 
 stage from Trent, is a neat little town in the defiles 
 of the Alps, situated, geographically speaking, 
 in the German territory, but in language, man- 
 ners, and appearance, Italian. The entrance on 
 the side of Trent looks well, though the main 
 street is narrow. An inscription over the gate, 
 relative to the marriage and passage of the Prin-
 
 IOS CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 cess of Parma, pleased me much, as it affords a 
 specimen of the good taste of this little town. 
 
 Isabellae 
 
 Philippi Borh. Parmae ducis 
 
 Josepho Austriae duci nuptae 
 
 Vieunara proficisceuti 
 
 Felix sit iter 
 
 Faustusque tbalarnus 
 
 Roboretanis gaudentibus. 
 
 fe 
 
 In fact, as you approach Italy, you may per- 
 ceive a visible improvement not only in the climate 
 of the country, but also in the ideas of its inha- 
 bitants; the churches and public buildings assume 
 a better form; the shape and ornaments of their 
 portals, doors and windows are more graceful, 
 and their epitaphs and inscriptions, which, as 
 Addison justly observes, are a certain criterion of 
 public taste, breathe a more classical spirit. 
 Roveredo is situated in the beautiful valley of 
 Lagarina, has distinguished itself in the literary , 
 world, and has long possessed an academy, whose 
 members have been neither inactive nor in- 
 glorious. 
 
 The descent (for from Steinach, or rather a few 
 miles south of that village, three stages before 
 Brixen, we had begun to descend) becomes more 
 rapid between Roveredo and Ala; the river
 
 Ch.ll. THROUGH ITALY. 109 
 
 which glided gently through the valley of Trent, 
 assumes the roughness of a torrent ; the defiles 
 become narrower; and the mountains break into 
 rocks and precipices, which occasionally approach 
 the road, sometimes rise perpendicular from it, 
 and now and then han over it in terrible ma- 
 
 o 
 
 jesty.* Ala is an insignificant little town, in 
 
 * Amid these wilds the traveller cannot fail to notice a vast 
 tract called the Slavini di Marco, covered with fragments of 
 rock torn from the sides of the neighboring mountains by an 
 earthquake, or perhaps by their own unsupported weight 
 and hurled down into the plains below. They spread over 
 the whole valley, and in some places contract the road to a 
 very narrow space. A few firs and cypresses scattered in the 
 intervals, or sometimes rising out of the crevices of the rocks, 
 cast a partial and melancholy shade amid the surrounding 
 nakedness and desolation. This scene of ruin seems to have 
 made a deep impression upon the wild imagination of Dante, 
 as he has introduced it into the twelfth canto of the Inferno, 
 in order to give the reader an adequate idea of one of "his 
 infernal ramparts. 
 
 Era lo loco ove a scender la riva 
 
 Venimmo, Alpestro e per quel ch' iv' er* anco, 
 
 Tal, ch' ogni vista ne sarebbe schiva. 
 
 Qual'e quella ruiua che nel fianco 
 
 De qua da Trento 1'Adice percosse, 
 
 O per trcmuoto o per sostegno manro ; 
 
 Chr da cima del monte onde si raosse, 
 
 Al piano e si la roccia discoscesa, 
 
 Ch' alcuna via darebbe a chi su fosse.
 
 110 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck.ll. 
 
 no respect remarkable, except as forming the 
 geographical boundary of Italy. 
 
 The same appearances continue for some time, 
 till at length the mountains gradually sink into 
 hills; the hills diminish in height and number, 
 and at last leave an open space beyond the river 
 on the right. In front, however, a round hill 
 presents itself at a little distance, which, as you 
 approach swells in bulk, and opening, just leaves 
 room sufficient for the road, and for the river on 
 the right, between two vast perpendicular walls 
 of solid rock, that tower to a prodigious height, 
 and cast a most terrific gloom over the narrow 
 strait that divides them. As the road leads along 
 a precipice, hanging over the river, without any 
 parapet, the peasants, who live at the entrance of 
 the defile, crowd round the carriage to support it 
 in the most dangerous parts of the ascent and 
 descent. A fortification*, ruined by the French 
 in the late war, formerly defended this dreadful 
 
 * The fortress alluded to is called Chiusa, and is said to 
 have been originally built by the Romans ; and though fre- 
 quently destroyed during the wars and various invasions of 
 It a ly yet it was as constantly repaired in more peaceable 
 times. It must be acknowledged that Nature could not have 
 erected a more impregnable rampart to Italy than the Alps, 
 nor opened a more magnificent avenue than the long defile 
 f the Tyrol.
 
 dfc. II. THROUGH ITALY. Ill 
 
 pass, and must have rendered it impregnable. 
 But French gold, 
 
 Perrumpere amat saxa, potentius 
 Ictu fulmineo. 
 
 In the middle of the defile a cleft in the rock on 
 the left skives vent to a torrent that rushes down 
 
 O 
 
 the crag, and sometimes sweeps away a part of 
 the road in its passage. After winding through 
 the defile for about half an hour, we turned, and 
 suddenly found ourselves on the plains of Italy. 
 
 A traveller, upon his entrance into Italy, longs 
 impatiently to discover some remains of ancient 
 magnificence, or some specimen of modern taste, 
 and fortunately finds much to gratify his curiosity 
 in Verona, the first town that receives him upon 
 his descent from the Rhetian Alps. 
 
 Verona is beautifully situated on the Adige, 
 partly on the declivity of a hill, which forms the 
 last swell of the Alps, and partly on the skirts of 
 an immense plain extending from these mountains 
 to the Apennines. The hills behind are adorned 
 with villas and gardens, where v the graceful 
 cypress and tall poplar predominate over the bushy 
 ilex and spreading laurel. The plains before the 
 city are streaked with rows of mulberry trees, 
 and shaded with vines climbing from branch to
 
 112 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.lL 
 
 branch and spreading in garlands from tree to 
 tree. The devastation of war had not a little 
 disfigured this scenery, by stripping several villas, 
 levelling many a grove, and rooting up whole 
 rows of vines and mulberry trees. But the hand 
 of industry had already begun to repair these ra- 
 vages, and to restore to the neighboring hills and 
 fields their beauty and fertility. 
 
 The interior of the town is worthy of its situ- 
 ation. It is divided into two unequal parts by 
 the Adige, which sweeps through it in a bold 
 curve, and forms a peninsula, within which the 
 whole of the ancient, and the greater part of the 
 modern city, is enclosed. The river is wide and 
 rapid ; the streets, as in almost all continrental 
 towns, are narrower than our's, but long, strait, 
 well built, and frequently presenting in the form 
 of the doors, and windows, and in the ornaments 
 of their cases, fine proportions, and beautiful 
 workmanship. 
 
 But besides these advantages which Verona 
 enjoys in common with many other towns, it can 
 boast of possessing one of the noblest monuments 
 of Roman magnificence now existing; I mean 
 its amphitheatre, inferior in size, but equal in 
 materials and in solidity to the Coliseum. Al- 
 most immediately upon our arrival, we hastened
 
 a. II. THROUGH ITALY. 113 
 
 to this celebrated rronument, and passed the 
 greater part of the morning- in climbing its seats 
 and ranging over its spacious arena. The ex- 
 ternal circumference, forming the ornamental 
 part, has been destroyed long ago ; with the ex- 
 ception of one piece of wall containing three 
 stories of four arches, rising to the height of 
 more than eighty feet. The pilasters and de- 
 corations of the outside were Tuscan, an order 
 well adapted by its simplicity to such vast fabrics. 
 Forty-five ranges of seats, rising from the arena 
 to the top of the second story of outward arches, 
 remain entire, with the different vomitoria, and 
 their respective staircases and galleries of com- 
 munication. The whole is formed of blocks of 
 marble, and presents such a mass of compact 
 solidity, as might have defied the influence of 
 time, had not its powers been aided by the more 
 active operations of barbarian destruction. The 
 arena is not, as in Addison's time, filled up and 
 level with the first row of seats, but a few feet 
 lower ; though still somewhat higher than it was 
 in its original state. As it is not my intention to 
 give an architectural account of this celebrated 
 edifice, I shall merely inform the reader, in order 
 to give him a general idea of its vastness, that 
 the outward circumference is 1290 feet, the 
 length of the arena 218, and its breadth 129: 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.l. 
 
 the seats are capable of containing 22,000 spec- 
 tators. 
 
 At each end of the amphitheatre is a great 
 gate, and over each a modern balustrade with 
 an inscription, informing the traveller, that two 
 exhibitions of a very different nature took place 
 in it some years ago. The one was a bull-bait- 
 ing exhibited in honor of the Emperor Joseph 
 then at Verona, by the governor and the people. 
 The seats were crowded, as may be imagined, 
 on this occasion ; and a Roman Emperor was 
 once more hailed in a Roman amphitheatre with 
 the titles of Cesar and Augustus, by spectators 
 who pretend and almost deserve to be Romans. 
 The other exhibition, though of a very different 
 nature, was perhaps equally interesting : the late 
 Pope in his German excursion passed through 
 Verona, and was requested by the magistrates 
 to give the people a public opportunity of testi- 
 fying their veneration. He accordingly appeared 
 in the amphitheatre selected on account of its 
 capacity as the properest place, and when the 
 shouts of acclaim had subsided, poured forth his 
 benediction on the prostrate multitude collected 
 from all the neighboring provinces to receive it. 
 The thoughtful spectator might have amused 
 himself with the singular contrast, which this
 
 Ck. ii. THROUGH ITALY. 115 
 
 ceremony must have presented, to the shows and 
 the pomps exhibited in the same place in ancient 
 times. A multitude in both cases equally numer- 
 ous, then assembled for purposes of cruel and 
 bloody amusements, now collected by motives of 
 piety and brotherhood : then all noise, agitation, 
 and uproar : now all silence and tranquil expec- 
 tation : then all eyes fixed on the arena, or per- 
 haps on the Emperor, an arena crowded with 
 human victims, an Emperor, Gallienus for in- 
 stance, frowning on his trembling slaves : now 
 all looks rivetted on the venerable person of a 
 Christian Pontiff, who, with eyes and hands up- 
 lifted to heaven, implored for the prostrate crowd 
 peace and happiness. 
 
 The French applied the amphitheatre to a 
 very different purpose. Shortly after their en- 
 trance into Verona, they erected a wooden the- 
 atre near one of the grand portals, and caused 
 several farces and pantomimes to be acted in it 
 for the amusement of the army. The sheds and 
 scaffolding that composed this miserable edifice 
 were standing in the year 1802, and looked as if 
 intended by the builder for a satire upon the 
 taste of the Great Nation, that could disfigure 
 so noble an arena. The Veronese beheld this 
 Characteristic absurdity with indignation; and 
 compared the French, not without reason, to the 
 
 J 2
 
 116 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.ll. 
 
 Huns and the Lombards. In reality, the inha- 
 bitants of Verona have always distinguished 
 themselves by an unusual attachment to their 
 ancient monuments, and have endeavoured, as 
 well as the misery of the times, and the general 
 impoverishment of Italy would allow them, to 
 preserve and repair their public buildings. From 
 an early period in the thirteenth century (1228) 
 we find that there were sums appropriated to the 
 reparation of the amphitheatre ; and that after- 
 wards public orders were issued for its preserva- 
 tion and ornament, and respectable citizens ap- 
 pointed to enforce them. This latter custom 
 continued till the French invasion, and two per- 
 sons, entitled Presidenti alia arena, were in- 
 trusted with its inspection and guardianship. 
 Such zeal and attention, to which the world owes 
 one of the noblest monuments of antiquity, are 
 highly creditable to the taste and the public spi- 
 rit of the Veronese, and afford an honorable 
 proof that they not only boast of Roman ex- 
 traction, but retain some features of the Roman 
 character. 
 
 But the amphitheatre is not the only monu- 
 ment of antiquity that distinguishes Verona. In 
 the middle of a street, called the Corso, stands 
 a gate inscribed with the name of Gallienus, on 
 account of his having rebuilt the city walls. It
 
 Ch.ll. THROUGH ITALY. 117 
 
 consists of two gateways, according to the an- 
 cient custom, one for those who enter, the other 
 for those who go out: each gateway is orna- 
 mented with Corinthian half pillars, supporting 
 a light pediment ; above are two stories with six 
 small arched windows each. The whole is of 
 marble, and does not seem to have suffered any 
 detriment from time or violence. The gate, 
 though not without beauty in its size, propor- 
 tions, and materials, yet, by its supernumerary 
 ornaments proves, that at its erection, the taste 
 for pure simple architecture was on the decline. 
 The remains of another gate, of a similar though 
 chaster form, may be seen in the Via Leoni, 
 where it stands as a front to an insignificant 
 house; and within that house, in the upper story, 
 a few feet behind the first gate, there exist some 
 beautiful remnants of the Doric ornaments of the 
 inner front of the gate : remnants much admired 
 by modern architects, and said to present one of 
 the best specimens of that order to be found in 
 Italy. This double gate is supposed to have 
 been the entrance into the Forum Judiciale, and 
 ought to be cleared, if possible, of the miserable 
 pile that encumbers it, and buries its beauty. 
 
 From the first-mentioned gate, which formed 
 the principal entrance into the town, as appears 
 from some remains of the wall or rampart, which
 
 118 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 
 ran on each side of it, and was repaired by Gal- 
 
 lienus, we may conclude that Verona was an- 
 ciently of no great extent, as it was confined to 
 the space that lies between this wall and the 
 river. This observation, apparently improbable 
 considering 1 that Verona was an ancient Roman 
 colony, the native country or the residence of 
 many illustrious persons mentioned by historians 
 and celebrated by poets, is- founded on the au- 
 thority of Silius and of Servius ; if indeed the 
 descriptions of the former can, like Homer's, be 
 considered as geographical authority*. How- 
 ever, it may be presumed, that the suburbs of 
 the town extended into the neighboring plain ; 
 a conjecture favored by the situation of the 
 amphitheatre, which, though standing at some 
 distance from the ancient gate, was probably 
 erected in or near some populous quarter. At 
 all events, the modern Verona is of much greater 
 magnitude, and spreading into the plain to a 
 considerable distance beyond the old wall on the 
 one side, and on the other covering the opposite 
 banks of the river, encloses the ancient town as 
 its centre, and occupies a spacious area of about 
 five miles in circumference. Many parts of it, 
 
 * Athesis Veronae circumflua. Sil. VIII. Athesis Venetiae 
 fluvius est Veronum civitatein ambiens. Servius in Virg. 
 VIII.
 
 Ck.Il. THROUGH ITALY. 119 
 
 particularly the square called Piazza della Bra, 
 near the amphitheatre, are airy and splendid. 
 Some of its palaces, and several of its churches, 
 merit particular attention : among the latter, the 
 beautiful chapel of S. Bernardino, in the church 
 of the Franciscan Friars, and S. Zeno,* with its 
 painted cloister and vast vase of porphyry, may 
 perhaps claim the precedency. 
 
 Among public edifices, the Gran-Guardia 
 and the Museo Lapidario are the most con- 
 spicuous : the portico of the latter is Ionic : its 
 court surrounded with a gallery of light Doric, 
 contains a vast collection of antiquities f of vari- 
 ous kinds, such as altars, tombs, sepulchral vases, 
 inscriptions, &c. formed and arranged princi- 
 pally by the celebrated fifqffei, a nobleman 
 whose learning and taste (two qualities not al- 
 ways united) reflect great honor on Italy, and 
 particularly on Verona, the place of his birth 
 and his usual residence. 
 
 * This church suffered considerably from the brutality of 
 the French soldiery, some of whom amused themselves, as 
 might have done the Huns of Attila, or the Goths of Rada- 
 gaisus, in breaking porphyry pillars and vases, ransacking 
 tombs, and disfiguring paintings. 
 
 t The French visited this collection, and carried off some 
 of the most valuable articles.
 
 120 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 The garden of the Giusti family, alluded to 
 by Addison, is still shewn to travellers, though 
 it has little to recommend it to attention except 
 its former celebrity, and some wild walks wind- 
 ing along the side of a declivity remarkable as 
 being the last steep in the immense descent from 
 the Alps to the plain. From the highest terrace 
 of this garden, there is a beautiful and extensive 
 prospect of the town, the hills and the Alps on 
 one side ; and on the other, of plains spreading 
 wide, and losing their fading tints in the south- 
 ern horizon. This is, in reality, one of the best 
 spots for viewing Verona, and as such it may 
 be considered worthy of the attention of tra- 
 vellers, together with the hills that rise behind 
 the town, particularly that on which formerly 
 stood the Castello di San Pietro, now in ruins. 
 
 Few towns have contributed more largely to 
 the reputation of Roman literature, or have been 
 more fertile in the production of genius, taste, 
 and knowledge, than Verona. Catullus, and 
 Macer (supposed to be introduced by Virgil 
 into his Eclogues under the pastoral name of 
 Mopsus) ; Cornelius Nepos and Pomponius Se- 
 cnndus; Vitruvius, and Pliny the Elder, form a 
 constellation of luminaries of the first magni- 
 tude, and shed a distinguishing lustre on the 
 place of their birth and early education. A sue-
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 121 
 
 cession of writers followed ; and though feeble 
 tapers in comparison of their predecessors, yet 
 they cast a transient gleam as they passed on, 
 and not only preserved the light of science from 
 being utterly extinguished during the middle 
 centuries, but contributed to revive its glories at 
 a later and more fortunate period. In this re- 
 vival, at ihe commencement of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, Verona had some share : Guarini, a Ve- 
 ronese, returning from Con>tantinople, restored 
 the study of Greek some time before the arrival 
 of Chrysoloras, and of the other learned Con- 
 stantiiiopolitan fugitives. He was succeeded by 
 a long line of eminent men, among whom we 
 may distinguish Domitius Calderini (who, with 
 Laurentius Valla and Politian, received the ho- 
 norable appellation of Triumvirs of Literature) 
 Scaliger and Panvinius*; and in fine, Fracasto- 
 rius the poet, the naturalist, and the astronomer. 
 In modern times, Verona still preserves her re- 
 putation in taste and science ; and the names of 
 Bianchini and Scipio Maffei may be considered 
 as proofs of her present, and pledges of her fu- 
 ture literary glory. 
 
 The history of Verona is various and interest- 
 ing. Situated as it is at the foot of the Alps, 
 and at the southern opening of the grand defile 
 through Khetia forming the most ancient and
 
 122 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 regular communication between Italy and Ger- 
 many, it is exposed to the first fury of the north- 
 ern invaders, and has always been the first ob- 
 ject of their attacks. It resisted with various 
 success ; sometimes v it was treated with lenity, 
 and sometimes with cruelty. Like the other 
 Italian towns, it submitted sooner or later to the 
 prevailing power, and bore successively the yoke 
 of the Heruli, of the Goths, of the Greeks, of 
 the Lombards, and of the Italian and German 
 emperors. During this long period of invasion, 
 of anarchy, and of devastation, Verona seems to 
 have enjoyed a better fate, or, to speak more 
 correctly, to have suffered less than most other 
 Italian cities. Many of the sovereigns, who 
 reigned during this interval from Theodoric to 
 Frederic the Second, either allured by the 
 beauty, or struck by the importance of its situa- 
 tion, made Verona their occasional residence ; 
 and frequently paid much attention to its ac- 
 commodation, strength, and ornament. 
 
 In the twelfth century, Verona, together with 
 many other Italian cities, shook off the yoke of 
 foreign barbarians ; erected itself into an inde- 
 pendent republic ; and, as conquest frequently 
 attends liberty, became the Capital of a very 
 considerable territory. In this state of freedom 
 and of consequence Verona remained till the
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 123 
 
 commencement of the fifteenth century ; when, 
 seduced by the influence, allured by the glory, 
 or awed by the greatness of Venice, she sub- 
 mitted to the genius of her powerful neighbor. 
 However, this voluntary dependence was rather 
 a state of tranquillity, than of servitude or de- 
 gradation. The Venetians respected the laws 
 and customs of the Veronese, and consulted the 
 beauty and prosperity of their city ; so that the 
 change might be considered as the union of bor- 
 dering territories, not the subjection of a sepa- 
 rate state ; and the sway of the Venetians was 
 regarded rather as the superiority of country- 
 men, than as the usurpation of foreigners. 
 
 At length, during the revolutionary war, the 
 French invaded Italy ; and, after a long and 
 bloody contest, remaining masters of the Vene- 
 tian territory, employed it to purchase peace, 
 and made over the greatest part to the emperor. 
 Upon this occasion, the territory of Verona was 
 divided, and the city itself torn asunder; the 
 Adige was declared to be the boundary of the 
 two states, the territory and part of the town on 
 the left bank was consigned to the Austrians, 
 while the greater part, which lies on the right, 
 was annexed to the new-created Italian republic. 
 This dismemberment (if the expression may be 
 allowed) is considered by the Veronese as the
 
 124 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 greatest disaster their town has ever suffered; 
 and the French are detested as the most cruel of 
 the many barbarous tribes that have invaded 
 their devoted country. They look upon them- 
 selves as victims of a partition-treaty between 
 two rival Powers, agreeing only in one point 
 the subjugation and oppression of Italy ; but 
 these Powers they hate as transalpines and bar- 
 barians (for the latter term is applied by the 
 modern as well as the ancient Italians, to all 
 foreign or hostile nations) but the French most, 
 as aggressors, who have added treachery and in- 
 sult to invasion and plunder. The Italian re- 
 public they regard as the handmaid and creature 
 of France, with a pompous name to dupe the 
 populace, and to palliate the odium of tyrannical 
 measures and of oppressive taxation. They 
 consider its duration as uncertain as the exist- 
 ence, and its administration as irregular as the 
 caprice of its founder ; like the French republic, 
 it is in their eyes a phantom, which appeared 
 yesterday, and may vanish to-morrow : doubtful 
 therefore of its permanency, but convinced that 
 while it exists, it will be a mere instrument of 
 oppression in the hands of an enemy, they be- 
 hold its operations with distrust, and hear its 
 name with contempt and indignation. Hence 
 the inactivity and solitude that pervade the 
 streets of the Italian, or rather French part of
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 125 
 
 the town, and announce the apprehension and 
 the despair of its inhabitants, their attachment to 
 their old, and their hatred to their new govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The Austrians they do not and cannot love : 
 they are barbarians and invaders; and though 
 the emperor be a just and even benevolent sove- 
 reign, yet his right over them is that of the sword 
 only ; and though he may be tyrannorum tnitis- 
 simus, yet in the eyes of every Italian patriot, 
 still he is, as well as Buonaparte, a tyrant, and 
 an usurper : since, however, they are doomed to 
 be slaves, of the two they prefer the former. 
 The Austrian government is mild and equitable ; 
 it proceeds on fixed principles, and moves on in 
 the straight and beaten track ; it is, and so is 
 the French republic, liable to the reverses of 
 war ; but it is exempt, and so is not the French 
 republic, from internal change and unexpected 
 revolution. Hence they submit with something 
 like resignation, to the imperial sway; and 
 hence some life and activity, some share of con- 
 fidence, and some appearance of business, en- 
 liven the Austrian quarter of Verona. It is in- 
 deed highly probable, that if the present preca- 
 rious state of things lasts for any time, the 
 ancient city will be almost deserted, and all the 
 population of Verona pass to the Austrian terri-
 
 126 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 tory. Not to speak therefore of the money 
 raised, of the pictures, statues, and antiquities, 
 carried off by the French, Verona has suffered 
 more, in a political sense, in the last convulsive 
 war, than perhaps any city, Venice excepted, 
 that lay within its range of devastation. Not 
 content with dividing 1 and enslaving- it for the 
 present, the French seem determined to prevent 
 it from ever again becoming a place of import- 
 ance ; and have accordingly levelled its fortifi- 
 cations, and destroyed the walls of its castle, 
 formerly a fortress of* some strength from its 
 ramparts and commanding position. The top 
 and sides of the hill are now covered with its 
 ruins ; and the emperor is, I believe, obliged by 
 an article in the treaty, not to rebuild them at 
 any future period. Such was the state of Ve- 
 rona in the year 1802. 
 
 Our last visit, as our first, was to the amphi- 
 theatre : we passed some hours, as before, in a 
 very delightful manner, sometimes reclining on 
 the middle seats, and admiring the capacious- 
 ness, the magnitude, and the durability of the 
 vast edifice ; at other times seated on the upper 
 range, contemplating the noble prospect ex- 
 panded before us, the town under our eyes, ver- 
 dant plains spreading on one side, and on the 
 other, the Alps rising in craggy majesty, and
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 127 
 
 bearing on their ridges the united snows of four 
 thousand winters ; while an Hesperian sun shone 
 in full brightness over our heads, and southern 
 gales breathed all the warmth and all the fra- 
 grance of Spring around us. Prospects so grand 
 and beautiful must excite very pleasing emotions 
 at all times, and such vernal breezes may well 
 be supposed to inspire 
 
 " delight and joy able to drive 
 
 " All sadness." 
 
 But the pleasure which we felt on the occa- 
 sion, was not a little enhanced by the contrast 
 between our present and late situation. We 
 had just descended from the mountains of the 
 Tyrol, where our view had long been confined 
 to a deep and narrow defile : our eye now 
 ranged at liberty over an immense extent of 
 scenery, rich, magnificent, and sublime. We 
 had just escaped from the rigors of winter, and 
 we were now basking in the beams of a summer 
 sun. We still stood on the very verge of frost, 
 and beheld whole regions of snow rising full be- 
 fore us; but vernal warmth, vegetation, and 
 verdure, enveloped us on all sides. In such cir- 
 cumstances, when for the first time the traveller 
 beholds the beauties of an Italian prospect ex- 
 panded before him, and feels the genial influ- 
 ence of an Italian sun around him, he may be
 
 1S8 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. II. 
 
 allowed to indulge a momentary enthusiasm, 
 and hail Italy in the language of Virgil. 
 
 Sed neque Medorum sylvae, ditissima terra, 
 
 Nee pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus 
 
 Laudibus Italia; certent ; non Bactra neque Indi, 
 
 Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis 
 
 Hie gravida> fruges et Bacchi Massicus humor 
 
 Implevere ; tenent oleae armentaque laeta 
 
 Hie ver assiduum, atque alienis mensibus aestas .... 
 Adde tot egregias urbes operumque laborem 
 Tot congesta raanu prrcruptis oppida saxis 
 
 Fluminaque antiques subterlabentia niuros 
 
 Salve magna parens frugutn, Saturnia tellus 
 
 Magna virum ! Georg : ir. 
 
 On the whole, we visited few places with more 
 satisfaction, and left few with more regret, than 
 Verona ; whether as the first Italian city on our 
 road, it happened, by its appearance and monu- 
 ments very novel to a transalpine traveller, par- 
 ticularly to engage our attention ; or whether it 
 really possesses many means of exciting interest, 
 I know not; but as we departed, we felt our- 
 selves inclined to address it in the words of one 
 of its poets. 
 
 " Verona, qui te viderit, 
 " Et non amarit protiuus, 
 " Amore perditissimo,
 
 Ch. II. THROUGH ITALY. 129 
 
 " Is, credo, se ipsura non araat, 
 " Caretque amandi sensibus, 
 
 " Et odit omues gratias.*" COTTA. 
 
 If a traveller have any time to spare (and he 
 who wishes to travel with benefit, ought always 
 to have some days at his disposal) he may spend 
 it with advantage at Verona, as his head-quar- 
 ters, and take an opportunity of visiting Monte 
 Bolca about eighteen, and Voile Ronca about 
 fifteen miles distant ; where the lovers of the 
 picturesque will find some beautiful scenery, and 
 the mineralogist some remarkable specimens of 
 various stones, earths, petrifactions, incrustations, 
 basaltic pillars, &c. Among similar curiosities, 
 we may rank the Ponte Veia, a natural arch of 
 considerable sweep and boldness. 
 
 The wines of Verona were formerly famous, 
 as appears from Virgil's apostrophe. 
 
 " et quo te carmine dicam 
 " Rhaetica ? nee cellis ideo contende Falernis." 
 
 But their reputation at present is very low, as is 
 that of almost all the wines produced on the 
 northern side of the Apennines. 
 
 * The best guide is the Compendia ddla Verona, in four 
 very thin, or two ordinary small octavo volumes, with prints. 
 It is an abridgment of a larger work, entitled " Verona 
 Illustrafa," by the celebrated Maffei. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 150 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Vicentia Buildings Olympic Academy and 
 Theatre Style of Palladia Church of Monte 
 Berico Cimbri Sette Communi Padua Its 
 Antiquity, History, Literature, and Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 J[ HE distance from Verona to Vicentia is 
 three posts and a half; the road runs over a 
 plain highly cultivated, and beautifully shaded 
 with vines and mulberries. When I say a plain, 
 I do not mean that the face of the country is a 
 dead insipid flat, but only that it is not hilly. 
 However, near Monte Bello, bold hills rise on 
 each side, and present in their windings, or on 
 their summits, villages, towns, and castles. 
 
 Vincentia (Vicetia) Vicenza is a town as 
 ancient as Verona, large and populous ; its cir- 
 cumference is of three miles, and the number 
 of its inhabitants is said to amount to 30,000. 
 It has passed through the same revolutions as its 
 neighbor Verona, but it seems to have suffered 
 more from their consequences. It was indeed 
 burnt by the Emperor Frederic the Second,
 
 a. III. THROUGH ITALY. 131 
 
 while at war with the Pope, on account of its 
 attachment to the latter, and cannot conse- 
 quently be supposed to exhibit any remnants of 
 its Roman glory. 
 
 But the want of ancient monuments is sup- 
 plied in a great degree by numberless master- 
 pieces of modern genius. Palladia was a native 
 of this city, and seems to have employed with 
 complacency all the power of his art in the em- 
 bellishment of his country. Hence the taste 
 and magnificence that reign in most of the pub- 
 lic buildings, and in many of the private houses. 
 Among the former we may distinguish the 
 Town House, called very significantly Palazzo 
 della ragione, that is, the Palace of Public Rea- 
 son, or Opinion, where justice is administered, 
 and the business of the city transacted ; the 
 Palazzo del Capitanio, the residence of the 
 Podestd, or principal magistrate, so called from 
 potestas,* a title sometimes given by the Romans 
 to persons charged with the hig-hest functions 
 in provincial towns ; the gate of the Campus 
 Martius, a triumphal arch, solid and well pro- 
 portioned ; and, above all, the celebrated Olym* 
 pic Theatre erected at the expense of a well 
 
 * An Fidenarum Gabiorumque sse pottstas. Juv. x 100; 
 K 2
 
 132 CLASSICAL TOUR OL III, 
 
 known academy bearing 1 that pompous title. 
 This edifice is raised upon the plan of ancient 
 theatres, and bears a great resemblance to those 
 of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The permanent 
 and immoveable scenery, the ranges of seats 
 
 rising; above each other, the situation of the 
 
 o * 
 
 orchestra in the podium, and the colonnade that 
 crowns the upper range, are all faithful repre- 
 sentations of antiquity. The scene consists of a 
 magnificent gate supported by a double row of 
 pillars, with niches and statues : it has one large 
 and two smaller entrances opening into as many 
 principal streets, decorated with temples, palaces 
 and public edifices of various descriptions formed 
 of solid materials, and disposed according to 
 the rules of perspective, so as to assume some- 
 what more than the mere theatrical appearance 
 of reality. The sides are a continuation of the 
 same plan, and have also each one entrance 
 giving into its respective street ; thus there are 
 five entrances, through which the actors pass 
 and repass to and from the stage. The orchestra 
 occupies the centre, or that part which we call 
 the pit j thence rise the seats forming the side 
 of an ellipsis, and above them the gallery com- 
 posed of a range of Corinthian pillars with their 
 full entablature surmounted by a balustrade and 
 adorned with statues of marble. An air of sim-
 
 a. III. THROUGH ITALY. 13S 
 
 plicity, lightness and beauty reigns over the 
 whole edifice, and delights the ordinary ob- 
 server ; while in the opinion of connoisseurs it 
 entitles the Teatro Olimpico to the appellation of 
 the master-piece of Palladio. 
 
 But honorable as it is to the taste and to the 
 talents of its architect, it reflects equal, perhaps 
 greater lustre on the Society, at whose expense, 
 and for whose purposes it was erected. The 
 Olympic Academy was instituted at Vicenza so 
 early as the year 1555, by a set of gentlemen, 
 for the encouragement and propagation of polite 
 literature. Public exhibitions were among- the 
 means employed by the Society to attain that 
 object; and several attempts were made to 
 accommodate various buildings, to their pur- 
 pose; but finding none perfectly suitable, they 
 at length came to the public spirited resolution 
 of erecting a theatre ; and that its form might 
 correspond with its destination, no less than 
 with the classic spirit of the actors that were to 
 tread its stage, they commissioned Palladio to 
 raise it on the ancient model. The inscription 
 over the stage points out its object. 
 
 VIRTUTI AC GENIO, OLYMPICORUM ACADEMIA 
 THEATRUM HOC A FUNDAMENTIS EREXIT 
 ANNO 1584. PALLADIO ARCHITECTO.
 
 13i CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 The spirit of ancient genius seemed to revive, 
 and the spectator might have imagined himself 
 at Athens, when the members of the Society 
 acted the tragedies of Sophocles and of Euri- 
 pides, with all possible attention to the dresses 
 and to the manners of the age and of the 
 country, surrounded with the scenery and amidst 
 the statues of the gods and the heroes of anti- 
 quity. Such an institution was highly honor- 
 able to Italy in general, and to Vicenza in 
 particular, at a period when Trasalpine nations 
 were just emerging from ignorance, and open- 
 ing their eyes to the rising brightness of taste 
 and of science. The Olympic Academy still 
 exists, and is composed now, as it was formerly, 
 of the most respectable citizens, and of many 
 learned foreigners j though I am sorry to add, 
 that the Theatre has long lamented the absence 
 of 4he tragic muse, having been devoted for 
 many years, solely to the assemblies of the 
 Academy, or perhaps enlivened with the occa- 
 sional merriment of a ball or a masquerade. 
 Moreover, since the French invasion, it seems 
 to have suffered from the negligence or from 
 the poverty of the proprietors., owing partly to 
 the heavy contributions laid on the town, and 
 partly to that listlessness and depression of 
 spirits which generally accompany national dis- 
 asters. But when this storm shall have blown
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 135 
 
 over, the national genius will probably revive 
 and return with redoubled ardor to its favorite 
 pursuits. 
 
 There are said to be about twenty palaces, 
 \vhich were erected by Palladio, some of which 
 are of unusual magnificence, and contribute in 
 the whole to give Vicenza an appearance of 
 splendor and beauty not common even in Italy. 
 In materials and magnitude they are inferior 
 perhaps to the palaces of Genoa, but in style of 
 architecture and in external beauty far superior. 
 Palladio in fact had a particular talent in apply- 
 ing the orders and the ornaments of architecture 
 to the decorations of private edifices. Unlike 
 the ancients, who seem to have contented them- 
 selves with employing its grandeur in temples, 
 porticos, and public buildings, he introduced it 
 into common life, and communicated its elegant 
 forms to private edifices and to ordinary dwel- 
 lings. I do not mean to assert that the houses 
 and the villas of the ancients were entirely de- 
 void of architectural ornaments. Horace speaks 
 of the columns that decorated the palaces of the 
 rich Romans of his time. 
 Ncmpe, inter vartas nutritur Sylva Columnas. Epist. li&.l, 10. 
 
 Non trabes Hymettiae 
 
 Fremutit columnas ultima recisas 
 
 Africa 
 
 Tu secanda marmora, &c. Hor. u. 18.
 
 135 CLASSICAL TOUR 67*. III. 
 
 Pillars had been introduced long 1 before, as 
 Crassus, the orator was humorously styled Verms 
 Palatina, on account of six pillars of Hymettian 
 marble, which ornamented his house on the Pa- 
 latine Mount. We learn also, from the same 
 author*, that Mamurra, a Roman knight, who had 
 acquired great riches in the service of Julius 
 Caesar, entirely incrusted his house on Mount 
 Celiuswith marble, and adorned it with columns 
 of the richest species of the same materials. 
 Cicero speaks of a Greek architect whom he em- 
 ployed, and complains of his ignorance or inat- 
 tention in raising his pillars as he had placed them, 
 neither perpendicular, nor opposite to each other. 
 Aliquando, says Cicero, perpendiculo et lined 
 discet uti.'f This surely is a strange compliment 
 to a Greek artist. The pillars here alluded to 
 seem to have supported the portico of his villa at 
 Arpinum. Suetonius also, to give his reader an 
 idea of the moderation of Augustus, observes, 
 that the pillars of his house on the Palatine Mount 
 were of Alban stone, not marble. But I am in- 
 clined to believe that such ornaments were con- 
 fined to the most celebrated palaces, or perhaps 
 employed only in the interior courts and surround- 
 ing porticos: if they had been common on the 
 exterior we should have discovered some traces 
 
 * PUn. xxxvi. cap. 3, | Ad Quiut : Fratrem. III. v.
 
 C/UII. THROUGH ITALY. 33? 
 
 of them in the ruins of different villas, or at least 
 in the fronts of the houses of Pompeii: and yet 
 thouoh I cannot assert that there are none, I do 
 
 O 
 
 not recollect to have observed in the streets of the 
 latter city the slightest vestige of architectural 
 ornaments on private edifices. To these external 
 decorations of architecture, the cities of Italy, 
 and indeed most modern towns of any consider- 
 ation, owe a great part of their beauty ; and may 
 glory, not perhaps without reason, in surpassing" 
 the towns of antiquity in general appearance. 
 
 I feel some regret in being obliged to acknow- 
 
 o *-? c* 
 
 ledge, that the metropolis of the British empire, 
 though the first city of Europe, for neatness, con- 
 venience and cleanliness, is yet inferior to most 
 Capitals in architectural embellishment. This 
 defect, is owing in a great degree, to the nature 
 of the materials of which it is formed, as brick 
 is ill calculated to receive the graceful forms of 
 an Ionic volute, or of a Corinthian acanthus ; 
 while the dampness of the climate seems to pre- 
 clude the possibility of applying stucco to the ex- 
 ternal parts with permanent advantage. Besides 
 some blame may justly be attributed to architects, 
 who either know not, or neglect the rules of 
 proportion and the models of antiquity ; and in 
 edifices, where no expence has been spared, often 
 display splendid instances of tasteless contrivance
 
 138 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck, III. 
 
 and of grotesque ingenuity. But, it is to be 
 hoped, that the industry and the taste of the 
 British nation will, ere long, triumph over this 
 double obstacle, inspire artists with genius, teach 
 even brick to emulate marble, and give a be- 
 coniing beauty and magnificence to the seat of 
 government and to the Capital of so mighty an 
 emoire. Augustus found Rome of brick, and in 
 his last moments boasted thatheleft it of marble.* 
 May not London hope at length to see its 
 Augustus? 
 
 As Palladia was a native of Vicenza it may be 
 proper to say something of that celebrated archi- 
 tect, while we are employed in admiring the 
 many superb structures, with which he ornamented 
 his country. Of all modern architects, Palladia 
 seems to have had the best taste, the most correct 
 ideas, and the greatest influence over his contem- 
 poraries and posterity. Some may have had 
 more boldness and genius, others more favorable 
 opportunities of displaying their talents ; and such, 
 in both respects, was the felicity of the two grand 
 architects of St. Peter's, Bramante and Michael 
 Angelo : but Palladia has the exclusive glory of 
 having first collected, from the writings and mo- 
 
 * Suet : D. Oct : Caes : Aug. 28.
 
 Ch.ill. THROUGH ITALY. 139 
 
 numents of the ancients, a canon of symmetry 
 and proportion, and of having 1 reduced archi- 
 tecture under all its forms, to a reeular and com- 
 
 * O 
 
 plete system. I am aware that many parts of 
 that system have been severely criticized; that 
 his pedestals, for instance, are by many consi- 
 dered as heavy, his half pillars as little, and his 
 decorations as luxuriant: yet it must be remem- 
 bered, that these real or merely nominal defects 
 are authorized by the practice of the ancients; 
 and that it is not fair to blame, in a modern edi- 
 fice, that which is admired in the Temple of 
 Fortuna Vinlis, or on the Triumphal Arch of 
 Trajan. But supposing this criticism well foun- 
 ded, every candid spectator will admit, that there 
 are in all the edifices erected under the direction, 
 or on the immediate plans of Palladia a simpli- 
 city and beauty, a symmetry and majesty, that 
 abundantly compensate petty defects, and fulfil 
 all the ends of architecture, by producing great- 
 ness of manner and unity of design. 
 
 I know not whether my opinion, in this respect, 
 may agree with that of professed artists; but of 
 all the grand fabrics, which I have had an oppor- 
 tunity of contemplating after St. Peter's and the 
 Pantheon, the two master-pieces, one of ancient, 
 the other of modern architecture, I own I was 
 most delighted with the abbey church of St,
 
 140 CLASSICAL TOUR Oi.IlI. 
 
 G eorge at Venice, and that of St. Justina at Padua. 
 Addison represents the latter as the most luminous 
 and disencumbered building that he had ever 
 seen ; though, for my part, I should be inclined 
 to give the preference to the former, which he 
 passes over in silence: but be the superiority 
 where it may, both these superb edifices display 
 the characteristic features of Palladian architecture 
 to the highest advantage; and in a manner not 
 often witnessed, even in Italy, blend simplicity 
 with ornament, extent with proportion, and com- 
 bination with unity. St. Justina was, if I be not 
 mistaken, erected on the plan ofPalladio, though 
 after his death ; some defects consequently occur 
 in the execution, which ought not to be attributed 
 to that illustrious architect, particularly as these 
 defects are lost in the admirable symmetry and 
 proportion of the whole; perfections owing ex- 
 clusively to the genius that conceived and ar- 
 ranged the original model. On the whole, Pal- 
 ladio may be considered as the Vitruvius of mo- 
 dern architecture ; and it has been very properly 
 recommended to persons who wish to make a 
 proficiency in that art, to pass some time at 
 Vicenza, Padua, and Venice, in order to study the 
 many monuments of Palladian skill that abouncj 
 in these cities, 1
 
 O.1II. THROUGH ITALY. Ill 
 
 The splendor of Vicenza is not confined to its 
 walls, but extends to the country for some distance 
 round, where private or public munificence has 
 erected several villas and magnificent edifices. 
 Among the former, we may rank the villa of the 
 Marchcsi, called the Rotunda, an exquisite fabric 
 of Palladio's, and among the latter the triumphal 
 arch, and the portico which lead to the church 
 on Monte Berico. The arch is said by some to 
 be the work of Palladio, in imitation of that of 
 Trajan at Ancona; and is like it, light and airy. 
 The portico is a noble gallery leading from the 
 town to the church, and intended to shade and 
 shelter the persons who visit the sanctuary in 
 which it terminates ; and as its length is more 
 than a mile, its materials stone, and its form not 
 inelegant, it strikes the spectator as a very magni- 
 ficent instance of public taste. The church is 
 seen to most advantage at a distance; as, on a 
 nearer approach, it appears overloaded with orna- 
 ments. It is of fine stone, of the Corinthian order, 
 in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome in the 
 centre; but wants in all its decorations, both in- 
 ternal and external, the proportions and the sim- 
 plicity of Palladio. The view from the windows 
 of the convent annexed to the church, is extensive 
 and beautiful. 
 
 It may be here the proper place to mention a
 
 142 CLASSICAL TOUR Cli. Ill, 
 
 political phenomenon, of a very extraordinary 
 nature, which, few travellers have, I believe, 
 noticed. The Cimbri and Teutones, two tribes 
 from the northern Chersonesus, invaded Italy, as 
 it is well known, in the year of Rome 640, and 
 were defeated, and almost extirpated by Marius, 
 in the neighborhood of Verona. The few who 
 escaped from the vengeance of the conquerors 
 took refuge in the neighboring mountains, and 
 formed a little colony, which either from its po- 
 verty, its insignificance, or its retired position, has 
 escaped the notice, or perhaps excited the con- 
 tempt of the various parties, that have disputed 
 the possession of Italy for nearly two thousand 
 years. They occupy altogether seven parishes, 
 and are therefore called the Sette commune ; they 
 retain the tradition of their origin, and though 
 surrounded by Italians still preserve their Teutonic 
 language. The late King of Denmark visited 
 this singular colony, discoursed with them in 
 Danish, and found their idiom perfectly intelli- 
 gible. Though we felt no inclination to visit 
 them (for a classic traveller cannot be supposed 
 to be very partial to barbarian establishments in 
 Italy however ancient their date) yet, we were 
 struck with the circumstance, and beheld their 
 distant villages nested in the Alps, as they were 
 pointed out to us from Vicenza, with some in- 
 terest. The reader will hear with more satis-
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 14S 
 
 faction that a Roman colony still remains on the 
 borders of Transylvania, and that it retains the 
 Latin language nearly unmixed, and glories in 
 its illustrious origin. Hence, when any of its 
 members enlists in the imperial service, and ac- 
 cording to custom is asked his country and origin, 
 his answer is always, " Romanus sum."* 
 
 * In mezzo alia colta Europa, says Lanzi, vivon tuttora 
 popolazioni di linguaggi uon estesi ; nelle montagne di Vi- 
 cenza vive il Celtico di Barbari chi vi si annidatano ai tempi 
 di Mario ; nella Valakia il Latino di presidi che vi niise 
 Trajano ; in qualche parte di Elvezia il Romans di Franzesi 
 antichi. Saggio di lingua Etrusca Epilcgo, fyc. Vol. i. 
 
 Non stato fuor di proposito il distendersi alquanto nel 
 racconto della spedizione de' Cimbri si per distinguerne i 
 tempi ed i fatti, si perche oltre all' essere di quella famosa 
 guerra il paese nostro stato teatro, un avanzo di quella gente 
 rimase per sempre nelle monlagne del Veronese, del Vicen- 
 tino, e del Trentino, mantenendo ancora in qucsti territorj 
 la discendenza ed uua lingua differente da tutti i circostanti 
 paesi. Si e trovato Tedesco veramente essere il linguaggio, 
 e simile pure la pronuncia, non per6 a quella de' Tedeschi 
 piu limitrofi dell' Italia, ma a quella de Sassoni e de' popoli 
 situati verso il mar Baltico ; il che fu studiosamente riconos- 
 ciuto da Federico IV. Re di Daaimarca, che ouoro con sua 
 diinora di dieci giorni la citta di Verona nel 1708. Non s' 
 iuganna dunque il nostro popolo, quando per immemorabil 
 uso Cimbri cliiama gli abitatori di que' boschi e di quelle 
 montagne. Mqffe ; Verona iUustrata, Lib. III. With two 
 such vouchers, the author thinks himself justified in prefer- 
 ring the opinion expressed in tue text to that of some writers 
 of inferior reputation. 
 
 There
 
 Hi CLASSICAL TOUR C/i. III. 
 
 The hills, called the Colles Berici, in the neigh- 
 Tjorhood of Viceuza, present some natural grot- 
 tos, of great extent, and of surprizing variety. 
 Monsieur de la Lcmde speaks of a little temple of 
 the form of the Pantheon, which he represents as 
 a master-piece of the kind ; if it be such, I re- 
 gret that we had not an opportunity of visiting* 
 it, though not above twenty miles from Vicenza. 
 Bassano, seven leagues to the north, merits a 
 visit without doubt, if the traveller has time at 
 his disposal. 
 
 From Vicenza to Padua it is eighteen miles. 
 About three miles from the former is a bridge 
 
 o 
 
 over a stream, a branch of the Meduacus, now 
 Bacchiglione, erected by Palladio, which will 
 not fail to attract the attention of the curious 
 traveller. 
 
 Late in the evening we entered Padua 
 Urbem Patavi Sedesque Teucrorum, 
 
 and reflected with some exultation that we stood, 
 as it were, on the .confines of Greek and Latin 
 
 There are several works for the information of travellers 
 with regard to the curiosities of this town, among others I 
 recommend " Dtscrizzione della Architetiure," 2 vols. with 
 prints.
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 145 
 
 literature, in a city that derives its origin from a 
 catastrophe celebrated in itself or in its conse- 
 quences, by the two greatest poets of antiquity. 
 Few cities can boast of an origin so ancient and 
 so honorable, and not many can pretend to have 
 enjoyed for so long a period so much glory and 
 prosperity as Padua. We learn from Tacitus* 
 that it was accustomed to celebrate the antiquity 
 of its origin and the name of its founder in annual 
 games said to have been instituted by that hero. 
 Livy informs us that a Naumachia exhibited an- 
 nually on one of the rivers which water the town, 
 perpetuated the memory of a signal victory ob- 
 tained by the Paduans long- before their union 
 with Rome, over a Lacedemonian fleet com- 
 manded by Cleonymus. f They are also said to 
 have not unfreqnently assisted the Romans, and 
 contributed in no small degree to their victories, 
 particularly over the Gauls, the common enemy 
 of both States ; while an immense population 
 furnished them with the means of giving effect 
 to their measures, by sending powerful armies 
 into the field. 
 
 Padua afterwards submitted to the genius of 
 Rome, but submitted with dignity r and was ac- 
 
 * Tacit : Annal. lib. \xvi. c.- 21. f And Liv* book x. c. 2 
 VOL. T. i
 
 146 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 cordingly treated not as a conquered but an allied 
 republic. She was admitted at an early period 
 to all the privileges and honors of the great Ca- 
 pital, and shared, it seems, not only the fran- 
 chises but even the riches of Rome; as she could 
 count at one period five hundred Roman knights 
 among her citizens, and drew by her manufac- 
 tures, from the emporium of the world, no small 
 portion of the tribute of the provinces. 
 
