Chapter 10

“Urbs Latii non est hac delitiosor urbe:Frugibus, arboribus, vinoque redundat; et undeNon tibi poma, nuces, non pulchra palatia desuntNon species muliebris abest probitasque virorum.”

“Urbs Latii non est hac delitiosor urbe:

Frugibus, arboribus, vinoque redundat; et unde

Non tibi poma, nuces, non pulchra palatia desunt

Non species muliebris abest probitasque virorum.”

But we saw less of the remnants of this magnificencethan even of Amalfi, for we arrived fatigued; and after a few hours’ repose and dinner, we set out in a carriage homewards. We drove through a beautiful valley towards Castelamare, between wooded hills. There is a very pretty hotel at Cava, where travellers often remain several weeks. I should prefer, however, the sea-shore at Amalfi. Castelamare is a busy town on the beach, in the very depth of the bay. Numbers of villas are scattered over the wooded sides of the mountains and through the shady valley. There is a good railroad to Naples: the distance, rather more than twenty miles, is performed in about an hour and a half. Castelamare is a more fashionable resort than Sorrento. The villas are more numerous and more elegant; the rides more diversified; the intercourse with the capital easier. It is not so well suited for a short stay, for the hotels are all in the midst of a noisy town; and the villas, which let at a high price, can only be taken for the season—six, or at least, four months. On the other hand, for excursions on the sea, Sorrento is very far to be preferred. Castelamare, at the depth of the bay, affords only a small lake-like basin for boating. To view the shores, or visit the islands, east or west, you must first reach Sorrento or Naples. In the former, you seem happily placed,as in a centre, to diverge at will in excursions on the water. Sorrento is in every way cheaper and more practicable for those who are not rich.

The road from Castelamare to Sorrento, about twenty miles, is excellent, constructed on the edge of the cliffs overhanging the sea. As we proceeded we gladly hailed our return to a familiar scene, and welcomed various glimpses of views which we looked on as peculiarly our own. We passed Vico—halfway—and then turning the shoulder of a headland, rattled down towards the populous plain of Sorrento—with its many villages, its orange gardens and sheltering hills—and reached our quiet hotel, where we were gladly welcomed. The Cocumella has become a home—it is a joy to return to our terrace, to breathe the fragrance of the orange-flowers—to see the calm sea spread out at our feet, as we look over the bay to Naples—while above us bends a sky—in whose pure depths ship-like clouds glide—and the moon hangs luminous, a pendant sphere of silver fire.

1. In preparing these letters for the press, I have consulted some papers entitled “Sketches of Bohemia and the Sclavonian Provinces of the Austrian Empire,” by Henry Reeve, Esq., published in the 18th and 19th vols. of the Metropolitan Magazine. They are admirably written, and it is greatly to be regretted that they do not proceed to a greater length, and are lost in a Magazine.

2. Mr. Reeve.

3. Life of Wallenstein, by Colonel Mitchell.

4. Rogers’s “Italy.”

5. Mr. Reeve.

6. Paradise Regained.

7. Milton. Do these lines, in the “Paradise Lost,” refer in the poet’s mind to his first view of Florence? It seems very probable.

8. Wordsworth.

9. Addison.

10. On this subject only Murray’s Hand-book seems to run faulty—a lower price forvoituretravelling is always named than I have found it possible to attain. It is easy to allege that we were imposed upon. It may be so; but it was difficult to believe this in some instances, where the bargain was made for us by friends, natives of the country. In the Hand-book of Italy this is the more remarkable, and I can speak with greater certainty. I do not know how it may be with a single man taking his place,—one among many, as it may chance,—but for a party, like ourselves, taking a whole carriage, the expense in proportion is far higher than he mentions.

11. Alison’s History of Europe.

12.AD SIRMIONEM PENINSULAMPeninsularum, Sirmio, insularumqueOcelle, quascunque in liquentibus stagnis,Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus;Quam te libenter, quamque lætus inviso,Vix mî ipse credens Thyniam, atque BithynosLiquisse campos, et videre te in tuto.O quid solutis est beatius curisCum mens onus reponit, ac peregrinoLabore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,Desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?Hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque hero gaude;Gaudete, vosque Lariæ lacus undæ:Ridete quidquid est domi cachinnorum.The above translation, from the verses of Catullus, is by Mr. Leigh Hunt.

