/
REMARKS
ON SEVERAL
PART
O F
ITALY, &c.
In the Years 1 701, 1702, 1703
By JOSEPH ADDISON, Efq;
Verum ergo id eft, fi quis in ccelum afcendiffet, natu-
ramque mundi & pulchritudinem fiderum perfpexiflet,
infuavem illam admirationem ei fore, quae jucun-
diflima fuiffet, fi aliquem cui narraret habuiflet.
Cicero de Amic'
LONDON: -
Printed for J. and R. T o k s o n,
M DCC LXVil.
^v
AP.MI8/^i./5"
L%sy
Adtf^iR
To the Right Honourable
John Lord Sommers
Baron of Evefham.
y
M y L o r d,
ISR HERE is a plea-
fore in owning ob-
ligations which it is
an honour to have received ;
A 2~
DEDICATION.
but fhould I publifh any
favours done me by your
Lordihip, I am afraid it
would look more like va-
nity, than gratitude.
I had a very early am-
bition to recommend my-
felf to your Lordihip's pa-
tronage, which vet increafed
in me as I travelled thro'
the countries, of. which I
here give your Lordfhip
fome account : For . what-
ever great impreffions an
. Eng-
DEDICATION.
Englifhman rauft have of
your Lordihip, they who
have been con verfant abroad
will find them (till improved..
It cannot but be obvious
to them, that, tho' they
fee your Lord f hip's ad-
mirers every where, they
meet with very few of your
well-wifhers at Paris or at
Rome. And I could not
but obferve, when I pafled
through moft of the pro-
teftant governments in Eu-
A 3 rope3(
DEDICATION.
rope, that their hopes ot
fears for the common caufe
rofe or fell with your Lord-
fhip's intereft and authority
in England.
I here prefent your Lord-
fhip with the remarks that
I made in a part of thefe
my travels; wherein, not-
withstanding the variety
of the fubje£t, I am very
fenfible that I offer nothing
new to your Lorditiip, and
can have no other defign
in
DEDICATION.
in this addrefs, than to de>
clare that I am,
My LORD;
Your Lordfhip's moft obliged and!
moll obedient humble Servant,
—
J, Addison,
@©S©(S®®SK£'S)®®®©(1®®©®©
• ••** HHKM>Mi«
@©@®®©®®@®S^®©@®®®^
PREFACE
THERE is certainly no place in
the world, where a man may
travel with greater pleafure and advan-
tage, than in Italy. One finds fome^
thing more particular in the face of the
country, and more aftonifhing in the
works of nature, than can be met with
in any other part of Europe.. It is the
great fchool of mufic and painting, and
contains in it all the nobleft. productions-
of flatuary and architecture, both an-
cient and modern. It abounds with
cabinets of curiofities and vail: collections
of all kinds of antiquities. No other
country in the world has fuch a variety
of governments, that are fo different in
their conftitutions, and fo refined in their
politics.. There is fcarce any part of the
nation
PREFACE.
nation that is not famous in hifiory, nor
fo much as a mountain or river, that has
not been the fcene of fome extraordinary
.action.
As there are few men that have ta-
lents and opportunities for examining fo
copious afubje£r,onemay obferve, among
thofe who have written on Italy, that
different authors have fucceeded beft on
different forts of curiofities. Some have
been more particular in their accounts
of pidtures, flatues, and buildings j fome
have fearched into libraries, cabinets of
rarities, and collections of medals ; as
others have been wholly taken up with in-
fcriptions, ruins, and antiquities. Among
the authors of our own country, we are
obliged to the Bifhop of Salifbury, for his
mafteriy and uncommon obfervations on
the religion and governments of Italy :
Lafiels may be ufeful in giving us the
Kames of fuch writers as have treated of
the feveral ftates through which hepaffed:
Mr. Rav is to be valued for his obferva-
lions on the natural productions of the
place. Monfieur MifTon has wrote a more
correal account of Italy in general than
any
PREFACE.
any before him, as he particularly excels in
the plan of the country, which he has
given us in true and lively colours
There are (till feveral of thefe topics
that are far from being exhaufted, as
there are many new fubjects that a tra-
veller may find to employ himfelf upon.
For my own part, as I have taken no-
tice of feveral places and antiquities
that no body elfe has fpoken of, fo, I
think, I have mentioned but few things
in common with others, that are not ei-
ther fet in a new light, or accompanied
with different reflexions. I have taken
care particularly to confider the feveral
paffages of the ancient Poets, which have
any relation to the places or curiolities
that I met with; for before I entered on
my voyage I took care to refrefli my me-
mory among claflic authors, and to make
fuch collections out of them as I might af-
terwards have occafion for. I muft con-
fefs it was not one of the lead entertain-
ments that I met with in travelling, to
examine thefe feveral defcriptions, as it
were upon the fpot, and to compare the
natural face of the country with the
3 land-
PREFACE.
landfkips that the Poets have given us of
it. However, to avoid the confufion that
might arife from a multitude of quota-
tions, I have only cited fuch verfes as have
given us fome image of the place, or that
have fomething elfe befides the bare
name of it to recommend them.
MO-
MONACO,
G E N O A, &c.
ON the twelfth of December, 1699, I fet
out from Marfeilles to Genoa in a tartane,
and arrived late at a fmall French port,
called CaiTis, where the next morning we were
not a little furprifed to fee the mountains about
the town covered with green olive-trees, or laid
out in beautiful gardens, which gave us a great
variety of pleafmg profpecls, even in the depth of
winter. The moft uncultivated of them produce
abundance of fweet plants, as wild-thyme, la-
vender, rofemary, balm, and myrtle. We were
here mown at a diftance the deferts, which have
been rendered (o famous by the penance of Mary
Magdalene, who, after her arrival with Lazarus
and Jofeph of Arimathea at Marfeilles^ is faid to
have wept away the reft of her life among thefe
folitary rocks and mountains, It is fo romantic a
fcene, that it has always probably given occafion to
B ' futh
14 Monaco, Genoa, &c.
fueh chimerical relations; for it is perhaps of this
place that Ciaudian fpeaks, in the following de-
scription :
Et locus extrcmum pandit qua Gallia Uitus
Oceani pratcntus aquisy qua fertur Ulyjfes
Sanguine hbato populum mov'/JJe ftientum :
J Hie umbrarum tenui fhidore volant um
Fid ills auditur queflus\ fimulacbra coloni
Pallida defm&afque indent migrare Jiguras, &c.
Claud, in Ruf. lib. I.
A place there lies on Gallia's utmoft bounds,
Where rifing feas infult the frontier grounds:
UlyfTes here the blood of victims (lied,
And rais'd the pale alTembly of the dead.
Oft in the winds is heard a plaintive found
Of melancholy ghofts that hover round:
The lab'rmg plow- man oft with horror fpies
Thin airy fhapes that o'er the furrows
(A dreadful fcene!) and fkim before h
?r fpies 1
rife, I
is eyes. J
I know there is nothing more undetermined among
the learned than the voyage of UlyfTes; Tome con-
fining it to the Mediterranean, others extending it
to the great ocean, and others afcribing it to a
woild of the Poer's own making; though his con-
ventions with the dead are generally fuppofed to
have been in the Narbon Gaul.
Incultos ad'i'it lajirigonas antiphatenque, Sec.
jfltquc hese feu noflras inter funt cognita terras ,
Fabula five novum dedit his erroribus orb em.
Tibul. Lib. iv. Eieg. i. ver. 59.
Uncertain whether, by the winds convey'd,
On real feas to real mores he ilray'd;
Or,
Monaco, Genoa, &c* 15
Or, by the fable driven from coafl: to coafl:,
In new imaginary worlds was loll.
The next day we again fet fail, and made the
beft of our way until we were forced, by contrary
winds, into St. Remo, a very pretty town in the
Genoefe dominions. The front to the fea is not
large; but there are a great many houfes behind it,
built up the fide of the mountain to avoid the
winds and vapours that come from fea. We
here favv feveral perfons that in the midft of De-
cember had nothing over their fhoulders but their
fhirts, without complaining of the cold. It is cer-
tainly very lucky for the poorer fort to be born in
a place that is free from the greateft inconvenience,
to which thofe of our northern nations are i'ubject ;
and indeed, without thii natural benefit of their
climates, the extreme mifery and poverty that are
in moil of the Italian governments would be infup-
portable. Thereare at St. Remo many plantationsof
palm-trees, though they do not grow in other parts
of Italy. We failed from hence directly for Ge-
noa; and had a fair wind that carried us into the.
middle of the gulph, which is very remarkable
for tempefts and fcarcity of fifh. It is proba-
ble one may be the caufe of the other, whether
it be that the fifhermen cannot employ their art
with fo much fuccefs in fo troubled a fea, or that
the filh do not care for inhabiting fuch ft or my
waters :
-At
rum
Defendens pijces biemat mare—Hor. Sat\ ii. lib. ii. v. 16.
While black with ftorms the ruffled ocean rolls,
And from the fimer's art defends her finny fholes.
B 2 We
16 Monaco, Genoa, &c.
We were forced to lie in it two days, and our cap-
tain thought his fhip in fo great danger, that he
fell upon his knees, and conftfled himfelf to a capu-
cin who was on board with us. But at laft, taking
the advantage of a fide-wind, we were driven back
in a few hours time as far as Monaco. Lucan has
given us a defcription of the harbour that we found
fo very welcome to us, after the great danger we
had efcaped.
Quaque fub Hcrculeo facratus nomine portus
Urget rupe cava pelagus : non corns in ilium
'Jus babet aid zephyr us : Solus fua littora turbat
CirciuSy cif tuta prohibetjlatione Montec'i.
Lib. i. v. 405.
The winding rocks a fpacious harbour frame,
That from the great Alcides takes its name :
Fenc'd to the weft and to the north it lies;
But when the winds in fouthern quarters rife,
Ships, from their anchors torn, become their fport,
And fudden tempefts rage within the port.
On the promontory, where the town of Monaco
now ftands, was formerly the temple of Hercules
Monaecus, which ftill gives the name to this fmall
principality.
Agger 2 bus facer Alpinis at que arce Monad
Defcendem ■ Vug. JEn. vi. v. 830.
From Alpine heights, and from Monaecus' fane,
The father firft defcends into the plain.
There are but three towns in the dominions of
the prince of Monaco. The chief of them is fituate
on a rock which runs out into the fea, and is well
foitified
Monaco, Genoa, &c. 17
fortified by nature. It was formerly under the
protection of the Spaniard, but not many years
fince drove out the Spanim garrifon, and received a
French one, which confiils at prefentof five hundred
men, paid and officered by the French King. The
officer, who (hewed me the palace, told me, with
a great deal of gravity, that his mafter and the
King of France, amidft all the confufions of Furope,
had ever been good friends and allies. The palace
"has handfom apartments, that are many of them
hung with pictures of the reigning beauties in the
court of France. But the bed of the furniture was
at Rome, where the princeof Monaco refided atthat
time ambaflador. We here took a little boat to
creep along the fea-more as far as Genoa; but atSa-
vona, finding the fea too rough, we were forced to
make the heft of our way by land, over very rugged
mountains and precipices: For this road is much
more difficult than that over mount Cennis.
The Genoefe are elteemed extremely cunning,
induftrious, and inured to hardfhip above the reft
of the Italians ; which was likewife the character of
the old Ligurians. And indeed it is no wonder,
while the barrennefs of their country continues, that
the manners of the inhabitants do not change:
Since there is nothing makes men lharper, and lets
their hands and wits more at work, than want.
The Italian proverb fays of the Genoefe, that they
have a fea without fifh, land without trees, and
men without faith. The character the Latin Poets
have given of them is not much different.
AJJ'uetiunque malo Ligurem. Virg. George ii. v. 1 68.
The hard Ligurians, a laborious kind.
B 3 "Piru
i8 Monaco, Genoa, &c.
■ Pernix Ligur. Si]. Ital. El. 8.
The fwift Ligurian.
Fallaces Ligures. Aufon. Eid. 12.
The deceitful Ligurians.
Apenmnicola belftotor fJius aunt
Haud Ligurum extremus^ dum fallere fata finebant*
Virg. JEn. xi. v. 7 00.
Yet, like a true Ligurian, horn to cheat,
(At lead whtlil fortune favoured his deceit.) Dryden.
Vane Ligur9 fruftr&que am mis elate fuperbis^
Neguicquam patrias tentafti lubricui artes.
Id. ib. v. 715.
Vain fool and coward, cries the lofty maid,
Caught in the train which thou thyfelf haft Jaid,
On others praclife thy Ligurian arts ;
Thin ftratagems, and tricks of little hearts
Are loft on me; nor {halt thou fafe retire,
With vaunting lies, to thy fallacious fire. Dryden.
There are a great many beautiful palaces {landing
along the fea-fhore on both fides of Genoa, which
make the town appear much longer than it is, to
thofe that fail by it. The city itfelf makes the
ncbleft (how of any in the world. The houfes
aie mod of them painted on the outfide ; fo that
they look extremely gay and lively; befides that they
are efteemed the higheft in Europe, and (land very-
thick together. The new-ftreet is a double range
of palaces from one end to the other, built with an
excellent fancy, and fit for the greatefr princes to
inhabit. I cannot however be reconciled to their
manner
Monaco, Genoa, &c. 19
manner of painting feveral of the Genoefe houfes.
Figures, perfpectives, or pieces of hiftory, are cer-
tainly very ornamental, as they are drawn on many
of the walls, that would otherwife look too naked
and uniform without them: But, inftead of thefe,
one often fees the front of a palace covered with
painted pillars of different orders. If thefe were lb
many true columns of marble fet in their proper
architecture, they would certainly very much adorn
the places where they (land ; but as they are now,
they only mew us that there is fomething wanting,
and that the palace, which without thefe counter-
feit pillars would be beautiful in its kind, might have
been more per feci: by the addition of fuch as are real.
The front of the Villa Imperiale, at a mile diftance
from Genoa, without any thing of this paint upon
it, confifts of a Doric and Corinthian row of pillars,
and is much the handfomeft of any I faw there.
The Duke of Doria's palace has the beft Outfide of
any in Genoa, as that of Durazzo is the belt, furnifh-
ed within. There is one room in the firft, that is
hung with tapeftry, in which are wrought the fi-
gures of the great perfons that the family has pro-
duced; as perhaps there is no houfe in Europe that
can fhew a longer line of Heroes, that have ftiii
acted for the good of their country. Andrew Do-
ria has a ilatue erected to him at the entrance of
the Doge's palace, with the glorious title of De-
liverer of the commonwealth; and one of his family
another, that calls him its preferver. In the Doge's
palace are the rooms, where the great and littie
-council, with the two colleges, hold their aflem-
blies; but as the ftate of Genoa is very poor, though
feveral of its members are extremely rich, fo one
may obferve infinitely more fplendor and magnifi-
ces in particular perfons houfes, than in thofe that
B 4 below
O
zo Monaco, Genoa, &c.
belong to the public. But we find in mod of the
flares of Europe, that the people mow the greateft
marks of poverty, where the governors live in the
eateft magnificence. The churches are very fine,
rticularly that of the Annunciation, which looks
wonderfully beautiful in the infide, all but one cor-
ner of it being covered with ftatues, gilding, and
paint. A man would expeel, in fo very ancient a
n of Italy, to find fome confiderable antiquities ;
but all they have to mow of this nature is an old
■'irum of a Roman mip, that (lands over the door
of their arfenal. It is not above a foot long, and
peril aps would never have been thought the beak of
a mip, had it not been found in fo probable a place
as the haven. It is all of iron, fafhioned at the
end like a boar's head j as I have feen it reprefented
on medals, and on the Columns Roftrata in Rome.
{fawat Genoa iigniorMicceni's famous collection of
fheils, which, as father Buonani the jefuit has fince
told me, is one of the beft in Italy. I know nothing
more remarkable in the government of Genoa, than
the bank of St. George, made up of fuch brancheg
of the revenues, as have been fet apart and appropri-
ated to the difcharging of feveral fums, that have
been borrowed from private perfons, during the exi-
gences of the commonwealth. Whatever inconve-
niencies the (late has laboured under, they have ne-
ver entertained a thought of violating the public
credit, or of alienating any part of thefc revenues
to other ufes, than to what they have been thus
aftigned. The adminiftration of this bank is for
life, and partly in the hands of the chief citizens,
which gives them a great authority in the ftate, and
a powerful influence over the common people. This
bank is generally thought the greateft load on the
Genoefe^and the managers of ithavebeenreprefented
as
Monaco, Genoa, Gfr. 21
as a fecond kind of fenate, that break the uniformity
of government, and deftroy in fome meafure the
fundamental conftitution of the ftate. It is, how-
ever, very certain, that the people reap no fmall
advantages from it, as it diftributes the power among
more particular members of the republic, and gives
the commons a figure: So that it is no fmall check
upon the ariftocracy, and may be one reafon why
the Genoefe fenate carries it with greater moderation
towards their fubjecls than the Venetian.
It would have been well for the republic of Ge-
noa, if (he had followed the example of her filler of
Venice, in not permitting her nobles to make any
purchafe of lands or hotlfes in the dominions of a
foreign prince. For at prefent, the greateft among
the Genoefe, are in part fubje&s to the monarchy
of Spain, by reafon of their eftates that lie in the
kingdom of Naples. The Spaniards tax them very
high upon oceafion, and are fo fenfible of the advan-
tage this gives them over the republic, that they *
will not fuffer a Neapolitan to buy the lands of a
Genoefe, who muft find a purchafer among his own
countrymen, if he has a mind to fell. For this
reafon, as well as on account of the great funis of
money which the Spaniard owes the Genoefe, they
are under a necetlity, at prefent, of being in the in-
tereft of theFrench, and would probably continue fo,
though all the other frates of Italy entered into a
league againft them. Genoa is not yet fecure from
a bombardment, though it is not fo expofed as for-
merly ; for, fines the infult of the French, they have
built a mole, with fome little ports, and have pro-
vided themfelves with long guns and mortars. It
is eafy for thofe that are ftrong at fea to brino-
them to what terms they pleafe; for having but
very little arable land, they are forced to fetch all
B 5 their
22 Monaco, Genoa, &fr
their corn from Naples, Sicily, and other foreign
countries; except what comes to them from Lom-
bards, which probably goes another way, whilft it
furnifhes two great armies with provifions. Their
fleet, that formerly gained fo many victories over
the Saracens, Pifans, Venetians, Turks, and Spani-
ards, that made them matters of Crete, Sardinia,
Majorca, Minorca, Negrepont, Lefbos, Malta, that
fettled them in Scio, Smyrna, Achaia, Theodofia,
and feveral towns on the eaftern confines of Europe,
is now reduced to fix gallies. When they had made
an addition of but four new ones, the King of France
fent his orders to fupprefs them, telling the republic
at the fame time, that he knew very well how many
they had occafion for. This Utile fleet ferves only to
fetch them wine and corn, and to give their ladies
an airing in the'fummer-feafon. The republic of
Genoa has a crown and fcepter for its doge, by
reafon o/ their conquefl of Coriica, where there was
► formerly a Saracen King. This indeed gives their
ambafladors a more honourable reception at fome
courts, but, at the fame time, may teach their
people to have a mean r.o'ion of their own form of
government, and is a tacit acknowledgment that
monarchy is the more honourable. The old Romans,
pn the contrary, made ufe of a very barbarous kind
of politics, to irifpire their people with a contempt
of Kings, whom they treated with infamy, and
dragged at the wheels of their triumphal chariots.
P A V I A.
P A V I A,
MILAN, £#V.
FROM Genoa we took cbaife for Milan, and
by the way (topped at Pavia, that was once
the metropolis of a kingdom, but is at prefcnt
a poor town. We here faw the convent of Au-
ftin monks, who about three years ago, pretended
to have found out the body of the faint that gives
the name to their order. King Luitprand, whofe.
afhes are in the fame church, brought hither the
corps, and was very induftrious to conceal it, left
it might be abufed by the barbarous Nations,
which at that time ravaged Italy. One would
therefore rather wonder that it has not been
found out much earlier, than that it is difcovered
at laft. The fathers however do not yet find
their account in the difcovery they have made;
for there are canons regular, who have half the
fame church in their hands, that will by no
means allow it to be the body of the faint, nor is
it yet rccognifed by the Pope. 1 he monks fay
for themfelves, that the verv name was written on
the urn where the afhes lay, and that, in an old
record of the convent, they are faid to have been
interred between the very wall and the altar where
they
24 Pavia, Milan, &c.
they were taken up. They have already too, as the
monks told us, begun to juftify themfelves by mira-
cles. At the corner of one of the cloifters of this
convent are buried the duke of Suffolk, and the
duke of Lorrain, who were both killed in the famous
battle of Pavia. Their monument was erected to
them by one Charles Parker, an ecclefiaflic, as I
learned from the infeription, which I cannot omit
tranferibing, fince I have not feen it printed.
Capto a hiilite Gafareo Francifco I, Gallormn rege
hi agro papienfi Anno 1525. 23. Feb. inter alios pro -
ceres, qui ex fuis in prcelio occifi funt, occubuerunt duo
Ulujhiffimi principes, Francifcus dux Lotharinguz et
Richardus de la Poole Anglus dux Suffolcite a rege
iwcinno Hen, VIII. pu/fus regno. Quorum corpora
hoc in cccmbio et ambltu per Annos 57. fine bonore tu-
mulaiafemt. Tandem Carolus Parker a Morley, Ri-
cher di proximus confanguineus. Regno Anglic a Regina
Elizabetba cb catholicam fidem ejeclus, beneficentia tamm
Philippi Regis Cath. PTijpaniarum Monarch a inviclif-
ftmi in Statu Mediolanenfi fuftentatus^ hoc qualecunqug
monumentum, pro rerum fuarum tenuitate, charijfimo
propinquo et illuftrijjhnis principibus pofuit, 5. Sept.
1582. et poji fuum exilium 23. major a et honor 7-
fiantiora c:mmendans Lctbaringids. Viator precare
^uietenu
Francis the furl, King of France, being taken
pfifoner by the Imperial ijfts, at the battle of Pavia,
February the 23d 1525, among other noblemen
who died in the field, were two moff. ill urinous
princes, Francis duke of Lorrain, and Richard de
la Poole, an Fnglifhinan, duke of Suffolk, who
had been banifhed by the Tyrant King Henry the
eighth. Their bodies lay buried without honour
fifty-
Pa vi a, Milan, &c. 25
fifty-feven years in this convent- At length,
Charles Parker of Morley, a near kinfman of the
duke of Suffolk, who had been banifhed fromEno-land
by Queen Elizabeth for the catholic faith, and
was fupported in the Miianefe by the bounty of the
catholic King Philip, the invincible monarch of
Spain, erecledthis monument, the beft his {lender
abilities could afford, to his molt dear kinfman,
and thefe moft illuflrious Princes, recommending
a better and more honourable one to the Lorrainers,.
Paffengers pray for their fouls repofe.
This pretended duke of Suffolk was Sir Richard
de la Poole, brother to the earl of Suffolk, who
was put to death by Henry the eighth. In his
baniihment he took upon him the title of duke of
Suffolk, which had been funk in the family ever
fince the attainder of the great duke of Suffolk
under the reign of Henry the fixth. He fought very
bravely in the battle of Pavia, and was magnifi- "
cently interred by the dukeof Bourbon, who, thought
an enemy, affifted at his funeral in mourning.
Parker himfelf is buried in the fame place, with
the following infcription.
D. O. M.
Car oh Pare hero a Mcrley Anglo ex illujlriffima cla-
rijfimd ftirpe. §jui Epifcopus def. eb fidem Catholicam
aft us in Exilium. An. XXX F. peregtinatus ah Inviftiffi
Phil, rege Hi/pan. honeftijjtmis pietatis & conflantice
pnemiis ornaius merit ur Anno apariuVirgini^ M. D. C.
XI. Men, Septembris.
To the memory of Charles Parker of Morley, an
Engliihman3 of a moft noble and illuftnous family j
wlio5
26 Pa vi a, Milan, &c.
who, a biihop elecl, beiiv banifhcd far the catholic
faith, and, in the thirty ii.il year of" his exile,
honourably rewarded lor his piety and conitancy
by the mod: invincible Philip King ol Spain, d.ed
in September 1611.
In Pavia is an univerfity of (even colleges, one
of them called the college of Borromec, very large,
and neatly built. There is like wife a ftatue in
Brafs, of Marcus Antoninus on hojfeback, which
the people of the place call Charles the fifth, and
fome learned men Confrantine the great.
Pavia is the Ticinum of the ancients, which
took its name from the river Ticinus, which runs
by it, and is now called the 7'efin. This river falls
into the Po, and is exceflively rapid. The biihop
of Salisbury fays, that he ran down with the itream
thirty miles in an hour, by the help of but one
rower. I do not know therefore why Stilus Italicus
has reprefented it as fo very gentle and frill a river,
in the beautiful defcription he has given us of it.
Car ideas Ticinus aquas et fiagna vadofa
Perfpicuus fervat, turbari 'nejeia^ fundo,
Ac nitidum viridi lenie trahit amne liquorem ;
Vix credas labi, ripis tarn ffihis opacis
Argutos inter (volucruin certa?nir.a) cant us
Sotmiferam ducit lucenti gurgite lympba?n. Lib. iv.
Smooth and untroubled the Ticinus flows,
And through the cryftal ftream the fhimng bottom
{hows
Scarce can the fi^ht difcover if it moves;
So wond'rous flow, amidff. the fhady groves,
And tuneful birds that warble on its fide-?,
Within its gloomy banks the limpid liquor glides.
Pa vi a, Milan, CSc. 27
A poet of another nation would not have dwelt
fo long upon the clearnefs and tranfparency of the
ftream; but in Italy one feldom fees a river that is
extremely bright and limpid, mod of them falling
down from the mountains, that make their waters
very troubled and muddy ; whereas the Tefin is only
an outlet of that vaft lake, which the Italians
now call the Lago Maggiore.
I faw between Pavia and Milan the convent of
Carthufians, which is very fpacious and beautiful.
Their church is extremely fine, and curioufly
adorned, but of a Gothic ftruclure.
I could not fray long in Milan without going to
fee the great church that I had heard fo much of,
but was never more deceived in my expectation
than at my firft entering : For the front, which
was all I had feen of the outfide, is not half
finifhed, and the infide is fo fmutted with dull: and
the fmoke of lamps, that neither the marble, nor
the filver, nor brafs-work fhow themfelvcs to an
advantage. This vaft Gothic pile of building is all
of marble, except the roof, which would have
been of the fame matter with the reft, had not its
weight rendered it improper for that part of the
Building. But for the reafon I have juft now men-
tioned, the outfide of the church looks much
whiter and frefner than the infide ; for where the
marble is fo often warned with rains, it preferves
itfelf more beautiful and unfullied, than in thofe
parts that are not at all expofed to the weather.
That fide of the church indeed, which faces the
Tramontane wind, is much more unlighjly than
the reft,' by reafon of the duft and fmoke that
are driven againft it. This profufibn of marble,
though aftoniihing to Grangers, is not very wonder-
ful in a country that has fo many veins of it within
its
^
8 Pa vi a, Milan, &c.
its bowels. But though the flones are che^p, the
working of them is very expenfive. It is generally
faid there are eleven thoufand ftatues about the
church ; but they reckon into the account every
particular figure in the hiftory- pieces, and feveral
little images which make up the equipage of thofe
that are larger, There are indeed a great multitude
of fuch as are bigger than the life: I reckoned above
two hundred and fifty on the outfide of the church,
though I only told three fides of it; and thefe are not
half fo thick fet as they intend them. 7'he fratues
are all of marble, and generally well cut; but the
moft va'uable one they have is a St. Bartholomew,
new-flead, with his (kin hanging over his moul-
ders : it is efteemed worth its weight in gold :
They have in fen bed this verfe on the pedeftal, to
mow the value they have for the workman :
Non me Praxiteles, fed Marcus finxit Agraik.
Left at the fculptor doubtfully you guefs,
'Tis Marc Agrati, not Praxiteles.
There is, juft before the entranee of the quire,
a little fubterraneous chapel dedicated to St. Charles
Borromee, where 1 faw his body, in epifcopal robes,
lying upon the altar in a fhrine of rock-cryfta-1.
His chape! is adorned with abundance of iilver-
work: He was but two and twenty years old
when he was chofen archbifhop of Milan, and
forty-fix at his death ; but made fo good ufe of fo
fliort a time, by his works of charity and muni-
ficence, that his countrymen blefs his memory,
which is ftill frefh among them. He was canonized
about a hundred years ago: and indeed if this ho-
nour were due to any man, I think fuch public-
fpirited
Pavia, Milan, &c. .29
fpirited virtues may lay a jufter claim to it, than
a four retreat from mankind, a fiery zeal again ft
Heterodoxies, a fet of chimerical vifions, or of
whimfical penances, which are generally the
qualifications of Roman faints. Miracles indeed
are required of all who afpire to this dignity, be-,
caufe, they fay, an hypocrite may imitate a faint
in all other particulars, and thefe they attribute
in a great number to him I am fpeaking of. His
merit and the importunity of his countrymen pro-
cured his canonization before the ordinary time ;
for it is the policy of the Roman church not to al-
low this honour, ordinarily, until fifty years after
the death of the perfon, who is candidate for it;
in which time it may be fuppofed that all his con-
temporaries will be worn out, who could contra-
dict a pretended miracle, or remember any infir-
mity of the faint. One would wonder that Roman
catholics, who are for this kind of worfhip, do
not generally addrefs themfelves to the holy apof-
tles, who have a more unqueflionable right to
the title of faints than thofe of a modern date;
but thefe are at prefent quite out of famion in
Italy, where there is fcarce a great town, which
does not pay its devotions, in a more particular
manner, to fome one of their own making. This
renders it very fufpicious, that the Interefls of
particular families, religious orders, convents or
churches, have too great a fway in their canoni-
zations. When I was at Milan I faw a book newly
publilhed, that was dedicated to the prefent head
of the Borromean family, and intitled, A difcoufe
on the humility of Jefus Chrift, and of §t. Charles
Borromee.
The great church of Milan has two noble pul-
pits of brafs, each of them running round a large
pillar,
30 Pavia, Milan, &c.
pillar, like a gallery, and fupported by hu^e fi-
guies of the lame metal. The hitfory of our fa-
viour, or rather of the blefled virgin (for it begins
with her birth, and ends with her coronation in
heaven, that of our faviour coming irf by way of
Epifode) is finely cut in marble by Andrew H.fry.
This church is very rich in relics, which run up
as high as Daniel, Jonas, and Abraham. Among
the reft they (how a fragment of our countryman
Becket, as indeed there are very few treasuries of
relics in Italy that have not a tooth or a bone
of this faint. It would be endlefs to count up the
riches of filver, gold, and precious ftones, that
are amaiTed together in this and feveral other
churches of Milan. I was told, that in Milan
there are fixty convents of women, eighty of men,
and two hundred churches. At the Celeftines is a
piclure in Frefco of the marriage of Cana, vc; y
much efteemedi but the painter, whether designed-
ly or not, has put fix fingers to the hand of one
of the figures; They fhow the gates of a church
that St. Ambrofe (hut againft the emperor Theodo-
fius, as thinking him unfit to aftifr. at divine fcr-
vice, until he had done fome extraordinary penance
for his barbarous maflacrin.' the inhabitants of Thef-
falonica. That Emperor was however fo far from
being difpleafed with the behaviour of the Saint,
that at his death he committed to him the educa-
tion of his children. Several have picked fplinters
of wood out of the oates for relics. There is a
little chapel lately re-edified, where the fame Saint
baotiled St. Auftin. An inscription upon the wall
of it fays, that it was in this chapel, and on this
occafion, that he firft fun* his Te Deum, and that
his great convert anfvvered him verfe by verfe.
In one of the churches I faw a pulpit and con-
feffional,
Pa vi a, Milan, &c. 31
feiTional, very finely inlaid with Lapis-Lazuli, and
feveral kinds of marble, by a father of the con-
vent. It is very lucky for a religious, who has
(o much time on his hands, to be able to amuie
himfelf with works of this nature; and one often
finds particular members of convents, who have
excellent mechanical genius's, and divert them-
felves, at Ieifure hours, with painting, fculpture,
architecture, gardening, and feveral kinds of han-
dicrafts. Since I have mentioned confeffionals, I
fhall fet down here fome infcriptions that I have
fecn over them in Roman catholic countries,
which are all texts of fcripture, and regard either
the penitent or the father. Abi, ojlende te ad
Sacerdotem -Ne taeeat papilla oeuli tui
Ibo ad Patrem meum £sf dieatn, Pater peccavi-
Soluia erunt in Cadis Redi Anima mea in Re-
quiem tuam Fade^ & ne deinceps pecca- •
£hd vos audit, me audit Veniie ad me omnes qui
fatigati ejiis cjf oneraii Corripiet me jujlus in mi'
fericordid Fide Jl via Iniquitous inmeejl, &
deduc me in via a tenia Ut audi ret genii: us
compeditorum. i. e. Go thy way, fhew thyfelf to
the prieft. Matth. viii. 4. Let not the apple
of thine eye ceale. Lam. ii. i3. 1 will go to
my father, and will fay unto him, father, I have
finned. Luke xv. 18. Shall be loofed in Hea-
ven. Matth. xvi. 19. 1 — Return unto thy reft,
O my Soul. Pfal. cxvi. 7. Go, and fin no
more. John viii. 11. He that heareth you,
heareth me, Luke x. 16. Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden. Matth. xi.
28. — See if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlafting. Pfal. cxxxix.
24. To hear the groaning of the priibners.
Pfal. cii. 20. I favv the Amferofian library, where,
to
32 Pavia, Milan, &o'.
to mew the Italian genius, they have fpent more
money on pictures than on books. Among the
heads of feveral learned men, I met with no
Englifhman, except biihop Fiiher, whom Henry
the eighth put to death for not owning his fu-
premacy. Books are indeed the leaft part of the
furniture that one ordinarily goes to fee in an Ita-
lian library, which they generally let off with
pictures, ftatues, and other ornaments, where they
can afford them, after the example of the old Greeks
and Romans.
■Plena omnia gxffo
Chryjlppi invenias : nam perfeEiijJimus horwn e/tt
&' quisy Arijiotelem fimiletn vet pittaam emit%
Etjukt arcbttypts piuUum fervare cleanthau
juv. Sat. ii. v. 4.
Chryfippus' ftatue decks thy library.
Who makes his fludy flneft, is moft read;
The dolt that with an Ariftotle's head,
Carv'd to the life, has once adorn'd his fhelf,
Straight fets up for a ftagirite himfelf. Tate.
In an apartment behind the library are feveral
rarities, often defcribed by travellers, as Biu-
geal's elements, a head of Titian by his own
hand, a manufcript in Latin of Jofephus, which
the Bifhop of Salifbury fays was written about the
age of Theodofius, and another of Leonardus Vin-
cius, which King James the fir ft could not procure,
though he profered for it three thoufand Spanifli
piftoles. It confifts of defignings in mechaniim
and engineering. I was fhewn in it a (ketch of
bombs and mortars, as they are now ufed. Canon
Settala's cabinet is always fhewn to a ftranger
among
Pavia, Milan, &c. 33
among the curiofities of Milan, which I fhall not
be particular upon, the printed account of it be-
ing common enough. Among its natural curiofi-
ties, I took particular norice of a piece of cryftal,
that inclofed a couple of drops, which looked like
water when they were fhaken, though perhaps they
are nothing but bubbles of air. It is fuch a ra-
rity as this that I law at Vendome in France, which
they there pretend is a tear that our Saviour fhed
over Lazarus, and was gathered up by an angel,
who put it in a little cryftal vial, and made a
prefent of it to Mary Magdalene. The famous
Pere Mabillon is now engaged in the vindication
of this tear, which a learned ecclefiaftic, in the
neighbourhood of Vendome, would have fupprelied,
as a falfe and ridiculous relic, in a book that he
has dedicated to his diocefan the Bifhop of Blois.
It is in the poifemon of a Benedictin convent,
which raifes a confiderable revenue out of the de-
votion that is paid to it, and has now retained the
mod learned father of their order to write in its
defence.
It was fuch a curiofity as this I have mentioned,
that Claudian has celebrated in about half a fcore
epigrams :
Soiibus indomitum glades Alpina rigor em
Sumebat, mmio jam preciofa gelu.
Nee potuit toto mentiri corpore gemmam,
Sed medio manfd proditor or be latex:
Au5lns honor j Uquidi crefcunt miracula faxiy
Et confervatce plus meruiflis aqua.
Deep in the fnowy Alps, a lump of ice"
By frofts was harden'd to a mighty price;
Proof
34 Pavia, Milan, &c.
Proof to the fun, it now fecurely lies,
And the warm dog-ftar's hotteft rage defies:
Yet ftill, unripen'd in the dewy mines,
Within the ball a trembling water mines,
That through the cryftal darts its fpurious rays,
And the proud ftone's original betrays:
But common drops, when thus with cryftal mixt,
Are valu'd more, than if in rubies fixt.
As I walked through one of the ftreets of Milan,
I was furprifed to read the following infcription,
concerning a barber, that had confpired with the
com miliary of health and others to poifon his fel-
low-citizens. There is a void fpace where his
houfe flood, and in the midft of it a pillar, fuper-
fcribed Colonna lnjame. The ftory is told in hand-
fome Latin, which I mall fet down, as having never
ieen it tranfcribed.
■
Hic9 ubi bac Area patens efty
Surgebat dim Tonjtrbia
Jo1 Jacobi Mores :
Qui f aft a cum Guhclmo Plate a publ. Sank, CommiJJario
Et cum alas Con/piratione,
Dum pejfis atrox faviret,
Letbiferis unguent'is hue izf illuc afperjis
P lures ad diram mortem compulit,
Hos igitur ambos, hojies patrice judicatos,
Exceljo in plaujlro
Candenti prius vellicatos for ape
Et dexter a mulclatos manu
Rota injringi
Rotevque intextos pojl boras fex jugular! ,
Comburi deinde,
4 J<>
Pa vi a, Milan, &c. 35
Ac, ne quid tarn Seek/forum homiman re'iquijit,
Pubiicatis bcnis
Cineres in jiumen projici
Senatus j?'/Jit •
Cujus rei mem'oria aterna ut fit,
Mane domum. See lev is effiinam,
Sold ccquw 1,
Ac nunquam in poflerum reficiy
Et erigi Cdummwi,
Quce vacatur Ir.famis,
idem or do ?nanaavit.
P roc id bine p roc id ergo
Boni Gives,
Ne Vos Infelix, Infame folum
C:mmacuiet !
M. D. C xxx. Cat. Augufti.
Prafide Pub. Sanitatis M. Antonio Montio Senat.re
R. Jujlitia: Cap. Jo. Baptijld Viceamlt*
In this void fpace flood formerly the barber's
fhop or John James Mora, who, having confpired
with William Platea, the commifTary of health,
and others, during the time of a raging plague, dt-
ftroyed the lives of a great number of citizens by
difperiing poifonous drugs. The fenate therefore
ordered them both, as enemies of their country, to
be broke on the wheel, their flefh being iirft torn
with red-hot pincers, nd their right hands cut offj
and, after lying fix hours on the wheel, their
throats to be cut, and their bodies burned ; and,
that there might be no remains of fuch wicked
men, their cjoods to be plundered, and their allies
thrown into the rive; : And, to perpetuate the me-
mory of this tranfaction, the houfe, in which the
villany was contrived, vv^s ordered to be puiled
down to the ground, and never to be rebuilt;
and
36 Pavia, Milan, &R
and a column to be raifed on the fpot, call'd The
Infamous. Fly from hence, good citizens, left the
wretched and infamous foil infect you. Aug. I*,
1630. M. Anthony Monthius, the fenator, com-
miifary of health, &tc.
The citadel of Milan is thought a ftrong fort in
Italy, and has held out formerly after the conqueft
of the reft of the dutchy. The governor of it is
independent on the governor of Milan ; as the Per-
fians ufed to make the rulers of provinces and for-
trefTes of different conditions and interefts, to pre-
vent confpiracies.
At two miles diftance from Milan, there frauds
a building, that would have been a mafter-piece in
its kind, had the architect defio-ned it for an artifi-
cial echo. We discharged a piftol, and had the
found returned upon us above fifty -fix times, though
jhe air was very foggy. The firft repetitions follow
one another very thick, but are heard morediftin&ly
in proportion as they de-cay: There are two paral-
lel walls, which beat the found back on each
other, till the undulation is quite worn out, like the
feveral reverberations of the fame image from two
oppofite looking-glafles. Father Kircher has taken
notice of this particular echo, as father Bartolin
has done fince in his ingenious difcourfe on founds.
The flare of Milan is like a yaft garden, furrounded
by a noble mound-work of rocks and moun-
tains. Indeed, if a man confidcrs the face of Italy
in general, one would think that nature had laid
it out into fuch a variety of ftates and govern-
ments as one finds in it. For as the Alps, at one
end, and the long range of Apennines, that paffes
through the body of it, branch out on all fides into
feveral different divjfions -3 they ferve as fo many na-
tural
Pavia, Milan, &c. 37
toral boundaries and fortifications to the little ter-
ritories that lie among them. Accordingly we find
the whole country cut into a multitude of parti-
cular kingdoms and commonwealths in the oldeft
accounts we have of it, until the power of the Ro-
mans, like a torrent that overflows its banks, bore
down all before it, and. fpread itfelf into the re-
moteft corners of the nation. But as this exor-
bitant power became unable to fupport itfelf, we
find the Government of Italy again broken into"
fuch a variety of fub-divifions, as naturally fuits
with its fituation.
In the court of Milan, as in fevera] others of
Italy, there are many who fall in with the drefs
and carriage of the French. One may however
obferve a kind of aukwardnefs in the Italians, which
eafily difcovers the airs they give themfelves not to
be natural. It is indeed very ftrange there mould
be fuch a diveifity of manners, where there is
fo fmal! a difference in the air and climate. The
French are always open, familiar, and talkative:
The Italians, on the contrary, are ftifF, ceremo-
nious, and referved. In France every one aims at
a gaiety and fpriglulinefs oi behaviour, and thinks
it an acco.mplifh.ment to be brifk and lively: The
Italians, notwithstanding their natural fierinefs of
temper, affecl: always to appear fober and fedate ;
infomuch that one fometimes meets young men
walking the fireets with fpecfacles on their nofes,
that they may be thought to have impaired their
jp.£>ht by much ftudy, and feem more grave and
judicious than their neighbours. This difference
of manners proceeds chiefly from difference of
. education. In France it is ufual to bring their cbil*
chen into company, and to cheriih in them, from
C their
38 Pavia, Milan', &c.
their infancy, a kind of forwardnefs and aiTu-
ranee : Befides, that the French apply themfelves
more univerfally to their exercifes than any other
nation in the world, fo that one feldom fees a
young gentleman in France that does not fence,
dance, and ride in fome tolerable perfection.
Thefe agitations of the body do not only give
them a free and eafy carriage, but have a kind
of mechanical operation on the mind, by keeping
the animal fpirits always awake and in motion.
But what contributes mofl to this light airy hu-
mour of the French, is the free converfation that
is allowed them with their women, which does
not only communicate to them a certain viva-
city of temper, but makes them endeavour af-
ter fuch a behaviour as is moil taking with the
iex.
The Italians, on the contrary, who are excluded
from making their court this way, are for recom-
mending themfelves to thofe they converfe with by
their gravity and wifdom. In Spain therefore,
where there are fewer liberties of this nature al-
lowed, there is fomething ftill more ferious and
compofed in the manner of the inhabitants. But
as mirth is more apt to make profelytes than me-
lancholy, it is obferved that the Italians have many
of them for thefe late years given very far into
the modes and freedoms of the French j which
prevail more or lefs in the courts of Italy, as they
lie at a fmaller or greater diftance from France,
It may be here worth while to confider how it comes
to pafs, that the common people of Italy have in
general fo very great an averfion to the French,
which every traveller cannot but be fenfible of,
that has palled through the country. The mofr.
obvious
Pavia, Milan, &c. 39
obvious reafon is certainly the great difference that
there is in the humours and manners of the two
nations, which always works more in the meaner
fort, who are not able to vanquiili the prejudices
of education, than with the nobility. Befides, that
the French humour, in regard of the liberties they
take in female converfations, and their great am-
bition to excel in all companies, is in a more parti-
cular manner very {hocking to the Italians, who are
naturally jealous, and value themfelves upon their
great wifdom. At the fame time, the common
people of Italy, who run more into news and po-
liticks than thofe of other countries, have all of
them fomething toexafperate them againft the King
of France. ' 1 he Savoyards, notwithstanding the
prefent inclinations of their court, cannot forbear
relenting the infinite mifchjefs he did them in the
lad war. The Mihineie and Neapolitans remem-
ber the many infults he has offered to the houfe
of Aunria, and particularly to their deceafed Kjrig,
for whom they ffill retain a natural kind of ho-
0 ;ur and affection. The Genoefe cannot forget his
treatment of their Doae> and his bombarding their
city. i he V enetians will tell you of his leagues
with the Turks; and the Romans of his threats to
pope Innocent the eleventh, whofe memory they
adore. It is true, that intereft of ftate, and change
of circumitances, may have fweetned thefe reflec-
tions to the politer fort; but impreffions are not fo
eafily worn out of the minds of the vulgar. That
however, which I take to be the principal motive
amorfg moft of the Italians',, for their favouring the
Germans above the French, is this, that they are
entirely perfuaded it is for the intereft of Italy, to
have Miteri and Naples rather in the hands or the
C 2 firft,
v 40 Pavia, MlI<AN, &c.
firil, than of the other. One may generally ob-
serve, that the body of a people has jufter views
for the public good, and purfues them wiih greater
'uprightnefs than the nobility and gentry, who
have fo many private expectations and particular
interefb, which hang like a falfe bias upon their
judgments, and may poflibly difpofe them to fa-
cnfice the good of their country to the advance-
ment of their own fortunes; whereas the grofs of
the people can have no other profpccl: in changes
and revolutions than of public bleflings, that are
to difYufe themfelves through the whole ftate in
general.