 After having shared the glory of Rome, Padua 
 partook of her disasters; was, like her, assaulted 
 and plundered by Alaric and Attila; like her, was 
 half unpeopled by the flight of her dismayed in- 
 habitants, and obliged to bend under the yoke 
 of a succession of barbarian invaders. After the 
 expulsion of the Goths, Rome recovered her in- 
 dependence ; not so Padua, which was subject 
 successively to the Lombards, to the Franks, and 
 to the Germans. During this long period of dis- 
 astrous vicissitude, Padua sometimes enjoyed the 
 favor and sometimes felt the fury of its wayward 
 tyrants. At length it shook off the yoke, and 
 with its sister states, Verona, Vicenza, Ferrara, 
 and Mantua, experienced the advantages and 
 disadvantages of republicanism, occasionally 
 blessed with the full enjoyment of freedom, and 
 occasioaally, with all its forms, smarting under the
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 147 
 
 rod of a powerful usurper.* At length, in the 
 fifteenth century, Padua united itself to the Ve- 
 netian territory, and under the influence of its 
 own laws acknowledged the supreme authority of 
 that republic. The consideration that Venice 
 was founded by citizens of Padua, who flying from 
 the ravaging armies of Alaric and Attila took re- 
 fuge in the solitary isles of the Adriatic, might 
 perhaps have lightened the yoke of submission, 
 or facilitated the arrangements of union. 
 
 As fire and sword, aided by earthquakes and 
 pestilence, have been employed more than once 
 during so many ages of convulsion, in the de- 
 struction of Padua, we are not to expect many 
 monuments of the Roman colony, within its walls, 
 or to wonder so much at its decline as at its ex- 
 istence. However it is still a great, and in many 
 respects a beautiful city, as its circumference is 
 near seven miles, its population about fifty thou- 
 sand persons, and notwithstanding the general 
 narrowness of its streets, many of its buildings 
 both public and private, are truly magnificent. 
 
 * In the fourteenth century Padua owned the sway of the 
 Carrara family ; Pandolfo di Carrara was the friend of Pe- 
 trarca. This family and their rivals in power and place, the 
 Scaligeri were among the many patrons and supporters of 
 literature that graced Italy in that and the succeeding 
 centuries, L 2
 
 148 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. Ill- 
 
 The abbey of St. Giustina dserves particular 
 attention. Its church, planned by Palladio, and 
 built by Andrea Riccio ; its library, hall or re- 
 fectory, and cloister are all in the highest style of 
 architecture.* The piazza before it called Prato 
 della Voile, is perhaps one of the largest and 
 noblest in Europe. The cathedral, though not 
 remarkable for its architecture, still deserves to 
 be ranked among buildings of eminence, and 
 contains several objects worthy of notice. The 
 church, denominated // Santo, a title given by 
 way of eminence to St. Antony of Padua, though 
 the most frequented, is not by any means the 
 most beautiful; it is of Gothic architecture, of 
 great magnitude, and was, before the late French 
 invasion, enriched with a valuable treasury. 
 That treasury consisting of church plate, gold 
 and silver candlesticks to n vast amount, was 
 
 * Dimensions of the Church of St. Giustina. 
 
 The length 500 feet. 
 
 Breadth 140 
 
 The Transept 350 
 
 Height 120 
 
 The central dome (there are several) 265 
 The pavement is laid out in compartments of white and 
 red marble, its various altars with their decorations are of 
 beautiful marble. The whole is kept in a style of neatness 
 and repair, that gives it the appearance of a church just 
 finished. The outside was never completed.
 
 Oi.lll. THROUGH ITALY. H9 
 
 seized and carried off by the French; but the 
 most remarkable object still remains the tomb 
 of the Saint, adorned with fine marbles and most 
 exquisite sculpture. In Addison's days, oint- 
 ments, it seems, distilled from the body, celestial 
 perfumes breathed around the shrine, and a thou- 
 sand devout catholics were seen pressing 1 their lips 
 against the cold marble, while votive tablets hung- 
 over and disfigured the altar. When we visited 
 the Santo, the source of ointment had long been 
 dried, the perfumes were evaporated, the crowds 
 of votaries had disappeared, and nothing re- 
 mained to certify the veracity of our illustrious 
 traveller but a few petty pictures hanging on one 
 side of the monument. But the excellency of the 
 sculpture makes amends for the wretchedness of 
 the painting, and small must the taste of that man 
 be, who derives no satisfaction from the examina- 
 tion of the marble pannels that line the chapel. 
 Each pannel represents some miraculous event of 
 the Saint's life ; and however strange or chime- 
 rical the subject may be, yet the skill of the artist 
 finds means to make it interesting. The rich 
 materials and ornaments of the altar aud of the 
 shrine, the bronze candelabra and lamps, will not 
 escape the attentive observer. On the whole, 
 though the style of architecture is bad, yet this 
 church, from its size and furniture, deserves 
 attention.
 
 150 CLASSICAL TOUR Cli. III. 
 
 11 Salone, or the town-hall remarkable for its 
 vast magnitude, * contains a monument in honor 
 of Titus Livius, with an ancient bust. This 
 author, as is well known, was a native of Padua, 
 and is supposed to have retained in his style 
 some of the provincial peculiarities of his country f 
 perceptible indeed only to the refined critics of 
 the Augustan aera. The Italian towns in gene- 
 ral, are not apt to forget such of their natives 
 as have distinguished themselves in ancient or 
 modern story ; and Padua, amongst others, is 
 not wanting in the honors which she pays to the 
 memory of her illustrious citizens. The inscrip- 
 tion under the bust of the historian is not re- 
 markable for its beauty. The last line expresses 
 at least the generosity of the Paduans, who, if 
 their means were adequate to their zeal, would 
 have converted the marble statue into one of 
 gold. 
 
 Hoc totus stares aureus ipse loco ! 
 
 They shew a house which, as they pretend, be- 
 longed to him, and, whether it was built upon 
 
 * It is three hundred and twelve feet in length, one hun- 
 dred and eight in breadth, and one hundred and eight in 
 height, and consequently the largest hall in Europe. 
 
 t Pollio, says Quintilian, reprehendit in Lh'io pativini- 
 totem. L. i.
 
 a. III. THROUGH ITALY. 15J 
 
 the spot which traditionary report represented as 
 the site of the historian's dwelling" ; or whether 
 it was erected on the ruin of some ancient edifice 
 that bore a name resembling his ; or whether, in 
 short, some inscription favorable to such an 
 opinion, may have been found in or near it, I 
 could not discover; but every object connected 
 in the most distant manner with so eminent an 
 author, inspires interest and claims some atten- 
 tion. I need not observe, that the pretended 
 tomb of Antenor, though it recals to mind the 
 antiquity of the city, and at the same time some 
 very beautiful verses,* is a monument of some 
 prince of the middle ages, discovered in 1274. 
 
 Padua was famous in ancient times for its 
 woollen manufactures celebrated in prose by 
 Strabo and in verse by Martial. It still retains 
 much of its reputation in this respect, and its 
 
 * Antenor potuit mediis elapsus Achivis, 
 Illyricos penetrare sinus atque intima tutus 
 Regna Liburnorum et fontem superare Timavi ; 
 Unde per ora nuvem magno cum murmure montis 
 It mare proruptum et pelago premit arva sonanti. 
 Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi, sedesque locavit 
 Teucrorum et genti nomen dedit, armaque fixit 
 Troia ; nunc placida compostus pace quiescit. 
 
 i.
 
 152 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 wool and woollen articles are considered as the 
 best in Italy. But the principal glory of Padua 
 arises from its literary pursuits, and from an 
 ancient and well directed propensity to liberal 
 science. The prince of Roman history (perhaps, 
 if we consider the extent of his plan, and the 
 masterly manner in which he has executed it, 
 we may add, the first of historians) was not only 
 born, but, as we may fairly conjecture from 
 the local peculiarities of language, which adhered 
 to him during life, was educated at Padna. 
 Silius Italicus, among the various chieftains 
 whom he introduces, represents Pedianus the 
 leader of the Euganeans and Paduans (Apono 
 gaudens populus) as equally excelling in the arts 
 of war and of peace, and dear alike to Mars and 
 to the Muses. As the verses are composed in the 
 best style of Silius, and likely to please the rea- 
 der, I insert them. 
 
 Polydamanteis juvenis Pedianus in armis 
 
 Bella agitabat atrox, Trojanaque semina et ortus, 
 
 Atque Antenorea sese de stirpe ferebat : 
 
 Haud levior generis faraa, sacroque Timavo 
 
 Gloria et Euganeis dilectum nomen in oris. 
 
 Huic pater Eridanus, Venetaeque ex ordine gentes, 
 
 Atque Apono gaudens populus, seu bella cieret, 
 
 Seu Musas placidus, doctaeque silentia vitae 
 
 Mallet, et Aonio plectro mul.cere labores, 
 
 Non ullum dixere parein ; nee notior alter 
 
 Gradivo juvenis, nee Phoebo notior alter, xii. 215.
 
 Cft. III. THROUGH ITALY. 153 
 
 The love of knowledge, the partiality to learned 
 ease here alluded to, was probably attributed to 
 the Chief, because in some degree characteristic 
 of the people ; so much at least we should infer 
 from a similar passage in Homer or in Virgil. 
 
 During the various revolutions that followed 
 the fall and dismemberment of the Roman em- 
 pire, Padua, in the intervals of repose that fol- 
 lowed each successive shock, endeavored to 
 repair the shattered temple of the Muses, and 
 to revive the sacred fire of knowledge. Some 
 success always attended these laudable exertions, 
 and a beam of science occasionally broke through 
 the gloom of war and of barbarism. At length, 
 the University was founded about the end of 
 the eleventh century, and its foundation was to 
 Padua the commencement of an era of glory 
 and of prosperity. Its fame soon spread over 
 Europe, and attracted to its schools prodigious 
 numbers of students from all, even the most 
 remote countries ; while the reputation of its 
 professors was so great, and their station so 
 honorable, that even nobles, at a time when 
 nobles were considered as beings of a more 
 elevated nature, were ambitions to be enrolled 
 in their number. Eighteen thousand students 
 are said to have crowded the schools during 
 ages ; and amidst the multitude were seen, not
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 Italians and Dalmatians, Greek and Latin 
 Christians only ; but even Turks, Persians and 
 Arabians are said to have travelled from the 
 distant regions of the East to improve their 
 knowledge of medicine and botany, by the 
 lectures of the learned Paduans. Hence the 
 catalogue of the students of this University is 
 rich in numbers and in illustrious names. 
 Petrarca, Galileo, and Christopher Columbus 
 applied here, each to his favorite art, and in 
 classics, astronomy, and navigation, collected 
 the materials that were to form their future fame 
 and fortune. 
 
 But Universities like empires, have their 
 of prosperity, and their periods of decline ; 
 science, as commerce, often abandons its favorite 
 seat ; and those very arts of medicine and ana- 
 tomy which flourished for so many centuries in 
 Salerno and in Padua, have long since migrated 
 to the North, and seem to have fixed their tem- 
 porary residence at Gottingen and Edinburgh. 
 Of eighteen thousand students six hundred only 
 remain, a number, which thinly scattered over 
 the benches, is barely sufficient to shew the 
 deserted state of the once crowded schools of 
 Padua. This diminution of numbers is not to 
 be attributed either to the ignorance or to the 
 negligence of the professors ; to the defects of
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 155 
 
 the system of instruction, or te the want of 
 
 means of improvement. The lecturers are men 
 
 of zeal and abilities ; the plan of studies is the 
 
 result of long and successful experience ; and 
 
 libraries, collections, and cabinets of every kind 
 
 are numerous and magnificent. Moreover, 
 
 encouragement is not wanting", as the places of 
 
 professors are both lucrative and honorable, and 
 
 the directors, till the late disastrous revolution, 
 
 were three Venetian senators. The decrease of 
 
 numbers, therefore, at Padua, and in other 
 
 ancient Universities, is to be attributed to the 
 
 establishment of similar institutions in other 
 
 countries, and to the general multiplication of 
 
 the means of knowledge over the Christian 
 
 world. Knowledge is now fortunately placed 
 
 within the reach of almost every village; the 
 
 most abstruse science may be learned in the 
 
 most remote corners ; colleges and seminaries 
 
 have been planted and flourish even in the polar 
 
 circles ; and youth in almost every country, 
 
 may enjoy that, which an eloquent ancient justly 
 
 considers as one of the greatest blessing of early 
 
 life home education. * 
 
 * Ubi enim aut jucundius raorarcnlnr quatn in patria ? 
 aut pudicius coutinerentur quam sub oculis parentum ! aut 
 minore sutnptu quam dorai ? iv. Ep. xiii. 
 
 5
 
 156 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 The architecture of the schools or University 
 is admired, and, I believe, said to be of Pal- 
 ladioj the observatory, the botanical garden in 
 particular, the cabinet of natural philosophy, con- 
 taining- a peculiarly curious collection of fossils, 
 the hall of midwifery, and indeed most of the 
 dependencies of the University, are grand in 
 their kind, well furnished and well supported. 
 An agricultural lecture is, I believe, peculiar to 
 Padua, and consequently very honorable to it ; 
 especially as so large a space as fifteen acres is 
 allotted to the professor for experiments. It is 
 singular that no such lecture exists in any Bri- 
 tish University, when we consider the bent of 
 the national character to a rural life, and the 
 great encouragement and countenance given by 
 the higher classes, and indeed by the Nation at 
 large, to every species of agricultural improve- 
 ment.* 
 
 Besides the University, there are in Padua, 
 for the propagation of taste and of literature, 
 several academies, some of which were opened 
 
 * " There has been such a lecture for many years in the 
 University of Edinburgh ; and to those who know with what 
 distinguished success and ability the duties of that office 
 are discharged, no apology will appear necessary for having 
 stopped to notice this mistake/' Edinburgh Review.
 
 Ch. III. THROUGH ITALY. 157 
 
 so early as the beginning of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. At that time, the love of knowledge and 
 of classical distinction seems to have been the 
 predominant passion of the Italians, who were 
 then like the ancient Greeks praeter laudetn 
 nullius avari. Others have been established in 
 the last century, particularly the Academy of 
 Sciences founded by the senate of Venice. 
 Most of these institutions are supported with 
 spirit, not only by the clergy, but moreover by 
 the gentry of Padua, who seem to take an ho- 
 norable pride in the literary reputation of their 
 city. 
 
 The following beautiful lines of Naugerius, a 
 poet of Leo's golden days, contain a fine, though 
 concise encomium, on Padua, and may be con- 
 sidered as an abridgment of its history, even to 
 the present period, when war has again ravaged 
 its vicinity, and disfigured its edifices. 
 
 Urbs, quam vetusto vectus ab Ilio 
 
 Post fata Troum tristia, post graves 
 
 Tot patrioe exhaustos iniquo 
 
 Teinpore, tot pelago labores, 
 Ducente demum Pallade, qua rapax 
 
 Cultos per agros Medoacus fluit, 
 
 Diis fretus Antenor secundis 
 
 Condidit, Euganeis in oris. 
 Tu nuper & flos, & decus urbiuni, 
 
 Quascuraque tellus Itala continet :
 
 158; CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. III. 
 
 Magnas tot artcs, tot virorura 
 
 Ingenia, & studia una alebas. 
 Te, septicornis Danubii accola, 
 
 Te fulva potaut flumina qui Tagi, 
 
 Longeque semoti Britanni 
 
 Cultum animi ad capiendum adibant. 
 At nunc, acerbi heu saeva necessitas 
 
 Fati, severas ut pateris vices ! 
 
 Ut te ipse vastatam vel hosti 
 
 Conspicio miserandam iniquo ! 
 Quid culta tot pomaria conquerar? 
 
 Tot pulchra flammis hausta suburbia 1 
 
 Quid glande deturbata ahena 
 
 Mcenia?
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 159 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The Brenta Venice; its Magnificence ; Power; 
 Degeneracy; and Fall Return to Padua 
 the Environs of that City the Fons Aponus 
 Colles Euaanei Arquato Villa and Tomb 
 of Petrarca ; Observations on his C/iaracter. 
 
 T V E deferred the consideration of the neigh- 
 borhood of Padua, till our return from Venice, 
 whither we hastened in order to enjoy the few 
 remaining- days of the expiring carnival. We 
 accordingly embarked on the Brenta about ten 
 o'clock in the morning, February the twenty- 
 first, in a convenient barge drawn by horses, 
 and glided rather slowly down the river. The 
 country through which it flews is a dead flat, 
 but highly cultivated, well wooded, and ex- 
 tremely populous. The banks are lined with 
 villages, or rather little towns, and decorated 
 with several handsome palaces and gardens. 
 Among these, that of Giovanelle at Nbventa, 
 two miles from Padua; that of Pisani at Slra; 
 of Trona at Dolo ; that of Bembo at Mira; and 
 about ten miles farther, that of Foscari of the
 
 160 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 architecture of Palladio, merit particular atten- 
 tion. These celebrated banks have, without 
 doubt, a rich, a lively, and sometimes a magni- 
 ficent appearance ; but their splendor and beauty 
 have been much exaggerated, or are much 
 faded ; and an Englishman accustomed to the 
 Thames, and to the villas which grace its banks, 
 will discover little to excite his admiration, as 
 
 
 
 he descends the canal of the Brenta. 
 
 About five o'clock we arrived at Fusina, on 
 the shore of the Layune* opposite Venice. ' This 
 city instantly fixed all our attention. It was 
 faintly illuminated by the rays of the setting 
 
 * The Lagune are the shallows that border the whole 
 coast, and extend round Venice : their depth, between the 
 city and the main land, is from three to six feet in general. 
 These shallows are occasioned by the vast quantities of 
 sand carried down by the many rivers that descend from the 
 Alps and fall into the Adriatic, all along its western shores. 
 Ravenna, which lies much lower down, anciently stood like 
 Venice in the midst of waters; it is now surrounded with 
 sand, as Venice will probably be ere long, if it should con- 
 tinue subject to the Austrian government. The republic 
 expended considerable sums in cleansing the canals that in- 
 tersect arid surround the city, in removing obstacles, and 
 keeping up the depth of waters so necessary for the security 
 of the Capital. The interest of a foreign sovereign is 1' 
 lay it open to attack.
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 161 
 
 sun, and rising from the waters with its number- 
 less domes and towers, attended, if I may be 
 allowed the expression, by several lesser islands, 
 each crowned with spires and pinnacles, it pre- 
 sented the appearance of a vast city floating on 
 the bosom of the ocean. We embarked, and 
 gliding over the Lagune, whose surface unruf- 
 fled by the slightest breeze, was as smooth as 
 the most polished glass, we touched at the island 
 of S. Georgia half way, that is two miles from 
 the main land on one side, and from Venice on 
 the other; and then entering the city, passed 
 under the Rialto, and rowed up the grand* ca- 
 nal, admiring as we advanced, the various ar- 
 chitecture and the vast edifices that line its 
 sides. 
 
 Venice cannot boast of a very ancient origin, 
 nor has it any direct connexion with Roman 
 story and with classical recollections; yet I 
 doubt much, whether any city in Italy, not even 
 excepting Rome itself, contains so much genuine 
 Roman blood ; as none has, certainly, preserved 
 so long the spirit of the ancient Romans. Found- 
 
 * Canal grande (so called because the widest of the ca- 
 nals of Venice) is more than three hundred feet wide, and 
 intersects the city nearly in the middle. The Rialto crosses 
 it, and forms one of its most conspicuous ornaments, 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. IV. 
 
 ed by the inhabitants of Aquileia of Padua, and 
 other Roman colonies bordering on the Adriatic, 
 joined probably by several from the interior 
 provinces, it escaped the all-wasting 1 sword of 
 Alaric and of Attila; first eluded, then defied 
 the power of succeeding invaders, and never saw 
 a barbarian army within its walls till the fatal 
 epoch of 1797. Its foundation dates from the 
 year 421 ; the succession of Doges or Dukes 
 from the year 697. Its name is derived from 
 the Veneti, a people that inhabited all the neigh- 
 boring coasts, and appropriated, as it has been, 
 from a very early period to it, is a sufficient 
 monument of the origin and of the numbers of 
 its founders. Its government was at first popu- 
 lar j as the power and riches of the State in- 
 creased, the influence of the nobles augmented ; 
 at intervals the Doges acquired and abused the 
 sovereignty ; till at length, after six centuries of 
 struggle, the aristocratic party prevailed, limited 
 the power of the Doge, excluded the people, and 
 confined to their own body all the authority and 
 exercise of government. 
 
 As Venice may justly be considered a Ro- 
 man colony, so it bore for many centuries a 
 striking resemblance to the great parent Re- 
 public. The same spirit of liberty, the same 
 patriot passion, the same firmness, and the same
 
 Ck. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 163 
 
 wisdom that characterized and ennobled the 
 ancient Romans, seemed to revive in the Vene- 
 tians, and to pervade every member of the rising 1 
 State. That profound respect for religion also, 
 which formed so distinguished a feature in the 
 character of the former,* was equally conspi- 
 cuous in the latter, but more permanent and 
 effectual, because directed to a better object, 
 and regulated by superior information. The 
 same success in a just proportion accompanied 
 the same virtues ; and we behold Venice, from 
 dirt and sea-weed, rise into magnificence and 
 fame, extend its sway over the neighboring 
 coasts, wrest towns, islands, and whole provinces 
 from mighty potentates, carry its arms into Asia 
 and Africa, and cope successfully, with the col- 
 lected force of vast empires. As its greatness 
 rested on solid foundations, so was it permanent ; 
 and Venice may boast of a duration seldom al- 
 lowed to human associations, whether kingdoms 
 or common-wealths, thirteen complete centuries 
 of fame, of prosperity, and of independence. 
 It is not wonderful therefore that this Republic 
 
 * Et si conferre volumus nostra cum externis, coeteris 
 rebus aut pares aut etiam inferiores reperieraur ; Religionc, 
 id est, cultu Deorum, multo superiores. De Nat. Deor. 
 ii. 3. 
 
 M2
 
 164: CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 should have been honored with the appellation 
 of another Rome, considered as the bulwark and 
 pride of Italy, and celebrated by orators and 
 poets as the second fated seat of independence 
 and empire. 
 
 Una Italum regina, altie pulcherrirua Horace 
 >-Emula, qua: terris, quae dominaris aquis ! 
 
 Tu tibi vel reges cives facis; O decus ! O lux 
 Ausoniae, per quain libera turba suraus ; 
 
 Per quam barbaries nobis non imperat, et Sol 
 Exoriens nostro clarius orbe micat ! 
 
 Act. Syn. Sannaz. lib. iii. Eleg. 1, 95. 
 
 The literary fame of Venice was unequal, it 
 must be confessed, to its military renown : per- 
 haps because the government, as is usually the 
 case in free countries, left talents and genius to 
 their own activity and intrinsic powers ; yet the 
 ardor of individuals who either did not, or could 
 not take a share in public administration, led 
 many to seek distinction in the new career which 
 the revival of letters op.ened to their ambition. 
 Many eminent scholars had visited, and some 
 had settled in the Republic, and to their labors 
 we owe many an interesting publication on some 
 or other branch of classic erudition. But it 
 would be difficult to say whether the exertions 
 of any individual however splendid his talents, 
 or even the labors o any particular association,
 
 Ck. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 165 
 
 or academy, however celebrated, ever shed so 
 much lustre on the place of their residence as 
 that which Venice derives from the reputation 
 of a stranger, who voluntarily selected it for 
 his abode. I allude to Aldus Manutius. This 
 extraordinary person combined the lights of the 
 scholar, with the industry of the mechanic : and 
 to his labors carried on without interruption till 
 the conclusion of a long 1 life, the world owes the 
 first or prmcipes editiones, of twenty-eight Greek 
 Classics. Among these we find Pindar, JEschy- 
 lus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucy- 
 dides, Demosthenes, Plato and Aristotle. Be- 
 sides these, there are few ancient authors of any 
 note, of whom this indefatigable editor has not 
 published editions of acknowledged accuracy, and 
 as far as the means of the Art then in its infancy 
 permitted, of great beauty. In order to appre- 
 ciate the merit of Aldus, we must consider the 
 difficulties under which he must have labored 
 at a time when there were few public libraries ; 
 when there was no regular communication be- 
 tween distant cities ; when the price of manu- 
 scripts put them out of the reach of persons of 
 ordinary incomes; and when the existence of 
 many since discovered, was utterly unknown. 
 The man who could surmount these obstacles, 
 and publish so many authors till then inedited ; 
 who could find means and time to give new and
 
 166 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 more accurate editions of so many others already 
 published, and accompany them all with pre- 
 faces mostly of his own composition ; who could 
 extend his attention still farther and by his labors 
 secure the fame, by immortalizing 1 the compo- 
 sitions of the most distinguished scholars of his 
 own age and country,* must have been endowed 
 in a very high degree, not only with industry 
 and perseverance, but with judgment, learning, 
 and discrimination. One virtue more, Aldus 
 possessed in common with many of the great 
 literary characters of that period, I mean, a 
 sincere and manly piety, a virtue which gives 
 consistency, vigor, and permanency to every 
 good quality, and never fails to communicate a 
 certain grace and dignity to the whole cha- 
 racter. 
 
 The appearance of Venice is not unworthy 
 of its glorious destinies. Its churches, palaces, 
 and public buildings of every description, and 
 sometimes even its private edifices, have in their 
 size, materials and decorations, a certain air of 
 magnificence truly Roman. The style of archi- 
 tecture, is not always either pure or pleasing, 
 but conformable to the taste that prevailed in 
 
 Among these is Politianus,
 
 C*. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 167 
 
 the different ages when each edifice was erected- 
 Hence, the attentive observer may discover the 
 history of architecture in the streets of Venice, 
 and may trace its gradation from the solid 
 masses and the round arches, the only remains 
 of the ancient grand style in the sixth, seventh, 
 eighth, and ninth centuries, through the fanciful 
 forms and grotesque embellishments of the mid- 
 dle ages, to its revival and re-establishment ia 
 these latter times. 
 
 The church of St. Mark, with its accom- 
 paniments, its tower, its square, its library, and 
 its palace, from its celebrity alone deserves the 
 traveller's first visit. The tower has neither 
 grace in its form, nor beauty in its materials. 
 Its only merit is its height, which, though not 
 extraordinary in itself, yet from the flatness of 
 the surrounding scenery, gives the spectator a 
 very clear and advantageous view of the city and 
 its port and shipping, with the neighboring 
 coasts, and all their windings. The famous 
 Piazza de S. Marco, surrounded with arcades, 
 is more remarkable for its being the well known 
 scene of Venetian mirth, conversation and in- 
 trigue, than for its size or its symmetry. It is 
 inferior in both respects, to many squares in 
 many great cities ; yet as one side is the work 
 of Palladio, and the whole of fine marble, its 
 
 3
 
 168 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 appearance is grand and striking-. The church 
 of St. Mark, the great patron of the city and of 
 the republic, occupies one end of this square, 
 and terminates it with a sort of gloomy barbaric 
 magnificence. In fact, the five domes which 
 swell from its roof, and the paltry decorations 
 which cover and encumber its porticos, give it 
 externally the appearance of an eastern pagoda ; 
 while formed within on the plan of the Greek 
 churches, and adorned with clumsy mosaics, it 
 is dark, heavy, and sepulchral. This church is 
 extremely ancient, it was begun in the year 829, 
 and after a fire, rebuilt in the year 976. It was 
 ornamented with mosaics and marble in 1071. 
 The form of this ancient fabric, evidently of 
 eastern origin, may perhaps throw some light 
 on the rise of the style called Gothic. Its 
 architects, it is related, were ordered by the Re- 
 public to spare no expense, and to erect an edi- 
 fice superior in size and splendor to any then 
 existing. They took Santa Sophia for their 
 model, and seem to have imitated its form, its 
 domes, and its bad taste. 
 
 But if riches can compensate the absence of 
 beauty, the church of St. Mark possesses a suf- 
 ficient share to supply ihe deficiency, as it is 
 ornamented with the spoils of Constantinople, 
 and displays a profusion of the finest marbles,
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 169 
 
 of alabaster, onyx, emerald, and of all the 
 splendid jewellery of the East. The celebrated 
 bronze horses stood on the portico facing the 
 Piazza. These horses are supposed to be the 
 \vork of Lysippus ; they ornamented successively 
 different triumphal arches at Rome, were trans- 
 ported by Constantiue to his new City, and con- 
 veyed thence by the Venetians, when they took 
 and plundered it in the year 1206. They were 
 erected on marble pedestals over the portico of 
 St. Mark, where they stood nearly six hundred 
 years, a trophy of the power of the Republic, 
 till they were removed to Paris in the year 1797, 
 and placed on stone pedestals behind the palace 
 of the Thuilleries, where they remain a monu- 
 ment of the treachery of French friendship.* 
 
 As it is not my intention to give a minute 
 description of the ornaments or riches of the 
 church of St. Mark, I shall only observe, that 
 they merit much attention ; and that to dis- 
 cover the value of the internal decorations, a 
 
 * The French entered Venice as friends, and were ferried 
 over the Lagune in Venetian boats. The Venetians entered 
 Constantinople as enemies, sword in hand ; and no restraints 
 says Gibbon, except those of religion and humanity, were 
 imposed on the conquerors by the laws of war.
 
 170 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 very minute inspection is often rendered neces- 
 sary by the gloominess of the place. 
 
 The reader may perhaps wish to know how 
 and when St. Mark, whose life and evangelical 
 writings seem to have no connexion with the 
 Venetian history, acquired such consideration in 
 the city of Venice, as to become its patron 
 Saint, and to give his name to the most splendid 
 and celebrated of its churches. The following 
 account may possibly satisfy his curiosity. 
 
 In the year eight hundred and twenty-nine, 
 two Venetian merchants of the names of Bono 
 and Rustico, then at Alexandria contrived, either 
 by bribery or by stratagem, to purloin the 
 body of St. Mark at that time in the possession 
 of the Mussulmen, and to convey it to Venice. 
 On its arrival, it was transported to the Ducal 
 palace, and deposited by the then Doye in his 
 Own chapel. St. Mark was shortly after de- 
 clared the patron and protector of the Republic j 
 and the lion which, in the mystic vision of 
 Ezekiel, is supposed to represent this evangelist, 
 was emblazoned on its standards, and elevated 
 on its towers. The church of St. Mark was 
 erected immediately after this event, and the 
 saint has ever since retained his honors. But 
 the reader will learn with surprise, that not-
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 171 
 
 withstanding these honors, the body of the 
 evangelist was in a very short space of time 
 either lost, or privately sold by a tribune of the 
 name of Carozo, who had usurped the dukedom; 
 and to support himself against the legitimate 
 Doge, is supposed to have plundered the trea- 
 sury, and to have alienated some of the most 
 valuable articles. Since that period, the ex- 
 istence of the body of St. Mark has never been 
 publicly ascertained, though the Venetians firmly 
 maintain that it is still in their possession. The 
 place however, where the sacred deposit lies, is 
 acknowledged to be an undivulged secret, or 
 perhaps, in less cautious language, to be utterly 
 unknown. 
 
 The Paizetta, opening from St. Mark's to 
 the sea in front, and lined on one side with the 
 ducal palace, on the other with the public li- 
 brary, with its two superb pillars of granite 
 standing insulated in the centre, is a scene at 
 once grand, airy, and from the concourse of 
 people which frequent* it, animated. Close to 
 St. Mark's stands the ducal palace, the seat of 
 the Venetian government, where the senate and 
 the different councils of state, used to assemble 
 each in their respective halls. This antique 
 fabric is in the Gothic or rather Saracenic style, 
 of vast extent, of great solidity, and of venera-
 
 172 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 ble appearance. Some of its apartments are 
 spacious and lofty, and some of its halls of a 
 magnitude truly noble. They are all adorned 
 with paintings by the first masters of the Ve- 
 netian school ; and Titian, Paolo Veronese, 
 and Tintoretto, have exerted all their powers, 
 and displayed all the charms of their art to 
 adorn the senate-house, and to perpetuate the 
 glories of the republic. The subjects of the pic- 
 tures are taken either from the Scriptures or from 
 the history of Venice ; so that the nobles, when 
 assembled, had always before their eyes incen- 
 tives to virtue and examples of patriotism. 
 Tablets with inscriptions were suspended over 
 the tribunals of the magistrates, pointing out 
 either the duties attached to their offices in par- 
 ticular, or those of the nobility in general. The 
 style is often diffusive, but the sentiments are 
 always just. The following, which is inserted 
 in a picture over the Doge's seat in one of the 
 council chambers may serve as a specimen. 
 
 " Qui patriae pericula suo periculo expellunt, hi sapientes 
 putandi sunt, cum et eum quern debent honorera reipub. 
 reddunt, et pro multis perire malunt quam cum multis. 
 Etenim, vehementer est iniquum vitara, quam a natura 
 acceptam propter patriam conservaverimus, naturae, cum 
 cogat, reddere, patriae, cum roget, non dare. Sapientes 
 igitur aestimandi sunt, qui nulluin pro salute patriae pericu- 
 lum vitaut. Hoc vinculum est hujus dignitatis qua fruimur
 
 Ck. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 173 
 
 in repub. hoc funda men turn libertatis. Hie fons equitatis ; 
 mens et animus et consilium et sententia civitatis posita est 
 in legibus. Ut corpora nostra siue niente, sic civitas sine 
 lege. Legum ministri magistratus. Legum interpretes 
 judices. Legum deniq. idcircd omnes servi sumus, utliberi 
 esse possimus. 
 
 It would have been happy for the State, if the 
 nobles had been animated by these principles 
 previous to the French invasion. 
 
 The courts and staircases are decorated with 
 antique statues ; marble and bronze shine on 
 every side, and the whole edifice corresponds 
 in every respect with the dignity of its destina- 
 tion. 
 
 The celebrated Rialto is a single but very 
 bold arch thrown over the Gran-Canale ; and 
 though striking from its elevation, span and 
 solidity, yet it sinks almost into insignificance 
 when compared with the beautiful bridge Delia 
 Trinita, at Florence, or with the superb, and 
 far more extensive structures of Blackfriars' and 
 Westminster. 
 
 \ The arsenal occupying an entire island, and 
 fortified not only by its ramparts, but by the 
 surrounding sea, is spacious, commodious, and 
 even magnificent. Before the gate stand two
 
 174 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 vast pillars, one on each side, and two immense 
 lions of granite, which formerly adorned the 
 Piraeus of Athens. They are attended by two 
 others of a smaller size, all, as the inscription 
 informs us, " Triumphali manu ePirceo direpta" 
 The staircase in the principal building is of white 
 marble. The halls are large, lofty,, and com- 
 modious ; one of the principal is decorated with 
 a beautiful statue by Canova, representing Fame 
 crowning the late Admiral Emo, the Pompey of 
 Venice, the last of her heroes. In short, nothing 
 is wanting to make this celebrated arsenal per- 
 haps the first in Europe ; excepting that for 
 which all arsenals are built, stores and shipping ; 
 and these the French in their late invasion either 
 plundered or destroyed. So far their rapacity, 
 however odious, had an object and a pretext; 
 but it is difficult to conceive any motive, except- 
 ing an innate propensity to mischief, which could 
 have prompted them to disfigure the buildings 
 and statues, to break the marble stairs, by roll- 
 ing cannon balls down them, and to dismantle 
 the Bucentaur, the famous state galley of the 
 republic. Highwaymen have been known to 
 spare or to restore a seal, a ring, a trinket, to 
 indulge the whim or the feelings of the owner ; 
 and robbers and housebreakers refrain from da- 
 maging furniture which they cannot carry away; 
 in the same manner the French might have re-
 
 CA. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 175 
 
 spected the above-mentioned monument of a 
 gallant man, and not disfigured it by forcing a 
 paltry gold pencil from the hand of a figure of 
 Fame : they might have spared a gaudy state 
 pageant, whose antique magnificence had for 
 ages delighted the eyes, and soothed the pride 
 of the Venetian commonalty. Yet such is the 
 peculiar cast of this people, whose armies at Ve- 
 nice, in every town in Italy, and indeed in al- 
 most every country they have over-run, have 
 uniformly added insult to rapacity, and have 
 wounded the feelings, while they plundered the 
 property, of the miserable inhabitants. 
 
 But no public edifice does so much credit to 
 the State, as the noble rampart erected on the 
 Lido di Pakstrina, to protect the city and port 
 against the swell and the storms of the Adriatic. 
 This vast pile, formed of blocks of Istrian stone 
 resembling marble, runs along the shore for the 
 space of nineteen miles, connects various little 
 islands and towns with each other, and if com- 
 pleted, would excel in utility, in solidity, in ex- 
 tent, and perhaps in beauty, the Piraeus, the mole 
 of Antium and of Ancona, and all other similar 
 works of either Greeks or Romans. 
 
 Of the churches in Vettice, it may be observed 
 in general, that, as some of them have been built
 
 176 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 by Palladio, and many raised on models designed 
 by him, they are of a better style in architec- 
 ture : and also, that on account of the riches and 
 the religious temper of the Republic, they are 
 adorned with more magnificence than those of 
 
 o 
 
 any other town in Italy, if we except the match- 
 less splendors of Rome. I need not add, that 
 the talents of the first Ventian artists have been 
 exerted, to adorn them with sculptures and with 
 paintings. Of these churches that De Salute, 
 that De Redemptore, two votive temples, erected 
 by the Republic on the cessation of two dreadful 
 pestilences, and that of S. Georgia Maggiore, 
 are very noble ; the latter in particular, an ex- 
 quisite work of Palladio, with some few defects, 
 has numberless beauties. The church of the 
 Dominican friars, SS. Giovanni e Paolo, is go- 
 thic, and remarkable for a chapel of the Blessed 
 Virgin lined with marble divided into pannels, 
 containing each a piece of gospel history repre- 
 sented in beautiful basso relievo. But the pecu- 
 liar and characteristic ornaments of this church, 
 are the statues erected by the Senate to many of 
 its Worthies, and the superb mausoleums of 
 several heroes and Doges. The materials are 
 always the finest marbles, and the ornaments 
 frequently of the best taste. The descriptions 
 as pompous as the tombs themselves, carry us 
 back to the heroic ages of the Republic ; and in
 
 C'h.lV. THROUGH ITALY. 177 
 
 lofty and classical language, relate the glorious 
 achievements cf the doges and warriors of an- 
 cient times. The appellations of Creticus, Afri- 
 caniis, Asiaticus, grace many of the tombs, and 
 seem to revive and emulate the triumphs and 
 the titles of consular Rome. The conclusion, of 
 one of these epitaphs deserves to be recorded ; 
 it is the last admonition which the dying hero 
 addresses to his countrymen, " Vos justitiam et 
 concordiam, quo sempiternum hoc sit imperiunt, 
 conscri'ate," 
 
 Next to the churches we may rank the Scuo'le, 
 or the chapels and halls of certain confraterni- 
 ties, such as that of St. Roch, St. Mark, and 
 that of the Mercatanti; all of noble proportions 
 and rich furniture, and all adorned with paint- 
 ings relative to their respective denominations, 
 by the best masters. 
 
 But, why enlarge on the beauty, on the mag- 
 nificence, on the glories of Venice? or, why de- 
 scribe its palaces, its churches, its monuments ? 
 That Liberty which raised these pompous edi- 
 fices in a swampy marsh, and opened such 
 scenes of grandeur in the middle of a pool, is 
 now no more * That bold independence which 
 filled a few lonely islands, the abode of sea-mews 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 and of cormorants, with population and with 
 commerce, is bowed into slavery ; and the re- 
 public of Venice, with all its bright series of tri- 
 umphs, is now an empty name. The City, with 
 its walls and towers, and streets, still remains ; 
 but the spirit that animated the mass is fled. 
 Jacet ingens littore trunciis. 
 
 It is unnecessary, therefore, at present, to en- 
 large upon the former government of Venice; 
 suffice it to say, that it is now a petty province 
 of the Austrian empire, and that of all its former 
 territories, the Seven Ionian Islands only, once 
 considered as a very insignificant part of the 
 Venetian dominions, enjoy a nominal and preca- 
 rious independence. The unjust and cruel deed 
 of destroying a republic weak, inoffensive, and 
 respectable from its former fame, belongs to Bo- 
 naparte ; but the causes that led to it must be 
 sought for in the bosom of the republic itself. 
 Had the same virtues which fostered the infant 
 commonwealth still flourished ; had the courage 
 which urged it so often to unequal contest with 
 the mighty power of the Ottomans, continued to 
 inspire its sons ; had the spirit and the wisdom 
 that directed its councils during the famdus 
 
 V 
 
 league of Cambray, influenced its decisions in 
 1797, it might still have stood; and in defiance
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 179 
 
 of the treachery, and of the power of France, it 
 might have preserved, if not all its territories, at 
 least its honor and independence. 
 
 But those virtues, that spirit, that wisdom, 
 were now no more ; they blazed out for the last 
 time in the war of the Morea,* and even the last 
 spark died away with the gallant Emo. Luxury 
 had corrupted every mind, and unbraced every 
 sinew. Pleasure had long been the only object 
 of pursuit ; the idol to which the indolent Vene- 
 tians sacrificed their time, their fortune, their ta- 
 lents. To attend the Doye on days of ceremony, 
 and act their part iu public pageantry ; or per- 
 haps, to point out in the senate the best mode 
 of complimenting some powerful court, or of 
 keeping or patching up an inglorious peace with 
 the piratical powers of Africa, was the only 
 business of the nobility. To accompany their 
 chosen ladies, to while-away the night at their 
 casinos, and to slumber away the day in their 
 palaces, was their usual, their favorite employ- 
 ment. Hence Venice, for so many ages the seat 
 of independence, of commerce, of wisdom, and 
 of enterprise, gradually sunk from her eminence, 
 and at length became the foul abode of effemi- 
 
 * A. D. 1718. 
 2
 
 ISO CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IT. 
 
 nacy, of wantonness, and of debauchery. Her 
 arsenal, where so many storms once fermented, 
 and whence so many thunderbolts had been le- 
 velled at the aspiring head of the Turk, resign- 
 ing its warlike furniture, became a scene of ban- 
 (juetting ; and instead of resounding to the stroke 
 of the anvil, re-echoed to the dance and the con- 
 cert.* In short, this once proud and potent re- 
 public, like some of the degenerate Emperors of 
 Rome, seemed to prefer the glories of the theatre 
 to those of the field, and willingly rested its mo- 
 dern claim to consideration, on the pre-eminent 
 exhibitions of its well-known carnival. f 
 
 * Several noble halls iu the arsenal had been for a long 
 time appropriated to the entertainment of royal guests, and 
 of strangers of very great distinction. 
 
 t " In fatti, un certo Egoismo sempre fatalc alle repub- 
 bliche, un refiessibile raffredamento di quel zelo patrio che 
 tanto distinse gli aristocratic! dei passati secoli, una falsa 
 clemenza nei tribunal}, onde rimanevano i delitti senza il 
 castigo delle Leggi prescritto, una certa facilita di propalare 
 i secreti del Senato, sorpassata con indolenza dagl' inqui- 
 sitori dello stato, una non curanza delle cose sacre e reli- 
 giose, un immoderate spirito di passaternpi, una scandalosa 
 impudenza nelle donne, un libertinaggio posato per cosi dire 
 in trionfo negli uomini erano fra gli altri disordini che domi- 
 oavano in una parte di Patrizi, e di Cittadini d'ogni condizi- 
 one si in Venezia, che nello Stato. Ne fanno fede gl' interni 
 sconvolgimenti deglt aoni 1762 e 1780, e la Loggia de
 
 C/i. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 181 
 
 From a people so degraded, so lost to bold 
 and manly sentiments, no generous exertions, no 
 daring enterprise is to be expected in the hour 
 of danger. It is their policy to temporize, to 
 weigh chances, to flatter the great contending 
 Powers, and it must be their fate to sink under 
 the weight of the victorious. Such was the des- 
 tiny of Venice. After having first insulted, and 
 then courted the French republic, it at length, 
 with all the means of defence in its hands, re- 
 signed itself to hollow friendship; and sent a 
 thousand boats, to transport the armies of France 
 from the main land over the Lagune into the v 7 ery 
 heart of the citv. The English commodore in 
 
 / 
 
 the Adriatic, protested against such madness, and 
 offered to cover the city with his own ships in 
 vain ! The people, who are always the last to lose 
 a sense of national honor, expressed their readi- 
 ness to stand forth and to defend their country 
 in vain ! The nobles trembled for their Italian 
 estates ; and in the empty hope of saving their 
 income, they betrayed their country, and sub- 
 
 Liheri Muratori scoperta nel 1785, in die alcuni rispettibiii 
 soggctti avevano ingresso : Queste furono le cagioni estrin- 
 seche, che disponevano 1'edificio ad un imminent* pericolo 
 di crollare." Such is the acknowledgment of a Venetian 
 . Raccolta, vol. i. p, 16.
 
 JB2 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 milted to plunder, to slavery, and to indelible 
 disgrace. Not one arm was raised, not one 
 sword was drawn, and Venice fell, self-betrayed, 
 and unpitied. Her enemies punished her pusil- 
 lanimity, by pillaging" her public and her private 
 treasures, by defacing her edifices, by stripping 
 her arsenal, by carrying away her trophies; and 
 then they handed her aver as a contemptible prize, 
 to a foreign despot. A tremendous lesson to rich 
 and effeminate nations to rouse them to exertion, 
 and to prove, if such proof were wanting, that 
 independence must be preserved, as it can only 
 be obtained, by the sword; that money may pur- 
 chase arms, but not freedom : that submission ex- 
 cites contempt ; and that determined heroic re- 
 sistance, even should it fail, challenges and obtains 
 consideration and honor. 
 
 Non tamen ignavas 
 Percipient gentes quam sit non arclua virtus 
 
 Servitium fugisse mauu 
 
 Ignorantque datos, ne quisquam serviat, enscs. 
 
 LUCAN. 
 
 The population of Venice, previous to the late 
 revolution, amounted to about one hundred and 
 fifty thousand souls; it is supposed to have de- 
 creased considerably since that event, and if the 
 present order of things should unfortunately con- 
 tinue, it will diminish, till, deserted like Sienna^
 
 Ch.lV. THROUGH ITALY. IS3 
 
 and Pisa, this city shall become a superb solitude, 
 whose lonelv grandeur will remind the traveller, 
 
 . O 
 
 that Venice was once great, and independent. 
 
 The state of society in Venice seems to be 
 upon a more enlarged scale than formerly; the 
 casinos indeed continue still to. be the places of 
 resort, of card-parties and of suppers ; but various 
 houses are open to strangers; and balls and con- 
 certs, and club dinners are given frequently ; to 
 all which, introduction is not difficult. The 
 carnival was distinguished by plays in the day, 
 and by masked balls at night; the illumination of 
 the theatre on such nights is verv beautiful. One 
 
 / 
 
 species of theatrical amusement at this season 
 is singular. It is a regular farce, carried on at 
 all hours; so that the idle part of the community 
 may, if they please, pass all the twenty-four hours 
 in the play-house, fall asleep, and awake, go out 
 and come in, and still find the play going on with 
 its usual spirit. In such pieces, the actors seein 
 to be obliged to have recourse to their own inge- 
 nuity for the dialogue, which, however, seldom 
 flags for want of materials; such is their natural 
 talent for repartee and buffoonery. 
 
 A person accustomed to the rides, the walks, 
 the activity of ordinary towns, soon grows tired 
 of the confinement of Venice, and of the dull.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR C/i.IV. 
 
 indolent, see-saw motion of Gondolas. He longs 
 to expatiate in fields, and to range at large 
 through the streets, without the encumbrance of 
 a boat and a retinue of Gondolicri. We there- 
 fore left Venice on the sixth of March, without 
 much regret, and embarking at the inn (Joor, 
 proceeded towards Fusina. As we rowed over 
 the Lagune, we prevailed upon our Gondolier i to 
 sing, according to an ancient custom, mentioned 
 I think by Addison, some stanzas of Tasso; but 
 however beautiful the poetry might be, we thought 
 the tune and execution no ways superior to that 
 of a common ballad-singer in the streets of Lon- 
 don. This classical mode of singing verses alter- 
 nately, a remnant of the ancient pastoral * so 
 long preserved in Italy, has been much on the de- 
 cline in Venice since the French invasion, which 
 has damped the ardor of the people, and almost 
 extinguished their natural mirth and vivacity. 
 From Fusina we ascended the Brenta in the same 
 manner as we had descended it, and arrived late 
 at Padua. 
 
 The next morning, after a second visit to the 
 most remarkable edifices, such as St. Giustina, 
 the Santo 9 the Cathedral, the Salone, we turned 
 
 * Altcrnis dicetis, amant alternae Camenae.
 
 O. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 283 
 
 our thoughts to the neighboring- country, 
 considered what objects it presented to our curio- 
 sity. The warm fountains and baths of Aponus, 
 now called Apono, lie about four miles from Padua. 
 They were frequented by the ancient Romans 
 under the Emperors, and have been celebrated 
 by Claudian, and by the Gothic king- Theodoric, 
 in long 1 and elaborate descriptions in verse and 
 prose *. These writers attribute to them many 
 ptrange and wonderful effects; however, making 
 all due allowances for poetical exaggeration, the 
 ivaters are in many cases of great ad vantage. 
 
 About seven miles southward of Padua, rises 
 the ridge of hills called the Colli Eugaaei, still 
 retaining" the name of one of the earliest tribes 
 that peopled the Pad nan territory. These moun- 
 
 * The principal effects are described in the following 
 verses. Claudian addresses himself to the fountain : 
 
 Felices, propriujjp qui te meruere colon?, 
 
 Fas quibus est Aponon juris bpberesui* 
 Non illis t^rrena luos, corrupta nee Aiistri 
 
 Flamina, iicc sasvo Sirius igne noc.'t 
 
 Quod si forte inalus membris exub-rat humor 
 
 Languida vol nimio viscera felte viront ; 
 Non venas rest nsnt, nee vulnere vulnera sanant, 
 
 Pocula nee tristi gramine mista bibunt:
 
 186 CLASSICAL TOUR 6%. IV. 
 
 tains, for so they might justly be termed, if the 
 enormous swell of the neighboring- Alps did not 
 in appearance diminish their elevation, were for- 
 merly, it seems, inhabited by a race of sooth- 
 v' sayers, who vied with the Tuscans in the art of 
 looking into futurity. One of these seers, accord- 
 ing to Lucan, beheld the battle of Pharsalia while 
 seated on his native hill, and described to his as- 
 tonished auditors, all the vicissitudes of that 
 bloody contest*, on the very morning on which 
 it took place. Aulus Gellius relates the same 
 story, but attributes it to a priest of the name of. 
 Cornelius, a citizen of Padua, without mention- 
 ing, as he frequently does, the author from whom 
 lie derived the tale. But, whether it was a Paduan 
 priest or an Euganean soothsayer, who was 
 gifted with this extraordinary power of vision, it 
 proves at least that claims to the faculty termed 
 
 Amissuni lympbis reparant impune vigorem, 
 Pacaturque, aegro luxuriaute, dolor. Eidyl. Apon. 
 