12.

AD SIRMIONEM PENINSULAMPeninsularum, Sirmio, insularumqueOcelle, quascunque in liquentibus stagnis,Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus;Quam te libenter, quamque lætus inviso,Vix mî ipse credens Thyniam, atque BithynosLiquisse campos, et videre te in tuto.O quid solutis est beatius curisCum mens onus reponit, ac peregrinoLabore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,Desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?Hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque hero gaude;Gaudete, vosque Lariæ lacus undæ:Ridete quidquid est domi cachinnorum.

AD SIRMIONEM PENINSULAM

Peninsularum, Sirmio, insularumque

Ocelle, quascunque in liquentibus stagnis,

Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus;

Quam te libenter, quamque lætus inviso,

Vix mî ipse credens Thyniam, atque Bithynos

Liquisse campos, et videre te in tuto.

O quid solutis est beatius curis

Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino

Labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,

Desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?

Hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.

Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque hero gaude;

Gaudete, vosque Lariæ lacus undæ:

Ridete quidquid est domi cachinnorum.

The above translation, from the verses of Catullus, is by Mr. Leigh Hunt.

13. Rogers’s “Italy.”

14. De la Poésie Chrétienne.

15. I remember an instance of the sort of interference which occurred in Tuscany, at the University of Pisa, during the mild and comparatively liberal reign of Ferdinand. It is well known that during the Carnival the people promenade in particular streets (in Pisa on the Lungo l’Arno), the gentry in their carriages, and often masked. The students at Pisa got up a masque of an elaborate kind, I think of heathen gods and goddesses, or some such thing. The following Carnival, the professors, wishing to turn this play to nobler uses, combined with the students to get up a procession of masks personating all the illustrious men of Italian history. Government considered this a dangerous reminiscence of past glory, and forbade it.

16. All the aristocracy—or as they call it, thefamiglie tribunizieof Venice, consider themselves descended from old Roman families of the Equestrian order, and the names of several seem to attest the validity of this pretension. Padua sent a colony to the island of Rivo Alto, or Rialto, in 421; and the command for the building of the new city was entrusted to Alberto Faliero, Tommaso Candiano, and Cenone Daulo, or Dandolo. Hence it appears probable that the families of Faliero, Candiano, and Dandolo are descended from the Roman patricians who were present at the first building of the city of Rialto. In the ninth century the seat of Venetian government was transferred from the island of Rialto to Eraclea, and the independence of Venice was established. Now, before and after that epoch it may be said Venice was the only city in Europe, which from its foundation for fourteen centuries never submitted to a foreign yoke; and it is said that the old Venetian families have preserved in their lineaments the primitive character of the race whence they sprung. Dr. Edwards having examined carefully the portraits of the series of doges, and compared them with the countenances of their actual descendants, comes to this conclusion.

17. Shelley’s “Defence of Poetry.”

18. “What were the turkeys a pound?” asked our guide of some peasants returning from the fair. “Seventeen quatrini,” was the reply. It requires a complex sum to reduce this to English value. There are five quatrini to a crazie—eight crazie in a panl—and a panl is about 5¼d; in addition, the turkeys were bought alive with their feathers on, and the Italian pound contains only twelve ounces. This was the market price in the country. Every edible pays a duty on entering Florence.

19. “Paradise Regained.”

20. “The compunction of man’s heart—its aspirations towards God—the rapt ecstacy—a foretaste of celestial beatitude—all that class of profound and exalted emotions which no artist can represent without having previously experienced them, formed, as it were, the mysterious circle which the genius of Fra Angelico delighted to follow, and when ended, he recommenced with renewed delight.”—La Poésie Chrétienne.

21. “The Guide-Book of Florence,” by Fantozzi, is very complete, but it wants an index of the names of the artists, with the numbers of the pages in which they are mentioned, cited, to enable the amateur at once to learn where to find their various works.