To return to Milan, I fhall here fet down the
defcription Aufonius has given of it, among the rei^
of his great cities,
Et Mediolani mira omnia, ccpia rerum :
innumeres cultaque domus, facunda yirorutn
favenia. et mores lati : Tu?n dutlice mwo
AmplificQta loci [pedes, popuhque voluptas
Circus, et inclufl moles cuneata Theairi :
Temph, palatinaque arces, opulenfquc Moneia^
Et regis Herculci Celebris ah honor e lavacri,
Cf.nticque mdrmoreh ornata periflyla fignis,
Omnia qua magtiU operum velut amula for mis
Excellent', nee j an 61 a p remit vicinia Roma",
Milan with plenty and with wealth o'erflows,
And numerous Greets and cleanly dwellings (hows.
The people, blefs'd with nature's happy force,
/)re eloquent and chearful in difeburfej
A Circus and a theatre invites
TV wnruly mob to races and to fights j
Monet a
Pavia, Milan, GSV. 41
Moneta confecrated buildings grace,
And the whole town redoubled walls embrace :
Here fpacious baths and palaces are feen,
And intermingled temples rife between ;
Here circling Colonnades the ground inclofe,
And here the marble flatues breathe in rows:
Profufely grac'd the happy town appears,
Nor Rome itfelf, her beauteous neighbour, fears.
C 3 BRESCIA,
BRESCIA,
VERONA,
A D U A.
FROM Milan we travelled through a very
pleafant country to Brcfcia, and by the way
crofTed the river Adda, that falls into the Lago di
Como, which Virgil calls the lake Larius, and
running out at the other end lofes itfelf at laft
in the Po, which is the great receptacle of all
the rivers of this country. The town and pro-
vince of Brefcia have freer accefs to the fenate of
Venice, and a quicker redrefs of injuries, than any
other part of their dominions. They have always
a mild and prudent governor, and live much more
happily than their fellow- fubje&s; for as they were
once a part of the Milanefe, and are now on their
frontiers, the V enetians dare not exafperate them, by
the loads they lay on other provinces, for fear of a
revolt; and are forced to treat them with more
indulgence than the Spaniards do their neighbours,
that they may have no temptation to it. Brefcia
is famous for its iron-works. A fmall day's jour-
ney
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 43
ney more brought us to Verona. We faw the lake
Benacus in our way, which the Italians now call
Lago di Garda: It was fo rough with tempefts
when we palled by it, that it brought into my mind
Virgil's noble description of it.
Adde tacus tantos, U Larl maxime, teque
FluRibus et fremitu ajjurgens, Benace^ inar'mo.
Georg. ii. v. 159.
Here vex'd by winter dorms Benacus raves,
Confus'd with working fands and rolling waves;
Rough and tumultuous like a fea it lies,
So loud the tempeft roars, To high the billows rife.
This lake perfectly refembles a fea, when it is
worked up by ftorms. It is thirty-five miles in
length, and twelve in breadth. At the lower end
of it we eroded the Mincio.
-Tardh ingem ubi fiexibus err at
Mlnciuiy et tenerd pratexit arwxline ripas.
Virg. Georg. iii. v. 14.
Where the (low Mincius thro' jthe valley flrays :
Where cooling ftreams invite the flocks to drink,
And reeds defend the winding waters brink.
Dryden.
The river Adige runs through Verona ; fo much
is the fituation of the town changed from what it
was in Silius Italicus his time.
Verona Athefi circumjlua. "Lib. viii.
Verona by the circling Adige bound.
C a. This
44 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
This is the only great river in Lombardy that
does not fall into the Po; which it muft have done,
had it run but a little further before its entering the
Adriatic. The rivers are all of them mentioned
by Claudian.
•Vcnetofque ereftior amnes
Jllagna voce act. Frondentibus hutnida rlph
Colla levant, pulcher Ticinus^ et Jldclua vijit
Cceruieus, velox dtke/ls, tardufquc meatu
lidinciuSy inque novcrn amfurgem ova Timavm.
Sexto Conf. Hon.
Venetia's -rivers, fummon'd all around,
Hear the loud call, and anfwer to the found;
Her dropping locks the filver Tefin rears j
The blue tranfparent Adda next appears;
The rapid Adige then erects her head ;
And Mincio rifing flowly from his bed :
And laft Timavus, that with eager force
From nine wide mouths comes gufhingtohiscourfe.
His Larius is doubtlefs an imitation of .Virgil's
Eenacus.
-Umbrosd veji'it qua llttus Olivd
LariuS) et dulci mentitur Nerea fluttu, Del Bel. Get*
The Larius here with groves of olives crown'd,
An ocean of frefh water fpreads around.
I faw at Verona the famous amphitheatre, that
with a few modern reparations has all the feats en-
tire. There is fomething very noble in it, though the
high wall and corridors that went round it are al-
moft entirely ruined, and the area is quite filled up
to
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 45
to the lower feat, which was formerly deep enough
to let the fpec"tators fee in fafety the combats of the
wild beads and gladiators. Since I have Claudian
before me, I cannot forbear fetting down the beauti-
ful defcription he has made of a wild beaft newly
brought from the woods, and making its firfl ap-
pearance in a full amphitheatre.
XJt fera quts nuper montes ami/it avitos^
Aliorumque exul nemorum^ damnatur arena
Mmeribus, commota ruit : vir murmur e contra
Hortatur, nixufque genu venabula tendit ;
Ilia pavet JlrepituS) cuneojque erefla Theatri
Defpidty et tanti miratur febila vidgi. In Ruf. lib. ii,
So rufhes on his foe the grifly bear,
That banifh'd from the hills and bufhy brakes,
His old hereditary haunts forfakes.
Condemn'd the cruel rabble to delight-
His angry keeper goads him to the fight.
Bent on his knee, the favage glares around,
Scar'd with the mighty crowd's promifcuous found;
Then rearing on his hinder paws retires,
And the vaft hilling Multitude admires.
There are fome other annuities in Verona, of
which the principal is the ruin of a triumphal arch
erected to Flaminius, where one fees old Doric
pillars without any pedeftal or bafis, as Vitruvius
has defcribed them. I have not yet feen any gar-
dens in Italy worth taking notice of. The Italians
fall as far fhort of the French in this particular,
as they excel them in their palaces. It mufl
however be fiid, to the honour of the Itahan?, that
the French took from them the firft plans of their
gardens, as well as of their water-works j fo-that
C 5 » their
46 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
their furpaffing of them at prefent is to.be attributed
rather to the greatnefs of their riches, than the ex-
cellence of their tafle. I faw the terrace-garden
of Verona, that travellers generally mention. Among
the churches of Verona, that of St. Georsje is the
handfomeft: Its chief ornament is the martyrdom
of the faint, done by Paul Veronefe; as there are
many other piclures about the town by the fame
hand. A flranger is always fhewn the tcmb of
pope Lucius, who lies buried in the dome. I faw
in the fame church a monument erected by the
public to one of their Bifhops: The inscription
fays, that there was between him and his maker,
Summa NeceJJitudo, Summa Similitudo. The Italian
epitaphs are often more extravagant than thofe of
other countries, as the nation is more given to
compliment and hyperbole. From Verona to Pa-
dua we travelled through a very pleafant country : It
is planted thick with rows of white mulberry-trees,
that furnifh food for great quantities of filk-worms
with their leaves, as the fwine and poultry confume
the fruit. The trees themfelves ferve at the fame
time, as (o many (lays for their vines, which hang
all along like garlands from tree to tree. Be-
tween the feveral ranges lie fields of corn, which
in thefe warm countries ripens much better among
the mulberry {hades, than if it were expofed to the
open fun. This was one reafon why the inhabi-
tants of this country, when 1 palled through it, were
extremely apprehenfive of feeing Lombardy the feat
of war, which muit have made miferable havock
among their plantations; for it is not here as in the
corn fields of Flanders, where the whole product
of the place rifcs from year to year. We arrived
i'o late at Vicer.za, that we haJ not time to take a
full fight of the place. The next day brought us
to
Breicia, Verona, Padua. 47
to Padua. St. Anthony, who lived about five hun-
dred years ago, is the great faint to whom they here
pay their devotions. He lies buried in the church
that is dedicated to him atprefent, though it was for-
merly confecrated to the bleffed Virgin. It is ex-
tremely magnificent, and very richly adorned. There
are narrow clifts in the monument that flands over
him, where good catholics rub their beads, and
fmell his bones, which they fay have in them a na-
tural perfume, though very like apoplectic balfam;
and what would make one fufpe£r. that they rub the
marble with it, it isobfervedthatthefcent is ftronger
in the morning than at night. There are abun-
dance of infcriptions and pictures hung up by his •
votaries in feveral parts of the church: For it is
the way of thofe that are in any fignal danger to
implore his aid, and if they come off fafe they call
their deliverance a miracle, and perhaps hang up the
picture or defcription of it in the church, This
cuftom fpoils the beauty of feveral Roman catholic
churches, and often covers the walls with wretched
daubings, impertinent infcriptions, hands, legs,
and arms of wax, with a thou land idle offerings
of the fame nature.
They fell at Padua the life of St. Anthony, which
is read with great devotion ; the moil remarkable
part of it is his difcourfe to an affembly of fifh.
As the audience and fermon are both very extra-
ordinary, I will fet down the whole palfoge at
length.
Ncn curando gli Heritici il fun parlors, egli fi come
era alia r'rua del mare, dove Jbotca il fmme Marce-
ch'ia, cb'iamo da parte di Dig It pejci, che venljj'cro a
fentir la Jua fanta parola. Et ecco che drfliblto fopra
/' acque nuotando gran molthitdine di variiy & dlverfi
pefcij e del mare, e del flume, fl unirorw tuUi, Jecondo
le
48 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
k fpecie lore j e con bell online, quaft the di ragion ca-
pacifati fojjero, attenti, e cheti con gratiofo fpettaco-
h s'accemmodaro per jentir la parola di Dio. C10
veduto il fanto eniro al cuor fuo di dolcezza fl'tlldntkfii
isf per altretania maraviglia inarcando le ciglia, del/a
ohedieniia di que ft e irragioncvoli creature con comincio
loro a parlare. ' Se bene in tutto le cofe create (cari,
& amati pefci) ft fcuopere la potenza, fcf providcnza
infnita di Dio, term net Cielo, ml Sole, fella Luna,
nclle Stelle, in quejh mondo inferiore, nel hiiomo, t
nclle altre creature perfctte, nondimeno in Voi ptrtko-
larmente lampeggia e rifplende la bonta delta inaefta
divina-, perche fe bene fete chiamati Rettili, mezzi
fra pietre, e bruti, confinati nelli profondi abiffi dellt
ondezgiante acque : agitati fempre da flutti : mofft fem-
pre da prccelle : ford a? udire, mutoli al parlare, iff
horridi al vedere\ con tutto cio in Voi marayighofa-
mente ft forge la Divina grandezza ; e da voi ft cava-
no Id maggiori mifterii delta bonta di Dio, Tie mat ft
parla di voi nella Scrittura Sacra, the non vifa afcojto
qualche profondo Sacramento ; Credete voi, che fa
fenza grandijfimo mijlerio, che il primo dmo fat*
to daW cmnipotente Iddio all' huomo foffe di voi
Pefci? Credete voi che non fa mijlerio in qucfto, che^
di tniie le creature, e di tutti gl9 animali ft fen fatti
farijeii* ecceito, che di voi Pefci? Credete, che non
vi fa qualche fecreto in qucfto, che Chrijh noftro fat-
■ vJatore daW agnelo pafquale in poi, ft compiacque tanio
del cibo di voi pefci? Credete, che fa d cafe quefto,
che d.vetulo il Redentor del mondo, pagar, come hue*
mtf, it r cenfo a Ce fare la vqleffe trovare nella bocca di
unpefee? Tutti, 'tutti fono mifteri e Sacrament i : per*
t'w fete pariicolarmcnte obligati a today e il vojiro Crea-
te? c : c 91 iti pefci di Dio havete ricevuto /' effete, la
1 rtjl \lmol9, el f:nfe\ per fianza vi ha dato il liquido
chmmto del? Aqua, fecondo che alia vojha na'wak
~ incli"
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 49
inclinatisne conviene: ivi ha fatt'i ampliffimi alberghi,
Jlanzer caverne, grotte, e fecreti luogi a voi piu che
p.'fale Regie , e regal Palazzi, cari, e grati\ & per
propria fede havete /' acqua, elemento diafano, tranf-
parente, e fempre lucido quafi criftallo, e verro ; &f
dalle piu bajje e profonde vojlre Jianze fcorgete cio che
fopra acqua o ft fa, o nuota ; havete gli occhi quafi di
Lince, 0 di Argo, dsf da caufa nort errante guidati, fe-
guite cio che vi giova, & aggrada ; & fuggite cio che
vi nuoce, havete natural defio di confervarvi fecondo
h fpetie vojlre, fafc, oprate & caminate ove natura
vi detta fenza contraflro alcuno\ ne algor d' inverno,
ne calor di Jlate vi offende, o nuoce : fiafi per fereno, a
turbato il cielo, che alii vojlri humidi alberghi ne
frntto, ne danno apporta ; ftafi pure abbondevole de
j'uoi tefori, o fcarfa de fuo frutti la terra, che a voi
nulla giova ; piova, tuoni, Jaette, lampaggi, e fubijji
il mondo, che avoi cio poco importa ; ver deggi prinavera,
fcaldt la Jlate fruttifchi V Autunao, & afflderi li in-
verm, quejlo ncn vi rileva punto : ne trappajjar del*
hire, ne correr de giorni, ne volar de mefi, ne fuggir
(T anni, ne mutar de tempi, ne cangiar de ftagimi vi
dan pe^fiero alamo, ma fempre ficura, & tranquilla
vita liatamente vivere : O quanto, o quanta grande
la Maefta di Dio in voi ft fiuopre, O quanto mirabile
la poienza fua ; O quanto Jlupenda, & maravigliofa
fa fua ■ providenza ; poi che fret tutte le creature dell'
univerfo voi folo non fenUjii il dlluvio univerfale del?
acque ; ne provafli i danm, che egli face al mondo j
e tutlo quejlo ch3 io ho detto dovrebbe muovervi a lodar
Dii, ct ringratiare fua divina maefia di tante e cofi
fmgolari benefcli, che vi ha faiti; di tante g+atic,
che vi ha conferite\ ai tanti faviri, di che vi ha fatti
degna ; per tanto, fe non potete fnodar la lingua a rin-
gratiar il vofiro Benefattore, & non fapete con parole
efprimer le fue hdi, fatele fcgno di riverenza olmeno ;
ch-,-
50 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
chinatevi al fuo no?ne ; moftrate nell modo che potete
fembiante di gratitudine\ rendctcvi benevoli alia bontd
fua, in quel miglior mo do che potete \ O fapete, non
fiate fconofcenti de fuoi beneficiiy & non fiate ingrati
de fuoi favor L A quefio dire, O maraviglia gra'nde,
come fi quelli pefci haveffero havuto humano intelletto,
e dijccrfo, con gefli di profonda Hwniha, con river enti
fcmbianti di religione^ chinarono la tefla, blandiro co'l
corpc, quaft approvando cib che detto havca il benedetto
padre St. Antonio,
4 When the heretics would not regard his preach-
* ing, he betook himfelf to the fea-fhore, where
* the river Marecchia difembogues itfelfnnto the
;* Adriatic. He here called the fifh together in the
4 name of God, that they might hear his holy
c word. The fifh came fwimming towards him
4 in fuch vail fhoals, both from the fea and from
4 the river, that the furface of the water was
4 quite covered with their multitudes. They
~* quickly ranged themfelves, according to their ie-
4 veral fpecies, into a very beautiful congregation,
4 and, like fo many rational creatures, prefented
4 themfelves before him to hear the word of God.
4 St. Antonio was fo ftruck with the miraculous
4 obedience and fubmiflion of thefe poor animals,
4 that he found a fecret fweetnefs diftilling upon his
4 foul, and at laft addrefied himfelf to them in the
4 following "Words.
4 Although the infinite power and providence of
4 God (my dearly beloved fifh) difcovers itfelf in
4 all the works of his creation, as in the heavens,
4 in the fun, in the moon, and in the flars, in
4 this lower world, in man, and in other perfect
4 creatures; neverthclefs the goodnefs of the di-
* vine majefty mines out in you more eminently,
4 and appears after a more particular manner, than
' in
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 51
in any other created beings. For notwithflanding
you are comprehended under the name of Reptiles,
partaking of a middle nature between ftones and
* beafts, and imprifoned in the deep abyfs of wa-
* ters j notwithflanding you are toft among billows,
* thrown up and down by tempefts, deaf to hear-
* ing, dumb to fpeech, and terrible to behold : not-
-4 withftanding, I fay, thefe natural difadvantages,
c the divine greatnefs fhows itfelf in you after a
* very wonderful manner. In you are -feen the
c mighty myfteries of an infinite goodnefs. The
* holy fcripture has always made ufe of you, as
c the types and ihadows of fome profound facra-
* ment.
6 Do you think that, without a myftery, the
* firft prefent that God almighty made to man,
4 was of you, O ye fifhes ? do you think that,
1 without a myftery, among all creatures and ani-
' mals which were appointed for facririces, you only
6 were excepted, O ye fifhes? do you think there
c was nothing meant by our Saviour Chrift, that
' next to the pafchal lamb he took fo much plea-
' fure in the food of you, O ye fifties? do you
* think it was by mere chance, that, whe,n, the
Redeemer of the world was to pay a tribute to
* Caefar, he thought fit to find it in the mouth of a
filh? Thefe are all of them fo many myfteries
f and facraments, that oblige you in a more parti-
' cular manner to the praifes of your Creator.
c It is from God, my beloved filh, that vou have
1 received being, life, motion, and fenie. It is
* he that has given you, in compliance with your
' natural inclinations, the whole world of waters
' for your habitation. It is he that has furnifhed
' it with lodgings, chambers, caverns, grottoes,
f and fuch magnificent retirements as are not to be
&
c
' met
52 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
met with in the feats of Kings, or in the palaces
of Princes. You have the water for your dwelling,
a clear tranfparent element, brighter than cryftal j
you can fee from its deepeft bottom every thing
that pafles on its furface; you have the eyes of
a Lynx, or of an Argus; you are guided by a fe-
cret and unerring principle, delighting in every
thing that may be beneficial to you, and avoid-
ing every thing that may be hurtful; you are
carried on by a hidden inftincl: to preferve your-
felves, and to propagate your fpecies; you obey,
in all your actions, works and motions, the
dictates and fuggeftions of nature, without the
leaft repugnancy or contradiction.
4 The colds of winter, and the heats of fum-
mer, are equally incapable of molelting you. A
ferene or a clouded fky are indifferent to you.
Let the earth abound in fruits, or be curfed with
fcarcity, it has no influence on your welfare.
You live fecure in rains and thunders, light-
nings and earthquakes; you have no concern in
the blo/Ioms of fpring, or in the glowings of
fummer, in the fruits of autumn, or in the frofts
of winter. You are not folicitous about hours
or days, months or years; the vaiiablenefs of
the weather, or the change of feafons.
* In what dreadful majefiy, in what wonderful
power, in what amazing providence, did God
Almighty diftinguim you among all the fpecies
of creatures that perifried in the univerfai deluge!
You only were infenfible of the miichief that had
laid wa{re the whole world.
* All this, as I have already told you, ought to
infpire you with gratitude and praife towards the
divine majeity, that has done fo great things for
y&u, granted you fuch particular graces and pri-
4 viie?es»
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 53
vileges, and heaped upon you fo many diftingujfh-
ing favours. And lince for all this you cannot
employ your tongues in the praifes of your be-
nefactor, and are not provided with words to ex-
prefs your gratitude; make at leaft fome fign of
reverence; bow yourfelves at his name; give
fome mow of gratitude, according to the belt of
your capacities ; exprefs your thanks in the
mod becoming manner that you are able, and be
not unmindful of all the benefits he has bellowed
upon you.
c He had no fooner done {peaking, but, behold
a miracle! The fim, as though they had been
endued with reafon, bowed down their heads
with all the marks of a profound humility and
devotion, moving their bodies up and down with
a kind of fondnefs, as approving what had been
fpoken by the blefTed father, St. Antonio. The
legend adds, that after many heretics, who were
prefent at the miracle, had been converted by it,
the faint gave his benedi&ion to the fifh, and dif-
miffed them." -
Several other the likeftories of St. Anthony are re-
prefented about his monument in a very fine Baflb
Relievo,
I could not forbear fetting down the titles given
to St. Anthony in one of the tables that hangs up to
him, as a token of gratitude from a poor peafant,
who .fancied the faint had faved him from breaking
his neck.
Sacratijjimi pufwiis Bethlehemitici
Lilio candidiori Delicto,
Seraphidum foli fulgidijfimo,
Celfijjimo facra fapienties tbolo,
Prodigiorum patratori potentijfimoy
Mortis,
54 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
Mortis, Err oris, Cahvjtitatis, Lepra;, Da^monis,
DifpeiyrcUo?i, corr.cclori, liberaiori, curator?, fugatort\
Sanfio, fap'uiiii, pio, potenti, trevintdo,
/Egrotorum & Naufragantium Sahatcri
Prarfcnfi/Jimo, tuiijjimo^
Membrorutn reftitutori, vincui'orwn confraSlori,
Rerum perdilarum Invent or i jlupendo^
Periculortim omnium profit gator i
Magna^ Mirabiit^
Ter Sanclo
Jt:tonio Paduano,
Pieniiffimo pofl Deu~. cj it I que Virgincam mat} em
Protestor i Cif Sofpiiatcri fuo, &c.
To the thrice holy Anthony of Padua, delight
(whiter than the li!v) of the mod holy child of
Be* hlehem, brighter! ion of the feraphs, bigheft roof
of facred wifdom, mod powerful worker of mi-
racles, holy diipenfer of death, wife corrector of
error, pious deliverer from calamity, powerful
curer of leprofy, tremendous driver-away of
devils, moft ready and moit trufty preferver of the
fick and- ihip-wreck'd, reftorer of limbs, breaker
of bonds, frupendous difcoverer of loft things,
great and wonderful defender from all dangers, his
moft pious (next to God and his virgin mother)
protector and fafe-guard, fisVj
The cuftom of hanging up limbs in wax, as well
as pictures, is certainly derived from the old heathens,
"who tiled, upon their recovery, to make an offering
in wood, metal or clay, of the part that had been
afHicted with a diftemper, to the deity that delivered
them. 1 have i'cen, I believe, everv limb of a hu-
man body Hgur'd in iron or clay, which were for-
merly made pn this occafion, among the feveral
col-
Brefcia, Verona, Padua. 55
collections of antiquities that have been fhewn me
in Italy. The church of St. Juftina, defigned by
Palladio, is the mofl handfom, luminous, difen-
cumbered building in the infide that I have ever
i'een, and is efteemed by many artifts one of the
fmefl works in Italy. The long nef confifls of a
row of five cupolas; the crofs one has on each fide
a fingle cupola deeper and broader than the others.
The martyrdom of St. Juftina hangs over the altar,
and is a piece of Paul Veronefe. In the great town-
hall of Padua ftands a flone fuperfcrib'd Lapis Vi-
tuperii. Any debtor that will {"wear himfelf not
worth five pound, and is fet by the bailiffs thrice
with his bare buttocks on this ftone in a full hall,
clears himfelf of any farther profecution from his
creditors ; but this is a punifhment that no body
has fubmitted to thefe four-and-twenty years. The
univerfity of Padua is of late much more regular
than it was formerly, though itis not yetfafe walking
the ftreets after fun-fet. There is at Padua a ma-
nufacture of cloth, which has brought very great
revenues into the republic. At prefent the Englifh
have not only gained upon the Venetians in the Le-
vant, which ufed chiefly to be fupplied from this
manufacture, but have great quantities of their
cloth in Venice itfelf; few of the nobility wearing
any other fort, notwithstanding the magiftrate of
the pomps is obliged by his office to fee that no
body wears the cloth of a foreign country. Our
merchants indeed are forced to make ufe of fome ar-
tifice to get thefe prohibited goods into port. What
they here mow for the afhes of Livy and Antenor is
difregarded by the beft of their own antiquaries.
The pretended tomb of Antenor put me in mind
of the latter part of Virgil's defcription, which gives
us the original of Padua.
Antenor
56 Brefcia, Verona, Padua.
Antenor poiuit mediis elapfus Achivis
IHyriccs peneirare fmus, at que ini'ima iutus
Regna Libuvnorum, & fontejn fuperare Timavi :
XJnde per ora novem vafto cum murmure mentis
It mare piceruptum^ 13 pelago premit arva fonatiti;
Hie tamen tile urhem Patai'U Jedefque hcovk
Ttucrorum^ ct genti nomen dedit, armaqv.e fait
Tro'ia : nunc placidd compojrus pace guiefcit.
^En. i. v. 246.
Anterior, from the midfl of Grecian hofts,
Could pafs fecure, and pierce th' Illyrian coafts;
Wnere rolling down the ftcep Timavus raves,
And through nine channels disembogues his waves.
At length he founded Padua's happy feat,
And gave his Trojans a fecure retreat) [names :
There flx'd their arms, and there renew'd their
And there in quiet lies. Dryden.
From Padua I went down the river Brent in
the ordinary ferry, which brought me in a dayfc
time to Venice.
t 1
: :
VENICE.
VENICE.
HAVING often heard Venice reprefented as
one of the mod defeniible cities in the world,
J took care to inform myfclf of the particulars in
which its ftrength confifts. And thefe I find are
chiefly owing to its advantageous fituation; for
it has neither rocks nor fortifications near it, and
vet is, perhaps, the moft impregnable Town in
turope. It ftands at lead four miles from any part
of the Terra firma\ nor are the {hallows that lie .
about it ever frozen hard enough to bring over an
army from the land-fide; the conftant flux and
reflux of the fea, or the natural mildnefs of the
climate, hindering the ice from gathering to any
thicknels; which is an advantage the Hollanders
want, when they have laid all their country under
water. On the fide that is expofed to the Adriatic,
the entrance is fo difficult to hit, that they have
marked it out with feveral {lakes driven into the
ground, which they would not fail to cut upon the
fir ft approach of an enemy's fleet. For this reafon
they have not fortified the little iflands, that lie at the
entrance, to the heft advantage, which might other-
wife very eafiiy command all the pafles that lead to
the city from the Adriatic. Nor could an ordinary
fleet with bomb-veile!s, hope to fucceed againft a
place that has always in its arfenal a considerable
number of gallies and men of war reaiy^to put to
58'. VENICE.
fea oil a very fhort warning. If we could there-
to! e fuppofe them blocked up on ail fides, by a
power too ftrong for them, both by Tea and land,
they would be able to defend themfelves againft
-every thing but famine; and this would not be a
little mitigated by the great quantities of fifh that
their feas abound with, and that may be taken up
in the midftof their very ftreets; which is fuch a na-
tural magazine as few other places can boaft of.
Our voyage-writers will needs have this city in
great danger of being left, within an age or two,
on the Terra finna ; and reprefent it in fuch a man-
ner, as \i the fea was infenfibly Shrinking from it,
and retiring into its channel. I afked feveral, and
among the reft father Coronelli, the ftate's geo-
grapher of the truth of this particular, and they
all allured me that the fea rifes as high as ever,
though the great heaps of dirt it brings along with
it are apt to choke up the fhallows; but that they
are in no danger of iofmg the benefit of their fi-
xation, fo long as they are at the oharee of re-
moving thefe banks of mud and fand. One may
fee abundance of them above the furface of the
water, fcattered up and down like fo many little
iflands, when the tice is low; and the.y are thefe
that make the entrance for mips difficult to fuch
as are not ufed to them; for the deep canals run
between them, which the Venetians are at a great
exper.ee to keep free and open.
This city (lands very convenient for commerce.
Tt has feveral navigable rivers that run lip into the
body of Italy-, by which they rriight fupply a great
many countries with fifh and other commodities;
n >t to mention their opportunities. for the Levant,
and each fide of the Adriatic. But notwithstanding
thefe conveniences, their trade is far from being
in
VENICE. 59
in a flouriihing condition for many reafons. The
duties are great that are laid on merchandiies.
Their nobles think it below their -quality to en-
gage in traffic. Their merchants who are grown
rich, and able to manage great dealings, buy their
nobility, and generally give over trade. Their
manufactures of cloth, glafs, and ftlfc, formerly
the bed in Europe, are' now excelled by fhofe of
other countries. They are tenacious of old laws
and cuitoms to their great prejudice, whereas a
trading nation mud be ftill for new changes and
expedients, as different junctures and emergencies
arife. The date is at prefent very fcnfible of this
decay in their trade, and, as a noble Venetian,
who is ftill a merchant, told me, they will fpeedily
find out fome method to redrefs it; pofiibly by
making a free port, for they look with an evil eye
upon Leghorn, which draws to it mod of the vef-
fels bound for Italy. They have hitherto been fo
negligent in this particular, that many think the
great Duke's gold has had no fmall influence in
their councils.
Venice has feverai particulars, which are not to
be found in other cities, and is therefore very enter-
taining to a traveller. It looki at a diftance, like
a great town half floated bv a delude. There are
canals every where crofiing it, fo that one may go
to mod houfes either by land or water. This is
a very great convenience to the inhabitants; for a
Gondola with two oars at Venice, is as magnificent
as a coach and fix horfes with a large equipage,
in another country: befides that it mikes all other
carriages extremely cheap. The (beets are gene-
ra! Iv naved with brick or freeftone, and" always
kepi: very neat; for there is no carnage, not (o
much as a dv.ury that nafies through them. There
is
60 VENICE.
is an innumerable multitude of very handfome
bridges, all of a fingle arch, and without any fence
on either fide, which would be a great inconveni-
ence to a city lefs fober than Venice. One would
indeed wonder that drinking is fo little in vogue
among the Venetians, who are in a moid air and
a moderate climate, and have no fuch diverfions
as bowling, hunting, walking, riding, and the
like exerciies to employ them without doors. But
as the nobles are not to converfe too much with
{hangers, they are in no danger of learning it;
and they are generally too difhuftful of one another
for the freedoms that are ufed in fuch kind of con-
ventions. There are many noble palaces in Venice.
Their furniture is not commonly very rich, if we
except tne pictures, which are here in greater plenty
than in any other place in Europe, from the hands
of the belt matters of the Lombard fchool ; as
Titian, Paul Veronefe, and Tintoret. The lafr. of
thefe is in greater efteem at Venice than in other
parts of Italy. The rooms are generally hung
with gilt leather, which they cover on extraordi-
nary occafions with Tapefhy, and hangings of
greater value. The flooring is a kind of red
plaifter made of brick ground to powder, and after-
wards worked into mortar It is rubbed with oil,
and makes a Imooth, fhining, and beautiful furface.
Thefe particularities^are chiefly owing to the moi-
flure of the air, which would have an ill effect on
pthei kinds of furniture, as it (hows itfelf too vi-
sibly in many of their nneft pictures. Though the
Venetians are extremely jealous of any great fame
or merit in a living member of their common-
wealth, they never fail of giving a man his due
praiicts, when they are in no danger of lufreiing
from his ambition. Por this reafon, though there
aie
VENICE. 6 1
are a great many monuments erected to fuch as
have been benefactors to the republic, they are
generally put up after their deaths. Among the
many elogiums that are given to the Doge, Pifauro,
who had been ambaffador in England, his epitaph,
fays, In Angl'ia 'Jacobi Regis obitum m'ird caliiditate cela-
tum mird Jagacitate r mat us prifcam benevolent! am fir-
tnavk. c In England, having with wonderful tega-
* city difcovered the death of King James, which
* was kept fecret with wonderful art, he confirmed
* the ancient friendmip/ The particular palaces,
churches, and pi6tur.es of Venice, are enumerated
in feveral little books that may be bought on the
place, and have been faithfully tranfcribed by many
voyage-writers. When I was at Venice, they
were putting out very curious ftamps of the feveral
edifices which are moll famous for their beauty or
magnificence. The Arfenal of Venice is an ifland of
about three miles round. It contains all the ftores
and provifions for war, that are not actually em-
ployed. There are clocks for their gallies and
men of war, moft of them full, as well as work-
houfes for all land and naval preparations. That
part of it, where the arms are laid, makes a great
(how, and was indeed very extraordinary about a
hundred years ago; but at prefent a great part of
its furniture is grown ufelefs. There feem to be
almofr. as many fuits of armour as there are guns.
The fvvords are old fafhioned and unwieldy in a
very great number, and the fire-arms fitted with
locks of little convenience in companion of thole
that are now in ufe. The Venetians pretend they
could fet out, in cafe of great neceiiity, thirty
men of war, a hundred gallies, and ten galeafies,
though I cannot conceive how they could man afleet
of half the number. It was certainly a mighty
D . error
62 VENICE.
error in this ftate to effect (o many conquefts on
the Terra firma, which has only ferved to raife the
jealoufy of the chriftian Princes, and about three
hundred years ago had like to have ended in the
utter extirpation of the commonwealth; whereas,
had they applied themfelves, with the fame politics
and induftry, to the increafe of their ftrength by
iea, they might perhaps have had all the iflands of
the Archipelago in their hands, and, by confequence,
the greater! fleet, and the moft feamen of any other
Hate in Europe. JBefides, that this would have
given no jealoufy to the Princes their neighbours,
who would have enjoyed their own dominions in
peace, and have been very well contented to have
feen fo ftrong a bulwark againft all the forces and
invafions of the Ottoman empire.
This republic has been much more powerful
than it is at prefent, as it is ftill likelier to fink than
increafe in its dominions. It is not impofTible but
the Spaniard may, fome time or other, demand of
them Creme, firefcia, and Bergame, which have
been torn from the Milanefe; and in cafe a war
ihould arife upon it, and the Venetians lofe a fmgie
battle, they might be beaten off the continent in
a fingle fummer, for their fortifications are very
inconfiderable. On the other fide the Venetians are
in continual apprehenfions from the Turk, who will
certainly endeavour at the recovery of the Morea,
as loon as the Ottoman empire has recruited a little
of its ancient ftrength. They are very fenfible that
they had better have pufhed their conquefts on the
other fide of the Adriatic into Albania; for then
their territories would have lain together, and have
been nearer the fountain-head to have received (uc-
cours on occafion; but the Venetians are under ar-
ticles with the Emperor, to rcfign into his hands
what-
VENICE. 63
whatever they conquer of the Turkifh dominions,
that has been formerly difmembered from the empire.
And having already very much dilTatisfy'd him in
the Frioul and Dalmatia, they dare not think of
exafperating him further. The Pope difputes with
them their pretenfions to the Polefin, as the Duke
of Savoy lays an equal claim to the kingdom of
Cyprus. 'Tis furprifing to confider with what heats
thefe two powers have contefted their title to a
kingdom that is in the hands of the Turk.
Among all thefe difficulties the republic will
fliil maintain itfelf, if policy can prevail upon
force; for it is certain the Venetian fenate is one of
the wifeft councils in the world, though at the fame
time, if we believe the reports of feveral that have
been well verfed in their conftitution, a great part
of their politics is founded on maxims, which others
do not think confident with their honour to put in
practice. The prefervation of the republic is that
to which all other confiderations fubmit. To en-
courage idlenefs and luxury in the nobility, to
cherifli ignorance and licentioufnefs in the clergy,
to keep alive a continual faction in the common
people, to connive at the vicioufnefs and debauchery
of convents, to breed difTenfions among the nobles
of the Terra firma, to treat a brave man with
fcorn and infamy, in fhort to ftick at nothing for
the public intereft, are reprefented as the refined
parts of the Venetian wifdom.
Among all the inflances of their politics, there
is none more admirable than the great fecrefy that
reigns in their public councils. The fenate is
generally as numerous as our houfe of , commons,
if we only reckon the fitting members, and yet
carries its refolution fo privately, that they are
feldom known 'till they difcover themfelves in the
D 2 exe-
64
VENICE.
execution. It is not many years fince they had
before them a great debate concerning the punifh-
ment of one of their admirals, which lafted a
month together, and concluded in his condemna-
tion; yet was there none of his friends, nor of
thofe who had engaged warmly in his defence,
that gave him the leaft intimation of what was pafT-
ing againff. him, until he was actually feized, and
in the hands of juftice.
1 he noble Venetians think themfelves equal at
leaft to the electors of the empire, and but one
degree below Kings; for which reafon they feldom
travel into foreign countries, where they muft
undergo the mortification of being treated like pri-
vate gentlemen : Yet it is obferved of them, that
they difcharge themfelves with a great deal of dex-
terity in fuch embaffies and treaties as are laid on
them by the republic; for their whole lives are
employed in intrigues of ftate, and they naturally
give themfelves airs of Kings and Princes, of which
the minifters of other nations are only the repre-
ientatives. Monfieur Amelot, reckons in his time,
two thoufand five hundred nobles that had voices
in the great council ; but at prefent, I am told,
there are not at mod fifteen hundred, notwiths-
tanding the addition of many new families fince
that time. It is very ftrange, that with this ad-
vantage they are not able to keep up their number,
confidering that the nobility fpreads equally through
all the brothers, and that fo very few of them are
deflroycd by the wars of the republic. Whether
this may be imputed to the luxury of the Venetians,
or to the ordinary celibacy of the younger brothers,
or to the laft plague which fwept away many of
them, I know not. They generally thruft the
females of their families into convents, the better
to
VENICE. 6$
to prcferve their eltates. This makes the Venetian
nun's famous for the liberties they allow themfelves.
They have operas within their own walls, and
often go out of their bounds to meet their admi-
rers, or they are very much mifreprefented. They
have many of them their lovers, that converfe with
them daily at the grate; and are very free to admit
a vifit from a ftranger. There is indeed one of
the Cornara's, that not long ago refufed to fee any
under a prince.
The carnival of Venice is everywhere talked of.
The great diverfion of the place at that time, as
well as on all other high occafions, is mafking.
The Venetians, who are naturally grave, love to
give into the follies and entertainments of fuch
feafons, when difguifed in a falfe perfoliate. They
are indeed under a neceflity of finding out diver-
fions that may agree with the nature of the place,
and make fome amends for the lofs of feveral
pleafures which may be met with on the continent.
Thefe difguifes give occafion to abundance of love-
adventures: for there is fomethingr more intriguing
in the amours of Venice, than in thofe of other
countries; and I queftion not but the fecret hif-
tory of a carnival would make a collection of
very diverting novels. Operas are another great
enrertainment of this feafon. The poetry of them
is generally as exquifitely ill, as the mufic is good.
The arguments are often taken from fome cele-
brated acTion of the ancient Greeks or Romans,
which fornetimes looks ridiculous enough; for who
can endure to hear one of the rough old Romans,
fqueaking through the mouth of an eunuch, efpe-
cially when they may choofe a fubjecl: out of courts
where eunuchs are really attors, or reprefent by them
any of the foft Afiatic monarchs? the opera that
D 3 was
66 VENICE.
■was molt in vogue during my ftay at Venice, was
built on the following fubjecT Caefar and Scipio
are rivals for Cato's daughter. Cadar's iirft words
bid his foldjers fly, for the enemies are upon them:
Si leva C(fare, e dice a Scldaii, A" la fagge* A' h
fiampo. The daughter gives the preference to
Caefar, which is made the occafion of Cato's death.
Before he kills himfelf, you fee. him with Irawn into
his library, where, among his books, I obferved
the titles of Plutarch and Taffo. After a lhort
foltloquy, he ftrikes himfelf with the dagger that
he holds in his hand ; but, being interrupted by one
of his friends, he ftabs him for his pains, and by
the violence of the blow unluckily breaks the dag-
ger on one of his ribs, fo that he is forced to dif-
patch himfelf by tearing up his fir ft wound. This
lad circumftance puts me in mind of a contrivance
in the opera of St. Angelo, that W2S acted atthefame
time. The King of the play endeavours at a rape;
bu: the Poet being refolved to fave his heroine's
honour, has fo ordered it, that the King always
acls with a great cafe-knife (luck in his girdle,
which the lady matches from him in the ftruggle,
and fo defends herfelf.
The Italian Poets, befides the celebrated frnooth-
refs of their tongue, have a particular advantage,
above the writers of other nations, in the diffe-
rence of their poetical and profe language. There
are indeed fets of phrafes that in all countries are
pecu'iar to the Poets; but among the Italians there
are not only fentences, but a multitude of particu-
Jar words, that never enter into common difcourfe.
They have fuch a different turn and polifhing for
poetical ufe, that they drop feveral of their letters,
and appear in another form, when they come to be
ranged in verfe. For this reafon the Italian opera
feldoru
VENICE. 67
feldom finks into a poornefs of language, bi%
amidft all the meannefs and familiarity of the
thoughts has fomething beautiful and fonorous in
the exprefiion Without this natural advantage of
the tongue, their prefent poetry would appear
wretchedly low and vulgar, notwithstanding the
many ftrained allegories that are Co much in u(e
anion? the writers of this nation. The Encrlifh and
French, who always ufe the fame words in verfe
as in ordinary conversation, are forced to raife their
language with metaphors and figures, or, by the
pompoufnefs of the whole phrafe, to wear off any
littlenefs that appears in the particular parrs that
compofe it. This makes our blank verfe, where
there is no rhyme to fupport the expreftion, ex-
tremely difficult to fuch as are not mafters in the
tongue, efpecially when they write on low fub-
je&sj and it is probably for this reafon that Milton
has made ufe of fuch frequent tranfpofitions, la-
tinifms, antiquated words and ph rates, that he
might the better deviate from vulgar and ordinary
expreffions.
The comedies that I faw at Venice, or indeed in
any other part of Italy, »are very indifferent, and ■
more lewd thanthofeof othercountries. Tneir Poets
have no notion of genteel comedy, and fall into the
'moil filthy double meanings imaginable, when they
have a mind to make their audience merry. There
is no part generally fo wretched as that or the fine
gentleman, efpecially when he convenes with his
miftrefs; for then the whole dialogue is an infipid
mixture of pedantry and romance. But it is no
wonder that the Poets of fo jealous and^referved a
nation fail in fuch converfations on the fta?e, as
they have no patterns of in nature. There are four
flanding characters which enter into every piece
D 4 - that
63 V E N I C E.
th.u comes on the ftage, the Doctor, Harlequin,
Pantalone, and Coviello. The Doctor's character
comprehends the whole extent of a pedant, that,
with a deep v*oice, and a magifterial air, breaks in
upon converfation, and drives down all before him:
Every thing he fays is backed with quotations out
«-f Galen, Hippocrates, Plato, Virgil, or any other
author that rifes uppermoft, and all anfwcrs from his
companions are looked upon as impertinencies or
interruptions. Harlequin's part is made up of blun-
ders and abfurdities: He is to miitake one name
for another, to forget his errands, to {tumble over
Queens, and to run his head againft every poll that
Hands in his way. This is all attended with fome-
thmg fo comical in the voice and geftures, that a
man, who is fenfible of the folly of the part, can
hardly forbear being pleafed with it. Pantalone is
generally an old cully, and'Coviello a (harper.
I have feen a translation of the Cid acted at Bo-
lonia, which would never have taken, had they not
found a place in it for thefe buffoons. All four of
them appear in mafks that are made like the old
Roman Perfonae, as I (ball have occafion to obferve
in another place. The French and Italians have pro-
bably derived this cuftom, of {hewing fome of their
characters in mafks, from the Greek and Roman
theatre. The old Vatican Terence has, at the head
of every icene, the figures of all the perfons that
are concerned in it, with the particular difguifes in
which they acted; and I remember to have feen in
the Villa Mattheio an antique ftatue m?.fked, which
was perhaps defigned for Gnatho in the eunuch ; for
it agrees exactly with the figure he makes in the
Vatican manufcript. One would wonder indeed how
fo polite a people as the ancient Romans and Atheni-
ans fhould not look on thefe borrowed faces as unna-
tural.