 * Euganeo, si vera fides meraorantibus, Augur 
 Colle sedens, Aponus terris ubi fumifer exit, 
 Atque Antenorei dispergitur unda Timavi, 
 Venit summa dies, geritur res maxima, dixit, 
 Imjtia concuirunt Pompeii et Caesaris arma. 
 
 Luc. vii. 192, 
 (The poet's geography is not very accurate.)
 
 O. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 1ST 
 
 second sight, are not confined to modern times, 
 or to the northern regions of Great Britain *. 
 
 In one of the recesses of the Colli Eitganei 
 stands the village of Arquato, distinguished by 
 the residence of Petrarca during the latter years 
 of his life, and by his death which took place in 
 1374. He was buried in the church-yard of the 
 same village, and a monument was erected to his 
 honor. This monument and his villa have been 
 preserved by the people with religious care, and 
 continue even now to attract a number of literary 
 visitants of all countries, who, as they pass through 
 Padua, fail not to pay their respects to the manes 
 of Petrarca. 
 
 The road to Arquato, as far as Monte Selice, 
 runs along a canal, over a very flat and very fer- 
 tile country bearing a strong resemblance to some 
 of the finest parts of the Netherlands. Villas and 
 large villages lie thick around, and the scene on 
 every side gives the traveller an idea of plenty 
 and of population. To relieve the flatness of the 
 adjacent country, mountains rise in various forms 
 in front, and Monte Selice (or Silicis) in parti- 
 cular, strikes the eye by its lofty conical form. 
 
 Aul. Gell. lib. xv. 13.
 
 188 CLASSICAL TOUR a. IV. 
 
 About eig'lit miles from Padua, on the banks of 
 the canal, stands the castle of the Obizzi, an 
 ancient and illustrious family of Padua. This 
 edifice is much in the style of the old castles of 
 Romance. Lofty rooms, long- galleries, winding 
 staircases, and dark passages, fit it admirably for 
 the purposes of a novelist, and render it equally 
 proper for the abode of a great baron, for the 
 receptacle of a band of robbers, for the scene 
 of nightly murders, or for the solitary walk of 
 ghosts and of spectres. But the predominant 
 taste of the country has fitted it up in a style well 
 calculated to dispel these gloomy transalpine 
 illusions, and to cure the spectator's mind of its 
 Gothic terrors. The apartments are adorned with 
 paintings, some of which are \n fresco, on the walls 
 representing 1 the glories and the achievements of 
 the Obizziau heroes in days of old, and others 
 are on canvas being* originals or copies of great 
 masters. The galleries, and one in particular of 
 very considerable length, are filled with Roman 
 antiquities, altars, vases, armour, inscriptions, 
 pillars, &c. On the whole, the castle is very 
 curious, and ought to be made the object of a par- 
 ticular visit, as an incidental hour is not sufficient 
 for an examination in detail of the various curio- 
 sities which it contains. * 
 
 * When we visited it, the proprietor, was walking up aqd 
 down the great gallery, and giving directions to his servants
 
 C/i. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 189 
 
 A little beyond the village of Cataio, we 
 turned oft' from the high road, and alighting 
 from the carriage on account of the swampiness 
 of the country, we walked and rowed occa- 
 sionally through lines of Willows, or over tracts 
 of marshy land, for two or three miles, till we 
 began to ascend the mountain. Arquato is 
 prettily situated on the northern side of a high 
 hill, with a valley below it winding through the 
 Euganean ridge. It is not a very large, but a 
 neat villag*e. 
 
 Petrarca's villa is at the extremity farthest 
 from Padua. It consists of two floors. The 
 first is used for farming purposes, as it is annexed 
 to a farmer's house. The second story contains 
 five rooms, three of which are large, and two 
 closets ; the middle room seems to have been 
 used as a reception room or hall ; that on the 
 right is a kitchen ; that on the left has two 
 closets, one of which might have been a study, 
 the other a bed-chamber. Its fire-place is high, 
 and its pastes fuliyine nigri. To the chief win- 
 
 to clear and arrange some new acquisitions. He seemed to 
 contemplate bis collection with great complacency ; and it 
 must be owned that the number and arrangement of tbe 
 articles which compose it, give a favorable opinion both of 
 bis djligence and his judgment. 
 1
 
 190 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 dow is a balcony ; the view thence towards the 
 opening 1 of the valley on the side, and in front 
 towards two lofty conical hills, one of which is 
 topped with a convent, is calm and pleasing. 
 The only decoration of the apartments is a deep 
 border of grotesque painting running as a cor- 
 nice under the ceiling; an old smoky picture 
 over the fire-place in the kitchen said by the 
 good people to be an original by Michael Angela, 
 and a table and chair, all apparently, the pic- 
 ture not excepted, as old as the house itself. 
 On the table is a large book, an Album, con- 
 taining the names, and sometimes the senti- 
 ments, of various visitants. The following verses 
 are inscribed in the first page ; they are addressed 
 to the traveller. 
 
 Tu che devoto al sagro albergo arrivi, 
 Ove s'aggira ancor 1'orabra innnortale 
 Di cbi un di vi depose il corpo frale, 
 
 La Patria, il nome, il sensi tuoi qui scrive. 
 
 The walls are covered with names, compliments 
 and verses. Behind the house is a garden, with 
 a small lodge for the gardener, and the ruins of 
 a tower covered with ivy. A narrow walk 
 leads through it, and continues along the side of 
 the hill, under the shade of olive trees ; a soli- 
 tary laurel* still lingers beside the path, and 
 
 *~ 
 
 * It is necessary to remark here, once for all, that the 
 
 Italian laurel is the bay-tree, the laurus of the ancieuts.
 
 a. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 191 
 
 recalls to mind both the poet and the lover. 
 The hill ascends steep from the garden, and 
 winding round, closes the vale and the pros- 
 pect. Its broken sides are well cultivated, and 
 interspersed with olives and with cottages. It 
 was already evening when we arrived. After 
 having examined the house, we walked for some 
 time in the garden ; a thousand violets perfumed 
 the air ; the nightingale was occasionally heard, 
 as if making its first essay ; and, excepting his 
 evening song, " most musical, most melan- 
 choly," all was still and silent around. The 
 place and the scenery seemed so well described 
 in the following beautiful lines, that it was im- 
 possible not to recollect and apply them, though 
 probably intended by the poet for another 
 
 Qui non palazzi, non teatro, o loggia, 
 
 Ma'n lor vece un abete, un faggio, un pino, 
 
 Tra 1'erba verde, e'l bel monte vicino, 
 
 Onde se scende poetando e poggia, 
 
 Levan di terra al ciel nostro intelletto : 
 
 E'l rosignuol che dolcemente all' ombra 
 
 Tutte le notti si lamenta e piagne. Son. x. 
 
 The garden is entirely neglected, but the 
 house is kept in good repair ; a circumstance 
 which cannot but reflect much honor on the 
 spirit of the proprietor and on the inhabitants of 
 the village, when it is considered that more 
 
 2
 
 CLASSICAL TOT Ck. IV; 
 
 than four hundred years have now elapsed since 
 the death of Petrarca, and that many a destruc- 
 tive war has raged in the country, and many a 
 wasting* army passed over it since that event. 
 His body lies interred in the church-yard of the 
 village in a large stone sarcophagus raised on 
 four low pillars, and surmounted with a bust. 
 As we stood and contemplated the tomb by the 
 pale light of -the moon, we indulged the caprice 
 of the moment, and twining a branch of laurel 
 into the forni of a crown, placed it on the heao! 
 of the bast, and hailed the manes of the Tuscari 
 poet in the words of his admirer. 
 
 Deh pioggia, o vento rio non faccia scorno 
 All' ossa pie; sol porti grati odori 
 L'aura che'l ciel suol far puro e sereno. 
 Lascin le ninfe ogni lor antro ameuo 
 E raccolte in corona al sasso intoruo, 
 Liete ti cantiu loth e spargan fiori I 
 
 Ahss. PifeoiiminL 
 
 Several of the inhabitants ttho had gathered 
 round us, during this singular ceremony, seemed 
 not a little pleased with the whim, and cheered 
 us with repeated viva's as we passed through 
 the village, and descended the hill. Though 
 overturned by a blunder of the drivers, and fof 
 some time suspended over the canal with immi- 
 nent danger of being precipitated into it, yet 
 as the night was bright and warm, and all the
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 193 
 
 party in high spirits, the excursion was extremely 
 pleasant. 
 
 Few names seem to have been so fondly che- 
 rished by contemporaries, or treated with so 
 much partiality by posterity, as that of Petrarca. 
 This distinction he owes not so much to his 
 talents, or even to his virtues, as to the many 
 amiable and engaging qualities which accom- 
 panied them, and set them off to the greatest 
 advantage. As an orator, an historian, and a 
 poet, he had even in his own time many rivals, 
 perhaps in Boccaccio an equal, and in Dante 
 undoubtedly a superior. But in pleasing man- 
 ners, in generous feelings, in warm attachment, 
 and in all the graceful, all the attractive accom- 
 plishments of life, he seems to have surpassed 
 every public character of his time, and to have 
 engaged universal and unqualified admiration. 
 
 Gibbon asserts that the literary reputation of 
 Petrarca must rest entirely on his Latin works 
 and insinuates that his sonnets are trifles; that 
 his passion was, in his own opinion, and in that of 
 bis contemporaries, criminal ; and that Laura, the 
 mother of ten children, could have possessed few 
 of the charms ascribed to her by the poet. 
 Though I have no particular inclination to enter 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 the lists as champion of the lady's charms, yet I 
 may venture to observe, that a matron who died 
 at the age of forty or forty-two, may possibly 
 have been very beautiful at the ag*e of nineteen 
 or twenty, when the poet first beheld her ; that 
 female beauty sometimes survives forty, how- 
 ever fatal that age may be to it in general ; that 
 it is less liable to fade when it consists more in 
 expression than in color and freshness ; and in 
 fine, that though Laura, if we may believe her 
 lover, possessed both species of beauty, yet she 
 excelled in the former. 
 
 Le crespe chionae d'or puro lucente 
 
 r r 
 
 E'l lampeggiar dell angelieo riso. . II Parte Sonn. 24. 
 Le perle in ch' [ainor] frange ed affrena 
 
 Dolci parole I Parte Sonn. 184. 
 
 are perishable charms without doubt, and liable 
 to very rapid decay. But, 
 
 Leggiadria singolare e pellegrina ; 
 
 E'l cantar clie ncll aniraa si sente : 
 
 L' andar celeste, e'l vago spirto ardentc : 
 
 Begli occhi che i cor f anno suialti : 
 
 Col dir pien d' intelletti, dolci ed alti : 
 
 E'l bel tacere, e quei santi costumi ! I Parte Sonn. 178. 
 
 These are charms which emanate directly from 
 the mind, and seem almost to enjoy some por- 
 tion of its pure and imperishable nature. Laura,
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 195 
 
 therefore, may still be allowed to retain her 
 honors, and continue to rank among 1 the cele- 
 brated beauties of ancient times, oltra le belle 
 belh* 
 
 As to Petrarca's passion, it was undoubtedly 
 misplaced, excessive, and highly reprehensible ; 
 but his contemporaries do not seem to have con- 
 sidered it in that light, especially as it never 
 broke out in any guilty deed, or even indecorous 
 expression. The author of his life, Beccadelli, 
 a man of unblemished morals and reputation, 
 and an archbishop, declares that Petrarca's 
 attachment was innocent in itself, and beneficial 
 in its consequences, as it called forth the powers 
 of his genius, and contributed in a high degree 
 to the perfection of his language, and to the 
 honor of his country. The Poet himself con- 
 demns, and applauds his passion alternately; 
 representing- it sometimes as having preserved 
 him from the indulgence of low grovelling appe- 
 tites, and urged him to the pursuit of honorable 
 famef; and at other times lamenting it as a 
 guilty weakness, to which he had sacrificed his 
 time, and had devoted talents destined for 
 
 * Vol. ii. Son. xxi. t Parte II. Canz. vi.i, 
 
 o 2
 
 196 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.lV. 
 
 nobler objects*. But, notwithstanding the seve- 
 rity of this self-censure, he continued either to 
 compose or to correct the strains that love in- 
 spired, not only for several years after the death 
 of its object, but even to the near approach of 
 his own : a circumstance which, considering- the 
 religious turn of his mind, particularly in his 
 latter days, proves that he attached no criminal- 
 ity to the passion itself, since he could indulge 
 himself so freely in its recollection. 
 
 As to the sonnets of Petrarca, in the eyes of a 
 moralist they are trifles, and so are the elegies of 
 Propertius and of Tibullus, and all the numerous 
 poems both ancient and modern, that treat the 
 same airy and unsubstantial subject ; but trinkets 
 may derive value from their materials and work- 
 manship, and even love songs may acquire both 
 importance and interest from their language and 
 their sentiments. Genius communicates its own 
 dignity to every subject that it chooses to han- 
 dle; it can give weight to insignificance, and 
 make even an amorous ditty the vehicle of awful 
 truths and of useful lessons. This observation is 
 more applicable perhaps to Petrarca than to any 
 
 * Son. Ixxxvi.
 
 Ch. IV. THROUGH ITALY. 197 
 
 other poet. Equal, I had almost said superior 
 in felicity of expression, and in harmony of lan- 
 guage, to his Roman predecessors, he rises far 
 above them in delicacy of thought, and in dig- 
 nity of sentiment. He borrows no embellish- 
 ments from the fictions of mythology, and in- 
 dulges himself in no pastoral tales, no far-fetched 
 allusions. The spirit of religion, which strongly 
 influenced his mind in all the vicissitudes of 
 life, not unfrequently gives his passion something 
 of the solemnity of devotion, and inspires the 
 holy strains that chant 
 
 Quanto piu Tale 
 Sempiterna bellezza cbe mortale. 
 
 This peculiar turn of thought, that pervades 
 the poems of Petrarca, and raises them so much 
 above all similar compositions, is noticed by his 
 biographer as a distinction highly honorable to 
 the Tuscan muses, le quali, ha mostro, come 
 altamente e santamente possono cantar (V amore. 
 It is not wonderful therefore, that the poet him- 
 self should have rested his hopes of fame on his 
 Italian poems, and have persisted in correcting 
 and in repolishing them with so much assiduity ; 
 or that posterity should have confirmed the 
 author's judgment, and continued ever since to 
 set a high value on these short, but highly
 
 198 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IV. 
 
 labored productions. While his Latin poems 
 (histories and moral dissertations) slumber un- 
 disturbed on the shelf, his Rim will sometimes 
 amuse the leisure of the youthful reader, and 
 now and then, perhaps, attract the attention of 
 the philosopher, who will often find in them, 
 intermingled with the frivolous graces of the 
 subject, sublime sentiments, expressed in lan- 
 guage the most harmonious.
 
 h. V, THROUGH ITALY. 199 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Visit to the Lago di Garda, or Benacus tlie 
 River Mincius the Promontory of Sirmio 
 Desensano Storm on the Lake Paradisino 
 Banks of tlie . Mincius Mantua Pietole 
 Excursion to the Po Honors paid to Virgil 
 Viryiliano. 
 
 jN EXT day we took leave of Padua, returned 
 through Vicenza to Verona, and having passed 
 the following day there, on the ensuing morning 
 (March 13) we set out for the Lago di Garda 
 (the Benacus) celebrated by Virgil as one of 
 the noblest ornaments of Italy. Its principal 
 promontory, Sirmio, has been commemorated 
 by Catullus, as his favorite residence. We 
 reached Peschiera t a fortress on the southern ex- 
 tremity of the lake, at about half past two. The 
 distance is about eighteen miles, the road is ex- 
 cellent, generally descending, and always pass- 
 ing through corn fields striped with vines, with 
 some swells at a distance crowned with villages, 
 and churches, and seats ; while the Alps formed 
 a vast line to the north. Traces of hostility, as
 
 200 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 I before observed, are indeed too visible in the 
 neighborhood of Verona, where several severe 
 skirmishes, and one decisive battle, took place 
 during the late war. The vineyards and mul- 
 berry trees, of course, were torn up or cut down 
 by the armies as they passed along. However, 
 I observed with satisfaction, that the peasants 
 were busily employed in replanting them. 
 
 At Peschiera, the lake terminates in the river 
 Mincio, which flows through the town, broad, 
 deep, and clear as crystal, though almost as ra- 
 pid as a mountain torrent. The traveller, when 
 he beholds this river, the name of which is so 
 familiar and so pleasing to a classic ear, will 
 recal to mind the passages in which Virgil de- 
 scribes its banks and appearances. We contem- 
 plated it for some time from the bridge, and 
 then went out of the town, and embarking with- 
 out the gate, glided over the surface of the lake 
 so smooth and clear, that we could distinguish 
 the bottom at the depth of twenty or five-and- 
 twenty feet. The weather, though only the 
 thirteenth of March, was as warm, and the sun 
 as bright, as on a summer's day in England; 
 yet some clouds hung on the summits of the 
 mountains, and a certain haziness dimmed their 
 sides. The borders of the lake towards the 
 south, though rather flat, rise sufficiently to dis-
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 201 
 
 play to advantage the towns, villages, and seats, 
 with the olives, corn fields, and vineyards that 
 adorn them ; and when lighted up by a bright 
 sunshine, they present a very exhilarating pros- 
 pect. The shores, as they advance northward, 
 assume a bolder aspect, and exhibit all the va- 
 rieties of Alpine scenery. Rocky promontories, 
 precipices, lofty hills, and towering mountains, 
 in all their grotesque, broken, and shapeless ap- 
 pearances, rise in succession one above another ; 
 while the declining sun, playing upon the snow 
 that capped their summits, tinged them with va- 
 rious hues, and at length spread over them a 
 thin veil of purple. 
 
 The peninsula of Sirmione, and the bolder 
 promontory of Minerbo, the former about, seven, 
 the latter about fourteen miles distant, appeared 
 to great advantage from Peschiera, and grew 
 upon the sight as we advanced. Sirmione ap- 
 pears as an island ; so low and so narrow is the 
 bank that unites it to the main land. Its en- 
 trance is defended, and indeed totally covered 
 by an old castle, with its battlements and high 
 antique tower in the centre, in the form of a 
 Gothic fortification. The promontory spreads 
 behind the town, and rises into a hill entirely 
 covered with olives ; this hill may be said to 
 have two summits, as there is a gentle descent
 
 202 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. V. 
 
 between them. On the nearest is a church and 
 hermitage, plundered by the French, and now 
 uninhabited and neglected. On the farthest, in 
 the midst of an olive grove, stand the walls of 
 an old building, said to be a Roman bath, and 
 near it is a vault, called the grotto of Catullus. 
 The extremity of this promontory is covered 
 with arched ways, towers, and subterranean pas- 
 sages, supposed by the inhabitants to be Roman, 
 but apparently of no very distant sera. At all 
 events, Catullus undoubtedly inhabited this spot, 
 and preferred it, at a certain period, to every 
 other region. He has expressed his attachment 
 to it in some beautiful lines. 
 
 Peuinsularum Sirraio, insularumque 
 Ocelle, quascunque iu liquentibus staguis 
 Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus: 
 Quam te libenter, quamque lastus inviso. 
 
 Catull. 32. 
 
 He could not have chosen a more delightful 
 retreat. In the centre of a magnificent lake, 
 surrounded with scenery of the greatest variety 
 and majesty, secluded from the world, yet be- 
 holding from his garden the villas of his Vero- 
 nese friends, he might have enjoyed alternately 
 the pleasures of retirement and of society ; and 
 daily, without the sacrifice of his connexions,
 
 Ch.V. THROUGH ITALY. 203 
 
 which Horace* seemed inclined to make, in a 
 moment of despondency, he might have contem- 
 plated the grandeur and the agitation of the 
 ocean, without its terrors and immensity. Be- 
 sides, the soil is fertile and its surface varied; 
 sometimes shelving in a gentle declivity, at other 
 times breaking in craggy magnificence ; and 
 thus furnishing every requisite for delightful 
 walks and for luxurious baths; while the views 
 vary at every step, presenting rich coasts or bar- 
 ren mountains, sometimes confined to the culti- 
 vated scenes of the neighboring shore, and at 
 other times bewildered and lost in the winding's 
 
 O 
 
 of the lake, and in the recesses of the Alps. 
 In short, more convenience and more beauty are 
 seldom united ; and such a peninsula is, as Ca- 
 tullus enthusiastically observes, scarcely to be 
 matched in all the wide range of the world of 
 waters. 
 
 We left Sirmione after sunset; and, lighted 
 by the moon, glided smoothly over the lake to 
 Desensano, four miles distant, where, about eight, 
 we stepped from the boat into a very 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 re- 
 
 * Lib. i. Ep, xi.
 
 204 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 tired 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 agita- 
 tion, 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 as- 
 sured me, that their houses were built to resist 
 such sudden tempests, and that I might repose 
 with confidence under a roof, which had with- 
 stood full many a storm as terrible as that which 
 occasioned our present alarm. Next morning, 
 the lake so tranquil and serene the evening be- 
 fore, presented a surface covered with foam, and 
 swelling into mountain billows, that burst in 
 breakers every instant at the very 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, Benace, marino. 
 
 Gear. ii. 160.
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 205 
 
 After breakfast (March 14, Sunday) I walked 
 up the road to Brescia, and from a high hill 
 viewed the lake, its coasts, peninsulas and pro- 
 montories. The peninsula of Sirmione forms 
 the most striking 1 object, as running- between 
 Peschiera and Desensano ; it divides the first 
 and widest part of the lake into two nearly equal 
 spaces, and on account of the lowness and the 
 narrowness of the passage to it, appears like 
 a beautiful and well wooded island. The next 
 striking feature of the lake is the bold promon- 
 tory of Minerbo, or rather of San Pietro, and 
 the Isola dei Venti. Behind this promontory 
 and island, lies the river of Salo, supposed to be 
 one of the most picturesque parts of the lake. 
 Nearly opposite to San Pietro, stands the town, 
 of Garda (founded in the middle ages) which 
 now gives its name to the lake, while anciently, 
 the lake gave its name to the surrounding terri- 
 tory called Ager Benacensis*, whose inhabitants 
 
 * Many geographers suppose, and pretend to ground 
 their suppositions upon ancient monuments, that the name 
 of Benacus belonged not to a town, but to the lake itself 
 only, and that the surrounding country was called Ager 
 BenaceTisis, and the inhabitants, Benacenses. The lake is 
 now known among the people of the country, as much by 
 the appellation of Logo de Benaco, as that of Logo di 
 Garda.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR CA.V. 
 
 assembled for public purposes at Tusculanum. 
 This town still exists, under its ancient appel- 
 lation, near Sale. The remaining part of the 
 lake is concealed among the mountains, and 
 placed beyond the observation of one who stands 
 in the neighborhood of Desensano. The waters 
 of the lake are of the finest sea-green ; its 
 depth is unequal ; in the narrow parts, from ten 
 to forty, in the wider, from one hundred to three 
 hundred feet. The Benacus is fed by several 
 Alpine streams, and particularly by ihe Sarca, 
 a river that still bears its Roman name : its only 
 outlet is the Mincio. Hence this stream is sup- 
 plied with a perpetual flow of waters, and never 
 rises or falls more than a few inches, while other 
 rivers are oftentimes almost dried up in warm 
 seasons, and swelled in wet months into an in- 
 undation. 
 
 On the fifteenth we left Desensano, and pass- 
 ing through Rigoltela, alighted at the turn 
 towards the peninsula, and visited Sirmione 
 once more. We ranged, as before, over the 
 whole promontory, and examined its coasts, its 
 productions, and its ruins more minutely. The 
 eastern and western sides are formed principally 
 of steep craggy rocks, that sometimes rise into 
 a wall, and at other times descend in regular 
 gradations to the water. The northern extremity
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 207 
 
 is a grassy declivity. A vast mass of solid rock 
 seems to form the basis of the promontory. It 
 borders it on all sides, and shelving- by degrees, 
 extends to a considerable distance visible though 
 under water, and losing itself almost impercep- 
 tibly in the deep. The views on all sides, ex- 
 cepting the south, are such an intermixture of level 
 and mountainous, of cultivated and barren country, 
 as cannot fail to interest even by its contrast; 
 while from the northern point you discover the 
 utmost borders of the lake, though their distance, 
 which is about forty-five miles, and the dark 
 shade of the superincumbent mountains, involve 
 them in dimness and obscurity. 
 
 The produce of the hill consists principally of 
 olive trees, plants evergreen indeed but neither 
 lofty nor luxuriant in foliage, and consequently 
 not well calculated to answer the purposes of 
 ornament, shade, or shelter. They are, however, 
 productive, and the inhabitants are so sensible 
 of their value, that they contrive to plant them 
 on the sides, and even in the clefts of the rocks, 
 and sometimes raise walls to prop them when in 
 a situation too perpendicular, or of a form too 
 spreading and extensive for the trunk. This 
 instance of exertion, and indeed many others, 
 which I may introduce occasionally hereafter, 
 together with the highly cultivated appearance
 
 208 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 of the country, have effectually removed some 
 of our prejudices, and convinced us, notwith- 
 standing the partial and hasty representations 
 of certain travellers, that the Italians are a very 
 laborious people, and that if they do not enjoy 
 all the advantages attached by Providence to 
 industry, the fault is to be attributed, not to them, 
 but to their landlords and governors. But though 
 olives be the principal produce of the peninsula, 
 yet vines and corn are by no means excluded : 
 on the contrary, vineyards occupy a consider- 
 able part of the first hill, particularly towards 
 the west, where, bordering on the town and 
 lake, a beautiful vineyard rises, enclosed with 
 large laurels; and corn fills the spaces between 
 the olive rows, and covers the peninsula with 
 verdure from shore to shore. A large garden 
 occupies the first hill immediately over the town, 
 and contains, among other plants, some beautiful 
 cypresses, favorite trees in all Italian gardens both 
 ancient and modern. 
 
 Having wandered up and down these poetical 
 retreats, and read Catullus on the ruins of his 
 residence ; having observed again and again all 
 the beautiful points of view that rose around us, 
 we were reminded by the setting sun of the 
 necessity of retiring ; and withdrew, reluctantly 
 indeed, but with the satisfaction of having seen 
 3
 
 Ch.V. THROUGH ITALY. 09 
 
 the Benacus under all its forms of calmness, 
 of agitation, and of returning- tranquillity. We 
 walked along its banks by the light of the moon, 
 to Peschiera, six miles, and thence one more to 
 Paradisino, a country seat belonging to Sig. 
 Alberto Albertini, our banker at Verona. The 
 house is in a lovely country, yet so situated as 
 to enjoy none of its advantages ; for though it 
 stands on the banks of the Mincio, and within 
 a mile of the lake, it commands a view of 
 neither. Its furniture is very indifferent, and 
 the walks around, the principal of which opposite 
 the house, consists of a double row of cypresses, 
 seem to promise neither shade nor shelter. To 
 account for this deficiency, it would perhaps be 
 sufficient to observe, that the Italians in general, 
 have very little taste in furnishing a house, or in 
 laying out grounds to advantage ; but in justice 
 to the proprietor of Paradisino, I must add, 
 that the French had plundered the house, and. 
 cut down the greatest part of the wood that 
 surrounded it, so that its nakedness must, in some 
 degree, be ascribed to the general cause of all the 
 miseries of Italy, to the destroying 1 spirit of the 
 French army. 
 
 Before we take a last leave of the Benacus 
 and of its borders, of Verona and of its vicinity, 
 I must inform the reader that the lake, with all 
 
 VOL, I. P
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 its streams and surrounding- hills, and indeed the 
 whole circumjacent country, has been rendered 
 truly classical by having been made the scene 
 or the subject of many beautiful compositions 
 in the second Augustan age of Italy. Fra- 
 castorius, Nauyerius, Castillo, have invoked the 
 Nymphee Benacides ; and Bembo has given the 
 appellation of Benacus to one of his most cor- 
 rect and most pleasing Latin poems. The moun- 
 tains and hills on its borders have been converted 
 into the Arcadia of Italy, and peopled with a 
 race of shepherds, who almost rival in song the 
 Grecian swains once soli cantareperiti, and who 
 far surpass them in innocence and in piety. But 
 of all the strains in which these scenes are cele- 
 brated, the most affecting are those addressed by 
 Fracastorius to his departed friend Flaminius, 
 who was himself one of the most tuneful natives 
 of this happy region. 
 
 Te miserum ! ante diem, crudeli funere, Marc* 
 
 Antoni ! aetatis primo sub flore cadentem 
 
 Vidimus extreiua positum Benacide ripvi 
 
 Quatu media inter saxa sonans Sarca abluit undi 
 
 Te ripae flevere Athesis, te voce vocare 
 
 Auditae per noctem umbra 1 manesque Catulli, 
 
 lit patrios mulcere nova dulcediue lucos. Syph. lib. i. 
 
 Next morning we sent our carriages towards 
 Mantua, and determined to proceed on foot, 
 
 5
 
 C/i. V. THROUGH ITALY. 211 
 
 in order to explore the secret beauties of the 
 Mincius, and to trace its pastoral banks, hitherto 
 untrodden by the foot of any British traveller. 
 We took one of Siy. Albertinis men, an honest 
 looking peasant, for our guide, and descending 
 the little hill on which Paradisino stands, ad- 
 vanced towards the banks of the river. These 
 banks consist of fine little broken hills, covered 
 with vineyards and mulberry trees, interspersed 
 with corn fields and downs, with a rill occasion- 
 ally tumbling through a chasm. On the left, on 
 the highest part of the bank, stands the village 
 of Salionche, and on leaving this village you 
 have a fine view over the river, between two 
 swells, of the fortress of Ponte, at about two 
 miles distance, backed by the Alps. Before 
 you, rises on a hill, the old castle of Mosenibano, 
 with its two towers and long battlemented ram- 
 parts. Beyond it a fine swell crowned with a 
 few solitary cypresses, attracts the attention, 
 merely by its apparent loneliness. Mosembano 
 stands high on the right bank, and as you ap- 
 proach, increases to your view, presenting a 
 handsome church, and a fine old castle. Op- 
 posite Mosenibano on the left, a fertile plain 
 extends for the space of a mile, to a range of 
 well wooded hills, adorned with a tower on the 
 middle eminence called Monte Velto, and ter- 
 
 P2
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck.V. 
 
 minating in the very picturesque hill and castle 
 of Valeggio. 
 
 A little beyond Mosembano, the scenery im- 
 proves considerably ; broken hills, increasing in 
 magnitude, approach the river: trees, more fre- 
 quent and more majestic, adorn their sides; the 
 Mincio, spreading as it winds along, assumes the 
 appearance of a magnificent river, while the castle 
 of Valeggio on the hill, and the fortified bridge of 
 Borghetto in the valley, form a very singular and 
 striking termination. The side of a high hill, on 
 the left, is crowned with the house and garden of 
 the Marquis Maffei, a name well known in liter- 
 ature. Borghetto is situated in a very beautiful 
 valley : a high road runs across and is flanked 
 with a wall on each side, strengthened with 
 towers, and defended by three castles, one at each 
 end, and one in the middle, forming a bridge over 
 the river. On the top of a steep hill, rising im- 
 mediately from the bridge or fortified road, stands 
 the romantic castle of Valeggio. In its centre 
 rises a lofty tower, which the Austrian* were 
 employed in repairing and raising, till the moment 
 of their final retreat. The whole is now neglected 
 and will undoubtedly, if the present system re- 
 mains in force much longer, become a heap of 
 ruins.
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 2lS 
 
 A little beyond the castle of Valeggio from its 
 highest rampart, we enjoyed one of the most de- 
 licious views imaginable. To the south extended 
 a plain almost interminable watered by the 
 Mincio, covered with corn-fields, divided by mul- 
 berry trees and vines, intersected by various roads, 
 and dotted with villas, villages, and towns. 
 Among the latter, Mantua, at the distance of 
 about fifteen miles, made the most conspicuous 
 figure. To the east, rose the hills of Vicenza, 
 and the more distant mountains of Arqua, 
 amongst which the peaked forms of Monte Selice, 
 and Monte Ferro, were, though so remote, very 
 remarkable. Westward, and immediately under 
 the eye, lay the delightful valley of Boryhetto, 
 with its little town, its castle, its fortified bridge, 
 and all its towers and battlements. An amphi- 
 theatre of hills partly encloses the valley with a 
 rampart of woods and villages, and through its 
 middle rolls the sea-green Mincio, tumbling in 
 foam over two or three slight rocky layers. To 
 the north, the churches and castles of Mosembano 
 and Ponte, crown their respective hills, while the 
 Alps, forming a vast semicircular sweep from 
 east to west, close the prospect with a broken 
 line of blue rocks, snowy masses, and cloud-capt 
 pinnacles. 
 
 We here caught, for the first time, an indistinct
 
 214 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.V. 
 
 view of the very distant Apennines, running from 
 west to south, and observed with surprise, that 
 they were still, like the neighboring- Alps, 
 covered with snow. We descended from the 
 rampart, and following the hill to its southern 
 extremity, saw the Mincio rushing from the 
 defile between two eminences (one of which on 
 the right is called the Volta Mantucma) and then 
 sweeping along a wood, till it loses itself in the 
 distant level. As the day advanced, and the 
 river did not promise any picturesque scenery 
 during its progress over the flat country, we 
 mounted our carriages in the town of Borghetto, 
 and drove over a most fertile, well wooded, highly 
 cultivated, and well peopled plain. About six 
 o'clock on the 17th of March, we entered 
 Mantua, 
 
 Mantua musarum domus, atque 'ad sidera cantu 
 Evecta aonio, et Smyrnaeis etnula plectris. Sil. viii. 
 
 The day after our arrival we crossed the lower 
 lake, and visited the village of Pietole, anciently 
 supposed by some to be Andes, where Virgil is 
 said to have been born. It is about three miles 
 distant from Mantua, on the banks " tardis 
 ingens ubi flexibus errat Mincius," and consists 
 of several neat cottages, good farm houses, and 
 a handsome church. About half a mile South- 
 ward on the road, and near the river, stands A
 
 Ch.V. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 large farm, with two extensive gardens, and 
 offices well walled in, formerly belonging to the 
 Imperial government, which granted it to a 
 Mantuan citizen, Count Giberti, to defray the 
 interest of the money which he had advanced for 
 public purposes. This farm is called Virgiliana, 
 and is said to have belonged to the poet him- 
 self. The country around it and Pietole, is ex- 
 tremely flat, but fertile, well wooded, and highly 
 cultivated. 
 
 On the 19th (Friday) we took a boat and de- 
 scended the Mincio, to the place where it falls 
 into the Po, about twelve miles below Mantua. 
 The country through which it flows is so low, 
 that the river is generally embanked like a canal, 
 and cannot be supposed to exhibit any picturesque 
 views; especially as the fields around were still, 
 in consequence of the late inundation, in many 
 places covered with water. However, many 
 trees, great fertility, and high cultivation, give 
 it all the beauty it is capable of receiving; while 
 several neat cottages adorn the banks, and as the 
 weather was extremely fine, appeared, when we 
 passed, to much advantage. 
 
 At the beautiful village of Governolo, the 
 Mincio makes a sudden bend, and shortly after 
 loses itself in the Po. The breadth of this latter 
 river, and the vast mass of waters which it rolls
 
 216 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 along 1 , give it a very magnificent appearance, 
 and entitle it to the pompous appellation of 
 Fluviorum Rex ; if, as Addison justly observes, 
 its pre-eminence be confined to the rivers of Italy. 
 Though inferior to the Rhine or Danube in the 
 extent of country it waters, it certainly surpasses 
 the former, and equals the latter, atleast atVienna, 
 in its immense surface. Its waters very different 
 from the sea-green colour of the .Mwcio,were thick 
 and yellow with mud ; its banks are low, and the 
 country around flat; hence its frequent and ex- 
 tensive inundations. Its borders are lined with 
 trees and villages, and pleasing, though by no 
 means picturesque. As the Po is a truly classic 
 river, we walked for some time on its banks with 
 great satisfaction, and recalled to mind various 
 passages in Virgil, Ovid, Vida, &c. in which its 
 name occurs. We then returned to Govemolo, 
 and as we passed through, visited and admired 
 its beautiful church, which, unfortunately, owing 
 to the poverty of the inhabitants, occasioned by 
 the French invasion, has never been fitted up and 
 furnished for divine service. We were then drawn 
 up the river by our boatmen, and arrived at 
 Mantua about five. * 
 
 * I thonght it necessary to enter into very minute details 
 in describing the banks of the Mincio, as they are very little 
 known, notwithstanding the poetical fame of the river.
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 217 
 
 The reader will naturally suppose, that while 
 we ranged along the banks of the Mincio, or 
 glided down its stream, we frequently recurred 
 to Virgil, and enjoyed his descriptions on the bor- 
 ders of his favorite river, and amid the scenery of 
 his native fields. We perused his Eclogues and 
 Georgics during our tour, and after having ex- 
 amined and applied them to the face of the coun- 
 try, as it now appears, have been led to the fol- 
 lowing conclusions. 
 
 Virgil composed his Eclogues, in order to en- 
 rich his language with a species of poetry till then 
 unknown in Latin, and that he might succeed the 
 better, he took Theocritus the Prince of Pastoral 
 Poets, for his model. With little regard to ori- 
 ginality, he pretended to no more than the honor 
 of being the first Roman who imitated the Sicilian 
 bard. 
 
 Prinaa Syracosio dignata est ludere versu 
 
 Nostra, nee erubuit sylvas habitare Thalia, Ed. vi. 
 
 and made no difficulty of borrowing the senti- 
 ments, images, and even descriptions of his 
 master. We are not therefore, generally speak- 
 ing, to look into Virgil's Pastorals for delineations 
 of Mantuan scenery, nor expect to find in them 
 many unmixt and peculiar allusions to the Mincius
 
 glS CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.V. 
 
 and its borders. His object was to copy the ori- 
 ginal, not to give a new picture of his own com- 
 position. I have said generally, because in two 
 pastorals, the first and the ninth, the poet treats 
 professedly of that river, of Mantua, and of the 
 neighboring country ; and in the seventh, though 
 the names are Greek, the two contending shep- 
 herds Arcadians, and the scene, we must suppose, 
 Grecian also, yet, by an inaccuracy, not unusual 
 in pastoral compositions, he introduces the Min- 
 cius, with its characteristic reeds and its verdant 
 banks. 
 
 Hie virides tenera praetexit arundinc ripas, 
 Mincius. 
 
 In the two former the poet certainly means to de- 
 scribe some of the features of his own little pos- 
 session, and by these features it is evident, that 
 it lay at the foot, or in the immediate neighbor- 
 hood of the hills, not far from Valeggio, near 
 which town they begin to subside, and gradually 
 lose themselves in the immense plain of Mantua. 
 
 Qua se subducere colles, 
 Incipiunt, inollique jugum deniittere clivo. Eel. ix. 7 16. 
 
 On no other part of the banks of the Mincius, 
 are to be discovered either the " bare rocks," that 
 disfigured the farm of Tityrns, or the " towering 
 crag" that shaded the pruner, as he sung, or the
 
 Ch.V. THROUGH ITALY. 219 
 
 " vine-clad grotto," where the shepherd reclined, 
 or the " bushy cliff," whence " the browsing- 
 goats seemed as if suspended," or ' the lofty 
 mountains," which, in the evening, cast their 
 " protracted shadows" over the plain. The 
 " spreading beech," indeed, and " aerial elm," 
 still delight in the soil, and adorn the banks of 
 theMincius, in all its windings. From these ob- 
 servations we may venture to infer, in opposition 
 to great authority, the impropriety of fixing 
 Virgil's farm at Pietole,* or Virgiliana, in the 
 immediate vicinity of Mantua, while the poet re- 
 presents it as at the distance of at least some 
 miles, or a walk, deemed long even for active 
 young shepherds : 
 
 Cantantes, licet usque, minus via Itedet, eamus. ix. 
 
 Of the tomb of Bianor we at present know 
 nothing; but as sepulchral monuments unless 
 formed of valuable materials, or standing in the 
 immediate neighborhood of cities, have gene rally 
 been respected, or at Jeast neglected, I have no 
 doubt but that some vestiges of it might be dis- 
 
 * E quell' ombra gentil per cui si noma 
 Pietola piu che villa Manlovana. Purgatorio, XVIII. 
 
 From these verses we may infer that it was not only the 
 opinion of Dante, but the tradition of his times, that Pietole 
 occupied the site of Andes.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V- 
 
 covered by a diligent investigator, on or near 
 some of the roads leading from the hills to 
 Mantua. 
 
 The observation which I have just made, that 
 Virgil's Pastorals ought, in general, to be consi- 
 dered, not as pictures of real scenery, or as con- 
 veying his own feelings and sentiments, but as 
 mere lusvspoetici composed in imitation of Theo- 
 critus, leads me to another, which, though uncon- 
 nected with the Mincio, will, I hope, recommend 
 itself by its object, which is to rescue the memory 
 of the first and purest of poets, from a very odious 
 and ill-founded suspicion. Every critical reader 
 knows, that the subject of the second Pastoral, 
 though it has exposed Virgil to the charge alluded 
 to, is taken from Theocritus, and that many ima- 
 ges, sentiments, and even expressions are copied 
 literally, and almost verbatim from the Sicilian 
 poet. This circumstance alone, is sufficient to 
 clear the writer, from the suspicion of any per- 
 sonal application ; especially when we recollect 
 the contempt, with which he elsewhere speaks, 
 of a character to whom he attributes such a pro- 
 pensity, and whom he seems to have introduced 
 for the express purpose of branding him with 
 infamy.* The truth is, that he who judges of 
 
 * Tu quoque, L. x. 325.
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 221 
 
 the morality of the Latin poets, from a few de- 
 tached passages in their works, must form a very 
 unfair estimate of their character; and impute to 
 them criminal habits, from which they were 
 most probably exempt. Pliny the younger, to 
 excuse himself for having composed some sportive 
 verses, pleads the example of Cicero, * and cites 
 a passage from Catullus f importing, that how- 
 ever blameless the manners of the poet should be, 
 his verses may be playful, and even lascivious. 
 Ovid adopts the same idea, and holds it forth as 
 a justification of his own wanton compositions. J 
 
 The modern Italians have imitated the ancients 
 in this respect, and some of the most classical 
 writers of the sixteenth century, though eminent 
 for the unblemished innocence of their lives, have, 
 in moments of poetical playfulness, employed ex- 
 pressions, which, if literally understood, may be 
 censured as licentious. I admit that the reason- 
 
 Plia. Lib. v. Ep. 3. 
 
 tSciuius alioqui hujus opusculi illara esse verissimam legem 
 quam Catullus expressit. 
 
 Nam castum esse decet pium poetatn 
 
 Ipsum, versiculos nihil necesse est: 
 
 Qui tune denique habent salein & leporem, 
 
 Si sunt molliculi & pajum pudici. Plin.Lib. iv. p.!4. 
 
 Crede mibi mores distant a carmine nostri, 
 Vita verecunda est, Musa jocosa fuit.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 ing of Pliny is by no means satisfactory, and 
 that the rale laid down by Catullus is both ab- 
 surd and immoral, and I most readily pass con- 
 demnation on every loose and indecent expres- 
 sion, in whatsoever composition it may be found. 
 But as the ancients seem to have adopted this 
 rule, and acted upon it, I contend that it author- 
 izes us to acquit Virgil of the odious charge 
 brought against him, by some systematical gram- 
 marians, and ignorant commentators, especially 
 as it is supported by mere traditional tales and 
 conjectural anecdotes.* 
 
 s 
 
 Above and below Mantua, the Mincio spreads 
 into two lakes, called the Lago di Sopra, and 
 the Lago di Infra; the space between the 
 breadth of which entitles it to a similar appel- 
 lation, is called the Lago Mezzo. Virgil al- 
 ludes to this vast expanse, when in the third 
 Georgic, he promises to erect a temple to Au- 
 gustus. 
 
 Et viridi in carnpo tempi um de marmore ponara 
 Propter aquam, tardis iugens ubi flexibus errat 
 .Mincius 3 Geor. xiii. 
 
 The banks of the Mincio, above Mantua, are 
 
 See Pope's Letter to Swift on Gay's death ; letter Ixv.
 
 Ck. V. THROUGH ITALY. 22S 
 
 rather higher than below the town, and a little 
 more picturesque, particularly on the rig-lit side 
 of the river, near the Cremona road ; several 
 large farms rise on its borders, and its reeds 
 wave over them as usual, in forests. 
 
 Mantua is a large city, with spacious streets, 
 and some fine edifices. Its cathedral, built 
 nearly upon the same plan as Santa Maria 
 jMaggiore in Rome, is a very regular and beau- 
 tiful edifice. The nave consists of two rows of 
 Corinthian pillars, supporting, not arches, but 
 an architrave and cornice, with a range of win- 
 dows above, and niches in the intervals between 
 them. Another row of pillars of the same order, 
 on both sides, forms a double aisle. The choir 
 consists of a semicircular recess behind the altar. 
 Between the choir and the nave rises a very 
 noble dome, decorated with pilasters and fine 
 paintings. The transept, on the left, terminates 
 in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament, an hexa- 
 gon, with a recess for the altar, surmounted with 
 a dome, adorned with paintings and arabesques 
 in the best style, presenting, on the whole, an 
 exquisite specimen of Mantuan taste. 
 
 The day after our arrival happened to be the 
 festival of St. Anselmo, patron of Mantua. At 
 evening service, about six o'clock, the cathedral
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 was illuminated in the finest manner imaginable. 
 
 O 
 
 Double rows of lustres lighted up the nave ; the 
 aisles and arcades had as many clusters of 
 torches, as there were arches and pillars ; while 
 a thousand chandeliers suspended from the 
 dome, shed a blaze of light on the choir and 
 the altar. The music might have been deemed 
 heavenly, had it not been rather too theatrical, 
 and, like all Italian church music, performed 
 with violins; however, the organ sometimes in- 
 terposed with all its solemnity, and some bursts 
 in chorus were truly celestial. The venerable 
 old bishop presided in full pontific majesty j the 
 crowded congregation were silent, orderly, and 
 pious, and the scene, though perhaps too glaring 
 and stage-like for English taste, was splendid, 
 and even awful. The statue of the Saint was 
 as large as life, and formerly of massive silver, 
 but the French conceiving that one of wood was 
 sufficient for all the purposes of exhibition, con- 
 verted the silver to other uses. 
 
 The next, and I believe, the only remaining 
 church worth particular attention, is that of St. 
 Andrew. It is a Latin cross, without aisles, 
 with a dome in the section. It contains some 
 fine pictures, and is painted all over in a very 
 beautiful manner. Several other churches, and 
 many public buildings, such as the Corte t with 
 
 3
 
 Ck. V. THROUGH ITALY. 225 
 
 its halls; the Palazzo della Giustitia; that of 
 Gonzaga; that in the suburbs, called the Palazzo 
 de T. on account of its form, with its apart- 
 ments ; together with several private mansions, 
 merit attention. In fact, Giulio Romano, an 
 architect and painter of the first eminence, and 
 a disciple of Raphael, devoted his time and su- 
 perior talents to the embellishment of Mantua, 
 and adorned it with many a magnificent pile, 
 and many a noble painting. The house of this 
 celebrated artist is shown to strangers, and as it 
 was erected by himself, it certainly deserves to 
 be visitfd. The taste of Giulio in architecture, 
 seems to have been manly and bold ; he was fond 
 of strength and majesty ; but sometimes inclined 
 to encumber his edifices with too much mass, 
 and with too many ornaments. 
 
 Mantua can boast an antiquity superior even 
 to that of Rome, and is represented by her na- 
 tive poet, not without some historical truth, as 
 existing so early as the time of Eneas. 
 
 Ille etiain patriis agnien ciet Ocnus ab oris 
 Fatidicae Mantus et Tusci filius amnis : 
 Qui uiuros, matrisque dedit tibi, Mantua, uoinen, 
 Mantua dives avis. Mnt\d t x. 198. 
 
 Mantua shared the prosperity of Rome, under- 
 went her disasters, felt all the vicissitudes of the 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V, 
 
 middle ages, and emerged thence, like the other 
 great Italian cities, into liberty and independ- 
 ence. At length, it became subject to one of its 
 own powerful families, and acknowledged the 
 Gonzagas as Dukes and Sovereigns. This form 
 of government remained for near two hundred 
 years, when the last Duke, taking up arms 
 against the Austrian interest, was driven from 
 his states, and died an exile at Padua, in 1708. 
 
 Mantua, while free, and even under the do- 
 minion of her own dukes, enjoyed no small share 
 of riches and of prosperity. Her walls were 
 supposed to contain about fifty thousand inhabit- 
 ants. She was often engaged in wars with the 
 neighboring states, and had her full proportion 
 of victory and of honor. The arts and sciences 
 flourished in her territories, and numberless pa- 
 laces adorned her streets, her squares, and her 
 suburbs. But this golden age closed at the 
 Austrian invasion. The city was plundered, se- 
 veral of its antiquities carried off or defaced, 
 and its independence finally sacrificed to Aus- 
 trian ambition. In the late war, it had the mis- 
 fortune of undergoing twice the horrors of a 
 siege, and is now annexed to the Italian repub- 
 lic, to share its nominal independence and real 
 slavery. It must in justice be owned, that the 
 arts and sciences had not been neglected by the
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 227 
 
 Austrian government. An Imperial academy 
 was erected, a noble palace devoted to its meet- 
 ings, and a fine assemblage of antiquities col- 
 lected in its galleries. The inscription over its 
 entrance is as follows : 
 
 INGREDERE. HOSPES. ET. MIRARE. 
 QU^E. GRAECORUM. ET. ROMANORUM. 
 