22. The eight which M. Rio mentions as having seen himself, and as forming the glory of Raphael, as a painter of ideal and pure beauty, are—the Virgin, of the Duke of Alba—purchased afterwards by Mr. Coswelt, and brought to London.—The Virgin, known under the name of La Belle Jardinière, now in the Louvre.—The Virgin of Palazzo Tempi, now at Munich.—The Virgin of Canigiani, at Munich.—The two in the gallery of Florence, which, for the lovers of this style, dim the glory of every other picture—especially that named the Madonna of the Goldfinch.—Of this M. Rio says, “It may be boldly affirmed that Christian art never rose to a greater height.”—The Virgin of the Colonna Palace, now at Berlin; that of the Palazzo Gregori; and the Madonna of Pescia, known as the Madonna del Baldachino.

23. Rogers’s “Italy.”

24. The common prints taken from this picture are very unworthy of it; they seem to substitute sensuality for sensibility, in the lines of the countenance. Mr. Kirkup’s drawing, made for Lord Vernon, is excellent. Unfortunately, in removing the whitewash or plaster, a slight injury was done to the eye in the picture. The painter employed by the Grand Duke has restored this; but Mr. Kirkup is indignant with the restoration; and the print, taken from his drawing, exhibits the blemish. I confess, that to me the restoration seems judicious. The ball of the eye alone was injured; and as the colour of Dante’s eyes was known from other pictures, the portrait has gained in expression, and not lost in authenticity by its being repainted.

25. Colletta, Storia del Reame di Napoli, dal 1735, sino al 1825. Libro vii. cap. 53.

26. A young aspirant was asked, during the progress of his initiation, whether, if commanded by the society, he would put his own father to death. He answered, “Yes.” He was taken to a room where, by some contrivance it seemed to him that he saw his father sitting at a table shading his eyes with his hand. A dagger was given him: “Your father is a traitor to the sect,” he was told, “strike!” The weapon fell from the youth’s hand; in an instant he was blind-folded—hurried away—set free in some distant spot—rejected from the sect, as incapable of that devotion to the cause which was demanded of its members.

27. The spots where the Carbonari assembled were calledVendite—or Places for Sale—in accordance with the fiction of their being sellers of charcoal. Thus, as we should write over a shop “Charcoal sold here;” in Italian, the phrase is, “Vendita di Carbone.” Where there was one Vendita, there could be no other within four miles;—if another was established within these limits, a schism ensued, and every endeavour was made to put it down.

28. Rogers’s “Italy.”

29. In the same manner his tragedy, lately published, “Arnaldo da Brescia,” is a splendid protest against the temporal dominion of the Pope and the abuse of the power of the church.

30. This work was first published at Palermo about two years ago, under the title of “Un Periodo delle Istorie Siciliane del secolo 13mo.” The manuscript was of course submitted to the censor of the press, who permitted its publication. It acquired universal reputation, and was enthusiastically received in the kingdom of Naples. As soon as public attention was excited, the police of that state grew suspicious and fearful. The book was prohibited, the remaining copies were sequestrated, and all notice of it in newspapers and periodical works, which had already begun to praise the author and give an account of his book, was forbidden. The persecution did not cease here; influenced by some sinister, and, as is supposed, personal motive, Del Carretto, director or minister of the police, gave orders that Amari should be dismissed from an employment he held in a government office, and sent to Naples. Signor Amari was warned in time, and convinced that a long and severe imprisonment awaited him at the capital, he preferred going into voluntary exile from his country, to falling into the hands of a cruel enemy. Signor Amari is at present living in Paris, where he published, about a year ago, a second edition of his work, under the amended title of “Guerra del Vespro Siciliano,” with corrections and additions. He is at present occupied in collecting materials for the compilation of a history of Sicily, from the occupation of the Saracens; for which, as he must consult Arabic documents, he is studying with unwearied ardour; he thus adds another proof that the Italians of the present day are capable of severe application and learned research, in addition to the frequent gift of remarkable talents.—1844.