VENICE. 69
tural. They might do very well for a cyclops,
or a fatyr that can have no refemblance in human
features; but for a flatterer,' a mifer, or the like
characters, which abound in our own fpecies, no-
thing is more ridiculous than to reprefent their looks
by a painted vizard. In perfons of this nature the
turns and motions of the face are often as agreea-
ble as any part of the ac~tion. Could we fuppofe
that a mafic reprefented never fo naturally the gene-
ral humour of a character, it can never fuit with
the variety of paftions that are incident to every
fmcrle nerfon in the whole courfe of a olay. The
grimace may be proper on (orne occafions, but is
too fteady to agree with all. The rabble indeed are
generally pleaded at the fir fir entry of a difgiiife; but
the jeff. grows cold even with them too when it
comes on the ftage in a fecond fcene.
Since [ am on this fubjecl:, I cannot forbear
mentioning a cuftom at Venice, which they tell me*
is particular to the common people of this country,
of (in<y\n<z ftanzas out of Taflb. They are fet to a
pretty folemn tune, and when one begins in any
part of the Poet., it is odds but he will be anfwered
by fome body elfe that overhears him : So that fome-
times you have ten or a dozen in the neighbourhood
of one another, taking verfe after verfe, and run-
ning on with the poem as far as their memories will
carry them.
On Holy Thurfday, amon£ the feveral fhows that
are yearly exhibited, I faw one that is odd enough,
and particular to the Venetians. There is a fet of
artifans, who, by the help of feveral poles, which
they lay acrofs each others moulders, build them>
felves up into a kind of pyramid; fa that you fee a
pile of men in the air of four or five lews riling
one above another. The weight is io equally diuVi-
D 5 butcd,
70 VENICE.
buted, that every man is very well able to bear his
part of it, the {lories, if I may fo call them, grow-
ing lefs and lefs as thev advance higher and higher.
A little boy reprefents the point of the pyramid,
who, after a mort fpace, leaps off, with a great deal
of dexterity, into the arms of one that catches him
at the bottom. In the fame manner the whole
building falls to pieces, I have been the more par-
ticular on this, becaufe it explains the following
verfes of Claudian, which fhow that the Venetians-
are not ihe inventors of this trick.
Vcl qui more avium fefe jaculantur in auras,
Corpcraque tedificant, celeri crefcentia nexu,
Quorum compofitam puer augmentatus in arcem
Emicat, ct vintlus plants, vel cruribus hcerens,
PenduJa libretto figit veftigia faltu.
Claud, de Pr. & Olyb. Conf,
"en, pil'd on men, with active leaps arife,
And build- the breathing fabric to the fkies;
A fprightly youth above the topmoft row
Points the tall pyramid, and crowns the fhow.
Though we meet with the Veneti in the old Poets,
the city of Venice is too modern to find a place
among them. Sannazarius's epigram- is too well
known to be inferted. The fame Poet has cele-
brated this city in two other places of his poems.
•J$hiis Vent its miracula proferat nrbis,
U '<-?;• magni qua: funitl orbis habet ?
Salve Italian Regina, alt a tndeberrima Rdftue
/E qua: terns, qua: dominaris ayuis !
1'u tibi-vel Reges cives facts, O Dscus, O Lux
it libera turba Junius,
Per
VENICE. yi
Per quam Barbarics nobis Hon imperat, ct Sol
Exoriens nojlro elarius orbe nitetl Lib. iii. Eleg. i.
Venetia ftands with endlefs beauties crown'd,
And as a world within herfelf is found.
Hail Queen of Italy ! for years to come
The mighty rival of immortal Rome!
Nations and feas are in thy ftates enrolFd,
And Kings among thy citizens are told.
Aufonia's brighteft ornament! by thee
She fits a fov'reign, unenflav'd and free;
By thee, the rude barbarian chas'd away,
The rifing fun chears with a purer ray
Our weftern world, and doubly gilds the day
1
Nee Tu femper en's, qua feptem amplecleris arcesy
Nee Tuy qua niediis amula furgh aquis.
Lib. ii. Eleg. r.
Thou too (halt fall by time or barb'rous foes,.
Whole circling wails the fev'n fam'd hills inclofej.
And thou, whofe rival tow'rs invade the fkies,
And, from amidfl the waves, with equal glory rife,
ft *it>lilt. (9*
• :
F E'R-
saESBflSBISF"
F E R R A R A,
RAVENNA,
RIMINI.
AT Venice I took a bark for Ferrara, and in
my way thither faw feveral mouths of the
Po, by which it empties itfelf into the Adriatic.
■^tw non alius per pinguia cult a
In mare purpurtum violentior injluit amnis.
Virg. Georg. iv. v. 372.
which is true, if underftood only of the rivers of
italy.
Lucan's defcription of the Po would have been
very beautiful, had he known when to have given
over.
Quoque magii nullum tellus fefolvit in amnem
E> idanus, fraclafque evclvit in aquora Jylvas,
Hefperiamque exhaurit aquis : hunc fabula primum
P cpulea jiuvium ripas umhraffe corona:
C unique diem pronum tranfverfo limit e ducens
Succendjt Phaeton flagrar.tibus atbera hrh\
Gurgitibm
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 73
Gurgitibus raptis, penitus tellure perujid,
Hunc habuijje pares Pboebeis ignibus undas.
Life ii. v. 408-.
The Po, that, rufhing with uncommon force,
O'er-fets whole woods in its tumultuous courfe,.
And, rifling from Hefperia's watry veins,
Th' exhaufted land of all its moifture drains.
The Po, as fings the fable, firft convey 'd
Its wand'ring current through a poplar fhader
For when young Phaeton miftook his way,
Loft and confounded in the blaze of day,
This river, with furviving ftreams fupply'd,
When all the reft of the whole earth were dry'd,
And nature's felf lay ready to expire,
Qiiench'd the dire flame that fet the world on fire.
The Poet's reflexions follow.
Non minor hie Nilo9 ft non per plana jacenth
/Egypt i Libycas Nilus Jiagnaret arenas.
Non minor hie Iftro9 nifi quod dum permeat orbem
Ifler, eafuros in qualibet csquora f antes
Accipit9 %3 Scythicas exit nan fains in undas.
lb. v. 416.
Nor would the Nile more watry ftores contain,
But that he ftagnates on his Libyan plain:
Nor would the Danube run with greater force,
But that he gathers in his tedious courfe
Ten thoufand ftreams, and, fwelling as he flows,
In Scythian feas the glut of rivers throws.
That is, fays Scaliger, the Eridanus would be big-
ger than the Nile and Danube, if the Nile and Da-
nube were not bigger than the Eridanus. What
makes
74 Ferrara, Ravenna, Riminir
makes the Poet's remark the more improper, the
very reafon why the Danube is greater than the
Po, as he affigns it, is that which really makes the
Po as great as it is; for before its fall into the
gulf, it receives into its channel the moft confi-
derable rivers of Piedmont, Milan, and the reft of
Lomjjardy.
From Venice to Ancona the tide comes in very
fenfibly at its ftated periods, but rifes more or lefs
in proportion as it advances nearer the head of the
gulf. Lucan has run out of his way to defcribe the
Phaenomenon, which is indeed very extraordinary to
thole who lie out of the neighbourhood of the sreat
ocean, and, according to his ufual cuftom, lets his
poem ftand ftill that he may give way to his own
reflections.
Sihtaque jacet lift us dubium, quod terra fretumqiie
Vendicat alternis vlcibm, cum fundi tur ingem
OccamtS) iff I cum refugis fe fluftibus aufert.
Veritas ab extremo pelagus fie axe volutet
Deftiiuatque f evens: anfldere mcta fecundo
let by os unda vaga Lunar ibus ajiuei boris:
Fiammiger an Tit an ^ ut alentes b ami at undas,
Erigat Oceanum, flu ft uf que adfulera ullat ;
^uceriie quos agiiat mundi labor: at miki fernper
Tu qu&nmque moves tarn crebros cav.fu meatus ^
TJtfuperi vo!uerey lates.
Lib. i. v. 40Q>
Wafh'd with fucceffive feas, the doubtful ftrand
By turns is ocean, and bv turns is land:
Whether the winds in diftant regions blow,
Moving the world of waters to and fro;
Or waining moons their fettled periods keep
To fwell the billows, and ferment the deep;-
Or
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 75
Or the tir'd fun, his vigour to fupply,
Raifes the floating mountains to the fky,
And flakes his thirft within the mighty tide,
Do you who ftudy nature's works decide :
Whilft I the dark myfteiious caufe admire,
Nor, into what the gods conceal, prefumptuoufly
inquire.
At Ferrara I met nothing extraordinary. The
town is very large, but extremely thin of people.
It has a citadel, and fomething like a fortification
running round it, but fo large that it requires more
foldiers to defend it, than the pope has in his whole
dominions. The ftreets are as beautiful as any I
have feen, in their length, breadth and regularity.
The Benedictines have the nneft convent of the
place. They fhowed us in the church Ariofto's mo-
nument: His epitaph fays, he was Nobilitate Ge-
neris oique Animi clams, in rebus publicis adminijirandis^
in regendh populis, in graviffimis & fwnmis Pontificis
legationibus prudentid, cc-v/ilio, eloquentid praflantifji-
vms. i. e. Noble both in birth and mind, and moft
confpicuous for prudence, counfel, and eloquence,
in adminiftring the affairs of the public, and dif-.
charging the moft important embafHes from the
Pope.
1 came down a branch of the Po, as far as Alberto,
within ten miles of Ravenna. All this fpace lies
miferably uncultivated until you come near Raven-
na, where the foil is made extremely fruitful, and
(hows what much of the reft might be, were there
hands enough to manage it to the beft advantage. It
is now on both fides the road very marfhy,and gene-
rally overgrown with rufhes, which made me fancy
it was once ftoated by the fea, that lies within four
miles of it. Nor could I in the leaft doubt it when
I
76 Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini.
I faw Ravenna, that is now almoft at the fame dif-
tance from the Adriatic, though it was formerly the
mod famous of all the Roman ports.
One may guefs at its ancient fituation from
.Martial's
MeMfque Ranee garriant Ravennates. Lib. iii. Epigr*
Ravenna's frogs in better mufic croak.
And the defcription that Silius Italicus has given
us of it.
Quaque gravi remo limofis fegniter und'is
Lenta paludofa pcrfcindunt jiagna Ravenna. Lib. v i i i ,
Incumber'd in the mud", their oars divide
With heavy ftrokes the thick unwieldy tide.
Accordingly the old geographers reprefent it as
fituated among marfhes and mallows. The olace,
which is mown for the haven, is on a level witli
the town, and has probably been (topped up by the
great heaps of dirt that the fea has thrown iiuo it \
for all the foil on that fide of Ravenna has been left
there infenfibly by the fea's difcharging itfelf upon
it for fo many ages. The ground muft have been
formerly much lower, for otherwife the town would
have lain under water. The remains of the Pha-
ros, that ftand about three miles from the fea, and
two from the town, have their foundations covered
with earth for fome. yards, as they told me, which
notwithstanding are upon a level with the fields that
lie about them, though it is probable they took the
advantage of a rifing ground to fet it upon. It was
a fquare tower, of about twelve yards in brcadtl ,
as
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 77
as appears by that part of it which yet remains en-
tire; (o that its height muft have been very confi-
derable to have preferved a proportion. It is made
in the form of the Venetian Campanello, and is pro-
bably the high tower mentioned by Pliny, Lib. 36.
cap. 12.
On rhe fide of the town, where the fea is fup-
pofed to have laid formerly, there is now a little
church called the Rotonda. At the entrance of
it are two ftones, the one with an infcription in
Gothic characters, that has nothing in it remark-
able; the other is a fquare piece of marble, that by
the infcription appears ancient, and by the orna-
ments about it mows itfelf to have been a little
pagan monument of two perfons who were fhip-
wrecked, perhaps in the place where now their mo-
nument ftands. The firft line and a half, that tells
their names and families in profe, is not legible ;.
the reft run thus:
'Rania domus bos produxit alumnos9
Libertatis opus contulit una dies.
Naufraga mors par iter rapuit quos junxerat ante,
Et duplices luftus mors periniqua dedit.
Both with the fame indulgent mailer blefs'd*
On the fame day their liberty poiTefs'd:
A fhipwreck flew whom it had join'd before,
And left their common friends their fun'rals to
deplore.
There is a turn in the third verfe, that we lofe
by not knowing the circumftances of their fto-
ry. It was the Naufraga mors which deftroyed
them, as it had formerly united them 3 what this
union
J$ Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini.
union was is expr?i%d in the preceding verfe, by
their both having, been made, free-men on the fame
day. If therefore we fuppofe they had been for-
merly (hipwrecked with their mafrer, and that
he made them free at the fame time, the Epi-
gram is unriddled. Nor is this interpretation per-
haps fo forced as it may feem at firit fight, fince
it was the cuftom of the mailers, a little before
their death, to give their Haves their freedom, if
they had deferved it at their hands ; and it is na-
tural enough to fuppofe one, involved in a com-
mon fhipwreck, would give fuch of his Haves their
liberty, as fhould have the good luck to fave
thcmfclves. The chance] of this church is vaulted
with a fingle flone of four foot in thicknefs, and
a hundred and fourteen in circumference. There
flood, on the outfide of this little cupola, a great
tomb of Porphyry, and the ftatues of the twelve
apoflles; but in the war that Louis the twelfth
made on Italy, the tomb was broken in pieces by
a cannon bail. It was, perhaps, the fame blow
that made the flaw in the cupola, though the~ in-
habitants fay it was cracked by thunder, that de-
ftroyed a fon of one of their Gothic Princes, who
had taken fhelter under it, as having been foretold
what kind of death he was to die, I afked an
abbot, that was in the church, what was the
name of this Gothic Prince, who, after a little re-
collection, anfwered me, that he could not tell pre-
cifely, but that he thought it was one Julius Caefar.
There is a convent of Theatins, where they inow
a little window in the church, through which
the Holv Ghoft is (aid to have entered in the fhape
of a dove, and to have fettled on one of the can-
didates for the bifhoprick. The dove is repre-
fented
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 79
fented in the window, and in feveral places of the
church, and is in great reputation all over Italy.
I fhould not indeed think itimpoffible for a pigeon
to fly in accidentally through the roof, where
they (till keep the hole open, and by its fluttering
over fuch a particular place, to give (o fuperftitious
an aflembly an occafion of favouring a competi-
tor, efpecially if he had many friends among the
electors that would make a politic ufe of fuch an
accident: But they pretend the miracle has hap-
pened more than once. Among the pictures of feve-
ral famous men of their order, there is one with
this inscription. P. D. Thomas GouldveUus Ep.
Afn Trid»° ccnftlio contra Hccreticos^ & in Angha
contra Elijabet. Fidei ConfeJTor confpiaius. The fta-
tue of Alexander the feventh {lands in the large
fquare of the town ; it is caft in brafs, and has
the pofture that is always given the figure of a
Pope; an arm extended, and bleffing the people.
In another fquare on a high pillar is fet the fta-
tue of the blefTed Virgin, arrayed like a Queen,
with a fcepter in her hand, and a crown upon
her head, for having delivered the town from a
raging peftilence. The cuftom of crowning the
Holy Virgin is fo much in vogue among the Italians*
that one often fees in their churches a little tinfel
crown, or perhaps a circle of ftars glued to the
canvas over the head of the figure, which fome-
times fpoiis a good picture. In the convent of Be-
nedictines, I faw three huge chefts of marble, with
no infcription on them that I could find, though they
are laid to contain the afhes of Valentinian, Hono-
rius, and his fifter Placidia. From Ravenna I
came to Rimini, having patted the Rubicon by the
way. This river is not (o very contemptible as it
is.
So Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini.
Is generally reprefented, and was much increafed
by the melting of the fnows when Csefar pailed itr
according to Lucan.
Fonte cadit medico parvifque impellitur undis
Puniceus Rubicon^ cum fervida canduit <zfta$\
Per que imas fertit valley & Gallica certus
Lhnes ab Aufon'ih difierminat arva cclonis :
Tunc vires prccbebat hye?m, at que. auxerat undas
'Teriia jam gravido pluvialis Cynthia cornu,
Et madidis Euri rrfolutctjiatihus Jipes. Lib. i. v. 2 13.
While fummer lafts, the ftreams of Rubicon
From their fpent fource in a fmall current run;
Hid in the winding vales they gently glide,
And Italy from neighboring Gaul divide;
But now, with winter ftorms increas'd, they rofc,
By watry moons produc'd, and Alpine fnows,
That melting on the hoary mountains lay,
And in warm eaftern winds diflblv'd away.
This river is now called Pi-fatello.
Rimini has nothing modem to boaft of. Its an-
tiquities are as follow: A marble bridge of five
arches, built by Auguftus and Tiberius, for the in-
scription is ftill legible, though not rightly tran-
scribed by Gruter. A triumphal arch raifed by
Auguftus, which makes a noble gate to the town,
though part of it is ruined. The ruins of an am-
phitheatre. The Suggeftum, on which it is faid that
Julius Caefarharrangued his army afterhaving palled
the Rubicon. I muft confefs I can bv no means look
on this laft as authentic: It is built of hewn
ftone, like the pedeftal of a pillar, but Something
higher than ordinarv, and is but juft broad enough
for
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 81
for one man to (land upon it. On the contrary, the
ancient Suggeftums, as I have often obferved on
medals, as well as onConflantine's arch, were made
of wood like a little kind of ftage ; for the heads
of rhe nails are fometimes reprefenied, that arefup-
pofed to have fattened the boards together. We of-
ten fee on them the Emperor, and two or three ge-
neral officers, fometimes fitting, and fometimes
{landing, as they made fpeeches, or diffributed a
congiary to the foldiers or people. They were pro-
bably always in readinefs, and carried among the
baggage of the army, whereas this at Rimini muft
have been built on the place, and required fome
time before it could be fmifhed.
If
82 Fferrara, Ravenna, Rimini*
If the obfervation I have here made is juft, it
may ferve as a confirmation to the learned P a-
bretti's conjecture on Trajan's pillar; who fup-
pofes, I think, with a great deal of reafon, that
the camps, intrenchments, and other works of
4 the
Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini. 83
the fame nature, which are cut out as if they had
been made of brick or hewn {lone, were in reality
only of earth, turf, or the like materials ; for there
are on the pillar fome of thefe Suggeftums, which are
figured like thofe on medals, with only this diffe-
rence, that they feem builr with brick or free-ftone.
At twelve miles diftance from Rimini ftands the
little republic of St. Marino, which I could not
forbear vifiting, though it lies out of the common
tour of travellers, and has excefTively bad ways to
it. I fhall here give a particular account of it, be-
caufe I know of no body elfe that has done it.
One may, at ieaft, have the pleafure of feeing in
it fomething more lingular than can be found in
great governments, and form from it an idea of
Venice in its firft beginnings, when it had only a
few heaps of earth for its dominions, or of Rome
it! elf, when it had as yet covered but one of its
{even hills.
THE
THE
REPUBLIC
O F
St. MARINO.
THE town and republic of St. Marino fiands
on the top of a very high and craggy moun-
tain. It is generally hid among the clouds, and
Jay under fnow when I (aw it, though it was
clear and warm weather in all the country
> about it. There is not a fpring or fountain, that I
could hear of in the whole dominions, but they are
always well provided with huge citterns and refer-
vcirs of rain and fnow-water. The wine that
grows on the fides of their mountain is extraordinary
good, and I think much better than any I met with
on the cold fide of the Appennines. This puts me in
mind of their cellars, which have mofl of them a na-
tural advantage that rendeis them extremely cool
in the hotteft feafons; for they have generally in the
fides of them deep holes that run into the hollows
of the hill, from whence there conftantly ilTues .a
breathing kind of vapour, lb very chilling in the
fummer-time, that a man can fcarce fuffer his hand
in the wind of it.
This
I f The Republic, Be/ I85
This mountain, and a few neighbouring hillocks
'that lie (battered about the bottom -of it, is the whole
circuit of thefe dominions. They have, what they
call, three caftles, three convents, and five churches,
and reckon about five thoufand -fouls in their com-
munity. The inhabitants, as well as the hiftorians, I
who mention this little republic, give the following
account of its original. St. Marino was its foun-
der, a Dalmatian by birth, and by trade a mafom
He was employed above thirteeen hundred years ag^o
in the reparation of Rimini, and, after he had fi-
nifhed his work, retired to this folrtary mountain,
as finding it very proper for the life of a hermit
v/hich he led in the &reateit rigours and aufferities
of religion. He had not been long here -before he
wrought a reputed miracle, which, joined with his
extraordinary fan6rity, gained him fo great art
efteem, that the Princefs of the country made him
a-prefenfof the mountain to difpofe of it at his own
discretion. His reputation quickly peopled it, and "
g-ive rife to the republic which calls itfelf after
his name. So that the commonwealth of Marino
may boaft. at leaft of a nobler original than that of v
Rome, the one having been at fir£ an Afylum for
robbers and murderers, and the other a refort of
perfor.s eminent for their piety and devotion. The
bed of their churches is dedicated to the faint, and
holds his aihes. His Statue (lands over the high altar,
with the figure of a mountain in its hands, crowned
with three cailles, which -is like wife the arms of
the commonwealth. They attribute to his protec-
tion the long duration of their (late, and look on him
as the greateft faint next the blefTed virgin, I faw
in rheirftatute-book a lawagainft fuchasipeakdifre-
fpectfullv of him, who arc to be punifhed in the fame
manner as thole Who are convicted of blafphfmv.
£ Thil
\
86 The Republic
This petty republic has now lafted thirteen hun-
dred- years, while all the other Hates of Italy have
ieveral times changed their matters and forms of
government. Their whole hiitory is comprifed in
two purchafes, which they made of a neighbouring
prince, and in a war in whiclj they affined the
Pope againft a Lord of Rimini. _In the year noo
they bought a caule in the neighbourhood, as they
did another in the year 1 170. The papers of the
conditions are preferved in their archieves, where
it is very remarkable that the name of the agent Tor
the commonwealth, of the feller, of the notary,
?nd the witnefTes, are the fame in both the inifru-
ments, though drawn up at feventy years d.ita nee
from each other. Nor can it be any miftake in the
date, becaufe the Popes and Emperors names, with
the year of their refpective reigns, are both punctu-
ally let down. About two hundred and ninety years
after this, they affined Pope Pius the fecond againft
one of the Malatefla's, who was then Lord of Ri-
mini; and when they had helped to conquer him,
jeceived from the Pope, as a reward for their afTil-
tance, four little caftles. This they reprefent as
the flourifhing time of the commonwealth, when
their dominions reached half way up a neighbouring
hill; but at prefent they are reduced to their old
extent. /They would probably fell their liberty as
dear as they could to any that attacked them ; for
there is but one road by which to climb up to them,
and they have a very fevere law againft any of their
. own body that enters the town by another path,
it C: any new one fhould be worn on the fides of their
mountain* All that are capable of bearing arms
are ixeiCifed, and ready at a moment's call.
The fovereign power of the republic was lodged
pflgijiftU) »P what they call the Arengo, agreat coun-
cil
of St. Marino. 87
t\\ in which every houfe had its reprefenfative.
But becaufe they found too much confufion in fuch
a multitude of ftatefmen, they devolved their whole
authority into the hands of the council of fixty.
The Arer.fjo however is (till called together in cafes
of extraordinary importance; and if, after due fum-
mons, any member abfents himfelf, he is to be fined
to the value of about a penny Englifh, which the
flatute fays he {hall pay, Sine aliqud diminutions ant
gratia, i. e. Without any abatement or favour. In
the ordinary courfe of government, the council of
iixty (which, notwithstanding the name, confifts
but of forty perfons) has in its hands the adminiifra-
tion of affairs, and is made up half out of the noble
families, and half out of the Plebeian. They de-
cide all by baloting, are not admitted until five and
twenty years old, and choofe the officers of the
-commonwealth.
Thus far thev agree with the great council of
Venice; but their power is much more extended;
for no fenterice can ftand that is not confirmed by
two thirds of this council. Befides, that no fon
can be admitted into it during the life of his father,
nor two be in it of the fame family, nor any enter
but by election. The chief officers of the com-
monwealth are the two Capitaneos, who have fuch a
power as the old Roman confuls had, but are chofen
every fix months. I talked with fome that had been
Capitaneos fix or feven times, though the office is
never to be continued to the fame perfons twice :
fucceffively. The third officer is the commiiTary,
who judges in all civil and criminal matters. But
becaufe the many alliances, friendships, and inter*
marriages, as v/ell as the perfonal feuds and ani-
mofities that happen among lb final! a people, night
pbftrucl the courfe of juftice, if one of their own •
E 2 numbs*
88 The Republic
number had the diflribution of it, they have always
a foreigner for this" employ, whom they choofe for
three years, and maintain out of the public ftock.
He muft be a doftor of law, and a man of known
integrity. He is joined in com million with the Ca-
pitaneos, and acls fomething like the recorder of
London under the lord mayor. The commonwealth
I of Genoa was forced to make ufe of a foreign iud«e
for many years, whilit their republic was torn into
the divifions of Guelphs and Gibelines. The fourth
man in the Mate is the phyfician, who muft likewife
be a Granger, and is maintained by a public falary.
He is obliged to keep a horfe, to vifit the fick, and
to infpect all drugs that are imported. He muff be
at leaft thirty- five years old, a doctor of the faculty,
and eminent for his religion and honcftyj that his
rafhnefs or ignorance may not unpeople fh^com-
monwealth. And that they may not fuffer lirng un-
der any bad choice, he is elecled only for three
years. The prefent phyfician is a very underfland-
ins: man, and well read in our countrymen, Harvey,
Willis, Sydenham, &c. He has been continued for
iomc time among them, and they fay the common-
wealth thrives under his hands. Another perfon,
who makes no ordinary figure in the republic, is
ihe febool- matter, I fcarce met with any in the
place that had not forne tjn&ure of learning. I
had the perufal of a Latin book in Folio, intitled,
Statuta liiufir'ifjhiyz RiipubUcp Sanfii Adarini, printed
.-. Rimini by order of the commonwealth. The
chanter on the public mini-tiers fays, that when an
amfcaflador js difpatched from *he republic to any
foreign ftatc, he mall be allowed, out ot thetreafury,
lo tu-e value of a {billing' a day. The people are
€ fteemed very honeff. and Figorou'Sin the execution of
j^fucc. and fVem to live more happy and contented
amor.g
of St. Marino.' 89
among their rocks and fnows, than others of the
Italians do in the pleafanteft valleys of the world.
Nothing indeed can be a greater inftance of the na-
tural love that mankind has for liberty, and of
their averfion to arbitrary government, than fuch
a favage mountain covered with people, and the
Campania of Rome, which lies in the fame coun-
try, almofl deftitute of inhabitants.
4~f
E 3 Pefaro*
Pefaro, Fano, Senigallia,
Anconia, Loretto, &C
To Rome.
FROM Rimini to Loretto the towns of note aie
Pefaro, Fano, Scnigallia, and A neon a, Fano
received its name from the fane or temple of for-
tune that flood in it. One may frill fee the tri-
umphal arch erected there to Auguftus: It is indeed
very much defaced by time ; but the plan of it, as
it flood intire with all its inferiptions, is neatly cut
upon the wall of a neighbouring building. In each
of thefe towns is a beautiful marble fountain,
where the water runs continually through feveral
Jitrle fpouts, which looks very refrefhing in thefe
hot countries, and gives a great coolnefs to the
air about them. That of Pefaro is handfomly de-
fined. Ancona is much the moft confiderable of
thefe towns. It flands on a promontory, and looks
more beautiful at a diflance than when you are in it.
The port was made by Trajan, for which he has a
triumphal arch erected to him by the fea-fide.
The marble of this arch looks very white and frefh,
as being expofed to the winds and fait fea-vapours,
that by continually fretting it preferves itfelf from
that
Pefaro, Pano, Senigallia, &c. gi
that mouldy colour, which others of the fame ma-
terials have contracted. Though the Italians and
voyage- writers call thefe of Rimini, Fano, and An-
cona^ triumphal arches, there was probably fome
diftinction made among the Romans between fuch
honorary arches erected to Emperors, and thofe that
were raifed to them on account of a victory, which
are properly triumphal arches. This at Ancona
was an inftance of gratitude to Trajan for the port
he had made there, as the two others I have men-
tioned were probably for fome reafon of the fame na-
ture. One may however obferve the wifdom of the
ancient Romans, who, to encourage their Emperors
in their inclination of doing good to their country,
gave the fame honours to the great actions of peace,
which turned to the advantage of the public, as to
thofe of war. This is very remarkable in the
medals that were ftamped on the iame occafions.
I remember to haye feen one of Galba.'s, with a tri-
umphal arch on the reverfe, that was made by the
fenate's order for his having remitted a tax,
R. XXXX. REMISS A. S. C. The medal,
which was made for Trajan, in remembrance of his
beneficence to Ancona, is very common. The re-
verfe has on it a port with a chain running acrofs
it, and betwixt them both a boat, with this infcrip-
tion, S. P, Q R. OPTIMO PRINCIPL S. C.
E 4
§2 Pefaro, Faro, Serrigallia;
I know, Fabretti would fain afcribe this medal to-
another occafion ; but Bellorio, in his additions to
Angeloni, has fumciently refuted all he fays on thac
fubjca.
At Loretto I inquired for the Englifh jefuits
Jodgings, and on the ftair-cafe that leads to them
1 law feveral pictures of iuch as had been exe-
cuted
Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome. 92
cuted in England, as the two Garnets, Old-Corny
and others to the number of thirty. Whatever
were their crimes, the infcription fays they fuffered
for their religion, and fome of them are represented
lying under fuch tortures as are not in ufe among
us. °The martyrs of 1679 are fet by themfelves,.
with a knife ftuck in the bofom of each figure, ta
fignify that they were quartered.
The riches in the holy houfe and treafury are
furprifingly great, and as much furpalted my expec-
tation as other fights have generally fallen fhort of
it. Silver can fcarce find an admimon, and gold it-
felf looks but poorly among fuch an incredible num-
ber of precious ftones. There will be, in a few
ao-es more, the jewels of the greateft value in Eu-
rope, if the devotion of its Princes continues in its
■prefent fervour. The laft offering was made by
the Queen Dowager of Poland, and coft her 1800O
crowns. Some have wondered that the Turk never
attacks this treafury, fince it lies fo near the fea-
fhore, and is fo weakly guarded. But befides that
he has attempted it formerly with no fuccefs, it is
certain the Venetians keep too watchful an eye over
his motions at prefent, and would never fuffer him
to enter the Adriatic. It would indeed be an eafy
thing for a chriftian Prince to furprife it, who has
fhips dill palling to and fro without fufpicion, efpe-
cially if he had a party in the town, difguifed like
pilgrims to fecure a gate for him ; for there have
been fometimes to the number of 1 00000 in a day's-
time, as it is generally reported. But it is probable
the veneration for the holy houfe, and the horror
of an action that would be relented by all the ca-
tholic Princes of Europe, will be as greata fecurity
to the place as the ftrongeft fortification. It is in-
deed an amazing thing to fee fuch a prodigious quan-
• E 5 tity
94- Pefaro, Fano, Senigallia,
'itv of riches lie dead, and untouched in the midfl:
of To much poverty and mifery as reign on all fides
»t them. There is no queftion, however, but the
Pope would make ufe of thefe treafures in cafe of
any great calamity that mould endanger the holy
fee; as an unfortunate war with the Turk, or a
powerful league among the protectants. For I can-
not but look on thofe vaff. heaps of wealth, that are
amaiTed together in fo many religious places of Italy,
as the hidden referves and magazines of the church,
that (he would open on any prefling occafion for her
Jail defence and prefervation. If thefe riches were
all turned into current coin, and employed in com-
merce, they would make Italy the moft flouriming
country in Europe. The cafe of the holy houfe
is nobly defigned, and executed by the great matters
of Italy, that flourifhed about a hundred years ago.
The ftatues of the Sibyls are very finely wrought,
each of them in a different air and pofture, as are
like wife thofe of the prophets underneath them. The
roof of the treafury is painted with the fame kind
of device. There flands at the upper end of it a
large crucifix very much efteemed, the figure of our
Saviour reprefents him in his laft agonies of death,
and amidft all the ghaitltnefs of the vifage has fome-
thing in it very amiable. The gates of the church
are faid to be of Corinthian brafs, with many fcrip-
ture ftories riftnsr on them in BafiTo Relievo. The
Pope's ftatue, and the fountain by it, would make
a noble fhow in a place lefs beautified with fo many
other productions of art. The fpicery, the cellar
and its furniture, the great revenues of the con-
vent, with the ftory of the holy houfe, are too well
known to he here infixed upon.
Whoever were the firfr inventors of? his impofru re,
they feem to have taken the hint of it from the ve-
neration
Ancona> Loretfd, &c\ to Rome. 95
neration that the old Romans paid to the cottage of
Romulus, which flood on mount Capitol, and was
repaired from time to time as it fell to decay. Vir-
gil has given a pretty image of this little thatch'd
palace, that reprefents it flanding in Manlius's time,
327 years after the death of Romulus*
In fummo cuftos Tarpeia Manlius arch
Stabat pro templo^ iff Capitolia celja tenebat .'
Romulebque recens horrebat Kegla culmo.
Mn. Lib. viii. v. 652.
High on a rock heroic Manlius flood
To guard the temple^ and the temple's god :
Then Rome was poor, and there you might behold
The palace thatch'd with ftraw. Dryden.
From Loretto, in my way toRome,I pafTed through
Recanati, Macerata,Tolentino,and Poligni. In the
laft there is a convent of nuns called la ContefTa,
that has in the church an incomparable Madonna
of Raphael. At Spoletto, the next town on the road,
are fome antiquities. The mofl remarkable is an
aqueducl of a Gothick flrucfure, that conveys the
water from mount St. Francis to Spoletto, which is
not to be equalled for its height by any other inEu rope.
They reckon from the foundation of the loweft
arch to the top of it 230 yards. In my way hence
to Terni I faw the river Clitumnus, celebrated by (o
many of the Poets for a particular quality in its wa-
ters of making cattle white that drink of it. The
inhabitants of that country have (till the fame opi-
nion of it, as I found upon inquiry, and have a great
many oxen of a whitifh colour to confirm them in
it. It is probable this breed was firfl fettled in the
country, and continuing fliH the fame fpecies, has
made the inhabitants impute it to a wrong caufe ;
though
96 Pefaro, Fano, Senigallia,
though they may as well fancy their hogs turn
black for fome reafon of the fame nature, becaufe
there are none in Italy of any other breed. The
river Clitumnus, and Mevania that ftood on the
banks of it, are famous for the herds of victims-
with which they furnifhed all. Italy.
£hta formofa fuo Clitu?nnus flumina luco
Integit), & niveos abluit unda haves.
Prop. Lib. ii. Eleg. 19. v. 25-,
Shaded with trees, Clitumnus' waters glide,
And milk-white oxen drink its beauteous tide.
Hinc A/bi, Clitumne, greg&s, ifj maxima Taurus
Viclima^ fcepe tuo pcrfufi flumine facroit
Romanos ad Templa Deitm duxere triumphos*
Virg. Georg. ii. v. 146.
There flows Clitumnus thro' the flow'ry plain ;
Whofe waves, for triumphs after profp'rous war,.
The victim ox, and fnowy (beep prepare.
■ — Patulis Clitumnus in Arvis
Candcnies gelido perfundit fiumim Tauros.
Sil. Ital. Lib. ii;
Its cooling flream Clitumnus pours along,
T o warn the fnowy kine, that on its borders throne
Tauriferis ubi fs. Mevania campis
Explicat Luc. Lib. i. v. 468*
Where cattle graze in- fair Mevania's fields.
■■ Aiaue uhe /at is
I : >jc£la in campis nehidas exhalai ' inertes,
Et
Ancona, Loretto, &C. to Rome. 97
Et fedet tngentem pafcens Mevania taurum>
Dona Jovl- ■ Id;
Here fair Mevania's pleafant fields extend,
Whence riling vapours fluggifhly afcend ;
"Where, 'midft the herd that in its meadows rove3
Feeds the large bull, a facrifice to Jove.
'Necfi vacuet M'evania valler,
Aut preejUnt niveos Clitumnanovalia t auras,
Sufficiam Stat. Syl. iv. Lib» u
Tho' fair Mevania fhould< exhauft her field,
Or his white kine the fwift Clitumnus yield,,
Still I were poor • —
Pingulor Hifpulld traheretur taurus et ipfd
Mole piger, non finitima nutritus in berbaT
Lata fed ojiendens Clitumni pafcua fangu'is
/ret, et a graruli cervix ferienda Mimjlro.
Ju.v. Sat. xii. ver. i r»
A bull high-fed mould fall the facrifice,
One of Hifpulla's huge prodigious fize :
Not one of thofe our neighb'ring paftures feedy
But of Clitumnus' whitefl facred breed :
The lively tincture of whofe gufhing blood
Should clearly prove the riehnefs of his Food :
A neck fo flrong, fo large, as would command
The fpeeding blow of fome uncommon hand.
Congreve.
I mall afterwards have occafion to quote Clau-
dian.
Terni is the next town in courfe, formerly called
Interamna, for the fame reafon that a part of Afia
was named Mefopotamia. We enter at the gate of
the
98 Pefaro, Fano, Senigallia,
the three monuments, (o called, becaufe there flood
near it a monument erected to Tacitus the hi-
ftorian, with two others to the Emperors Tacitus
and Florianus, all of them natives of the place.
Thefe were a few years ago demolifhed by thunder,
and the fragments of them are in the hands of fome
gentlemen of the town. Near the dome I was
fhown a fquare marble, inferted in the wall, with
the following infeription.
Soluii perpctua Auguflte
Libertatique Publicce Populi Romani
Genio municipl Anno po/l
Interawnam Conditam
D. CC. IV.
Ad Cneium Domitium
Ahenobarbum. ~
~ZZ. CcJJ. providentits 97. Cafaris
Augufti nati ad Mternitatem Romani nominis fublato
hojie pernh'iofijjimo P, R. Faufius Tit i us Libcralis
VI. vir iterum P. £\ F. C. that is, pecunia fua fieri
turovit.
This ftone was probably fet up on occafion of
the fall of Sejanus. After the name of Ahcnobar-
bus there is a little furrow in the marble, but fo
fmooth and well polifhed, that I fhould not have
la^en notice of it had not I feen CofT at the end
of it, by which it is plain there was once the name
of another conful, which has been induftrioufly
razed cut. Lucius Aruncius Camillus Scribonianus
was conful, under the reign of * Tiberius, and
was afterwards put to death for a confpiracy that
he had formed againft the Emperor Claudius; at
• Vid. Faft. Conful. Sicu],
which
Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome. 99
which time it was ordered that his name and con-
fulate mould be effaced out of all public regifters
and infcriptions. It is not therefore improbable^
that it was this long name which filled up the gap
I am now mentioning. There are near this monu-
ment the ruins of an ancient theatre, with fome
of the caves intire. I faw among the ruins an
old heathen altar, with this particularity in it,
that it is hollow'd, like a difh, at one end; but
it was not this end on which the facrifice was
laid, as one may guefs from the make of the fe-
ftoon, that runs round the altar, and is inverted
when the hollow ftands uppermoft. In the fame
yard, among the rubbifh of the theatre, lie two
pillars, the one of granate, and the other of a very
beautiful marble. I went out of my way to fee the
famous Cafcade about ^"hree miles from Terni. It
is formed by the fall of the river Velino, which
Vsrgil mentions in the feventh ./Eneid -Rojea
rura Vellnu
The channel of this river lies very high, and is
fhaded on all fides by a green foreft, made up of
fevcral kinds of trees, that preferve their verdure
all the year. The neighbouring mountains are co-
vered with them, and by reafon of their height are
more expofed to the dews and drizzling rains than
any of the adjacent parts, which gives occafion to
Virgil's Rofca rura (dewy countries). The river
runs extremely rapid before its fall, and rufhes down
a precipice of a hundred yards high. It throws
jtfelf into the hollow of a rock, which has probably
been worn by fuch a conftant fall of wat*er. It
is impoffibie to fee the bottom on which it breaks,
for the thicknefs of the mift that rifes from it,
which looks at a diftance like clouds of fmoke
afcending from fome van: furnace, and diftils in
perpetual
joo Pefaro, Fano, Senigallia,"
perpetual rains on all the places that lie near itv
I think there is fomething more aftonifhing in this
Cafcade, than in all the water-works of Verfailies,-
and could not but wonder when I firfl: faw it, that
I had never met with it in any of the old Poets,
efpecially in Claudian, who makes his Emperor
Honorius go out of his way to fee the river Nar,
which runs juft below it, and yet does not mention
what would have been fo great an embellimment
to his poem. But at prefent I do not in the leaft
queftion, notwithstanding the opinion of fomc
learned men to the contrary, that this is the gulf
through which Virgil's Alec~k> fhoots herfelf ii to
hell : for the very place, the great reputation of
it, the fall of waters, the woods that encompafs
it, with the fmoke and noife that arife from it,
are all pointed at in the defcription. Perhaps he
would not mention the name of the river, becaufe
he has done it in the verfes that precede. We
may add to this, that the Cafcade is not far off
that part of Italy which has been called ltali<s
Mediiullium.
Efl locus Italia: medio , fub montibus altisy
Nob nil 'j, et fama mult is memoratus in oris,
Amfanfti valles ; denfts hunc frondibus atrwn
Urge! utrinque latus nemoris, medioque fr ago jus
Do', fonitum faxis et tor to vortice tor r ens :
Hit [pecus hotrendum, & fsvi fpiracula Ditis
Monjirantur ', ruptoque ingens Acheronte vorago
Pefliferas aperit fauces, quels condita Erinnys,
Invijum Nunter:, terras cczlumque levabat.
JEn. vii. v. 563;
In midft of Italy, well known to fame,
There lies a vale3 Amfan&us is the name,
Below
Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome. 101
Below the lofty mount : On either fide
Thick forefts the forbidden entrance hide :
Full in the center of the facred wood
An arm arifeth of the Stygian flood :
Which falling from on high, with bellowing found*
Whirls the black waves and rattling ftones around.
Here Pluto pants for breath from out his cell,
And opens wide the grinning jaws of hell.
To this infernal gate the fury flies,
Here hides her hated head, and frees the lab'ring
ikies. Dry den.
It was indeed the moft proper place in the world
for a fury to make her Exit, after (he had filled a
nation with diftracYio-ns and alarms; and I believe
every reader's imagination is pleafed, when he fees
the angry goddefs thus finking, as it were,? in a
tempeft, and plunging herfelf into hell, amidft
fuch a fcene of horror and confufion.
The river Velino, after having found its way out
from among the rocks where it falls, runs into the
Nera. The channel of this laft river is white
with rocks, and the furface of it for a long fpace,
covered with froth and bubbles; for it runs all along
upon the fret, and is ftill breaking againft the ftones
that oppofe its paftage : So. that for thefe reafons,
as well as for the mixture of fulphur in its waters,
it is very well defcribed by Virgil, in that verfe
which mentions thefe two rivers in their old- Roman
names.
Tartarean! intendit vocem9 qua protinus omne
Contremuit nemus, et fylv<z intonuere profunday
Judiit et longe Trivia lacus, audiit amnis
S id f urea. Nar albus aqua, font efqueVe lint.
iEn, vii. v. 514-
The
102 Pefaro, Fano, Senigaliia,
The facred lake of Trivia from afar,
The Veline fountains, and fuiphureous Nar,
Shake at the baleful blaff, the lignal of the war.
Dry den.
, }
var. J
He makes the found of the fury's trumpet run
up the Nera to the very fources of Velino, which
agrees extremely well with the fituation of thefe
rivers When Virgil has marked any particular
quality in a river, the other Poets ieldom fail of
copying after him.
Sulphureus Nar. Aufon.
'" — The fuiphureous Nar.
— — Narque alLcfcentibus mulls
In Tibrim properam Sil. Ital. Lib. viii.
■ — Et Nar vhiatus cdoro
Sulfurt Claud, de Pr. & Olyb. Conf.
■The hoary Nar
Corrupted with the flench of fulphur flows,
And into Tiber's itreamsth' infected current throws.
From this river our next town on the road re-
ceives the name of Narni. I faw hereabouts no-
thing remarkable except Auguftus's bridge, that
ftands half a mile from the town, and is one of
the ftatelieft ruins in Italy. It has no cement, and
looks as firm as one intire ftone. There is an arch
of it unbroken, the broadeft that I have ever fecn,
though by reafon of its great height it does not ap-
pear fo. The middle one was {till much broader.
They join together two mountains, and belonged,
without doubt, to the bridge that Martial men-
tions.
Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome. 103
tions, though Mr. Ray takes them to be the remains
of an aqueduct.
Sed jam pwce vnhl, nrc abutere Namia £hiinto ;
Perpetuo liceat fie tibi pontefrui !
Lib. vii. Epigr. 93.
Preferve my better part, and fpare my friend ;
So, Narni, may thy bridge for ever itand.