 ANTIQUI. AEVI. MONUMENTA. 
 
 CVM. PRINCIPIS. TUM. CIV^IVM. MUNERE 
 
 IN. HOC. MUSEO. CONLECTA. 
 
 SPECTANDA. TIBI. EXHIBET. 
 
 VIRGILII. PATRIA. 
 
 The most interesting object in this collection, 
 was the well-known bust of Virgil, which, as 
 may be easily supposed, the Mantuans always 
 pointed out to strangers, with peculiar compla- 
 cency. It seems, that at the end of the four- 
 teenth century, a statue of Virgil stood on an 
 elevated pedestal, in the Piazza delle Erbe, when 
 Carlo Malatesta, one of the brutal chieftains of 
 the times, ignorant of every art but that of war, 
 and knowing, probably nothing of Virgil but 
 his name, in one of his triumphal processions* 
 ordered it to be thrown down, and cast into the 
 lake. The reason for this act of sacrilegious 
 violence, is characteristic both of the hero and 
 of the times. " The honor of a statue belongs/* 
 said he, " to Saints only, and ought not to be 
 
 02
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. Y. 
 
 profaned by being 1 communicated to scribblers 
 and buffoons." The bust in question is sup- 
 posed to be the head of this very statue, and, as 
 such, it was crowned with ivy by the Duke 
 Vespasian, and erected in the principal hall of 
 his palace, about the year 1580. The ivy, which 
 was real, and only covered with a fine varnish to 
 preserve it the longer, on being- touched, many 
 years after, fell into dust ; but the bust survived 
 the plunder of the ducal palace on the entrance 
 of the Austrians, and was placed in the academi- 
 cal gallery, where it remained till the year 1797. 
 The French no sooner became masters of Man- 
 tua, than they began to pillage its gallery, and 
 to pilfer its most valuable articles. Among 
 them was the bust of Virgil, which they carried 
 off, notwithstanding the intreaties of the Man- 
 tuans, while with cruel mockery, they celebrated 
 civic feasts in honor of the poet, and erected 
 plaster busts in the place of his marble statues. 
 Such is the taste of this nation, such the honors 
 it pays to the ancients ! * 
 
 * We were present at one of these exhibitions. In the 
 middle of the great square was erected an ill-proportioned 
 pillar, about ten feet high. On it was placed a plaster bust 
 of Virgil. Four lesser pillars supporting four other plaster 
 busts, joined by garlands, formed a sort of square enclo- 
 sure. Virgil's bust was crowned with laurel, and from it 
 hung garlands, extending to the other four. These gai lauds
 
 a.V. THROUGH ITALY. 229 
 
 The circumstances which I have just related 
 prove, at least, that the Mantuans have never 
 been indifferent to the memory of their cele- 
 brated countryman, as some travellers have pre- 
 tended ; and that they have not been wanting 
 in the erection of becoming monuments to his 
 honor, as often, and in as magnificent a manner, 
 as the vicissitudes of the times would allow. 
 Even during- all the rage and tempest of the 
 late war, while contending armies hovered round 
 their walls, and the roar of artillery resounded 
 in their ears, they had planned a public garden 
 at Pietole, and laid out a considerable piece of 
 ground in walks and groves, in the centre of 
 which a temple was to rise, and a statue to be 
 erected, in honor of the immortal poet. Thus 
 they would have accomplished the grand design 
 so finely unfolded in the third Georgic, adorned 
 the classic Mincio with a fabric becorning its 
 fame, and bestowed, with more propriety, on the 
 acknowledged virtues of their countryman, the 
 honors which he intended, with a flattery par- 
 donable because the result of gratitude, for the 
 
 or festoons, instead of banging loose, and waving gracefully 
 in the air, were drawn tight, and were consequently, as mo- 
 tionless as ropes. Around this ridiculous pageant, the 
 French troops drew up, and paraded. The inhabitants 
 f eemed purposely to keep aloof. 
 1
 
 230 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. V. 
 
 very equivocal merit of Augustus. But the 
 second siege of Mantua put an end to this pro- 
 ject ; the gates were thrown down, the en^ 
 closures torn up, the plantations destroyed, and 
 the whole scene of rural beauty and poetical 
 illusion was stained with blood, and abandoned 
 to devastation, 
 
 On the twenty-third of March, we took leave 
 of Mantua, extremely well pleased with the 
 g-eneral appearance of the town, and convinced, 
 that it is far more flourishing at present, than 
 it seems to have been in ancient days. In extent 
 it is considerable, not insignificant in population, 
 and in magnificence equal to most cities ; cir- 
 cumstances, which place it far above the epithet 
 of parva, applied to it by Martial. 
 
 Tantuni magna suo debet Verona Catulla 
 Quantum parva suo Mantua Virgilio.* 
 
 * The following lines, addressed to Mantua, in the day 
 of its glory, are not inapplicable to it, even in its present 
 humiliation and distress : 
 
 Felix Mantua, civitatuui ocelle, 
 Quam Mars Palladi certat usque & usque 
 Claram reddere gentibus, probisque 
 Ornare ingeniis virorum, <fe arrais ! ~h 
 2
 
 Ch. V. THROUGH ITALY. 231 
 
 The road to Cremona, for some miles, borders 
 on the Mincio, and runs close to its reedy banks, 
 as long as it forms the Lago de Sopra, that is, 
 till it turns northward, as it comes down from the 
 
 hills of Borghetto. As the road is formed on 
 the ancient Via Posthumia, it is strait and even, 
 runs through several large villages, or rather 
 little towns, and traverses a tract of country 
 intersected by various streams and luxuriantly 
 fertile. 
 
 Te frugum facilis, potensque rerum 
 Tell us, te celebrem facit virente 
 Qui ripa, calamisque flexuosus 
 Leni fluminc Mincius susurrat, 
 Et qui te lacus intrat, advenisque 
 Dites mercibus invehit carinas. 
 Quid palatia culta, quid deorum 
 Templa, quid raemorem vias, & urbis 
 Moles nubibus arduis propinquas 1 
 Pax securaloco, quiesque nullis 
 Turbata exsiliis, frequensque rerum 
 Semper copia, & artiutn bonaruui. 
 Felix Mantua, centiesque felix, 
 Tantis Mantua dotibus beata. 
 
 M. Ant, Flamin. Car. Lib. i. 30.
 
 232 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Cremona River Addua Placentia the Trebia 
 Parma Reggio Modena its Library, 
 and celebrated Librarians Muratori, Tira- 
 boschi, fyc. 
 
 v^REMONA deriv r es some degree of import- 
 ance from the well-known verse of Virgil, 
 
 Mantua vae miserae oimium vicina Cremona?. Eclog. ix. 28. 
 
 And from the accurate observation of Tacitus. 
 
 Hunc exitum Cremona habuit bellis 
 
 externis intacta, civilibus infelix. In fact, these 
 few words contain the whole history of this 
 city, which, being founded by one of the Celtic 
 tribes that occupied the northern parts of Italy, 
 was colonized and fortified by the Romans, 
 about the commencement of the second Punic 
 war, as a rampart against the approaching at- 
 tack of Annibal. The strength of its walls, 
 or the courage of its inhabitants, preserved it 
 from the fury of this formidable invader, and it 
 went on increasing in numbers, size, and opu- 
 lence, till by its attachment to the cause of the
 
 a. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 senate, and of liberty, it drew down upon itself 
 the vengeance of the Triumvirs, and incurred 
 forfeiture and confiscation.* Its fidelity to Vi- 
 tellius, or its mistaken prudence calculating on 
 the supposed superiority of his interest, exposed 
 it to the rage of Vespasian's partisans, who 
 besieged, took, plundered, and reduced it to 
 a heap of ashes. Shortly after it rose from its 
 ruins; but rose to experience the disasters of 
 war and of revolution, and to share the long 1 
 and painful agonies of the expiring, empire. 
 However, it survived all its reverses, and after 
 having been the prey of Goths and of Loin- 
 bards, of French and of Germans ; after having 1 
 enjoyed a precarious liberty, and then borne the 
 light yoke of the sovereigns of Milan ; it is, for 
 the present, annexed to that sickly abortion 
 of French influence misnamed the Italian Re- 
 public. 
 
 Cremona is a large and well-built city, adorned 
 with many noble edifices, and advantageously 
 situated on the northern bank of the Po. Its 
 cathedral, of Gothic, or rather mixed architec- 
 
 * The consequences of this confiscation reached the 
 Mantuan territory, and occasioned, as is well known, the 
 flight and the fame of Virgil.
 
 234 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 ture, was begun in the year 1107, and continued 
 at different periods, but not completely finished 
 till the fourteenth century. It is faced with 
 white and red marble, and highly ornamented 
 though in a singular and fanciful style. It 
 contains several beautiful altars and fine paint- 
 ings. One chapel in particular merits at- 
 tention. It is that which is set apart for the 
 preservation of the relics of the primitive martyrs. 
 Its decorations are simple and chaste, its colors 
 soft and pleasing. The ashes of the " sainted 
 dead" repose in urns and sarcophagi placed in 
 niches in the wall regularly disposed on each 
 side of the chapel, after the manner of the ancient 
 Roman sepulchres. It is small, but its propor- 
 tions, form, and furniture are so appropriate 
 and so well combined, that they produce a very 
 beautiful and perfect Whole. The Baptistery, 
 which, according to the ancient manner still 
 preserved in many of the great towns of Italy, 
 is a separate building near the cathedral, con- 
 tains in the centre a font of curious form and 
 workmanship, cut out of one immense block of 
 party-colored marble. The tower is of great 
 height and of singular architecture. The view 
 from it is extensive, taking in the town with its 
 streets; the roads that cross the country in strait 
 lines in various directions ; the Po winding along 
 almost close to the walls, and intersecting the
 
 Ch. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 235 
 
 immense plain of the Milanese ; the Alps to 
 the north, and the Apennines to the south-west, 
 both covered with snow and occasionally half 
 veiled with passing clouds. Such was the pros- 
 pect we beheld from the top of the Torazzo. 
 The public palace, for so the town-hall is not 
 improperly called in Italy, and most of the 
 churches, but particularly that of St. Pietro al 
 Po, are worthy the attention of the traveller ; 
 since, with several objects which correct taste 
 must blame, they contain many which it will 
 admire. 
 
 Cremona has produced her proportion of 
 o-enius and of talent, both in ancient and mo- 
 
 O ' 
 
 dern times, but among all her sons, none have 
 contributed more to her reputation than Marcus 
 Hieronymus Vida, the first poet of the second 
 Augustan age of Roman literature, and some- 
 times not undeservedly styled by his admirers, 
 the Christian Virgil. Every reader is acquaint- 
 ed with the poetical tribute which Pope has paid 
 to his memory, in his Essay on Criticism ; and 
 all, who peruse Vida's works, will acknowledge 
 that the compliment is not misplaced. But 
 literary excellence was neither the sole, nor the 
 principal merit of Vida: piety and purity of 
 morals unsullied even by suspicion, graced his 
 early years, and a zealous discharge of every
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 episcopal duty employed him from the middle to 
 the close of life. He was buried in his cathedral 
 at Alba, and a cenotaph is said to have been 
 erected to his honor in the Duomo at Cremona ; 
 though we endeavored in vain to discover it, I 
 
 o 
 
 shall conclude this account with some verses 
 taken from a hymn of this poet, which, with 
 the passage of Tacitus inserted above, will 
 suffice to give the reader some notion both of 
 the history and of the territory of Cremona. 
 The verses are addressed to our Blessed Saviour, 
 and express a Christian sentiment in the purest 
 language of Heathen poetry. 
 
 Turn vcri, Graium obiiti tnendacia, vates 
 Funera per gcntes referent tua, carmine verso 
 Atque tuis omnes resonabuut laudibus urbes. 
 Prsesertim lictam Italire felicis ad orain, 
 Addua ubi vagus, et muscoso Serius amne 
 Purior electro tortoque simillimus angui; 
 Qua rex fluviorum Eridanus se turbidus infert, 
 Moenia turrigerje stringens male tuta Cremonae, 
 lit sibi jam tectis vix temperet unda caducis. 
 
 Christiados vi. 885 89ft . 
 
 If the reader wishes to see the history of Cre- 
 mona, the beauties of its district, and the achieve- 
 ments and talents of its inhabitants, set off in 
 the most splendid colors of partial eloquence, he 
 may read the pleadings or Actiones tres attri- 
 buted to this author, and supposed to have been 
 pronounced before competent judges at Milan,
 
 Ch> VI. THROUGH ITALY. 237 
 
 on a question of precedency between Cremona 
 and Pavia. 
 
 From Cremona, to the fortress of Pizziyhitone, 
 are two short stages. We there passed the 
 Addua, on a flying bridge. This river is re- 
 presented, by Claudian, as remarkable for the 
 cerulean tints of its waves, and is united to the 
 Tesino, in a very pretty verse. 
 
 Colla lavant pulcher Ticinus et Addua visa 
 Ccerulus. 
 
 The country continues populous and fertile, but 
 displays more forest wood. Castiglione, with 
 various little towns and villages, appears rich 
 and beautiful. Thence the roads were deep 
 and bad, owing to the late inundations. Towards 
 sunset we arrived at the Po, and passing it on, 
 a flying bridge, entered Placentia, March 23d. 
 
 Placentia was built and colonized by the 
 Romans, about two hundred and eighteen years 
 before Christ, and, not long after, served as an 
 asylum to the Roman army when defeated by 
 Annibal, at the Trebia. It was afterwards 
 assaulted by that Carthaginian, but in vain ; 
 and like Cremona, was destined to suffer more 
 from the madness of citizens, than from the fury 
 of invaders. More fortunate however than the
 
 238 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 latter, though attacked by a party of Vitellians, 
 it resisted with success, and in the bloody con- 
 test, had only to lament the loss of its amphi- 
 theatre remarkable (it seems) for its capacious- 
 ness and architecture. This edifice, like that of 
 Verona, stood without the walls, and was of 
 course exposed to the fury of the assailants. It 
 seems to have been principally of wood, as it 
 was consumed by fire, a circumstance which, in 
 our ideas, must take away much of its pretended 
 splendor: but, whatever were its materials, its 
 extent was at that time unequalled ; and it stood 
 the pride of Placentia, and the envy of the neigh- 
 boring- cities. It was set on fire when Csecina 
 assaulted the town, either by chance, which is 
 more probable, or perhaps, as the Placentians 
 suspected, by the malice of some incendiaries, 
 who took advantage of the confusion of the 
 
 
 
 contest, and was reduced to ashes. It perished, 
 however, at a fortunate period, and with all its 
 glory around it; for, had it survived only a few- 
 years, its fame would have been eclipsed by the 
 splendor and by the magnificence of the gigantic 
 Coliseum. 
 
 Placentia, after having frequently changed 
 masters, was annexed to Parma, and remained 
 so till the expulsion of the late duke, when, with 
 the whole of its territory it was occupied by the
 
 Ch. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 239 
 
 French. It is a large and well-built city. Its 
 cathedral is Saxon : the town-house, with some 
 other public building's in the great square, are 
 Gothic. Several churches, particularly that of 
 St. Afjostino, are of fine Roman architecture, 
 and some adorned with paintings of great cele- 
 brity. The square is ornamented with two 
 brass equestrian statues ; one of the celebrated 
 Alexander Farnese, the other, of his brother 
 Ranuccio: they are much admired, particularly 
 the former, for attitude, animation, and drapery. 
 Many of the convents, some of which are now 
 suppressed, seem to have been magnificent. 
 
 The neighborhood of Placentia is, perhaps, 
 more interesting than the town itself, as it has 
 been the theatre of many bloody engagements. 
 The first, and most remarkable, occurred shortly 
 after the foundation of the city, about three 
 miles from it, and its scene lies on the banks of 
 the Trebia. We visited the spot, with Livy as 
 our guide, and I need not add, that we found 
 his description extremely accurate. It must 
 indeed be observed, in justice to the great 
 writers of antiquity, that their pictures so re- 
 semble the objects which they are intended to 
 represent, that a traveller might imagine they 
 had always been sketched on the spot itself, and 
 in the very heat of action. The banks, though
 
 210 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 low, are yet sufficiently elevated, in a military 
 sense, not indeed at the very confluence of the 
 two rivers, the Po and the Trebia ; but a little 
 higher up the latter, where the battle took place, 
 the stream is wide enough to form a line of 
 defence, and yet shallow enough to be in many 
 places fordable. Its sides, particularly on the 
 right as you ascend the stream, where Mago lay 
 in ambush, are still covered with reeds and 
 brush- wood. After these observations, merely 
 applying the present scenery to the historian's 
 description, the reader need but open Livy, and 
 he will become a spectator of the action so bloody 
 and disastrous to the Romans. 
 
 But the banks of the Trebia have been the 
 theatre of more contests than one, nor is the 
 last-mentioned, though, without doubt, the most 
 illustrious, either the most bloody or the most 
 decisive. It is well known that a memorable 
 battle between the French and the Russians, 
 under the command of Marshal Swvarrorv, was 
 fought on the same spot, and was attended with 
 more important consequences. It is said to have 
 lasted two days, and to have been supported 
 with the utmost obstinacy on both sides. The 
 Russians, who advanced with their usual firm- 
 ness and impetuosity, were thrice driven back 
 in dismay : at length the Marshal, with the
 
 Ch. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 241 
 
 looks and the voice of a Fury, led them on to a 
 fourth attack, when they rushed into the bed of 
 the river, and with horrible shouts and screams, 
 fell once more upon the enemy. Resistance was 
 now overpowered ; the French fled in confusion ; 
 the banks were strewed with bodies, and the 
 fields covered with fugitives. The consequence 
 of this victory was the immediate deliverance of 
 Italy from the insolence and the rapacity of the 
 French armies ; a deliverance which, instead of 
 being- a mere interval of repose, would perhaps 
 have been the commencement of a long- era of 
 
 O 
 
 tranquillity, had the same spirit continued to 
 animate the armies, and the same union pre- 
 vailed in the cabinets of the confederates. But 
 this battle, however bloody and important, will 
 pass unnoticed, in the long register of contests 
 between different tribes of invading- barbarians ; 
 perhaps the very names of the generals may 
 sink into oblivion, with the leaders of the Goths 
 and of the Vandals, of the Huns and of the 
 Lombards : while the " Battle of Trebia" will 
 live for ever in the pages of Livy, the names of 
 Annibal and of Mago, of Scipio and of Sem- 
 pronius, recorded both by the historian and by 
 the poet, will continue to delight the youthful 
 reader, and a thousand generations will con- 
 template with emotion, 
 
 Cannas et Trebiam ante oculos, Thrasimenaque busta. 
 
 Sil. Ital. lib. xi. 345. 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.Vl. 
 
 From Placentia we proceeded to Parma, on the 
 Via Emilia. This road was made by Marcus 
 Emilius Lepidus, about one hundred and eighty- 
 seven years before the Christian sera; it has been 
 kept in good repair, and is still excellent. We 
 crossed over several rivers, and passed through 
 some pretty towns. These rivers generally retain 
 their ancient name with little variation, and de- 
 scending from the Apennines, fall into the neigh- 
 boring Po. The principal are the Chiavenna, the 
 Ongina, the Stivona, and the Taro. Among 
 the towns, Fiorenzuala, anciently Florentiala, 
 and S. Donnino, deserve most attention. At or 
 near the latter (once Fidentiola) Sylla defeated 
 the Marian general Carbo, and dispersed or ut- 
 terly destroyed his army. About twelve miles 
 to the south of Fiorenzuala, once stood the town 
 of Velleia ruined by the sudden fall of part of the 
 neighboring mountain, about the end of the 
 fourth century. Several excavations were made 
 amongst the ruins, in 1760, and the four follow- 
 ing years; but the difficulty of penetrating through 
 the vast masses of rock that cover the town, was 
 so great, that the work was suspended, and I 
 believe never since renewed. This want of spirit, 
 or of perseverance, is much to be regretted, as 
 few enterprises promise so fairly, or seem so likely 
 to reward the labor. The dreadful catastrophe 
 is supposed to have been sudden, and the inha- 
 bitants, with their furniture and property were
 
 Ch. VI. THKOUGH ITALY. 243 
 
 buried in one tremendous crash: it is therefore 
 highly probable, that more medals, coins, and 
 books, may be found here than in Herculaneum, 
 where gradual ruin gave time to remove the most 
 precious and portable effects. Besides the latter 
 town, with Pompeii, and the various cities that 
 studded the Neapolitan coast, were Greek co- 
 lonies, and appear to have paid but little atten- 
 tion to Latin literature ; while Velleia was en- 
 tirely Roman, and some of its citizens must have 
 possessed tolerable collections of Latin authors. 
 It would not, therefore, be unreasonable to ex- 
 pect, if the excavations were pushed on with 
 vigor and with discernment, the discovery of 
 some, if not of several Latin manuscripts. But 
 such undertakings require opulence and leisure, 
 and are not to be expected in the present impo- 
 verished and distracted state of Italy. 
 
 The country, as the traveller advances, im- 
 proves in beauty, and, if not in fertility (for that 
 seems scarcely possible) at least in the neatness 
 and in the order of cultivation. The Apennines 
 advancing at every step present their bold forms 
 to vary the dulness of the plain; hedges, and neat 
 enclosures mark the different farms; elms in long 
 rows garlanded with vines separate the fields; and 
 villages, each with a magnincent church, enliven 
 the road at every mile. 
 
 R2
 
 244 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 Parma stands on a river of the same name : it 
 was founded by the Etrurians, taken by the Boii, 
 a tribe of Gauls, and, at length, colonized by the 
 Romans. It is said to have suffered much from 
 the licentious cruelty of Antony, and its sufferings, 
 on this occasion, are pathetically deplored and 
 immortalized by Cicero in his fourteenth Phi- 
 lippic, the last tribute which he paid to Rome 
 and to liberty. During the disastrous period that 
 elapsed between the reigns of Theodosius and of 
 Charlemagne, it was taken and retaken by the 
 Goths and by the Romans, by the Lombards and 
 by the Greek Exarchs, till it was given by Char- 
 lemagne to the Holy See ; and, after a succession 
 of ages and of changes, it was at length bestowed 
 by Paul III. on his son Ottavio Farnese. On the 
 extinction of this family in the middle of the last 
 century, it passed to a Prince of Spain ; and, on 
 the death of the last Duke, it was taken possession 
 of by the French, and is now pining away under 
 the influence of their iron domination. 
 
 Parma is large, populous, airy and clean, 
 though it cannot boast of any very striking or re- 
 gular building. The cathedral is Saxon, but 
 lined in the interior with Roman architecture; its 
 dome is much admired for the beautiful painting 
 with which it was adorned by Correggio. The 
 baptistery is an octagon, in the same style as the
 
 Ch.Vl. THROUGH ITALY. 245 
 
 cathedra], cased with marble, and ornamented 
 with various arches and galleries. The Steccata 
 is the most regular church in Parma ; it is in the 
 form of a Greek cross, and not without beauty. 
 The church of the Capuchins is remarkable only 
 for being- the burial place of the celebrated 
 Alexander Farnese, who, in consequence of his 
 own directions, lies interred, distinguished from 
 the vulgar dead only by the following epitaph: 
 
 D. <X M. 
 ALEXANDER FARNESIUS 
 
 BELGIS DEVICTIS 
 
 FRANCISQUE OBSIDIONE LEVATIS 
 
 UTHUMILI HOC LOCO EJUS CAD AVER DEPONERETUR 
 
 MANDAVIT. 4 NON: DECEMB: MDXCII. 
 
 The palace is large, but irregular ; the library 
 is well furnished : it contains the Academia de 
 Belle Arti, in which there is a noble hall adorned 
 with excellent paintings, and with several ancient 
 statues found in the ruins of Valleia. In this 
 hall, during the happier aera of Parma, the 
 Prince used to preside over the assembled acade- 
 micians, and to distribute prizes in the various 
 arts. In the same palace is the celebrated theatre 
 magnificent in its size, its proportions, its form, 
 and its decorations. It is modelled on the ancient 
 plan, like the Olympic theatre at Vicenza, and 
 like it but on a greater scale, adorned with pillars, 
 colonnades, and statues. Unfortunately, either
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 in consequence of the many revolutions of late 
 years, or on account of the difficulty of filling-, 
 and the expence of repairing, furnishing', and 
 lighting up such a vast edifice, this theatre per- 
 haps the noblest in the world, has been so long 
 and so much neglected, that it will probably soon 
 sink into a heap of ruins, and remain only in the 
 plans of artists, and in the descriptions of tra- 
 vellers. 
 
 But the principal ornament of Parma, and its 
 pride and glory, were the numberless master- 
 pieces of Correggio, with which its churches, 
 palaces, and public halls were once adorned. 
 This celebrated artist, born in a village near 
 Modena, and of course not far from Parma, has 
 spread the enchantments of his pencil over all 
 the great towns that bordered on the place of his 
 nativity, and seems to have exerted his wonderful 
 powers, in a particular manner, for the decoration 
 of this city. Parmeggiani and Lanfranco, two 
 other painters of high reputation, were natives 
 of Parma, and contributed not a little to the 
 /embellishment of its churches and palaces; so 
 that no city in Italy, if we except Rome, pre- 
 sented more attractions to the artist, or furnished 
 more delightful entertainment to the traveller of 
 taste. But, alas ! such were the decorations and 
 the glory of Parma. The French, though in
 
 a. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 peace with the sovereign of this unfortunate city, 
 in their late wide-wasting progress, entered its 
 walls, raised heavy contributions on its inhabi- 
 tants, and stripped it of its best and most valuable 
 ornaments its unrivalled paintings. Many, 
 without doubt, still remain, because painted on 
 walls and ceilings, and therefore attached to the 
 spot ; but the masterpieces are gone, and the in- 
 dignant Parmensians can only show the traveller 
 the place where they once were. 
 
 The arts and sciences were by no means neg- 
 lected in Parma. An university, two academies, 
 schools of painting, &c. announce the applica- 
 tion, and a long catalogue of great names might 
 be produced to prove the success, of the Parmen- 
 sians in every literary pursuit. The Dukes have, 
 for many years past been the active patrons of 
 literature, and by their judicious encouragement 
 attracted strangers of talents to their territories. 
 Among these we may rank the Abbate Frugoni, 
 a Genoese, and the Abb Condillac, a French- 
 man ; the former a poet of great reputation, and 
 next in fame to Metastasw ; the latter preceptor 
 to the Prince, and author of a well known 
 " Course of Education." The royal press of 
 Parma was established in the year 1765: it is 
 conducted by Bodoni, and has produced several 
 beautiful editions, Greek, Latin, and Italian, to- 
 
 5
 
 248 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. VI. 
 
 gether with various works in the Oriental 
 languages. 
 
 The public walk on the ramparts is extremely 
 pleasing. The country round is well wooded, 
 and the town and territory of Parma seemed to 
 have been in a flourishing state till the entrance 
 of the French army. Since that fatal period, its 
 prosperity has been on the decline, its government 
 unsettled, its inhabitants impoverished and discon- 
 tented. The contributions raised by the French 
 amounted to five millions of French livres : a sum 
 enormous for so small a territory, and equalling 
 two years of its regular income. 
 
 Petrarca resided some years at Parma, or in its 
 neighborhood, and seems to have been delighted 
 with the beauty of the country, with the generous 
 spirit of its princes, and with the open manly man- 
 ners of its inhabitants. To the honor of their 
 descendants, it may be added, that notwithstand- 
 ing the lapse of ages, the change of government, 
 and the galling pressure of recent revolutions, 
 these qualities are said to be still perceptible. 
 
 Two stages from Parma the traveller arrives 
 at Forum Lepidi Regium, now called Reggio, an 
 ancient Roman colony, destroyed by Alaric, and 
 rebuilt by Charlemagne. The cathedral, the
 
 C7*. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 249 
 
 church of S. Prospero, and that of the Augustin- 
 friars, together with the Town-house, and the 
 Porta Nuova, are considered as deserving some 
 attention. It possesses no antiquities. However, 
 the traveller will visit it with some respect, as the 
 country of Ariosto the copious, the -fantastic 
 Ariosto ! 
 
 Two more stages brought us to Modena (Mu- 
 tina) lately the capital of a dukedom, now a de- 
 pendence on the will of Bonaparte. Though an 
 ancient Roman colony, called by Cicero, " firmis- 
 sima et splendidissima Colonia," it presents no 
 traces of antiquity ; it has been the scene of so 
 many bloody contests, has been so often destroyed, 
 and has so often risen from its ruins, that not 
 cvily no vestige of its former splendor remains at 
 present, but it is even uncertain whether it occu- 
 pies the same site as the ancient city. But what- 
 ever might have been its strength and magnifi- 
 cence in ancient times, they have been probably 
 far surpassed by its present (I should rather have 
 said its late) prosperity. It is a well built town, 
 its streets are wide, and several of its public edi- 
 fices have a noble appearance. Its cathedral is 
 Gothic, and like most of its churches, rather in- 
 ferior to the expectation naturally excited by the 
 general features of the town. The ducal palace 
 is of vast size ; and though built in a German,
 
 230 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 that is, in a heavy and fanciful style of archi- 
 tecture, is on the whole rather magnificent. It 
 contains several handsome apartments, and, what 
 still more merits the attention of travellers, a 
 gallery of paintings, a noble library, and a nu- 
 merous and curious collection of sketches, by the 
 first masters, of prints, of medals, and of 
 Cameos.* 
 
 The arts and sciences, particularly the latter, 
 have long flourished at Modena, under the foster- 
 ing care of its Princes of the house of Este, a 
 family so much and so justly celebrated by Tasso 
 and Ariosto, for its generous feelings and its noble 
 munificence. " Tu Magnanimo Alfonso," says 
 the former to a Prince of this line, his patron, 
 
 Tu Magnanimo Alfonso, il qual ritogli 
 Al furor di fortuna, e guidi in porto 
 Me peregrine errante, e fra gli scogli 
 E fra I'onde agitato e quasi assorto ; 
 Queste mie carte in lieta fronte accot^li 
 Che quasi in voto a te sacrate i' porto. 
 
 Gierus. Lib. Canto 1. 4. 
 
 The latter, in a less poetical, but equally grate- 
 ful style, expresses his obligations to the same 
 
 * This latter collection has either been removed or 
 plundered by the French.
 
 Oh.VI. THROUGH ITALY. 251 
 
 family, and enlarges upon its heroical qualities 
 and its prospects of glory.* Under such en- 
 couragement, it is not wonderful that genius 
 should flourish, and that men of learning should 
 flock from all quarters, to enjoy the advantages 
 of such liberal patronage. 
 
 Among the illustrious personages who have 
 done honor to Modena, by their virtues and 
 talents, one of the earliest, and if the good qua- 
 lities of the heart give double lustre to the bril- 
 liant endowments of the head, one of the greatest 
 is Cardinal Sadoleti. This eminent prelate rose 
 to notice in the fostering sera of Leo the Tenth, 
 became intimately connected with the most con- 
 spicuous characters of that period, and shone 
 himself, with no small lustre, in the midst of its 
 brightest luminaries. In the turbulent pontifi- 
 cates that succeeded the aera of Leo, when the 
 animosities, kindled by the Reformation blazed 
 out with unquenchable fury, and every bosom 
 glowed with rage almost infernal against the op- 
 ponents of his own creed, this worthy bishop pre- 
 served the native candor of his soul, and the char 
 racteristic mildness of his sacred office. Above 
 passion and resentment, he treated the supporters 
 
 * See Orlando Furioso, Canto, 1. 3,4.
 
 252 CLASSICAL TOUR Cfc.VI. 
 
 of the new opinions with paternal tenderness, and 
 while he condemned their creed, he cherished, 
 and whenever an opportunity occurred, he pro- 
 tected their persons. " Fond to spread friend- 
 ships, and to cover hates," he made it the busi- 
 ness of his life, to diffuse his own spirit, a spirit 
 of charity, peace, and indulgence, into all around 
 him; and while he zealously endeavoured to clear 
 up. the subjects in debate, and to remove misap- 
 prehensions, he still more strenuously exerted 
 himself to calm the rage of contest, and to in- 
 fuse a milder temper into the disputants. Even 
 in these days of tranquil discussion, when a ge- 
 neral spirit of toleration seems to have gradually 
 diffused itself over the Christian world, such a 
 conciliating character if placed in an elevated 
 station, would engage our esteem and reverence; 
 but at the aera of the Reformation, that age of 
 division and madness, such gentleness, moder- 
 ation, and candor, were godlike qualities indeed. 
 
 The works of Sadoleti, consisting principally 
 of letters, addressed to the most conspicuous 
 persons of the age, are still extant : and as they 
 are drawn up in a pure and elegant style, and 
 frequently treat of subjects of great interest and 
 importance, they are equally amusing and in- 
 structive, and are calculated to give a very
 
 C/i. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 253 
 
 favorable idea of the taste, the knowledge, and 
 the piety of the author. 
 
 From the time of Sadoleti, that is from the 
 middle of the sixteenth century, down to the 
 present period, a regular succession of men 
 eminent for their talents and learning-, either 
 natives of its territory, or attracted to its walls 
 by the liberal patronage of its princes, has 
 continued to adorn Modena, and to support its 
 literary reputation. Instead of giving a long 
 and dry catalogue of names, I will mention only 
 two authors; but these of a reputation so splendid 
 as to throw a lustre on any city. One is the 
 Abbate Muratori, an Ex- Jesuit, the Duke's 
 librarian, perhaps the most learned antiquary, 
 the most inquisitive, and at the same time, the 
 most impartial historian, that the last century 
 has produced. His works consist of nearly fifty 
 volumes in folio; of these, his Annali JD' Italia, 
 are perhaps the most instructive and the most 
 entertaining. The other is the Abbate Tirabos- 
 chi, Ex- Jesuit and librarian as his predecessor 
 Muratori, and like him eminent for his pro- 
 found knowledge of history and of antiquities. 
 His principal work is a history of Italian litera- 
 ture, entitled Italia Literaria, in sixteen volumes, 
 a work replete with erudition, seasoned with
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VI. 
 
 curious anecdote, and enriched with much judi- 
 cious and amusing criticism. 
 
 In justice to the Muses of Modena, I must 
 add the name of the playful Tassoni, who in 
 his Secchia Rapita, gave Boileau and Pope, the 
 hint and the model of the Lutrin, and of the 
 Rape of the Lock; taught them to trifle with 
 the splendor of poetry without degrading it, 
 and enabled them, even on frivolous subjects, 
 to display the ease, the pliancy, and the perfec- 
 tion of their respective languages. The im- 
 portant " Bucket," celebrated in this poem, was 
 carried off from a well in one of the streets of 
 Bologna, by a party of Modenese troops, during 
 a petty war between these neighboring cities, 
 and has ever since been most carefully preserved 
 as an invaluable trophy, in a vault under the 
 great tower. 
 
 The naturalist may find some occupation in 
 the territory of Modena, by investigating the 
 nature of its wells supplied by perennial sources, 
 and uninfluenced by the state of the atmosphere, 
 as well as by inspecting its petrifactions and its 
 mineral fountains. 
 
 The Campi Macri, celebrated in opposition
 
 Ch. VI. THROUGH ITALY. 255 
 
 to their name, for their fertility, and the excellent 
 pasturag-e which they afforded to a famous breed 
 of cattle, were the plains which lie between 
 Parma and Modena, and extend beyond the latter 
 city towards Bologna.
 
 256 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Bologna, its 'University, Academies Imola 
 Faventia Forli Forlimpopoli Cesena 
 Rubicon St. Marino Rimini. 
 
 JL HE traveller, as he rolls along the Via 
 Emilia, from Modena to Bologna, amidst scenes 
 of the neatest cultivation and of the most luxu- 
 riant fertility, will recollect, that the very fields 
 which spread around him, the very country 
 which he is traversing, was the bloody theatre 
 of the last unavailing efforts of Roman liberty. 
 The interview of the Triumvirs took place in an 
 Island formed by the Rhenus, at a little distance 
 from Bologna.* As the river is small, and the 
 island observable only on examination, the tra- 
 veller generally passes without being aware of 
 the circumstance. The stream still retains its 
 ancient name, and is called the Rheno. 
 
 * This island is two miles from Bologna, three miles long, 
 and one broad ; it contains two villages, St. Viola, to the 
 south ; St. Giovanni t to the north. 
 3
 
 C/i. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 257 
 
 From Modena to Bologna, the distance is three 
 stages, about twenty-four miles : about six miles 
 from the former town is Fort Urbane, erected by 
 Urban VIII. to mark and defend the entrance 
 into the Ecclesiastical State. Bologna (Bononia 
 Felsinia) was a Roman colony, though it retains 
 few or no traces of its antiquity, and is a rich, 
 populous, extensive, and most flourishing city. 
 Its history, like that of the preceding towns, is 
 contained in a few words. First, great and 
 prosperous under its founders, then in the suc- 
 ceeding revolutions of the empire, pillaged, de- 
 stroyed, and rebuilt; sometimes enslaved, and 
 sometimes free, it underwent and survived all 
 the vicissitudes of the barbarous ages. At last, 
 after various contests with the neighboring states, 
 and with their own tyrants, the inhabitants of 
 Bologna made a voluntary submission to Pope 
 Nicolas III. in 1278, and afterwards to John 
 XXII. in 1327, which they have frequently re- 
 newed since, at different periods. 
 
 But, in this voluntary submission, the Bo- 
 lognese did not mean so much to acknowledge 
 the Pope as their direct sovereign, as to put 
 their city under his protection as liege lord : 
 '"hence, they cautiously retained the management 
 of their finances, the election of their magis- 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 25S CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. VIL 
 
 trates, and the administration of their laws; 
 that is to say, the essential forms of a republic, 
 and only employed the name and authority of 
 the Pontiff to repress the ambition of powerful 
 and factious citizens, or to awe the hostility of 
 their neighbors the Dukes of Modena, and of 
 their rivals the Venetians. Hence, they always 
 resisted every encroachment on their privileges, 
 and not unfrequently, expelled the papal legates 
 when inclined to overstrain the prerogatives of 
 their office. This guarded and conditional de- 
 pendence produced at Bologna all the advan- 
 tages that accompany liberty ; industry, com- 
 merce, plenty, population, knowledge, and re- 
 finement. 
 
 The French, in their late invasion, found, but 
 did not leave, the Bolognese in possession of 
 these blessings. They deprived their city of its 
 freedom and independence, separated it from the 
 Roman state, and annexed it to the Italian Re- 
 public, to share with it the name of a Common- 
 wealth, and, to bear, in reality, the oppressive 
 yoke of an avaricious and insulting tyrant. Mr. 
 Burke, speaking of this event, says, " The Pon- 
 tiff has seen his free fertile and happy city and 
 state of Bologna, the cradle of regenerated law, 
 the seat of sciences and of arts, the chosen spot
 
 C/i. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 25$ 
 
 of plenty and delight ; converted into a Jaco- 
 bin ferocious republic, dependent on the homi- 
 cides of France." 
 
 The streets in Bologna are narrow, and the 
 exterior of the public buildings by no means 
 proportioned to the fame and to the opulence of 
 the city. The cathedral is a modern edifice, of 
 Roman architecture, but in a bad style; the in- 
 side is light, and though it did not appear so to 
 me, is considered by several connoisseurs, as 
 beautiful. One altar, erected by the late bishop, 
 of the finest marbles, chastest decorations, and 
 best proportions, cannot fail to attract the eye 
 of the observer; it is exquisite in its kind, and 
 was, in our opinion, almost the only object in the 
 cathedral worthy of attention. 
 
 The church of St. Petronius is considered as 
 the principal church. It is Gothic, of great ex- 
 tent and antiquity, and though not beautiful, is 
 celebrated as well for several grand ceremonies, 
 which have been performed in it, such as the 
 coronation of Charles V. by Clement VII. as 
 for the meridian of the famous astronomer Cas- 
 sini, traced on its pavement. It was built about 
 the years 440 or 450, but rebuilt in a very dif- 
 ferent style in 1393, and seems still to remain, 
 in a great degree, unfinished. The prelate, its 
 
 S2
 
 260 CLASSICAL TOUR C/i. VII. 
 
 founder first, and now its patron, flourished in 
 the reign of Theodosius, and was a man of 
 great activity and general benevolence. He 
 enlarged the extent of the city, adorned it with 
 several public buildings, procured it the favor 
 and largesses of the Emperor, and, by his long 
 and unremitting exertions to promote its wel- 
 fare, seems to have a just claim to the gratitude 
 and veneration of its inhabitants. S. Salvador, 
 S. Paolo, and above all, La Madonna di S. Luca, 
 deserve a particular visit. This latter church 
 stands on a high hill, about five miles from Bo- 
 logna. It is in the form of a Greek cross, of 
 the Corinthian order, and is crowned with a 
 dome. 
 
 As the people of Bologna have a peculiar de- 
 votion to the Blessed Virgin, and crowds flock 
 from all quarters to visit this her sanctuary, for 
 their accommodation, in all seasons and in all 
 weather, a portico has been carried from the 
 gates of the city up the hill to the very entrance 
 of the temple, or rather to the square before it. 
 This immense building was raised by the volun- 
 tary contributions of persons of every class in. 
 Bologna : the richer erected one or more arches, 
 according to their means ; the middling classes 
 gave their pecuniary aid in proportion ; and the 
 poorest insisted on contributing their labor to
 
 fk. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 261 
 
 the grand undertaking. It is in reality a most 
 noble monument of public piety, and alone suf- 
 ficient to prove that the spirit and magnificence 
 of the ancient Romans still animate the modern 
 Italians, and may, in a fortunate combination of 
 circumstances, once more blaze out in all their 
 pristine glory. 
 
 The church is of a fine and well proportioned 
 form, rich in marbles, but overloaded, as we 
 imagined, with ornaments. It is needless to 
 add, that from such an elevation the view is 
 beautiful, lost on one side in the windings of the 
 neighboring Apennines, and extending on the 
 other over a plain of immense extent, and unpa- 
 ralleled population and fertility. One circum- 
 stance struck us particularly while on the hill. 
 It was the end of March, the sky was clear, and 
 the weather warm nearly as it may be on a 
 bright day in England in the month of May, so 
 warm in short, as to render the shade not only 
 pleasing, but desirable ; yet, in various parts of 
 the hill, and near the church, the snow lay deep, 
 and in vast masses likely to resist for some time, 
 the increasing warmth of the season. So great 
 is the influence of such mountains as the Alps 
 and Apennines, on the climate of the adjacent 
 countries.
 
 262 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. VII. 
 
 The two brick towers, Degli Asinelli and Dei 
 Garisendi, are deformed monuments of a bar- 
 barous age, and remarkable only for their un- 
 meaning 1 elevation and dangerous deviation from 
 the perpendicular. 
 
 Bologna is decorated with many palaces of 
 vast extent, and some few of noble architecture. 
 Among the latter is the Palazzo Ranuzzi, said 
 to be of Palladio ; also those of Lambertini, 
 Orsi, Bentivogli, Malcezzi, Campeggi, Pepoli, 
 Legnani, &c. These palaces, and indeed al- 
 most all the churches and public buildings in 
 Bologna, are ornamented with a profusion of 
 paintings, by the first masters, Guido, Gaercini, 
 the Caracci, Caravaggio, Giordano, and particu- 
 larly Albano. Of the latter artist it has been 
 said, that the Loves seem to have mixed his 
 colors, and the Graces to have fashioned his 
 forms ; such is the soft glow of his tints, such 
 the ease and the beauty of his groups and 
 figures! The greater number, and the best of 
 this celebrated artist's compositions are to be 
 seen at Bologna, and may furnish the admirer of 
 painting with many an hour's, or rather, many 
 a day's entertainment. No city has given more 
 encouragement to painting, or contributed more 
 to its perfection, than Bologna ; no one has pro-
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 2 63 
 
 duced a greater number of illustrious painters, 
 or enjoyed a higher reputation in the art, than 
 its well known school. 
 
 To perpetuate the skill and the honors of this 
 school, an academy has been established, under 
 the title of the Clementine Academy, with a 
 sufficient number of eminent professors to direct, 
 and of medals and premiums to animate and re- 
 ward the zeal of the young 1 artists. Public in- 
 structions are given gratis, models furnished, 
 accommodations supplied, and every possible en- 
 couragement afforded to attract scholars, and 
 enable them to develop and perfect their ta- 
 lents. 
 
 This excellent institution, so well calculated 
 to preserve the reputation of the school of Bo- 
 logna, originated in the beginning of the last 
 century, and has already produced several artists 
 of reputation ; among whom we may rank its 
 first president, Carlo Cignani. The halls and 
 apartments of this academy are very spacious, 
 and form part of the palace belonging to the 
 Institute di Bologna. This latter establishment 
 one of the most magnificent of the kind in Italy, 
 or perhaps in the world, occupies an immense 
 and very noble edifice, where the various arts 
 and sciences have their respective halls deco-
 
 264 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 rated in a grand style, and furnished with ap- 
 propriate apparatus. In this palace sits the Aca- 
 demy of Sciences, a singular monument of that 
 enthusiasm for knowledge, which has always 
 formed a distinctive feature in the Italian cha- 
 racter. 
 
 This Academy of high reputation in the re- 
 public of letters, owes its origin in the seven- 
 teenth century, to a noble youth of the name of 
 Eustachio Manfredi, who, at the early age of 
 sixteen, formed a literary society, and collected 
 at certain stated assemblies in his own house, all 
 the men of taste and talents in Holocjna. The 
 spirit of the founder has never abandoned the 
 academy, which still continues to enrich the 
 learned world with its productions, and to sup- 
 port the fame and the glory of its origin, 
 
 In the same palace, are a library containing 
 at least one hundred and fifty thousand volumes, 
 open to the public six days in the week ; an ob- 
 servatory furnished with an excellent astronomi- 
 cal apparatus; a -ast chemical laboratory; a 
 cabinet of natural jnstory; an experimental ca- 
 binet with all kinds of instruments for physical 
 operations; two halls of architecture, one for 
 the civil, the other for the military branches of 
 this art; a marine hall; a gallery of antiquities;
 
 Ck.VU. THROUGH ITALY. 2G5 
 
 another of statues, and a third of paintings; a 
 hall of anatomy and midwifery, celebrated for a 
 remarkable collection of wax figures, represent- 
 ing- the female form in all the stages, and in all 
 the incidents of parturition. In fine, a chapel 
 for the use of the united members of the Insti- 
 tute. Almost all these halls and apartments are 
 adorned with pictures and paintings in fresco, 
 on the walls and ceilings, and form one of the 
 most magnificent abodes ever consecrated to the 
 
 ~ 
 
 arts and sciences. I have already observed, that 
 regular instructions are given to young painters 
 in the hall of the academy; I must here add, 
 that professors attend and deliver lectures yratis, 
 at stated periods, to all students, on the different 
 arts, in their respective halls. 
 
 Bologna owes this superb establishment to one 
 of its citizens, General Count Marsiyli, who, 
 after having passed many years in the Imperial 
 service, returned to his native country, and de- 
 voted the remainder of his days, his talents, and 
 his fortune, to the propagation of the arts and 
 sciences, in its bosom. He bestowed upon the 
 city his valuable collections of every kind, and 
 by his exertions formed a society of men of the 
 first talents and reputation, in each art and 
 science, which assumed the name of the Insti- 
 tute di Bologna. To lodge this society, and
 
 266 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIL 
 
 receive the above-mentioned collections, the city 
 purchased the Palazzo Cellesi, and had it fitted 
 up in its present style combining grandeur and 
 convenience. This arrangement took place in 
 the year 1714. Since that period the Institute 
 has been enriched by the donations of several 
 illustrious persons, and particularly of Benedict 
 XIV. a pontiff of an enlightened and capacious 
 mind, who encouraged the sciences, in all parts 
 of the Roman state, but particularly in Bologna, 
 his native city. An Englishman, accustomed 
 to the rich endowments of his own country will 
 hear with astonishment, that this grand establish- 
 ment so well furnished with all the materials of 
 science, and so well supplied with professors of 
 the first abilities and reputation, does not possess 
 an annual income of seven hundred pounds a 
 year; and his surprise will increase, when it is 
 added, that the want of a larger income has 
 hitherto been abundantly supplied by the zeal and 
 the indefatigable assiduity of the governors and 
 professors. 
 
 From the Institute we naturally pass to the 
 University the glory of Bologna, and equal, if 
 not as the Bolognese pretend, superior in anti- 
 quity, and once in reputation, to the most cele- 
 brated academies in Europe. The honors, 
 titles, and privileges conferred upon it by kings
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 267 
 
 and emperors, by synods and pontiffs, the defer- 
 ence paid to its opinions, and the reverence that 
 waited upon its graduates, prove the high estima- 
 tion in which it was once held; and the names 
 of Gratian and Aldrovandus, of Maljiiyhi and 
 Guylielmini, of Ferres and Cassini, are alone 
 sufficient to shew that this high estimation was 
 not unmerited. The Scuole publiche, or halls 
 of the university, form a very noble Kuilding; 
 seventy professors are employed, and the endow- 
 ments are very considerable. The number of 
 students however is not adequate to the fame 
 and splendor of such an establishment, as it 
 scarce amounts to five hundred, while anciently 
 it exceeded twice as many thousands. The de- 
 crease here, as at Padua, is to be ascribed to 
 the multiplication of similar establishments in 
 all Christian countries. 
 
 Besides the Institute and the University, 
 two Academies of inferior lustre and celebrity 
 watch over the interests of literature, and en- 
 deavor to extend the empire of the Muses. 
 They are entitled, by a playful opposition, the 
 Inquieti and the Oziosi; and abandoning the 
 higher regions of science to the speculations of 
 their brethren of the two great seminaries of 
 learning, they range at large through the fields 
 of fancy, and amuse themselves in collecting its
 
 26S CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII, 
 
 H&wers. The youth, whom I mentioned above 
 as founder of the Academy of Sciences Eusta- 
 cfiio Munfredi, did honor to these societies, by 
 liis poetical effusions, and is ranked for tender- 
 ness and delicacy among the first Italian poets, 
 in light airy compositions. Zanotti, Scarselli, 
 Saber ti, and $anseverino, have acquired con- 
 siderable reputation in the same line. In short, 
 the two grand features of the Bolognese cha- 
 racter, are formed by the two most honorable 
 passions that can animate the human soul --the 
 love of Knowledge, and the love of Liberty; 
 passions which predominate through the whole 
 series of their history, and are justly expressed 
 en their standard, where " Libertas" blazes in 
 golden letters in the centre, while " Bononia 
 cfocet" waves in embroidery down the borders. 
 