31. Plato’s Ion. Shelley’s Essays.

32. M. Rio.

33. Maccabees, ii. 3.

34. Childe Harold, Canto IV.

35. Rome in the Nineteenth Century.

36. The want of conventual charities, whose funds, on the Reformation, were greedily appropriated by the laity, forced Queen Elizabeth to institute the Poor-Laws.

37. Arnaldo da Brescia.

38.“Ahi, la vedete;Di porpora è vestita; oro, monili,Gemme tutta l’ aggravano; le biancheVesti, delizia del primier marito,Che or sta nel cielo, ella perdè nel fango.Però di nomi e di blasfemi è piena,E nella fronte sua scrisse;Mistero.Ahi, la sua voce a consolar gli afflittiNon s’ ode più; tutti minaccia, e creaCon perenni anatèmi all’ alme incerteIneffabili pene; gl’ infelici,Qui lo siam tutti, nel commun doloreCorreano ad abbracisarsi, e la crudeleDi Cristo in nome gli ha divisi; i padriInimica coi figli, e le consortiDai mariti disgiunge, e pon la guerraFra unanimi fratelli: è del VangeloInterprete crudel: l’ odio s’ imparaNel libro dell’ amor.”· · · · ·——“il mondo ignoraS’ ella più d’ oro o più di sangue ha sete.Perchè salì costei dalle profondeViscere della terra al Campidoglio?Fu bella e grande nelle sue prigioni.”Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

38.

“Ahi, la vedete;Di porpora è vestita; oro, monili,Gemme tutta l’ aggravano; le biancheVesti, delizia del primier marito,Che or sta nel cielo, ella perdè nel fango.Però di nomi e di blasfemi è piena,E nella fronte sua scrisse;Mistero.Ahi, la sua voce a consolar gli afflittiNon s’ ode più; tutti minaccia, e creaCon perenni anatèmi all’ alme incerteIneffabili pene; gl’ infelici,Qui lo siam tutti, nel commun doloreCorreano ad abbracisarsi, e la crudeleDi Cristo in nome gli ha divisi; i padriInimica coi figli, e le consortiDai mariti disgiunge, e pon la guerraFra unanimi fratelli: è del VangeloInterprete crudel: l’ odio s’ imparaNel libro dell’ amor.”· · · · ·——“il mondo ignoraS’ ella più d’ oro o più di sangue ha sete.Perchè salì costei dalle profondeViscere della terra al Campidoglio?Fu bella e grande nelle sue prigioni.”Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

“Ahi, la vedete;

Di porpora è vestita; oro, monili,

Gemme tutta l’ aggravano; le bianche

Vesti, delizia del primier marito,

Che or sta nel cielo, ella perdè nel fango.

Però di nomi e di blasfemi è piena,

E nella fronte sua scrisse;Mistero.

Ahi, la sua voce a consolar gli afflitti

Non s’ ode più; tutti minaccia, e crea

Con perenni anatèmi all’ alme incerte

Ineffabili pene; gl’ infelici,

Qui lo siam tutti, nel commun dolore

Correano ad abbracisarsi, e la crudele

Di Cristo in nome gli ha divisi; i padri

Inimica coi figli, e le consorti

Dai mariti disgiunge, e pon la guerra

Fra unanimi fratelli: è del Vangelo

Interprete crudel: l’ odio s’ impara

Nel libro dell’ amor.”

· · · · ·

——“il mondo ignoraS’ ella più d’ oro o più di sangue ha sete.Perchè salì costei dalle profondeViscere della terra al Campidoglio?Fu bella e grande nelle sue prigioni.”Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

——“il mondo ignora

S’ ella più d’ oro o più di sangue ha sete.

Perchè salì costei dalle profonde

Viscere della terra al Campidoglio?

Fu bella e grande nelle sue prigioni.”

Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

39.“—— Nelle chiese—I più astuti del clero a udir son posti,Gli altrui peccati, e li sommesse, arcaneParole mormorate ai proni orecchiSono alla nostra libertà fatali.Perchè nuda e tremante al lor corpettoOgni alma è tratta dalle sue lattèbre,E assoluto non è chi si confessaSe gli altri non accusa.”Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

39.