From Narni I went to Otricoli, a v6ry mean
little village, that ftands where the caftle of Ocri-
culum did formerly. I turned about half a mile out
of the road, to fee the ruins of the old Ocriculum,
that lie near the banks of the Tiber. There are
ftill fcattered pillars and pedeftals, huge pieces of
marble, half buried in the earth, fragments of
towers, fubterraneous vaults, bathing-places, and
the like marks of its ancient magnificence.
In my way to Rome, feeing a high hill {landing
by itfelf in the Campania, I did not queftion but it
had a Claflic name, and upon enquiry found it to be
mount Soracle. The Italians at prefentcail it, be-
caufe its name begins with an S, St. Orefte.
The fatigue of our croffing the Apennines, and of
our whole journey from Loretto to Rome, was very
agreeably relieved by the variety of fcenes we
paired through. For not to mention the rude prof-
peel: of rocks rifing one above another, of the deep
gutters worn in the fides of them by torrents of
rain and fnow-water, or the long channels of fand
winding about their bottoms, that are fometimes
filled with fo many rivers; we faw, in fix days
travelling, the feveral feafons of the year in their
beauty and perfection. We were fometimes fhiver-
104 Pefaro, Fano, Senigallla,
ing on the top of a bleak mountain, and a little
while after bafking in a warm valley, covered
with violets, and almond-trees in bloiTom, the
bees already fwarming over them, though but in the
month of February. Sometimes our road led us
through groves of olives, or by gardens of oranges,
or into feveral hollow apartments among the rocks
and mountains, that look like fo many natural *
green-houfes; as being always fhaded with a great
variety of trees and fhrubs that never lofe their
verdure.
I {hall fay nothing of the Via Flaminia^ which has
been fpoken of by moft of the voyage- writers that
have patted it, but fhall fet down Claudian's ac-
count of the journey that Honorius made from Ra~
venna to Rome, which lies moft of it in the fame
road that 1 have been defcribing.
•dntiqua muros egrejfa Ravenna
Signa movet) jamque ora Padi portufque relwquit
FlumineoS) cert is ubi leg i bus advena Nereus
Mjluat) et pronas puppes nunc amne Jecundo^
Nunc redeunte vebit, nudataque lit tor a fluclu
Defer it) Ocean i Lunar ibus amula damnis ;
Latior bine Fans recipit Fcrtuna vetujlo,
Defpiciturque vagus praruptd valle Metaurusy
* £hia mons arte patens vivo fe perforat Arcu%
Admifitque viam feci a per vifcera rupis.
Exuperans delubra folds, faxeque minantes
Apenninigenis cult as pajloribus ara% :
Quin et Clitumni facras vicloribus undas,
Candida qua Latiis prabent armenta triujnpbi^
* An highway made by Vefpafian, like the Grotis Obfcuro near
Naples.
Vifirt
Ancona, Loretto, &c'. to Rome. 105
Vifere curafuit. Nee te miracula Fontis *
Prater emit : tacit o pajju quern ft quis adiret,
Lentus erat ; fi voce gradum ma/ore ciiajjet^
Co?nmi/iis fervebat aquis : cumque omnibus una
Sit natura vadis, fimiles ut corporis umbras
OJiendant, hcec fola novam jattantia forte?n
Humanos properant imitari flumina mores,
Celfa debinc paiulum profpeclans Narnia campum
Regali calcatur squo, rarique ecloris
Non trocul amms adeji wbi, qui nominis auflor
iTice fub denjci fylvis arclatus cpacis
Inter utrumque jugu?n tortis anfraftibus aibit.
Jnde falutaio libatis Tibnde Nympbis,
Excipiunt arcus, operofaque jemiia, vajlis
Molibus, <y quicquid tanice prssmittitur win.
De fexto Conf. Hon,
They leave Ravenna, and the mouths of Po,
That all the borders of the town o'erflow;
And fpreading round in one continu'd lake,
A fpacious hofpitable harbour make.
Hither the leas at flated times refort,
And (hove the loaden veflels into port ;
Then with a sentle ebb retire ao;ain,
And render back their cargo to the main.
So the pale moon the reftleis ocean guides,
Driv'n to and fro by fuch fubmiffive tides.
Fair Fortune next with looks ferene and kind,
Receives 'em, in her ancient fane enfhrin'd ;
Then the high bills they crofs, and from below
J 11 difiant murmurs hear iVIetaurus flow,
'Till to Clitumno's facred jftreams they come,
That fend white victims to almighty Romej
* The fountain not knowjj,
When
jo6 Pefaro, fano, Senigallia,
When her triumphant Tons in war fucceed,
And flauohter'd hecatombs around 'em bleed.
At Narni's lofty feats arriv'd, from far-
Thev view the windings of the hoarv Nar :
Through rocks and woods impetuouily he glides,
While froth and foam the fretting furface hides.
And now the royal gueft, all dangers pafs'd,
Old Tiber and his nymphs falutes at laft ;
The long laborious pavement here he treads,
That to proud Rome the admiring nations leads ;
While frateiy vaults and tov/ring piles appear,
And fhow the woild's metropolis is near. <*
Silius Itallcu?, who has taken more pains on the
geography of Italy than any other of the Latin
Poets, has given a catalogue of moft of the nvcrs
that I law in Umbria, or in the borders of it. He
has avoided a fault (if it be really inch) which Ma-
crobius has objected to Virgil, of palling fiom one
place to another, without regarding their regular
and natural fituaiion, in which Homer's catalogues
are obierved to be much more methodical and exacl:
than Virgil's,
■ C mi's vementes montlbus Umbri,
Has MJh Sapijque lavant, rapidajque jonanli
Vortice contoiquens undas per jaxa Mttaurus :
Et lav at mge?ite?n per fun dens jiumhie facto
CUtumnus taurum, Nar que aibejceniibus widh
In Tibrnn .proper am, Tmiaque inglorius humor,
Et Clanis, et Kubico, et Senonum de nomine Senon.
Sed pater ingenti medics Ulabhur amne
Mbula, et tmmcia per/h ingit maettia ripd,
His urbes, Arva, et latis Mevar.ia pratis,
Ihfpellum, et duro mmti per jaxa reeumbehs
JSarnia, &c. oil. Ital. Lib. viii.
3 The
Ancona, Loretto, &c. to Rome. 107
The Umbri, that from hollow mountains came:
Thefe JEhs and the dream of Sapis laves ;
And fwift iVletaurus, that with rapid waves
O'er beds of ftone its noify current pours :
Clitumnus, that prefents its facred (tores,
To warn the bull : the Nar's infected tide,
Whole fulph'rous waters into Tiber glide:
Tinia's fmall ft ream, that runs inglorious on :
The Clanis, Senon, and the Rubicon :
With larger waters, andfuperior (way,
Amidft the reft, the hoary Albula
Thro' fields and towns purfues his watry way.
1
Since I am got among the Poets, I mall end
this chapter with two or three parages out of
them, that I have omitted inferring in their proper
places.
Sit Cifttrna mihl quam Vlnea malo R/ivenna,
Cum pojjim multo vender e pluris !$qu&m.
Mart. Lib. iii. Epigr. 56,
Lodo-'d at Ravenna, (water fells (o dear)
A csftern to a Vineyard I prefer.
Collidus impofuit nuper mlh'i Caupo Ravenna \
Cum peter em mlxtumy vendld'ii Hie rnerum.
Id. ib. Epigr. 57.
By a Ravenna vintner once betray'd,
So much for wine and water mix'd I paid;
But when I thought the p-irchas'd liquor mine,
The rafcai fobb'd me oJ with only wine.
S:at
ioS Peiaro, Fano, Senigallia, &&
Stat fu care coins, nee Sido?ie villo-r Anccn,
Jldurice ncc Tyrio Sil. ital. Lib. viiu
The wool, when fhaded with Ancona's dye,
May with the proudeft Tyrian purple vie.
Fountain water is ftill very fcarce at Ravenna,
nnd was probably much more io, when the Tea was
Vrithin its neighbourhood,
/
f n o ivi
FROM
ROME
T O
NAPLES.
/•
UPON my arrival at Rome I took a view of
St. Peter's, and the Rotunda, leaving the reft
until my return from Naples, when I mould have
time and leifure enough to confider what I few.
St. Peter's feldom anfwefs expectation at firft en-
tering it, but enlarges itfelfon all fides infenfibly,
and mends upon the eye every moment The pro-
portions are fo very well obferved, that nothing ap-
pears to an advantage, or diftinguifhes itfelf above
the reft. It Teems neither extremely high, nor long,
nor broad, becaufe it is all of them in a juft equa-
lity. As on the contrary, in our Gothic cathedrals,
the narrownefs of* the arch makes it rife in height,
or run out in length; the lownefs often opens it in
breadth, or the defecTivenefs of fome other par-
ticular makes any fmgle part appear in great per-
fection. Though every thing in this church is ad-
mirable, the moft aftonifhing part of it is the cu-
F pola.
3 io From Rome to Naples.
pola. Upon my going to the top of it, I was fur-
prifed to find that the dome, which we fee in the
church, is not the fame that one looks upon with-
out doors, the laft of them being a kind of cafe
to the other, and the flairs lying betwixt them
both, by which one afcends into the ball. Had
there been only the outward dome, it would not
have fhewn itfelf to an advantage to thofe that are
iii the church; or had there only been the in-
ward one, it would fcarce have been feen by thofe
that are without; had they both been one folid
dome of fo great a thicknefs, the pillars would
have been too weak to have fupported it. After
having furveyed this dome, I went to fee the Rotun-
da, which is generally laid to have been the model
of it. This church is at prefent fo much changed
from the ancient Pantheon, as Pliny has defcribed it,
that fome have been inclined to think it is not the *
feme temple; but the cavalier Fontana has abun-
dantly fatisfied the world in this particular, and
fhewn how the ancient figure, and ornaments of
the Pantheon, have been changed into what they are
at prefent. This author who is now eileemed the
beft of the Roman architects, has lately written a
treati fe on Vefpafian's amphitheatre, which is not
yet printed.
After having fcen thefe two matter- pieces of
modern and ancient architecture, I have often
confidered with myfelf, whether the ordinary fi-
gure of the heathen, or that of the chriftian tem-
ples be the mod beautiful, and the moft capable
of magnificence, and cannot forbear thinking the
crofs figure more proper for fuch fpacious build-
ings than the Rotund. I mull confefs the eye is
much better filled at firft entering the Rotund, and
ta!;es in. th? whole beauty and magnificence o(
3 lhe
From Rome to Naples. 1 1 1
the temple at one view. But fuch as are built in
the form of a crofs o;ive us a greater variety- of
noble profpe&s. Nor is it eafy to conceive a more
glorious fhow in architecture, than wKat a man
meets with in St. Peter's, when he ftands under
the dome. If he looks upward, he is aftonifhed
at the fpacious hollow of the cupola, and has a
vault on every fide of him, that makes one of
the beautifulleft Villas that the eye can poffibly
pafs through. I know that fuch as are profefTed
admirers of the ancients will find abundance of
chimerical beauties, the architects themfeives ne-
ver thought of: as one of the mod' famous of the
moderns in that art tells us, the hole in the
roof of the Rotunda is fo admirably contrived,
that it mafces thofe who are in the temple look
like angel?, by dirFufing the light equally on all
fides of them.
Jn all the old highways that lead from Rome,
one fees feveral little ruins on each fide of them,
that were formed y fo many fepulchres; for the an-
cient Romans generally buried their dead near the
great roads.
Quorum Flamhiia tegitur cinis atque Latlnat
Juv. Sat. i. v. ultf
— Whofe aflies lay-
Under the Latin and Flaminian way.
None but fome few of a very extraordinary quality,
having been interred within the walls of the city.
Our chriilian epitaphs, that are to be feen only
in churches, or churchyards, begin often with a
Sifte Viator; Viatcr precar'e jhlufem% &c. probably
in imitation of the old Roman inferiptions, that
generally addrefied themfeives to the travellers;
F 2 as
i T2 From Rome to Naples.
as it wasimpoflible for them to enter the city, or to
go out of it, without palling through one of thefe
melancholy roads, which for a -great length was
nothing ehe but a ftreet-of funeral monuments.
In my way from Rome to Naples I found nothing
fo remarkable as the beauty of the country, and
the extreme poverty of its inhabitants. It is in-
deed an amazing thing to fee the prefent defla-
tion of Italy, when one confiders what incredible
multitudes of people it abounded with during the
reigns of the Roman emperors: And notwithstand-
ing the removal of the imperial feat, the irrup-
tions of the barbarous nations, the civil wars of
this country, with the hardfhips of its feveral go-
vernments, one can fcarce imagine how fo plentiful
a foil mould become fo miferably unpeopled in com-
panion of what it once was. We may reckon, by
a very modeiate computation, more inhabitants in
the Campania of old Rome, than are now in all
Italy. And if we could number up thofc prodigious
fvvarms that had fettled themfeives in every part of
this delightful country, I queftion not but that they
would amount to more than can be found, at pre-
fent, in any fix parts of Europe of the fame extent.
This defolation appears no where greater than in
the pope's territories; and yet there are feveral
reafons would make a man ex peel to fee thefe
dominion the beft regulated, and mod flourishing
of any other in Europe. Their Piince is generally
a man of learning and virtue, mature in years
and experience, who has feldom any vanity or
pit afure to gratify at his peoples ex-pence, anil is
neither incumbered with wife, children, or mif-
trefles; not to mention thefuppofed fanctity of his
character, which obliges him in a more particular
manner to confult the good and happinefs of man-
kind.
From Rome to Naples. 1 1 3
kind. The direction of church and ftate are
lodged intirely in his own hands, fo that his govern-
ment is naturally free from thofe principles of fac-
tion and divifion, which are mixed in the ve*y
compofition of mod others. His fubje£f.s are al-
ways ready to fall in with his deficms, and are more
at his difpofal than any others of the moft abfolute
government, as they have a greater veneration for
his perfon, and not only court his favour but his
bleffing. His country is extremely fruitful, and
has o-ood havens both for the Adriatic and Mediter-
ranean, which is an advantage peculiar to himfelf,
and the Neapolitans, above the reft of the Italians.
There is ftul a benefit the pope enjoys above all
other fovereign?, in drawing- great funis out of
Spain, Germany, and other countries that belong to
foreign princes, which one would fancy might be
no fmall eafe to his own fubjedts. We may
here add, that there is no place in Europe fo much
frequented by ftrangers, whether they are fuch as
come out of curiofity or fuch who are obliged to
attend the court of Rome on feveral occafions, as
are many of the cardinals and prelates, that .bring
confrderable fums into the pope's dominions.
But notwithflanding all thefe promifing circum-
ftances, and the long peace that has reigned fo
many years in Italy, there is not a more miferable
people in Europe than the pope's fubjedb. His
irate is thin of inhabitants, and a great part of his
foil uncultivated. His fubje£ts are wretchedly poor
and idle, and have neither fufficient manufactures
nor traffic to employ them. Thefe ill effects
may arife, in a great meafure, out of the arbi-
trarinefs of the government; but 1 think they are
chiefly to be afcribed to the very genius of the Ro-
man catholic religion, which here fhews itfelf
F 3 in
114 From Rome to Naples.
in its perfection. It is not ftrange to find a country
^ialf unpeopled, where fo great a proportion of the
inhabitants of both fexes is tied under fuch vows
of chaflity, and where at the fame time an inqui-
iition forbids all recruits out of any other religion.
Nor is it lefs eafy to account for the great poverty
and want that are to be met with in a country,
which invites into it fuch fwarms of vagabonds,
under the title of pilgrims, and fhuts up in
cloifrers fuch an incredible multitude of young and
lufty beggars, who, inilcadof increaling the common
flock by their labour and induftry, lie as a. dead
weight on their fellow-fubjects, and con fume the
charity that ought to fupport the fickly, old and
decrepid. The many hofpitals that are every
where erected, ferve rather to encourage idlenefs in
the people, than to fet them at work; not to
mention the great riches which lie ufelefs in
churches and religious houfes, with the multitude
of fefrivals fhat muft never be violated by trade
or bufinefs. To fpeak truly, they are here fo wholly
taken up with mens fouls, that they negleft the
good of their bodies; and when, to thefe natural
evils in the government and religion, there arifes
among them an avaricious pope, who is for making
a family, it is no wonder if the people fink under
fuch a complication of diftempers. Yet it is to this
humour, of nepotifm that Rome owes its prefent
fplendor and magnificence; for it would have been
impoifible to have furnifhed out fo many glorious
palaces with fuch a profufion of pictures, ftatues,
and the like ornaments, had not the riches of the
people at feveral times fallen into the hands of
many different families, and of particular perfons ;
as we may obferve, though the bulk of the Roman
people was more rich and happy in the times of the
com-
From Rome to Naples. 1 1 5
commonwealth, the city of Rome received all its'
beauties and embellifhments under the emperors.
It is probable the Campania of Rome, as well as
other parts of the pope's territories, would be cul-
tivated much better than it is, were there not fuch
an exorbitant tax on corn, which makes them
plow up only fuch fpots of ground as turn to the
mod: advantage: Whereas were the money to be
railed on lands, with an exception to fome of the
.more barren part:, that nrght be tax-free for a
certain term of years, every one would turn his
ground to the belt account, and in a little time per-
haps bring more money into the pope's tre.ifury.
The greateft pleafure I took in my journey from
Rome to Naples was in feeing the fields, towns,
and rivers, that have been defcribed by (o many
claffic authors, and have been the fcenes of fo
many great actions; for this whole road is ex-
tremely barren of curiofities. It is worth while to
have an eye on Horace's voyage to Brundifi, when
one pa fifes this way ; for by comparing his feveral
ftages, and the road he took, with thofe that are
©bferved at prefent, we may have fome idea of the
changes that have been made in the face of this
country fmce his time. If we may guefs at the
common travelling of perfons of quality, among
the ancient Romans, from this poet's defcription of
his voyage, we may conclude they feldom went
above fourteen miles a day over the Appian way,
which was more ufed by the noble Romans than
any other in Italy, as it led to Naples, Baiae, and
the moil delightful parts of the nation. It is in-
deed very difagreeable to be carried in hafte over
this pavement.
F A. Minus
1 16 From Rome to Naples.
Minus efl gravis Appia tardis.
Hor. Sat. 5. 1. i. v. 6.
For to quick trav'lers, 'tis a tedious road ;
But if you walk but flow, 'tis pretty good. Creech.
Lucan has defcribed the very road from Anxur to
Rome, that Horace took from Rome to Anxur. It is
not indeed the ordinary way at prefent, nor is it
marked out by the fame places in both Poets.
Jamque et pr&cipiies fuperaverat Anxur is arccs^ *
Et qua * Pcntinas via dividit uda pahtdes;
Qua fuhlime rtemus, Jcythic<z qua regna Diana ;
£htaque iter eft Laiiis ad jumm&m fafcibus Albam :
Exceljd de rupe procul jam confpidt urbem.
Lib. iii. v. 84,
He now had conquer'd Anxur's fteep afcent,
And to Pontina's wat'ry marines went;
A long canal the muddy fen divides,
And with a clear unfully'd current glides j
Diana's v/oody realms he next invades,
And croflino; through the confecrated fhades,
Afcends high Alba, whence with new delight
He fees the city riling to his fight.
In my way to Naples I eroded the two moft con-
fideiab!e rivers of the Campania Felice, that were
formerly called the Liris and Vulturnus, and are at
prefent the Garigliano and Vulturno. The firft of
thefe rivers has been defervedly celebrated by the
Latin Poets for the gentlenefs of its couife, as the
other for its rapidity and noife.
* A canal, the marks of it ftill fcen.
Rura
From Rome to Naples. 117
Rura qua Liris qui eta
Mwdet aqua taciturnus amnis,
Hor. Lib. i. Od. 31. v. 37.
Liris qui font e quieto
Dijjimulat curfum, ct nullo mutabilis imbre
Perflringit tacitas gemmanti gurgite ripas.
Sil. Ital. Lib. iv,
'Mifcentem flumina Lirim
Sulfur eum, iacitifque vadis ad lit tor a lapfum
Accolit Arpinas Id. Lib. viii.
Where the fmooth flreams of Liris ftray,
And fteal infenfibly away,
The warlike Arpine borders on the fides
Of the flow Liris, that in filence
And in its tainted ftream the workii
the fides ")
:e glides, >
ingfulphur hides. J
Vulturnufque rapax CI. de Pr. & Olyb. Conf.
Vidturnufque celer Luc. Lib. ii. 28.
Fluftuquc fonorwn
Vulturnum Sil. Ital. Lib. viii,
The rough Vulturnus, furious in its courfe,
With rapid dreams divides the fruitful grounds,
And from afar in hollow murmurs founds.
The ruins of Anxur and old Capua mark out the
pleafant fituation in which thofe towns formerly
flood. The firft of them was planted on the
mountain, where we now fee Terracina, and by
reafon of the breezes that came off the fea, and
the height of its fituation, was one of the fummer
retirements of the ancient Romans.
0 nemus^ O fontes! foiidumque madentis arena
LittuSy et acjuoreis fpkndidus Anxur aquisj
Mart. Lib. x. Epigr, 51. ,
F 5 Ye
1 1 8 From Rome to Naples.
Ye warbling fountains, and ye fhady trees,
Where Anxur feels the cool refrefhing breeze
Blown off the fea, and all the dewy ftrand '
Lies cover'd with a fmooth unfinkinpr fand.
"o
Anxuris tzquorei placidos, pontine, reeejjus,
Et propius Ea'ias littoreamque dmiu/n.
Et quod inhumana cancro fervent e ci cades
Non noocre, ntmus Jiumincofque Iacus,
Dum colui, &. Id. ib. Epigr. 58.
On the cool more, near Baia's gentle feats,
I lay retir'd in Anxur's foft retreats :
Where filver lakes, with verdant fhadows crown'd,
Dilperfe a grateful chilnefs all around :
The gramopper avoids th' untainted air,
Nor in the midft of fummer ventures there.
Imp'fitwn Saxis late candentibus Anxur,
Hor. Lib. i. Sat. 5. v. 26.
Monte procellofo ??iurranu?n miferat Anxur.
Sil. Ital. Lib. iv.
Scopulofi verticis Anxur. ibid.
Capua luxum vide apud. Si). Ital. Lib. xi.
Murranus came from Anxur's fhow'ry height,
With ragged rocks, and ftony quarries white j
Seated on hills •
I do not know whether it be worth while to take
notice that the figures which are cut in the rock
near Terracina, increafe ft.ll in a decimal propor-
tion as they come nearer the bottom. If one of
our voyage- writers, who palled this way more than
once, had obierved the fituation of thefe figures, he
would
From Rome to Naples. 1 1 g
would not have troubled himfelf with the difTer-
tation that he has made upon them. Silius Italicus
has given us the names of feveral towns and rivers
in the Campania Felice.
'Jam verb quos dives cpum, quos dives avorurny
Et toto dabat ad belium Campania traclu j
Duclorum adventum vicinis fedibus Ofci
Servabant ; JinueJJa tepens, jlu5tuqne fonorum
Vulturnum, quafque evertere filentia, AmyclcZy
Fundique et regnata Lamo Cajeta, domujque
Antiphate compreja frelo, Jlagnifque palujlre
Lintemum, et quondam fatorum confcia Cuma\
lllic Nucerics, et Gaurus navalibus apta,
Prole Dicbarchaa multo cum milite Graia ;
lllic Parthenope, et Pasno non pervia Nola,
Allipbe, et Clanio contents femper Acerra^
Sarra/les etiam populos totafque videres
Sarni mitts opes: illic quos fulphure pingues
Phlegrai legere finus, Mifenus et ardens
Ore gigantao fedes Ithacejia, Bajce,
Non Prochyte, non ardentem fortita Typhcea
Inarime, non antiqui faxofa Telonis
Jnfula, nee parvis aberat Calatia muris,
Surrentum, et pauper Juki Cerealis Jvella ;
jn primis Capua, heu rebus fervare fecundis
Inconfulta modum, et pravo peritura tumor e* Lib. viii.
Now rich Campania fends forth all her fons,
And drains her populous cities for the war;
The Ofci, firft,- in arms their leaders wait:
Warm Sinueffa comes; Vulturnum too,
Whofe walls are deafen'd by the founding main;
And fair Amyclas, to the foe betray'd
Thro' fatal filence: Fundi too was there;
And Cajeta by antient Lam us ruled :
Anti-
120 From Rome to Naples.
Antiphata, wafh'd by the rolling Tea ;
And moid Linternum on its marfhy foil :
Cume, the Sybil's ancient feat was theic;
Nuceriae too, and woody Gaurus, came:
There was Parthenope, and Nola there,
Nola, impervious to the Punic arms;
Alliphe, and Acerrae ftill o'eiflow'd
By the fwift Clanius: there you might behold
Sarrafte's manly Tons, and all the wealth
OF gentle Sarnus; thofe whom Phlegra Tent
Steaming with fulphur : Thither Baiae came,
Built by UlyfTes' friend; Mifenus too;
Nor Prochyte was abfent, nor the fam'd
Inarime, where huge Typhaeus lies
Transfix'd with thunder; nor the ftony ifle
Of Telon, nor Calatia's humble walls ;
Surrentum, and Avella's barren foil :
But chiefly Capua, Capua, doom'd, alas!
By her own pride and infolence to fall.
NAPLES.
NAPLES
A/f Y firft days at Naples were taken up with
•*• ■* the fight of proceffions, which are always
very magnificent in the holy-week. It would be
tedious to give an account of the feveral re-
prefentations of our Saviour's death and refur-
re&ion, of the figures of himfelf, the blefled vir-
gin, and the apoftles, which were carried up and
down on this occafion, with the cruel penances
that feveral inflict on themfelves, and the multitude
of ceremonies that attend thefe folemnities. I faw,
at the fame time, a very fplendid proceffion for the
acceflion of the Duke of Anjou to the crown of
Spain, in which the Vice-Roy bore his part at the
left hand of Cardinal Cantelmi. To grace the pa-
rade, thev expofed, at the fame time, the blood of
St. Januarius, which liquify'd at the approach of
the faint's head, though, as they fay, it was hard
congealed before. I had twice an opportunity of
feeing the operation of this pretended miracle, and
mull: confefs I think it fo far from being a real mi-
racle, that I look upon it as one of the mod bung-
ling tricks that I ever faw: Yet it is this that
makes as great a noife as any in the Roman
church, and that Monfieur Pafchal has hinted at
among the reft, in his marks of the true religion.
The modern Neapolitans feem to have copied it
out from one, which was fhewn in a .town of
the
I22 NAPLES.
the kingdom of Naples, as long ago as in Horace's
time.
Dehinc Gnatia lymphis
I rath extrufta dedit, rifufque jocofyue,
Dum, fiamma fine, thura liquefcere limine f aero
Perfuadere cttpit : credat yudaws ape/la,
Non ego, Lib. i. Sat. 5. v. 97.
At Gnatia next arriv'd, we laugh'd to fee
The fuperftitious crowd's fimplicity,
That in the facred temple needs would try
Without a Fire th' unheated gums to fry ;
Believe who will the folemn (ham, not I.
}
One may fee at leaft that the heathen priefthood
had the fame kind of fecret among them, of which
the Roman catholics are now matters.
I muft confefs, though I had lived above a year in
a Roman catholic country, I was furprifed to fee
many ceremonies and fuperftitions in Naples, that
are not fo much as thought of in France. But as it
is certain there has been a kind of fecret reformation
made, though not publicly owned, in the Roman
catholic church, fince the fpreading of the pro-
teftant religion, fo we find the feveral nations are
recovered out of their ignorance, in proportion as
they converfe more or lefs with thofe of the re-
formed churches. For this reafon the French are
much more enlightened than the Spaniards or
Italians, on occafion of their frequent controverfics
with the Huguenots; we find nr.iny of the Roman
catholic gentlemen of our own country, who will
not flick to laugh at the fuperftitions they fome-
times meet with in other nations.
I mall
NAPLES. 123
I fhall not be particular in defcribing thegrandeur
of the city of Naples, the beauty of its pavement,-
the regularity of its buildings, the magnificence of
its churches and convents, the multitude of its
inhabitants, or the delightfulnefs of its fituation,
which fo many others have done with a great deal
of leifure and exact nefs. If a war mould break
out, the town has reafon to apprehend the exacting
of a large contribution, or a bombardment. It has
but feven gallies, a mole, and two little caftles,
which are capable of hindering an enemy's ap-
proaches. Befides that the fea which lies near it is
not fubject to ftorms, has no fenfible flux and re-
flux, and is fo deep that a vefTel of burden may
come up to the very mole. The houfes are flat-
roofed to walk upon, fo that every bomb that fell
on them would take effect.
Pictures, ftatues, and pieces of antiquity are not
fo common at Naples as one might expect in fo
great and ancient a city of Italy ; for the Vice-Roys
take care to fend into Spain every thing that is valu- .
able of this nature. Two of their fineft: modern
ftatues are thofe of Apollo and Minerva, placed on
each fide of Sannazarius's tomb. On the face of
this monument, which is all of marble, and very
neatly wrought, is represented, in Has Relief, Nep-
tune among the fatyrs, to fhow that this poet was
the inventor of pifcatorv eclogues. I remember
Hugo Grotius defcribes himfelf, in one of his poems,
as the full that brought the mufes to the fea-fide ;
but he mutt be understood only of the poets of his
owrl country. I here faw the temple that Sanna-
-zarius mentions in his invocation of the bleiTed vir-
gin, at the beginning of his De partu virginis^ which
was all raifed at his own expence.
« — Niveu
124 NAPLES.
Niveis tibi ft fokmnia templis
Seita damus ; fi manfuras tibi ponimus aras
Excifo in fcopulo, fluttus unde aurea canos
Dejpiciens celfo de culmine Mirgelline
Attaint^ nautifque procul venientibus offert ;
Tu vatem ignarumque via infuetumque labori
Diva mone Lib. i.
Thou bright celeftial goddefs, if to thee
An acceptable temple I erecl:,
With faireft flow'rs and frefheft garlands deck'd,
On tow'ring rocks, whence Mergelline fpies
The rufHed deep in ftorms and tempefts rife :
Guide thou the pious poet, nor refufe
Thine own propitious aid to his unpraclis'd mufe.
There are feveral very delightful profpects about
Naples, efpecially from fome of the religious houfes;
for one feldom finds in Italy a fpot of ground more
agreeable than ordinary, that is not covered with a
convent. The cupolas of this city, though there
a e many of them, do not appear to the beft Advan-
tage when one furveys them at a diftance, as being
generally too high and narrow. The Marquis of
Medina Sidonia, in his Vice-Royalty, made the (hell
of a houfe, which he had not time to finifh, that
commands a view of the whole bay, and would
have been a very noble building, had he brought it
to perfection. It ftands fo on the fide of a moun-
tain, that it would have had a garden to every
flory, by the help of a bridge, which was to have
been laid over each garden.
The bay of Naples is the mod delightful one
that 1 ever faw. It lies in almoft a round figure
of about thirty miles in the diameter. Three
parts of it are fheltered with a noble circuit of
woods
NAPLES. 125
woods and mountains. The high promontory of
Surrentum divides it from the bay of Salernum. Be-
tween the utmoft point of this promontory, and the
ifle of Caprea, the fea enters by a ftrait of about
three miles wide. This ifland ftands as a vaft mole,
which feems to have been planted there on purpofe
to break the violence of the waves that run into the
bay. It lies longways, almoft in a parallel line to
Naples. The exceffive height of its rocks fecures a
great part of the bay from winds and waves, which
enter again between the other end of this ifland
and the promontory of Mifeno. The bay of Naples
is called the Crater by the old geographers, pro-
bably from this its refemblance to a round bowl
half filled with liquor. Perhaps Virgil, who com-
pofed here a great part of his ^neids, took from
hence the plan of that beautiful harbour, which he
has made in his firft book ; for the Libyan port is
but the Neapolitan bay in little.
Eft infecejju longo locus : Infula portum
Efficit objedlu later urn, qui bus omn'is ab alto
Frangitur^ inque fmus fcindit fefe unda reduclos :
Hinc atque bine vajlcz rupes geminique minantur
In caelum fcopidi^ quorum fub vertice late
Mquora tut a filent ; turn Silvis fcena corufcis _
Defuper, horrentique atrum nemus imm'inet umbra,
Mn. i. v. 163.
Within a long recefs there lies a bay ;
An ifland fhades it from the rolling fea,
And forms a port fecure for fhips to ride : 1
Broke by the jutting land on either fide, >
In double ftreams the briny waters glide J
Between two rows of rocks : a Silvian fcene
Appears above, and groves for ever greeji. Dryden.
Naples
i?6 N A P L E S.
I !es ftands in the bofom of this bay, and ha9
the pieMahteft iituation in the world, though, by
reafon of its weftern mountains, it wants an ad-
vantage Vitruvious would have to the front of his
p: lace, of feeing the fetting fun.
One would wonder how the Spaniards, who have
but very few forces in the kingdom of Naples, fhould
be able to keep a people from revolting, that has
been famous for its mutinies and feditions in former
age$. But they have fo well contrived it, that,though
the fubje&s are miferably harafTed and opprefTed, the
greateif. of their oppreflbrs are thofe of their own
body. I {hall not mention any thing of the clergy,
"who are fafficrently reproached in moft itineraries
for the univerfal poverty that one meets with in this
noble and plentiful kingdom. A great part of the
people is in a frate of vaffalage to the Barons, who
are the harfheft tyrants in the world to thofe that
are under them. The vaflals indaed are allowed,
and invited to bring in their complaints and ap-
peals to the Vice- Roy, who, to foment divifions,
and gain the hearts of the populace, does not flick
at imprifoning and chffftHfng their matters very fe-
veiely oh becafioh. The fubje&s of the crown
arenotwithftanding much more rich and happy than
the vaflals oi thi Barons. Infomuch that when the
King -nas been upon the point of felling a tov/n to
one of his Barons, the inhabitants have raifed the
fum upon th< mfelves, and prefented it to the King,
that they might keep out of fo infupportable a
flavery. Another way the Spaniards have taken
to grind the Neapolitans, and yet to take off the
Odium from themfelves, has been by creeling
federal courts of juftice, with a very fmall pui-
fion for fuch as fit at the head of them, fo that
they are tempted to take bribes, keep caufes un-
decided,
NAPLES. 127
decided, encourage law-fuits, and do all they can
to fleece the people, that they may have where-
withal to fupport their own dignity. It is incre-
dible how great a multitude of retainers to the
law there are at Naples. It is commonly faid,
that when Innocent the eleventh had defired the
Marquis of Carpio to furnifh him with thirty
thoufand head of fwine, the Marquis anfwered
him, that for his fwine he could not fpare them,
but if his holinefs had occafion for thirty thou-
fand lawyers, he had them at his fervice. Thefe
gentlemen find a continual employ for the fiery
temper of the Neapolitans, and hinder them
from uniting in fuch common friendfliips and
alliances as might endanger the fafety of the
government. There are very few perfons of
confideration who have not a caufe depending ;
for when a Neapolitan cavalier has nothing cKe to
do, he gravely fhuts himfelf up in his clofet, and
falls a tumbling over his papers, to fee if he can
ftart a law-fuit, and plague any of his neighbours.
So much is the genius of this people changed fince
Statius's time.
Nulla faro rabies , aut Jlrifla: jurgia legis ;
Mor urn jura viris, folum et fine fafcibus aquum.
Sylv. v. Lib. iii. v. 87.
By love of right and native juftice led,
In the ftraight paths of equity they tread;
Nor know the bar, nor fear the judge's frown,
Unpractis'd in the wranglings of the gown.
There is another circumttance, which makes the
Neapolitans, in a very particular manner, the op-
preflors of each other. The gabels of Naples
are
128 NAPLES.
are very high on oil, wine, tobacco, and indeed
on almoft every thing that can be eaten, drank or
worn. There would have been one on fruit, had
not Maflianello's rebellion abolifhed it, as it -has
probably put a flop to many others. What makes
thefe imports more intolerable to the poorer fort,
they are laid on all butchers meat, while at the
fame time the fowl and gibbier are tax free.
Befides, all meat being taxed equally by the pound,
it happens that the duty lies heavieft on the coarfer
forts, which are moil: likely to fall to the fhare
of the common people, fo that beef perhaps pays
a third, and veal a tenth of its price to the
government, a pound of cither fort hairing the
i'ame tax fixed on it. Thefe eabels are inoft of
them at prefent in the hands of private men;
for as the King of Spain has had occafion for mo-
ney, he has borrowed it of the rich Neapolitans, on
condition that the) mould receive the intereft out of
fuch or fuch gabels until he could repay them the
principal.
This he has repeated fo often that at prefent there
is fcarce a fmgle gabel unmortgag'dj fo that there
is no place in Europe which pays greater taxes,
and at the fame time no Prince who draws lefs ad-
vantage from them. In other countries the people
have the fatisfadtion of feeing the money they give
fpen: in the necefiities, defence, or ornament of
their ftate, or at leafr, in the vanity or pleafures of
their Prince: but here m oft of it goes to the en-
riching of their feliow-fubjecls. If there was not
fo great a plenty of every thing in Naples the peo-
ple could not bear it. The Spaniard however reaps
this advantage from the prefent pofture of affairs,
that the murmurs of the people are turned upon
their own countrymen, and what is more confider-
able,
NAPLES. 129
able, that almoft all the perfons, of the greateft
wealth and power in Naples, are engaged by their
own interefts to pay thefe impofitions chearfully,
and to fupport the government which has laid them
on. For this reafon, though the poorer fort are for
the Emperor, few of the perfons of confequence
can endure to think of a change in their prefent
eftablifhment; though there is no queftion but the
King of Spain will reform moft of thefe abufes, by
breaking or retrenching the power of the barons,
by cancelling feveral unneceiTary employs, or by
ranfoming or taking the gabels into his own hands.
I have been told too there is a law of Charles
the fifth fomething like our ftatute of mortmain,
which has laid dormant ever fince his time, and
will probably have new life put into it under the
reign of an active Prince. The inhabitants of Naples
have been always very notorious for leading a life
of lazinefs and pleafure, which I take to arife partly
out of the wonderful plenty of their country, that
does not make labour fo neceiTary to them, and
partly out of the temper of their climate, that
relaxes the fibres of their bodies, and difpofes the
people to fuch an idle indolent humour. What-
ever it proceeds from, we find they were formerly
as famous for it as they are at prefent.
This was perhaps the reafon that the ancients
tell us one or the Sirens was buried in this city,
which thence received the name of Parthenope.
■Improba Siren
De/idia* f Hor. Sat. iii. Lib. il. v. 14.
Sloth, the deluding Siren of ihe mind.
— h
'o
130 NAPLES.
Et in Otia natam
Parthenopcn Ovid. Met. Lib. xv. v. 11.
Otlofa Neapolis. Hor. Epod. 5. v. 43.
Parthenope, for idle hours defign'd,
To luxury and eafe unbinds the mind.
Parthenope ruin dives opum, non fpreta vigor is :
Nam mclics Urbi ritus, at que hofpita Mujis
Otia, et exemptum curis gracioribus ovum.
Sirenum dedit una fmim et memorabile nomcn
Parthenope muris Acheh'ias, aquore cujus
Regnavere diu cant us, cum duke per undas
Exitium miferis caneret non profpera Nautis.
Sil. ltal. Lib. xii.
Here wanton Naples crowns the happy fhore,
Nor vainly rich, nor defpicably poor ;
The town in foft folemnities delights,
And gentle Poets to her arms invites ;
The people, free from cares, ferene and gay
Pafs all their mild untroubled hours away.
Parthenope the rifing city nam'd
A Siren, for her fongs and beauty fam'd,
That oft had drown'd among the neighb'ring fens
The lift'ning wretch, and made deftruction pleafe.
Has ego te fedes (nam nee mi hi bar bar a Thrace
Nee Libye natale jolum) tramferre labor 0 :
£{ua$ et mollis hycrns et frigida temper at csflas,
£jum imbelle f return iorpeniibus atiuit v.nciis :
Pax fecura locis, et defulis Otia vita:.
Et nunquam turbaia quies, fomnique peraeli:
Nulla foro rabies, &c. Stat. S\W. v. Lib. iii. v. Si.
Thefe
NAPLES. * i
Thefe are the gentle feats that I propofe ;
For not cold Scythia's uncKfrolving mows,
Nor the parch'd Libyan fand$ thy hufoand bore,
But mild Parthenope's ;.ufu! more ;
Where hufh'd in calms the bord'ring ocean laves
Her filent ccaft, and rolls in languid waves ;
Refrerhins: winds the Cummer's heats aiTua2;e ;
And kindly warmth difarms the winter's rage;
Remov'd from noife and the tumultuous wai
Soft deep and downy eafe inhabit there,
And dreams unbroken with intrudinsr care.
age,
yar, 1
U J
T H E
THE
A N T I Q^U I T I E S
AND
Natural Curiofities
That lie near the
City of Naples.
T about eight miles diftance from Naples lies
a very noble Scene of antiquities. What
they call Virgil's tomb is the firft that one meets
with on the way thither. It is certain this Poet
was buried at Naples; but I think it is almofl as
certain, that his tomb flood on the other fide of
the town, which looks towards Vefuvio. By this
tomb is the entry into the grotco of Paufilypo.
The common people of Naples believe ft to have
been wrought by magic, and that Virgil was the
magician; who is in greater repute among the
Neapolitans for having made the grotto than the
ALndd.
If
Antiquities, &c. 133
If a man would form to himfelf a juft idea of
this place, he muft fancy a vaft rock undermined
from one end to the other, and a highway running
through it, near as long and as broad as the mall in
St. James's park. This fubterraneous pafTao-e is
much mended fmce Seneca gave {o bad a cha-
racter of it. The entry at both ends is higher
than the middle parts of it, and finks by degrees
to fling in more light upon the reft. Towards
the middle are two large funnels, bored through
the roof of the grotto, to let in light and frefh
air.
There are no where about the mountain any vaft
heaps of ftones, though it is certain the great quan-
tities of them that are dug out of the rock could not
eafily conceal themfelves, had they not probably been
confumed in the moles and buildings of Naples.
This confirmed me in a conjecture, which I made
at the Jgrft fight of the fubterraneous paiTage, that
it was not at firft defigned fo much for a high-way
as for a quarry of ftone, but that the inhabitants,
finding a double advantage by it, hewed it into the
form we now fee. Perhaps the fame defign gave
the original to the Sibyl's grotto, confidering the
prodigious multitude of palaces that flood in its
neighbourhood.
I remember when I was at Chateaudun in France,
I met with a very curious perfon, a member of one
of the German univerfities. He had ftay'd a day
or two in the town longer than ordinary, to take
the meafures of feveral empty fpaces that had been
cut in the fides of a neighbouring mountain. Some
of them were fupported with pillars formed out of
the rock; fome were made in the fafhion of gal-
leries, and fome not unlike amphitheatres. The
gentleman had made to himfelf feveral ingenious
G hypo-
134 Antiquities and Curiofities
hypothefes concerning the ufeof thefe fubterraneous
apartments, and from thence collected the vaft
magnificence and luxury of the ancient Chateau-
dunois. But upon communicating his thoughts on
this fubjecl: to one of the mofl learned of the place,
he was not a little furprifed to hear, that thefe ftu-
pendous works of art were only fo many quarries
of free-ftone, that had been wrought into different
figures, according as the veins of it directed the
workmen.
About five miles from the grotto of Paufilypo, lie
the remains of Puteoli and Baiae, in a foft air and
a delicious fituation.
The country about them, by reafon of its vaft
caverns and fubterraneous fires has been miferably
torn in pieces by earthquakes, fo that the whole
face of it is quite changed from what it was for-
merly. The fea has overwhelmed a multitude of
palaces, which may be feen at the bottom of the
water in a calm day.
The Lucrine lake is but a puddle in comparifon
of what it once was, its fprings having been funk
in an earthquake, or flopped up by mountains that
have fallen upon them. The lake of Avernus, for-
merly fo famous for its dreams of poifon, is now
plentifully flocked with fifli and fowl. Mount
Gaurus, from one of the fruitfulleft parts in Italy,
is become one of the moft barren. Several fields,
which were laid out in beautiful groves and gar-
dens, are now naked plains, fmoking with ful-
phur, or incumbered with hills that have been
thrown up by eruptions of fire. The works of
art lie in no lefs difordLt- than thofe of nature;
for that which was once the moft beautiful fpot of
Italy covered wilh temples and palaces, adorned
b ihe greateft of the Roman commonwealth, em-
bellifhed
near the City of Naples. 135
fcellifhed by many of the Roman Emperors, and .
celebrated by the beft of their Poets, has now
•nothing to mew but the ruins of its ancient fplen-
dor, and a great magnificence in confufion.