 The fountain in the great square is much 
 celebrated, but more, I think, than it deserves. 
 The statues are good, particularly that of Nep- 
 tune \ but the figures are crowded into a space 
 HOG small for such a group, and Neptune, " the 
 earth-shaking god," armed with that trident 
 which controuls the ocean, 
 
 " Et vastas aperit svrtes et tcmperat aequor.** 
 
 seems employed to little purpose, in superiu- 
 
 1
 
 Cfu VIL THROUGH ITALY. 2G9 
 
 tending a few nymphs and dolphins squirting 
 mere threads of water from their breasts and 
 nostrils. The god should have stood upon a 
 rock, a river should have burst from under his 
 feet, and the mermaids and dolphins, instead of 
 being perched on the narrow cornice of his 
 pedestal, should have appeared sporting in the 
 waves. Such should be the attitude, and such 
 the accompaniments of the God of the Ocean ; 
 and such is the Fontana di Trevi, in Rome. 
 
 On the thirtieth of March, we set out from 
 Bologna, and still rolling along the Via Emilia, 
 through a beautiful country, arrived about two 
 o'clock at Imola, twenty miles from Bologna. 
 This neat little town stands on or near the site 
 of Forum Cornelii ruined in the wars between 
 the Greek emperors and the Longobardi. It 
 was the See of the present Pope, before his 
 elevation to the pontifical throne. It contains 
 little worth notice : its Corinthian cnthedrai was 
 never finished without, nor completely furnished 
 within, and of course scarce deserves a visit. 
 Imola has its academy called the Indusiriosi, 
 and can boast of several men of eminence in 
 literature, particularly poets ; among these, 
 Zappi and Zampieri are much esteemed for a 
 certain graceful refinement, and delicacy of sen- 
 timent and expression. Imola, though situated
 
 270 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 in the commencement of the great plain of 
 Milan, derives from the neighboring Apennines 
 a considerable portion of the beauty of moun- 
 tainous landscape, of which Monte Batailla seen 
 from the ramparts, westward, presents a strik- 
 ing instance. The river that bathes its walls, 
 has changed its Roman name Vatrenus, into the 
 more sonorous appellation of Santerno. 
 
 From Imola to Faenza (Faventia) is about 
 ten miles. This ancient town is spacious and 
 well built : its great square, with a fine range 
 of porticos on either side, and a Corinthian 
 church belonging to the Dominicans, deserve 
 attention. Its cathedral is Gothic, and not re- 
 markable. We could discover within the vici- 
 nity of this city, few traces of the pine-groves, 
 which seem anciently to have formed one of the 
 most conspicuous features of its territory. 
 
 Undique solcrs 
 Arva coronantem nutrire Faventia pinuoi. Sil. viii. 
 
 Nine miles from Faenza, beyond the river 
 Montone, anciently the Ufens, stands Forli 
 (Forum Livii) a long well-built town, with a 
 very spacious and handsome square. The cathe- 
 dral not remarkable in itself, contains a very beau- 
 tiful chapel lined with the finest marble, adorned
 
 a. vii. THROUGH ITALY. 271 
 
 with painting's, and surmounted with a well pro- 
 portioned dome. This chapel bears the title of 
 Vergine del Fuoco. The tabernacle in the 
 chapel of the sacrament, is the work of Mi- 
 c.hael Angelo. The Benedictine Abbey of St. 
 Merciiriale is a grand edifice, and deserves at- 
 tention on account of its antiquity. Forli has 
 an academy under the title of the Filargyri, 
 and has produced several men of literary merit ; 
 among* others, the Abbate Pellegrino Gaudenzi, 
 who might be styled the Italian Klopstock, if the 
 laws of euphony would allow names of such op- 
 posite sound, to be brought into contact. 
 
 From Forli to Forlimpopoli is four miles. 
 This latter town, anciently Forum Popilii, is 
 small but neat. Hence to Cesena is a distance 
 of seven miles. We arrived there late in the 
 evening. 
 
 In leaving Bologna we turned our backs upon 
 the fertile and most extensive plains of Milan, 
 and began gradually to approach the Adriatic 
 on one side, and the Apennines on the other. 
 The road, however, still continues to give the 
 traveller all the advantages of the plain, as 
 scarce an eminence rises to retard his course, 
 before he reaches Ancona; while he enjoys all
 
 272 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VlL 
 
 the beauties of a mountainous country, in the 
 hills on the right, that sometimes advance, and 
 sometimes retire/ varying their forms and land- 
 scape almost at every step. Mountains crowned 
 with towers, castles or towns, a striking feature 
 of Italian, and particularly of Apennine scenery, 
 had often attracted our attention during our 
 progress, and increasing upon us from Faenza, 
 in numher, boldness and beauty, repeatedly 
 forced on our recollection Virgil's descriptive 
 verse, 
 
 Tot congesta manu praeruptis oppida saxis. 
 
 Geo. Lib. ii. 15G. 
 
 I may add, that numberless rivers rushing from 
 the mountains, intersect the plain, and bathing 
 the time-worn walls of many an ancient town, 
 seemed to exhibit the original of the next line, 
 
 Fluminaque antiques subtcrlabentia muros. 157. 
 
 These streams, it is true, are mere rills, as most 
 rivers are in southern countries during the heats 
 of summer, and may easily deceive the super- 
 ficial traveller, who passing their dry channels 
 in that season, may very naturally suppose that 
 their sources have failed, and that the streams 
 themselves exist only in description. To this 
 mistaken notion we perhaps owe the poetical
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 273 
 
 fiction of Lucan when he represents Caesar as 
 stepping" over the unnoticed Xanthus, 
 
 Inscius in sicco serpentem pulvere rivtim 
 Transierat, qui Xanthus eral, Lib. ix. 274-5. 
 
 as well as Addison's pleasing 1 lines.* 
 
 Sometimes misguided by the tuneful throng, 
 
 I look for streams immortalized in song, 
 
 That lost in silence and oblivion lie, 
 
 (Dumb are their fountains, and their channels dry) 
 
 Yet run for ever by the muses skill, 
 
 And in the smooth description murmur still. 
 
 But when swelled by the rains in autumn, or by 
 the melting- snows in spring, these apparently 
 petty rills cover their broad channels, fill their 
 banks, and swell into considerable rivers. 
 
 Cesena retains its ancient name unaltered by 
 time or by barbarism. It is a little clean town, 
 beautifully situate at the foot of a ridge of fine 
 hills covered with villas and convents ; the 
 eminence immediately over the town is crowned 
 with a romantic old castle. Its cathedral 
 scarcely deserves notice, but its ancient bridge 
 of three vast arches merits attention. The late 
 Pope Pius VI. was born at Cesena, and with all 
 
 * Letter to Lord Halifax, 
 VOL. I. T
 
 , CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.Vll. 
 
 the partiality of a native, adorned it with various- 
 edifices, and dignified it with several privileges. 
 His countrymen, in grateful acknowledgment, 
 erected a bronze statue over the gate of the 
 Town-hall, -representing him in the usual atti- 
 tude of Popes, that is, as giving his benediction. 
 The inscription is, " Civi optimo," a style per- 
 fectly Roman, when applied to the sovereign, 
 and used only in the early periods of the monarchy, 
 while the bold spirit of republican equality still 
 breathed in a few surviving Romans. The soil 
 around the town is fertile, and was anciently 
 remarkable, as the hilly regions of Italy gene- 
 rally were, for excellent wines ; such, at least, 
 was the opinion of Pliny. Whether the vines 
 have degenerated, or their culture is neglected ; 
 or whether the defect was in our palates, I 
 know not ; but we thought the wines of Cesena 
 indifferent. 
 
 About two miles from Cesena flows a stream, 
 called the Pisatello, supposed to be the ancient 
 Rubicon. There stood on its northern bank an 
 obelisk, with the decree of the senate and Roman 
 people inscribed on its pedestal, and two other 
 inscriptions on its sides. The French destroyed 
 this obelisk. The slabs that formed the pedestal 
 lay half buried in a farm-yard, about a hundred
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 275 
 
 paces from the road, where we dug them up, 
 and placed them against the trunk of a tree. 
 
 The Pisatello like most other mountain streams, 
 is very shallow in dry weather; but its banks 
 are high in some places, and in others, its 
 channel is wide; so that it might occasionally 
 present a mass of waters considerable enough 
 to embarrass an army in its passage. Its sides 
 are shaded with poplars, and present a pretty 
 solitary scene. But it must be observed, that 
 notwithstanding the abovementioned inscrip- 
 tions, which are generally acknowledged to be 
 spurious, the name and honors of this streamlet 
 are disputed, and that the inhabitants of both 
 Savignano and Rimini, boldly maintain that 
 their respective rivers have a better title, than, 
 the Pisatdlo, to the classical appellation of the 
 Rubicon, and to the veneration of the traveller. 
 I must add, what the reader will be not a little 
 surprized to hear, that the learned are nearly as 
 much divided about the modern as about the 
 ancient name of this rivulet. 
 
 To understand the difficulties of this question, 
 he must be informed, that between Cesena and 
 Savignano, the Via Emilia is intersected by 
 three streams ; the first is about two miles from 
 Cesena ; the second, five ; and the third, eight. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 The first is commonly, I believe, called, and 
 certainly marked in the most correct maps, such 
 as that of the learned Jesuits Maire and Kosco- 
 vick, Pisatello; the second, Rugone, Rugosa, 
 Rigosa, or Urgone; the third is called Borco, 
 and bathes the walls of Savignano. These three 
 rills, before they fall into the neighboring 
 Adriatic, unite and form a considerable river 
 called the Fiumecino. In opposition to most 
 Italian writers, Cluverius maintains (and it is 
 difficult to question the accuracy of so attentive 
 and indefatigable an investigator) that the 
 former is called Rugone, that this appellation is 
 evidently a corruption of Rubicone, and that 
 the second is, properly speaking, the Pisatello. 
 However we must assert upon the authority, 
 not of maps or of books only, but of the inn- 
 keeper and the drivers, an authority perhaps 
 more decisive on such a question, that the com- 
 mon name of the first stream is now the Pisatello, 
 and that of the second the Rugone. 
 
 But notwithstanding the difference of names, 
 it is still evident, that the stream now called 
 Pisatello is a branch only of the Rubicon ; and 
 equally so, that the river which Caesar passed, 
 was not the Pisatello, or the Rugone, but that 
 which is formed by the three streams united, 
 and is now called the Fiumecino. To prove
 
 Oz.VH. THROUGH ITALY. 277 
 
 this circumstance, it is only necessary to observe, 
 that Caesar marched from Ravenna to Rimini, 
 by the direct road (for as he was in haste we 
 cannot suppose that he deviated from it) that is, 
 not by the Via Emilia, but by that which runs 
 along- the sea shore, and is called the Lower 
 Road : to this we may add, that the distance of 
 the Fiumecino at present, from Ravenna on one 
 side, and from Rimini on the other, agrees with 
 the distance ascribed to the Rubicon, from the 
 same towns in the ancient itineraries. More- 
 over, it is highly probable, or as the above- 
 mentioned learned geographer maintains, nearly 
 certain, that the ancient Via Emilia, instead of 
 passing the three streams, turned to the sea, 
 and crossed the Rubicon over a bridge, at the 
 point where the rivers unite, and which is 
 therefore called, in the itineraries, " ad Con- 
 fluenteis." Rimini, by the present road, is only 
 eighteen very short, that is, sixteen ancient 
 miles, while it was formerly twenty, from Cesena; 
 the difference evidently implies a turn in the 
 road, which could be no other than that leading 
 from Cesena to the bridge, " ad Confluenteis." 
 
 There were, therefore, two passages over the 
 Rubicon anciently, the one by the Via Emilia, 
 over a bridge, " ad Confluenteis;" the other, 
 about a mile lower down, or nearer the sea, on
 
 fiT8 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIL 
 
 the direct road from Ravenna to Rimini. This 
 latter then was the passage, and here was the 
 celebrated spot where Caesar stood, and absorbed 
 in thought suspended for a moment his own for- 
 tunes, the fate of Rome, and the destinies of 
 mankind -, here appeared the warlike phantom, 
 commissioned by the furies, to steel the bosom 
 of the relenting chief, and to hurry him on to 
 the work of destruction ; and here too, arose the 
 Genius of Rome, the awful form of the mighty 
 Parent, to restrain the fury of her rebel son, and 
 to arrest the blow levelled at justice and at 
 liberty. 
 
 Ut ventum est parvi Rubiconis ad undas 
 Ingens visa duci patriae trepidantis imago, 
 Clara per obscuram vultu maestissima noctem 
 Turrigero canos effundens vertice crines. Lucan, lib. i. 
 
 Here Caesar passed, and cast the die, that de- 
 cided the fate, not of Rome only, of her consuls, 
 of her senates, and of her armies, but of nations 
 and empires, of kingdoms and republics, that 
 then slept in embryo in the bosom of futurity. 
 
 In crossing the Rubicon, the traveller passes 
 from Cisalpine Gaul into Italy properly so called, 
 and enters the territory of the Umbri, that is 
 Umbria. This province, though it retains its 
 general name, i divided into various arbitrary
 
 Ou VII. THROUGH ITALY. 279 
 
 departments, such as the Legaz'ume d 1 Urbino, 
 Marca cV Ancona, &c. of which, as of most si- 
 milar partitions, I shall take little or no notice ; 
 because they are mere transient distinctions, 
 adapted to the particular administration of each 
 district, and vary ing- with every accidental change 
 in the system of government. A few miles from 
 Cesena \ve came within sight of the Adriatic on 
 the left, while on the right, the mountains in- 
 crease in height and in magnificence. On the 
 summit of one that rose in full view before us, 
 covered with snow and shining with ice, rose the 
 town of S. Marino, bosomed in the regions of 
 winter, and half lost in the clouds. The genius 
 of Liberty alone could have founded, and sup- 
 ported a Republic, in such a situation! 
 
 Saviynano on the Borco is a large handsome 
 town, but, I believe, contains nothing remark- 
 able. Thence to Rimini, and, indeed, to An- 
 cona, the road runs along the coast of the Adri- 
 atic, presenting such scenery as the sea on one 
 skle, and on the other the Apennines, or rather 
 their attendant mountains must naturally furnish. 
 About four miles from Savif/nano, we passed the 
 Luso (anciently Plusa) and six miles further, 
 crossing the ancient Ariminus, now the Marecchia, 
 entered Rimini (Ariminnm). The bridge over 
 which we passed, is of marble, and in the best
 
 S80 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 style of Roman architecture; it was erected in 
 the times of Augustus and Tiberius Caesar, and 
 is inscribed with their names. It consists of five 
 arches with niches for statues between, and a 
 regular cornice surmounting both arches and 
 niches. Its solidity, boldness and beauty, as 
 ^ell as the date of its erection, have led many 
 connoisseurs to conclude, that it is the work of 
 Vitruvius. The gate on the opposite side, under 
 which the traveller passes on his way to Pesaro, 
 is a triumphal arch of Augustus, of the best ma- 
 terials and noblest form. The order is Corinthian, 
 but in some respects peculiar. The barbarous 
 taste of the middle ages crowned this monument 
 of Roman grandeur with a Gothic battlement, a 
 deformity which is still allowed to exist," in media 
 luce Italice" in such an age and in such ^ 
 country. 
 
 Rimini is large and well built. In the prin- 
 cipal square is a fountain, and a statue of Paul V. 
 changed into that of St. Gaudentius by the 
 French, who, upon this occasion, seem, I know 
 not how, to have forgotten their usual propensity 
 to destruction. The cathedral had been turned 
 by them into a military hospital, and so much 
 disfigured as to be rendered unfit for public 
 worship. The church of the Dominican Friars 
 was, therefore, used for the purposes of cathedral
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 281 
 
 service. That of St. Francis, adorned with a 
 profusion of marble, deserves notice, particularly 
 as it is supposed to be the last in Italy, if \ve ex- 
 cept however the cathedral of Milan, into which 
 Gothic forms and ornaments have been admitted. 
 It was built in the year 1450, a period when the 
 latter style began to give way to the restored pro- 
 portions of Roman architecture. However, this 
 attempt to resume the graces of antiquity does 
 not seem to have succeeded, as the orders are ill 
 proportioned, and the whole edifice is clumsy and 
 whimsical. Several other churches and some 
 palaces are worthy the attention of the traveller. 
 
 The port of Rimini is much obstructed by the 
 sands swept along by the river in its descent from 
 the neighboring mountains; and though much 
 labor has been employed, and money expended, 
 in order to keep it clear, yet at present it admits 
 small vessels only ; an inconvenience incidental 
 to all ports formed by mountain torrents, when 
 they fall into the sea near their sources, and before 
 they have time to deposit the gravelly particles 
 with which they are necessarily encumbered. 
 Some fragments of marble linings and piers re- 
 main to attest the ancient magnificence of this 
 port. 
 
 Of the history of Rimini it can only be said, 
 5
 
 282 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VII. 
 
 that after having suffered in common with all the 
 other cities in Italy, the ravages of the first bar- 
 barian invaders, and bowed its neck for some 
 years under the Gothic sceptre, it was restored to 
 the empire by Belisarius, and at the fall of the 
 Exarchate was annexed once more to the Roman 
 territory, in the eighth century. Since that period, 
 though occasionally distracted by factions, and 
 sometimes enslaved by its own citizens, it has 
 never entirely dissolved the tie that binds it to the 
 parent city, nor refused to pay legal submission to 
 its pontiffs. But the most remarkable event in 
 the records of Rimini is, without doubt, that 
 which first registered its name in the page of 
 history, and still gives it a claim upon the atten- 
 tion of the traveller. Rimini was the first town 
 that beheld Caesar in arms against his country. 
 After having harangued his troops on the banks 
 of the Rubicon, and made the last appeal from 
 the laws to the sword, he rushed forward with his 
 usual rapidity, and at day-break appeared, sur- 
 rounded with his cohorts, in the forum at Rimini. 
 The untimely sound of the trumpet, the alarm 
 and confusion of the inhabitants, the threatening 
 
 ' O 
 
 aspect of Caesar, are circumstances which the 
 historian discreetly leaves to the imagination of 
 his readers; while the poet finds in them the ma. 
 tevials of sublime description :
 
 Ch. VII. THROUGH ITALY. 283 
 
 Constitit ut capto jussus deponere miles 
 Signa foro, stridor lituAm, clangorque tubarum 
 Non pia concinuit cum rauco classica cornu. 
 Rupta quies populis, stratisque excita juventus 
 
 Diripiunt sacris affixa penatibtfs arma 
 
 Ut notae fulsere aquilae, Romanaque signa, 
 Et celsus medio conspectus in agraine Caesar, 
 Piriguere metu, gelidos pavor occupat artus. 
 
 Jstc. i. 230, #c.
 
 284 CLASSICAL TOUR h. VIII. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Cattolica Pesaro Fano The Melaunts and 
 Monte Asdrubala Senegaglia Ancona, its 
 Harbor and Triumphal Arch Loretto, and 
 the Santa Casa Tollentino Ponte Delia 
 Trave. 
 
 V^LOSE to Rimini we passed the river Ansa or 
 Aprusa. Thence to Ancona, the scenery con- 
 tinues the same; the Adriatic on the left; on the 
 right, fine fertile hills covered with buildings, and 
 rising gradually in height, till they swell into the 
 ridge of the Apennines about fifteen miles south- 
 west. Among the hills, S. Marino presents to 
 the eye, a perpendicular precipice of tremendous 
 height, and of craggy aspect, and long continues 
 to form a most majestic and conspicuous feature 
 of the landscape. The first stage is Cattolica, a 
 title given to this place, because it became the 
 asylum of the orthodox prelates, who receded 
 from the council held at Rimini, when they found 
 that the Arian faction seemed likely to prevail.
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 283 
 
 Such at least is the import of an inscription in the 
 principal church, a neat edifice, with a high 
 Gothic tower opposite. The river Concha, which 
 flows a few miles from Cattoiica, on the road to 
 Rimini, is supposed, by Cluverius, to be the 
 " Crustumium rapax" of Lucan. 
 
 About ten miles from Cattoiica, is Pesaro 
 (Psaurus) a large, clean, airy towjn, with a hand- 
 some square ornamented by a noble fountain, and 
 formerly by a marble statue of Urban VIII. 
 lately destroyed by the French. Most of the 
 churches are remarkable for their paintings, and 
 some for their architecture. Among- the latter 
 
 o 
 
 are S. Giovanni, La Misericordia, and Carolo. 
 Several palaces have the same claim to attention. 
 On the whole, few towns have a handsomer or 
 more prepossessing appearance than Pesaro. The 
 bridge over the Foglia anciently the Pesaums, is 
 a very noble edifice, and though not ancient, 
 worthy of being so. 
 
 About seven miles further is Fano (Fanum 
 Fortunae) a well-built, and very handsome town. 
 One of the gates of Fano is a triumphal arch of 
 Augustus j a gallery or portico of five arcades 
 was built over it, at a later period, that is, under 
 Constantine ; the whole is, or was, Corinthian. 
 It was considerably defaced, and the upper story
 
 286 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 destroyed, by the artillery, in a contest between 
 this town and Julius II. Several pillars still lie, 
 as they seem to have fallen, on the platform above 
 the arch. On the three different cornices, there 
 are three inscriptions. The churches at Fano are 
 not inferior to those at Pesaro. The theatre was 
 a noble and commodious edifice, but has been so 
 long* neglected, that it has at present much the 
 appearance of a ruin.* 
 
 The Via Flaminia here turns from the sea to- 
 wards the Apennines, and runs along 1 the banks 
 of the Metaurns, now called the Metaro, or 
 shorter, the Metro. This river, a streamlet in 
 dry weather, must, if we may judge by its wide- 
 extended bed, and by the long bridge thrown 
 over it, form in rainy seasons a vast sheet of 
 water. Its western banks are covered with wood, 
 and increase in height and declivity as they re- 
 tire from the sea. To the east, opens a plain^ 
 bounded by gentle eminences, and contracting 
 in breadth as it runs southward, where the hills 
 
 * The Basilica annexed to the forum of Fanum was plan- 
 ned and built by Vitruvius. Would it be impossible to dis- 
 cover some traces of an edifice, which, from the account 
 which he gives of its form and proportions, seems to have 
 been of considerable magnitude and beaut*? None arenpw 
 observable. Vit. L. v. C. 1. 
 
 2
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 287 
 
 line the banks of the river. The Adriatic oc- 
 cupies the north, and to the south rise the Apen- 
 nines in irregular forms, interrupted only by the 
 steep dell, through which the river forces its pas- 
 sage. The character of boisterous rapidity, given 
 by the poets to this stream, agrees with it only 
 while rushing from the Apennines, or confined 
 within the defiles that line the base of these 
 mountains. 
 
 Veloxque Metaurus. Luoan ii. 495. 
 
 Cavis venientes montibus Umbri, 
 Hos JLsis, Sapisque lavant, rapidasque sonanti 
 Vertice contorquens undas per saxa Metaurus. 
 
 Sit. viii. 447. 
 
 The banks of this river were, as is well known, 
 the theatre of one of the most glorious and most 
 decisive victories ever obtained by the Romans, a 
 victory which saved Rome, by depriving An- 
 nibal of his long expected reinforcements, and 
 anticipated the fall of Carthage, by cutting off 
 at one stroke the strength of her armies and the 
 flower of her rising generation. 
 
 The description which Livius has given of the 
 battle of Metaurus is animated and circumstantial; 
 and though the learned seem to doubt whether it 
 
 O 
 
 be possible to ascertain the spot on which it took 
 place, may, I think, enable us to guess at it with
 
 288 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 some probability. According- to the historian, 
 both armies were encamped on or near the Sena, 
 about four miles westward of Senegaglia, or to 
 use his words, " Ad Senam castra consulis erant, 
 et quingentos inde passus Asdrubal aberat." As- 
 drubal began his retreat, " prima vigilia," that is, 
 about an hour after sunset; and after having 1 wan- 
 dered in the dark for some time, reached the 
 Metaurus, about eight miles from the Sena, and 
 there halted till break of day, when folio wing* the 
 banks from the sea towards the mountain, in order 
 to discover some place fordable, he was overtaken 
 and attacked by the Romans. The battle com- 
 menced at an early hour, for after various ma- 
 noeuvres and a most bloody contest, it was only 
 mid-day when victory decided in favor of the 
 Romans. " Et jam diei medium erat, sitisque et 
 calor hiantes, caedendos capiundosque (hostes) 
 affatim prsebebat."* Now when we consider 
 these circumstances united, that is, that the nights 
 were short, as it was summer, that after having 
 marched eight miles, the Carthaginian army be- 
 wildered themselves in the windings of the banks, 
 " per tortuosi amnis sinus flexusque errorem 
 volvens," that they halted and were overtaken 
 early in the morning, we shall conclude, that they 
 
 * T. Liv. Lib. xxvii. 48.
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 had not marched more* than eighteen miles from 
 
 O 
 
 Sena, or, in other words, that they had not 
 reached the mountains, and, of course, that the 
 battle took place in the plain, hut nearer the 
 mountains than the sea. Moreover, the left wing 
 of the Carthaginian army, formed chiefly of 
 Gauls, was covered by a hill. Round this hill, 
 when the Consul Claudius had attacked the 
 enemy in the rear, was the principal slaughter, 
 and it is highly probable that the fall of the Car- 
 thaginian general ennobled this spot, and digni- 
 fied it with the appellation of Monte Asdrubale. 
 We may therefore I think conclude, without 
 much danger of wandering widely from the 
 truth, that the round hill which still bears that 
 name, and rises south of the Metaurus, about 
 three miles from Fossombrone on the road to 
 Forli, was the scene of this memorable action. 
 It is about eighteen miles by the Via Flaminia 
 from Funo, and about fourteen from the Sena, 
 on which both armies were encamped the day 
 before. In fine, a battle in which a hundred 
 thousand combatants are engaged, covers a 
 great extent of country, and spreads over all 
 the neighboring region ; so that the banks of the 
 river, for many a mile, witnessed the rout of the 
 Carthaginians ; and the poefical prediction was 
 fully accomplished, 
 
 Multa quoque Asdrubalis fulgebit strage Metaurus. 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 Two hours brought us to the river Negola 
 (Misus), 
 
 Quo Sena relicturn 
 Gallorum a populis traxit per saecula nomen ! 
 
 for, on its banks stands Senegaglia, which took 
 its name from the Galli Senones, though colo- 
 nized by the Romans after the destruction of 
 that race. 
 
 Senegaglia is a very well built, airy, and ap- 
 parently flourishing town. The cathedral of the 
 Corinthian order was lately rebuilt, and its high 
 altar adorned with a most beautiful tabernacle, 
 by the present bishop, Cardinal Onorati, who 
 has the reputation of being a man of taste and 
 public spirit. Unfortunately for the town, his 
 means of indulging the useful propensities which 
 naturally follow such endowments, have been 
 completely annihilated by the rapacity of the 
 French, and all improvements, since the fatal 
 period of their arrival, have been totally suspended. 
 The distance from this town to Ancona is twenty- 
 four computed, twenty real miles. A little be- 
 yond Casa Frascata, at the Bocca de Fiumccino, 
 we passed the Esino, the Roman Aesis, entered 
 Picenum, and arrived late at Ancona. 
 
 \ncona retains its ancient name, supposed to
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 291 
 
 be derived from its reclining posture, and no 
 small share of its ancient prosperity, as, Venice 
 excepted, it is still the most populous and the 
 most trading- city on the shores of the Adriatic. 
 Most of the towns we have hitherto mentioned 
 were founded by various Gallic tribes. Ancona 
 boasts a nobler origin. It was built by a band 
 of Syracusan patriots who, to avoid the inso- 
 lence and lawless sway of Dionysius the tyrant, 
 abandoned their country, and settled on this 
 coast, about four hundred years before Christ. 
 It was anciently remarkable for a celebrated 
 temple of Venus, and, like Paphos and Cythera, 
 was supposed to be one of the favorite resorts of 
 the Goddess of Love and Beauty.* In reality, 
 it would be difficult to find a situation more con- 
 formable to the temper of the " Queen of smiles 
 and sports," or better adapted to health and en- 
 joyment than Ancona. Seated on the side of a 
 hill forming 1 a semicircular bay, sheltered by its 
 summit from the exhalations of the south, co- 
 vered by a bold promontory from the blasts of 
 the north, open only to the breezes of the west, 
 that wanton on the bosom of the waters which 
 bathe its feet, and surrounded by fields of inex- 
 haustible fertility, Ancona seems formed for the 
 
 * Ante domum Veneris quain Doric* sustiact Ancou. 
 ,7wr. iv. 39, 
 
 V 2
 
 292 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 abode of mirth and luxury. Hence it has been 
 remarked by travellers, that the inhabitants of 
 Ancona, and its territory, are of a more beauti- 
 ful form and fairer color than their countrymen 
 in general ; and though several invidious reasons 
 have been given to account for this flattering 
 distinction, I must add, that their morals are 
 acknowledged to be pure, and the conduct of 
 the females unimpeachable. 
 
 The Romans, aware of the advantages of this 
 port, made it their principal naval station in the 
 Adriatic, built a magnificent mole to cover the 
 harbor, and adorned it with a triumphal arch. 
 This useful aod splendid work was undertaken 
 and finished by Trajan, and to him the triumphal 
 arch is dedicated. It is still entire, though 
 stripped of its metal ornaments; the order is 
 Corinthian; the materials, Parian marble; the 
 form light, and the whole is considered as the 
 best, though not the most splendid, nor the most 
 massive model, that remains of similar edifices. 
 It was ornamented with statues, busts, and pro- 
 bably inferior decorations of bronze; but of 
 these, as I hinted above, it has been long since 
 stripped by the avarice of barbarian invaders, or 
 perhaps of ignorant and degenerate Italians. 
 From the first taking of Rome by.Alaric, that 
 is, from the total fall of the arts to their restora-
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 293 
 
 tion, it was certain ruin to an ancient edifice to 
 .retain, or to be supposed to retain, any orna- 
 ment, or even any stay of metal. Not the in- 
 ternal decorations only were torn off, but the 
 very nails pulled out, and not unfrequently stones 
 displaced, and columns overturned, to seek for 
 bronze or iron. Of this species of sacrilegious 
 plunder we find numberless instances, not only 
 in the edifice now under our consideration, but 
 in various remains of antiquity, and particularly 
 in the Pantheon and Coliseum. 
 
 Nor will this conduct appear wonderful in 
 men either by birth or by habits, and grovelling 1 
 passions, barbarians ; when in our own times, 
 and almost before our own eyes, persons of rank 
 and education have not hesitated to disfigure the 
 
 O 
 
 most ancient, and the most venerable monuments 
 of Grecian architecture, to tear the works of 
 Phidias and Praxiteles from their original posi- 
 tion, and to demolish fabrics, which time, war, 
 and barbarism, had respected during twenty cen- 
 turies. The French, whose rapacity the voice 
 of Europe has so loudly and so justly censured, 
 did not incur the guilt of dismantling ancient 
 edifices ; they spared the walls, and contented 
 themselves with statues and paintings, and evru 
 these they have collected and arranged in halls 
 and galleries, for the inspection of travellers of
 
 294 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 all nations ; while, if report does not deceive us, 
 our plunderers have ransacked the temples of 
 Greece, to sell their booty to the highest bidder, 
 or, at best, to piece the walls of some obscure 
 old mansion, with fragments of Parian marble, 
 and of Attic sculpture. 
 
 The triumphal arch has only one gateway, is 
 ornamented with four half columns on each front, 
 one at each side of the gateway, and one at each 
 angle. The marble, particularly in the front 
 towards the sea, retains its shining white ; the 
 capitals of the pillars have suffered much, and 
 lost the prominent parts of the acanthus ; how- 
 ever, on the whole, this arch may be considered 
 in high preservation. 
 
 The greatest part of the mole still remains, a 
 solid compact wall, formed of huge stones bound 
 together by iron, and rising to a considerable 
 height above the level of the sea. Close to it, 
 but much lower, is the modern mole, adorned in 
 like innnner with a triumphal arch of the Tuscan 
 order, in itself not beautiful, and when compared 
 with the Corinthian arch that stands almost im- 
 mediately over it, extremely cumbersome. The 
 architect was Vanvitelli, a name of considerable 
 repute in the architectural annals of the last cen- 
 tury ; and if we may judge from the solidity of
 
 Ck. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 295 
 
 the new mole, from the elevation of the light- 
 house that terminates it, and from the admirable 
 arrangement of the Lazaretto, he seems to have 
 merited the celebrity which he enjoyed. It is 
 difficult, however, to conceive what motives 
 could have induced him to place an arch, of so 
 mixed a composition, and so heavy a form, so 
 near to the simple and airy edifice of Trajan, 
 unless it were to display their opposite qualities 
 by the contrast, and of course to degrade and 
 vilify his own workmanship. But all modern 
 architects, not excepting- the great names of 
 Michael Angela, Bramante, and Palladia, have 
 had the fever of innovation, and more than ten 
 centuries of unsuccessful experiments have not 
 been sufficient to awaken a spirit, of diffidence, 
 and to induce them to suspect that, in deviating 
 from the models of antiquity, they have aban- 
 doned the rules of symmetry ; and, that in erect- 
 ing edifices on their own peculiar plans, they 
 have only transmitted their bad taste, in stone 
 and marble monuments, to posterity. 
 
 The cathedral of Ancona is a very ancient, 
 but a low, dark edifice. It contains nothing 
 within, and exhibits nothing without, to fix at- 
 tention. Its situation, however, compensates in 
 a great degree, its architectural defects. Placed 
 near the point of the Cumerian promontory,
 
 296 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. VIII. 
 
 elevated far above the town and the harbor, it 
 commands a most magnificent view, extending 
 along the sea coast to Pesaro and Fano on the 
 north, bounded on the west by the snow-crowned 
 Apennines, while on the east it wanders over 
 the Adriatic, and, in clear weather, rests oo the 
 distant hills of Dalmatia. We lingered on this 
 delighful spot with much satisfaction, and while 
 our eyes feasted on the varied prospect ex- 
 panded before us, we enjoyed, though it was 
 only the second of April, the freshness of the 
 gale that sprang occasionally from the sea, and 
 fanned us as we ascended the summit of the 
 promontory and the tops of the neighboring 
 mountains. 
 
 There are, however, several churches that 
 merit observation ; particularly the Agostiniani, 
 and the Giesu (of Vanvitelli) as also the Palazzo 
 della Communita, or Town-hall, and the Palaz- 
 zodei Mercanti, or Merchant' s-hall. The Popes 
 have not been wanting in their attention to the 
 prosperity of Ancona. They have made it a 
 free port, allowed liberty of conscience to per- 
 sons of all religions, improved the harbor, and 
 opened a new and very noble approach on the 
 land side. However, in commerce, activity, 
 and population, Ancona is still inferior to Leg- 
 horn, owing probably to the situation of the
 
 Ck. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 297 
 
 latter on the western coast of Italy, ia the heart 
 of the Mediterranean, and open, of course to 
 the commerce of France, Spain, Africa, and the 
 Mediterranean islands ; while the former, on 
 the Adriatic, a sea comparatively unfrequented, 
 faces Dalmatia, a country little known in the 
 commercial world, and little given to mercan- 
 tile speculation and acivity. 
 
 The general appearance of Ancona, though 
 beautiful at a distance, is, within, dark and 
 gloomy, in consequence^of the narrowness of the 
 streets, and the want of squares and of great 
 public buildings. Ancona and its neighboring 
 towns and coasts, are celebrated in the following- 
 lines of Silius Italicus : 
 
 Hie & quos pascunt scopulosae rura Numanae, 
 Et quis litoreae fumant altaria Cuprae, 
 Quique Truentinas servant cum flumine turres 
 Cernere erat : clypeata procul sub sole corusco 
 Agmina, sanguinea vibrant in uubila luce. 
 Stat Fucare colus nee Sidone vilior Ancon, 
 Murice nee Libjco. Statque hutnectata Vomano 
 Adria, & incleinens hirsuti signifer Ascli. 
 
 Sil. Ital. viii. 430, 433. 
 
 Numana is now Humana; Cupra, Le Grotte. 
 Truentium on the banks of the Tronto, unknown 
 at present. The river still bears its ancient name 
 Vomano and Ascli Ascoli.
 
 298 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIIL 
 
 The distance from Ancona to Loretto, is about 
 fourteen miles ; the road hilly, the country in 
 the highest degree fertile, and the views on 
 every side extremely beautiful. Camurano, the 
 intermediate stage, stands on a high hill, and 
 has a small but handsome church. Loretto also 
 is situate on a very bold and commanding emi- 
 nence. This town is modern, and owes its 
 existence to the Santissima Casa, and its splendor 
 to the zeal or to the policy of Sixtus Quintus. 
 It is large, well built, populous, and notwith- 
 standing its elevated site well supplied by an 
 aqueduct with water. It is surrounded with a 
 rampart, and from, that rampart commands a 
 varied and most delightful prospect on all sides. 
 To the north rise Osimo the Auximum of the 
 ancients, and Camurano, each on a lofty hill ; 
 also close to the sea, an abbey perched on the 
 summit of Monte Gomero (Cumerium promon- 
 torium); on the south, Monte Santo anciently 
 Sacrata, and Macerata; to the west, Recanati, 
 and Monte Fiore; with the Apennines rising, 
 broken, white and craggy, behind ; while to the 
 east, between two hills, the Adriatic spreads 
 its blue expanse, and brightening as it retires 
 from the shore, vanishes gradually in the white 
 fleecy clouds that border the horizon. 
 
 Every reader is acquainted with the legendary
 
 C/i. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 299 
 
 history of the Santissima Casa, or most holy 
 house; that it was the very house which the 
 Virgin Mother, with the infant Saviour and 
 
 O ' 
 
 St. Joseph, inhabited at Nazareth; that it was 
 transported by angels from Palestine, when that 
 country was totally abandoned to the infidels, 
 and was placed, first in Dalmatia, and after- 
 wards on the opposite shore in Italy, close to the 
 sea side, whence, in consequence of a quarrel 
 between two brothers, the proprietors of the 
 ground, it was removed, and finally fixed on its 
 present site. This wonderful event is said to 
 have taken place in the year 1294, and is attested 
 by the ocular evidence of some Dalmatian pea- 
 sants, the testimony of the two quarrelsome 
 brothers, and, I believe, the declaration of a 
 good old lady of the name of Laureta. Some 
 had seen it in Dalmatia, others beheld it hover- 
 ing in the air, and many had found it in the 
 morning on a spot, which they knew to have 
 been vacant the evening before. Such is, at 
 least in general, the account given at Loretto, 
 circulated all over Italy, piously admitted by 
 many holy persons, and not a little encouraged 
 by the Popes. 
 
 I need not say, however, that many men of 
 reflection in Italy, and indeed within the pre- 
 cijjcts of Loretto itself, consider this wonderful
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR CA.VIII. 
 
 story as an idle tale, or at best a pious dream, 
 conceived by a heated imagination, and circu- 
 lated among an ignorant race of peasants and 
 fishermen. They suppose the holy house to 
 have been a cottage or building long buried in 
 a pathless forest, and unnoticed in a country 
 turned almost into a desert by a succession of 
 civil wars, invasions, and revolutions, during the 
 sp^ce of ten or twelve centuries. A dream, an 
 accidental coincidence of circumstances might 
 have led one or more persons to the discovery 
 of this long forgotten edifice, and such an inci- 
 dent working on minds heated by solitude and 
 enthusiasm, might easily have produced the con- 
 viction, and propagated the belief of the wonder- 
 ful tale. 
 
 But be the origin of the holy house what it 
 may, the effect of artifice or of credulity, it gra- 
 dually attracted the attention first of the country 
 round, then of Italy at large, and at length of 
 the whole Christian world. The miracle was 
 every where heard with joy and admiration, 
 and every-where welcomed with implicit unsus- 
 pecting faith. Princes and prelates, rich and 
 poor, hastened with pious alacrity to venerate 
 the terrestrial abode of the incarnate Word, and 
 to implore the present aid and influence of his 
 Virgin Mother. Gifts and votive offerings accu* 
 1
 
 r/i. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. SOI 
 
 iiuilated ; a magnificent church was erected ; 
 gold silver and diamonds blazed round every 
 altar, and heaps of treasures loaded the shelves 
 of the sacristy ; various edifices rose round the 
 new temple, and Loretto became, as it still re- 
 mains, a large and populous city. 
 
 The church was planned by Bramante, and 
 is a very noble structure, in the form of a cross, 
 with a dome over the point of intersection. 
 Under this dome is the Santa Casa, a building 
 about thirty feet long and fourteen high, vaulted, 
 of stone rough and rather uneven. It is difficult 
 to discover the original color of the stone, as it 
 is blackened by the smoke of the numberless 
 lamps continually burning, but it is said to be of 
 a reddish grey ; the interior is divided by a 
 silver rail into two parts of unequal dimensions. 
 In the largest is an altar ; in the less, which is 
 considered as peculiarly holy, is a cedar image 
 of the blessed Virgin placed over the chimney- 
 piece. The exterior is covered with a marble 
 casing, ornamented with Corinthian pilasters 
 and sculptured pannels representing various in- 
 cidents of Gospel History. The font, the 
 Mosaics over several altars, the bronze gates 
 both of the church and of the Santa Casa, and 
 several paintings in the chapels are admired by 
 connoisseurs, and deserve a minute examination.
 
 302 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.Vlll. 
 
 The square before the church, formed princi- 
 pally of the apostolical palace the residence of 
 the bishop, and of the canons and the peniten- 
 tiaries, is in a very grand style of architecture. 
 
 The treasury was formerly a subject of admi- 
 ration and astonishment to all travellers, who 
 seemed to attempt but in vain to describe, not 
 the gold and silver only, but the gems and the 
 diamonds that glittered on every vase, and daz- 
 zled the eyes with their splendor. Long cata- 
 logues were produced of the names of Emperors, 
 Kings, Potentates and Republics, who had con- 
 tributed to augment this immense accumulation 
 of wealth with additional offerings, and some 
 surprise was expressed, that the Turk or some 
 hardy pirate tempted by the greatness of the 
 booty, and by the facility of the conquest, did 
 not assault the town, and endeavor to enrich 
 himself with the plunder. But such was the 
 supposed sanctity of the place, such the religious 
 awe that surrounded it, that even the Turks 
 themselves beheld it with veneration, and the 
 inhabitants reposed with confidence under the 
 tutelar care of the Virgin Patroness. Once, in- 
 deed, the infidels made a bold attempt to assault 
 the sanctuary of Lorotto ; but, like the Gauls 
 under Brennus presuming to attack the temple 
 of Delphi, they were repulsed by tremendous
 
 6%. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 303 
 
 storms, and struck with supernatural blindness, 
 Loretto, indeed, in latter times, as Delphi in 
 days of old, was surrounded with an invisible 
 rampart, which no mortal arm could force, and 
 no malignant daemon even venture to assail re- 
 pressed both by superior power, 
 
 motlque verenda, 
 
 Majestate loci 
 
 But Loretto has now shared the fate of Delphi ; 
 its sacred bounds have been violated, its sanc- 
 tuary forced, and its stores of treasure seized. 
 
 / 
 
 and dispersed by the daring hands of its late 
 invaders. No vestige now remains of this cele- 
 brated collection of every thing that was valu- 
 able ; rows of empty shelves, and numberless 
 cases, only afford the treasurer an opportunity of 
 enlarging on its immensity, and a tolerable pre- 
 text for cursing the banditti that plundered it. 
 " Galli," said he, " semper rapaces, crudeles, 
 barbarorum omnium Italis infestissimi :" he 
 added, in a style of compliment, " Angli, justi, 
 moderati, continentes." I hope our countrymen 
 will endeavour to verify the compliment, by their 
 conduct towards the degraded Greeks, and the 
 oppressed Italians ! 
 
 But though we condemned the sacrilegious 
 rapine of the French, we could not share the
 
 504 CLASSICAL TOUft Ch. VIII. 
 
 deep regret of the good father. Treasures buri- 
 ed in the sacristies of the churches, are as use- 
 less, ns if still slumbering- in their native mines; 
 and though they may contribute to the splendor 
 of an altar, or to the celebrity of a convent, they 
 can be considered only as withheld from the pur- 
 poses for which Providence designed them, and 
 as drawbacks upon that industry which they are 
 made to encourage. The altar ought certainly 
 to be provided with a sufficient quantity of plate 
 for the decency, and even for the splendor of 
 divine service : such was the opinion of the 
 Christian church even in the second century ; but 
 it is the duty of government not to allow it to 
 accumulate : and it is much to be lamented, that 
 the immense wealth deposited in the churches in 
 Italy, had not been employed, as anciently was 
 the custom in times of public distress, for public 
 relief. " Ad divos adeunto caste : pietatem ad- 
 liibento : opes amovento."* 
 
 The church of Loretto is a magnificent esta- 
 blishment. It consists of twenty prebendaries 
 or resident canons : twenty chaplains or minor 
 canons; and twenty penitentiaries, to hear the con- 
 fessions of the pilgrims, and to administer to them 
 
 * Cic. de Lcgibus, ii. 8.
 
 a. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 305 
 
 advice and spiritual consolation. These penitenti- 
 aries are. selected from various countries, that every 
 pilgrim may find a director, who can discoure 
 
 with him in his own language. The number of 
 pilgrims seem at present to be very small ; indeed 
 they have long ceased to be of any advantage 
 to the town, as they are generally of the lowest 
 class, beg their bread on the road, and are sup- 
 ported at the expence of the church while at 
 Loretto. We visited the fathers, and were treated 
 by them with much kindness and cordiality. 
 
 The traveller would do well, while his head- 
 quarters are at Loretto, to vist Osimo, Humana, 
 Monte Santo, and as much of the coast and 
 country southward as possible. These places 
 are all of ancient fame, and the whole region 
 around is both beautiful and classical. 
 
 From Loretto the road turns directly to Rome, 
 passes under a noble gateway, descends the hill 
 of Loretto, with an aqueduct running on the 
 left, and then rising traverses Recanati a neat 
 but deserted episcopal town. Again descending 
 it winds through a delicious plain watered by 
 the Potenza, adorned with all the beauty of cul- 
 tivation, and with all the exuberance of fertility, 
 producing corn and beans, clover and flax, vines 
 and mulberries, in profusion ; and when we pass- 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 S06 CLASSICAL TOUR CA.VIII. 
 
 ed through it, all lighted up and exhilarated by 
 the beams of a vernal evening sun. 
 
 A little beyond the post SambuchetOi and on 
 the banks of the river lie the ruins of an am- 
 phitheatre, or rather of a town, supposed by 
 some antiquaries, to have been Recina ; though 
 others conclude, from the distance of fourteen 
 miles marked by the Itineraries, between Auxi- 
 mum and Recina, that the latter stood on or near 
 the site of the modern Macerata, that is, about 
 two miles and a half farther on. 
 
 Macerata is an episcopal see, a town of some 
 population, activity, and even magnificence. 
 It is situated on a high hill, and commands an 
 extensive view of the lovely country which we 
 had traversed terminating in the distant Adriatic. 
 The gate is a sort of modern triumphal arch not 
 remarkable either for materials or for propor- 
 tion. The same beautiful scenery continues to 
 delight the traveller till he reaches Tollentino. 
 
 Tollentino an episcopal see and very ancient, 
 contains nothing remarkable. Its principal 
 church is dedicated to St. Nicolas a native saint, 
 and of course in high veneration. The bust of 
 a celebrated philosopher of the fifteenth century, 
 Philelphus, is placed over the entrance of the
 
 CA.VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 307 
 
 Town-hall ; a circumstance, which I mention 
 merely as an instance of the respect which the 
 Italians are wont to shew to the memory of 
 their great men of every description. The gate 
 towards Loretto is double, of Gothic architec- 
 ture, and of a singular form.* The situation of 
 the town is extremely pleasing, on a gentle emi- 
 nence on the banks of the Chienti, in a fertile 
 plain lined on either side with wooded hills. 
 
 A little beyond Tollentino we began to enter 
 the defiles of the Appennines ; the hills closing 
 
 * As we sat on a heap of stones contemplating the Gothic 
 structure of the gate, and its antique accompaniments, a 
 Pilgrim made his appearance under the archway. He was 
 dressed in a russet cloak, his beads hung from his girdle, 
 his hat was turned up with a scollop shell in front, his beard 
 played on his breast, and he bore in his hand a staff with 
 a gourd suspended. Never did Pilgrim appear in costume 
 more accurate, or in more appropriate scenery. With the 
 Gothic gate through which he was slowly moving, he form- 
 ed a picture of the thirteenth century. We entered into 
 conversation with him, and found that he was a German, 
 and had been, as Kings and Princes were wont to go in 
 ancient times, to the Threshold of the Apostles (ad limina 
 Apo&tolorum) and had offered up his orisons at the shrine 
 of St. Peter. He did not ask for alms, but accepted a trifle 
 with gratitude, and with an humble bow promised to re- 
 member us in his prayers, and proceeded on his journey. 
 
 X2
 
 308 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. VIII. 
 
 and swelling 1 into mountains, the river roughen- 
 ing 1 into a torrent, and the rocks breaking here 
 and there into huge precipices. The road runs 
 along- the sides of the hills, with the Chienti 
 
 O ' 
 
 rolling- below on the left. A little beyond Bel- 
 forte, a view opens over the precipice towards a 
 bridge, and presents a landscape of very bold 
 features. Belforte is an old fortress perched on 
 the side of a rock in a very menacing situation, 
 and well calculated to command the defile. A 
 village on the opposite side of the river adds not 
 a little to its picturesque appearance. 
 