“—— Nelle chiese—I più astuti del clero a udir son posti,Gli altrui peccati, e li sommesse, arcaneParole mormorate ai proni orecchiSono alla nostra libertà fatali.Perchè nuda e tremante al lor corpettoOgni alma è tratta dalle sue lattèbre,E assoluto non è chi si confessaSe gli altri non accusa.”Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

“—— Nelle chiese—

I più astuti del clero a udir son posti,

Gli altrui peccati, e li sommesse, arcane

Parole mormorate ai proni orecchi

Sono alla nostra libertà fatali.

Perchè nuda e tremante al lor corpetto

Ogni alma è tratta dalle sue lattèbre,

E assoluto non è chi si confessa

Se gli altri non accusa.”

Niccolini; Arnaldo da Brescia.

40. Mrs. Starke lived for some years at the Cocumella, at Sorrento. Her account of the place and scenery around, is both accurate and well written, and for this part of Italy she is an excellent guide. Mr. Cooper, the author of “The Spy,” has written very agreeable “Excursions in Italy,” the most interesting portion of which regards Sorrento.

41. Rogers’s Italy.

42. Among modern historians Sismondi and Gibbon dwelt with pleasure on the commerce and prosperity of Amalfi. It was an oasis where the mind of the historian reposed, fatigued by barbarous wars and innumerable acts of cruelty. Gibbon quotes the description given by Guglielmus Apulus—“Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, oro,Pontibus innumeris; hâc plurimus urbe moraturNauta maris cœlique vias aperire peritus.Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbeRegis, et Antiochi. Quis hæc freta plurima transit.His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri.Hæc gens est totum prope nobilitata per orbemEt mercando ferens, et amans mercata referre.”

“Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, oro,Pontibus innumeris; hâc plurimus urbe moraturNauta maris cœlique vias aperire peritus.Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbeRegis, et Antiochi. Quis hæc freta plurima transit.His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri.Hæc gens est totum prope nobilitata per orbemEt mercando ferens, et amans mercata referre.”

“Nulla magis locuples argento, vestibus, oro,

Pontibus innumeris; hâc plurimus urbe moratur

Nauta maris cœlique vias aperire peritus.

Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe

Regis, et Antiochi. Quis hæc freta plurima transit.

His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri.

Hæc gens est totum prope nobilitata per orbem

Et mercando ferens, et amans mercata referre.”

43. Rogers’s Italy.

44. “Until that moment I was not fully sensible of the vast superiority of the Italian landscapes over all others. Switzerland astonishes, and it even often delights; but Italian nature wins upon you until you come to love it as a friend. I can only liken the perfection of the scene we gazed upon this evening to a feeling almost allied to transport; to the manner in which we dwell upon the serene expression of a beloved and lovely countenance. Other scenes have the tints, the hues, the outlines, the proportions, the grandeur, and even the softness of beauty; but these have the character that marks the existence of a soul. The effect is to pour a flood of sensations on the mind, that are distinct from the commoner feelings of wonder that are excited by vastness and magnificence. Therefinementof Italian nature appears to distinguish it as much from that of other countries, as the quality distinguishes the scene of sentiment and intellect from the man of mere interests. In sublimity of a certain sort—more especially in the sublimity of desolation, Switzerland probably has no equal on earth; and perhaps to this may be added a certain unearthly aspect which the glaciers assume in particular conditions of the atmosphere; but these Italian scenes rise to a sublimity of a different kinds, which, though it does not awe, leaves behind it a tender sensation allied to that of love. I can conceive even an ardent admirer of nature wearying in time of the grandeur of the Alps; but I can scarce imagine one who could ever tire of the witchery of Italy.”—C. F. Cooper; “Excursions in Italy.” Vol. I.; Letter XIV.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTESPageChanged fromChanged to4and trading Alstadt, and crossed the bridge whichand trading Altstadt, and crossed the bridge which11words; schmuzig, or dirty, applied to the sheetwords; schmutzig, or dirty, applied to the sheet23I should liked to have stayed some days atI should have liked to have stayed some days atTypos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

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