The mole of Puteoli has been mifraken by feveral
authors for Caligula's bridge. They have all been
led into this error from the make of it, becaufe it
{lands on arches. But to pafs over the many ar-
guments that may be brought againfl this opinion,
I fhall here take away the foundation of it, by fet-
ting down^an infeription mentioned by Julius Ca-
pitolinus in the life of Antoninus Pius, who was the
repairer of this mole. Imp. Cajari^ Divi Hadri-
mni fil'iO) Divi Trajcmi, Parthici, Nepiti, Divi Nerves
pronepoti^ T. ASf. Hadriano Antonino Aug. Pw9 &c.
quodfuper catera benejicia ad hujus etiam tutelam portus9
Pilarum viginti molem cumfwnptu fornicum re'liquo ex
/Erario fuo largitus ejl. i. e. To the Emperor Adrian
Antoninus Pius, fon of the Emperor Adrian, grand-
fon of the Emperor Trajan firnamed Parthicus,
great-grandfon of the Emperor Nerva, &c. who,
befides other benefactions, built at his own ex-
pence, a mole of twenty piles3 for the fecurity of
this haven.
It would have been very difficult to have made fuch
a mole as this of Puteoli, in a place where they had
notfo natural a commodity as the earth of Puzzuola,
which immediately hardens in the water, and after
a little lying in it looks rather like ftone than mor-
tar. It was this that gave the ancient Romans an
opportunity of making fo many incroachments on
the fea, and of laying the foundations of their villas
and palaces within the very borders of it, as* Horace
has elegantly defcribed it more than once.
* Lib. 2. 0<3, 18. Lib. 3, Od. 1. Lib. 3. Od. 24. Epift, Lib. I.
G 2 About
136 Antiquities and Curiofities
About four years ago they dug up a great piece
of marble near Puzzuola, with feveral figures and
letters engraven round it, which have given occa-
sion to fome difputes among the antiquaries*. But
they all agree that it is the pedeftal of a ftatue
erecled to Tiberius by the fourteen cities of Afia,
which were flung down by an earthquake; the fame
that, according to the opinion of many learned
men, happened at our Saviour's crucifixion. They
have found in the letters, which are ftill legible,
the names of the feveral cities, and difcover in each
figure fomething peculiar to the city, of which it
reprefents the genius. There are two medals of
Tiberius framped on the fame occafion, with this
infcription to one of them, Civitatibus Jftte Rejlitutis*
The Emperor is reprefented in both fitting, with a
Patera in one hand, and a fpear in the other.
* Vid. Gronovium, Fabretti, Bulifon, &c»
near the City of Naples. 137
It is probable this might have been the pofture of
the ftatue, which in all likelihood does not lie far
from the place where they took up the pedeftal; for
they fay there were other great pieces of marble
near it, and feveral of them infcribed, but that no
body would be at the charge of bringing them to
light. The pedeftal itfelf lay neglected in an open
field when I faw it. I mail not be particular on the
ruins of the amphitheatre, the ancient refervoirs of
water, the Sibyl's grotto, the Centum Camera, the
fepulchre of Agrippina, Nero's mother, with feveral
other antiquities of lefs note, that lie in the neigh-
bourhood of this bay, and have been often defcribed
by many others. I muft confefs, after having fur-
veyed the antiquities about Naples and Rome, I
cannot but think that our admiration of them does-
not fo much arife out of their greatnefs as uncom-
monnefs.
There are indeed many extraordinary ruins ; but
I believe a traveller would not be fo much afto-
G 3 . nifhed
138 Antiquities and Curiofities
niflied at them, did he find any works of the fame
kind in his own country. Amphitheatres, tri-
umphal arches, baths, grottoes, catacombs, ro-
tunda's, highways paved for fo great a length,
bridges of fuch an amazing height, fubterraneous
buildings for the reception of rain and fnow-wa-
ter, are mofi of them at prefent out of fafhion, and
only to be met with among the antiquities of Italy.
We are therefore immediately furprifed when we fee
any confiderable fums laid out in any thing of this
nature, though at the fame time there is many a Go-
thic cathedral in England, that has con: more pains
and money than feveral of thefe celebrated works.
Among the ruins of the old heathen temples they-
(hewed me what they call the chamber of Vcnust
which flands a little behind her temple. It is
whoilv dark, and has feveral figures on the cielins;
wrought in Stucco, that feem to reprefent luft and
ftrength by the emblems of naked Jupiters and
Gladiators, Tritons, and Centaurs, &c. fo that one
would guefs it has formerly been the fceneof many
lewd myfteries. On the. other fide of Naples are
the catacombs. Thefe mud have been full of
flench and loathfomnefs, if the dead bodies that
Jay in them were left to rot in open niches, as an
eminent author of our own country imagines. But
upon examining them I find they were each of them
flopped up; without doubt, as foon as the corps was
laid in it. For at the mouth of the nich one al-
ways finds the rock cut into little channels, to
fatten the board or marble that was to clofe it up ;
and 1 think I did not fee one which had not ftill
fome mortar flicking in it. In fome I found pieces
of tiles that exactly tallied with the channel, and
in others a little wall of bricks, that fometimes
flopped up above a quarter of the nich, the reft
hav-
near the City of Naples. 139
having been broken down. St. Proculus's fepulchre
Teems to have a kind of mofaic work on its cover-
in»; for I obferved at one end of it feveral little
pieces of marble ranged together after that manner.
It is probable they were adorn'd, more or lefs, ac-
cording to the quality of the dead. One would
indeed wonder to find fuch a multitude of niches
unftopped, and I cannot imagine any body fhould
take the pains to do it, who was not in queft of fome
fuppofed treafure.
Baiae was the winter retreat of the old Romans,
that being the proper feafon to enjoy the Baiani
Soles, and the Mollis Lucrinus\ as on the contrary,
Tiber, Tufculum, Prenefte, Alba, Cajeta, Mons
Circeius, Anxur, and the like airy mountains and
promontaries, were their retirements during the
heats of fummer.
Dum nos blanda tenent jucundi Stagna Lucriniy
Et ques pumiceis fontibus antra calent,
Tu colls Argivi regnum, Faujline, coloni *,
§ub te bis decimus duck ah urbe lapis.
Horrida fed fervent Nenu&i peclora monjlri :
Necfatis eft Baias igne calere fuo.
Ergo Sacri f "antes , & littora Sacra valet?,
Nympbarum pariter, Nereidumque domus.
Herculeos colles gelidd vos vincite brumd>
Nunc Tiburtinh cedite frigoribus .
Mart. Lib. iv. Epigr. 57,
While near the Lucrine lake confum'd to death
I draw the fultry air, and gafp for breath,
Where ftreams of fulphur raife a (lifting heat,
And thro' the pores of the warm pumice -Tweat 5
* Vid.Hor, Lib. ii. Od. 6.
G 4 You
140 Antiquities and Curiofities
You tafte the cooling breeze, where nearer home
The twentieth pillar marks the mile from Rome :
And now the fun to the bright lion turns,
And Baia with redoubled fury burns;
Then briny feas and tafteful fprings farewel,
Where fountain nymphsconfus'dwithNereidsd well;
In winter you may all the world defpife,
But now 'tis Tivoli that bears the prize.
The natural curiofities about Naples are as nu-
merous and extraordinary as the Artificial. 1 mall
fet them down as I have done the other, without
any regard to their fituation. The grotto del Cani
is famous for the poifonous ftreams which float with-
in a foot of its furface. The fides of the grotto
are marked with green as high as the malignity of
the vapour reaches. The common experiments are
as follow. A do£, that has his nofe held in the
vapour, lofes all iigns of life in a very little time;
but if carried into the open air, or thrown into a
neighbouring lake, he immediately recovers, if he
is not quite gone. A torch, fhuff and all, goes
rut in a moment, when dipped into the vapour. A
piftol cannot take fire in it. I fplit a reed, and laid
in the channel of it a train of gun-powder, fo that
one end of the reed was above the vapour, and the
other at the bottom of it; and I found though the
fteam was ftrong enough to hinder a piftol from
taking fire in it, and to quench a lighted torch,
that it could not intercept the train of fire when it
had once begun flafhing, nor hinder it from running
to the very end. This experiment I repeated twice
or thrice, to fee if I could quite diflipate the vapour,
which I did in fo great a meafure, that one might
cafily let off a piftol in it. I obferved how long a
4 do3
near the City of Naples. 141
dog was in expiring the firft time, and after his
recovery, and found no fenfible difference A viper-
bore it nine minutes the firft time we put him in,
and ten the fecond. When we brought it out after
the firft trial, it took fuch a vaft quantity of air into
its lun<*s, that it fwelled almoft twice as big as
before; and it was perhaps on this ftock of air that
it lived a minute longer the fecond time. Doctor
Conner made a difcourfe in one of the Academies
at Rome upon the fubjed of this grotto, which he
has fince printed in Pmgland. He attributes the
death of animals, and the extinction of lights, to*
a great rarefaction of the air, caufed by the heat
and eruption of the fteams. But how is it poffible
for thefe fteams, though in ever fo great quantity,
to refill the preilure of the whole atmofphere? and-
as for the heat, it is but very inconfiderable. How-
ever, to iatisfy myfelf, I placed a thin vial, well
ftopped up with wax, within the fmoke of the
vapour, which would certainly have burft in an air
rarified. enough to kill a dog, or quench a torch, but
nothing followed upon it. However, to take away all
further doubt, I borrowed a weather-glafs, and fo
fixed it in the grotto, that the Stagnum was wholly
covered with the vapour; but I could not perceive
the quickfilver funk after half an hour's ftanding in
it. This vapour is generally fuppofed to be fulphu-
reous, though I can fee no reafon for fuch a fuppo-
fition. He that dips his hand in it finds no fmell
that it leaves upon it; and though I put a whole
bundle of lighted brimftone matches to the fmoke,.
they all went out in an inftant, as if immerfed in
water. Whatever is the composition of the vapour,,
let it have nut one quality of being very glewy or
vifcous, and I believe it will mechanically folve all
the ^teenorriena of the grotto. Its un&uoufnefs
G 5 will
142 Antiquities and Curiofities
will make it heavy and unfit for mounting higher
than it does, unlefs the heat of the earth, which is
juit ftrong enough to agitate, and bear it up at a little
diftance from the furface, were much greater than
it is to rarify and fcatter it. It will be too grofs and
thick to keep the lungs in play for any time, fo that
animals will die in it fooner or later, as their blood
circulates flower or fafter. Fire wiil live in it no
longer than in water, bccaufe it wraps itfelf in the
ia/ne manner about the flame, and by its continuity
hinders any quantity of air and nitre from coming
to its leccour. The parts of it however are not fo
compact as thofe of liquors, nor therefore tenacious
enough to intercept the fire that has once caught a
train of gun-powder; for which reafon they may
be quite broken and difperfed by the repetition of
this experiment. There is an unctuous clammy
vapour that ariles from the ffcum of grapes, when
they lie mafhc-J together in the vat, which puts out
a light when dipped into it, and perhaps would take
away the breath, of weaker animals, were it put t&-
the trial.
It would be endlefs to reckon up the different bathsy
to be met with in a country that fo much abounds
in fulphur. There is fcarce a difeafe which hits
not one adapted to it. A ftranger is generally led
into that they call Cicero's bath, and feveral voyage-
writers pretend there is a cold vapour arifing from
the bottom of it, which refrefbes thofe who ftoop
into it. It is true the heat is much more fupport-
able to one that ftoops, than to one that ftands up-
right, becaufe the fleams of fulphur gather in the
hollow of the arch about a man's head, and are
therefore much thicker and warmer in that part than
at the bottom. The three lakes of Agnano,Avernus,
and the Lucriae, have now nothing in, them par-
ticular*
near the City of N a fl e s. i 43
trcular. The Monte Novo was thrown out by an
eruption of fire that happened in the place where
the mountain now ftands. The Sulfatara is very
farprifing to one who has not Teen mount Vefuvio.
But there is nothing about Naples, nor indeed in any
part of Italy, which deferves our admiration fa*
much as this mountain. I muft confefs the idea^
I had of it did not anfwer the real image of the
place when I came to fee it ; I mall therefore give
the defcription of it as it then lay.
This mountain ftands at about fix Englifh miles-
diftance from Naples, though, by reafon of its height,
it feems much nearer to thofe that furvey it from the
town. In our way to it we patted by what was-
one of thofe rivers of burning matter, that ran from-
it in a late eruption. This looks at a diftance like
new-plowed land; but as you come near it, you fee
nothing but a long heap of heavy disjointed clods-
Jying one upon another. There are innumerable ca-
vities and inter (Vices among the feveral pieces, fo that
the furface i-s all broken and irregular. Sometimes
a great fragment ftands like a rock above the reft;*
fometimes the whole heap lies in a kind of charmely
and in other places has nothing like banks to confine;
it, but rifes four or five feet high- in- the open air,
without fpreading abroad on either fide. This, I
think, is a plain demonftration that thefe rivers*
were not, as they are ufually reprefented, fo many
ftreams of running mattery for how could a liquidr
that lay hardening by degrees,- fettle in fuch a fur-
rowed comp&cl: furface? were the river a confu-
&on of never fo rr^any different bodies, if they had?
been all actually diflblvedy they woulda-t leaf! have
formed one continued cruft, as we fee the Scoriunt
©f metals always gathers into a.folid piece, let it be
CQinpoundedof a thoufand heterogeneous parts. I am
j 44 Antiquities and Curiofnies
apt to think therefore that thefe huge unwieldly lumps
that now lie one upon another, as if thrown toge-
ther by accident, remained in the melted matter
rigid and unliquified, floating in it like cakes of ice
in a river, and that, as the fire and ferment gra-
dually abated, they adjufted themfelves together as
well as their irregular figures would permit, and by
this means fell into fuch an interrupted diforderly
heap as we now find it. What was the melted
matter lies at the bottom out of fight. After hav-
ing quitted the fide of this long heap, which was
once a dream of fire, we came to the roots of the
mountain, and had a very troublefome march to
gain the top of it. It is covered on all fides with a
kind of burnt earth, very dry, and crumbled into
powder, as if it had been artificially fifted. It is
very hot under the feet, and mixed with feveral
burnt ftones and cakes of cinders, which have been
thrown out at different times. A man finks almofl
a foot in the earth, and generally lofes half a ftep
by Aiding backwards. When we had climbed this
mountain, we dilcovered the top of it to be a wide
naked plain, fmoking with fulphur in feveral places,
and probably undermined with fire; for we concluded
it to be hollow by the found it made under our feet.
In the midftof this plain ftands a high hill in the fhape
of a fugar-loaf, fo very fteep, that there would be no
mounting or defcending it, were it not made up of
fuch aloofecrumbled earth asl have before defcribed.
The air of this place muft.be very much impregnated
with fait petre, as appears by the fpecks of it on the
fides of the mountain, where one can fcarce find a
ftone that has not the top white with it. After we
h.id, with much ado conquered this hill, we faw
in the midft of ft the prefent mouth of Vefuvio, that
goesfnelvingdownon all fides, until above a hundred
yards
near the City of Naples. 14^
yards deep, as near as we could guefs, and has about
three or four hundred in the diameter, for it feems a
perfect round. This vaft hollow is generally filled
with fmoke: but, by the advantage of a wind that
blew for us, we had a very clear and diftincl: fight of
it. The fides appear all over ftained with mixtures of
white, green, red, and yellow, and have feveral
rocks (landing out of them that look like pure brim-
ftone. The bottom was intirely covered, and though
we looked very narrowly we could fee nothing like a
hole in it; the fmoke breaking through feveral im-
perceptible cracks in many places. The very middle
was firm ground when we faw it, as we concluded
from the ftones we flung upon it, and I queftion
not but one might then have crofled the bottom, and
have gone up on the other fide of it with very little
danger, unlefs from fome accidental breath of wind.
In the late eruptions this great hollow was like a
vaft chaldron filled with glowing and melted matter,
which, as it boiied over in any part, ran down the
fides of the mountain, and made five fuch rivers as
that beforementioned. In proportion as the heat
flackened, this burning matter muft have fubfided
within the bowels of the mountain, and as it funk
very leifurely had time to cake together, and form
the bottom which covers the mouth of that dreadful
vault that lies underneath it. The next eruption or
earthquake will probably break in pieces this falfe
bottom, and quite change the prefent face of things;
This whole mountain, fhaped like a fuo-ar-loaf,
has been made at feveral times, by rhe prodigious
quantities of earth and cinders, which have been
flung up out of the mouth that lies in the midft of
them; fo that it increafes in the bulk at every
eruption, the afhes ftill falling down the fides of it,
like the fand in an hour-glais, A gentleman of
Naples
146 Antiquities and Curioiities
Naples told me, that in his memory it had gained-
twenty foot in thiclcncffb, and i queition not but ir*
length of time it will cover the whole plain, and
make one mountain with that on which it now
ftands
In thofe parts of the fea, that are not far from-
the roots of this mountain, they find fbmetimes a-
very fragrant oil, which is fold dear, and makes
a rich perfume. The furface of the fea is, for a
little fpace, covered with its bubbles, during the
time that it rifes, which they fkim off into their
boats, and afterwards fet a feparating in pots and
jars. They fay its fources never run but in calm
warm weather. The agitations of the water
perhaps hinder them from difcovering it at other
times.
Among the natural curiofities of Naples, I can-
not forbear mentioning their manner of furnifhing.
the town with fnow, which they here ufe inftead*
of ice, becaufe, as they fay., it cools or congeals-
any liquor fooner. There is a great quantity of
it confumed yearly ; for they drink very few liquors,,
not fo much as water, that have not lain in Frefco;.
and every body, from the higheft to the loweft,
makes ufe of it, infomuch that a fcarcity of fnow
would raife a mutiny at Naples, zs much as a*
dearth of corn or provifionj in another country.
To prevent this the King has fold the monopoly
of it to certain perfons, who are obliged to fumifh
the city with it all the year at fo much the pound.
They have- a high mountain at about eighteen
miles from the town, which has feveral pits dug-
into it. Here they employ many poor people at
fuch a feafon of the year to roll in vaft balls of
fnow, which they ram together, and cover from
the funfhine, Out of theie refervoirs of fnow they
cut
near the City of Naples. 147
cut feveral lumps, as they have occafion for them,,
and fend them on affes to the fea-fide, where they
are carried off in boats, and diftributed to feveral
fhops at a fettled price, that from time to time
fupply the whole city of Naples. While the Ban-
ditti continued their diforders in this kingdom, they
often put the fnow- merchants under contribution^
and threatened them, if they appeared tardy in their
payments, to deftroy their magazines, which they
fay might eaiily have been affected by the infufioir
of fome barrels of oil.
It would have been tedious to have put down the
many defcriptions that the Latin Poets have made
of feveral of the places mentioned in this chapter:
I mall therefore conclude it with the general map
which Silius Italicus has given us of this great bay
of Naples. Moft of the places he mentions lie
within the fame profpeci; and if I have paffed over
any of them, it is becaufe I foall take them- in my
way by fea, from Naples to Rome.
Siagna inter celebrem nunc mitia monfrat Avcrmim ;
'Turn trifii nemore atque umbris nigrantibus borrens9
Et formidaius volucri, kthale vomebat
Suffufo virus cash, Stygiaque per urbes
Religiom 'facer , fievum retinebat honorem.
Htnc vicina palm, fama eft Acheroniis ad undas
Pander e iter, ccecas jhignante voragim fauces
Laxat, et horrendoi aperit telluris hiatus ,
Interdumque novo perturbm lumine manes*
jfuxta caligante fitu, Longumque per cevum
Infernis prejfas nebuiis, pallente fub umbra
Cimmerias jacuijfe domos, noStemque projundam
Tartarete narrant urbis : turn fid jure et igni
Semper anhelantes, cofioque bitumine campos
QJlentant: teilus Giro exundante vapor e
Suf»
148 Antiquities and Curiofities-
Sufpirans, uflijque dtu ra.'ef'acla medullis
MJinat) et Stygios exh.rat in ae: . flatus :
Parturit, et t>emuh; ?n I'tendmn exjibilat antrisy
Inter dumque cavas ludicius 1 umpere }edesy
Aid exire foras, Jomtu ktgubre minaci
Mulciber itnmvgrt^ lacerataque vifceva terra
Mandit, et exefis labefailat murmut e montes,
Tradunt Hercukd projiratos mole Gigantes
<Tellurem injetumi quatere, et fpiramwe cmhelo
Torreri late compos , quotiejque minantur
Rwnpere compagem impo/dam, expallefcere caelum*
Apparet procul Inarime, qua turbine nigra
Fwnantem premit ldpetu?n, flammafque rebelli
Ore ejeflantem, et fiquando evader e deiur
Bella yovi rurfus fuperifque iter are volentem,
Monjlrantur Vefeva juga^ atque in vert ice fummv
Depajli flammis fcopuii, fratlufque ruinaV
Mom circum, atque /Etna fat is certantia Saxa,
Nee non Mifmum fervantem Idaa jepukro
Nomina 1 et Herculeos videt ipfo in lit tore Bauhs.
Lib. xii,
Averno next be fhow'd his wond'ring gueft,
Averno now with milder virtues bleiVd;
Black with furrounding forefts then it flood,
That hung above, and darken'd all the flood :
Clouds of unwholfome vapours, rais'd on high.
The flutt'ring bird intanglcd in the fky,
Whilft all around the gloomy profpedi fpread
An awful horror, and religious dread.
Hence to the borders of the marfh they go,
That mingles with the baleful ftreams below,
And fometimes with a mighty yawn, 'tis faid,
Opens a di final pafTage to the dead,
Who pale with fear the rending earth furvey,
And ftartle at the fudden flafh of day.
The dark Cimmerian grotto then he paints,
Describing all its old inhabitants. That
near the City of Naples. 149
That in the deep infernal city dwell'd,
And lay in everlafting night conceal'd. >
Advancing ftill, the fpacious fields he fhow'd,
That with the fmother'd heat of brimftone glow'd;
Throughfrequent cracks the fteamingfulphur broke,
And cover'd all the blafted plain with fmoke :
Imprifon'd fires, in the clofe dungeons pent,
Roar to get loofe, and ftruggle for a vent,
Eating their way, and undermining all,
'Till with a mighty burft whole mountains fall.
Here, as 'tis laid, the rebel giants lie,
And, when to move th' incumbent load they try,
Afcending vapours on the day prevail,
The fun looks fickly, and the ikies grow pale.
Next to the diftant ifle his fight he turns,
That o'er the thunderftruck Tiphceus burns:
Enrag'd his wide-extended jaws expire
In angry whirlwinds, blafphemies and fire,
Threat'ning, if loofen'd from his dire abodes.
Again to challenge Jove, and fight the gods.
On mount Vefuvio next he fixt his eyes,
And faw the fmoking tops confus'dly rife ;
(A hideous ruin!) that with earthquakes rent
A fecond /Etna to the view prefent.
Mifeno's cape and Bauli laft he view'd,
That on the fea's extremeft borders flood.
Silius Italicus here takes notice, that the poifon-
ous vapours, which arofe from the lake Averno in
Hannibal's time, were quite difperfed at the time
when he wrote his poem; becaufe Agrippa, who
lived between Hannibal and Silius, had cut down
the woods, that inclofed the lake, and hindered
thefe noxious fleams from diffipating, which were
immediately fcattered as foon as the winds and
frefh air were let in among them.
T H £
THE
ISLE ofCAPREA.
HAving ftaid longer at Naples than I at firft
defigned, I could not difpenfe with myfelf
from making a little voyage to the ifle of Caprea,
as being very defirous to fee a place, which
had been the retirement of Auguftus for fome-
time, and the refidence of Tiberius for feveral
years. The ifland lies four miles in length from
eaft to weft, and about one in breadth. The
weftern part, for about two miles in length, is a
continued rock vaftly high, and inacceflible on the
fea-fide. It has however the greateft town in the
ifland, that goes under the name of Ano-Caprea,
and is in feveral places covered with a very fruitful
foil. The eaftern end of the ifle rifes up in pre-
cipices very near as high, though not quite fo long as
the weftern. Between thefe eaftern and weftern
mountains lies a flip of lower ground, which runs
acrofs the ifland, and is one of the pleafanteft fpots
I have feen. It is hid with vines, figs, oranges,
almonds, olives, myrtles, and fields of corn,
which looks extremely frefh and beautiful, and
make up the molt delightful little landfkip imagi-
nable, when they are furveyed from the tops of
the neighbouring mountains. Here ftands the town
of Capiea, the Biftiop's palace, and two or three
convents*
The Ifleof Caprea.' i^r
convents. In the midft of this fruitful tract of
land rifes a hill, that was probably covered with
buildings inTiberius's time. There are ftill feveral
ruins on the fides of it, and about the top are found
two or three dark galleries, low built, and covered
with mafons work, though at prefent they appear
overgrown with grafs. I entered one of them that
is a hundred paces in length. I obferved, as fome
of the countrymen were digging into the fides
of this mountain^ that what I took for folic*
earth was only heaps of brick, ftone, and other
rubbifh, fkinned over with a covering of vege-
tables. But the moft confiderable ruin is that
which ftands on the very extremity of the eaftern
promontory, where are ftill fome apartments left,
very high and arched at top. 1 have not indeed
feen the remains of any ancient Roman buildings,,
that have not been roofed with either vaults or
arches. The rooms I am mentioning ftand deep
in the earth, and have nothing like windows or
chimnies, which makes me think they^ were for-
merly either bathing- places or refervoirs of wa-
ter. An old hermit lives at prefent among the
ruins of this palace, who loft his companion a few
years ago by a fall from the precipice. He told
me they had often found medals and pipes of lead,
as they dug among the rubbifh, and that not many
years ago they discovered a paved road running un-
der ground from the top of the mountain to the
fea-fide, which was afterwards confirmed to me by
a gentleman of the ifland. There is a very noble
profpeel: from this place. On the one fide lies a
vaft extent of feas, that runs abroad further than
the eye can reach. Juft oppofite ftands.the green
promontory of Surrentum, and on the other fide the
whole circuit of the bay of Naples. This profped,
according
152 The Ifle of Caprea.
according to Tacitus, was more agreeable before the
burning of Vefuvio. That mountain probably, which
after the firft eruption looked like a great pile of
afhes, was in Tiberius's time fhaded with woods
and vineyards; for I think A4artial's epigram may
ferve here as a comment to Tacitus.
Hie cjl pompineis viridis Vefuvins umbris,
PreJJerat hie madidos nobilis uva lacus.
Hizc juga, quam Nifce colles, plus Bacchus amavit ;
Hoe nuper Satyri monte dedere cboros.
Hc£L Veneris fedes, Lacidczmone gratior iili\
Hie locus Herculeo norn'ine clarus erat.
Gwicla jaccnt fiammis et trifli merfci favilla :
Nee (uteri vellent hoc licuiffe fibi.
Lib. 11. Jtpigr. 105.
Vefuvio, cover' d with the fruitful Vine,
Here flourifh'd once, and ran with floods of wine;
Here Bacchus oft to the cool fhades retir'd,
And his own native Nifa lefs admir'd j
Oft to the mountain's airy tops advane'd,
The frifking iatyrs on the fummits dane'd;
Alcidos here, here Venus grae'd the more,
Nor lov'd her fav'rite LacedaemoiT more:
Now piles of afhes, fpreading all around,
In undiftinguifh'd heaps deform the ground.
The gods themielves the ruin'd feats bemoan,
And blame the mifchiefs that themfelves have done.
This view muft ft ill have been more pleafant,.
when the whole bay was encompaiTed with fo
long a range of buildings, that it appeared to
thofe, who looked on it at a diftance, but as one
continued city. On both the fhores of that fruit-
ful bottom, which I ha\e before mentioned, are
ftill
The Me of Caprea. 153
ftill to be Teen the marks of ancient edifices; parti-
cularly on thar which looks towards thefouth there
is a little kind of mole, which feems to have been
the foundation of a palace; unlefs we may fuppofe
that the Pharos of Caprea flood there, which Sta-
tius takes notice of in his poem that invites his
wife to Naples, and is, I think, the molt natural
among the Sjlvas.
Nee defunt varies clrcum obkelamina vitce ;
She vaporiferasy blandifftma iittora, Baias,
Enthea fatidica. -feu vifere tec! a Sibyllce
Duke Jit, lliacoque jugwn memorabile remo :
£eu tibi Bacchei vimta madentia Gauri,
Teleboumque domos, trepidis ubi dulcia nautis
Lumina noclhaga tolltt Pbarus temula Lunay
Caraque non mo lit juga Surrentina Lyceo.
Sylv. 5. Lib. iii. v. 95.
The blifsful feats with endlefs pleafures flow,
Whether to Baia's funny fhores you go,
And view the fulphur to the baths convey'd,
Or the dark grotto of the prophetic maid,
Or fleep Mifeno from the Trojan nam'd,
Or Gaurus for its flowing vintage fam'd,
Or Caprea, where the lanthorn nVd on high
Shines like a moon through the benighted fky,
While by its beams the wary failor fleers \
Or where Surrentum, clad in vines, appears.
They found in Ano Caprea, fome years ago, a
ftatue and a rich pavement under ground, as
they had occafion to turn up the earth that lay
upon them. One flill fees, on the bendings of thefe
mountains, the marks of feveral ancient Tcales of
flairs, by which they ufed to afcend them. The
whole
154 The Ifle of Caprea.
whole ifland is fo unequal that there were but few
diverfions to be found in it without doors; but
what recommended it moit to Tiberius was its whol-
fome air, which is warm in winter and cool in
fummer, and its inacceffible coafts, which are ge-
nerally fo very fteep, that a handful of men might
defend them againit a powerful army.
We need not doubt but Tiberius had his different
refidencies, according as the feafons of the year, and
his different fets of pleafure required. Suetonius fays,
Duodecim Villas tctidem nominilus ornavit. i, e. He
diftinguifhed twelve towns by as many names.
The whole ifland was probably cut into feveral eafy
afcents, planted with variety of palaces, and adorned
with as great a multitude of groves and gardens as
the fituation of the place would fuffer. The works
under ground were however more extraordinary
than thofe above itj for the rocks were all under-
mined with highways, grottoes, galleries, bagnios,
and feveral fubterraneous retirements, that fuited
with the brutal pleafures of the Emperor. One
would indeed very much wonder to fee fuch fmall
appearances of the many works of art, that were
formerly to be met with in this ifland, were we not
told that the Romans, after the death of Tiberius,
fent hither an army of pioneers on purpofe to de-
molifh the buildings, and deface the beauties of the
ifland.
In failing roun«! Caprea we were entertained with
many rude profpecls of rocks and precipices, that
rife in feveral places half a mile high in perpendicu-
lar. At the bottom of them are caves and grot-
toes formed by the continual breaking of the waves
upon them. I entered one which the inhabitants
call Grotto Obfcuro, and, after the light of the fun
was a little worn off my eyes, could fee all the parts
of
The Me of C a p R e a. 155
©f it diftinaiy, by a glimmering reflexion that
played upon them from the furface of the water.
The mouth is low and narrow ; but after having en-
tered pretty far in, the grotto opens itfelf on both
fides .in an oval figure of an hundred yards from
one extremity to the other, as we were told, for it
would not have been fafe meafuring of it. The roof
is vaulted, and diftils frefh water from every part
of it, which fell upon us as faft as the firft drop-
pings of a fhower. The inhabitants and Neapoli-
tans, who have heard of Tiberius's grottoes, will
have this to be ore of them; but there are feveral
reafons that fhew it to be natural. For befides the
little ufe we can conceive of fuch a dark cavern of
fait waters, there are no where any marks of the
chifel ; the fides are of a foft mouldering ftone,
and one fees many of the like hollow fpaces worn
in the bottoms of the rocks, as they are more or
lefs able to refift the impreflions of the water that
beats againft them.
Not far from this grotto lie the Sirenum Scopuli,
which Virgil and Ovid mention in iEneas's
voyage; they are two or three fharp rocks that
ftand about a ftone's-throw from the fouth-fide of
the ifland, and are generally beaten by waves and
tempefts, which are much more violent on the
fouth than on the north of Caprea.
yamque adeo Scopulos Sirenum advefta fubibat\
Difficile* quondam, multorumque ojjibus albos :
Turn rauca ajjiduo long} fale faxa fonabant.
JEn. 5. v. 864.
Glides by the Sirens cliffs, a fhslfy coaft,
Long infamous for {hips and faiiors ioft, -
And
iS6
The Ifle of Caprea.
And white with banes : Th' impetuous ocean rores.
And rocks rebellow from the founding mores.
Dryden.
I have before faid that they often find medals in
this ifland. Many of thofe they call the Spintriae,
which Aretin has copied, have been dug up here.
I know none of the antiquaries that have written
on this fubject, and find nothing fatisfactory of it
where I thought it moft likely to be met with, in
Patin's edition of Suetonius illuftrated by medals.
Thofe I have converfed with about it, are of opi-
nion they were made to ridicule the brutality of
Tiberius, though I cannot but believe they were
ftamped by his order. They are unqueftionably
antique, and no bigger than medals of the third
magnitude. They bear on one fide fome lewd in-
vention of that hellifh fociety, which Suetonius calls
Monftrofi concubitus repertores, and on the other the
number of the medal. I have feen of them as high
as to twenty. I cannot think they were made as a
jeft on the Emperor, becaufe rallery on coins is'
of a modern date. I know but two in the upper
empire, befides the Spintriae, that lie under any
fufpicion of it. The firfl is one of Marcus Aure-
lius, where, in compliment to the Emperor and
Emprefs, they have ftamped on the reverfe the fi-
gure of Venus carefling Mars, and endeavouring
to detain him from the wars.
'Quamiam
The Ifle of Caprea," \$7
ghoniam belli f era munera Mavors
Armipotens regit , in gremium quifape tuumfi
Rejicit, aterno devinclus vulnere amoris.
Lucr. Lib. i. v. $$*
Becaufe the brutal bus'nefs of the war
Is manag'd by thy dreadful fervant's care,
Who oft retires from fighting fields, to prove
The pleafing pains of thy eternal love. Dryden.
The Venus has Fauftina's face; her lover is a
naked figure, with a helmet on his head, and a
fhield on his arm.
7Tu fcabie Jrueris mail, quod hi Agger e rodh
4 Qui tegitur parmd et galea' — Juv. Sat. 5. v. 153.
Such fcabbed fruit you eat, as, in his tent,
* With helmet arm'd and ihield,' the foldier gnaws.
H This
y
158 Thelfle of Caprea.
This unluckily brings to mind Faufrina's fond-
nefs for the gladiator, and is therefore interpreted by
many as a hidden piece of fatire. But, befides that
fuch a thought was inconfiftent with the gravity
of a fenate, how can one imagine that the fathers
would have dared to affront the wife of Aurelius,
and the mother of Commodus, or that they could
think of giving offence to an Emprefs whom they
afterwards deified, and to an Emperor that was the
darling of the army and people.
The other medal is a golden one of Gallienus,
preferved in the French King's cabinet ; it is infcribed
Galliena: Augujla, Pax Ubique^ and was ftamped at
a time when the Emperor's father was in bondage,
and the empire torn in pieces by feveral pretenders
to it. Yet, if one confiders the ftrange ftupidity
of this Emperor, with the fenfelefs fecurity which
appears in feveral of his fayings that are ftill left
on record, one may very well believe this coin
was of his own invention. We may be fure, if
rallery had once entered the old Roman coins, we
mould have been overftock'd with medals of this
nature; if weconfider there were often rival Empe-
rors proclaimed at the fame time, who endeavoured
at the leftening of each other's character, and that
nioft of them were fucceeded by fuch as were ene-
mies to their predecefTor. Thefe medals of Tiber iu*
were never current money, but rather of the na-
ture of medalions, which feem to have been made
011 purpofe to perpetuate the difcoveries of that infa-
mous fociety. Suetonius tells us, that their mon-
ilrous inventions were regiftered feveral ways, and
prefervM in the Emperor's private apartment. Cu-
fcicula plunfariam difpojita tabeliis ac Sigillis Injavif-
fwiarum pifturarum et figurarum adornavit^ libnfque
fclfbhqntidh mjlruxlt : ne cui in Opera edendd exem-
plar
The Ifle of C a pre a. 159
ptar impetrata Sche?na deejjet. i. e. He adorned his
apartments, which were varioufly difpofed, with,
pictures and feals, reprefenting the lewdeft images,
•and furniflied them with the books of Elephantis,
that no one might be at a lofs for examples to copy
after. The Elephantis here mentioned is probably
the fame Martial takes notice of for her book of
poftures.
In Sabellum.
Facundos mihi de libidinofis
Legijli nimium, Sabella, verfus* "
^uales nee Didymi fciuni puei/&9
Nee ?mlles Elepbantidos libelli.
Sunt illic Veneris nova figures:
tjhialesj &c. Lib. xii. Epigr. 43,
Too much, Sabellus, you delight
In poems, that to luft excite,
Where Venus, varying ftill her fhape,
Provokes to inceft or a rape:
Not fuch the lewdefl Harlots know, •
Nor Elephantis' books can {how.
Ovid mentions the fame kind of pictures that
found a place even in Auguftus's cabinet/
Scilicet in domibus veftris, ut prifta virorum
Artifici fulgent corpora picla tnanu ;
Sic qua concubiius varios Venerijque figuras
Exprimatj ejl aliquo parva tabella loco.
De Trift. Lib, ii. v. 523,
As ancient Heroes, by the painter's hand
Immortaliz'd, in thy rich gallery ftand,
H 2 Immodeft
160 The Ifle of C a pre a.'
Jmmodelt pictures in fome corner lie,
With feats of luft to catch the wanton eye.
There are feveral of the Sigilla, or feals, Sueto-
nius fpeaks of, to be met with in collections of an-
cient Intaglios.
But, I think, what puts it beyond all doubt that
thefe coins were rather made by the Emperor's
order, than as a fatire on him is, becaufe they are
now found in the very place that was the fcene of
thefe his unnatural lufts.
« £htem rupes Caprearum tetra latebit
Jncejio pojj'ejja Seni? — CI. de quarto. Conf. Hon,
Who has not heard of Caprea's guilty fhore,
Polluted by the rank old Emperor ?
FROM
FROM
NAPLES
T O
ROME, by Sea.
I Took a felucca at Naples to carry me to Rome,
that I might not be forced to run over the fame
fights a fecond time, and might have an oppor-
tunity of feeing many things in a road, which our
voyage- writers have not fo particularly defcribed.
As, in my journey from Rome to Naples, I had
Horace for my guide, fo I had the pleafure of fee*
ing my voyage from Naples to Rome defcribed by
Virgil. It is indeed much eafier to trace out the
way iEneas took, than that of Horace, becaufe Vir-
gil has marked it out by capes, iflands, and other
parts of nature, which are not fo fubjedt to change
or decay, as are towns, cities, and the works
of art. Mount Paufilypo makes a beautiful prof-
pecT: to thofe who pafs by it: At a fmall diilance
from it lies the little ifland of Nifida, adorned with
a great variety of plantations, riflng one above an-
other in fo beautiful an order, that the whole
H 3 ifland
162 From Naples to
ifland looks like a large terrace- garden. It has
two little ports, and is not at prefent troubled
with any of thofe noxious fleams that Lucan
mentions.
-T'ali fpir amine Nejis
Emitiit Stygium vebulofis Aera /axis. Lib. vi. v. 90.
Neils' high rocks fuch Stygian air produce,
And the blue breathing peftilence diffufe.
From Ntfida we rowed to cape Mifeno. The ex-
tremity of this cape has a long cleft in it, which
was enlarged and cut into fhape by Agrippa, who
made this the great port for the Roman fleet that
ferved in the Mediterranean; as that of Ravenna
held the (hips defigned for the Adriatic and Archipe-
lago. The higheft. end of this promontory rifes in
the fafhion of a fepulchre or monument to thofe
that furvey it from the land, which perhaps might
occafion Virgil's burying Mifenus under it. 1 have
ieen a grave Italian author, who has written a very
large book on the Campania Felice, that, from Vir-
gil's defcription of this mountain, concludes it
was called Aerius before Mifenus had given it a
new name.
At pius /Eneas ingenti mole Sepulchrum
Jmpor.it , fuaque arma viro remumque tubamque
Monte fub Aerio^ que nunc Mifenus ab illo
Dicitur^ aternumque tenet per feecula no?nen.
JEn, vi. v. 232.
But good iEneas order'd on the more
A irately tomb; whole top a trumpet bore,
A foldier's fauchion, and a feaman's oar.
Thus
}
Rome, by Sea. 163
Thus was his friend interr'd; and deathlefs fame
Still to the lofty cape configns his name. Dryden.
There are (till to be feen a few ruins of old
Mifenum; but the mod confiderable antiquity of
the place is a fet of galleries that are hewn into
the rock, and are much more fpacious than the
Pifcina Mirabilis. Some will have them to have
been a refervoir of water; but others more pro-
bably fuppofe them to have been Nero's baths. I
lay the fir ft night on the ifle of Procita, which is
pretty well cultivated, and contains about four
thoufand inhabitants, who are all vaffals to the
Marquis de Vafto.
The next morning I went to fee the ifle of
Ifchia* that ftands further out into the fea. The an-
cient Poets call it Inarime, and lay Typhceus under
it, by reafon of its eruptions of fire. There has
been no eruption for near thefe three hundred years.
The laft was very terrible, and deftroyed a whole
city. At prefcnt there are fcarce any marks left of
a fubterraneous fire; for the earth is cold, and over-
run with grafs and fhrubs, where the rocks will
fuffer it. There are indeed feveral little cracks in
it, through which there ifl'ues a conitant fmoke; but .
it is probable this arifes from the warm fprings that
feed the many baths, with which this in1 and is plen-
tifully (locked. I obferved, about oneof thefebreath-
ing pafiages, a fpot of myrtles that flourifh within
the Iteam of thefe vapours, and have a continual
moifture hanging upon them. On the fouth of
Ifchia lies a round lake of about three quarters of
a mile diameter, feparate from the fea by a narrow
tracl: of land. It was formerly a Roman port.
On the north end of this ifland ftands^ the town
and caftle, on an exceeding high rock, divided
H 4 from
164 From Naples to
from the body of the ifland, and inaccefTible to
an enemy on all fides. This Ifland is larger, but
much more rocky and barren than Procita. Vir-
gil makes them both (hake at the fall of part of
the mole of Baiae, that flood at a few miles
diflance from them.
«
^hialis in Euboico Baiarum Uttore quondam
Saxea pita cadit, magnis quam mohbus ante
Conjirucfatn jaciunt pelago: Sic ilia ruinam
Prona trabit, penitufque vadis illifa recumbit:
Mifcent fe Maria et nigra attolluntur arena,
Turn forth u Prochyta alta tremit, durumque cubilt
Inarime, Jovis imperils impojia Typhceo.
JEn.lx.v. 710*
Not with Iefs ruin than the Baian mole
(Rais'd on the feas the furges to control)
At once comes tumbling down the rocky wall;
Prone to the deep the ftones disjointed fall
Off the vaft pile; the fcatter'd ocean flies ; [arife.
Black fands, difcolour'd froth, and mingled mud
The frighted billows roll, and feek the fhores:
Trembles high Prochyta, and Ifchia rores :
Typbceus rores beneath, by Jove's command,
AftoniuYd at the flaw that (hakes the land;
Soon fhifts his weary fide, and fcarce awake,
With wonder feels ihe weight prefs lighter on his
back. Dryden.
I do not fee why Virgil, in this noble comparifon;
has given the epithet of Alta to Prochyta; for it is
not only no high ifland in itfelf, but is much lower
than Ifchia, and all the points of land that lie with-
in its neighbourhood. I mould think Alta was joined
adverbially withTremit, did Virgil make ufe of fo
equivocal
Rome, by Sea. 165
equivocal a fyntax. I cannot forbear inferring, in
this place, the lame imitation Silius Italicus has
made of the foregoing pafTage.
Haud allter ftrufto Tyrrhena ad littora Saxo^
Pugnatura fretis fubter cacifque pr ocelli s
Pita immane fonans^ impinghar ardua panto ;
lmmugit NereuSy dhifaque carula puifu
IUifu?Ji accipiunt hatafub aquora montem. Lib. iv.
So vail: a fragment of the Baian mole,
That, fix'd amid the Thyrrhene waters, braves
The beating tempefts and infulting waves.
Thrown from its bafis with a dreadful found,
Dafhes the broken billows all around,
And with refiftlefs force the furface cleaves,
That in- its angry waves the falling rock receives.
The next morning going to Cumze through a very
pleafant path, by the Mare Mortuum, and the Ely-
fian fields, we law in our way a great many rutj&s
of fepulchres, and other ancient edifices. Cumae
is at prefent utterly deftitute of inhabitants, fo much
is it changed fince Lucan'stime, if the poem to Pifo
be his.
■Addalia qua condidk Aliie muros
Euboicam refer ens foscunda Neapolis urban.
Where the fam'd walls of fruitful Naples lie,,
That may for multitudes with Cumae vie.
They mow here the remains of Apollo's tem-
ple, which all the writers of the antiquities of this
place fuppofe to have been the fame Virgil -defcribes
in- his fixth iEneid,- as built by Daedalus, and that
H 5, the-
166 From Naples to
the very ftory, which Virgil there mentions, was
aclually engraven on the front of it.
Redditus his primum t err is tibi, Phoebe, facrdvit
Remigium A/arum, pofuitque immania Teinpla.