 The grandeur of the scenery increased as we 
 advanced ; beyond the stage Valcimara, the 
 mountains are naked rocky and wild for some 
 miles ; on a sudden they assume a milder aspect, 
 sink in height, clothe their sides with sylvan 
 scenery, and present on their wooded summits, 
 churches castles and ruins, the usual ornaments 
 of Italian mountains. The landscape continued 
 to improve in softness and in milder beauty till 
 we arrived at Ponle de la Trave, so called from 
 a bridge over the Chienti. Here, though we 
 Ijad travelled two stages or eighteen miles only, 
 and it was still early, we determined to remain 
 during the night ; partly from a just apprehension 
 of danger in passing the steep and lonely fast- 
 nesses of Seravalle in the dark, and partly from
 
 Ch. VIII. THROUGH ITALY. 309 
 
 an unwillingness to traverse the majestic solitudes 
 of the Appennines, when incapable of enjoying 
 the prospect. The inn, it is true, was indifferent, 
 but the surrounding scenery extremely pleasing. 
 The river rolling rapidly along close to the road; 
 a convent seated in the middle of a vineyard; 
 groves waving on the sides of the hills; the 
 fields painted with the lively green of vernal 
 vegetation ; fruit-trees in full blossom on all 
 sides ; farm-houses interspersed in the groves and 
 meadows ; and broken crags surmounted with 
 churches and towers in distant perspective, 
 formed on the whole a scene, rich, varied, tran- 
 quil and exhilarating. One would imagine that 
 Addison, who travelled this road, had this deli- 
 cious valley in view, when in imitation of Virgil, 
 he exclaims, 
 
 Bear me, some God, to Baiae's gentle seats, 
 Or cover me in Umbria's green retreats ; 
 Where western gales eternally reside, 
 And all the seasons lavish all their pride : 
 Blossoms and fruits and flowers together rise, 
 And the whole year in gay confusion lies. 
 
 Letter from Italy.
 
 310 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 Passage of the Apennines Foligno Improvisa- 
 tore The Clitummis, its Temple and Vale 
 Spoleto Monte Somma Terni Falls of the 
 Velino, Addisoris opinion refuted The Nar, 
 Narni The Tiber Otricoli Civita Castel- 
 lana Monies Cimini Nepi Campagna 
 First View of Rome. 
 
 ROM Ponte de Trave, the road runs for some 
 time over a country enclosed, cultivated, and 
 wooded, with much variety; but the scenery 
 gradually roughens as you ascend the Apennines; 
 the mountains swell and close upon you, assume 
 a savage aspect, and though on the banks of the 
 river which still attends you and winds through 
 the defile, yet the scenery is rocky, naked, and 
 barren. Sera Valle is in a deep dell, where the 
 river rolls tumbling along shaded by oaks, pop- 
 lars, and vines. A rocky mountain rises imme- 
 diately to the west of the town. From its foot 
 close to the road, through various crevices gushes
 
 Cfc.lX. THROUGH ITALY. 311 
 
 a vast source of the purest water, which may 
 justly be considered as one of the heads of the 
 Potentia. On the steep side of the hill stands an 
 old ruined Gothic castle, whose fortifications run 
 in different compartments, down to the road side. 
 In the nearest is an aperture in a vault formed 
 over a large and deep spring 1 . This rocky 
 mountain appears to be avast reservoir of waters, 
 as a little higher up towards the summit, about 
 one hundred yards from the first source of the 
 river Potentia, another bursts out at the bottom 
 of a cavern finely shaded with bushes, shrubs, and 
 fruit trees. 
 
 A little farther on, you enter a plain spreading 
 in the midst of the Apennines, whose summits 
 rise in various shapes around, and form a ma- 
 jestic amphitheatre. It is not however to be un- 
 derstood, that the summits to which I allude, 
 are the highest points of the whole ridge : this is 
 not true, as the pinnacles of the Apennines are 
 covered with snow almost all the year, while the 
 mountains which we passed over, only exhibited 
 a few detached sheets of snow, and were in ge- 
 neral green. I mean therefore that above Sera- 
 voile, you reach the highest point of the mountains 
 that intersect the Via Flaminia, and the road 
 from Aneona to Rome. On the sides of the 
 mountains you see villages and cottages, the 
 5
 
 312 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 greatest part of which look bleak and miserable, 
 and in the midst of the plain, graze numerous 
 flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle. There is, 
 however, an appearance of loneliness about the 
 place, that excites in the traveller's mind, ideas 
 of danger, which are considerably increased by 
 accounts of murders and robberies said to have 
 been committed in this remote region. 
 
 While we were gliding over this elevated plain, 
 with silence and dreariness around us, I began 
 to reflect on the descriptions which the ancient 
 poets have left us of the Apennines, a ridge of 
 mountains which the Romans beheld with fond- 
 ness and veneration, as contributing so much both 
 to the beauty and to the security of their country. 
 In reality, they had reason to thank Providence 
 for having placed such a tremendous barrier be- 
 tween them and their victorious enemy, after the 
 disastrous engagement on the banks of the Trebia. 
 The attempt of Annibal to pass the Apennines, 
 is eloquently described by Titus Livius:* upon 
 that occasion one would suppose that the Genius 
 of Rome, enveloped in tempests, and armed with 
 thunder, had stood on the summit to arrest the 
 invader : '* Turn ver6 ingenti sono coelum stre- 
 
 * Liv. xxi. 58.
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 313 
 
 pere et inter horrendos fragores micare ignes." 
 After repeated, but useless exertions, Annibal 
 returned to the plain, and Rome had time to arm 
 her youth and to call forth all her energies, to meet 
 the approaching 1 tempest. 
 
 Lucan, in his description of the Apennines, in- 
 dulges as usual his vein of hyperbolical exagger- 
 ation ; but as he is accurate in his representation 
 of the bearing of this immense ridge, and of the 
 rivers that roll from its sides, it may not be amiss 
 to insert his lines. 
 
 Mons inter geminas medius se porrigit undas 
 Inferni, superique maris : collesque coercent 
 Hinc Tyrrhena vado frangentes aequora Pisae, 
 Illinc Dalmaticis obnoxia fluctibus Ancon. 
 Fontibus hie vastis immensos concipit amnes, 
 Fluminaque in geroini spargit divortia ponti. 
 In la?vum cecidere latus veloxque Metaurus, 
 Crustumiumque rapax, et junctus Isapis Isauro, 
 Semnaque, et Adriacas qui verberat Aufidus undas : 
 Quoque magis nullutu tellus se solvit in amnem, 
 Eridanus, fractasque evolvit in aequora silvas. . . . 
 Dexteriora petens mentis declivia Tybrim 
 Unda facit, Rutubamque cavum ; delabitur inde 
 Vulturnusque celer, nocturnaeque editor aurae 
 Sarnus, et umbrosae Liris per regna Maricae 
 Vestinis impulsus aquis, radensque Salerni 
 Culta Siler, nullasque vado quiMacra moratus 
 Alnos, vicinae procurrit in aequora Lunae. 
 Loogior educto qua surgit in ae'ra dorso,
 
 314 CLASSICAL TOUR a. IX. 
 
 Gallica rura videt, devexasque excipit Alpes 
 Tune Umbris Marsisque ferax, domitusque Sabello 
 Vomere, piniferis amplexus rupibus omues 
 Indigenas Latii populos, non deserit ante 
 Hesperiani, quam cum Scyllais clauditur undis, 
 Extenditque suas in tenipla Lacinia rupes. 
 
 Lib. ii. 
 
 This poet delighted in details, and loved to dis- 
 play his knowledge, whether connected with his 
 subject or not. Others have been more correct, 
 and have selected such particular features only as 
 suited the circumstance. Thus Petronius Arbiter 
 alludes merely to height, as an extensive view 
 only was requisite for the Fury, whom he re- 
 presents as perched upon its summit. 
 
 Haec ut Cocyti tenebras, & Tartara liquit, 
 Alta petit gradiens iuga nobilis Apennini, 
 Unde omnes terras, atque omnia littora posset 
 Adspicere, ac toto fluitantes orbe catervas. 
 
 Silius Italicus enlarges upon the deep expanse of 
 driven snow, and the vast sheets of solid ice, 
 which when Annibal attempted the passage, 
 buried the forests, and wrapped up the pinnacles 
 of the Apennines in impenetrable winter. 
 
 Horrebat glacie saxa inter lubrica, sum mo 
 Pinif eruru coelo miscens caput Apenninus ; 
 Condiderat nix alta trabes et vertice celso 
 Canus apes structu surgebat ad astra pruina. 
 
 Sil.Ital.lx. 141.
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 315 
 
 In fine, Virgil, whose masterly hand generally 
 gives a perfect picture in a single line, to close one 
 of his noblest comparisons with the grandest 
 image, presents the Apennine in all its glory, 
 with its evergreen forests waving on its sides, and 
 a veil of snow thrown over its majestic summit. 
 
 Quantus Athos aut quantus Eryx, aut ipse, coruscis 
 Cum frerait ilicibus, quaatus, gaudetque nivali 
 Vertice se attollens pater Apenninus ad auras. 
 
 Fir. xii. 701. 
 
 On quitting the plain you wind along the 
 mountain with a lake on your right, and passing 
 an eminence, begin to descend the declivity of 
 Colfiorito represented more dangerous than it 
 really is, because, though the precipice be steep 
 and abrupt, the road is good, and winding along 
 the side of the hill descends on an easy slope. 
 Throug'h the deep dell that borders the road, a 
 streamlet murmurs along, and gradually increas- 
 ing becomes a river, which, in the plain below, 
 falls into the Clitumnus. The little post of Case 
 nouve forms the first stage of the descent, which 
 continues with little or no intermission to the 
 neighborhood of Foligno. About three miles 
 from this town, the mountains open and give the 
 traveller a delightful view through the deep 
 wooded defile into the adjoining vale, a view,
 
 316 CLASSICAL TOUR Cft.IX, 
 
 which, when we passed, was considerably im- 
 proved by the splendid coloring of the evening- 
 sun. 
 
 At the village situate in the dell below amidst 
 woods and rocks, the river pent up between the 
 closing crag, works its way through several little 
 chasms, and tumbles in seven or eight cascades 
 down the steep through tufts of box and ilex, 
 amidst houses and fragments of rocks inter- 
 mingled, into the plain below, where turning 
 two or three mills as it passes, it hurries along to 
 join the neighboring Clitumnus. 
 
 I should advise the traveller to alight, order his 
 carriage to wait for him at the foot of the hill, 
 and going down to the village, visit a very curious 
 grotto formed by the waters while conBned within 
 the caverns of the mountain. It is entirely under 
 ground, may be about five-and-twenty feet high, 
 is hollowed into several little niches supported by 
 stalactite pillars, and ornamented on all sides 
 with natural fretwork. He may then pass through 
 the rows of olive trees that cover the opposite 
 rocks, observe the singular situation of the village 
 between two mountains, one of naked rock, the 
 other covered with brush- wood -, examine as he 
 descends, the picturesque effect of the several 
 hills bursting through masses of wall and verdure,
 
 CA.IX. THROUGH ITALY. 317 
 
 and then he may follow the road that runs along 
 the foot of the hill, and mount his carriage within 
 a mile of Foligno. 
 
 While at supper, we were amused by the ap- 
 pearance of an Improvisatore, who, after having 
 sung an ode of his own composition in honor of 
 England, poured forth his unpremeditated verse 
 with great harmony of tones, strength of voice, 
 and rapidity of utterance. He asked for a sub- 
 ject, and we gave the prosperity of Italy, which 
 he enlarged upon with some enthusiasm, asking 
 emphatically at the conclusion of each stanza, 
 how Italy, open as it was to two barbarous 
 nations, such as the French and the Germans, 
 could ever expect prosperity ? His extemporary 
 effusions generally ended in the praises of Eng- 
 land; and, after some bumpers and a suitable 
 present, he retired with much apparent satis- 
 faction. These characters, in their wandering 
 habits, precarious mode of living, and interested 
 exertions, so much like the bards of ancient days, 
 have, it is said, decreased in number since the 
 French invasion, owing partly to the depression 
 of the national spirit, and partly to the poverty 
 of their former patrons, and to the absence of 
 wealthy foreigners. The exhibition was perfectly 
 new to us, and while we enjoyed it, we could not 
 but agree that such an ease and versatility of
 
 318 CLASSICAL TOUR a. IX. 
 
 talent, might if properly managed, be directed 
 to very great and very useful purposes. 
 
 Foligno the ancient Fulginia, though a large, 
 is yet a very indifferent town. Its cathedral un- 
 finished without, is neat within, of handsome Ionic, 
 and contains two pretty side altars. In reality, 
 there are few Italian churches which do not pre- 
 sent something interesting to an attentive tra- 
 veller, so generally is taste diffused over this 
 classic country. But the situation of Foligno 
 compensates all its internal defects. At the foot 
 of the Apennines, in a delightful plain that winds 
 between the mountains, extending ten miles in 
 breadth and about forty in length, adorned with 
 rows of vines, corn fields, and villages, it enjoys 
 the breezes and the wild scenery of the mountains 
 with the luxuriance and the warmth of the valley. 
 This its site, is alluded to by Silius. 
 
 patuloque jacens sine moenibus arvo 
 Fulginia. Sil. viii. 
 
 About three miles distant rises Bevayna, the 
 ancient Mevania ; and through the same valley 
 the Clitumnus rolls his " sacred streams," and 
 glories in the beauty and fertility of his banks. 
 At Foligno, the traveller from Loretto again re- 
 enters the Via Flaminia.
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 319 
 
 The first stage from Foligno terminates at a 
 place called Le Vene. Almost close to the post- 
 house on the northern side, rises on a steep bank 
 an ancient temple; and a little to the south of it, 
 from various narrow vents or veins, gushes out a 
 most plentiful stream of clear limpid water, form- 
 ing one of the sources of the Clitumnus. From 
 these sources the place takes its name, and the 
 temple on the bank was once sacred to the river- 
 god, under the appellation of Jupiter Clitumnus. 
 The younger Pliny has given a lively and ac- 
 curate description of this fountain, which the 
 reader will prefer, no doubt, to the best modern 
 picture. 
 
 C. Plinius Romano Suo. S. 
 
 " Vidistine aliquando, Clitumnum fonteni ? Si nondum 
 (et puto nondum alioqui narrasses mihi) vide : quern ego, 
 poenitet tarditatis, proximo vidi. Modicus collis assurgit, 
 antiqua cupressu nemorosus ct opacus : hunc subter fons 
 exit, et exprimitur pluribus venis, sed imparibus, eluctatus- 
 que facit gurgitem, qui lato gremio patescit purus et vi- 
 treus, ut numerare jactas stipes et relucentes calculos possis. 
 Inde, noH loci devexitate, sed ipsa sui copia et quasi pondere 
 impellitur. Fons adhuc, et jam amplissimum flumen atque 
 etiam navium patiens, quas obvias quoque et contrario nisu 
 in diversa tendentes, transmittit et perfert : adeo validus ut 
 ilia qua properat, ipse tanquam per solum planum remis non 
 adjuvetur: idem aegerrime remis contisque superetur adversus. 
 Jucundum utrumque per jocum ludumque fluitantibus, ut 
 flexerint cursum, laborem ocio, ocium labore variare. Ripae
 
 320 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 fraxino inulta, multa populo vestiuntur: quas perspicuus 
 amnis, velut mersas viridi imagine annuruerat. Rigor aquae 
 certaverit nivibus, nee color cedit. Adjacet templum pris- 
 cum et religiosura. Stat Clitumnus ipse amictus, ornatusque 
 praetexta. Praesens nunien atque etiam fatidicum, indicant 
 sortes. Sparsa sunt circa sacella complura, totidemque Dei 
 simulacra : sua cuique veneratio, suum nunien : quibusdam 
 vero etiam fontes. Nam praeter ilium, quasi parentem caete- 
 rorum, sunt minores capite discreti ; sed flumini miscentur, 
 quod ponte transmittitur. Is terminus sacri profanique. In 
 superiore parte navigare tantum, infra etiam natare con- 
 cessum. Balineum Hispellates, quibus ilium locum Divus 
 Augustus dono cltclit, publice pnvbent et hospitium. Nee 
 desuut villae, qua; secutie fluminis amaenitatem, margini insis- 
 tunt. In sumina, nihil erit, ex quo non capias voluptatem. 
 Nam studebis quoque, et leges multa multorum omnibus co- 
 lumnis, omnibus parietibus inscripta, quibus fons ille Deusque 
 celebratur. Plura laudabis, nonntilla ridebis, quanquam tu 
 vero, qua- tua humanitas, nulla ridebis. Vale." 
 
 C. Plin. Lib. viii. Epist. 8. 
 
 Some changes have however taken place, not 
 indeed in the great features of nature, but in 
 those ornamental parts which are under the in- 
 fluence of cultivation. The ancient cypresses 
 that shaded the hill, the ash and the poplar that 
 hung over the river, have fallen long since, and 
 have been replaced by mulberries, vines, and 
 olives, less beautiful but more productive. The 
 sacred grove has not been spared ; the little chapels 
 have disappeared, and the statue of the god has 
 yielded its place to the triumphant cross. This 
 
 3
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 321 
 
 circumstance is rather fortunate, as to it the tem- 
 ple owes its preservation. 
 
 This temple consists of the cella and a Corin- 
 thian portico, supported by four pillars and two 
 pilasters ; the pilasters are fluted ; two of the 
 pillars are indented with two spiral lines wind- 
 ing round, and two ornamented with a light 
 sculpture representing the scales of fish. The in- 
 scription on the freize is singular, "Dens ange- 
 lorum, qui fecit remrrectionem" Underneath 
 is a vault or crypta : the entrance is on the side as 
 the portico hangs over the river ; the walls are 
 solid, the proportions beautiful, and the whole 
 worthy of the Romans, to whom it is ascribed. 
 I am however inclined to think, that the portico 
 has been altered or repaired since the construction 
 of the temple, as it is more ornamented than the 
 general form of the edifice would induce us to ex- 
 pect. Besides, the capitals of the pilasters differ 
 from those of the pillars, a circumstance very un- 
 usual in Roman architecture. It is not impro- 
 bable, that this temple suffered considerably before 
 it was converted into a Christian church, and that 
 when repaired for that purpose, the ancient pil- 
 lars, perhaps thrown into the river, might have 
 been replaced by columns from the ruins of the 
 various other fanes, which, as Pliny informs 
 us, were interspersed up and down the sacred 
 VOL. i. v
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 grove, around the residence of the principal di- 
 vinity. 
 
 The Clitumnus still retains its ancient name, 
 and recalls to the traveller's recollection many 
 a pleasing passage in the poets, connecting the 
 beauty of the scenery about him with the pomps 
 of a triumph, and transporting him from the 
 tranquil banks of the rural stream to the crowds 
 of the Forum, and to the majestic temples of the 
 Capitol. 
 
 Hinc albi, Clitmnne, greges et maxima taurus 
 Victima, saepe tuo perfusi flumine sacro 
 Romanes ad templa Defrm fluxere triumphos. 
 
 Vir. Geo. ii. 146. 
 
 Propertius confines his softer muse to the beauty 
 of the scenery, and seems to repose with com- 
 placency on the shaded bank, 
 
 Qua formosa suo Clitumnus fiumina luco 
 
 Integit et niveos abluit unda boves. Lib. ii. 17. 
 
 Though white herds are still seen wandering 
 over the rich plain watered by this river, yet a 
 very small portion of it is employed in pasturage . 
 Its exuberant fertility is better calculated for 
 tillage, and every year sees it successively co- 
 vered with wheat, grapes, mulberries, and olives.
 
 Cft. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 523 
 
 From Le Vcm to Spokto is about nine miles. 
 The ancient town of Spoletum is situated on the 
 side and summit of a hill. It is well known 
 that Annibal attacked this town immediately 
 after the defeat of the Romans at Thrasimenus, 
 and the inhabitants still glory in having repulsed 
 the Carthaginian general, flushed as he was with 
 conquest, and confident of success. An inscrip- 
 tion over the great arch of an ancient gate com- 
 memorates this event so honorable to the people of 
 Spokto. 
 
 I have observed, as I have already hinted, with 
 great satisfaction, not only in Spokto, but in 
 many Italian towns, particularly such as were 
 founded by Roman colonies, a vivid recollection 
 of the glory of their ancestors. Notwithstanding 
 the lapse of so many ages, notwithstanding so 
 many cruel and destructive invasions, though 
 insulted and plundered, and almost enslaved, the 
 Italians remember with generous pride, that th / 
 Romans were their ancestors, and cherish '& e 
 records of their glorious achievements, as ar i in- 
 heritance of honor, a birth-right to fame. Un- 
 happy race ! it is the only possession whir ^ their 
 invaders cannot wrest from them " Maneant 
 meliora nepotes!'' Two other gates se em, by 
 their form and materials, to have sor ne claim to
 
 324 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 antiquity. Some vast masses of stone, forming 
 the* piers of a bridge, the ruins of a theatre, and 
 of a temple, said to be dedicated to Concord 
 (though the latter scarce exhibit enough to consti- 
 tute even a ruin) as being Roman, deserve a 
 passing look. 
 
 The cathedral, in a commanding situation, 
 presents a front of five Gothic arches, supported 
 by Grecian pillars, and within, consists of a Latin 
 cross, with a double range of pillars, of neat and 
 pleasing architecture. The order is Corinthian. 
 The two side altars are uncommonly beautiful. 
 Two vast candelabra, near the high altar, deserve 
 attention. The view from the terrace of the 
 cathedral is very extensive and beautiful. Near 
 it, a very fine fountain of an elegant form 
 pours out, though near the summit of a high hill, 
 a torrent of the purest water. The Roman 
 pontiffs, it must be acknowledged, have, in this 
 i\ aspect, retained the sound maxim of antiquity, 
 anc^ endeavored to unite the useful and the agree- 
 able. Never have I seen water employed to 
 more . Advantage, or poured forth in greater abun- 
 dance than in the Roman territories. It is 
 sometimt >s drawn from distant sources, some- 
 times coli ^ected from various springs gathered 
 into one ci Hannel, and always devoted to public 
 purposes.
 
 a. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 325 
 
 The castle is a monument of barbarous an- 
 tiquity, built by Theodoric, destroyed during the 
 Gothic war, and repaired by Narses, the riv:il 
 and successor of Belisarius. It is a vast stone 
 building, surrounded by a stone rampart, stand- 
 ing on a high hill that overlooks the town, but 
 as it is commanded by another hill still higher, it 
 loses at present much of its utility in case of 
 an attack. Behind the castle, a celebrated aque- 
 duct, supported by arches of an astonishing ele- 
 vation, runs across a deep dell, and unites the 
 town by a bridge, to the noble hill that rises be- 
 hind it, called Monte Luco. This hill is covered 
 with evergreen oaks, and adorned by the white 
 cells of a tribe of hermits established on its shaded 
 sides. These hermits are of a very different 
 description from most others who bear the 
 name. They are not bound by vows, nor teased 
 with little petty observances ; and notwith- 
 standing this kind of independence, they are 
 said to lead very pure and exemplary lives. 
 The aqueduct is Roman, but said to have 
 been repaired by the Goths. The town of 
 Spoleto is in general well-built, and though oc- 
 casionally damaged by earthquakes, as we were 
 informed by various inscriptions on the public 
 buildings, yet it possesses many noble edifices 
 and beautiful palaces.
 
 356 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 The road from Spuleto is bordered by a stream 
 on the left, and by wooded hills on the right- 
 About two miles from the town we began to 
 ascend the Somma. The road is excellent, and 
 winds up the steep, without presenting any thing 
 particularly interesting, till you reach the summit, 
 whence you enjoy a delightful and extensive view 
 over Spoleto, and the vale of Clitumnus on one side, 
 and on the other towards Tend, and the plains of 
 the Nar. Monte Somma is supposed to have taken 
 its name from a temple of Jupiter Summanus 
 placed on its summit, is near five thousand feet 
 high, fertile, shaded with the olive, the ilex, and 
 various forest trees, well cultivated, and enlivened 
 with several little towns. The descent is long 
 and rapid, and extends to the stage next to 
 Term. 
 
 This ancient town, the Interamna of the Ro- 
 mans, retains no traces of its former splendor, if 
 it ever was splendid, though it may boast of 
 some tolerable palaces, and, what is superior to 
 all palaces, a charming situation. The mins of 
 the amphitheatre in the episcopal garden consist 
 of one deep dark vault, and scarcely merit a 
 visit. Over the gate is an inscription, informing 
 the traveller that this colony gave birth to 
 Tacitus the historian, and to the emperors Ta-
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 327 
 
 citus and Florian ; few country towns can boast 
 of three such natives. 
 
 The principal glory of Term, and indeed one 
 of the noblest objects of the kind in the world, 
 is the celebrated cascade in its neighborhood, 
 railed the " Caduta ddle Marmore" To enjoy 
 all the beauties of this magnificent fall, it will 
 be proper first to take a view of it from the side 
 of the hill beyond the Nar. The way to it runs 
 through the valley along the Nar, sometimes 
 overshaded by the superincumbent mountain with 
 its groves of pine, ilex, and beech, rustling above, 
 and at every turn exhibiting new scenery of 
 rocks, woods, and waters. At length you climb 
 the steep shaggy sides of the hill, and, from a 
 natural platform, behold the cascade opposite. 
 This point enables you to see, with much advan- 
 tage, the second fall, when the river bursting 
 from the basin into which it was first precipi- 
 tated, tumbles over a ridge of broken rocks in 
 various sheets half veiled in spray and foam. 
 Hence are taken most of the views hitherto pub- 
 lished, and when We visited it, we found two 
 Roman artists employed on the spot. If the 
 contemplation of this scene for ever shifting to 
 tke eye, should be found tiresome, the remainder 
 of the day may be spent very agreeably in tra- 
 versing the surrounding wood??, and exploring
 
 328 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 the vale of the Nar and its enclosing mountains. 
 The second day must be devoted to the exa- 
 mination of the cascade from above, and the 
 excursion commenced from the earliest dawn. 
 Mules, or one horse^ chairs, are commonly hired, 
 though, if the weather be cool, and the traveller 
 a good walker, it may easily be performed on 
 foot. 
 
 The upper road to the Caduta crosses a plain 
 varied with olives, vines, and corn fields, and 
 climbs the mountain through a defile, whose 
 sides are clad with vines below, and with box 
 and ilex above. Through the dell, the Nar, 
 " sulfurea albus aquct" of a wheyish color, tum- 
 bles foaming along his rocky channel. In the 
 centre of the defile rises an insulated eminence, 
 topped with the ruins of the village of Papignia 
 destroyed by the French. 
 
 Ascending still higher, you come to an angle, 
 where the road is worked through the rock, 
 and forming, a very elevated terrace, gives you 
 u view of Term and its plain ; of the dell below 
 with the Nar ; of the mountains around with 
 their woods; and of the Vellno itself, at a con- 
 siderable distance, just bursting from the shade, 
 and throwing itself down the steep. The road 
 continues along the precipice, then crosses
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 3S9 
 
 a small plain bounded by high mountains, when 
 you quit it, and follow a pathway that brings 
 you to a shed, placed on the point of a hill just 
 opposite to the cascade, and so near it, that you 
 are occasionally covered with its spray. 
 
 Here we sat down, and observed the magnifi- 
 cent phenomenon at leisure. At a little distance 
 beyond the cascade, rise two hills of a fine swell- 
 ing form, covered with groves of ilex. The 
 Vtlmo passes near one of these hills, and sud- 
 denly tumbling over a ridge of broken rock, 
 rushes headlong down in one vast sheet, and in 
 three streamlets. The precipice is of brown 
 rock ; its sides are smooth and naked ; it forms 
 a semicircle, crowned with wood on the right, 
 and on the left it rises steep, and feathered with 
 evergreens. On the one side, it ascends in 
 broken ridges, and on the other, sinks gradually 
 away, and subsides in a narrow valley, through 
 which the Nar glides gently along till its junc- 
 tion with the Veltno, after which it rolls through 
 the dell in boisterous agitation. The artificial 
 bed of the Velino is straight, but before it 
 reaches it, it wanders through a fertile plain 
 spread between the mountains, and extending 
 to the lake Pie de Lugo. 
 
 This beautiful expanse of Avater, about a mile
 
 330 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 in breadth, fills the defile, and meanders between 
 the mountains for some miles. The way to it 
 from the fall, is by a path winding along the 
 foot of the mountain, and leading to a cottage, 
 where you may take a boat, and cross to a bold 
 promontory opposite. There, seated in the 
 shade, you may enjoy the view of the waters, 
 of the bordering mountains, of the towns perched 
 en their sides, the village Pie de Lugo, and 
 rising behind it the old castle of Labro, whose 
 dismantled towers crown a regular hill, while its 
 shattered walls run in long lines down the de- 
 clivity. We were here entertained with an 
 echo the most articulate, the most retentive, and 
 the most musical I ever heard, repeating even a 
 whole verse of a song, in a softer and more 
 plaintive tone indeed, but with surprising pre- 
 cision and distinctness. We sat for some time 
 on the point of the promontory, partly to enjoy 
 the view, and partly to listen to the strains of 
 this invisible songstress, and then crossed the 
 lake to the village now called Pie di Luco, or 
 " ad Pedes Luci." This name is probably de- 
 rived from a grove which formerly covered the 
 hill, and was sacred to Velinia, the goddess who 
 presided orer the " Lacus Velinus." Around 
 and above the lake are the " Rosea rura Velini," 
 so celebrated for their dews and fertility, and al- 
 ways so interesting for their variety and beauty.
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 331 
 
 We would willingly have followed the banks 
 of the Veiino up to its source, and visited Reate, 
 now Rieti, with its vale of Tempe, alluded to 
 by Cicero ; but the day was on the decline, and 
 it would have been imprudent to have allowed 
 ourselves to be benighted, either amid the soli- 
 tudes of the mountain, or on its declivity. We 
 therefore returned, again visited the cascade, 
 ranged through a variety of natural grottos and 
 caverns, formed in its neighborhood by the water, 
 before the present spacious bed was opened to 
 receive it ; and then descending the hill we 
 hastened to Terni.* 
 
 After having minutely examined the scenery 
 of this superb waterfall, I cannot but wonder 
 that Addis on should have selected it as a proper 
 gulph to receive the Fury Alecto, and transmit 
 her to the infernal regions. The wood-crowned 
 
 * The first artificial Tent of the Velinus on record was 
 made by the consul Curios Dentatus, hut it did not fully 
 answer the purpose. The Velinus still continued to in- 
 undate the vale of Reate, and occasioned, in Cicero's time, 
 several legal contests between the Inhabitants of that city 
 and those of Interamaa, who opposed its full discharge into 
 the Nar. The present bed was opened, or at least enlarged, 
 by the late Pope Pius the Sixth, and srive* the river a free 
 passage down the
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 basin of rock that ^receives the Velimis ; the 
 silver sheet of water descending from above; 
 the white spray that rises below, and conceals 
 the becrets of the abyss ; the Iris that plays over 
 the watery cavern, and covers it with a party- 
 coloured blaze, are all features of uncommon 
 beauty, and better adapted to the watery pa- 
 laces of the Naiads of the neighboring rivers, 
 
 Centum quse sylvas, centum quae fluniina servant. 
 
 Fir. Geo. iv. 383. 
 
 Addison's conjecture is founded upon one parti- 
 cular expression, " Est locus Italiae rnedio," and 
 two verses in Virgil's description : 
 
 Urget utrimque latus nenaoris, medioque fragosus 
 Dat sonitum saxis et torto vertice torrens. 
 
 JEn. Lib. vii. 5(56. 
 
 But the first expression may merely imply that 
 Amsanctus was at a distance from the coasts, 
 and extremities of Italy ; and the description 
 contained in the verses may be applied to any 
 wood, and to the roar and agitation of any 
 torrent ; while, if intended to represent the thun- 
 der of the falling Velinus, they convey, what 
 Virgil's descriptions are seldom supposed to do, 
 a very faint idea of their object. Besides, in op- 
 position to these critical conjectures, we have 
 the positive authority of the ancients, and par-
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 333 
 
 ticularly of Cicero and Titus Livius, who inform 
 us in plain terms, that the vale or lake of Am- 
 sanctus was in the territories of the Hirpini, 
 which lay on and along the Apennines, to the 
 south of Beneventum, and about twenty-five or 
 thirty miles east of Naples.* In that territory, * 
 not far from Friento, a lake even now bears the 
 name of Ansanto, and emits a vapor, or rather 
 throws up in the middle a torrent of sulphur, 
 " torfo vertice" and if we may credit travellers, 
 agrees in every respect with Virgil's descrip- 
 tion.-^ However, I cannot close these remarks 
 better, than by inserting the verses of Virgil, 
 which actually allude to the river in question, and 
 to the neighboring Nar, as they give the charac- 
 teristic features in the usual grand manner of the 
 poet. The Fury, says Virgil, 
 
 Tartaream intendit vocetn: qua protinus omne 
 Contremuit nemus, et sylvae intonuere profundae. 
 Audiit et Trivise longe lacus, audiit amnis 
 Sulfure Nar albus aqu, fontesque Velini. 
 
 Mn. vii. 514. 
 
 The Nar now called the Nera, is the southern 
 boundary of Umbria, and traverses, in its way 
 to Narni about nine miles distant, a vale of 
 
 * Cic. De Div. i. f See Swinburne.
 
 334 CAASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX. 
 
 most delightful appearance. The Apennine, 
 in its mildest form, " coruscis ilicibus fremens" 
 bounds this plain ; the milky Nar intersects it, 
 and fertility equal to that of the neighboring 
 vale of Clitumnus, compressed into a smaller 
 space, and of course placed more immediately 
 within the reach of observation, adorns it on all 
 sides with vegetation and beauty ; so that it re- 
 sembles a noble and extensive park, the ap- 
 pendage of some princely palace, laid out and 
 cultivated to please the eye, and to amuse the 
 fancy. 
 
 The ancient Roman colony of Narni stands 
 on the summit of a very high and steep hill, 
 whose sides are clothed with olives, and whose 
 base is washed by the Nera. At the foot of 
 the hill we alighted, in order to visit the cele- 
 brated bridge of Augustus. This noble row of 
 arches thrown over the stream and the defile in 
 which it rolls, to open a communication between 
 the two mountains, and to facilitate the approach 
 to the town, was formed of vast blocks of white 
 stone fitted together without cement. All the 
 piers and one arch still remain ; the other arches 
 are fallen, and their fail seems to have been oc- 
 casioned by tfre sinking of the middle pier : 
 otherwise a fabric of so much solidity and 
 strength must have been capable of resisting the
 
 Cft. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 335 
 
 influence of time and of weather. The views 
 towards the bridge on the high road and the 
 plain on one side and on the other through the 
 remaining arch along the river, are unusually 
 picturesque and pleasing. We proceeded through 
 this dell, along the Nar tumbling and murmur- 
 ing over its rocky channel, and then, with some 
 difficulty, worked our way through the olives 
 and evergreens that line the steep, up to the 
 town. 
 
 We were particularly struck with the romantic 
 appearance of Narni. Its walls and towers spread 
 along the uneven summit, sometimes concealed 
 in groves of cypress, ilex, and laurel, and sometimes 
 emerging from the shade, and rising above their 
 waving tops ; delightful views of the vales, towns, 
 rivers, and mountains, opening here and there 
 unexpectedly on the eye; a certain loneliness 
 and silence, even in the streets ; the conse- 
 quence and sad memorial of ages of revolution, 
 disaster, and suffering, are all features pleasing 
 and impressive. 
 
 Few towns have suffered more than Narni, 
 but its greatest wounds were inflicted by the 
 hands, not of Goths or Vandals, of barbarians 
 and foreigners, but of Italians, or at least of an 
 army in the pay of an Italian government, of
 
 336 CLASSICAL TOUR CA.1X. 
 
 Venice itself, which at that time gloried in tin- 
 title of the second Rome, the bulwark and pillar 
 of Italian liberty and security. It is probable 
 that this army was composed of mercenaries, 
 banditti, and foreigners, and, like that of Charles 
 V. which they Avere hastening to join, fit solely 
 for the purposes of plunder, sacrilege, and de- 
 vastation. But, of whatever description of 
 men these troops were composed, they acted 
 under the authority of the Venetians, when they 
 destroyed Narui } and butchered its defenceless 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The site of this town, its extensive views, its 
 dell, and the river, are happily described in the 
 following lines of Claudian : 
 
 Celsa dehinc patulutn prospctans Narnia caiupum 
 
 Regali calcatur equo, rarique coloris 
 
 Non procul amnis adest urbi, qui nominis auctor, 
 
 Ilice sub densa sylvis arctatus opacis 
 
 Inter utrumque jugum, tortis anfractibus albet. 
 
 De Sext. Cons. Hon. 
 
 From Narni the road runs through the defile 
 along the middle of the declivity, till suddenly, 
 the opposite mountain seems to burst asunder, 
 and opens through its shaggy sides an extensive 
 view over the plain of the Tiber, terminating 
 in the mountains of Vit&iw* Here we left the
 
 Oi. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 337 
 
 defile and the Nar, but continued to enjoy moun- 
 tain and forest scenery for some miles, till de- 
 scending- the last declivity, a few miles from 
 Otricoli, for the first time in the midst of a spa- 
 cious and verdant plain, we beheld clear and 
 distinct, glittering in the beams of the sun, 
 and winding along in silent dignity the Tiber*. 
 
 Otricoli stands on the side of a hill, about 
 two miles from the ancient Ocriculi, whence it 
 takes its name. The remains of the latter lie 
 spread in the plain below, along the banks of 
 the Tiber, and present a considerale heap of 
 fragments, in which the vestiges of a theatre 
 perhaps, and a few porticos may be perceived, 
 while the principal features of the town are lost, 
 and buried in a confused mass of ruins. We 
 had now not only traversed the Apennines, but 
 extricated ourselves from the various labyrinths 
 and defiles which border the immense base of 
 these mountains.
 
 338 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. IX 
 
 The winding's of the Tiber below Otricoli, 
 have been alluded to by Ariosto, who seems to 
 have beheld one particular spot, a sort of penin- 
 sula formed by the meanderings of the stream, 
 with partiality ; but either his muse has shed 
 supernumerary beauties around it, or the shades 
 that adorned the banks in his time have disap- 
 peared ; as it now presents a green but naked 
 surface almost encircled by the waves. 
 
 Ecco vede un pratcl d' ombre coperto 
 
 Che si d' un alto fiuine si ghirlanda 
 
 Che lascia a pena un breve spazio aperto, 
 
 Dove 1'acqua si torce ad altra banda, 
 
 Un sirnil luogo con girevol onda 
 
 Sott' Otricoli 'i Tevere circonda. Canto xiv. 38. 
 
 We crossed the Tiber by the Ponte Felice, 
 changed horses at Borg/ietto, and arrived, when 
 dark, at Civita Castellana. 
 
 From Civita Castellana we passed over a 
 tract of forest country, enjoying beautiful views 
 of the Montes Cimini, with their towns, villas, 
 and villages to the right, and an occasional 
 glimpse of Soracte to the left, and having passed 
 the river Falisco, which anciently gave its name 
 to the people and territory of the Falisci, came 
 to Nepi, a small, but very ancient episcopal 
 town, whose cathedral, built on the site of a 
 temple, was consecrated, if we may believe an 
 
 2
 
 Ch. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 339 
 
 inscription over one of the doors, by the blood 
 of the townsmen, in the early period of the year 
 150. Another inscription may record, with 
 more certainty, though perhaps posterity may be 
 as little inclined to credit it, that the same pile 
 was deluged with the blood of its clergy, and 
 almost entirely destroyed by the French army in 
 the year 1798. 
 
 From Nepi we proceeded to Monte Rosi. 
 The inhabitants of all this territory, who derived 
 their names from its towns, some of which still 
 remain, are enumerated in the following lines of 
 Silius : 
 
 His mixti Nepesina cohors, aequique Falisci, 
 Quique tuos, Flaviua, focos; Sabatia quique 
 Stagna tenent, Cimiuique lacum; qui Sutria tecta 
 Haud procul, & sacrum Phoebo Soracte frequentant. 
 
 Lib. viii. 
 
 Many authors suppose that the road hence, or 
 rather from Ponte Felice, was lined by a suc- 
 cession of magnificent edifices, obelisks and 
 palaces, adorned with statues, and conducted 
 under triumphal arches, to the gates of the im- 
 perial city. Claudian indeed, seems to encourage 
 this supposition, in the well-known lines, 
 
 Inde salutato libatis Tibride nympliis, 
 Excipiunt arcus, operosaque seraita vastis 
 Molibus, et quicquid tantae praemittitur Urbi. 
 
 De Sext. Cons. Hon~ 
 Z 2
 
 340 CLASSICAL TOUR Or. IX. 
 
 If this description be accurate, it is singular 
 that no trace should now remain of all these 
 splendid monuments. No mounds nor remnants 
 of walls, no mouldering 1 heaps of ruins, scarce 
 even a solitary tomb, has survived the general 
 wreck. On the contrary, beyond Nepi, or rather 
 beyond Monte Rosi the next stage, the Cam- 
 payncl di Roma begins to expand its dreary 
 solitudes ; and naked hills, and swampy plains 
 rise, and sink by turns, without presenting a 
 single object worth attention. It must not, 
 however, be supposed, that no vegetation deco- 
 rates these dreary wilds. On the contrary, ver- 
 dure but seldom interrupted, occasional corn 
 fields, and numerous herds and flocks, communi- 
 cate some degree of animation to these regions 
 otherwise so desolate : but descending from 
 mountains the natural seat of barrenness, where 
 still we witnessed rural beauty and high cultiva- 
 tion, to a plain in the neighborhood of a populous 
 city, where we might naturally expect the per- 
 fection of gardening and all the bustle of life, 
 we were struck with the wide waste that spreads 
 around, and wondered what might be the cstuse 
 that deprived so extensive a tract of its inhabi- 
 tants. But neatness and population announce 
 the neighborhood of every common town ; they 
 are the usual accompaniments of Capitals, and 
 excite no interest. The solitude that encircles
 
 a. IX. THROUGH ITALY. 3-U 
 
 the fallen Metropolis of the world, is singular 
 and grand ; it becomes its majesty ; it awakens 
 a sentiment of awe and melancholy, and may 
 perhaps after all, be more consonant both to the 
 character of the City, and to the feelings of the 
 
 traveller, than more lively and exhilarating 1 
 
 it 
 
 scenery. 
 
 On the heights above Baccano the postillions 
 stopped, and pointing to a pinnacle that ap- 
 peared between two hills, exclaimed, " Roma!" 
 That pinnacle was the cross of St. Peter's. 
 The ETERNAL CITY" rose before us!
 
 342 CLASSICAL TOUR Oz.X, 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Reflections Rome St. Peter's The Capitol. 
 
 the traveller advances over the dreary 
 wilds of the Campagna, where not one object 
 occurs to awaken his attention, he has time to 
 recover from the surprise and agitation, which 
 the first view of Rome seldom fails to excite in 
 liberal and ingenuous minds. He may naturally 
 be supposed to inquire into the cause of these 
 emotions, and at first he may be inclined to 
 attribute them solely to the influence of early 
 habits, and ascribe the feelings of the man, to 
 the warm imagination of the school-boy. With- 
 out doubt the name of Rome echoes in our ears 
 from our infancy ; our lisping tongues are tuned 
 to her language ; and our first and most delight- 
 ful years are passed among her orators, poets, 
 and historians. We are taught betimes to take 
 a deep interest in her fortunes, and to adopt her 
 cause, as that of our own country, with spirit 
 and with passion. Such impressions made at 
 such an age, are indelible, and it must be ad-
 
 a.X. THROUGH ITALY. 343 
 
 mitted, are likely to influence our feelings and 
 opinions during- life.* 
 
 But the prejudices instilled into the mind of 
 the boy, and strengthened by the studies of 
 youth, are neither the sole nor even the prin- 
 cipal causes of our veneration for Rome. The 
 Mistress of the World claims our respect and 
 affection, on grounds which the Christian and 
 the philosopher must admit with grateful ac- 
 knowledgment. In addition to her ancient 
 origin and venerahle fame, to her mighty 
 achievements and vast empire, to her heroes 
 and her saints, to the majesty of her language, 
 and the charms of her literature; " habe ante 
 oculos hanc esse terram quse nobis miserit jura, 
 quse leges dederit."j* Rome has been in the 
 hands of Providence, the instrument of com- 
 municating to Europe, and to a considerable 
 portion of the globe, the three greatest blessings 
 
 * We may apply to every youth of liberal education, the 
 beautiful lines addressed by Claudian to Honorius : 
 
 Hinc tibi concreta radice tenacius haesit, 
 Et penitus totis inolevit Roma medullis, 
 Dilectaeque urbis tenero conceptus ab ungue 
 Tecum crevit amor. Cons. vi. 
 
 t Flin. Lib. viii. 24.
 
 344 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.X. 
 
 of which human nature is susceptible-^-Civiliza* 
 tion, Science, and Religion. 
 
 The system of Roman government was pecu-> 
 liarly adapted to the attainment of this great 
 end, and the extension of its empire, seems to 
 have been ordained by Heaven for its full ac- 
 complishment. The despotism of the Eastern 
 monarchies kept all prostrate on the ground in 
 abject slavery ; the narrow policy of the Greek 
 republics confined the blessings of liberty within 
 their own precincts : Rome, with more enlarged 
 and more generous sentiments, considering the 
 conquered countries as so many nurseries of 
 citizens, gradually extended her rights and pri- 
 vileges to their capitals, enrolled their natives 
 in her legions, and admitted their nobles into 
 her senate. Thus her subjects, as they improved 
 in civilization, advanced also in honors, and 
 approached every day nearer to the manners 
 and to the virtues of their masters, till every pro- 
 Tin ce became another Italy, every city another 
 Jlome. With her laws and franchises she com- 
 municated to them her arts and sciences; 
 wherever the Roman eagles penetrated schools 
 were opened, and public teachers were pensioned. 
 Aqueducts and bridges, temples and theatres 
 were raised in almost every town ; and all the 
 powers of architecture, of sculpture, and of paint-
 
 C//.X. THROUGH ITALY. 345 
 
 ing-, were employed to decorate the capitals of 
 the most distant provinces. Roads, the remains 
 of which astonish us even at this day, were 
 carried from the Roman Forum the centre of 
 this vast empire, to its utmost extremities ; and 
 all the tribes and nations that composed it were 
 linked together, not only by the same laws and 
 by the same government, but by all the facilities 
 of commodious intercourse, and of frequent 
 communication.* Compare the state of Gaul, 
 of Spain, and of Britain, when covered with 
 numberless cities, and flourishing* in all the arts 
 of peace under the protection of Rome, with 
 their forests, their swamps, and the sordid huts 
 of half-naked savages scattered thinly over their 
 wastes previous to their subjugation ; and you 
 will be enabled to appreciate the blessings which 
 they owed to Rome. 
 
 Haec est, in gremium victos quae sola recepit, 
 Humanumque genus communi nomine fovit, 
 Matris non dominse ritu; civesque vocavit 
 Quos domuit, nexuque pio longinqua revinxit. . . . 
 (Armorum legumque parens, quae fundit in omnes. 
 Imperium primique dedit incunabula juris). . . . 
 
 * " Liceat dicere," says Lipsius, with great truth, " divino 
 muncre Romanes datos ad quidquid rude expolienduin, ad 
 quidquid infectum faciendum, et loca horainesque elegautia 
 et artibus passim exornandos."
 
 346 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.X. 
 
 H i\ jus pacificis debemus nioribus oranes 
 Quod veluti patriis regiotiibus utitur hospes 
 Quod sedem mutare licet ; quod cernere Thulen 
 Lusus, et horrendos quondam penetrare recessus. . . . 
 Quod cuncti gens una sumus. 
 
 Claudian De Cons : Stilick : Kb. iii. 
 
 Rome in thus civilizing" and polishing mankind, 
 had prepared them for the reception of that divine 
 religion, which alone can give to human nature 
 its full and adequate perfection; and she com- 
 pleted her godlike work, when influenced by her 
 instructions and example Europe embraced Chris- 
 tianity. Thus she became the metropolis of the 
 world, by a new and more venerable title, and 
 assumed, in a most august sense, the appellation 
 of the " Holy City," the " Light of Nations," 
 the " Parent of Mankind." * When in the course 
 of the two succeeding ages, she was stript of her 
 imperial honors; when her provinces were in- 
 vaded, and all the glorious scene of cultivation, 
 
 * A classical bishop of the fifth century, who endeavoured 
 to communicate the charms of poetry to the metaphysical 
 discussions of a refined theology, saw this new empire then 
 gradually rising on the increasing ruins of the old, and ex- 
 pressed its extent and greatness in language not inelegant. 
 
 Sedes Roma Petri, quae Pastoralis houoris 
 Facta caput Mundo, quicquid non possidet armis, 
 Religione tenet. St. Prosper.
 
 Ch.X. THROUGH ITALY. 347 
 
 peace, and improvement, was ravaged by suc- 
 cessive hordes of barbarians ; she again renewed 
 her benevolent exertions, and sent out, not con- 
 suls and armies to conquer, but apostles and 
 teachers to reclaim, the savage tribes which had 
 wasted her empire. By them she bore the light 
 of heaven into the dark recesses of idolatry ; and 
 displaying in this better cause all the magnani- 
 mity, the wisdom, the perseverance, which 
 marked her former career, she triumphed, and in 
 spite of ignorance and of barbarism again diffused 
 the blessings of Christianity over the Western 
 world. 
 
 Nor is it to be objected, that the religion of 
 Rome was erroneous, or that she blinded and en- 
 slaved her converts. The religion which Rome 
 
 O 
 
 taught was Christianity. With it the convert re- 
 
 Leo the Great, standing over the tomb of St. Peter and St. 
 Paul, on their festival, addresses the Roman people in lan- 
 guage equally elevated : 
 
 " Isti sunt viri per quos tibi evangelium Christi, Roma! 
 
 resplenduit! 
 
 Isti sunt qui te ad hanc gloriam provexerunt ut gens sancta 
 populus electus, civitas sacerdotalis ac regia per sacrum 
 beati Petri scclem caput orbis effecta, latius presideres reli- 
 gione divina, quam dominations terrena." 
 