In foribus lethum Androgen: turn pendere pcenas
Cecropida jujji, niiferum ! Septcna quotannis
Corpora Nat or um : Stat duflis for ti bus urna.
Contra elata mari refpondet GnoJJia tellus, he,
./En. vi. v. 19.
To the Cumaean coaft: at length he came,
And, here alighting, built his coftly frame
Infcrib'd to Phcebus, here he hung on hio-h
The fteerage of his wings that cut the fkyj
Then o'er the lofty gate his art embofs'd
Androgeos* death, and ofPrings to his ghofT,
Sev'n youths from Athens yearly fent to meet
The fate appointed by revengeful Crete;
And next to thofe the dreadful urn was plac'd,
In which the deftin'd names by lots were call.
Dryden.
Among other fubterraneous works there rs the
beginning of a pafTage, which is ftopp'd up, within
Jefs than a hundred yards of the entrance, by
the earth that is fallen into it. They fuppofe
it to have been the other mouth of the Sibyl's
grotto. It lies indeed in the fame line with the
entrance near the A vermis, is fae'd alike with the
Opus Reticulatum, and has ftill the marks of
chambers that have been cut into the fides of it.
Among the many fables and conjectures which
have been made on this grotto, I think it is highly
probable, that it was once inhabited by fuch as
perh :ps thought it a better fhelter agaiuft the fun
than
R oM E, by Sea. 167
than any other kind of building, or at leaft that it
was made with fmaller trouble and expenee. As
for the mofaic and other works that may be found
in it, they may very well have been added in later
a°-es, according as they thought fit to put the place
to different ufes. The ftory of the Cimmerians is
indeed clogg'dwith improbabilities, as Strabo relates
it; but it is very likely there was in it fome foun-
dation of truth. Homer's defcription of the Cim-
merians, whom he places in thefe parts, anfwers
very well to the inhabitants of fuch a long dark
cavern.
The gloomy race, in fubterraneous cells,
Among furrounding fhades and darknefs dwells y
Hid in th' unwholfome covert of the night,
They fhun the approaches of the chearful light:
The fun ne'er vifits their obfcure retreats,
Nor when he runs his courfe, nor when he fets.
Unhappy mortals I OdyfT. Lib. x.
Tu quoque Utioribus no/Iris, JEne'ia nuirlx%
JEternam moriens famam, Cajeta, dedijli:
Et nunc Jer vat honos fedem tuus, ojjaque nomen
Hefperia in magna, fi qua eft ea gloria , fignat.
/En. vii. v. I,
Ana thou, O matron of immortal fame,
Here dying, to the fhore had: left thy name:
Cajeta frill the place is call'd from thee,
The nurfe of great Eneas' infancy.
Here red; thy bones in rich Hefperia's plains j
Thy name ('tis all a ghoft can have) remains.
Dryden.
I faw at Cajeta the rock of marble, faid to be
cleft by an earthquake at our Saviour's death.
There is written over the chapel door, that leads
into
1 68 From Naples to
into the crack, the words of the Evangelift Ecu ,
terra ?notusfa£ius eft magnar. Behold, there was a
great earthquake! I believe every one who fees
this vaft rent in (o high a rock, and obferves-
how exactly the convex parts of one fide tally
with the concave of the other, muft be Satisfied
that it was the effecl: of an earthquake, though I
queflion not but it either happened long before the
time of the Latin writers, or in the darker ages,
fince; for otherwife I cannot but think they would
have taken notice of its original. The port, town,
caftle, and antiquities of this place have been often
difcribed.
We touched next at Monte Circeio, which Homer
calls Infuia -ffiea, whether it be that it was formerly
an ifland, or that the Greek failors of his rime
thought it fo. It is certain they might eafily have
been deceived by its appearance, as being a very high
mountain joined to the main land by a narrow
traft of earth, that is many miles in length, and
slmoft of a level with the furface of the water.
The end of this promontory is very rocky, and
mightily expoled to the winds and waves, which
perhaps gave the firft rife to the howlings of wolves,
and the roarings of lions, that ufed to be heard
thence. This I had a verv livelv idea of, bein<r
forced to lie under it a whole night. Virgil's de-
fciption of i^neas paflino; by this coaft can never
be enough admired. It is worth while to obferve
how, to heighten the horror of the description, he
has prepared the reader's mind, by the folemnity .
of Cajeta's funeral, and the dead (liluefs of the
night.
At plus exequiis Mneas rite foluiis,
Aggere compoftto tumuli 3 psjiquctt/i aha quicrunt
Mquora9
Rome, by Sea. 169
Mqmrciy tendit iter velis, portumque relinquk.
Adfpirant aura in noflem, nee Candida curfus
Luna negat: Splendet tremuh fub famine pont us ~
Prox'una Circaa raduntur littora terra ;
Dives inacceffhs ubi So/is filia lucos
A/Jiduo refonat cantu, te&ifquc fuperbis
llrit odoratam noflurna in lumina ccdrum,
Arguto tenues per cur r ens peel me telas :
Hinc exaudiri gemitus, iraque Leonum
Vincla recufantum, et ferdfub no5le. rudentum:
Setigerique fues atque in prafepibus urfi __
Savire, ac forma magnorum ululare luporum :
^hios hominum ex facie Dea Java potentihus be) bis
Induerat Circe in vultus ac terga fcrarum.
®>ua ne monftra pii pater entur tali a Trees
Delati in partus, neu littora dira fubirent,
Neptimus ventis implevit vela jecundis,
Atque fugam dedit> et prater vadafervida vexit.
i£n. vii. v. 5.
[i mnt) unpjay u mr
by night ")■■
m was bright, >
Iver light. J
Now when the Prince her funeral rites had paid-,
He plow'd the Tyrrhene Teas with fails difplay'd 'r
From land a gentle breeze arofe, by night
Serenely fhone the ftars, the moon
And the lea trembled with her fib
Now near the fhelves of Circe's mores they run,.
(Circe the rich, the daughter of the fun)
A dang'rous coaft: The goddefs vvaftes her days
In joyous fungs, the rocks refound- her lays
In fpinning or the loom, me fpends her night,
And cedar brands fupply her father's light.
From hence were heard, (rebellowing to the main)
The roars of lions that refufe the chain,
.The grunts of briftled boars, and groans of bears,
And herds of howling wolves that flun-the failoi3
ears,
Thefe
170 From Naples to
Thefe from their caverns, at the clofe of night,
Fill the fad ifle with horror and affright.
Dai kling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's pow'r,
(That watch'd the moon, and planetary hour)
With words and wicked herbs, from human kind
Had alter 'd., and in brutal fhapes confin'd.
Which monfters left the Trojan's pious hoft
Should bear, or touch upon th' inchanted coaft;
Propitious Neptune fteer'd their courfe by night
With rifing gales, that fped their happy flight.
Dry den.
Virgil calls this promontory iEeaelnful a Circes in
the third iEneid; but it is the hero, and not the
Poet that fpeaks. It may however be looked upon
as an imitation, that he himfelf thought it an ifland
in iFneas's time. As for the thick woods, which
not only Virgil but Homer mentions in the beautiful
defcription that Plutarch and Longinus have taken
notice of, that are moll: of them grubbed up fince
the promontory has been cultivated and inha-
bited j though there are {till many fpots of it which
ihow the natural ^inclination of the foil leans that
way.
The next place we touched upon was Nettuno,
where we found nothing remarkable befides the ex-
treme poverty and lazinefs of the inhabitants. At
two miles diftance from it lie the ruins of Antium7
that are fpread over a great circuit of land. There
are frill left the foundations of feveral buildings,
and, what are always the laft parts that perifh in
a ruin, many fubterransous grottos and palfages of
a great length. The foundations of Nero's port
are frill to be fecn. It was altogether artificial, and
compofed of huge moles running round it, in a
kind of circular rigurc, except where the mips
were
Rome, by Sea. 17 r
were to enter, and had about three quarters of a
mile in its fhorteft diameter. Though the making
of this port muft have coft prodigious fums of mo-
ney, we find no medal of it, and yet the fame Em«*
peror has a medal ftruck in his own name for the
port of Oftia, which in reality was a work of his
predeceilbr Claudius. The laft Pope was at confider-
able charges to make a little kind of harbour in this
place, and to convey frefh water to it, which was
one of the artifices of the grand Duke, to divert
his holinefs from his project of making Civita-
vecchia a free port. There lies, between Antium and
Nettuno, a cardinal's Villa, which is one of the
pleafanteft for walks, fountains, fhades, and pro-
spects that I e*er faw.
Antium was formerly famous for the temple of
fortune that flood in it. All agree there were two
fortunes worfhipped here, which Suetonius calls the
Fortunes Antiates, and Martial the Sorores Antiu
Some are of opinion, that by thefe two goddelTes
weremeant the twoNemefes, oneof which rewarded1
good men, as the other punifhed the wicked. Fa-
bretti and others are apt to believe, that by the two-
fortunes were only meant in general the goddefs
who fent profperity, or me who fent afflictions to-
mankind, and produce in their behalf an ancient
monument found in this very place, and fuper-
fcribed Fortune Felici ; which indeed may favour
one opinion as well as the other, and mows at lealt
they are not miftaken in the general fenfe of their
divifion. I do not know whether any body has
taken notice, that this double function of the eod-
defs gives a confiderable light and beauty to the
ode which Horace has addrefled to her. The
whorle poem is a prayer to fortune, thaf fhe would
proiper Csefar's arms, and confound his enemies,
172 From Naples to
fc that each of the goddefles has her tafk aligned*
in the Poet's prayer; and we may obferve the in-
vocation is divided between the two deities, the
nrft line relating indifferently to either. That which
I have marked fpeaks to the goddefs of profperityT
or, if you pleafe, to the Nemefis of the good, and
the other to the goddefs of adverfity, or to the
Nemefis of the wicked.
O Diva gratum qucs regis Aniium^
6 Prafcns vel hno toliere de grudu
* Mortale corpus J vel fuperbos
Vertere funeribus triumphos! &c. Od. xxv. Lib. u
G-eat goddefs, Antium's guardian power,
Whofe force is ftrong, and quick to rails
The lowed to the higheft place;
c Or with a wond'rous fall
c To bring the haughty lower,
• And turn proud triumphs to a funeral,' &£*
Creechr
If we take the firft interpretation of the two
fortunes for the double Nemefis, the compliment to
Csfar is the greater, and the fifth ftanza clearer
than the commentators ufually make it; for the
Clavi trabaks, cunei, uncus yliquidumque plwubum, were
actually ufed in the punifhment of criminals.
Our next fta^e brought us to the mouth of the
Tiber, into which we entered with feme danger,
the fea being generally very rough in the parts,
where the river rufhes into it. The feafon of the
year, the muddinefs of the ftream, with the many
green trees hanging over it, put me in mind of
the delightful image that Virgil has given us tfhen
iEneas took the firfl: view of it.
Atqut
Rome, by Sea. 173
Atque hie /Eneas ingentem ex aquore lucum
Profpicit; hunc inter Jiuvio Tiberinus amcenoy
Vortieibus rapidis et multa flavus arena,
In mare prorumpit: varies circumque fupraque
Ajfueta ripis valuer es e.t fluminh aiveo,
jEtbera mulecbant cantu, lueoque volabant.
FleElere iter Soeiis, terra que advert ere proras
Imperat, et Iceim Jiuvio Juecedit opaeo. JEn. vii. v. 29.
The Trojan from the main beheld a wood,
Which thick with (hades, and a brown horrorftood :
Betwixt the trees the Tiber took his courfe,
W ith wbirlpoolsdimpled, and with downward force
That drove the fand along, he took his way,
And roll'd his yellow billows to the fea:
About him, and above, and round the wood,
The birds that haunt the borders of hts flood,
That bath'd within, or bafle'd upon his fide,
To tuneful fongs their narrow throats apply'd.
The captain gives command, the joyful train
Glide through the gloomy made, and leave the main.
Drydem
It is impoflible to learn from the ruins of the
port of Oftia what its figure was when it flood
whole and entire. I fhall therefore fet down the
medal, that I have before mentioned, which repre-
sents it as it was formerly.
it
J74
From Naples to
■
It is worth while to compare Juvenal's defer iptio
of this port with the figure it makes on the coin.
Tandem intrat pofitas inclufa per cequora moles ^
Tyrrhenamque Pbaron, porrcftaque brachia^ rurfus
£{uce pelago occur runt medio , long i que relinquunt
Jtaliam: nonfu igitur mirabere partus
Quos Natura dedit Juv. Sat. xii. v. 75,
At laft within the mighty mole fhe gets,
Our Tyrrhene Pharos, that the mid fea meets
With its embrace, and leaves the land behind ;
A work fo wond'rous nature ne'er defign'd.
Dryden.
The feas may very properly be faid to be in-
clofed [Inclufa) between the two femicircular moles
thatalmoftfurroundthem. The Coloilus, with fome-
thing like a lighted torch in its hand, is probably
the Pharos in the fecond line. The two moles, that
we
Rome, by Sea. 175
we muft fuppofe are joined to the land behind the
Pharos, are very poetically defcribed by the
Porreflaque brachia, rurfus
&>ua pelago occurrunt medio, longeque relinquunt
Italiam
as they retire from one another in the compafs they
make, until their two ends almofl meet a fecond
time in the midft of the waters, where the figure
of Neptune fits. The Poet's reflexion on the haven
is very juft, fmce there are few natural ports better
land-locked, and clofed on all fides than this feems
to have been. The figure of Neptune has a rudder
by him, to mark the convenience of the harbour
for navigation, as he is reprefented himfelf_at the
entrance of it, to fhew it ftood in the fea. The
dolphin diftinguifhes him from a river god, and
figures out his dominion over the feas. He holds
the fame fifh in his hand on other medals. What
it means we may learn from the Greek epigram on
the figure of a Cupid, that had a dolphin in one
hand, and a flower in the other.
T>5 |W,ev yot,% ycuotv, ryh §ot,Ktx,aaa,v e%e*.
A proper emblem graces either hand,
In one he holds the fea, in one the land.
Half a day more brought us to Rome, through
a road that is commonly viftted by travellers.
ROME.
ROME.
IT is generally obferved, that modern Rome (lands
higher than the ancient; fome have computed
it about fourteen or fifteen feet, taking one place
with another. The reafon given for it is, that
the prefent city ftands upon the ruins of the for-
mer; and indeed 1 have often obferved, that where
any confiderable pile of building flood anciently,
one ftil! finds a rifing ground, or a little kind of
hill, which was doubtlefs made up out of the frag-
ments and rubbifh of the ruined edifice. But be-
fides this particular caufe, we may aflign another
that has very much contributed to the raifing the
fituation of feveral parts of Rome: It being certain
the great quantities of earth, that have been
warned off from the hills by the violence of
fhowers have had no fmall fhare in it. This any
one may be fenfible of, who obferves how far feveral
buildings, that ftand near the roots of mountains,
are funk deeper in the earth than thofe that have
been on the tops of hills, or in open plains; for
which reafon the prefent face of Rome is much more
even and level than it was formerly; the fame
caufe, that has raifed the low grounds, having
contributed to fink thofe that were higher.
There are in Rome two fets of antiquities, the
chriftian and the heathen. The former, though of
a frefher date, are fo embroiled with fable and le-
gend,
ROME. 177
gend, that one receives but little fatisfaction from
tearching into them. The other give a great deal
of pleafure to fuch as have met with them before in
ancient authors ; for a man who is in Rome can
fcarce fee an object that does not call to mind a
piece of a Latin Poet or hiftorian. Among the re-
mains of old Rome, the grandeur of the common-
wealth mows itfelf chiefly in works that were either
neceiTary or convenient, fuch as temples, high-
ways, aqueducts, walls, and bridges of the city,
Qn the contrary the magnificence of Rome, under
the Emperors, was rather for orientation or luxury,
than any real ulefulnefs or necemty, as in baths,
amphitheatres, circus's, obelifks, triumphant pil-
lars, arches, and Maufoleums ; for what they
added to the aqueducts was rather to fupply their
baths and Naumachias, and to embellilh the city
with fountains, than out of any real necemty there
was for them. Thefe feveral remains have been fo
. copioufly defcribed by abundance of travellers, and
other writers, particularly by thofe concerned in the
learned collection of Graevius, that it is very diffi-
cult to make any new difcoveries on fo beaten a
fubject. There is however fo much to be obferved
in io fpacious a field of antiquities, that it is almoft
impoiTible to furvey them without taking new hints,
and railing different reflexions, according as a man's
natural turn of thoughts, or the courfe of his
ftudies direct him.
No part of the antiquities of Rome pleafed me Co
much as the ancient ftatues, of which there is fliil
an incredible variety. The workmanfhip is often
the molt exquifite of any thing in its kind. A man
would wonder how it were poflible for fo much life
to enter into marble, as may be difcovered in fome
of the belt of them -, and even in the meaneft one
has
178 ROM E.
has the fatisfaclion of feeing the faces, poftures,
airs and drefs of thofe that have lived fo many ages
before us. There is a ftrange refemblance between
the figures of the feveral heathen deities, and the
defcriptions that the Latin Poets have given us of
them ; but as the firft may be looked upon as the
ancienter of the two, I queftion not but the Ro-
man Poets were the copiers of the Greek ftatuaries.
Though on other occafions we often find the ftatu-
aries took their fubjecls from the Poets. The Lao-
coon is too known an inftance, among many others
that are to be met with at Rome. In the Villa Aldo-
brandina are the figures of an old and young man,
engaged togetherjat the Caeftus,who are probably the
Dares and Lntellusof Virgil; whereby the way one
may obferve the make of the ancient Caeftus, that it
only confided of many iarge thongs about the
hand, without any thing like a piece of lead at the
end of them, as fome writers of antiquities have
falfly imagined.
1 queftion not but many paflages in the old Poets
hint at feveral parts of fculpture, that were in vogue
in the author's time, though they are now never
thought of, and that therefore fuch paflages lofe much
of their beauty in the eye of a modern reader, who
does not look upon them in the fame light with the
author's Cotemporaries. I fhall only mention two
or three ouc of Juvenal, that his commentators have
not taken notice of: The firft runs thus 3
Multa pudicitise veteris vcft'igia for fan,
Aid aliqua extiterint, et jub "Jove, fed Jove nondjmi
Barbate. Sat. vi. v. 14.
Some thin remains of chaftity appear'd
Lv'n under Jove, but Jove without a beard. Dryden.
ROME. 179
I appeal to any reader, if the humour here would
not appear much more natural and unforced to a
people that faw every day fome or other ftatue of
this god with a thick bufhy beard as there are ftill
many of them extant at Rome, than it can to us
who have no fuch idea of him; efpecially if we
confider there was in the fame city a temple dedi-
cated to theyoung Jupiter, called Templum Vejovis,
where, in all probability, there flood the particular
fhtue of a* Jupiter Imberbis. Juvenal, in another
place, makes his flatterer compare the neck of one
that is feebly built to that of Hercules holding up
Antaeus from the earth.
Et hngum invaltdi collum cervicibus aquat
Herculis Antaum procul a tellure tenentis.
Sat. iii. v. 88.
His long crane neck and narrow moulders praife ;
You'd think they were defcribing Hercules
Lifting Antaeus ■ Dryden.
What a {trained unnatural fimilitude muft this
feem to a modern reader, but how full of humour,
if we fuppofe it alludes to any celebrated ftatues
of thefe two champions, that Hood perhaps in fome
public place or highway near Rome? and, what
makes it more than probable there were fuch fta-
tues, we meet with the figures, which Juvenal here
defcribes, on antique Intaglios and medals. Nay,
Propertius has taken notice of the very ftatues.
-Lu£1antu?n in pulvere Jtgtia
fferculis Antaique — Lib. iii. Eleg. 22. v. 9.
* Vid. Ovid, de FafHs, Lib, iii.
j Antaeus
180 ROM E.
Antaeus here and ftern Alcides ftrive,
And both the grappling ftatues feem to live.
I cannot forbear obferving here, that the turn of
the neck and arms is often commended in the Latin
Poets among the beauties of a man, as in Horace
we find both put together, in that beautiful defcrip-
tion of jealoufy :
Dum tuy Lydia^ Telepbi
Cerv'icem rcfeam, 6f cerea Tehphi
Laudas Brachia, va meum
Fervens dijfkili bile tumet jecur,
Tunc nee mem mibi, nee color
Certdfede manent: humor in genas
Furtim labitur, arguens
£htdm lentis pmitus macerer ignibus,
Od. 13. Lib. i. v. 1:
While Telephus's youthful charms,
His rofy neck, and winding arms,
With endlefs rapture you recite,
And in the tender name delight;
My heart, enrag'd by jealous heats,
With numberlefs refemment beats;
From my pale cheeks the colour flies,
And all the man within me dies ;
By fits my fweiling grief appears
In rifing fighs, and falling tears,
That mow too well the warm defires,
The filent, (low, confuming fires,
Which on my inmoft vitals prey,
And melt my very foul away.
This
ROME. 181
This we mould be at a lofs to account for, did
we not obferve in the old Roman ftatues, that thefe
two parts were always bare, and expofed to view,
as much as our hands and face are at prefent.
I cannot leave Juvenal without talcing notice that
his
Vent'ilat aftivmn digit is fudantibus aurumy
Nee fujferre queat major is ponder a Gemma.
Sat. i. v. 28.
Charg'd with light fummer rings his fingers fweat,
Unable to fupport a gem of weight 5 Dry den.
was not anciently fo great an hyperbole as it is
now: for I have {een old Roman rim's fo verv
thick about, and with fuch large irones in them
that it is no wonder a fop fhould reckon them a
little cumberfome in the fummer feaibn of fo hot
a climate.
It is certain that fatire delights in fuch allu-
fions and instances as are extremely natural and
familiar: When therefore we fee any thing in a*
old fatirift that looks forced and pedantic, we
ought to confider how it appeared in the time the
Poet writ, and whether or no there might not be
. fome particular circumftances to recommend it to
the readers of his own age, which we are now
deprived of. One of the fineft ancient ftatues in
Rome is a Meleager with a fpear in his hand,
and the head of a wild boar on one fide of him.
It is of Pa/ian marble, and as yellow as ivory.
One meets with many other figures of Meleager in
the ancient Bafib Relievos., and on the fides of the
Sarcophagi, or funeral monuments. Perhaps it was
the arms or device of the old Roman hunters;
I • which
iS2 ROME.
which conjecture I have found confirmed in a
p'aflage of Manilius, that lets us know the pagan
hunters had Meleager for their patron, as the
chriftians have their St. Hubert. He fpeaks of the
conftellation which makes a good fportfman.
■£hiibus afpirantibus ortl *
Te> Meleagre^ colutit' Manil. Lib. v.
They, on whofe birth this conftellation fhone,
Thee, Meleager, for their patron own.
I queftion not but this fets a verfe, in the fifth
fatire of Juvenal, in a much better light than if we
fuppofe that the Poet aims only at the old ftory of
Meleager, without confidering it as fo very common
and familiar a one among the Romans.
■Fiavi d'l gnus j err o Ahlcagri
Spumat aper ■ Juv. Sat. 5, v. 115,
A boar intire, and worthy of the fword
Of Meleager, fmokes upon the board. Bowles.
In the beginning of the ninth fatire, Juvenal afks
his friend, why he looks like Marfya when he was
overcome?
Scire velim qm^e Utics mi hi, Navole, triflls
Occur vis front e abducta\ jcu Marfya vittm? v. 1.
Tell me why fantring thus from place to place,
1 meet thee, Naevolus, with a clouded face ?
Dryden's Juvenal.
Some
ROME. 183
Some of the commentators tell us, that Marfya
was a lawyer who had loft his caufe; others fay
that this paflage alludes to the ftory of the fatyr
Marfyas,who contended with Apollo j which I think
is more humorous than the other, if we confider
there was a famous ftatue of Apollo fleaing Marfya
in the midft of the Roman Forum, as there are ftill
feveral ancient ftatues of Rome on the fame fubjecl:.
There is a paflage in the fixth fatire of Juvenal,
that I could never tell what to make of, until I had
got the interpretation of it from one of Bellorio's
ancient Baflb Relievos.
Magnorum Artlficum frangehat pocula mi/es9
XJt phaleris gauderet Equus : c&lataque cajjts
Romulea fimulachra ferce manfuefcere jujja
Imperii fato^ et geminos fub rupe J>)uirinoSy
Ac nudam effigiem clypeo fulgeniis ct hafta^
Pendentijque Dei perituro dftenderat hojli.
Juv. Sat. xi. v. 102.
Or elfe a helmet for himfelf he made,
Where various warlike figures were inlaid:
The Roman wolf fuckling the twins was there,
And Mars himfelf, arm'd with his fhield and fpear,
Hov'ring above his creft, did dreadful {how,
As threatning death to each renfting foe.
Dryden's Juvenal.
Juvenal here defcribes the fimplicity of the old
Roman foldiers, and the figures that were gene-
rally engraven on their helmets. The firft of them
was the wolf giving fuck to Romulus and Remus:
The fecond, which is comprehended in the two lad
verfes is not fo intelligible. Some of the com-
mentators tell us, that the god here mentioned is
I 2 Mars,
• i$4
ROME.
Mars, that he comes to fee his two fons fucking
the wolf, and that the old fculptors generally drew
their figures naked, that they might have the ad-
vantage of reprefenting the different (welling of the
mufcles, and the turns of the body. But they are
extremely at a lofs to know what is meant by the
word Pendentis; fome fancy it exprefTes only the
great cmboiTment of the figure; others believe it
hung ofFthe helmet in Alto Relievo, as in the forego-
ing tranflation. Lubin fuppofes, that the god Mars
was engraven on the fhield, and that he is faid to be
hanging, becaufe the fhield which bore him hung
on the left ihoulder. One of the old interpreters
is of opinion, that by hanging is only meant a
pollute of bending forward to ftrike the enemy.
Another will have it, that whatever is placed on the
head may be faid to hang, as we call hanging-
gardens fuch as are planted on the top of the
houfe. Several learned menj who like none of
thefe explications, believe there has been a fault in
the tranferiber, and that Pendentis ought to be
Perdentis; but they quote no manufcript in favour
of their conjecture. The true meaning of the words
is certainly as follows. The Roman foldiers, who
were not a little proud of their founder, and the
military genius of their republic, ufed to bear
on their helmets the firft hiftory of Romulus, who
was begot by the god of war, and fuckled by a
wolf. The figure of the god was made as if de-
fending on the prieftefs Ilia, or as others call her
Rhea Silvia. The occafion required his body
fhould be naked.
^u quique inennis eras cum te fonnofa Sacerdos
Cepit, ut bine urbi Semina magna dares.
Ovid, de Fait. Lib. iii. v. 10.
Then
ROME. 185
Then too, our mighty fire, thou ftood'ft difarm'd,
When thy rapt foul the lovely prieftefs charm'd,
That Rome's high founder bore
though on other oceafions he is drawn, as Horace
has defcribed him, Tunica cinftum adamantina — girt
with a veft of adamant. The fculptor however,
to r'iftinguifh him from the reft of the gods, gave
him, what the medallifts call his proper attributes,
a fpear in one hand, and a mield in the other.
As he was reprefented defcendmg, his figure ap-
peared fufpended in the air over the veftal virgin,
in which (cn(e the word Pendentis is extremely
proper and poetical. Befides the antique BaiFo Re-
lievo, that made me fii ft think of this interpretation,
I have fmce met with the fame figures on the re-
verfes of a couple of ancient coins, which were
ftamped in the reign of Antoninus Pius, as a com-
pliment to that Emperor, whom, for his excellent
government and conduit of the city of Rome,
the fenate regarded as a fecond kind of founder.
I 3 Ilia
i86
ROME.
J7;d Veflalis (quid enhn vetat inde moveri)
Sacra lavaturas mane petebat aquas:
Fejfa refedit humi, ventofque accepit aperto
Petiore, turbatas rejlituitque comas.
Dum feclety umbroja falices volucrefque canora?
Fecerunt Somnos iff leve murmur aqua.
Blanda quies viclis furtim fubrepit ocelli sy
Et (adit a mento languida faha manus.
Man
ROME. 187
Mars videt hanc, vifamque cupit, pctiturque cupita :
Etfua divlna furta fefellit ope.
Bomnus abit : jacet ilia gravis ; jam fcilicet intra
Vifcera Romana coyiditor urbis erat.
Ovid, de Faftis. Lib. iii. v. 1 1.
As the fair veftal to the fountain came,
(Let none be ftartled at a veftal's name)
Tir'd with the walk, me laid her down to reft,
And to the winds expos'd her glowing bread
To take the frefhnefs of the morning air,
And gather'd in a knot her flowing hair:
While thus (he refted on her arm reclin'd,
The hoary willows waving with the wind,
And feather'd quires that warbled in the {hade,
And purlins ftreams that through the meadow
ftray'd,
In drowfy murmurs lull'd the gentle maid.
The god of war beheld the virgin lie,
The god beheld her with a lover's eye,
And by fo tempting an occafion prefs'd,
The beauteous maid, whom he beheld, pofiefs'd :
Conceiving, as (he flept, her fruitful womb
Sweli'd with the founder of immortal Rome.
I cannot quit this head without taking notice of
a line in Seneca the tragedian.
■Primus emergit folo
D extra ferocem cornibus premens taurum
Zeius __ Sen. OEdip. Act 3,
— Firft Zetus rifes through the ground,
Bending the bull's tough neck with pain,
That tofles back his horns in vain.
I 4 I
1 88 ROM E.
I cannot doubt but the Poet had here in view the
pofture of Zetus in the famous groupe of figures,
which reprefents the two brothers binding Dirce to
the horns of a mad bull.
I could not forbear taking particular notice of the
feveral mufical inftruments that are to be feen in
the hands of the Apollos, mufes, fauns, fatyrs,
bacchanals, and fhepherds, which might certainly
give a great light to the difpute for preTerence be-
tween the ancient and modern muiic. It would
perhaps be no impertinent defign to take off all
their models in wood, which might not only give
us fome notion of the ancient mufic, but help us
Xo pleafanter inftruments than are now in ufe. By
the appearance they make in marble, there is not
one firing- inftrument that fcems comparable to our
violins j for they are all play'd on, either by the bare
fingers, or the Pledtium; fo that they were incapa-
ble of adding any length to their notes, or of vary-
ing them by thofe infenfible fvvellings and wearings-
away of found upon the fame firing, which give (o
wonderful a fweetnefs to our modern mufic. Be-
sides, that the ftring-inftruments muft have had very
low and feeble vo.-ces, as may be guefTed from the
frnall proportion of wood about them, which could
not contain air enough to render the ftrokes, in any
confiderable meafure, full and fonorous. There is a
great deal of difference in the make, not only of the
icveral kinds of inftruments, but even among thofe
of the fame name. The Syringa, for example, has
fbmetimes four, and fometimes more pipes, as high as
to twelve. The fame variety of firings may be ob-
served on their harps, and of flops on their Tibiae;
which (hows the little foundation that fuch writers
have gone upon, who from a verfe perhaps in Virgil's
eclogues, or a fhort paffage in a Claflic author, have
been
ROME. 189
been (o very nice in determining the precife fhape of
the ancient mufical inftruments, with the exact
number of their pipes, firings, and ftops. It is in-
deed the ufual fault of the writers of antiquities, to
ftraiten and confine themfelves to particular models.
They are for making a kind of ftamp on every-
thing of the fame name, and, if they find any
thing like an old defcription of the fubjecl they,
treat on, they take care to regulateit, on all occafions ,,
according to the figure it makes in fuch a paflage:
As the learned German author, quoted by Monfieur
Baudelot, who had probably never feen any thing of
ahoufhold-god,morethan aCanopus, affirms round-
ly, that all the ancient Lares were made in thefafhion
of a jug-bottle. In fhort, the antiquaries have
been guilty of the fame fault as the fyftem -writers,
who are'for cramping their fubjects into as narrow a
fpace as they can, and for reducing the whole ex-
tent of a fcience into a few general maxims, This
a man has occafion of obferving more than once
in the feveral fragments of antiquity that are ftiil
to be Ccen in Rome. How many drefTes are there for
each particular deity? what a variety of fhapes
in the ancient urns, lamps, lachrymary veiTels,.
Priapus's, houfhold-gods, which have fome of them
been reprefented under fuch a particular form, as
any one of them has been defer ibed with in an an-
cient author, and would'probably be all fo, were
they not ftill to be feen in their own vindication ?
Madam Dacier, from fome old cuts" of Terence,,
fancies that the Larva or Perfona of the Roman ac-
tors, was not only a vizard for the face, but had
falfe hair to it, and came over the whole head
like a helmet. Among all the (latues at Rome, f
remember to have (etn but two that are the no-ures
of actors., which are both in the Villa Matthei.
1-5 Ons
190 ROM E.
One fees on them the fafhion of the old fock and
Larva, the latter of which anfwers the defcription
that is given of it by this learned lady, though I
queftion not but feveral others were inufe; fori have
feen the figure of Thalia, the comic mufe, fome-
times with an entire head-piece in her hand, fome-
times with about half the head, and a little friz, like
a tower running round the edges of the face, and
fometimes with a mafk for the face only, like thofe
of a modern make. Some of the Italian a&ors wear
at prefent thefe mafks for the whole head. I re-
member formerly I could have no notion of that fa-
ble in Phsedrus, before I had feen the figures of
thefe intire head-pieces.
Pcrfonam Tragican forte Vulpes viderat :
O quanta Species , inquit, cerebrum non habet!
Lib. i. Fab. 7.
As wily Reynard walk'd the ftreets at night,
On a tragedian's mafk he chanc'd to light j
Turning it o'er he mutter'd with difdain,
How vaft a head is here without a brain !
I find Madam Dacier has taken notice of this paf-
fage in Phaedrus, upon the fame occafion; but not
©I the following one in martial, which alludes to
the fame kind of mafks ;
Non ornnes fallis, frit te Proferpina canum ;
Perfonam cap'itl detrahet ilia tuo.
Lib. iii. Epigr. 43.
Why (hould'ft thou try to hide thyfelf in youth ?
Impartial Proferpine beholds the truth,
And, laughing at fo fond and vain a talk,
Will ftrip thy hoarv noddle of its mafk.
In
ROM E. 191
In the Villa Borghefe is the buft of a young Nero,
which {hows us the form of an ancient Bulla on
the breaft, which is neither like a heart, as Ma-
crobius defcribes it, nor altogether refembles that in
Cardinal Chigi's cabinet; fo that, without eftablifh-
ing a particular inftance into a general rule, we
ought, in fubjecls of this nature, to leave room
for the humour of the artift or wearer. There
are many figures of gladiators at Rome, though I
do not remember to have (een any of the Retiarius,
the Samnite, or the antagonift to the Pinnirapus.
But what I could not find among the ftatues, I met
with in two antique pieces of mofaic, which are
in the poffeilion of a Cardinal. The Retiarius is
engaged with the Samnite, and has had fo lucky a
throw, that his net covers the whole body of his
adverfary from head to foot; yet his antagonift
recovered himfelfout of the toils, and was con-
queror, according to the infcription. In another
piece is reprefented the combat of the Pinnirapus,
who is armed like the Samnite, and not like the Re-
tiarius, as fome learned men have fuppofed : On
the helmet of his antagonift are feen the two
Pinnae, that ftand up on either iide like the wings -
in the Petafius of a Mercury, but rife much higher
and are more pointed.
There is no part of the Roman antiquities that we
are better acquainted with, than what relates to
their facrifices. For as the old Romans were very
much devoted to their religion, we fee feveral parts
of it entering their ancient Bailb Relievos, ftatues,
and medals; not to mention their altars, tornhs,
monuments, and thofe particular ornaments of ar-
chitecture, which were borrowed from it. An hea-
then ritual could not' inftrudt a man better than
thefe feveral pieces of antiquity, in the particular
cere*-
192
ROME.
ceremonies and punctilios that attended, the diffe-
rent kinds of Sacrifices. Yet there is a much
greater variety in the make of the facrificing in-
ftruments, than one finds in thofe who have treated
of them, or have given us their pictures. For
not to infift too long on fuch a fubje<5t, I favv in
Signior Antonio Politi's collection a Patera without
any rifing in the middle, as it is generally engraven,
and another with a handle to it, as Macrobius de-
fcriles it, though it is quite contrary to any that I
have ever feen cut in marble; and 1 have obferved
perhaps feveral hundreds. I might here inlarge on
thefhape of the triumphal chariot, which is dif-
ferent in fome pieces of fculpture from what it
appears in others; and on the figure of the Difcus,
that is to be (ccn in the hand of the celebrated
Caitor at Don Livio's, which is perfectly round, and
not oblong, as fome antiquaries have reprefented it,
nor has it any thing like a fling fattened to it, to
add force to the tofs.
Protinus impiudens, aflufque cupidine lufus
'To II ere Tauarides Grbe?n proper abat
— -De Hyacinthi difco.
Ovid. Metam. Lib. x. v. 182.
Th' unwary youth, impatient for the caff,
Went to match up the rolling orb in hafte.
Notwithflanding there are fo great a multitude of
clothed fratues at Rome, I could never difcover the
fevera! different Roman garments ; for it is very dif-
ficult to trace out the figure of a veff, through all the
plaits and foldings of the drapery; befides that the
Roman garments did not differ from each other fo
much by the fhape, as by the embroidery and co-
Jour,
R O M E. 193
lour, the one of which was too nice for the ftatu-
ary's obfervation, as the other does not lie within
the exprefTion of the chiflel. I obferved, in abun-
dance of Bas Reliefs, that the Cindtus Gabinus is
nothing elfe but a long garment, not unlike a fur-
plice, which would have trailed on the ground had
it hung loofe, and was therefore gathered about the.
middle with a girdle. After this it is worth while
to read the laborious defcription that Ferrarius has
made of it. Cinclus Gabinus ncn al'iud fuit qudm
cum toga lacin'ia lava brachio Jubduda in tergwn ita
rejiciebatur, ut contratla retraheretur ad pefius, atque
ita in nodutn neSteretur; qui nodus five cinclus togam con-
trahebat, brevioremque et Jlrittiorcm reddidit. De re
VejViar. Lib. i. Cap. 14. The Cinclus Gabinus was
nothing more, than, when the bottom of the gar-
ment, being thrown over the left moulder behind
the back, was brought round to the bread: in fuch
a manner as to be gathered into a knot;, which
knot or cincture, ftraitened the garment, and
made it both lefs and tighter. Lipfius's defcription
of the Samnite armour, feems drawn out of the
very words of Livyj yet not long ago a ftatue,
which was dug up at Rome, dreiied in this kind
of armour, gives a much diffetent explication of
Livy from what Lipfius has done. This figure was
fuperfcribed B A. TO. NI. from whence Fabretti
concludes, that it was a monument erected to the
gladiator Bato, who, after having fucceeded in two
combats, was killed in the third, and honourably
interred, by order of the Emperor Caracalla. The
manner of punctuation after each fyllable is to be
met with in other antk[ue infcriptions. I confefs
I could never learn where this figure is now to
be feenj but I think it may ferve as an in-
stance
r94 K O NT E.
fiance of the great uncertainty of this fcience of
antiquities*.
In a palace of Prince Cefarini I faw bufts of all
the Antonine family, which were dug up about
two years fince, not far from Albano, in a place
where is fuppofed to have flood a Villa of Marcus
Aurelius. There are the heads of Antoninus Pius,
the Fauftina's, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus,
a young Commodus, and Annius Verus, all in-
comparably well cut.
Though the ftatues that have been found among
the ruins of old Rome are already very numerous, .
there is no queftion but pofterity will have the plea-
fure of feeing many noble pieces of iculpture which
are ftill undifcovered ; for doubtlefs there are greater
treafures of this nature under ground, than what
are yet brought to light. They have often dug
into lands that are defcribed in old authors, as the
places where fuch particular ftatues and obelifks
flood, and have feldom failed of fuccefs, in their
purfuits. There are ftill many fuch promifing fpots
of ground that have never been fearched into. A
great part of the Palatine mountain, for example,
lies untouched, which was formerly the feat of the
imperial palace, and may be prefumed to abound
with more treafures of this nature than any other
part of Rome.
Ecce Palatino crev'it reverentia monti9
Exult Clique habitant e Deoy potior aque Delphi s
Supplicibus lafe populis oracula pandit.
Non alium eerie decuit refloribus orbis
EJje Larem, nulloque magis fe cclle potejias-
* Vid. Fabr, de Columna Trajani.
Mjilmat
ROME. 19$
JEjVimat et fummi fentit fajligia juris,
Attollens apicemfubjeftis regia roftris
Tot circum delubra videt, taniijque Deorum
Cingitur excubiis ■ ■■
Claud, defexto Confulat. Honorii.
The Palatine, proud Rome's imperial feat,
(An awful pile!) ftands venerably great:
Thither the kingdoms and the nations come,
In fupplicating crowds to learn their doom :
To Delphi lefs th' enquiring worlds repair,
Nor does a greater god inhabit there:
This fure the pompous manfion was defign'd
To pleafe the mighty rulers of mankind $
Inferior temples rife on either hand,
And on the borders of the palace ftand,
While o'er the reft her head me proudly rears^
And lodg'd amidft her guardian gods appears.
But whether it be that the richeft of thefe difco-
veries fall into the Pope's hands, or for fome other
reafon, it is faid that the Prince Farnefe, who is
the prefent owner of this feat, will keep it from
being turned up, until he (ees one of his own fa-
mily in the chair. There are undertakers in Rome
who often purchafe the digging of fields, gardens,
or vineyards, where they find any likelihood of fuc-
ceeding, and fome have been known to arrive at
great eftates by it. They pay according to the di-
menfions of the furface they are to break up, and
after having made eflays into it, as they do for
coal in England, they rake into the moft promifing
parts of it, though they often find to their difap-
pointment, that others have been beforehand with
them. However they generally gain enough by the
rubbifh
196 R O M E..
rubbifli and bricks, which the prefent architects
value much beyond thole of a modern make, to
defray the charges of their fearch. I was mown two
fpaces of ground, where part of Nero's golden
houfe flood, for which the owner has been offered
an extraordinary fum of money. What encou-
raged the undertakers are feveral very ancient trees*
which grow upon the fpot, from whence they con-
clude that thefe particular traces of ground muft
have lain untouched for fome ages. It is pity there-
is not fomething like a public regifter, to preferve
the memory of fuch ftatues as have been found from
time to time, and to mark the particular places where
they have been taken up, which would not only
prevent many fruitlefs fearches for the future, but
might often give a confiderable light into the quality
of the place, or the defign of the ftatue.
But the great magazine for all kinds of treafure,
is fuppofed to be the bed of the Tiber. We may be
fure, when the Romans lay under the apprehen-
fions of feeing their city facked by a barbarous
enemy, as they have done more than once, that
they would take care to beftow fuch of their
riches this way as could beft bear the water :
befi-ies what the infolence of a brutifh conque-
ror may be fuppofed to have contributed, who
had an ambition to wafte and deftroy all the
beauties of fo celebrated a city. I need not men-
tion the old common- more of Rome, which ran
from all parts of the town with the current and
violence of an ordinary river,, nor the frequent
inundations of the Tiber, which may have ivvept
away many of the ornaments of its banks, nor the
feveral ftatues that the Romans themfelves flung
into it, when they would revenge themfelves on
the
ROME. 197
the memory of an ill citizen, a dead tyrant, or a
difcarded favourite. At Rome they have fo general
an opinion of the riches of this river, that the
Jews have formerly proffered the Pope to cleanfe it,
fo they might have for their pains, what they found
in the bofom of it. I have ken the valley near
Ponte molle, which they propofed to fafhion into a
new channel for it, until they had cleared the old for
its reception. The Pope however would not comply
with the propofal, as fearing the heats might ad-
vance too far before they had finifhed their work,
and produce a peftilence among his people ; though I
do not fee why fuch a defign might not be executed
now with as little danger as in Au^uftus's time,
were there as many hands employed upon it. The
city of Rome would receive a great advantage from
the undertaking, as it would raife the banks and
deepen the bed of the Tiber, and by confequence
free them from thofe frequent inundations to which
they are fo fubjecl: at prefent ; for the channel of
the river is obferved to be narrower within the
walls, than either below or above them.
Before I quit this fubjecl of the ftatues, I thinic
it is very obfervable, that, among thofe which are al-
ready found, there fhould be fo many not only of the
fame perfons, but made after the fame defign. One
would not indeed wonder to fee feveral figures of
particular deities and emperors, who had a multi-
tude of temples erected to them, and had their
feveral fets of worfhippers and admirers. Thus
Ceres, the mod beneficent and ufeful of the heathen
divinities, has more flatues than any other of the.
gods or goddeffes, as feveral of the Roman Em-
preffes took a pleafure to be reprefented in her drefs.
And I believe one finds as many figures of that ex-
cellent Emperor Marcus Aurelius, as of all the reft.
together y
198
ROME.
together ; becaufe the Romans had fo great a venera-
tion for his memory, that i? grew into a part of
their religion to preferve a ftatue of him in almoft
every private family. But how comes it to pafs,
tjiat fo many of thefe ftatues are cut after the very
fame model, and not only of thefe, but of fuch as
had no relation, either to the intereft or devotion-
of the owner, as the dying Cleopatra, the NarcifTus,
the fawn leaning a;rainft the trunk of a tree, the
boy with a bird in his hand, the Leda and her
fwan, with many others of the fame nature? I
muft confefs I alwavs looked on figures of this kind
as the copies of fome celebrated mafter- piece, and
queftion not but they were famous originals, that
gave rife to the federal ftatues which we fee with
the fame air, pofture, and attitudes. What con-v
firms me in this conjecture, there are many ancient
ftatues of the Venus de Aledicis, the Silenus with the
young Bacchus in his arms, the Hercules Farnefe,
the Antinous, and other beautiful originals of the
ancients, that are already drawn out of the rubbifh,
where they lay concealed for fo many ages_ Among
the reft I have obferved more that are formed after
the defign of the Venus of Medicis, than of any other ;
from whence I believe one may conclude, that it
was the mod celebrated ftatue among the ancients,
as well as among tr^e moderns. It has always been-
ufual for fculptors to work upon the beft models,
as it is for thofe that are curious to have copies of
them.
I am apt to think fomething of the fame account
may be given of the refemblance that we meet
with in many of the antique Baflb Relievos. I re-
member I was very well pleafed with the device of
one that I met with on the tomb of a young Ro-
man lady, Mrhich had. been made for her by her
mother..
ROME. 199
mother. The fculptor had chofen the rape of ?ro-
ferpine for his device, where in one enu you might
fee the god of the dead (Pluto) hurrying away a
beautiful young virgin (Proferpine) and at the other
the <mef and diftra&ion of the mother (Ceres) on
that occafion, I have fince obferved the fame de-
vice upon feveral Sarcophagi, that have inclofed the
afhes of men or boys, maids or matrons; for
when the thought took, though at firft it received
its rife from fuch a particular occafion as I have
mentioned, the ignorance of the fculptors applied
it promifcuoufly. I know there are authors who
difcover a myftery in this device.
A man is fometimes furprifed to find (o many-
extravagant fancies as are cut on the old pagan
tombs. Mafks, hunting-matches, and bacchanals,
are very common; fometimes one meets with a lewd
figure of a Priapus, and ir the Villa Pamphilia is
feen a fatyr coupling with a goat. There are how-
ever many of a more ferious nature, that fhadow out
the exiftence of the foul after death, and the hopes
of a happy immortality. I cannot leave the BafTo
Relievos, without mentioning one of them, where
the thought is extremely noble. It is called Ho-
mer's Apotheofis, and confifts of a groupe of figures
cut in the fame block of marble, and rifing one
above another by four or five different afcents. Ju-
piter fits at the top of it with a thunderbolt in his
hand, and, in fuch a majefty as Homer himfelf re*-
prefents him, prefides over the ceremony.
U. ir v. 498.
There^
200 ROM E.
There, far apart, and high above the reft,
The thund'ier fat; where old Olympus ihrouds
His hundred heads in heav'n, and pi ops the clouds^
Pope.
Immediately beneath him are the figure? of the
nine mufes, fuppoied to be celebrating the praiies of
the Poet. Homer himfelf is placed at one end of the
loweft row, fitting in a chair of ftate, uhich is
fupported on each fide by the figure of a kneeling
woman. The one holds a fword in her hand to
reprefent the Iliad, or actions of Achilles, as the
other has an Apluftre to reprefent the Odyffey, or
voyage of Ulyfles. About the Poet's feet are creep-
ing a couple of mice, as an emblem of the ftatia-
chomyomachia. Behind the chair ftands time, and
the genius of the earth, diftinguifhed by their pro-
per attributes, and putting a garland on the Poet's
head, to intimate the mighty reputation he has
gained in all ages, and in all nations of the world.
Before him ftands an altar with a bull ready to be
facrificed to the new god, and behind the victim a
train of the feveral virtues that are reprefented in.
Homer's works, or to be learnt out of them, lifting
up their hands in admiration of the Poet, and in
applaufe of the folemnity. This antique piece of
fculpture is in the pofTeflion of the conftable Colon -
na, but never fhown to thofe who fee the palace,
unlefs they particularly defire it.
Among the great variety of ancient coins which
I faw at Rome, I cou'd not but take particular no-
tice of fuch as relate to any of the buildings or fta-
tues that are ffill extant. Thofe of the firft kind
have been already publiflied by the writers of the
Roman antiquities, and may be moil of them met
with in the lair, edition of Donatus, as the pillars of
Trajan
ROME. 201
Trajan and Antonine, the arches of Drufus Germa-
nicusand Septirriius Seveius, the temphs of Janus,
Concord,Vefta,Jupkertonans,ApolloanuFauft!na,
the Circus MaxirnuSjAgonalis, a id that of Caracal-
la, or, according to Fabretti, of Galienus, of Vefpa-
fian's ampnitheatre,and Alexander Severus's baths;
though, I muftconfefs, the fubje£ of the laft may be
very well doubted of. As for the Metafudans and
Pons JElius, which have gained a place among the
buildings that are now (landing, and to be met with
on old reverfes of medals; the coin that mows the
firft is generally rejected as fpurious, noris the other,
though cited in the laft edition of Monfieur Vaillant,
efteemed more authentic by the prefent Roman me-
dal ifts, who are certainly the moft fkilful in the
world, as to the mechanical part of this fcience. I
{hall clofe up this fet of medals with a very curious
one, as large as a medalion, that is fmgular in its
kind. On one fide is the head of the Emperor
Trajan, the reverfe has on it the Circus Maximus,
and a view of the fide of the Palatine mountain
that faces it, on which are feen feveral edifices, and
among the reft the famous temple of Apollo, that
has (till a confiderable ruin (landing. This medal
I faw in the hands of Monfeigneur Strozzi, brother
to the Duke of that name, who has many curiofi-
ties in his poffeflion, and is very obliging to a ftran-
ger who defires the fight of them. It is a furprifing
thing, that among the great pieces of architecture
represented on the old coins, one can never meet
with the Pantheon, the Maufoleum of Auguftu?,
Nero's golden houfe, the Moles Adriani, the Sep-
tizonium of Severus, the baths of Dioclefian, &c.
But fmce it was the cuftom of the Roman Emperors
thus to regifter their moft remarkable buildings as
well as actions, and fince there are feverahin either
of
202 ROME.
of thefe kinds not to be found on medals, more ex-
traordinary than thofe that are, we may, I think,
with great reafon fufpecl; our collections of the old
coins to be extremely deficient, and that thofe which
are already found out fcarce bear a proportion to
what are yet undifcovered. A man takes a great
deal more pleafure in furveying the ancient ftatues,
who compares them with medals, than it is poflible
for him to do without fome little knowledge this
way; for thefe two arts illuftrate each other; and
as there are feveral particulars in hiftory and anti-
quities which receive a great light from ancient
coins, fo would it be impoflible to decipher the faces
of the many ftatues that are to be feen at Rome,
without fo univerfal a key to them. It is this that
teaches to diftinguifti the Kings and Confuls, Empe-
rors and EmprefTes, the deities and virtues, with a
thoufand other particulars relating to a ftatuary, and
not to be learnt by any other means. In the Villa
Pamphilia ftands the ftatue of a man in woman's
clothes, which the antiquaries do not know what
to make of, and therefore pafs it off for an Herma-
phrodite : But a learned medalift in Rome has lately
fixed it to Clodius, who is fo famous for having in-
truded into the folemnities of the Bona Dea in a wo-
man's habit; for one fees the fame features and
make of face in a medal of the Clodian family.
I have feen on coins the four fineft figures per-
haps that are now extant: The Hercules Farnefe,
the Venus of Aiedicis, the Apollo in the Beividere,
and the famous Marcus Aureliuson horfeback. The
oldeft medal that the firft appears upon is one of
Commodus, the fecond on one of Fauftina, the third
on one of Antoninus Pius, and the la ft on one of
Lucius Verus. We may conclude, I think, from
hence, that thefe ftatues were extremely celebrated
among
ROME. 203
among the old Romans, or they would never have
been honoured with a place among the Emperor's
coins. We may further obferve, that all four of
them makethei; firft appearance in the Antonine fa-
mily ; for which reafon I am apt to think they are
all of them the product of that age. They would
probably have been mentioned by Pliny the naturalift,
who lived in the next reign, fave one, before Anto-
ninus Pius, had they been made in his time. As
for the brazen figure of Marcus Aurelius on horfe-
back, there is no doubt of its being of this age, though
I muft confefs it may be doubted, whether the me-
dal I have cited reprefents it. All I can fay for it
is, that the horfe and man on the medal are in the
fame pofture as they are on the ftatue, and that
there is a refemblance of Marcus Aurelius's face;
for I have feen this reverfe on a medalion of Don
Livio's cabinet, and much more diftinctly in ano-
ther very beautiful one, that is in the hands of Signior
Marcus Antonio. It isgenerally objected, that Lucius
Verus would rather have placed the figure of him-
felf on horfeback upon the reverie of his own coin,
than the figure of Marcus Aurelius. But it is very
well known that an Emperor often ftamped on his
coins the face or ornaments of his Collegue, as an
inftance of his refpe<5t or friendfhip for him; and
we may fuppofe Lucius Verus would omit no oppor-
tunity of doing honour to Marcus Aurelius, whom
he rather revered as his father, than treated as his
partner in the empire. The famous Antinous in
the Belvidere mult have been made too about this
a^e ; for he died towards the middle of Adrian's
reign, the immediate predeceffor of Antoninus Pius.
This intire figure, though not to be found in medals,
may be feen in feveral precious ftones. Monfieur
La ChauiTe, the author of the Mufeum Romanum,
fhewM
204 ROME.
(hewed me an Antinous that he has published in his
Jaft volume, cut in a Cornelian, which he values at
fifty piftoles. It reprefents him in the habit of a
Mercury, and is the fineft Intaglia that I ever faw.
Next to theftatues,thereisnothingin Rome more
furprizing than that amazing variety of ancient pil-
lars of fo many kinds of marble. As mod of the
old ftatues maybe well fuppofed to have been cheaper
to their firft owners, than they are to a modern
purchafer, feveral of the pillars are certainly rated at
a much lower price at prefent than they were of old.
For, not to mention what a huge column of Gra-
nite, Serpentine, or Porphyry muft have coft in the
quarry, or in its carriage from /Egypt to Rome, we
may only confider the great difficulty of hewing it
into any form, and of giving it the due turn, pro-
portion and polifh. It is well known how thefe
forts of marble refift the imprcflions of fuch inftru-
ments as are now in ufe. There is indeed a Mila-
nefe at Rome who works in them ; but his advances
are fo very flow, that he fcarce lives upon what he
gains by it. He mowed me a piece of Porphyry
worked into an ordinary falver, which had coft him
four months continual application, before he could
bring it into that form. The ancients had pro-
bably fome fecret to harden the edges of their tools,
without recurring to thofe extravagant opinions of
their having an art to mollify the ftone, or that it
was naturally fofter at its firft cutting from the rock,
or, what is ftill more abfurd, that it was an artifi-
cial compofition, and not the natural product of
mines and quarries. The moft valuable pillars
about Rome, forthe marbleof which they are made,
are the four columns of oriental jafper in St. Pau-
lina's chapel at St. Mary Maggiore; two of oriental
granite in St. Pudenzianaj one of tranfparent ori-
ental
R O M E. 205
er.tal jafper in the Vatican library ; four of Nero-
Bianco in St. Cecilia Tranftevere ; twoofBrocatello,
and two of oriental agate in Don Livio's palace;
two of Giallo Antico in St. John Lateran, and two
of Verdi Antique in the Villa Pamphilia. Thefe are
all intire and folid pillars, and made of fuch. kinds
of marble as are no where to be found but among
antiquities, whether it be that the veins of it are
undiscovered, or that they were quite exhaufted upon
the ancient buildings. Among thefe old pillars I
cannot forbear reckoning a great part of an alabafter
column, which was found in the ruins of Livia's
Portico. It is of the colour of fire, and may be
feen over the high Altar cA' St. Maria in Campitello ;
fop they have cut it into two pieces, and fixed it in
the fhape of a crofs in a hole of the wall that was
made on purpofe to receive it ; fo that the light,
patting through it from without, makes it look, to
thofe who arc in the church, like a huge transparent
crofs of amber. As for the workmanship of the
old Roman pillars, MonfieurDcfgoderz, in his accu-
rate meafures of thefe ruins, has obferved, that the
ancients have not kept to the nicety of proportion,
and the rules of art, fo much as the moderns in
this particular. Some, to excufe this defect, lay the
blame of it on the workmen of /Egypt, and of other
nations, who fent moil: of the ancient pillars ready
ih aped to Rome: Others fay, that the ancients,
knowing architecture was chiefly defigned to pleafe
the eye, only took care to avoid fuch difpro-
portions as were grofs enough to be obferved by the
fight, without minding whether or no they ap-
proached to a mathematical exactnefs: Others will
have it rather to be an effect of art, and of what
the Italians call the Gufto crande, than of anv ne^-
ligence in the architect; for they fay, the ancients
K al ways
5o6
ROME.
always confidered the fituation of a building, whe-
ther it was high or low, in an open fquare or in a
narrow ftreet, and more or lefs deviated from their
rules of art, to comply with the feveral diftanees
and elevations from which their works were to be
regarded. It is laid there is an Ionic pillar in the
Santa Maria Tranflevere, where the marks of the
coYnpafs are flill to be (ccn on the volute, and that
Palladio learnt from hence the working: of that dif-
ficult problem; but I never could find time to exa-
mine all the old columns of that church. Among
the pillars I m-uft not pafs over the two nobleft in
the world, thofe of Trajan and Antonine. There
c,ould not have been a more magnificent defign than
that of Trajan's pillar. Where could an Emperor's
aihes have been fo nobly lodged, as in the midft of
his metropolis, and on the top of (o exalted a mo-
nument, with the greater! of his actions underneath
him? Or, as fome will have it, his ftatue was on
the top, his urn at the foundation, and his battles
in the mid ft. The fculpture of it is too well known
to be here mentioned. The molt remarkable piece
in Antonine's pillar is the figure of Jupiter Pluvius,
lending down rain on the fainting army of Marcus
Aurclius, and thunderbolts on his enemies, which
ic; the greateft confirmation pofhble of the ftory oi
the chriftian legion, and will be a Handing evi-
dence for it, when any paiFage in an old author
may be fuppofed to be forged. The figure, that
Jupiter here makes among the clouds, puts me in
mind of a paffage in the iEneid, which gives jul
fuch another image of him. Virgil's Interpreters
are certainly to blame, that fuppofe it is nothing but
the air which is here meant by Jupiter.
Quantus ab occafu veniens pluvialibus hoodh
Vevberat imher humum9 quam multa grandine nimbi
$t O M E. 207
-In vada precipitant^ quum Jupiter horridus aujlris
Torquet aquojam byemem, et coelo cava nubila rumpii.
JEn. ix. v. 668.
The combat thickens, like the ftorm that flies
From weftward, when the fhow'ry kids arife :
Or patt'ring hail comes pouring on the main,
When Jupiter defcends in harden'd rain,
Or bellowing clouds burfl with a ftormy found,
And with an armed winter ftrew the ground.
Dry den.
I have feen a medal, that, according to the opi-
nion of many learned men, relates to the fame ftory.
The Emperor is intitied on itGermanicus, (as it was
in the wars of Germany that this circumftance
happened) and carries on the reverfe a thunder-
- bolt in his hand; for the heathens attributed the
fame miracle to the piety of the Emperor, that
the chriftians afcribed to the prayers of their legion.
Fulmen de coelo precibus fuis contra hojlium Machlna-
mentwn Marcus ex t or/it, fuis pluvid impctrata cum fid
■lahorarent, Jul. Capit,
The Empesor Marcus Aurelius, by his prayers*
extorted thunder from heaven againft the enemy's
battering engine, having obtained rain for his
army, when it was oppreffed with thirfr.
Claudian takes notice of this miracle, and has
given the fame reafon for it.
-Ad templa vocatus,
Clemens Marce, redis, cum gentibus undique cinclam
Exuit Hefperiam paribus foriuna periclis.
Laus ibi ?iulla ducum, nam jlammeus imber in hojlem
Deciditj hunc dorfo trepidum fumante ferebat
K 2 Ambujius
2o 3 R O M E,
jfmbu/ius fcnipes\ hie tabefcente folutus
'Subjedit galea, liquefaclaque fulgure cufph
Canduit, et Jubitis fluxere vapwibus enfes.
"Tunc, content a polo, mortalis nefcia tell
Pugna fult. Chahlaa mago feu carmlna riiu
Armavere Dros : feu, quod reor, omne tonantis
Qbfcquium Marei mores potuere ?ncrcri.
De fexto Conf. Hon,
So mild Aurelius to the gods repaid
The grateful vows that in his fears he made,
When Latium from unnumber'd foes was freed:
Nor did he then by his own force fucceed ;
But with descending fhow'rs of brimftone fVd,
The wild barbarian in the (torm expir'dr
Wrapt in devouring flames the horfeman rag'd,
And fpurr'd his freed in equal flames engag'd :
Another pent in his fcorch'd armour glow'd,
While from his head the melting helmet flow'd ;
Swords by the lightning's fubtle force difrill'd,
And the cold fheath with running metal fill'd:
No human ann its weak afiiitance brought,
But heav'n, offended heav'n, the battle fought;
Whether dark magic and Chaldean charms
Had fill 'd the fkies, and fet the god in arms;
Or good Aurelius (as I more believe)
Deferv'd whatever aid the thunderer could give.
I do not remember that M.Dacier, among feveral
quotations on this fubjecf, in the life of rVlarcus
Aurelius, has taken notice, either of the foremen-
tioned figure on the pillar of Marcus Antoninus, or of
the beautiful piflage I have quoted out of Claudian.
It is pity the obelifks in Rome had not been charged
with feveral parts of the ^Egyptian hiflories infread
«i hieroglyphics, which might have given no fmall
light
ROME. 209
Tight to the antiquities of that nation*, which arer
mow quite funk out of fight in thofe remoter ages of
the world. Among the triumphal arches, that of
Conftantine is not only the nobleftof any in Rome,,
but in the world*. I fearched narrowly into it, es-
pecially among thofe additions of fculpture made in
the Emperor's own age, to fee if I could find any
mark of the apparition, that is faid to have pre-
ceded the very victory which gave occafion to the
triumphal arch. But there are not the leaft traces
of it to be met with, which is not very ftrange, if
we confider that the greateff. part of the ornaments-
were taken from Trajan's arch, and fet up to the
new conqueror, in no fmall hafle, by the fenate
and people of Rome, who were then mod of them*
heathens. There is however fomethins; in the in-
icription, which Fs as old as the arch itfelf, which:
feems to hint at the Emperor's vifion. Imp. Caf.
Ft. Conftantino maximo P. F. Augujio S. P. jg. R.
quod inftinctu Divinitatis mentis magnltudine cum ex-
ercitu fuo tarn de Tyranno quam de omnl ejus Fa&ione
uno tempore jujiis Re?npublica?n ultus eji armis ar~
cum triumphis infignem dicavit. To the Emperor
Conftantine,&c. the fenate and. people of Rome have-
dedicated this Triumphal arch, becaufe, through a
Divine Impulfe, with a greatnefs of mind, and
by force of arms he delivered the common-
wealth at once from the tyrant and all his fac-
tion. There is no ftatue of this Emperor at
Rome with a crofs to it, thoug-h the ecclefiaftical'
hilrorians fay there were many fuch erected to
him. I have feen his medals that were (tamped
with it, and a very remarkable one of his foil-
Conftantius, where he is crowned by a victory on.
the reverfe, with this infcrrption, In hoc Signo
K 3 Vv£lar
2io R O M E.
Viftor eris. Ml£ This triumphal arch, and Tome
other buildings of the fame age, fliow us that
architecture held up its head after all the other
arts of defigning were in a very weak and Ian-
gOffhing condition, as it was probably the firft-
among^them that revived. If I was iurprifed not
to find the crofs in Conftantine's arch, I was as
much difappointed not to fee the figure of the
temple of jerufalem on that of Titus, where are
reprefented the golden candlestick, the table of
fnew- bread, and the river Jordan. Some are
of opinion, that the compose pillars of this,
arch were made in imitation of the pillars o£
Solomon's temple, and obfe: ve that thefe arc
the moft ancient of any that -re found of that
order.
It is almoft irnpofilble for a man to form, in-
his imagination, fuch beautiful and glorious fcenes
as are to be met with in feveral of the Roman
churches and chapels; for having fuch a pro-
digious flock of ancient marble within the very
city, and at the fame time fo many different
quarries in the bowels of their country, moft of
their chapels are laid over with fuch a rich va-
riety of jncruftations, as cannot pofTibly be found
in any other fart of the world. And notwith-
ftanding the incredible fums of money, which
have been already laid out this way, there is itiii
the fame work going forward in other parts of
Rome, the laft ftill endeavouring to.outfhine thofe
that went before them. Painting, fculpture and
archite&ure, are at prefent far from being in a
flourifliins condition i but it is thought they may-
alL
ROM E. 2ii
all recover themfelves under the prefent pontifi-
cate, if the wars and confufions of Italy will
give them leave. For as the pope is himfelf a
mafter of police learning, and a great encou-
rager of arts, fo at Rome any ofthefe. arts im-
mediatelv thrives under the encouragement of
the Prince, and may be fetched up ro its per-
fection in ten or a dozen years, which is the work
of an ao-e or two in other countries, where they
have not fuch excellent models to form themfelves
upon.
I mall conclude my observations on Rome
with a letter of King Henry the eighth to Anne
of Bullein, tranferibed out of the famous manu-
script in the Vatican, which the Bifhop of Sa~
lifbury allures us is written with the King's own^
hand.
6 The caufe of my writing at this time is to
' hear of your health and piofperity, of which
* 1 would be as glad as in a manner of my own,,
6 praying God that it be his pleasure to lend us
6 (hortly together, for, I promile,. I long for it j
6 howbeit 1 truft it mall not be loivr too, and
& feeing my darling is abfent, I can no lefs do
6 than fend her fome Re^n., prognosticating that
6 hereafter thou muft have fome of mine, which,
6 if he pleale, I would have now. As touching
4 your lifter's mother, I have configned Walter
4- Welfh to write to my Lord Man wring my mind
c therein ; whereby I truft he mall not have power
6 to difieid her; for furely, whatever is (aid, it
c cannot fo Hand with his honour, but that he
4 muft needs take his natural daughter in her
** extreme neceility. No more to you at this
K 4, fc time,
212 , ROME.
c time, my own darling, but that with a whiftie
« I wim we were together one evening; by the
1 hand of yours,
H E N R Y.
Thefe letters are always fhown to an Englifhmaa
that vifits the Vatican library.
T O W N S
T O W N
£
Within the Neighbourhood of
R O M K
I Spent three or four days on Tivoli, Frefcati^
Paiiflnna and Albano. In our way to Tivoli
I faw the rivulet of Salforata, formerly called
Albula, and fmelt the flench that arifes from its*
waters fome time before I faw them. Martial
mentions this offenfive fmell in an epigram of
the fourth book, as he does the rivulet itfelf in<
the firfk
£hod ficcee redokt focus lacuna^
Crudarum nebula quod Albularum. Lib. iv. Epi«r. 4*.
The dying marfhes fuch a ftench convey,
Such the rank fteams of reeking Albula.
Itur ad Herculece gelidas qua Tiburis arces9,
Canaque fulphureis Albula fumat aquis.
Lib. i Epfgr. 5,
As from high Rome to Tivoli you goy. -
Where Albula's fulphureous waters Bowv
K 5 The
214 Towns within the
The little lake that gives rife to this river*
with, its floating iflands, is one of the moft extraor- ,
dinary natural curiofities about Rome. It lies in the-
very flat of Campania; and as it is the drain of
thefe parts, it is no wonder that it is fo impregnated
with fulphur. It has at bottom fo thick a fedi-
ment of it, that, upon throwing in a ftone, the
water boils for a confiderable time over the place-
which has been ftirred up. At the fame time are
feen little flakes of fcurf rifing up, that are proba-
bly the parts which compofe the iflands; for they
often mount of themfelves, though the water is not
troubled.
I queflion not but this lake was formerly much,
larger than it is at prefent, and that the banks have
grown over it by degrees, in the fame manner as the
iflands have been formed on it. Nor is it improba-
ble but that, in procefs of time, the whole furface
pf it may be crufted over, as the iflands inlarge
themfelves, and the banks clofe in upon them. Alh
about the lake, where the ground is dry, we
found it to be hollow by the trampling of our horles
feet. I could not difcover the leaft traces of the
Sibyls temple and grove, which ftood on the bor-
ders of this lake. Tivoli is feen at a diftance lying
along the brow of a hill. Its fituation has given
Horace occafion to call it Tibur Supinum, as Virgil,
perhaps for the fame reafon intitles it Superbum,
The Villa de [Viedicis with its water- works, the
cafcade of the Teverone, and the ruins of the Si--
by Is temple (of which Vignoia has made a little
copy at St. Peter's de Montorio) are defcribed in
every itinerary. I rmift confels I was moft pleafed
with a beautiful profpecx that none of them have
mentioned, which lies at about a m;!e diftance from,
tue town, it opens on one fide into the Roman
Can*
Neighbourhood of Rom e. 215-
Campania, whether the eye lofes itfelf on a fmooth
fpacious plain. On the other fide is a more broken
and interrupted fcene, made up of an infinite va-
riety of inequalities and fhadowings that naturally
arife from an agreeable mixture of hills, groves
and valleys. But the moll enlivening part of all is
the river Teverone, which von fee at about a quar-
ter of a mile's diitance throwing itfelf down a pre-
cipice, and falling by feverai c-Jc: !es from one rcclc
to another, until it gains the bottom of the valley,
wheie the fi^ht of it would be quite loll, did not it
. fometimes difcover itfelf ihrough the breaks and
openings of the woods that grow ab ut it. The
Roman painters often work, upon this landfkip, and
I am apt to believe that H n.ce had his eye upon
it in thofe two or three beautiful touches which
he has given us of thefe feats. The Teverone was-
formerly called the Anio.
Me nee tarn pattern Lacedcsmoriy
EJec tarn Larijjcc per at (fit campus opimtc,.-
3uam domus JJbunca refonanth.
Et pr&ceps Anio, et Tiburm lucus, et ua&9
Mobiiibus pomaria rivis. Lib. i. Od. vii. v. i.e.
Not fair LarifFa's fruitful more,
Nor Lacedsemon, charms me more
Than high Albunea's airy walls,
Refounding with her water-falls,
And Tivoli's delightful mades,
And Anio rolling in cafcades,
That through the flovy'ry meadows glides
And all the beauteous fcene divides.
I remember Monfieur Dacier explains Mobiiibus
by Ductilibus, and believes that the word relates -to
- th«
•2 1 6 Towns within the
the conduits, pipes, and canals, that were made to-
diftribute the waters up and down, according to the
plcafure of the owner. But any one who lees the
Teverone muft be of another opinion, and conclude
it to be one of the moft moveablerivers in the world,
that has its ftream broken by fuch a multitude of
cafcades, and is fd often flii « ted out of one channel
into another. After a very turbulent and noify
eourfe of feveral miles anions the rocks and moun-
tains, the Teverone falls into thevalley before- men-
tioned, where it recovers its temper, as it were, by
little and little, and after many turns and wind-
ings glides peaceably into the Tiber. In which fenfe-
weare to under (land Silius Italicus's defcription, to.
give it its proper beauty.
Sulphur sis gel! das qua far pit leniter undh.
Ad genitarem Anio labens Jim murmur e Tibritn.
Here the loud Anio's boifVrous clamours ceafev.
That with fubmiilive murmurs glides in peace
To his old fire the Tiber
At Frefcati-I had the fatisfae'tion of feeing the fir ft
fketch of Verfailies in the walks and water-works.
The ;>rofpee~t from it was doubtleis much more de-
lightful formerly, when the Campania was fetthiclc
with towns, villas, and plantations. Cicero's
Tufctilumwas at a piacecailed Grotto Ferrate, about
two miles off this town, though moR of the mo-
dern writers have fixed it to Frefcati. Nardini fays,
there was found amons; the ruins at Grotto Ferrate
a piece of fculprure, which Cicero himfelf mentions
in one of his familiar epiftles. In going to Frcfcati.
we had a fair view of mount Algido.
Oil
Neighbourhood ox R o m e. 217-
On our way to Palaeftrina we faw the lake
Regillus, famous for the apparition of Caftor and
Pollux, who were here (cen to give their horfes
drink after the battle between the Romans and the
fon-in-law of Tarquin. At fome-diftance from ic
we had a view of the Lacus Gabinus, that is much
larger than the former. We left the road for about
half a mile to fee the fources of a modern aqueduct.
It is entertaining to obferve how the little fprings
and rills, that break out of the fides of the moun-
tain, are gleaned up, and conveyed through little
covered channels intothe main hollow of the aque-
duct. It was certainly very lucky for Rome, feeing
it had occafion for fo many aqueducts, that there
chanced to be fuch a range of mountains within its
neighbourhood. For by this means they could take
up their water from what height they pleafed, with-
out the expence of fuch an engine as that of Marli.
Thus the Claudian aqueduct run thirty-eight miles,
and funk after the proportion of five foot and a,hal£
tveiy mile, by the advantage only of a high fource
and the low fituation of Rome. Palaeftrina ftands-
very high, like moft other towns in Italy, for the
advantage of the cool breezes; for which reafon
Virgil calls it Altum, and Horace Frio-idum Praenefle^
Statius calls it PrasnefteSacrum, becaufe of the fa-
mous temple of Fortune that flood in -it. There
are ftill great pillars of granite, and other frag-
ments of this ancient temple. But the m oft con-*
fiderable remnant of it is a very beautiful Mofaio
pavement, the fineft I have ever feen in marble.
The parts are fo well joined together, that the whole
piece looks like a continued picture. There are in it-
the figures of a rhinoceros, of elephants, and offeve-
ral other animals, with little landfkips, w.hich look
very iively and well painted^ though they are mad a
out-
2i 8 Towns within the
out of the natural colours and fhadows 6f the mar-
ble. I do not remember ever to have met with an
old Roman Mofaic, compofed of little pieces of clay
half vitrified, and prepared at the glafs-houfes,,
which the Italians call Smalte. Thefe are much in
life at prefent, and may be made of what colour
and figure the workman pleafes; which is a mo-
dern improvement of the art, and enables thole,
who are employed in it to make much finer pieces
of Mofaic then they did formerly.
In our excurfion to Albano we went as far as
Nemi, that takes its name from the Nemus Dianse.
The whole country thereabouts is frill over-run
with woods and thickets. The lake of Nemi
lies in a very deep bottom, fo furrounded on all
fides with mountains and groves, that the furface
of it is never rufHed with the leaf! breath of wind,
which, perhaps, together with the ciearnef; of its
waters, gave it formerly the name of Diana's
Looking-glafs.
• Specalu?nque Dicing. V i rg.
Prince Caefarini has a palace at Jenfano, very
near Nemi in a pleafant fituation, and fet off with
many beautiful walks. In our return from Jen-
fano to Albano, we palled through la Ricca, the An*
cia of the ancients, Horace's firfl ftage from Rome
to Brundifi. There is nothing at Albano fo remark-
able as the profpecl from the Capuchins garden,,
which for the extent and variety of pleafing inci-
dents is, I think, the moft delightful one that I ever
faw. It takes in the whole Campania, and termi-
nates in a full view of the Mediterranean. You
have a fight at the fame time of the Alban lake,
which lies juft by in an oval figure of about (even
miles
Neighbourhood ofRoME. 219*
miles round, and, by reafon of the continued cir-
cuit of hi'>h mountains that incompafs it, looks like
the Area of fome vail: amphitheatre. This, toge-
ther with the feveral green hills and naked rocks?_
within the neighbourhood, makes the moft agreea-
ble confufion imaginable. Albano keeps up its cre-
dit ftill for wine, which perhaps would be as good
as it was anciently, did they preferve it to as great
an aoe; but as for olives, there are now very few
here, though they are in great plenty at Tivoli;
. Albani pretiofafene flits. Juv. Sat. xiii. v. 214,
Cras bibet Albanis aViqu'id de montibns aid de
Setinis, cujus patriam.titulumque Sene flits
Delevit multa veteris fuligine tefla. Id. Sat. 5. v. 33,
Perhaps to-morrow he may change his wine,
And drink old fparkling Alban, or Setine;
i Whofe title and whofe age with mould o'ergrown,
The good old cafk for ever keeps unknown.
Bowles..
Palladia fen callibus uteris Alba*
Mart. Lib. v. Epigr. 1.
Whether the hills of Alba you prefer,
Whofe rifing tops the fruitful olive bean
Albana Oliva. Id. Lib, ix. Epigr. i60
Th' Albanian olives.
The places mentioned in this chapter were all of
them formerly the cool retirements of the Romans,,
where they ufed to hide thcmfelves among the
woods
22-0- Towns within the
woods and mountains, during the exceflive heaty
of their fummer; as Baize was the general winter
rendezvous.
yam terras volttcremque polum fuga veris Aqucfi
Eaxat, et Icarus caelum latratibus urit.
Ardua jam denfa rarefcunt mevnia Roma :
Hos Pranejle jacrum, nemus l?cs glaciate Diana,
Algidus aut barrens, aut Tufcula protegit Umbra,
Tiburisbi lucos, Anienaque frigora captant. Sil. iv. li.
Albanos quoque Tufculofque colles
Et quodcunque jacet fub urbe frigus :
Fidenas veieres, brevefque Rubras,
Et quod Virgineo cruore gaudet-
Anna p'omiferum nemus Pennine.
Mart. Lib. I. Epigr. 123;
Ail fhun the raging dog-ftar's fultry heat,
And from the half unpeopled town retreat :
Some hid in Nemi's gloomy forefts lie,
To Paleftrina fome for fhelter fly ;
Others to catch the breeze of breathing air,
To Tufculum or Algido repair;
Or in moift Tivoli's- retirements find
A coofing (bade, and a refrefhing wind.
On the contrary, at prefent, Rome is never fulle
of nobility than in fummer-time: for the country
towns are fo infefted with unwholfome vapours, that
they dare not truft themfelves in them while the
heats laft. There is no quefhen but the air of-the
Campania would be now as healthful as it was for-
merly, were there as many fires burning in it, and
as many inhabitants to manure the foil. Leaving
Rome about the latter end of October, in my way to
Sienna,
,
Neighbourhood ofRoME. 22$
Sienna, I lay the firft night at a little village in the
territories of the ancient Veii.
H&C turn nomina erant> nunc funt fine nomine Campi.
Vi-rg. Mn. vi. v. 776.
Thefe then were names, now fields without a name*
The ruins of their capital city are at prefent fo
far loft, that the geographers are not able to deter-
mine exactly the place where they once flood: So
literally is that noble prophecy of Lucan fulfilled*
of this and other places of Latiuiru
Gentes Mars ijle futuras
Obruet, et populos czvi venientis in orbem
Erepto natale feret ; tunc omne Latlnum
Fabula nonien erit: Gabios, VeioJquey Coramque
Puhere vix tefla poterunt mon/irare ruincey
Albanofque lares Laurentinofque penates,
JRus vacuum , quod non habit et nift node coacld
Invitus Lib. vii. v. 389,
Succeeding nations by the fword fhall die,
And fwallow'd up in dark oblivion lie;
Almighty Latium, with her cities crown'd,
Shall like an antiquated fable found ;
The Veian and the Gabian tow'rs mall fall,
And- one promifcuous ruin cover all ;
Nor, after length of years, a ftone betray *
The place where once the very ruins lay i-
High Alba's walls and the Lavinian "Strand,
(A lonely defert, and an empty land)
Shall fcarce afford, for needful hours of reft,
A Tingle houfe to their benighted gueft. -
We
222 Towns within the
We here faw the lake Bacca, that gives rife to*
the Cremera, on whofe banks the Fabii were flain.
Terccnium numerahat avos, quos turbine Martis
Jbftulit una Dies^ cum fors non cequa labor i
Patricio Cremera maculavit fangubie ripas.
Sil. Ital. Lib. u
Fabius a num'rous anceflry could tell,
Three hundred heroes that in battle fell,
Near the farn'd Cremera's difaft'rous flood,
That ran polluted with Patrician blood.
4
We faw afterwards, in the progrefs of our voyage?,
the lakes of Vico and Bolfena. Thelaftis reckoned
©ne and twenty miles in circuit, and is plentifully
ftocked with fifh and fowl. There are in it a.
couple of iilands, that are perhaps the two floating-.
ifles mentioned by Pliny, with that improbable cir-
cumftance of their appearingfomething like a circle,
and fometimes like a triangle, but never like a
.Quadrangle. It is eafy enough to conceive how
they might become fixed, though they once floated ;
and it is not very credible, that the naturalift could,
be deceived in his account of a place that lay, as it
were, in the neighbourhood of Px>me. At the end
of this lake Hands Montefiafcone, the habitation of>
Virgil's JEqm Falifci, /En. 7. and on the fide of it
the town of the Volfinians, now called Bolfena.
Aut pofitis nemorofa inter juga Volfiniis.
Juv. Sat. iii. v. 191-.
— — Volfinium flood
Cover'd with mountains, and inclos'd with wood..
I:
Neighbourhood of Rome. 223
I faw in the churchyard of Bolfena an antique
funeral monument (of that kind which they called
1 a Sarcophagus) very intire, and, what is particular,
I engraven on all Sides with a curious reprefentation
l of a Bacchanal. Had the inhabitants cbferved a
couple of lewd figures at one end of it, they would
not have thought it a proper ornament for the place
I where it now ftands. After having travelled hence
: to Aquapendente, that ftands in a wonderful pleafant
fituation, we came to the little brook which fepa-
rates the Pope's dominions from the great Duke's.
The frontier cattle of Radicofani is feated on the
• higheft mountain in the country, and is as well*
! fortified as the fituation of the place will permit.
We here found the natural face of the country
quite changed from what we had been entertained
< with in the Pope's dominions. For inftead of the
many beautiful fcenes of green mountains and fruit-
ful valleys, that we had been prefented with for fome
days before, we faw now nothing but a wild naked
profpect. of rocks and hills, worn out on all fides
with gutters and channels, and not a tree or fhrub
to be met with in a vaft circuit of feveral miles.
This favage profpecl: put me in mind of the Italian
proverb, that c The Pope has the flefh, and the
4 great Duke the bones of Italy/ Among a large
extent of thefe barren mountains I faw but a fingfe
fpot that was cultivated, on which there flood a.
Qonvent.
S I E N~
SIENNA,
LEGHORN E,
P I S A.
SIENNA ftands high, an (T is adorned with as
great many towers of brick, which in the
time of the commonwealth were erected to fuch
of the members as had done any confiderabJe fer-
vice to their country. Thefe towers gave us a
fight of the towna. great while before we entered-
it. There is nothing in this city fo extraordinary
as the cathedral, which a man may view with
pleafure after he has feen St. Peter's, though it is
quite of another make, and can only be looked
upon as one of the matter-pieces of Gothic archi-
tecture. When a man fees the prodigious pains-
and expence that our forefathers have been at iu-
thefe barbarous buildings, one cannot but fancy to
himfelf what miracles of architecture they would
have left us, had they only been inftructed in the
right way; for when the devotion of thole ages was
much warmer than it is at prefent, and the riches of
the people much more at the difpofal of the priefts,,
there was io much money confumed on thefe Gothic
caiha-
Sienna, Leghorne, Pifa. 225
cathedrals, as would have finifhed a greater variety
of noble buildings, than have been raifed either
before or fince that time.
One would wonder to fee the vafl labour that
has been laid out on this Jingle cathedral. The very
fpouts are loaden with ornaments; the windows
are formed like fo many fcenes of perfpeclive, with
a multitude of little pillars retiring one behind ano-
ther; the great columns are finely engraven with
fruits and foliage that run twitting about them
from the very top to the bottom; the whole body
of the church is chequered with different lays of
white and black marble, the pavement curioufly
cut out in defio;ns and fcripture-itories, and the
front covered with fuch a variety of figures, and
over-run with fo many little mazes and labyrinths
of fculpture, that nothing in the world can make
a prettier mew to thofe, who prefer falfe beauties,
and affecled ornaments, to a noble and majeftic
Simplicity. Over-againft this church ftands a large
hofpital, erected by a fhoe-maker, who has been
beatified, though never fainted. There {lands a fi-
gure of him fuperfcribed, Sutor ultra Grepidam. — A
fhoemaker beyond his laft. I (hall fpeak nothing
of the extent of this city, the cleanlinefs of its
fr.reets, nor the beauty of its piazza, which fo many
travellers have, defcribed. As this is the laft
republic that fell under the fubjection of the Duke
of Florence, fo it is ftill fuppofed to retain many
hankerings after its ancient liberty. For this rea-
fon, when the keys and pageants of the Duke's
towns and governments pafs in proceliion before
him, on St. John Baptift's day, I was told that
Sienna comes in the rear of his dominions, and is
puihed forward by thofe that follow, to mow the
jeJuctancy it has to appear in fuch a folerhnity. I
ftiall
226 Sienna, Leghoriie, Piia.
Ihall fay nothing of the many grofs and abfard
traditions of St. Catharine of Sienna, who is the
great faint of this place. I think there is as much
pleafure in hearing a man tell his dreams, as in
reading accounts of this nature. A traveller, that
thinks them worth his obfervation, may fill a book
with them at every great town in Italy.
From Sienna we wentforward to Leghorne, where
the two ports, the bagnio, and Donatelli's ftatue
of the great Duke, amidft the four flaves chained
to this pedeftal, are very noble fights. The fquare
is one of the largeft, and will be one of the mod
beautiful in Italy, when this ftatue is erected in it,
and a town-houfe built at one end of it to front
the church that fbnds at the other. They are at a
continual expence to cleanfe the port?, and keep
them from being choaked up, which they do by the
'help of feveral engines that are always at work,
and employ many of the great Duke's flaves. What-
ever part of the harbour they fcoop in, it'has an
influence on all the reft; for the fea immediately
works the whole bottom to a level. They draw
a double advantage from the dirt that is taken up,
as it clears the port, and at the fame time dries up
feveral marfhes about the town, where they lay it
from time to time. One can fcarce imagine how
great profits the Duke of Tuicany receives from this
iingle place, which are not generally thought fo
confiderable, becaufe it pafles for a free port. But it
is very well known how the great Duke, on a late
occafion, notwithstanding the privileges of the mer-
chants, drew no fmall fums of money out of them;
though frill in refpecl: of the exorbitant dues that
are paid at moft other ports, it defervedly retains
the name of free. It brings into his dominions
a great increafe of people from all other nations.
2 They
Sienna, Leghorne, Pifiu 227
They reckon in it near ten thoufand Jews, many
of them very rich, and fo great traffickers, that
our Englifh factors^ complain they have moft of our
country trade in their hands. It is true the ftran-
gers pay little or no taxes directly; but out of every
thing they buy there goes a large gabel to the
government. The very ice- merchant at Leghorne
pays above a thoufand pound fterling annually for
his privilege, and the tobacco-merchant ten thou-
fand. The ground is fold by the great Duke at a
very high price, and houfes are every day riling on
it. All the commodities that go up into the coun-
try, of which there are great quantities, are clogged
with impofitions as foonas they leave Leghorne. All
the wines, oils, and iilks, that come down from the
fruitful valleys of Pifa, Florence, and other parts
of Tufcany, muft make their way through feveral
duties and taxes before they can reach the port.
The canal that runs from the fea into the Arno
wives a convenient carriage to all goods that are
to be fhipped off, which does not a little enrich the
owners: and in proportion as private men grow
wealthy, their legacies, law-fuits, daughters por-
tions, &c. increafe, in all which the great Duke
comes in for a confiderable mare. The Lucquefe,
who traffic at this port, are faid to bring in a
oreat deal into the Duke's coffers. Another advan-
tage, which may be of great ufe to him, is, that at
five or fix days warning he might find credit in
this town for very 4arge fums of money, which
no other Prince in Italy can pretend to. I need not
take notice of the reputation that this port gives
him among foreign princes; but there is one benefit
arifing from it, which, though never thrown into the
account, is doubtlefs very confiderable. It is well
known how the Pifans and Florentines long regretted
the
228 Sienna, Leghorne, Pifa.
the lofs of their ancient liberty, and their fob*
jeclion to a family that fome of them thought
themfelves equal to, in the flourifhing times of
their commonwealths. The town of Leghorne has
accidentally done what the greateft fetch of poli-
tics would have found drfficult to have brought
about; for it has almoft unpeopled Pifa, if we com-
pare it with what it was formerly; and every day
kiTens the number of the inhabitants of Florence.