 Serm. in Nat. App. Petri et Pauli.
 
 348 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 ceived in the Scriptures, the records of truth ; 
 and in the sacraments, the means of sanctifi cation; 
 in the creeds, the rule of faith; and in the com- 
 mandments, the code of morality. In these are 
 comprised all the belief and all the practices of a 
 Christian, and to communicate these to a nation is 
 to open to it the sources of life and happiness. 
 But whatever may be the opinions of my reader 
 in this respect, he must admit, that the Latin 
 muses, which had followed the Roman eagles in 
 their victorious flight, now accompanied her hum- 
 ble missionaries in their expeditions of charity; 
 and with them penetrated the swamps of Batavia, 
 the forests of Germany, and the mountains of 
 Caledonia. Schools, that vied in learning and 
 celebrity with the seminaries of the south, rose in 
 these benighted regions, and diffused the beams 
 of science over the vast tracts of the north, even 
 to the polar circles. Thus the predictions of the 
 Roman poets were fulfilled, though in a manner 
 very different from their conceptions; and their 
 immortal compositions were rehearsed in the re- 
 mote islands of the Hebrides, and in the once 
 impenetrable forests of Scandinavia. * 
 
 * " Visam Britaunos hospitibus feros, 
 " Et laetum equino sanguine Concanum, 
 " Visam pharetratos Gelonos, 
 " Et Scythicum iuviolatus amnera." Hor. Lib. iii. 4.
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 349 
 
 At the same time, the arts followed the traces 
 of the muse, and the untutored savages saw with 
 surprize temples of stone rise in their sacred 
 groves, and arches of rock spread into a roof over 
 their heads. The figure of the Redeemer till then 
 
 o 
 
 unknown, seemed to breathe on canvas to their 
 eyes ; the venerable forms of the apostles in Parian 
 marble replaced the grim uncouth statues of their 
 idols; and music surpassing in sweetness the 
 strains of their bards, announced to them the 
 mercies of that God whom they were summoned 
 to adore. It was not wonderful that they should 
 eagerly embrace a religion adorned with so many 
 graces, and accompanied by so many blessings ; 
 and Europe finally settled in the profession of 
 Christianity, and once more enlightened by the 
 beams of science, was indebted to the exertions 
 of Rome for both these blessings. 
 
 But the obligation did not end here, as the 
 work of civilization was not yet finished. The 
 northern tribes loii established in the invaded 
 
 o 
 
 provinces had indeed become Christians, but they 
 still remained in many respects barbarians. 
 Hasty and intemperate they indulged the caprice 
 or the vengeance of the moment; they knew no 
 law but that of the sword, and would submitto no 
 decision but to that of arms. Here again we be- 
 hold the genius of Rome interposing her autho-
 
 350 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.X. 
 
 rity as a shield between ferocity and weakness, 
 appealing from the sword to reason, from private 
 combat to public justice, from the will of the judge 
 and the uncertain rules of custom, to the clear 
 prescriptions of her own written code.* This 
 grand plan of civilization, though impeded, and 
 delayed by the brutality, and the obstinacy of the 
 barbarous ages, was at length carried into effect, 
 and the Roman law was adopted by consenting 
 nations as the general code of the civilized world. 
 
 Rome therefore may still be said to rule nations, 
 not indeed with the rod of power, but with the 
 sceptre of justice, and may still be supposed to 
 exercise the high commission of presiding over 
 the world, and of regulating the destinies of man- 
 kind, f Thus too she has retained by her wisdom 
 and benevolence, that ascendancy which she first ' 
 
 * On the effects produced by the discovery of the Pandects 
 of Justinian, at Amalfi, in the twelfth century, see Hume's 
 Theory of England, chapter xxiii. 
 
 On the general efftcts of Roman domination on the pro- 
 vincials, see Cowpcrs Expostulation. 
 
 t Tu regere imperio populos Romane memento 
 Hre tibi erunt artes! pacis imponere morem 
 Parcere subjcclis et dcbellare superbos. 
 
 Virgil JEn. C.
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 351 
 
 acquired by her valor and magnanimity : and by 
 the pre-eminence which she has enjoyed in every 
 period of her history, she seems to have realized 
 the fictitious declaration of her founder, " Ita 
 nuncia Romanis, Coelestes ita velle, ut mea Roma 
 caput orbis terrarum sit." * " Urbs urbium 
 templum aequitatis portus omnium gentium," 
 are titles fondly bestowed upon her in the days of 
 her imperial glory j and she may assume them 
 without arrogance even in her decline. Her 
 matchless magnificence, so far superior to that of 
 every other capital; the laws which have ema- 
 nated from her as from their source ; and the en- 
 couragement which she has at all times given to 
 
 o o 
 
 men of talents and of virtue from every country, 
 still give her an unquestionable right to these 
 lofty appellations, f 
 
 * Tit. Liv. i. 16. 
 
 t " Nulli sit ingrata Roma," says Cassiodorus, in the sixth 
 century, " ilia eloquentiae facunda mater, illud virtutum 
 omnium latissimum tempi urn." 
 
 " Aliis alia patria est; Roma communis omnium litera- 
 torum et patria, et altrix, et evectrix," says the Cardinal of 
 St. George to Erasmus, in the sixteenth century. " Quid 
 loquor," says the latter, " de Roma, communi omnium gen- 
 tium parente."
 
 352 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X, 
 
 To conclude, in the whole Universe, there are 
 only two cities interesting alike to every member 
 of the great Christian commonwealth, to every 
 citizen of the civilized world, whatever may be 
 his tribe or nation Rome and Jerusalem. The 
 former calls up every classic recollection, the lat- 
 ter awakens every sentiment of devotion ; the one 
 brings before our eyes all the splendors of the 
 present world; the other, all the glories of the 
 world to come. By a singular dispensation of 
 Providence, the names and influence of these 
 
 The benefits derived from the Roman government are to- 
 lerably well expressed in the following lines of Rutilius : 
 
 rVcisti patriam diversis gentibus uuara 
 
 Profuit injustis te dominante capi ; 
 Dumque offers victis proprii consortia juris 
 
 Urbem fecisti quodprius Orbis erat. Lib. ii. 
 
 " Numiue Deum electa," says Pliny, "quae calumipsura 
 claiius faceret, sparsa congregaret imperia, ritusque molliret, 
 et tot populorum discordes ferasque linguas, sermonis com- 
 niercio coutraheret ad colloquia, et huoianitatem hoinini 
 daret ; breviterque una cunctarum gentium in toto orbe, 
 patria fieret." III. cap. v. 
 
 At te, qnae domitis leges, ac jura dedisti 
 Gentibus, instituens magnus qua tenditur orbis 
 Armoruui, tnoruiuque feros mansuescere ritus. 
 
 Prudent : contra Sym \
 
 a. X. THROUGH ITALY. 353 
 
 two illustrious Capitals are combined in the same 
 grand dispensation ; and as Jerusalem was or- 
 dained to receive, Rome was destined to. propa- 
 gate " the light that leads to heaven." The 
 cross which Jerusalem erected on Mount Calvary, 
 Rome fixed on the diadem of emperors; and the 
 prophetic songs of Mount Sion, have resounded 
 from the seven hills, to the extremities of the earth. 
 How r natural then is the emotion of the traveller, 
 when he first beholds the distant domes of a city 
 of such figure in the History of the Universe, of 
 such weight in the destinies of mankind, so fa- 
 miliar to the imagination of the boy, so interesting 
 to the feelings of the man ! 
 
 While occupied in these reflections, we passed 
 Monte Mario, and beheld the city gradually open- 
 ing to our view : turrets and cupolas succeeded 
 each other, with long lines of palaces between, 
 till the dome of the Vatican lifting its majestic 
 form far above the rest, fixed the eye, and closed 
 the scene with becoming grandeur. We crossed 
 the Tiber by the Ponte Molle (Pons Milvius) and 
 proceeding on the Via Flaminia through the sub- 
 urb, entered the Porta del Popolo, admired the 
 beautiful square that receives the traveller on his 
 entrance, and drove to the Piazza d'Espagna. 
 Alighting, we instantly hastened to St. Peter's, 
 traversed its superb court, contemplated in silence 
 
 VOL. I. A A
 
 354 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 its obelisk, its fountains, its colonnade, walked 
 up its lengthening nave, and before its altar, 
 offered up our grateful acknowledgments in " the 
 noblest temple that human skill ever raised to the 
 honor of the Creator." 
 
 Next morning- we renewed our visit to St. 
 
 O 
 
 Peter's, and examined it more in detail: the pre- 
 ceding day it had been somewhat veiled by the 
 dimness of the evening ; it was now lighted up by 
 the splendors of the morning sun.' The rich 
 marbles that compose its pavement and line its 
 walls, the paintings that adorn its cupolas, the 
 bronze that enriches its altars and railings, the 
 gilding that lines the,pannels of its vault, the 
 mosaics that rise one above the other in brilliant 
 succession up its dome, shone forth in all their 
 varied colors. Its nave, its aisles, its transepts, 
 expanded their vistas, and hailed the spectator 
 wherever he turned, with a long succession of 
 splendid objects, and beautiful arrangement; in 
 short, the whole of this most majestic fabric 
 opened itself at once to the sight, and filled the 
 eye and the imagination with magnitude, pro- 
 portion, riches, and grandeur. 
 
 From St. Peter's we hastened to the capital, 
 and ascending the tower, seated ourselves under 
 the shade of its pinnacle, and fixed our eyei
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 355 
 
 on the view beneath and around us. That view 
 was no other than ancient and modern Rome. 
 Behind us, the modern town lay extended over 
 the Campus Martius, and spreading 1 along the 
 banks of the Tiber formed a curve round the 
 base of the Capitol. Before us, scattered in vast 
 black shapeless masses over the seven hills, and 
 through the intervening- vallies, arose the ruins 
 of the ancient city. They stood desolate, amidst 
 solitude and silence, with groves of funereal 
 cypress waving over them ; the awful monu- 
 ments, not of individuals, but of generations ; 
 not of men, but of empires. 
 
 A distant view of ^Egina and of Megara, of 
 the Piraeus and of Corinth then in ruins, melted 
 the soul of an ancient Roman, for a while sus- 
 pended his private sorrows, and absorbed his 
 sense of personal affliction, in a more expansive 
 and generous compassion for the fate of cities 
 and of states.* What then must be the emo- 
 
 * " Ex Asia rediens, uni ah JLgina Megaram versus navi- 
 garem, coepi regiones circumcirca prospicere. Post me erat 
 vEgina, ante Megara, dextra Piraeus, sinistra Corinthus ; qua? 
 oppida quodam tempore florentissiina fuerunt, nunc prosJrata 
 ac diruta, ante oculos jacent. Coepi egomet inecum sic 
 cogitare. Hem ! nos homunculi indiguamur, ai quis nos- 
 AA2
 
 350 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 tions of the man who beholds extended in dis- 
 ordered heaps before him, the disjointed " car- 
 case of fallen Rome," once the abode of the 
 gods, the grand receptacle of nations, " the com- 
 mon asylum of mankind." 
 
 Immediately under our eves, and at the foot 
 
 J / 
 
 of the Capitol, lay the Forum lined with soli- 
 tary columns, and terminated at each end by a 
 triumphal arch. Beyond and just before us, rose 
 the Palatine Mount encumbered with the sub- 
 structions of the Imperial Palace, and of the 
 Temple of Apollo; and farther on, ascended 
 the Celian Mount with the Temple of Faunus 
 on its summit. On the mht was the Aventine 
 
 o 
 
 spotted with heaps of stone swelling 1 amidst 
 its lonely vineyards. To the left the Esquiline 
 with its scattered tombs and tottering' aqueducts; 
 and in the same line, the Viminal, and the 
 Quirinal supporting the once magnificent Baths 
 of Diocletian. The Baths of Antoninus, the 
 Temple of Minerva, and many a venerable fa- 
 bric bearing on its shattered form the traces of 
 destruction, as well as the furrows of age, lay 
 scattered up and down the Vast field; while the 
 
 trtim interiit, aut occisus est, quorum vita brevior esse debet, 
 cum uno loco tot oppidum cadavera projecta jaceant 1" Cic. 
 ad Fafn. Lib. iv. Ep. 5.
 
 C*. X. THROUGH ITALY. 357 
 
 superb temples of St. John Lateran, Santa 
 Maria Mugyiore, and Santa Crocc, arose with 
 their pointed obelisks, majestic but solitary monu- 
 ments, amidst the extensive waste of time and 
 of desolation. The ancient walls, a vast cir- 
 cumference, formed a frame of venerable aspect, 
 well adapted to this picture of ruin, this cemetery 
 of ages, " Roinani bustum populi." 
 
 Beyond the walls the eye ranged over the 
 storied plain of Latium now the deserted Cam- 
 pagna, and rested on the Alban Mount, which 
 rose before us to the south shelving* downwards 
 on the west towards Antium and the Tyrrhene 
 Sf a, and on the east towards the Latin vale. 
 Here, it presents Tusculum in white lines on its 
 declivity ; there, it exhibits the long ridge that 
 overhangs its lake once the site of Alba Longa, 
 and towering boldly in the centre with a hun- 
 dred towns and villas on its sides, it terminates 
 in a point once crowned with the triumphal 
 temple of Jupiter Latialis. Turning eastward 
 we beheld the Tibortine hills, with Tibur re- 
 clining on their side; and behind, still more to 
 the east, the Sabine mountains enclosed by the 
 Apennines, which at the vary ing distance of from 
 forty to sixty miles swept round to the east and 
 north, forming an immense and bold boundary 
 of sno\v. The Montcs Cimini and several
 
 358 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 lesser hills, diverging from the great parent ridge 
 the Pater Apenninus, continue the chain till 
 it nearly reaches the sea and forms a perfect 
 theatre. Mount Soracte thirty miles to the 
 north, lifts his head, an insulated and striking 
 feature. While the Tiber enriched by number- 
 less rivers and streamlets, intersects the immense 
 plain ; and bathing the temples and palaces of 
 Rome, rolls like the Po a current unexhausted 
 even during the scorching heats of summer. 
 
 The tract now expanded before us was the 
 country of the Etrurians, Veientes, Rutuli, Fa- 
 lisci, Latins, Sabines, Volsci, ^Equi, and Hernici, 
 and of course the scene of the wars and the ex- 
 ertions, of the victories and triumphs of infant 
 Rome, during a period of nearly four hundred 
 years of her history ; an interesting period, when 
 she possessed and exercised every generous vir- 
 tue, and established on the basis of justice, 
 wisdom, and fortitude, the foundations of her 
 future empire. As the traveller looks towards 
 the regions once inhabited by these well-known 
 tribes, many an illustrious name, and many a 
 noble achievement, must rise in his memory, re- 
 viving at the same time the recollection of early 
 studies and of boyish amusements, and blend- 
 ing the friendships of youth with the memorials 
 of ancient greatness.
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 359 
 
 The day was cloudless, the beams of the sun 
 played over the landscape ; hues of light-blue 
 intermingled with dark shades deepening as 
 they retired, chequered the mountains. A line of 
 shining snow marked the distant Apennines, and 
 a vault of the purest and brightest azure covered 
 the glorious scene ! We passed a long and de- 
 lightful morning in its contemplation. 
 
 The following day was employed in wan- 
 dering over the city at large, and taking a cur- 
 sory view of some of its principal streets, squares, 
 buildings and monuments. This we did to 
 satisfy the first cravings of curiosity, intending 
 to proceed at our leisure to the examination of 
 each object in detail* 
 
 * I think it necessary to repeat here, what I declared in 
 the preliminary discourse, that it is not my intention to give 
 a particular account of ruins, churches, buildings, statues, 
 or pictures, &c. This belongs rather to guides and Ciceroni, 
 and may be found in numberless works written professedly 
 for the information of travellers on such heads. My wish 
 is to lay before the reader an account of the observations 
 which we made, and of the classical recollections which oc- 
 curred to us, while we traced the remains of ancient gran- 
 deur. We began this examination by visiting iu order the 
 seven hills. We then proceeded to the Vatican and Pincian 
 mounts, ranged over the Campus Martins, and along the 
 banks of the Tiber; then wandered through the villas, 
 
 3
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X, 
 
 ANCIENT ROME. 
 
 THE CAPITOL. 
 
 After having- thus gratified ourselves with a 
 general and some select views, and formed a 
 tolerably accurate idea of the most striking fea- 
 tures of Rome, we proceeded on the fourth day, 
 through the Via Lata, now // Corso, through 
 " streets of palaces and walks of state," to the 
 Capitoline Hill. Every school-boy has read with 
 delight Virgil's short, but splendid description of 
 this hill, then a silvan scene of dark forest and 
 craggy rock, though destined one day to be- 
 come the seat of regal opulence and of universal 
 empire. 
 
 both within and wilhout the city; and finally explored the 
 churches, monuments, tombs, hills, and fields, in its imme- 
 diate neighborhood. This method I recommend as being 
 more easy and more natural than the usual mode of visiting 
 the city, according to its " Rioni'* (regiones) or allotting a 
 certain portion of it lo -';ich tin; ; by which mode the travel- 
 ler is obliged to pass rapidly from ancient monuments to. 
 modern edifices ; from palaces to churches ; from galleries. 
 to gardens ; and thus to load his mind with a heap of uncon- 
 nected ideas and crude observations. By the former process 
 we keep each object distinct, and take it in a separate view; 
 we first contemplate ancient then visit modern Rome, and 
 pass from the palaces of the profane, to the temples of the 
 sacred city.
 
 C&. X, THROUGH ITALY. 561 
 
 Hinc adTarpeiatn seclcm, et Capitolia dnclt, 
 Aurea nuiic, olim sylvestribus liurridu duniii. 
 Jam turn Ilclligio pavidos terrebat agrestes 
 Pira loci : Jam turn sylvam saxumque tremebaut. 
 Hoc nemus, liuuc, inquit, frondoso vcrfice colleni, 
 'Quis Dens iiicertum est) habitat Deu. Arcades ipsnm 
 Creduut sc vidisse Jovem : cum saepe nigranteiu 
 JEgida coucuteret dextra, nimbosque cieret. 
 
 JEncid. viii. 
 
 Every circumstance that could dignify and 
 consecrate the spot, and prepare it for its grand 
 destiny, is here collected and gradually expand- 
 ed ; while a certain awful obscurity hangs over 
 the whole, and augments the magnitude of the 
 object thus dimly presented to the fancy. The 
 traveller however sensible he may suppose him- 
 self to have been of the beauties of this descrip- 
 tion before, imagines that he feels its full' force 
 for the first time as he ascends the acclivity of the 
 Capitolinc Mount. 
 
 The Capitol was anciently both a fortress and 
 a sanctuary. A fortress surrounded with pre- 
 cipices, bidding defiance to all the means of 
 attack employed in ancient times; a sanctuary, 
 crowded with altars and temples, the repository 
 of the fatal oracles, the seat of the tutelar dei- 
 ties of the empire. Romulus began the grand
 
 362 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 work, by erecting the temple of Jupiter Fere- 
 trius ; Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and 
 Tarquinius Superbus continued, and the Consul 
 Horatius Pulvillus, a few years after the expul- 
 sion of the kings, completed it, with a solidity 
 and magnificence, says Tacitus, which the riches 
 of succeeding ages might adorn, but could not 
 increase. It was burnt during the civil wars 
 between Marius and Sylla, and rebuilt shortly 
 'after; but again destroyed by fire in the dread- 
 ful contest that took place in the very Forum 
 itself, and on the sides of the Capitoline Mount, 
 between the partisans of Vitellius and Vespa- 
 sian*. This event Tacitus laments, with the 
 spirit and indignation of a Roman, as the greatest 
 disaster that had ever befallen the city.j* And, 
 indeed, if we consider the public archives, and of 
 course the most valuable records of its history 
 were deposited there, we must allow that the 
 catastrophe was peculiarly unfortunate, not to 
 Rome only, but to the world at large. 
 
 * A. D. 69. 
 
 f Id facinus post conditam Urbem luctuosissimum foedissi- 
 mumque populo Romano accidit : nullo externo hoste, pro- 
 pitiis, si per mores nostros iiceret, diis, sedem Jovis Jovis 
 optimimaximi, auspicaloamajoribus pignus imperil, conditam, 
 fjuam non Porsena dedita Ui be, neque Galli capta, temerare 
 potuissent, furore Principum exscind! !
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 363 
 
 However, the Capitol rose once more from 
 its ashes, with redoubled splendor, and received 
 from the munificence of Vespasian, and of 
 Dornitian his son, its last and most glorious em- 
 bellishments. The edifices were probably in 
 site and destination nearly the same as before 
 the conflagration; but more attention was paid 
 to symmetry, to costliness, and above all, to 
 grandeur and magnificence. The northern en- 
 trance led under a triumphal arch to the centre 
 of the hill, and to the sacred grove the asylum 
 opened by Romulus, and almost the cradle of 
 Roman power. On the right on the eastern 
 summit stood the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. 
 On the left on the western summit, was that of 
 Jupiter Gustos : near each of these temples were 
 the fanes of inferior Divinities, that of Fortune, 
 and that of Fides alluded to by Cicero. In the 
 midst, to crown the pyramid formed by such an 
 assemblage of majestic edifices, rose the resi- 
 dence of the guardian of the empire the temple 
 of Jupiter Capitolinus on a hundred steps, sup- 
 ported by a hundred pillars, adorned with all 
 the refinements of art, and blazing with the 
 plunder of the world. In the centre of the 
 temple, with Juno on his left, and Minerva on 
 his right side, the Thunderer sat on a throne of 
 gold, grasping the lightening in one hand, and in 
 the other wielding the sceptre of the universe.
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 Hither the consuls were conducted by the se- 
 nate, to assume the military dress, and to im- 
 plore the favor of the gods before they marched 
 to battle. Hither the victorious generals used 
 to repair in triumph, in order to suspend the 
 spoils of conquered nations, to present captive 
 monarchs, and to offer up hecatombs to Tarpeian 
 Jove. Here, in cases of danger and distress, 
 the senate was assembled, and the magistrates 
 convened to deliberate in the presence, and un- 
 der the immediate influence, of the tutelar gods 
 of Rome. Here the laws were exhibited to 
 public inspection, as if under the sanction of the 
 Divinity ; and here also they were deposited, as 
 if intrusted to his guardian care. Hither Cicero 
 
 o 
 
 turned his hands and eyes, when he closed his 
 first oration against Catiline, with that noble 
 address to Jupiter, presiding in the Capitol over 
 the destinies of the empire, and dooming its ene- 
 mies to destruction. 
 
 In the midst of these magnificent structures, 
 of this wonderful display of art and opulence, 
 stood for ages the humble straw-roofed palace of 
 Romulus, a monument of primitive simplicity 
 dear and venerable in the eyes of the Romans.* 
 
 * Mars speaks in Ovid, as follows : 
 
 Qua 1 fuerit nostri si quaeris regia nati ; 
 Ad-pice de cainiii straminibusque cloniura.
 
 CA. X. THROUGH ITALY. 3G3 
 
 Tliis cottage, it may easily be supposed, vanished 
 in the first conflagration. But not the cottage 
 only, the temples, the towers, the palaces also 
 that once surrounded it, have disappeared. Of 
 all the ancient glory of the Capitol, nothing 1 
 now remains but the solid foundation, and* vast 
 substructions raised on the rock, 
 
 Capitoli immobile saxum. 
 
 In stipula placidi carpe.bat munera somni : 
 Et tamen ex illo venit in astra toro. 
 
 Ovid Fast. Lib. iii. r. 183. 
 
 Romuleoque recens horrebat regia culino. 
 
 Fir. JEn. Lib. viii. v. 654. 
 
 Vitruvius speaks of the cottage of Romulus as existing jn 
 his time, that is, in the reign of Augustus. In Capitolio 
 commune facere potest et significare mores vetustatis Ro- 
 muli casi in arce sacrorum. Lib. ii. 
 
 * These walls on one side form the stables of the Senator, 
 and on the other a dark gloomy chapel, said to have been 
 originally the Tullianum, in which Catiline's associates were 
 put to death. The criminal was let down into this dungeon 
 by a hole in the vault, as there was anciently no other en- 
 trance ; the modern door was opened through the side wall, 
 when the place was converted into a chapel, in honor of 
 St. Peter, who is supposed to have been confined in it. Not- 
 withstanding the change, it has still a most appalling ap- 
 pearance.
 
 366 CLASSICAL TOUft Ch. X. 
 
 Not only is the Capitol fallen, but its very name, 
 expressive of dominion, and once fondly consi- 
 dered as an omen of empire, is now almost lost 
 in the semi-barbarous appellation of Campi- 
 doglio. 
 
 At present the Capitoline Mount is covered 
 with buildings, far inferior without doubt, to 
 the imperial edifices above described, but yet 
 grand both in their proportions and in their 
 magnitude. The northern, still the principal 
 entrance, is an easy ascent adorned with a mar- 
 ble balustrade, which commences below with two 
 colossal lionesses of Egyptian porphyry, pouring 
 a torrent of water into spacious basins of marble, 
 and is terminated above by statues of Castor 
 and Pollux, each holding his horse. Here you 
 enter the square, in the centre of which stands 
 the well-known equestrian statue of Marcus 
 Aurelius. In front, and on each side, are three 
 palaces erected by Michael Angelo. The edi- 
 fice before you, of bold elevation, adorned with 
 Corinthian pilasters and with a lofty tower, is 
 the residence of the senator. A double flight of 
 marble steps leads to its portal. In the centre 
 of this staircase stands the genius of Rome, like 
 Minerva armed with the ./Egis, and leaning on 
 her spear. A fountain bursts forth at her feet. 
 On her right the Tiber, on her left the Nile lay
 
 I 
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 367 
 
 reclined, each on its urn. The French have " 
 carried off the two latter statues, with some 
 other ornaments of the Capitoline square. In 
 the palace of the Senator, and in that of the 
 Conservatori, are several halls and apartments, 
 magnificent in their size and decorations. 
 
 The Capitol is the palace of the Roman peo- 
 ple, the seat of their power, and the residence of 
 their magistrates. The statues and other an- 
 tiques placed here by the Popes, are dedicated 
 in the names of the donors to the Roman people, 
 and the inscriptions in general run in the ancient 
 style. One in the palace of the Conservatori 
 pleased me much : " S. P. Q. R. majorum suo- 
 rum prsestantiam ut animo sic re quantum licuit, 
 imitatus, deformatum injuria temporum capito- 
 lium restituit ; anno post urbem conditam 2320." 
 Nor is~ it unworthy of its destination ; as the 
 beauty of its architecture, the magnitude of its 
 apartments, the excellence of its paintings, and 
 the prodigious number of statues and antiques 
 with which it is decorated, give it a splendor 
 unequalled in any other city, and only eclipsed 
 even in Rome itself by the recollection of its 
 former greatness. 
 
 The Museum Capitolinum contains in several 
 large rooms a most splendid collection of busts,
 
 S63 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch.X. 
 
 statues, sarcophagi, &c. bestowed by different 
 Popes and illustrious personages on this magni- 
 ficent cabinet devoted to the use of the Roman 
 people, or rather of the literary and curious of 
 aril nations. One of the most interesting objects 
 in this collection is an ancient plan of Rome 
 cut in marble, once the pavement of a temple in 
 the Forum, and thence transferred to the Ca- 
 pitol, where it lines the walls of one of the 
 grand staircases of the Museum. But unfortu- 
 nately it is not entire ; if it were, we should 
 have had a most perfect plan of ancient Rome, 
 the streets, forums, temples, &c. being marked 
 out in the most distinct manner. There are, 
 moreover, in the palace of the Conservatori, gal- 
 leries of paintings, and halls appropriated to the 
 use of young artists, where lectures are given, 
 and drawings taken from life; premiums are 
 also bestowed publicly in the grand hall in the 
 Senator's palace. In short, the Capitol is now 
 consecrated, not to the tutelar gods of Rome, 
 but to her arts, to the remains of her grandeur, 
 to the monuments of her genius, and, t may add, 
 to her titles, now the mere semblance of her an- 
 cient liberty. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the highest and most 
 conspicuous pail of the Capitoline Mount should 
 be occupied by a building so tasteless and de-.
 
 Ch. X. THROUGH ITALY. 369 
 
 formed as the church and convent of Ara Cosli. 
 The ascent from the plain below, by an hundred 
 and twenty-four marble steps, deserves a better 
 termination than its miserable portal; and the 
 various ancient pillars of Egyptian granite, that 
 adorn the nave of the church and the portico of 
 the cloisters, furnish a sufficient quantity of the 
 best materials for the erection and decoration of 
 a very noble edifice. 
 
 Anciently there were two ways from the Ca- 
 pitol to the Forum ; both parted from the neigh- 
 borhood of the Tabularium, and diverging" as 
 they descended, terminated each in a triumphal 
 arch ; that of Tiberius to the west, that of Seve- 
 rus to the east. Of these arches, the latter only 
 remains. The descent at present is a steep and 
 irregular path, winding down the declivity from 
 the senator's stables, without any regular termi- 
 nation. The traveller as he descends, stops to 
 contemplate the three Corinthian pillars, with 
 their frieze and cornice that rise above the ruins, 
 and preserve the memory of the temple of Ju- 
 piter Tonans, erected by Augustus, as a monu- 
 ment of his preservation from a thunderbolt that 
 fell near him. A little lower down on the right, 
 stands the portico of the temple of Concord, 
 built by Camillus, consisting of eight granite 
 pillars, with capitals and entablature of irregular 
 
 VOL. I. B B
 
 370 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. X. 
 
 Ionic. To account for this irregularity, it is to 
 be remembered, that the edifices on the sides of 
 the hill shared the fate of the Capitol, in the 
 contest which took place between the parties of 
 Vespasian and Vitellius, and were rebuilt shortly 
 after by Titus and Domitian, and afterwards by 
 Constantine. Hence the word " restitutum" in 
 the inscription, and hence the want of regularity 
 in some parts of such buildings, as were monu- 
 ments of republican Rome, and did not, perhaps, 
 enjoy the favor of the emperors. The triumphal 
 arch of Septimus Severus is nearly half buried 
 in the ground.
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 37J 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 The Roman Forum Coliseum Palatine Mount 
 Aventine Tomb of C. Cestius Ccelian 
 Saburra Esquiline Baths of Titus Mi- 
 nerva Medica Palace of M&cenas Viminal 
 Quirinal Baths of Dioclesian. 
 
 J. HE Roman Forum now lay extended before 
 us, a scene in the ages of Roman greatness of 
 unparalleled splendor and magnificence. It was 
 bordered on both sides with temples, and lined 
 with statues. It terminated in triumphal arches, 
 and was bounded here by the Palatine hill, with 
 the Imperial residence glittering on its summit, 
 and there by the Capitol, with its ascending 
 ranges of porticos and of temples. Thus it pre- 
 sented one of the richest exhibitions that eyes 
 could behold, or human ingenuity invent. In 
 the midst of these superb monuments, the me- 
 morials of their greatness, and the trophies of 
 their fathers, the Roman people assembled to 
 exercise their sovereign power, and to decide 
 the fates of heroes, of kings, and of nations. 
 BBS
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 Nor did the contemplation of such glorious 
 objects fail to produce a corresponding* effect. 
 Manlius, as long as he could extend his arm, 
 and fix the attention of the people on the Capitol 
 which he had saved, suspended his fatal sen- 
 tence.* Caius Gracchus melted the hearts of 
 his audience, when in the moment of distress he 
 pointed to the Capitol, and asked with all the 
 emphasis of despair, whether he could expect to 
 find an asylum in that sanctuary whose pave- 
 ment still streamed with the blood of his bro- 
 ther.f Scipio Africanus, when accused by an 
 envious faction, and obliged to appear before the 
 people as a criminal, instead of answering the 
 charge, turned to the Capitol, and invited the 
 assembly to accompany him to the temple of 
 Jupiter, and give thanks to the gods for the de- 
 feat of Annib il and the Carthaginians. Such, 
 in fact, was the influence of locality, and such 
 the awe, interest, and even emotion, inspired by 
 the surrounding- edifices. Hence the frequent 
 references that we find in the Roman historians 
 and orators to the Capitol, the Forum, the tem- 
 ples of the. gods ; and hence those noble ad- 
 dresses to the deities themselves, as present in 
 
 * Uv. vi. 20. f Cic. De Orat. Lib. fii. Cap. 5G. 
 
 t Liv. .xxxviii. 51.
 
 Cfc.Xl. THROUGH ITALY. 373 
 
 their respective sanctuaries, and watching over 
 the interests of their favored city, " Ita prsesen- 
 tes his temporibus opem et auxilium nobis tulerunt, 
 ut eos peue oculis videre possinms." : - 
 
 But the srlories of the Forum are now fled for 
 
 o 
 
 ever; its temples are fallen; its sanctuaries have 
 crumbled into dust ; its colonnades encumber its 
 pavements now buried under their remains. The 
 walls of the Rostra stripped of their ornaments 
 and doomed to eternal silence, a few shattered 
 porticos, and here and there an insulated column 
 standing in the midst of broken shafts, vast frag- 
 ments of marble capitals and cornices heaped to- 
 gether in masses, remind the traveller, that the 
 field which he now traverses, was once the Roman 
 Forum. 
 
 A fountain fills a marble basin in the middle, 
 the same possibly to which Pro,pertius alludes 
 when speaking of the Forum in the time of 
 Tatius he says, 
 
 Munis erant ro antes, ubi nunc est Curia septa, 
 
 Bellicus ex illo foute bibebat equus'.f Lib.iv. 4. 
 
 *Cat.iii. 0. 
 
 t As tliis fountain is near the three pillars, which have oc- 
 casioned so much discussion, we may draw a presumptive ar-
 
 374 CLASSICAL TOUtt Ch. XL 
 
 A little farther on commences a double range of 
 
 O 
 
 trees tha-t leads along the Via Sacra by the tem- 
 ples of Antoninus, and of Peace to the arch of 
 Titus. A herdsman seated on a pedestal while 
 his oxen were drinking at the fountain, and a few 
 passengers moving at a distance in different di- 
 rections, were the only living beings that disturbed 
 the silence and solitude which reigned around. 
 
 ~ 
 
 Thus the place seemed restored to its original 
 wildness described by Virgil,* and abandoned 
 once more to flocks and herds of cattle. So far 
 have the modern Romans forgotten the theatre 
 of the glory and of the imperial power of their 
 ancestors, as to degrade it into a common market 
 for cattle, and sink its name illustrated by every 
 page of Roman history into the contemptible ap- 
 pellation of Campo Vaccino. 
 
 Proceeding along the Via Sacra and passing 
 under the arch of Titus, on turning a little to the 
 left, we beheld the amphitheatre of Vespasian 
 and Titus, now called the Coliseum. Never did 
 human art present to the eye a fabric so well cal- 
 culated, by its size and form, to surprize and de- 
 
 gament from these verses, that they formed part of the 
 Curia. 
 
 *- '-'" -- passimque arraenta videbant 
 
 Roinanoque foro et lautis mugire carinis,
 
 a. XI. THROUGH ITALY, 375 
 
 light. Let the spectator first place himself to 
 the north and contemplate that side which depre- 
 dation, barbarism, and ages have spared, he will 
 behold with admiration its wonderful extent, well 
 proportioned stories and flying lines, that retire 
 and vanish without break or interruption. Next 
 let him turn to the south, and examine those stu- 
 pendous arches, which stripped as they are of 
 their external decorations, still astonish us by 
 their solidity and duration. Then let him enter, 
 range through the lofty arcades, and ascending 
 the vaulted seats, consider the vast mass of ruin 
 that surrounds him ; insulated walls, immense 
 stones suspended in the air, arches covered with 
 weeds and shrubs, vaults opening upon other 
 ruins; in short, above, below, and around, one 
 vast collection of magnificence and devastation, 
 of grandeur and of decay.* 
 
 * Martial prefers, perhaps with justice, this amphitheatre 
 to all the prodigies of architecture known in his time. 
 
 Barbara Pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis : 
 
 Assiduus jactet nee Babylona labor; 
 
 Nee Triviae templo molles laudentur lones; 
 
 Dissimuletque deum cornibus ara frequens 
 Acre nee vacuo pendentia Mausolea 
 
 Laudibus immodicis Cares in astra ferant. 
 Omnis Caesareo cedat labor amphitheatro 
 
 Unurn pro cunctis fama loquatur opus. De Sped,
 
 376 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 Need I inform the reader that this stupendous 
 fabric, 
 
 " Which on its public shews unpeopled Rome, 
 " And held uncrowded nations in its womb," 
 
 M 
 
 was erected by the abovementioned emperors, 
 out of part only of the materials, and on a portion 
 of the site of Nero's golden house, which had been 
 demolished by order of Vespasian, as too sump- 
 tuous even, for a Roman Emperor. 
 
 The Coliseum owing 1 to the solidity of its ma- 
 terials, survived the era of t barbarism, and was so 
 perfect in the thirteenth century, that games were 
 exhibited in it, not for the amusement of the 
 Romans only, but of all the nobility of Italy. 
 The destruction of this wonderful fabric is to be 
 ascribed to causes more active in general in the 
 
 O 
 
 erection than in the demolition of magnificent 
 buildings to Taste and Vanity. 
 
 When Rome began to revive, and architecture 
 arose from its ruins, every rich and powerful 
 citizen wished to have, not a commodious dwel- 
 ling merely, but a palace. The Coliseum was 
 an immense quarry at hand; the common people 
 stole, the grandees obtained permission to carry 
 off its materials, till the interior was dismantled,
 
 Ch. XL THROUGH ITALY. 377 
 
 und the exterior half stripped of its ornaments. 
 It is difficult to say where this system of depre- 
 dation so sacrilegious in the opinion of the anti- 
 quary, would have stopped, had not Benedict 
 XIV. a pontiffof great judgment, erected a cross 
 in the centre of the arena, and declared the place 
 sacred, out of respect to the blood of the many 
 martyrs who were butchered there during- the per- 
 secutions. This declaration, if issued two or 
 three centimes ago, would have preserved the 
 Coliseum entire; it can now only protect its re- 
 mains, and transmit them in their present state 
 to posterity. 
 
 We next returned to the v Met a Sudans and 
 passed under the arch of Constantine. I need 
 not give a description of this species of edifice so 
 well known to the reader ; it will suffice to say, 
 that the arch of Constantine is the only one that 
 remains entire, with its pillars, statues, and basso 
 relievos, all of the most beautiful marble, and 
 some of exquisite workmanship. They were 
 taken from the arch of Trajan, which, it seems, 
 was stripped, or probably demolished, by order 
 of the senate, for thut purpose. It did not occur 
 to them, it seems, that the achievements of Trajan 
 and his conquests in Dacia, could have no con- 
 nexion with the exertions of Constantine in Britain, 
 or with his victory over the tyrant Muxeatius.
 
 378 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XL 
 
 But taste was then on the decline, and propriety 
 of ornament not always consulted. 
 
 We then ascended the Palatine Mount, after 
 having walked round its base in order to examine 
 its bearing-s. This hill the nursery of infant 
 Rome, and finally the residence of imperial gran- 
 deur, presents now two solitary villas and a con- 
 vent, with their deserted gardens and vineyards. 
 Its numerous temples, its palaces, its porticos and 
 its libraries, once the glory of Rome, and the 
 admiration of the universe, are now mere heaps 
 of ruins, so shapeless and scattered, that the an- 
 tiquary and architect are at a loss to discover their 
 site, their plans and their elevation. Of that wing 
 of the imperial palace, which looked to the west, 
 and on the Circus Maximus, some apartments 
 remain vaulted and of fine proportions, but so 
 deeply buried in ruins, as to be now subterranean. 
 
 A hall of immense size was discovered about 
 the beginning of the last century, concealed 
 under the ruins of its own massive roof. The 
 pillars of Verde antico that supported its vaults, 
 the statues that ornamented its niches, and the 
 rich marbles that formed its pavement, were 
 found buried in rubbish ; and were immediately 
 carried away by the Farnesian family, the pro- 
 prietors of the soil, to adorn their palaces, and
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 379 
 
 furnish their galleries. This hall is now cleared 
 of its encumbrances, and presents to the eye a 
 vast length of naked wall, and an area covered 
 with weeds. As we stood contemplating 1 its ex- 
 tent and proportions a fox started from an aper- 
 ture, once a window at one end, and crossing the 
 open space scrambled up the ruins at the other, 
 and disappeared in the rubbish. This scene of 
 desolation reminded me of Ossian's beautiful de- 
 scription, " the thistle shook there its lonely head; 
 the moss whistled to the gale ; the fox looked out 
 from the windows ; the rank grass waved round 
 his head," and almost seemed the accomplish- 
 ment of that awful prediction *' There the wild 
 beasts of the desert shall lodge, and howling 
 monsters shall fill the houses ; and wolves shall 
 howl to one another in their palaces, and dragons 
 in their voluptuous pavilions."* 
 
 The classic traveller as he ranges through the 
 groves, which now shade the Palatine Mount, f 
 
 * Lowthe's Isaiab, xiii. v. 21, 22. 
 
 t Let the reader now contrast this mass of ruin, with the 
 splendors of the Palatine in Claudian's time, 
 
 Ecce Palatino crevit reverentia mont i . . 
 Non alium certe decuit rectoribus orbis
 
 SSO CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 will recollect the various passages in which Virgil 
 alludes to this hill, a st ene of so much splendor 
 in his days, bu: now nearly reduced to its original 
 simplicity and loneliness. Like ./Eneas, he will 
 contemplate the interesting spot with delight, and 
 review like him, though with very. different feel- 
 ings, the vestiges ot heroes of old, " virum monu- 
 menta prioruiu." 
 
 Cum muros arcemque procul, ac rara domorum 
 Tecla vidcut, quae uunc Roinana potentia coelo 
 JEquuvit: tuui res inopes Evaudrus habebat. 
 
 . viii. 98, 
 
 Miratur, facilesque oculos fert omnia circum 
 jEneas, capiturque locis, et siuguia loetus 
 
 Esse larem, nulloque magis se colle potestas 
 JEstiraat, & sumrni sentit fastigia juris. 
 Attollens apicem subjettis regia rostris, 
 Tot circum delubra videt, tanfisquc Deorum 
 Cingitur excuLiis. Juvat infra tocta Tonai.tis 
 Cernere Tarpcia pendenfes rupe Gigantcs, 
 Caelatasque fores, mediisque volantia signa 
 Nubibus, & <lenbuia slipanlibus aithera tempi is, 
 ^Iraque vestitis uumcres^ puppe columuis 
 Consita, subnixasquc jugis iuiniauibus zedes, 
 Naturam cumulante maiu ; spoliisque micantcs 
 lunumeros arcus. Acies stupet i^ne n)etalii, 
 Et circumfuso trepidans obtunditur auro. 
 
 De Cons. Honor. \l.
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 381 
 
 Exquiritque auditque virum monumenta priorura. 
 
 Turn Rex Evanihus, Romance couditor arc-is 
 
 Heec neiuora indigene Fauui nvinphieque tcnebant. 
 
 310. 
 
 From the Palatine WP passed to the Aventine 
 Mount well known fur the unpropitiotis augurj 
 of Remus, and at an earlier period for the resi- 
 dence ol Caciis, and the victory of Hercules, 
 both so well described by Virgil, 
 
 -- Ter totuni fervidus irii 
 
 Lustrat Aventini montera ; ter saxta tentat 
 Limina nequicqnam ; er fessus valle resedit. 
 Stabat acuta silix, prsecisis undiqne saxis, 
 Speluncte dorso insurgens, altissirna visu, 
 Diiarum uidis domus opportuua voluci urn. 
 
 JEn. viii. *239. 
 
 Here also stood the temple of Diana, erected In 
 the joint names of all the Latin tribes, in imita- 
 tion of the celebrated temple of that goddess at 
 Ephesns built at the common expense of the 
 cities of Asia. The erection of the temple of 
 Diana at Rome by the Latins in the reign of 
 Serrius Tuliins, that is, at a time when the 
 Latins were independent and had frequently 
 disputed with the Romans for pre-eminence, was 
 considered as a tacit renunciation of their pre- 
 tensions, and an acknowledgment that Rome 
 was the centre and the capital of the Latin 
 nation at large. The sacrifice of a celebrated 
 1
 
 382 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 ox in this temple by a Roman instead of a Sabine, 
 was supposed to have decided the destiny of 
 Rome, and to have fixed the seat of universal 
 empire on its hills.* Of this temple, once so 
 magnificent and so celebrated, no traces remain, 
 not even a base, a fallen pillar, a shattered 
 wall, to ascertain its situation, or furnish the 
 antiquary with grounds for probable conjecture. 
 The same may be said of the temple of Juno, 
 of that of the Dea Bona, and of the numberless 
 other stately edifices that rose on this hill. 
 Some parts indeed are so deserted and so encum- 
 bered with ruins, as to answer the description 
 Virgil gives of it when pointed out by Evander 
 to his Trojan guest. 
 
 Jam priuium saxis suspensam hanc aspice rupeni : 
 Disjectae procul ut moles, desertaque mentis 
 Slat dooms, et scopuli ingentem traxere ruinani. 
 
 JEn. viii. 190. 
 
 Th'e west side of the Aventine looks down on 
 the Tiber and on the fields called Prati del 
 Popolo Romano. These meadows are planted 
 with mulberry-trees, and adorned by the pyra- 
 midal tomb of Caius Cestius. This ancient 
 monument remains entire, an advantage which 
 it ewes partly to its form well calculated to 
 
 * Tit. Liv. j. 45. Valerius Maximus, vii. 3,
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 383 
 
 resist the influence of weather, and partly to its 
 situation, as it is joined to the walls of the city, 
 and forms part of the fortification. It stands 
 on a basis about ninety feet square, and rises 
 about a hundred and twenty in height. It is 
 formed, at least externally, of large blocks of 
 white marble : a door in the basis opens into a 
 gallery terminating in a small room ornamented 
 with paintings on the stucco, in regular com- 
 partments. In this chamber of the dead once 
 stood a sarcophagus, that contained the remains 
 of Cestius. At each corner on the outside there 
 was a pillar once surmounted with a statue : two 
 of these remain, or rather were restored, but 
 without the ornament that crowned them an- 
 ciently. It is probable that this edifice stands 
 on an elevation of some steps, but the earth is 
 too much raised to allow us to discover them at 
 present. Its form is graceful, and its appear- 
 ance very picturesque : supported on either 
 side by the ancient walls of Rome with their 
 towers and galleries venerable in decay, half 
 shaded by a few scattered trees, and looking 
 down upon a hundred humbler tombs inter- 
 spersed in the neighboring grove, it rises in 
 lonely pomp, and seems to preside over these 
 fields of silence and of mortality. 
 
 When we first visited this solitary spot a flock 
 
 2
 
 384 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 of sheep was dispersed through the grove, nib- 
 bling the grass over the graves; the tombs 
 rose around in various forms of sepulchral stones, 
 urns, and sarcophagi, some standing in good 
 repair, others fallen and mouldering half buried 
 in the high grass that waved over them ; the 
 monument of Cestius stood on the back o-round 
 
 O 
 
 in perspective, and formed the principal feature 
 of the picture ; and a painter seated on a tomb- 
 stone, was employed in taking a view of the 
 scene. None but foreigners excluded by their 
 religion from the cemeteries of the country, 
 are deposited here, and of these foreigners seve- 
 ral were English. The far greater part had 
 been cut off in their prime, by unexpected 
 disease or by fatal accident. What a scene for 
 a traveller far remote from home and liable to 
 similar disasters ! 
 
 Turning from these fields of death, these 
 " lugentes campi," and rcpassing the Aventine 
 hill, we came to the baths of Antoninus Cara- 
 calla, that occupy part of its declivity and a 
 considerable portion of the plain between it, 
 Mons Creliolus and Mons Coeiins. No monu- 
 ment of ancient architecture is calculated to 
 inspire such an exalted idea of Roman magni- 
 ficence, as the ruins of their thermce or baths. 
 Many remain jn a greater or less degree of
 
 a. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 385 
 
 preservation ; such as those of Titus, Diocletian, 
 and Caracalla. To give the untravelled reader 
 some notion of these prodigious piles, I will 
 confine my observations to the latter, as the 
 greatest in extent, and as the best preserved ; 
 for though it be entirely stript of its pillars, 
 statues, and ornaments, both internal and ex- 
 ternal, yet its walls still stand, and its consti- 
 tuent parts and principal apartments are evidently 
 distinguishable. 
 
 The length of the Thermae of Caracalla was 
 one thousand eight hundred and forty feet, its 
 breadth one thousand four hundred and seventy- 
 six. At each end were two temples, one to 
 Apollo, and another to ^Esculapius, as the 
 " Genii tutelares" of a place sacred to the im- 
 provement of the mind, and to the care of the 
 body. The two other temples were dedicated 
 to the two protecting divinities of the Antonine 
 family, Hercules and Bacchus. In the principal 
 building were, in the first place, a grand cir- 
 cular vestibule with four halls on each side, for 
 cold, tepid, warm, and steam baths; in the 
 centre was an immense square, for exercise when, 
 the weather was unfavourable to it in the open 
 air ; beyond it a great hall, where sixteen 
 hundred marble seats were placed for the con- 
 
 VOL.I. C C
 
 386 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 venience of the bathers ; at each end of this hall 
 were libraries. This building terminated on 
 both sides in a court surrounded with porticos, 
 with an odeum for music, and in the middle a 
 capacious basin for swimming. Round this 
 edifice were walks shaded by rows of trees, par- 
 ticularly the plane ; and in its front extended a 
 gymnasium for running, wrestling, &c. in fine 
 weather. The whole was bounded by a vast 
 portico opening into exedrae or spacious halls, 
 where poets declaimed and philosophers gave 
 lectures. 
 
 This immense fabric was adorned within and 
 without with pillars, stucco-work, paintings, and 
 statues. The stucco and painting, though faintly 
 indeed, are yet in many places perceptible. 
 Pillars have been dug up, and some still remain 
 amidst the ruins ; while the Farnesian bull, and 
 the famous Hercules found in one of these halls, 
 announce the multiplicity and beauty of the 
 statues which once adorned the Therinee of Cara- 
 calla. The flues and reservoirs for water still 
 remain. The height gf the pile was propor- 
 tioned to its extent, and still appears very con- 
 siderable, even though the ground be raised at 
 least twelve feet above its ancient level. It is 
 now changed into gardens and vineyards : its 
 1
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 387 
 
 high massive walls form separations, and its limy 
 ruins spread over the surface, burn the soil, and 
 check its natural fertility. . 
 
 From these Thermae we crossed the Vallis 
 Coelimontana and ascended the Ccelian Mount. 
 Many shapeless ruins that bewilder antiquaries 
 in a maze of conjectures, are strewed over the 
 surface of this hill. One object only merits 
 particular attention, and that is the church of 
 S. Stephana in rotondo, so called from its cir- 
 cular form, admitted by all to be an ancient 
 temple, though there is much doubt as to the 
 name of its tutelar god. Some suppose it to 
 have been dedicated to the Emperor Claudius, 
 a leaden divinity not likely either to awe or to 
 delight his votaries ; while others conceive it to 
 have been the sanctuary of the most sportive of 
 the rural powers, of Faunus, " Nympharum 
 fugientum amator." On this conjecture the 
 imagination reposes with complacency. Its 
 circular walls are supported by a double range 
 of Ionic pillars of granite, to the number of 
 sixty, and it derives from such an assemblage of 
 columns, a certain air of grandeur, though in 
 other respects it is much disfigured, and at pre- 
 sent much neglected. This latter circumstance 
 seems extraordinary, as it is one of the most 
 ancient churches in Rome, having been conse- 
 c c 2
 
 S88 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 crated as such by Pope Simplicius in the year 
 468; as it gives title to a Cardinal deacon, a 
 privilege which generally secures to a church 
 endowed with it, the attention and munificent 
 partiality of the titular prelate. 
 
 Descending the Ccelian hill, we crossed the 
 Saburra once the ahode of the great and opulent 
 Romans, now two long streets lined with dead 
 walls, and covered with a few straggling houses 
 and solitary convents. Proceeding over the 
 Esquiline Mount we stopped at the baths of 
 Titus, an edifice once of unusual extent and mag- 
 nificence, though on a smaller scale than the 
 Thermse of Caracalla. Part of the theatre of 
 one of the temples and of one of the great halls 
 still remains above, and many vaults, long gal- 
 leries, and spaciojis ruins under ground. Some 
 of these subterraneous apartments were curiously 
 painted, and such is the firmness and consistency 
 of the colors that notwithstanding the dampness 
 of the place, the lapse of so many ages, and the 
 earth which has filled the vaults for so long a 
 time, they still retain much of their original 
 freshness. Many of the figures are scratched on 
 the plaster, and supposed to have been so origi- 
 nally to imitate basso relievo; but upon a close 
 examination the little nails which fastened the 
 gold, silver, or bronze, that covered these figures
 
 C/z. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 389 
 
 are perceptible, and seem to prove that they 
 were all originally coated over in a similar man- 
 ner. Many of the paintings are arabesques ; a 
 fanciful style of ornament observed and repro- 
 bated as unnatural and ill-proportioned by Vitru- 
 vius,* but revived and imitated by Kaffael. 
 
 Titus's baths are, as I have observed before, 
 inferior in extent to those of Caracalla and of 
 Diocletian ; but erected at a period when the 
 arts still preserved their primeval perfection, 
 they must have surpassed all later edifices of the 
 kind in symmetry, decoration, and furniture. 
 Every person of taste must therefore lament that 
 they are not cleared and opened; the famous 
 groupe of Laocoon was found in an excavation 
 made there not many years ago, and several 
 pillars of granite, alabaster, and porphyry have 
 since been discovered in various partial re- 
 searches. What precious remnants of ancient 
 art an<l magnificence might we find, if all the 
 streets of this subterraneous city (for so these 
 thermw may be called) were opened, and its 
 recesses explored ! At present the curious visitor 
 walks over heaps of rubbish so high as almost 
 to touch the vault, so uneven as to require all 
 
 * Lib. vii. cap, 5,
 
 390 CLASSICAL TOUR CVz.XI. 
 
 his attention at every step; and whilst lie ex- 
 amines the painted walls by the faint glare of a 
 taper, he is soon obliged by the closeness of the 
 air to retire contented with a few cursory obser- 
 vations. To these baths belong the Sette Sale, 
 seven halls, or vast vaulted rooms of one hun- 
 dred feet in length by fifteen in breadth and 
 twenty in depth, intended originally as reser- 
 voirs to supply the baths, and occasionally the 
 Coliseum with water when naval engagements 
 were represented. 
 
 Besides the baths of Titus several other vaulted 
 subterraneous apartments, halls, and galleries, 
 ornamented in the same style and with the same 
 magnificence, have been discovered at different 
 times on the same hill. They are supposed to 
 have been parts of the same Thermae, or per- 
 haps belonging to some of the many palaces 
 that were once crowded together in this neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 Towards the extremity of the Esquiline and 
 not far from the Porta Magyiore, in a vineyard, 
 stands a ruined edifice called the Temple of 
 Minerva Medica, though it is supposed by some 
 to have been a bath. Its form circular without, 
 is a polygon within ; its arched roof swells into 
 a bold doom ; in its sides are nine niches for so
 
 Ck. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 many statues; the entrance occupies the place 
 of the tenth. Many beautiful statues were found 
 in the grounds that border it, among 1 others that 
 of Minerva with a serpent an emblem of ^Escu- 
 lapius, twined round her legs, a circumstance 
 which occasioned the conjecture that this struc- 
 ture was a temple of that goddess. It seems to 
 have been surrounded with a portico, cased with 
 marble, and highly decorated. Nothing now 
 remains but the walls, the vaulted roof in some 
 places shattered, and on the whole a mass that 
 daily threatens ruin. 
 
 In the same vineyard are various subterranean 
 vaulted apartments, some more some less orna- 
 mented, the receptacles of the dead of various 
 
 families, whose ashes consigned to little earthen- 
 ware urns remain in their places, inscribed with 
 a name and exclamation of sorrow. Anciently 
 indeed, a considerable part of the Esquiline 
 was devoted to the plebeian dead whose bodies 
 were sometimes burnt here, and sometimes J 
 believe thrown into ditches or graves uncovered : 
 a circumstance to which Horace seems to allude 
 when he represents it as the resort of beasts and 
 birds of prey. 
 
 Insepulta membra differant lupi 
 Et Esquilinae alites,
 
 392 CLASSICAL TOUR C/i. XI. 
 
 To remove such funereal objects, and to purify 
 the air, Augustus made a present of the ground 
 so employed to Maecenas, who covered it with 
 gardens and groves and erected on its summit 
 a palace. The elevation of this edifice and its 
 extensive views are alluded to by the same poet, 
 when pressing his friend to descend from his 
 pompous residence and visit his humble roof, he 
 says, 
 
 Eripe te morae ; 
 
 Ne semper udum Tibur et JEsulae 
 Declive contempleris arvura, et 
 Telegoni juga parricidas. 
 Fastidiosam desere copiano, et 
 Molem propinquam nubibus arduis : 
 Omitte mirari beatae 
 Fmuum et opes strepitumque Romae. 
 
 Carm. iii. 29. 
 
 From the top of this palace, or from a tower 
 in a garden, Nero contemplated and enjoyed the 
 dreadful spectacle of Rome in flames.* The 
 precise site of this palace and its towers, and 
 of the gardens surrounding, has never been 
 ascertained in a satisfactory manner; statues 
 and paintings have been discovered in profusion 
 in various parts of this hill ; but numberless were 
 
 * Suetonis, Nero, 38
 
 C/i. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 393 
 
 the temples and palaces that rose on all sides, 
 and to which such ornaments belonged, it would 
 be difficult to determine. Near the palace of 
 his patron Maecenas, Virgil is said to have had 
 a house; but the retired temper of this poet, 
 and his fondness for a country life, seem to ren- 
 der extremely improbable a report, which I 
 believe rests solely on the authority of D fl- 
 atus. 
 
 From the Esquiline hill we passed to that 
 elevated site which as it advances westward 
 branches into the Viminal and Quirinal hills. 
 On it stands one of the grandest remains of an- 
 cient splendor, a considerable portion of the 
 baths of Diocletian, now converted into a con- 
 vent of Carthusians. The principal hall is the 
 church, and though four of the side recesses are 
 filled up, and the two middle ones somewhat 
 altered ; though its pavement has been raised 
 about six feet to remove the dampness, and of 
 course its proportions have been changed, yet it 
 retains its length, its pillars, its cross-ribbed vault, 
 and much of its original grandeur. It was paved 
 and incrusted with the finest marble by Benedict 
 XIV. who carried into execution the plan drawn 
 up originally by Michael Angelo, when it was 
 first changed into, a church. It is supported by
 
 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XT. 
 
 eight pillars forty feet in height and five in dia- 
 meter, each of one vast piece of granite. The 
 raising of the pavement, by taking six feet from 
 the height of these pillars, has destroyed their 
 proportion, and given them a very massive ap- 
 pearance. The length of the hall is three hun- 
 dred and fifty feet, its breadth eighty, and its 
 height ninety-six. Notwithstanding its magni- 
 ficence, the mixture of Corinthian and com- 
 posite capital shews how much the genuine 
 taste of architecture was on the decline in the 
 time of Diocletian. The vestibulum or entrance 
 into this church, is a beautiful rotunda, conse- 
 crated by the monuments of Carlo Maratti and 
 Salvator Rosa. The cloister deserves atten- 
 tion: it forms a large square supported by a 
 hundred pillars. In the centre, four towering 
 cypresses shade a fountain that pours a perpetual 
 supply of the purest waters into an immense 
 marble basin, and forms a scene of delicious 
 freshness and antique rural luxury. 
 
 The Viminal hill has no remnant of ancient 
 magnificence to arrest the traveller in his pro- 
 gress to the Quirinal once adorned with the 
 temple of Quirinus, whence it derived its name, 
 Titus Livius and Ovid both relate the Apotheosis 
 of Romulus ; the historian in his sublime mail-
 
 Ch. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 393 
 
 ner the poet in his usual easy graceful style. 
 " Romulus," says Proculus in the former, " parens 
 urbis hujus, prima hodierna luce ccelo repente 
 delapsus, se mihi obvium dedit. Quum perfusus 
 horrore venera bund usque astitissem petens pre- 
 cibus ut contra intueri fas esset. Abi, inquit, 
 nuncia Romanis, coelestes ita velle ut mea Roma 
 caput orbis terrarum sit ; proinde rem militarem 
 colant, sciantque, et ita posteris tradant, nullas 
 opes humanas armis Romanis resistere posse. 
 Haec, inquit, locutus, sublimis abiit."* 
 
 Pulcher et humano major, trabeaque decorus 
 Romulus in media visus adesse via 
 
 Thura ferant, placentque novum pia turba Quirinum 
 Et patrias artes, militiamque colant ...... 
 
 Templa Deo fiunt. Collis quoque dictus ab illo : 
 Et referunt certi sacra paterna dies. 
 
 Ovid. Fast. lib. ii. 507. 
 
 We may easily suppose that a temple dedi- 
 cated to the founder and tutelar divinity of 
 Rome, must have been a structure of unusual 
 magnificence, and we find accordingly that 
 a noble flight of marble steps conducted to its 
 portal, and that it was supported by seventy- 
 
 * Liv. i. 16.
 
 390 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XI. 
 
 six lofty columns. It stood on the brow of the 
 hill that looks towards the Viminal, and in such 
 a site, and with such a colonnade, it must have 
 made a most majestic and splendid appearance. 
 On the opposite side and commanding the Cam- 
 pus Martius, rose the temple of the Sun erected 
 by Aurelian, and almost equal in grandeur and 
 decorations to the palace of this deity described 
 by Ovid, " sublimibus alta columnis." In fact 
 the pillars that supported its portal must have 
 been, if we may judge by a fragment remaining 
 in the Colonna garden, near seventy feet in 
 height; and as they were with the whole of their 
 entablature of the whitest marble and of the 
 richest order (the Corinthian) they must have 
 exhibited a most dazzling spectacle worthy of 
 the glory of " the far beaming god of day." 
 But not a trace of either of these edifices re- 
 mains; their massive pillars have long since 
 fallen, and the only remnant of the latter is a 
 block of white marble, and a part of the enta- 
 blature ; and of the former, the flight of marble 
 steps that now leads to the church of Ara Cceli iu 
 the Capitol, 
 
 From the Quirinal we passed to the Monte 
 Pincio anciently without the city, and called, 
 * Collis horttilorum ;" because covered then as
 
 a. XI. THROUGH ITALY. 397 
 
 now, with villas and suburban gardens. Pom- 
 pey, Sallust, and at the latter period the Em- 
 perors, delighted in the rural airy retreat of this 
 hill, high and commanding extensive views on 
 all sides.
 
 598 CLASSICAL TOUR CJt. XII. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Campus Martins, its Edifices Mausoleum of Au- 
 gustus Pantheon - - Colunma Trajana 
 Bridges Circus Causes of the Destruction 
 of Ancient Edifices. 
 
 Jt 1 ROM the hills we descended to the Campus 
 Martins, in the early ages of the Republic an 
 open field devoted to military exercises, and 
 well calculated for that purpose by its level 
 grassy surface, and the neighborhood of the 
 river winding along its border. In process of 
 time some edifices of public utility were erected 
 upon it ; but their number was small during the 
 Republic \ while under the Emperors they were 
 increased to such a degree, that the Campus 
 Martins became another city composed of thea- 
 tres, porticos, baths, and temples. These edifices 
 were not only magnificent in themselves, but sur- 
 rounded with groves and walks, and arranged 
 with a due regard to perspective beauty. Such 
 is the idea which we must naturally form of 
 buildings erected by Consuls and Emperors, 
 each endeavoring to rival or surpass his prede-
 
 Ck. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 399 
 
 cessor in magnificence ; and such is the descrip- 
 tion which Strabo gives of the Campus in his 
 time, that is, nearly in the time of its greatest 
 glory. This superb theatre of glorious edifices, 
 when beheld from the Janiculum, bordered in 
 front by the Tiber, and closed behind by the 
 Capitol, the Viminal, the Quirinal, and the Pin- 
 cian hills, with temples, palaces, and gardens 
 lining their sides ; and swelling from their sum- 
 mits, must have formed a picture of astonishing 
 beauty, splendor and variety, and have justified 
 the proud appellation so often bestowed on Rome 
 " of the temple and abode of the gods." But 
 of all the pompous fabrics that formed this as- 
 semblage of wonders how few remain ! and of 
 the remaining few how small the numbers of 
 those which retain any features of their ancient 
 majesty ! Among these latter can hardly be 
 reckoned Augustus's tomb, the vast vaults and 
 substructions of which indeed exist, but its pyra- 
 midal form and pillars [are no more ; or Mar- 
 cellus's theatre half buried under the super- 
 structure raised upon its vaulted galleries; or 
 the portico of Octavia lost with its surviving arch 
 and a few shattered pillars in the Pescheria. Of 
 such surviving edifices the principal indeed is the 
 Pantheon itself. 
 
 The Pantheon, it is true, retains its majestic
 
 400 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. 
 
 portico, and presents its graceful dome uninjured : 
 the pavement laid by Agrippa, and trodden by- 
 Augustus, still forms its floor ; the compartments 
 and fluted pillars of the richest marble that origi- 
 nally lined its walls, still adorn its in ward circum- 
 ference ; the deep tints that age has thrown over it 
 only contribute to raise its dignity, and augment 
 our veneration ; and the traveller enters its portal, 
 through which twice twenty generations have 
 flowed in succession, with a mixture of awe and 
 religious veneration. Yet the Pantheon itself has 
 been " shorn of its beams," and looks eclipsed 
 through the " disastrous twilight" of eighteen 
 centuries. Where is now its proud elevation, 
 and the flight of steps that conducted to its 
 threshold ? Where the marbles that clothed, or 
 the handmaid edifices that concealed its brick 
 exterior ? Where the statues that graced it cor- 
 nice? The bronze that blazed on its dome, that 
 vaulted its portico, and formed its sculptured 
 doors; and where the silver that lined the com- 
 partments of its roof within, and dazzled the spec- 
 tator with its brightness ? The rapacity of Gen- 
 jeric began, the avarice of succeeding barbarians 
 continued, to strip it of these splendid decora- 
 tions ; and time, by levelling many a noble struc- 
 ture in its neighborhood, has raised the pave- 
 ment, and deprived it of all the advantages of 
 situation.
 
 Ck. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 401 
 
 The two celebrated pillars of Antoninus and 
 Trajan stand each in its square ; but they also 
 have lost several feet of their original elevation; 
 and the colonnade or portico that enclosed the 
 latter, supposed to be the noblest structure of the 
 kind ever erecte\l, has long 1 since sunk in the dust, 
 and its ruins probably lie buried under the foun- 
 dations of the neighboring houses. 
 
 Seven bridges formerly conducted over the 
 Tiber to the Janiculum and the Vatican Mount : 
 of these the most remarkable were the first, the 
 Pons Elius ; and the last, the Pons Sublicius: 
 the former erected by Adrian, opened a grand 
 communication from the Campus Martius to his 
 mausoleum. It remains under the appellation of 
 Ponte S. Angelo ; the statues that adorned its ba- 
 lustrade, dissappeared at an early period, and 
 have since been replaced by statues of St. Peter 
 and St. Paul, and of several angels executed by 
 eminent masters, and considered beautiful. The 
 ancient statues were probably thrown into the* 
 Tiber, and may at some future period emerge 
 from its channel. The Pons Sublicius lay much 
 lower, and formed a passage from the Aventine 
 Mount to the Janiculum. Though consecrated 
 by its antiquity, for it was the first bridge built at 
 Rome, and still more by the heroic exertions of 
 
 VOL. i. J> D
 
 402 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 Horatius Codes, it has long since fallen, and 
 only some slight traces of foundations or abut- 
 ments remain on the Ripa Grande, to mark the 
 spot where it once stood. Two others, the Pons 
 Triumphalis and Pons Senatorius, have shared 
 the same fate. 
 
 The reader will prohably expect an account of 
 the various theatres and circusses that rose in 
 every quarter of the city, and furnished perpetual 
 occupation to the degenerate Romans of later 
 times, who confined their ambition to the pittance 
 of bread and the public amusement of the day ; 
 and he will feel some disappointment when he 
 learns, that scarce a trace remains of such im- 
 mense structures, that in general their very foun- 
 dations have vanished, and that the Circus Max- 
 imus itself, though capable of containing half the 
 population of Rome within its vast embrace, is 
 erased from the surface of the earth, and has left 
 no vestige of its existence, excepting the hollow 
 scooped out in the Aventine valley for its foun- 
 dations. 
 
 Jt may be asked how the edifices just alluded 
 to, and a thousand others equally calculated to 
 resist the depredations of time and the usual 
 means of artificial destruction, should have thus
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 403 
 
 sunk into utter annihilation ? May we not adopt 
 the language of poetry ? 
 
 Some felt the silent stroke of inould'riug age, 
 Some hostile fury, some religious rage. 
 Barbarian blindness, Christian zeal conspire, 
 And Papal piety, and Gothic fire. 
 
 Pope's Epistle to Addison. 
 
 These verses contain a very comprehensive 
 scale of destruction ; five causes sufficient to com- 
 pass and explain the widest range of devastation, 
 and annihilate the most solid fabrics that human 
 skill can erect, even the pyramids themselves. 
 Yet upon impartial examination, we shall find that 
 the fury of enemies, and the zeal of Christians, 
 the piety of Popes, and the fires kindled by the 
 Goths, have not been the sole or even the princi- 4 
 pal agents in the work of devastation ; and that 
 other causes less observable because slower, but 
 equally effectual in their operations, have pro- 
 duced the wide extended scene of ruin which we 
 have just traversed. 
 
 To begin therefore with the first cause, hostile 
 fury : it is to be recollected that the barbarians 
 who took and sacked Rome, such as Alaric and 
 Genseric, had plunder and profit, not destruction, 
 in view ', and that they warred with the power 
 and the opulence, not with the taste and the edi- 
 
 DD 2
 
 404 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 fices of the Romans. Gold and silver, brass 
 and precious stones, cloth and articles of appa- 
 rel, with furniture of every sort, were the objects 
 of their rapacity : the persons also of the unfor- 
 tunate Romans, whom they could either sell or 
 employ as slaves, were considered a valuable 
 part of their booty ; in collecting 1 the former, 
 and securing the latter, their attention was fully 
 occupied, nor had they leisure, supposing that 
 they had the inclination, during' the short space 
 of time they occupied the city (confined to six 
 days the first, and fourteen the second time the 
 city was taken) to demolish, or even very mate- 
 rially to disfigure the solidity of the public edi- 
 fices. The massive roof of the Capitol formed 
 of brass, and it seems lined with gold, and the 
 bronze covering and sculptured portals of the 
 Pantheon, were torn from their respective tem- 
 ples by Gensericj but the edifices themselves 
 were spared, and the latter still remains to shew 
 how little damage its essential form suffered in 
 the disaster. 
 
 As for the destructive effects of Gothic fire, 
 they seem to have been confined to a few pa- 
 laces and private houses ; and so partial was the 
 mischief, that only one edifice of any note, the 
 palace of Sallust, is mentioned as having been 
 consumed on this occasion.
 
 Oi. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 405 
 
 Religious rage, or Christian zeal, two expres- 
 sions meaning the same thing, are frequently in- 
 troduced by authors of a certain mode of think- 
 ing, as agents unusually active in the work of 
 destruction ; while Papal piety is represented as 
 the presiding demon who directed their opera- 
 tions, and quickened their natural activity. The 
 fact, however, is otherwise ; we do not find that 
 any one temple in Rome was destroyed by the 
 Christians, either tumultuously, or legally, that 
 is, by imperial orders; on the contrary, such 
 was the respect which the Christian Emperors 
 paid even to the prejudices of the Romans, that 
 idols proscribed in the provinces, were still to- 
 lerated in the capital, and allowed to occupy 
 their rich shrines, and sit enthroned in their de- 
 serted temples. In the pillage of Rome by the 
 Goths and Vandals, these statues, when of pre- 
 cious materials, such as gold, silver, or brass, 
 were not spared ; but the shrine only, or per- 
 haps the furniture and decorations of the temple 
 of similar materials, and of course equally cal- 
 culated to attract the hand of rapacity, were 
 violated ; while the edifices themselves, without, 
 I believe, one exception, were respected. The 
 influence of Papal piety was employed to pre- 
 serve these buildings, and if possible, to conse- 
 crate them to the pure mysteries of Christian 
 adoration ; and to it we owe the few temples
 
 406 CLASSICAL TOUR Cli. XII. 
 
 that have survived the general ruin such as the 
 temple of Vesta, that of Faunus, that of Fortuna 
 Virilis, and last, though first in estimation and 
 grandeur, the Pantheon itself. 
 
 Having- thus rejected as fabulous or inefficient 
 the causes produced by the poet, and admitted 
 by ignorance and prejudice with little or no 
 examination; it is necessary, and not difficult to 
 substitute in their place, the real agents that ef- 
 fected the degradation, and finally, the destruc- 
 tion of the noblest city that the world had ever 
 beheld. 
 
 Under the auspicious government of Trajan, 
 the empire of Rome had reached the utmost ex- 
 tent of its destined limits ; and Rome herself had 
 attained the full perfection of her beauty, and 
 the highest degree of her magnificence. Dur- 
 jng the virtuous administration of the Antonines, 
 that is, during the space of nearly a century, 
 this state of prosperity and glory continued un- 
 altered till the tyranny of Commodus revived 
 the memory and the disasters of the reigns of 
 Caligula, Nero, and Domitian, and ended, like 
 them, in assassination, civil war, and revolution. 
 From the portentous aera of the death of Perti- 
 nax, Rome ceased to be the fixed and habitual 
 residence of her Emperors, who were generally
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 407 
 
 employed in the field, either in repressing rebel- 
 lious usurpers, or in repelling foreign enemies. 
 Still they occasionally returned to celebrate fes- 
 tive games, to receive the homage of the Senate 
 and Roman people, or perhaps to ascend in tri- 
 umph to the Capitol, and to worship the tutelar 
 deities of the empire. From the accession of 
 Diocletian, these visits became less frequent, and 
 while the Mistress of the world was neglected 
 by her ha If- barbarian Emperors, the handmaid 
 cities of the provinces, Thessalonica, Nicomedia, 
 Antioch, Milan, and Ravenna, enjoyed the honor 
 and the advantages of their residence. 
 
 Though Rome was still the acknowledged 
 capital of the world, and though her population 
 and her riches were unbounded, yet the arts, no 
 longer encouraged or employed by the sove- 
 reign, languished. Taste was on the decline, 
 and the great masterpieces (edifices, statues, 
 paintings) that adorned the city, monuments of 
 the genius and magnificence of happier periods, 
 were passed by unnoticed, and gradually neg- 
 lected. We cannot suppose that a people who 
 had lost their taste and spirit, or that Emperors 
 occupied in remote provinces with the intrigues 
 of competition, or with the dangers of war, were 
 disposed to furnish the sums requisite to repair 
 and to maintain buildings, which they scarcely
 
 40S CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XIL 
 
 knew, or probably beheld with indifference, 
 We may therefore fairly conclude, that, at the 
 beginning 1 of the reign of Constantine, some, 
 perhaps several, public edifices must have suf- 
 fered from neglect i and when we behold the 
 triumphal arch of Trajan destroyed by order of 
 the senate, to furnish materials for the erection 
 of a similar trophy in honor of the former Em- 
 peror, we may fairly infer that such edifices 
 were considered as scarcely worth preservation, 
 and that they were indebted for their duration 
 to their own solidity. 
 
 Among the causes of ruin we may therefore 
 safely rank the indifference and the neglect of 
 government ; nay, we have even some reason to 
 suspeet that the Emperors not only neglected 
 the reparation, but sometimes hastened the fall 
 of public structures. Each sovereign was am- 
 bitious of distinguishing his reign by some mag- 
 nificent fabric, by erecting baths or a circus, a 
 portico or a forum ; but it is to be feared that 
 they were not always delicate as to the places 
 whence the materials were taken, and sometimes 
 stripped the monuments of their predecessors of 
 their oVnamenls, in order to employ them in the 
 decoration of their new edifices. Certain it is 
 that some Emperors, while they were adding to 
 the splendor of the city on one side, made no
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 409 
 
 difficulty of plundering it on the other. More- 
 over, as the number of Christians increased, the 
 temples became deserted ; and Christian princes, 
 though not obliged by their religion to destroy, 
 did not, perhaps, consider themselves as author- 
 ized in conscience to repair the sanctuaries of 
 idolatrous worship.* 
 
 When Rome ceased to be free, and lost even 
 the forms of republican liberty, the forum (the 
 seat of popular deliberations) became useless, 
 and the five or six superb squares that bore that 
 appellation, were turned into so many lonely 
 walks. The various curies (the superb palaces 
 of the senate) so necessary in the days of Roman 
 freedom, when almost the whole of the civilized 
 world was governed by the wisdom of'that ve- 
 nerable body, stood silent and unfrequented un- 
 der the later Emperors, when public deliberation 
 was a mere form, and the senate itself, an empty 
 
 * We may conjecture from an ancient inscription, how 
 much Rome was encumbered with ruins even in the age of 
 Honorius. S. P. Q. R. IMPP. CAESS. DD. NN. IN- 
 VICT1SSIMIS. PRINCIPIBUS. ARCADIO. ET. HO. 
 NORIO. VICTORIBUS. AC. TRIUMPH ATORIBUS. 
 SEMPER. AUGG. OB. INSTAURATOS. URBI. AETER- 
 VJE. MUROS. PORTAS. AC. TURRES EGESTIS. IM- 
 ilENSIS. RUDERIBUS. &c. &c.Apud. Grut,
 
 410 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 shadow. The basilica, indeed (the halls where 
 the magistrates sat to administer justice) might 
 still collect a crowd, and challenge attention ; 
 but as the population of the city decreased, their 
 numbers appeared too great, and the Emperors 
 seemed to embrace with readiness every oppor- 
 tunity of turning them to other purposes. These 
 three sorts of edifices may be supposed, there- 
 fore, to have fallen into decay at an early pe- 
 riod, and to have mouldered imperceptibly into 
 dust, even though no active power was employed 
 to hasten their dissolution. Of the several curies, 
 not one has escaped destruction, and the reader 
 will learn with regret, that time has swept away 
 the very vestiges of these celebrated seats of 
 liberty, of wisdom, and of public dignity. 
 
 Some few temples remain which, after they 
 had long been abandoned both by their deities 
 and their votaries, are indebted for their exist- 
 ence to " Christian zeal and Papal piety," which 
 saved them from complete ruin by turning them 
 into churches. We may lament that more of 
 these beautiful edifices were not destined to par- 
 take of this advantage; and particularly that 
 the magnificent temple of Jupiter Capitolinus 
 was not of the number; especially as it sur- 
 vived the taking of the city, and stood, as to its 
 walls, unimpaired in the time of Theodoric.
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 411 
 
 But in the first place, the Christians do not 
 seem to have taken possession of any temple, 
 at least in Rome, where the Emperors treated 
 the ancient religion of the empire with peculiar 
 delicacy, till the total downfal of idolatry, and 
 the complete change of public opinion ; that is, 
 till many of these fabrics had fallen into irrepa- 
 rable decay, and become incapable of restora- 
 tion.* , 
 
 In the next place, the forms of pagan temples 
 in general, and particularly of such as were built 
 (and these formed the far greater number) on a 
 smaller scale, were extremely ill adapted to the 
 
 * The opinion of the Christians relative to the idols 
 themselves, appears from the following lines, which prove 
 satisfactorily, I conceive, that they had no desire to destroy 
 them. The Poet addresses himself to Rome. 
 
 Deponas jam festa velim pueriiia, ritus 
 Ridicules, tantoque indigna sacraria regno. 
 Marmora tabenti respergine tincta lavate, 
 O proceres, iiceat statuas consistere puras, 
 Artificum magnorum opera, haec pulcherrima nostro 
 Ornamenta cluant patrije, nee decolor usus 
 In vitium versa; monuments coinquinet artis. 
 
 Prudent. 
 
 If they spared even the idols, it is difficult to conceire 
 why they should destroy the templet.
 
 412 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 purposes of Christian worship. Narrow oblong- 
 edifices, frequently dark and lighted only from the 
 entrance, they seem to have been constructed 
 merely as sanctuaries to receive the statues of 
 their respective gods, while the multitude of 
 adorers filled the porticos, or crowded the colon- 
 nades without, and waited till the trumpets an- 
 nounced the moment of sacrifice, or the priest 
 proclaimed the oracles of the god. The external 
 ornaments, and the vast extent of porticos and 
 galleries that surrounded the principal temples, 
 and not the capacity of the interior, constituted 
 their magnificence. The Adyta or Penetralia, 
 seem mostly to have been on a contracted scale, 
 and though well calculated for a chapel or oratory 
 for a small assembly, are too confined for a parish 
 church, and for the accommodation of a large 
 congregation. 
 
 The Basilica, on the contrary, presented every 
 convenience and seemed as if expressly erected 
 for the purpose of a Christian assembly. The 
 aisles on either side seemed formed to receive and 
 screen the women; the vast area in the middle 
 furnished a spacious range for the men ; the apsis 
 or semicircular retreat raised on a flight of steps 
 at the end, gave the bishop and his presbyters an 
 elevated and honorable station; while the sacred 
 table surrounded with youth and innocence, stood
 
 Ck. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 between the clergy and the people, a splendid 
 and conspicuous object. Hence several of these 
 edifices, which depended entirely on the will of 
 the sovereign, and might without offence or in- 
 
 o ' ^ 
 
 justice be devoted to such purposes as be judged 
 most expedient, were at an early period opened 
 for the reception of the Christians, and conse- 
 crated to the celebration of the holy mysteries. 
 Thus in the time of Constantine, the Basilica 
 Lateranensis was converted into a church and de- 
 dicated to the Saviour; while the Basilica Vati- 
 cana became another Christian temple under the 
 well-known appellation of St. Peter's. It follows 
 of course, that the temples would in general be 
 permitted to crumble away insensibly into ruin, as 
 useless and unappropriated edifices, while many 
 of the Basilicae would be repaired with diligence, 
 and not unfrequently enriched with the pillars and 
 marbles of the fallen fanes in their neighborhood. 
 
 The neglect of the Emperors was followed by 
 indifference in the city magistrates, and contempt 
 among the people, who made no difficulty of 
 stealing from the public edifices the materials re- 
 quisite for the erection, or ornament of their pri- 
 vate houses; a disorder which rose to such a pitch 
 as to require the interference of public authority 
 more than once, in order to prevent the total di- 
 lapidation of some of the finest monuments of
 
 414 CLASSICAL TOUR Ck. XII. 
 
 Roman greatness. This interference however, 
 only took place during the short reign of one Em- 
 peror, whose virtues struggled in vain against the 
 misfortunes of the time and the destinies of the 
 falling empire. I allude to Majorian, whose pa- 
 triotic edict on this subject is cited with becoming 
 applause by Gibbon, and proves that the magis- 
 trates themselves connived at the abuse, and were 
 perhaps too frequently the transgressors. To the 
 neglect of the sovereign therefore we may add 
 the indifference of the magistrates, and the in- 
 terested pilferings of the people, a second and 
 powerful agent of destruction. 
 
 However, notwithstanding these disadvan- 
 tages Rome retained much of her imperial gran- 
 deur, after the nominal fall of her empire, and 
 still challenged the respect and admiration of 
 nations, even when subjected to the sway of bar- 
 barian princes. Odoacer for instance and his vic- 
 torious rival Theodoric, during a long and pros- 
 perous reign watched with jealous care over the 
 beauty of the city, and not only endeavored to 
 preserve what it retained, but to restore what it 
 had lost of its ancient splendor. Their attempts 
 merited praise and acknowledgment, but the effect 
 was temporary, and withheld but could not avert 
 the stroke which fate already levelled at the mo- 
 numents of Rome.
 
 C%, XII. THROUGH ITALY. 415 
 
 When the evil genius of Italy prompted Jus- 
 tinian to re-annex it as a province to the empire, 
 of which it had formerly been the head ; and when 
 Belisarius took possession of the capital with a 
 force sufficient to garrison, but not to protect it 
 fully against the enemy, Rome was turned into a 
 fortress, her amphitheatres, mausoleums, and 
 surviving temples were converted into strong 
 holds, and their splendid furniture and costly de- 
 corations were employed as they presented them- 
 selves, for means of defence or of annoyance. 
 In the course of this most destructive war, Rome 
 was five times taken; many of her edifices were 
 demolished not by the hostile rage of the Goths, 
 but by the military prudence of Belisarius; her 
 streets were unpeopled by the sword and by pes- 
 tilence; the titles of her magistrates were sup- 
 pressed ; her senate was dispersed ; and her honors 
 were finally levelled with the dust. The Exarchs 
 who succeeded Narses in the government of Italv, 
 were more attentive to their own interests than to 
 the prosperity of the country: and residing at 
 Ravenna then an almost impregnable fortress, 
 abandoned Rome to her own resources, and her 
 edifices to the care of the citizens, or rather to 
 their own solidity. The misery and humiliation 
 of Rome lasted near three hundred years; that is, 
 from the invasion of Italy, or rather from the 
 taking of Rome by Belisarius in the year 536, to 
 the coronation of CharldHaKe in 800,
 
 416 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 Daring 1 the disastrous interval which elapsed 
 between these eras, Rome was oppressed by the 
 Exarchs, threatened by the Lombards, wasted 
 by pestilence, and visited at once by all the 
 plagues employed to chastise guilty nations. The 
 few surviving Romans who remained to lament 
 the ruin of their country, and to glide like spec- 
 tres about its abandoned streets now turned into 
 the sepulchres of the inhabitants, had too much 
 employment in supporting their miserable exist- 
 ence to think of repairing or maintaining the vast 
 edifices raised in prosperous times. During so 
 many ages of war and despair, of public and 
 private dejection, how extensive must have been 
 the ravages of desolation! how many pillars must 
 have fallen from their bases ! how many temples 
 sunk under their own weight! how many lofty 
 fabrics subsided in the dust! Even after these 
 ages of war, when Rome became the head of a 
 new empire, and the kings and princes of the 
 western world listened with respect to the oracles 
 of her Pontiff; when some share of opulence pro- 
 bably accompanied her reviving dignity, and 
 emperors and sovereigns hastened to enricji her 
 sanctuaries with their gifts yet no re-animating 
 ray visited the pompous ruins spread over her 
 hills, where the taste and spirit of her ancestors 
 stiH slumbered undisturbed, and temples, curiae, 
 and forums, whose names and destination had
 
 Ck. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 417 
 
 long been forgotten, were left tottering in decay, 
 or extended in heaps on the earth* 
 
 A transient gleam of prosperity is not sufficient; 
 a long season of tranquillity and encouragement 
 is requisite to call forth and mature the varied 
 powers of the mind that produce taste and en- 
 terprise. But Rome was far from enjoying this 
 tranquillity ; threatened sometimes by the Greeks, 
 and sometimes by the Saracens ; alternately op- 
 pressed by her barbarian Emperors, and disturbed 
 by her factious nobles; and at last convulsed by 
 the unnatural contests between her Emperors and 
 her Pontiffs, she assumed by turns the appear- 
 ance of a fortress besieged or taken ; her edifices, 
 sacred and profane, ancient and modern, were 
 demolished without distinction, and her streets 
 and churches were strewed with the bodies of her 
 inhabitants. 
 
 To these bloody divisions succeeded the absence 
 of the Popes, and their very impolitic residence 
 at Avignon, at a distance from the seat of their 
 spiritual authority and of their temporal domi- 
 nion, which in the mean time was abandoned to 
 the intrigues of a domineering nobility, and to the 
 insurrections of a factious populace. During 
 this period, the reign of anarchy, the few monu- 
 ments of antiquity that remained were turned 
 
 VOL. I, BE
 
 418 CLASSICAL TOUR C/z.XII. 
 
 into forts and castles, and disfigured with towers 
 and Gothic battlements ; the country was overrun 
 with banditti, and the city itself convulsed and 
 defiled with perpetual scenes of violence and 
 bloodshed. 
 
 At length the Pontiff returned to his See ; and 
 after some struggles a regular government was 
 established : Julius the Second, a stern and ar- 
 bitrary prince suppressed anarchy : the arts began 
 to revive, architecture was restored, a Leo rose, 
 and Rome, even ancient Rome, might have ex- 
 pected the return of her Augustan glory. But 
 such an expectation would have been ill-founded; 
 the very restoration of the arts, while it contri- 
 buted to the splendor of modern Rome, was the 
 last blow that fate gave to the magnificence of 
 the ancient city. While new temples and new 
 palaces arose, the remains of ancient edifices dis- 
 appeared; and posterity still laments that the 
 Perizonium was demolished, the Coliseum de- 
 formed, and the Pantheon plundered, to supply 
 materials or ornaments for the Farnesian and 
 Barbarini palaces, and for the new Basilica of 
 St. Peter. With regard to the latter, the man of 
 taste and the lover of antiquity, as Gibbon justly 
 observes, will perhaps pardon the theft; as it 
 contributed to the triumph of modern genius, and 
 to the decoration of the noblest edifice that hu-
 
 O. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 419 
 
 man art has ever erected. But to plunder the ve- 
 nerable monuments of imperial greatness, in order 
 to deck the mansions of two upstart families, was 
 a sacrilege justly reprobated by the satirical lam- 
 poons of the indignant Romans. 
 
 We have now, I think, enumerated the princi- 
 pal causes of the destruction of Rome, very dif- 
 ferent from those assigned by the poet ; and if to 
 the neglect of Emperors, the indifference of ma- 
 gistrates, the rapacity of individuals, the rage of 
 contesting 1 factions, and the impoverishment of 
 the city, we add, the silent stroke of mouldering 
 Time, we shall have the list of destruction com- 
 plete. The few edifices that still survive, owe 
 their existence either to the protecting hand of 
 religion that warded, or to their own solidity 
 which defied, the blow levelled at their ma- 
 jestic forms by age or by malevolence. Some 
 instances of the former have already been given ; 
 of the latter, besides the tombs of Cestius and 
 Metella, the columns of Trajan and Antoninus 
 stand most magnificent examples. These superb 
 columns are of the same materials the finest white 
 marble, of nearly the same height about one hun- 
 dred and twenty feet ; and of the same decora- 
 tions, as a series of sculpture winds in a spiral line 
 from the base to the capital of each, representing- 
 the wars and triumphs of the respective Empe- 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 rors.* They formerly supported each a colossal 
 statue of Trajan and Antoninus ; these have long 
 
 * The Columna Trajana is formed of thirty-four blocks of 
 white marble, eight of which are employed in the pedestal 
 one in the base (or torus) twenty-three in the shaft, one in the 
 capital, and one in the summit that supports the statue. This 
 celebrated column yields to the monument of London in ele- 
 vation, but it surpasses that and all similar pillars in the ad- 
 mirable sculptures that adorn all its members. There are 
 two thousand five hundred human figures, of two feet ave- 
 rage height ; besides the scenes in which they are engaged 
 and the horses, standards, machinery, &c. with which they 
 are accompanied. It is a complete representation of Roman 
 military dresses, evolutions, standards, and edifices, and it 
 has supplied all the most eminent artists, whether painters or 
 sculptors, with most of their attitudes and graces. This co- 
 lumn, one of the most ancient and most perfect monuments 
 of Roman art and power united, has been exposed twice to 
 the probable danger of destruction ; once when a Dutch ar- 
 tist proposed to the Roman government at an expence 
 not exceeding fifteen hundred pounds, to take it down in 
 order to raise its pedestal, which is now near twenty feet 
 under the modern level of the city, and again re-erect it in a 
 more conspicuous situation. Even though such precautions 
 were to be taken, as to preclude the possibility of accident, 
 yet the very removal of such masses of marble could not be 
 effected without detriment to the sculpture. The second 
 danger was of a far more alarming nature, and occurred 
 while the French were masters of Rome during the late in- 
 vasion. The Directory, it seems, had conceived the project 
 of transporting both the Columna Trajana and Antonina to 
 Paris, and measures were taken to ascertain the possibility of 
 3
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 421 
 
 since disappeared, while St. Peter and St. Paul 
 have been substituted in their stead, though very 
 improperly, as the bloody scenes and profane 
 sacrifices pourtrayed on the shafts beneath, are 
 illadapted to the character and pacific virtues of 
 Apostles. However, notwithstanding the im- 
 propriety of the situation, the picturesque effect 
 is the same, especially as the modern statues are 
 probably of the same size, and if we may judge 
 by medals, placed in the same attitude as the 
 ancient, 
 
 To the question which I have here attempted 
 to answer, one more may be added. It may be 
 asked, what is now become of the rich materials, 
 
 realizing this project of robbery and devastation. Fortu- 
 nately their expulsion from Rome prevented the execution of 
 this and some other enterprizes equally just and honorable. 
 Francis the First, in the happier days of France, conceived 
 the nobler and more honorable design of adorning the French 
 capital with a copy of this noble monument in bronze, and 
 the present Ruler of France, has, it is said, raised in the 
 Place Vendome, at Paris, a rival column, representing his 
 German victories in brass. This latter design is neither un- 
 just nor Wttimperial. 
 
 The Columna Antonini is inferior in the beauty and per- 
 fection of sculpture to that of Trajan : it is also formed of 
 blocks of marble, twenty-eight iu number, and in every re- 
 spect an imitation of the latter.
 
 422 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 the bronze, the marbles employed in the statues, 
 pillars, and decorations of this vast scene of gran- 
 deur ? The bronze has always been an object 
 of plunder or of theft, and of course equally co- 
 veted by the rapacious barbarians and the impo- 
 verished Romans. It was therefore diligently 
 sought for, and consequently soon disappeared. 
 Besides, though employed with profusion, and 
 even with prodigality, yet its sum total was defi- 
 nite, and easily exhaustible, particularly when 
 every research was made to discover, and every 
 method used to obtain it. The quantity of gra- 
 nite and marble that decorated ancient Rome is 
 almost incalculable. If we may be allowed to 
 judge by the marble plan which I have alluded 
 to more than once, we should be inclined to ima- 
 gine that its streets were lined with porticos, and 
 formed an endless succession of colonnades. The 
 shafts of the pillars were generally formed of one 
 single piece or block, whatsoever their height 
 might have been, an advantage equally calcu- 
 lated to secure them against the influence of time, 
 and the attacks of wanton destruction. 
 
 Of statues, if we may believe the elder Pliny, 
 the number was equal to that of inhabitants, and 
 seems in fact to have been sufficient not only to 
 fill the temples, basilicae, and curiee, but to crowd 
 the streets, and almost people the porticos and
 
 Ch. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 
 
 public walks. These statues when of marble, 
 fortunately for their duration, were beheld by all 
 parties with indifference ; and when not imme- 
 diately within the verge of warlike operations, 
 allowed to stand undisturbed on their pedestals, 
 or fall unsupported and forgotten into the mass of 
 rubbish around them. That this was the case 
 we may conclude, from the places where several 
 beautiful statues were found, such as the baths of 
 Titus aud Caracalla, where they stood for ages 
 exposed to depredation, and were only concealed 
 in latter times by the fall of the buildings around 
 them. The pillars met with a different fate ; 
 some were conveyed by the Exarchs to Ravenna, 
 others transported by Charlemagne beyond the 
 Alps, and thousands have been employed in the 
 churches and palaces of the modern city. In re- 
 ality, ancient Rome has been for twelve centuries 
 a quarry ever open and never exhausted ; and 
 the stranger, as he wanders through the streets of 
 the modern city, is astonished to see, sometimes 
 thrown neglected into corners, and often collected 
 round the shops, or in the yards of stone-cutters, 
 shafts, capitals, parts of broken cornices, and in 
 short, blocks of the finest marbles, all dug out of 
 the ruins in the neighborhood. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the waste and havoc of
 
 424 CLASSICAL TOUR Ch. XII. 
 
 these materials, made in the manner I have de- 
 scribed, and by the causes I have enumerated, I 
 am inclined to think that the far greater portion 
 still remains buried amidst the ruins, or en- 
 tombed Bunder the edifices of the modern city. 
 The columns carried away to ornament other 
 cities, bear a small proportion to the numbers 
 left behind, and of these latter, the number 
 employed in the decorations of buildings now 
 existing, will appear a very slight deduction 
 from the remains of ancient magnificence, when 
 we consider that the great churches at Rome,* 
 that is all the buildings where there is any dis- 
 play of pillars or marbles, were erected in the 
 days of Roman glory, before the invasion of 
 Italy and the wars of the Goths. Their orna- 
 ments therefore with a few exceptions, were not 
 drawn from the ruins of ancient Rome : they are 
 monuments of its glory, but have not shared its 
 plunder. 
 
 The elevation of the ground over the whole 
 extent of the city, amounting in general, to the 
 height of from fourteen to twenty feet, and the 
 many little hills which have risen in various 
 
 St. Peter's excepted,
 
 C7i. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 425 
 
 parts of the Campus Martins, especially on the 
 sites of theatres and baths, and other extensive 
 buildings, sufficiently shew what amass of ruin 
 lies extended below. Few excavations have 
 been made in this artificial soil, without termi- 
 nating 1 in some interesting discovery ; and it has 
 frequently happened that in sinking- a well, or 
 in opening 1 the foundations of a private house, 
 the masons have been stopped by the interposing 
 bulk of a pillar or an obelisk. One of the latter 
 was discovered thrice, and as often buried again 
 in rubbish, before it was raised by Benedict XIV. 
 The pavement of the Forum is well known to 
 exist about fourteen feet under the present level, 
 and several of the thermae remain still unopened. 
 The portico of Trajan lies near twenty feet 
 under the foundations of churches and convents. 
 What treasures of art may not be contained in 
 these mines, hitherto unexplored ! What beau- 
 tiful forms of sculpture and architecture may 
 still slumber in this immense cemetery of ancient 
 magnificence ! 
 
 Should the Roman government, when the 
 present convulsions shall have subsided into 
 tranquillity, acquire energy and means adequate 
 to such an undertaking-, it may perhaps turn its 
 attention to an object so worthy of it, and the 
 
 VOL. I. F F
 
 4*6 CLASSICAL TOUR O. XII. 
 
 classic traveller may entertain the fond hope, 
 that the veil which has so long 1 concealed the 
 beauties of the ancient city, may be in part re- 
 moved, and some grand features of Roman mag- 
 nificence once more exposed to view. At least 
 the materials of many a noble structure may re- 
 appear, many a long- fallen column be taught 
 again to seek the skies, and many a god, and 
 many a hero, emerge from darkness, once more 
 ascend their lofty pedestals, and challenge the 
 ul miration of future generations. But when 
 tnese pleasing 1 hopes may be realized it is difficult 
 to determine. Home and all Italy crouch under 
 the iron sway of the First Consul ; how he in- 
 tends to model her various governments, and on 
 whom he may hereafter bestow her coronets, 
 crowns, and tiaras, is a secret confined to his 
 own bosom : in the mean time, public confi- 
 dence languishes, every grand undertaking is 
 suspended, and- it would be absurd to squander 
 away experise and labor in recovering statues 
 and marbles, which may be instantly ordered to 
 Paris, to grace the palace of the Tuilleries, or 
 to enrich the galleries of the Louvre. The 
 genius of the ancient city must still brood in 
 darkness over her ruins, and wait the happy 
 day, if such a day be ever destined to shine on 
 Italy, when the invaders may be once more
 
 a. XII. THROUGH ITALY. 427 
 
 driven beyond the Alps, all barbarian influence 
 be removed, and the talents and abilities of the 
 country left to act with all their native energy.* 
 
 * A medal was found not long ago, I think near the Capi- 
 tol, with the form of a hero crowned with laurel, extend- 
 ing a sword, with the iacription, " Adsertori Libertatis," 
 on one side, and Home seated, with the inscription, " Roma 
 resurges," on the reverse. May Italy ere long hare cause to 
 strike a similar medal. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 I 
 
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