This does not only weaken thofe places, but at the
fame time turns many of their bufieft fpirits, from
their old notions of honour and liberty, to the
thoughts of traffic and merchandife : And as
men engaged in the road of thriving are no friends
to changes and revolutions, they are at prefent
worn into a habit of fubjeclion, and pufh all their
purfuits another way. It is no wonder therefore
that the great Duke has fuch apprehenfions of the
Pope's making Civita Vecchia a free port, which
may in time prove fo very prejudicial to Leghorne.
It would be thought an improbable ftory, mould I
fet down the feveral methods that are commonly
reported to have been made ufe of, during the laifc
pontificate, to put a flop to this defign. The
great Duke's money was fo well beftcwed in the
conclave, that feveral of the cardinals difiuaded
the Pope from the undertaking, and at laft turned
all his thoughts upon the little port which he made
at Antium, near Nettuno. The chief workmen,
that were to have conveyed the water to Civita
Vecchia, were bought oft"; and when a poor Capu-
chin, that was thought proof againft aH bribes, had
undertaken to carry on the work, he died a little
after he had entered upon it. The prefent Pope
however, who is very well acquainted with the fecret
hiftory, and the weaknefs of his predeceifor, feems
refolved
Sienna^ Leghorne, Pifa. 229
refolved to bring the project to its perfection. He has
already been at vaft charges in rmifhing; the aque-
duct, and had Tome hopes that, if the war fhould
drive our Englifh merchants from Sicily and Naples,
they would fettle here. His holinefs has told fome
Englifh gentlemen, that thofe of our nation fhould
have the greatefl privileges of any but the fubjecls
of the church. One of our countrymen, who
makes a good figure at Rome, told me, the Pope has
this defign extremely at his heart, but that he fears
the Englifh will fuffer nothing like a refident or
conful in his dominions, though at the fame time
he hoped the bufmefs might as v/ell be tranfa&ed by
one that had no public character. This gentleman
has fo bufied himfelf in the affair, that he has of-
fended the French and Spanifh Cardinals, infomuch
that Cardinal Janfon refufed to fee him, when he
would have made his apology for what he had faid
to the Pope on this fubjecT:. There is one great ob-
jection to Civita Vechia, that the air of the place is
not wholfome ; but this, they fay, proceeds from want
of inhabitants, the air of Leehorne having- been
worfe than this before the town was well peopled.
The great profits, which have accrued to the
Duke of Florence from his free port, have fet feveral
■of the dates of Italy oh the fame project. The moil .
likely to fucceed in it would be the Genoefe, who
lie more convenient than the Venetians, and have a
more inviting form of government, than that of
the church, or that of Florence. But as the port
of Genoa is fo very ill guarded againft fforms, that
no privileges can tempt the merchants from Leo-*.
home into it, fo dare not the Genoefe make anv
other cf their ports free, left it fhould draw to it
moil of their commerce and inhabitants, and, by
confequence ruin their chief city.
L From
2^o Sienna, Leghorne, Pifa.
From Leghornc I went to Pifa, where there is
frill the fhell of a great city, though not half fur-
jiifhed with inhabitants. The great church, bap-
tiffery, and leaning tower, are very well worth
feeing, and are built after the fame fancy with the
cathedral of Sienna. Half a day's journey more
brought me into the republic of Lucca.
THE
THE
REPUBLIC
> O F
LUCCA
IT is very pleafant to fee how the fmall ter-
ritories of this little republic are cultivated
to the beft advantage, fo that one cannot find the
lead: fpot of ground^ that is not made to con-
tribute its utmoft to the owner. In all the in-
habitants there appears an air of cheaifulnefs and
plenty, not often to be met with in thofe of the
countries which lie about 'em. There is but one
gate for ftrangers to enter at, that it may be
known what numbers of them are in the town.
Over it is written in letters of gold, Libertas.
This republic is fhut up in the great Duke's
dominions, who at prefent is very much incenfed
againft it, and leems to threaten it with the fate
of Florence, Pifa> and Sienna. The occafion as
follows.
L 2 The
232 The Republic of Lucca.
The Lucquefe plead prefcription for hunting in
one of the. Duke's foref}s, that lies upon their fron-
tiers, whHi about two years fince was ltriclly for-
bidden them, the Prince intending to preferve the
game for his own pleafure. Two or three fportf-
men of the republic, who had the hardinefs to
offend againff. the prohibition, were fcized, and kept
in a neighbouring prifon. 7'heir countrymen, to
the number of threefcore, attacked the place where
they were kept in cuftody, and refcued them. The
great Duke redemands his prifoners, and, as a fur-
ther fatis faction, would have the governor of the
town, where the threefcore afiailants had com-
bined together, delivered into his hands ; but re-
ceiving only excufes, he refolved to do himfelf
jufiice. Accordingly he ordered all the Lucqueie to
be feized that were found on a market-day, in one
of his frontier towns. Thefe amounted to four-
icore, among whom were perfons of fome corife-
quence in the republic. They are now in prifon
at Florence, and, as it is faid, treated hardlv enough;
for there are fifteen of the number dead within Tefs
than two years. The King of Spain, who is pro-
tector of the commonwealth, received information
from the great Duke of what had palled, who ap-
proved of his proceedings, and ordered the Lucqueie,
by his governor of Milan, to give a proper fatif-
iaction. The republic, thinking themielves ill
ufed by their protector, as they fay at Florence, have
lent to Prince Fugene to defire the Fmperor's pro-
tection, with an offer of winter-quarters, as it is
d, for four thoufand Germans. The great Duke
cs on them in his demands, and will not be fatif-
d with lefs than a hundred 'thoufand crowns,
■j.nd a folemn embafiy tp beg pardon for the pall,
i ' pre e amendment for the future. Thus
ftands
The Republic of Lucca. 233
ftands the affair at prefent, that may end in the
ruin of the commonwealth, if the French fucceed
in Italy. It is pleafant however to hear the difcourfe
of the common people of Lucca, who are firmly
perfuaded that one Lucquefe can beat five Floren-
tines, who are grown low-fpirited, as they pretend,
by the great Duke's oppreflions, and have nothing
worth fighting for. They fay, they can bring into
the field twenty or thirty thoufand fighting men,
all ready to facrifice their lives for their liberty.
They have a good quantity of arms and ammuni-
tion, but few horfe. It muft be owned thefe people
are more happy, at leaft in imagination, than the reft
of their neighbours, becaufe they think themfelves
(o-, though fuch a chimerical happinefs is not pe-
culiar to republicans, for we find the fubjecls of
the moft abfolute Prince in Europe are as proud of
their monarch as the Lucquefe of being fubject to
none. Should the French affairs profper in Italy,
it is poflible the great Duke may bargain for the
republic of Lucca, by the help of his great trea-
lures, as his predeceftors did formerly with the
Emperor for that of Sienna. The great Dukes have-
never yet attempted any thing on Lucca, as not only
fearing the arms of their protector, but becaufe thev
are well affured, that, mould the Lucquefe be reduced •
to the laft extremity, they would rather threw therri-
felves under the government of the Genoefe, or fome
ftronger neighbour, than fubmit to a ftate for
which they have fo great an averfion. And the
Florentines are very fenfible, that it is much better
having a weak ftate within their dominions, than
the branch of one as ftrono; as themfelves. But
fhould fo formidable a power, as that of the Frencii
King, fupport them in their attemps, there is no
government in Italy that would dare to imerpofe.
L 3 'Ibis
234 The Republic of Lucca.
This republic, for the extent of its dominions, is
efteemed the richeft and belt peopled ftate of Italy.
The whole adminiitration of the government
pafles into different hands at the end of eveiy two
months, which is the greater! fecurity imaginable
>to their liberty, and wonderfully contributes to the
quick difpatch of all public afrairs: But in any
exigence of ftate, like that they are now prefFeci
with, it certainly afks a much longer time to conduct
any defign, for the good of the commonwealth,
to its maturity and perfections
¥ L O-
FLORENCE.
I Had the good luck to be at Florence when there
was an opera acled, which was the eighth that
I had feen in Italy. I could not but fmile to read
the folemn proteftation of the Poet in the firft
page, where he declares that he believes neither
in the fates, deities, or deftinies; and that, if
he has made ufe of the words, it is purely out
of a poetical liberty, and not from his real fen-
timents, for that in all thefe particulars he be-
lieves as the holy mother church believes and
commands*
PROTEST A,,
Le voci Fate, Deita, De/iino^ e firrull^ che par
entro quejio Drama trcvarai, Jon mcjje per ij.kerz?
poeticO) e non per Sentimento verot credertdo jempre
in tuito que Ho i chs cude^ e comanda Sania Aladre
chicfa.
There are fome beautiful palaces in Florence ; and
as Tufcan pillars and Ruftic work owe their origi-
nal to this country, the architects always take care
to give them a place in the great edifices that are
railed in Tufcany, The Duke's new palace is a very
noble pile, "built after this manner, which makes ic
look, extremely iblid and majefhe. It is not un~
L 4 like
236
FLORENCE.
jike that of Luxemburg at Paris, which was built
by Mary of Medicis, and for that reafon perhaps
the workmen fell into the Tufcan humour. I found
in the court of this palace what I could not meet
with ajiv where in Rome: I mean an antique fta-
tue of Hercules lifting up Antaeus from the earth,
which 1 have already had occafion to fpeak of. It
was found iji Rome, and brought hither under the
reign of Leo the tenth. There are abundance of
pictures in rhe feveral apartments, by the hands of
the greateft matters.
But it is the famous gallery of the old palace,
where are perhaps the nobkft collections of cu-
rioftties to be met with in any part of the whole
world. The gailety itfelf is made in the fhape
of an L, according to-Mr. Lafiel; but, if it muft
needs be like a letter, it refembles the Greek II
moft: It is adorned with admirable pieces of fculp-
ture, as well modern as ancient. Of the laft fort
I fnall mention thofe that are rareft either for the
perfon they reprefent, or the beauty of the fculp-
ture. Among the buds of the Emperors and Em-
prefTes, there are thefe that follow, which are ail
very fcarce, and feme of them almoft lingular in
their kind: Agrippa, Caligula, Otho, Nerva, /Elius
Verus, Pertinax,Geta,Didius Julianus, Albinusex-
tremely well wrought, and, what is feldom ken, in
alabafter, Gordianus Africanus the elder, Elioga-
balus, Galien the elder, and the younger Pupienus.
I have put Agrippa among the Emperors, becaufo
he is ereneraUy ranged lb in fcts of medals, as fome
that foliow among the EmprelTes have no other
right to the company they are joined with: Domi-
tia, Agrippina wife of Germanicus, Antonia, Ma-
tidia, Plotina, Mallia Scantilla,falfly inferibed under
herbuft Julia Severi, Aquilia Severa, Julia Mwfia.
X
FLORENCE-. ' 2-37
I- have generally obferved at Rome which is the
great magazine of thefe antiquities^ that the fame
heads which are rare in medals, are alfo rare
in marble, and indeed one may commonly af-
fi°;n the fame reafon for both, which was the
fhortnefs of the Emperors reigns, that did not give
the workmen time to make many of their fio-ares;
and as the fhortnefs of their reigns was generally
occafioned by, the advancement of a rival, jt is
no wonder that nobody worked on the figure of
a deceafed Emperor, when his enemy was in the
throne. This obfervation however does not always
hold. An Agrippa or Caligula, for example, is a
common coin, but a very extraordinary buft; and
a Tiberius a rare coin, but a common bull; which
one would the more wonder at, if we confider the
indignities that were offered to this Emperor's fta-
tues after his death. The Tiberiu3 in Tiberim is
a known inflanee.
Among the bulls of fuch Emperors as are com-
mon enough, there are feveral in the gallery that
deferve to be taken notice of for the excellence
of the fculpture; as thole of Auguftus, Vefpafian,
Adrian, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, Septimiu*
Severus, Caracal la, Geta. There is in the fame
gollery a beautiful buii of Alexander the great,
calling up his face to heaven, with a noble air
cf grief or difcontentednefs in his looks. J have
f?en two or three antique bulls of Alexander in
the fame air and poilure, and am apt to think the
fculptor had in his thoughts the conqueror's
weeping for new worlds, or ibme other the like
c rcumilance of his hifrory. There is alfo in pot-
jphyry the head of a fawn, and of the god: Pan.
c, long theintire figures I took particular notieeofa
veilal virgin, with the holy fi'ce burning before her.
L 5 This
2$8 FLORENC E.
This ftatue, I think, may decide that notable con-
troverfy among the antiquaries, whether the ve-
ftals, after having received the ton lure, ever fuffered
their hair to come again; for it is here full grown,
and gathered under the Veil. 1 he brazen figure
of the ccnful, with the ring on his finger, re-
minded me of Juvenal's major is ponder a Gcmmce.
There is another ftatue in brafs, fuppofed to be of
Apollo, with this modern inscription on the pedeftal,
which I muft confefs I do not know what to make
of, Ut potui hue veni mufis et fratre reliclo. I law
in the fame gallery the famous figure of the wild
boar, the gladiator, the NarciiTus, the Cupid and
Pfyche, the Flora, with fomc modern ftatues that
feveral others have defcribed. Among the antique
figures there is a fine one of Morpheus in touch-
ftone. I have always obferved, that this god is
represented by the ancient ftatuaries under the ft*
gure of a boy afleep, with a bundle of poppy in his
hand. I at firft took it for a Cupid, until I had taken
notice that it had neither bow nor quiver. I fup-
pofe Dr. Lifter has been guilty of the fame miftake,
in the reflexions he makes on what he calls the
peeping Cupid with poppy in his hands.
£hialia namque
Corpora nudorum Tabula pinguntur Amor urn y
Talis eraty fid w faciat dijoim'ma aritus,
Aut huic ackle lepes aut iliis deme pharetras.
Ovid. Metam. Lib. 10. v. 515,
Such are the Cupids that in paint we view;.
But that the hkeneis may be nicely true,
A ipaden quiver to h'.s moulders tie,
Or bid the Cupids hiy their quivers by.
It
FLORE N CK 239,
It is probable they chofe to reprefent'the god
of fleep under the figure of a boy, contrary to
2II our modern defigners, becaufe it is that age,
which has its repofe the leaft broken by cares
and anxieties. Statius, in his celebrated invoca-
tion of fleep, addreffes himfelf to him under the
fame figure.
Crimine quo meruit juvenh pladdlffime Divum,
£hiove err ore mifer^ donis ut folus egerem^
Somne, tuisP tacet omnt ■ pscusy v.olucrefque fertsque, &e.
Sylv. 4. Lib. 5. v. 1*
Tell me, thou belt of gods, thou gentle youth;,.
Tell me my fad offence; that only I,
While hufh'd at eafe thy droufy fubjecls lie,
In the dead filence of the night complain,
Nor tafte the bleflings of thy peaceful reign;.
I never faw any figure of fleep that was notof
black marble, which has probably fome relation
to the night, that is the proper feafon for reft.
I mould not have made this remark, but that L!
remember to have read in one of the ancient au-
thors, that the Nile is generally reprefeneed iirftone-
of this colour, becaufe it flows from the country
of the Ethiopians; which (hows us that ftatuaries
had fometimes an eye to the perfon they were to
reprefent, in the choice they made of their mar-
ble. There are dill at Rome fome of thefe black
ftatues of the Nile which are cut in a. kind of?
touchftone.
Ufque color atls amnls devexus ah Indis*
Virg. Gecrg. 4^v\ 293^,
Rolling its tide from Ethiopian lands^
* At
.240 FLORENCE.
At one end or the gallery ftand two antique
marble pillars, curiouily wrought with the figures
of the old Roman arms and inftruments of war.
After a full furvey of the gallery, we were led into
four or five chambers of curiofities that ftand 011
the fide of it. The firfl was a cabinet of antiqui-
ties, made up chiefly of idols, talifmans, lamps*
and hieroglyphics. I faw nothing in it that I was
not before acquainted with, except the four follow-
in o- figures in brafs.
I. A little image of Juno Sifpita, jor Sofpita,.
which perhaps is not to be met with any where
elfe but on medals. She is clothed in a goat's
fkin, the horns flicking out above her head. The
right arm is broken that probably fupported a
fhield, and the left a little defaced, though one may
fee it held fomething in its grafp formerly. The
feet are bare. I remember Tully's defcription of
this goddefs in the following words. I/lam nojlram
Sofpiiam* quam tu nunquam ne in Somniis^ vides nifi cum
pelle Caprina, cum hojla^ cum fcutulo, cum calceolis re-
pandis. Our goddefs Sofpita, whom you never
fee, even in a dream, without a goat-fkin, a
fpcar, a little fhield, and broad fandals.
11 An
FLORENC E.
24 r
A Medal of
TunoSifpita,
Vid.Ful.Ur-
fin. inFami-
lia Thoria &•
Forcilio.
This is a
Reverfe of
Anton. Pius,
II. A n antique model of the famous Laocoon and"
his two fons, that ftands in the Belvidera at Rome*
This is the more remarkable, as it is intire in thofe
parts where the ftatue is maimed. It was by the
help of this model that Bandinelli fmifhed his admi-
rable copy of the Laocoon, which ftands at one end
of this gallery.
III. An ApoHo or Amphion. I tooK notice of this
little figure for the Angularity of the inftrumenr,
which I never before faw in ancient fculpture. It
is not unlike a violin, and played on after the fame
manner. I doubt however whether this figure be
not of a- later date than the reft, by the meannefs of
the workmanfh.ip,
IV. A Corona Radialis with only eight fpikes to
it. Every one knows the ufual number was twelve,
fome fay in allufion to the figns of the Zodiac, and
others to the labours of Hercules.
■In
242 FLORENC ET,
. — lngenti mole Latinus
£hiadrijugo vchitur curm; cut tempera circitm
Aurat'i bis Sex Radii fulgent ia cingimt.
Soils avi Specimen — Virg. Mn. 12. v. i6;'a
Four (reeds the chariot of Latinus bear:
Twelve golden beams around his temples play,
To mark his lineage from the god of day.
Dryden.
The two next chambers are made up of fcveral
artificial curiofities in ivory, amber, cryftalj mar-
ble, and precious ftones, which all voyage writers
are full of. In the chamber that is fliown lair,,
frauds the celebrated Venus of Medicis. The
ftatue feerns much lefs than the life, as being
perfectly naked,, and in company with others of a
larger make: It is notwithstanding as big as the or-
dinary fize of a woman, as I concluded from the
meafure of her wrift; for from the bignefs of any,
one part it is eafy to guefs at rll the reft, in a figure
of fuch nice proportions. The foftnefs of the fle/h,
the delicacy of the {hape, air, and pofture, and the
corrednefs of defign in this flutue are inexpreftible.
3 have fevcral reafons to believe that the name of
the fculptor on the pedefral is not fo old as the fta-
tue. This figure of Venus put me in mind of ay
i'peech fhe makes in one of the Greek epigrams,
T&S Tf»s ol^ot jjhovtii' np|r;=.V^- cl 7ro&£V>;
Anchifes, Paris, and Ado:.:: too,
Have feen me naked and os'd to view ?:
All thefe 1 frankly own without denying;
But where has thisfia^iteles been prying ?
Thers
F L O R E N C E.. 24?
There is another Venus in the fame circle, that
would make a good figure any; where elfe. There
are among the old Roman ftatues feveral of Venus in
different poftures and habits, as there are many par-
ticular figures of her made after the fame defign.
I fancy it is not hard to find among them fome
that were made after the three ftatues of this god-
6e(s, which Pliny mentions. In the fame chamber
is the Roman flave whetting his knife and liftening,,
which from the moulders upward is incomparable.
The two wreftlers are in the fame room. I ob-
ferved here likewife a very curious bull of' Annius
Verus, the young fon of Marcus Aurelius, who died
at nine years of age, I have feen feveral other
bufts of him at Rome, though his medals are ex-
ceeding rare.
The great Duke has ordered a large chamber to
be fitted up for old infcriptions, urns, monuments,,
and the like fets of antiquities. I was fhown feve-
ral of them which are not yet put up. There are
the two famous infcriptions that give fc great a light
to the hiftories of Appius, who made the highway,,
and of Fabius the dictator; they contain a fhort
account of the honours they paffed through, and
the actions they performed. I faw too the bufts
of Tranquillina, mother to Gordianus Pius, and of
Quintus Herrenius,fon to Trajan Decius, which are
extremely valuable for their rarity; and a beau-
tiful old figure made after the celebrated herma-
phrodite in the Villa Borghefe. I faw nothing that
has not been obferved by feveral others in the Ar-
gentaria,. the tabernacle of St. Lawrence's chapel,
and the chamber of painters* The chapel of St*
Lawrence will be perhaps the moft coftly piece of
work on the face of the earth, when compleated ;
but it advances fo very f!owly> that it is not impoffi-
bU
244 FLORENCE.
ble but the family of Medicis may be extinct before
their burial-place is finifhed.
The great Duke has lived many years feparate
from the Dutchefs, who is at prefent in the court of
France, and intends there to end herdavs. The Car-
dinal his brother is old and inhVm, and could never
be induced to refign his purple for the uncertain pro-
fpect of giving an heir to the dukedom of Tufcany.
The great Prince has been married feveral years
without any children; and notwithstanding all the
precautions in the world were taken for the mar-
riage of the Prince his younger brother (as the find-
ing out a lady for him who was in the vigour and
flower of her age, and had given marks of her
fruitfulnefs by a former hufband) they have all
hitherto proved unfuccefsful. There is a branch of
the family of Medicis in Naples: The head of it
has been owned as a kinfman by the great Duke-,
and it is thought will fucceed to his dominions, in
cafe the Princes his fons die childlefs ; though it is
not impoffible but, in fuch a conjuncture, the
commonwealths, that are thrown under the great
dutchy, may make fome efforts towards the re-
covery of their ancient liberty.
I was. in the library of manufcripts belonging to
St. Lawrence, of which there is a printed catalogue.
Hooked into the Virgil, which difputes its antiquity
with that of tbe Vatican. It wants the llle ego qui
quondam, &c. and the twenty two lines in the fe-
cond iEnei-d, beginning at 'Jamque adeo fuper units
eram. 1 muft confefs I always thought this paf-
fage left out with a great deal of judgment by Tucca
and Varius, as it feems to contradict a part in the
fixth /Eneid, and rtprefents the hero in a paffion,
that is, at leaft, not at all becoming the greatnofs
of his character, Defides, I think the apparition
of
FLORENCE. 245
of Venus comes in very properly to draw him away
from the fidit of Priam's murder: for without fuch
a machine to take him. off, 1 cannot fee how the
hero could, with honour, leave Neoptolemus trium-
phant, and Priam unrevenged. But fmce Virgil's
friends thought fit to let drop this incident of He-
len, I wonder they would not blot out, or alter a
line in Venus's fpeech, that has a relation to the
Rencounter, and comes in improperly without itj
Non tibi Tyndarida fades invifa Lacana,
Culpatufoe Paris — JEn. 2. v. 60 1»
Not Helen's face, nor Paris was in- fault.
Dryden-.
Florence for modern ftatues I think excels even
Rome j but thefe I (hall pais over in filence, that I
may not tranfcribe out of others.
The way from Florence to Bolonia runs overfe-
veral ranges of mountains, and is the worft road,
1 believe, of any over the Appennines; for this was
my third time of crofting them. It gave me a live-
Jy idea of Silius Italicus's defcription of Hannibal's
march.
£htoque magis fubiere jugo atque evader e niji
Erexere gradum, crejcrt labor ', ardua fupra
Sefe aperit fejfis, et nafcitur altera moles. Lib. 3.
From fteep to deep the troops advanc'd with pain.
In hopes at laft the topmoft cliff to gain;
But ftill by new afcents the mountain grew.
And a frefli toil prefented to their view.
I (hall conclude this chapter with the defcriptions
which
246 FLORENCE.
which the Latin Poets have given us of the Apen-
nines. We may obferve in them all, the remarkable
qualities of this prodigious length of mountains, that
run from one extremity of Italy to the other, and
give rife to an incredible variety of rivers that
water this delightful country.
■ '<t - »Nubifer Jpemnus.
Ovid. Metam. Lib. 2. v. 226*
Cloud-iearing Apennines.
-jpaif Siciilum porreflus ad ufque Pelorumy
Finibus ab Ligurum, populos amplettitur omnes
Italics, geminumque latus Jlringentia longe
Utraque ptrpetuo difcriminat aquora tratlu,
Claud, de fexto Conf. Hon>
Which, {fetching from Liguria's diftant bounds
To where the ftrait of Sicily refounds,
Extends iu'elf thro' all Italians fons,
Embracing various nations as it runs:
And from the fummit of its rocky chain
Beholds,ori either hand, the hoarfe-refounding maii:.
— Mole nivali
Alpibas aquation, attollem caput dpenninus.
Sil. Ital. Lib. 2,
The Apennine, crown'd with perpetual fnow,
High as the tow'ring Alps erects its lofty brow,
Horrcbat glade Saxa biter luhrica Summo
Piniferum cask mifcens caput Jpenninus:
Cmdiderat Nix alia trabes, et vet rice celfo
Cwius apex Jlriftd furgebat ad ajlra pruind. Id. Lib. 4,
Deform'd
FLORENCE. 247
Deform'd with ice, the mady Apennine
Mix'd with the fkies; and, cover'd deep with mows,
High as the ftars his hoary fummit role.
XJmbi'oJis mediam qua collibus Apenninus
Erigit Itaiiam, nullo qua vertice tellus
Aldus tntummty propiufque accejjit Olympo?
Alans inter geminas medius fe porrigit undas
Infernii fuperique maris : coll ef que coercent.
Hint Tyrrbena vado frangentes aquora Pifa^
lllinc Dalmaticis obnoxia jiuflibus Anccn,
Fontibus hie vajiis imnienfos concipit amnes*
Flufninaque in gemini fpargit dlvortia pontu
Lucan. Lib. 2. v. 39.6*
In pomp the (hady Apennines arife,
And lift th' afpiring nation to the fkies;
No land like Italy erects the fight
By fuch a vafl afcent, or fwells to. fuch a height:
Her num'rous {rates the tow'ring hills divide^
And fee the billows rife on either fide.;
At Pifa here the range of mountains ends,
And here to high Ancona's mores extends:
In their dark womb a thoufand rivers lie,
That with continu'd ftreams the double fea fupply;
5 J
s :
\ :
BO.LONIA,
®©®®s©@®®©®©®®®®®®@®
bolonia, m ode n a,
Parma, Turin, &c.
AFTER a very tedious journey over the
Apennines, we at laft came to the river that
runs at the foot of them, and was formerly called
the little Rhine. Following the courfe of this
riyer, we arrived in a fhort time at Bolonia.
— Parvique Bononia Rheni, Sil.Ital. Lib. 8.
Bolonia water'd by the petty Rhine.
, We here quickly felt the difference of the nor-
thern from the fouthern fide of the mountains, as
well in die coldnefs of the air, as in the badnefs of
the wine. This town is famous for the richnefs
of the foil that lies about it, and the magnificence of
its convents. It is likewife efteemed the third in
Italy for piclures, as having been the fchool of the
Lombard painters. I favv in it three rarities of dif-
ferent kinds, which pleafed me more than any other
fhows of the place. The firfc was an authentic fil-
ver medal of the younger Brutus, in the hands of an
eminent antiquary. One may fee the character of
tlie
. BOLONIA, MODSNA, &C. 249
the perfon in the features of the face, which is
exquifitely well cut. On the reverfe is the cap
of liberty, with a dagger on each fide of it, fub-
fcribed Id. Mar, for the ides of March, the famous
date of Caefar's murder. The fecond was a picture
of Raphael's in St. Giouanni in Monte. It is ex-
tremely well preferved, and reprefents St. Cecilia
with an inftrument of mufic in her hands. On
(one fide of her are the figures of St. Paul, and
St. John ;and on the other, of Mary Magdalene, and
St. Auflin. There is fomething wonderfully divine
^ in the airs of this picture. I cannot forbear men-
tioning, for my third curiofity, a new ftair-cafe
that ftrangers are generally carried to fee, where
the eafinefs of the aicent within fo fmall a com-
pafs, the difpofition of the lights, and the conve-
nient landing, are admirably well contrived. The
wars of Italy, and the feafon of the year, made
me pafs through thedutchies of Modena, Parma,
and Savoy, with more hafte than I would have
done at another time. The foil of Modena and
Parma is very rich and well cultivated. The pa-
laces of the Princes are magnificent, but neither of
them is yet iinifhed. We procured a licence of the
Duke of Parma to enter the theatre and gallery,
which deferve to be ken as well as any thing of that
nature in Italy. The theatre is, I think, the moft
fpacious of any I ever faw, and at the fame time fo
admirably well contrived, that from the very depth
of the ftage the loweft found may be heard di-
jftncrly to the fartheit part of the audience, as in a
whifpering-placej and yet if you raife your voice
as high as you pleafe, there is nothing like an echo
to caufe in it the leaft confufion. The gallery is
hung with a numerous collection of pictures, ail
done by celebrated hands. On one fide of the
gallery
&$0 BOLONIA, MoDENA,
gallery is a large room adorned with inlaid
tables, cabinets, works in amber, and other
pieces of great art and value. Out of this we
were led into another great room, furnifhed with
old infcriptions, idols, butts, medals, and the like
antiquities. I could have fpent a day with great
fatisfaction in this apartment, but had only time
to pafs my eye over the medals, which are in
great number, and many of them very rare.
The fcarceft of all is a Fefcennius Niger on a
medalion well preferved. It was coined at An-
tioch, where this Emperor trifled away his time
until he loft his life and empire. The reverfe
is a Dea Salus. There are two of Otho, the re-
verfe a Serapis; and two of Meffalina and Pop-
paea in middle brafs, the reverfes of the Empe-
ror Claudius. I faw two medalions of Plotina and
Matildia, the reverfe to each a Pietas: with two
medals of Pertinax, the reverfe of one Vota De-
cennalia, and of the other Diis Cuftodibus; and
another of Gordianus Africanus, the reverfe I have
forgot.
The principalities of Modena and Parma are
much about the fame extent, and have each of
them two large towns, befides a great number of
Fi tie villages. The Duke of Parma however is
much richer than the Duke of Modena. Their
fubjects would live in great plenty amidft fo rich
and weii cultivated a foil, were not the taxes and
impoiitions fo very exorbitant; for the courts are
much too fplendid and magnificent for the territo-
ries that lie about them, and one cannot but be
amazed to fee fuch a profufion of wealth laid out
in coaches, trappings, tables, cabinets, and the
like precious toys, in which there are few Princes
of Europe who equal them, when at the fame time
3 they
Parma, Turin, &c. 251
they have not had the generofity to make bridges
over the rivers of their countries, for the conve-
nience of their fubjecls, as well as ftrangers, who
are forced to pay an unreafonable exaction at every
ferry upon the leafl: riling of the waters. A man
might well expect in thefe fmall governments, a
much greater regulation of affairs, for the eafe
and benefit of the people, than in large over-grown
ftates, where the rules of juftice, beneficence,
and mercy, may be eafily put out of their courfe in
pafling through the hands of deputies, and a Jong
iubordination of officers. And it would certainly
be for the good of mankind to have all the mighty
empires and monarchies of the world cantoned
out into petty ftates and principalities, that, like fo
many large families, might lie under the eye and
obfervation of their proper governors ; fo that the
care of the Prince might extend itfelf to every
individual perfon under his protection. But fince
iuch a general fcheme can never be brought
about, and, if it were, it would quickly be de-
stroyed by the ambition of fome particular ftate
afpiring above the reft, it happens very ill at pre-
fent to be born under one of thefe petty fove-
reigns, that will be ftdl endeavouring, at his fub-
jects coft, to equal the pomp and grandeur of
greater Princes, as well as to outvy thofe of hi$
own rank. •
For this reafon there are no people in the
world, who live with more eafe and profperity,
than the fubjects of little commonwealths, as
on the contrary there are none who fuffer more
under the grievances of a hard government,
than the fubje6ts of little principalities. I left
the road of Milan on my right hand, having be-
fore feen that city, and after having pafwd through.
Afti,
252 BoLONIA, MODENA,
Afti, the frontier town of Savoy, I at laft came
within fight of the Po, which is a fine river
even at Turin, though within fix miles of its
iburce. This river has been made the fccne
of two or three poetical ftories. Ovid has cholen
it out to throw his Phaeton into it, after all
the fmaller rivers had been dried up in the con-
flagration.
1 have read fome botanical critics, *who tell us
the Poets have not rightly followed the traditions
of antiquity, in metamorphofing the lifters of
Phaeton into poplars, who ought to havebeen turned
into larch-trees; for that it is this kind of tree
which fheds a gum, and is commonly found on the
banks of the Po. The change of Cycnus into a
fwan, which clofes up the difafters of Phaeton's
family, was wrought on the fame place where the
lifters were turned into trees. The defcriptions
that Virgil and Ovid have made of it cannot be
fufHciently admired.
Claudian has fet ' off his defcription of the
Eridanus with all the poetical ftories that have
been made of it.
-Ilk caput placidis fublime fluentit
Extulit, & tot is lucem fpargentia ripis
Aurca roranti micuerunt cornua vultu.
Non illi ?nadidum vulgaris ar undine crinem
Velat bonos ; rami caput umbravere virentes
Jieliadum^ totifque jluunt eleclra capillis.
Palla teg'it lalos bumeros, curruque paterno
Intcxtus Phaeton glaucos incendit amifJus:
Fultaque fub gremio calaus nobilis aftris
sEthercum pre bat urna deem* Namque omnia luclus
Argument a fui Titan fignavit Olympo^__
ftiutatumque fen cm plumis9 et fronde firoresy
Et
Parma, Turin, &c. 253
M't jluvium, nati qui vulnera lav it anheli,
Stat gelidis Auriga plagis ; ve/iigia fratris
Gei -manes fervani Hyades , Cycn /que fodalis
Lacleus extent as a/per git cir cuius alas.
Stellifer Eridanus fmuatis fiuclibus errans^
Clara noti convex a rigat — -
Claudian. de fexto Conf. Honorii.
His bead above the floods he gently rear'd,
And as he rofe his golden horns appear'd,
That on the forehead fhone divinely bright*
And o'er the banks dirtus'd a yellow li^ht:
No interwoven reeds a garland made,
To hide his brows within the vulgar made:
But poplar wreaths around his temples fpread,
And tears of amber trickled down his head:
A fpacious veil from his broad moulders flew,
That fet th' unhappy Phaeton to view:
The flaming chariot and the deeds it fhow'd,
And the whole fable in the mantle glow'd:
Beneath his arm an urn fupported lies,
With ftars embelliflVd and fictitious fkies.
For Titan, by the mighty lofs difmay'd,
Among the heav'ns th' immortal fact difplay'd,
Left the remembrance of his grief mould fail)
And in the confteilations wrote his tale.
A fwan in memory of Cycnus {nines;
The mourning fitters weep in watry figns;
The burning chariot, and the charioteer,
In bright Bootes and his wane appear;
Whilft in a track of light the waters run,
That wafh'd the body of his biafted fon.
The river Po gives a name to the chief ftreet
of Turin, which fronts the Dukt's palace-, and,
M -> wheii
254 BOLONIA, MoDENA,
when fini-uYd will be one of the nobleft in Italy
for its length. There is one convenience in this
city that I never obferved in any other, and which
makes fome amends for the badneis of the pave-
ment. By the help of a river, that runs on the
upper fide of the town, they can convey a little
ftream of water through all the moft confiderable
flreets, which lerves to cleanfe the gutters, and car-
ries away all the filth that is fwept into it. The
manager opens his fluice every night, and diftri-
butes the water into what quarters of the town he
pleafes. Befides the ordinary convenience that arifes
from it, it is of great u(e when a fire chances to
break out; for at a few minutes warning they
have a little river running by the very walls of the
houfe that is burning. The court of Turin is
reckoned the rnoft fplendid and polite of any in
Italy^ but by reafon of its being in mourning, I
could not fee it in its magnificence. The common
people of this ftate are more exafperated againft the
French than even the reft of the Italians. For the
great mifchiefs they have fufrered from them are ftill
fiefh upon their mcn.jries, and, notwithstanding
this interval of peace, one may eafily trace out the
fevera! marches, which the French armies have
made through their country, by the ruin and de-
solation they have left behind them. I pafTcd
through Piedmont and Savoy, at a time when the
Duke was forced, by the necen>ty of his affairs,
to be in alliance with the French.
I came direclly from Turin to Geneva, and had
a very eafy journey over mount Cennis, though
about the beginning of December, the fnows having
not yet fallen. On the top of this high moun-
tain is a large plain, and in the midft of the plain
3~ *
Parma, Turin, &t. 255
a beautiful lake which would be very extraordi-
nary, were there not feveral mountains in the neigh-
bourhood rifino; over it. The inhabitants there-
about pretend that it is unfathomable, and I quef-
tion not but the waters of it fill up a deep valley^
before they come to a level with the furface of
the plain. It is well-ftocked with trouts, though
they fay it is covered with ice three quarters of
"the year.
There is nothing in the natural face of Italy that
is more delightful to a traveller, than the feveral
lakes which are difperfed up and down among the
many breaks and hollows of the Alps and Appen-
nines. For as thefe vaft heaps of mountains are
thrown together with fo much irregularity and con-
fufion, they form a great variety o{ hollow bot-
toms, that often lie in the figure of fo many artifi-
cial bafons; where, if any fountains chance to rife,
they naturally fpread themfelves into lakes, before
they can find any iflue for their waters. The an-
cient Romans took a great deal of pains to hew out
a paiTage for thefe lakes to difcharge themfelves
into fome neighbouring river, for the bettering o*f
the air, or the recovering of the foil that lay under-
neath them. The draining of the Fuci-nus by the
Emperor Claudius, with the prodigious multitude
of fpe&ators who attended it, and the famous Nau-
machia and fplendid entertainment, which were
made upon it before the fluices were opened, is a
well known piece of hiftory. In all our journey
through the Alps, as well when we climbed as when
we defcended them, we had ftill a river running
along with the road, that probably at firfr. occafioned
the difcovery of this pafTage. I mall end this
chapter with a defcription of the Alps, as I did
M 2 the
256 BeLONIA, MODENA,
the lad with thofe of the Appennines. The Poet
perhaps would not have taken notice, that thee is
no fpring nor fummer on thefe mountains, but
becaufe in this refpect the Alps are quite different
from the Appennines, which have as delightful green
fpots among them as any in Italy.
Cuncla gelu candque aternum grandine tecla,
Jlique avi glaciem cohibent : riget ardua month
/Ether ei fades, fur gent ique obvia Phcebo
Duratas nefcit flammis mollire pruinas :
Quantum Tartareus rcgn'i pcdlcntis hiatus
jid manes imos atque atrajlagna paludis
jl fup era ttlhire patet^ tarn lenga per auras
Erigitur tcllus, cif ccelum inter cipit Umbra.
Nullum ver ufqv.am, nullique Mjlatis honor es-9
Solajugis habitat diris, fedefque tueiur
Perpetual deformis Hyems : ilia undique nubes.
Hue atras agit, et ?nixtos cum grandine nhnbos
Nam a mcii flatus vent ique furemia regno.
Alpind pofuere demo, ealigat in alt is
Vbtutus faxis, abcuntque in nubila mentes.
$il, Ital. Lib. 3.
SrjfF wkh eternal ice, and hid in mow
That fell a thoufand centuries ago,
The mountain frauds; nor can the rifing fun
Unfix her frofts, and teach 'em how to run:
Deep as the dark infernal waters lie
From the bright regions of the chearful fay,
So far the proud afcending rocks invade
Heav'n's upper realms, and caft a dreadful (hade :
No fprtng nor fummer on the mountain (een
Smiles with gay fruits, or with delightful green;
But hoary winter, unadom'd and bare,
Dwells in the dire retreat, and freezes there;
There
Parma, Turin, &c. 257
There me aiTembles all her blackeft ftorms,
And the rude hail in rattling tempefts forms;.
Thither the loud tumultuous winds refort,
And on the mountain keep their boift'rous court,.
That in thick fhow'rs her rocky fummu (hrowds>
And darkens all the broken view with clouds.
M 3 GENEVA
GENEVA
AND THE
L A K
E.
^
INI
EAR St. Julian in Savoy the Alps begin to
enlarge themfelves on all fides, and open
into a vaft circuit of ground, which, in refpe& of
the other parts of the Alps, may pafs for a plain
champain country. This extent of lands, with
the Leman lake, would make one of the prettieft
and moft defenfible dominions in Europe, was
it all thrown into a fingle (rate, and had Geneva
for its metropolis. But there are three powerful
neighbours, who divide among them the greatefl
part of this fruitful country. The Duke of Savoy
has the Chablais, and all the fields that lie beyond"
the Arve, as far as to the Eclufe. The King of
France is mailer of the whole country of Gex; and'
the canton of Rem comes in for that of Yaud. Ge-
neva and its little territories lie in the heart of
thefe three flates. The greateft part of the town
ftands upon a hill, and has its view bounded on all
fides by feveral ranges of mountains., which are
however at fo great a diftance, that they leave open
a
Geneva and the Lake. 259
a wonderful variety of beautiful profpecls. The
fituation of thefe mountains has fome particular
effects on the country, which they inclofe. As ruff,
they cover it from all winds, except the fouth arid
north, It is to the laft of thefe winds that the in-
habitants of Geneva afcribe the healthfulnefs of their
air; for as the Alps furround them on all fides, they
form a vaft kind of bafon, where there would be a
conftant ftagnation of vapours, the country being
fo well watered, did not the north wind put them
in motion, and fcatter them from time to time^
Another effedt the Alps have on Geneva is, that the
fun here riles later and lets fooner than it does tc*
other places of the fame latitude. I have often
obferved that the tops of the neighbouring moun-
tains have been covered with light above half an
hour after the fun is down, in refpecl of thofe who
live at Geneva. Thefe mountains likewife very
much increafe their fummer heats, and make up
an horizon that has fomething in it very fmgular
and agreeable. On one fide you have the long
tra& of hills, that goes under the name of mount
Jura, covered with vineyards and pafturage, and
on the other huge precipices of naked rocks rifing
up in a thoufand odd figures, and cleft in fome
places, fo as to difcover high mountains of fnow
that lie feveral leagues behind them. Towards the
fouth the hills rife more infenfibly, and leave the
eye a vaft uninterrupted profpeel: for many miles.
But the mod beautiful view of all is the lake, and
the borders of it that lie north of the town.
This lake refembles a fea in the colour of its-
waters, the ftorms that are raifed on it, and the
ravage it makes on its banks. It receives too a
different name from the coafts it wafhes, and in
dimmer has fomething like an ebb and flow,.
M 4 which.
260 Geneva and the Lake.
which arifes from the melting of the fnows that h\\
into it more copiouiiv at noon than at other times
of the day. It has five differentiates bordering
on it, the kingdom of France, the dutchy of Savoy,
the canton of Bern, the bifhopric of Sion, and the
republic of Geneva. I have feen papers fixed up in
the canton of Bern, with this magnificent preface ;
4 Whereas we have been Informed of feveral abates
' committed in our ports and hai bourson the lake,&c.
I made a little voyage round the lake, and
touched on the feveral towns that lie on its coafts,
which took up near five days, though the wind was
pretty fair for us all the while.
The right fide of the lake from Geneva belongs
to the Duke of Savoy, and is extremely well culti-
vated. The greateil entertainment we found ill
coafting it were the feveral profpecls of woods,
vineyards, meadows, and corn-fields which He
on the borders of it, and run up all the fides of the
Alps, where the barrennefs of the rocks, or the
ileepnefs of the afcent will fuller them. The wine
however on this fide of the lake is by no means fo
good as that on the other, as it has not fo open a
foil, and is lefs expofed to the fun. We here palled
by Yvoire, where the Duke keeps his gallies, and
lodged at Tonon, which is the greatefr. town on the
lake belonging to the Savoyard. It has four con-
vents, and they fay about fix or feven thoufand
inhabitants. The lake is here about twelve miles
in breadth. At a little diftance from Tonon ftands
Ripaille, where is a convent of Carthufians. They
have a large foreft cut out into walks, that are
extremely thick and gloomy, and very fuitable to
the genius of the inhabitants. There are Vifras
in it of a great length, tb,'.: terminate upon the
lake. At one fide of the walks you have a nc.
Geneva and the Lake. 16 1
profpe&s of the Alps, which are broken into fo
many fteeps and precipices, that they fill the mind
with an agreeable kind of horror, and form oneof the-
moft irregular mif-fhapen fcenes in the world. The
houfe, that is now in the hands of theCarthufians,.
belonged formerly to the hermits of St. Maurice*,
and is famous in hiftory for the retreat of an Anti-
Pope, who called himfelf Feljx the fifth. He had
been Duke of Savoy, and after a very glorious reign
took on him the habit of a hermit, and retired
into this folitary fpot of his dominions. His ene-
mies will have it, that he lived here in great eafe
and luxury; from whence the Italians to this day
make ufe of the proverb, Andare a Ripagiia^ and
the French, Faire Ripodle^ to exprefs a delightful.
kind of life. They fay too, that he had great
managements with feveral ecclefiaftics before he
turned hermit, and that he did it in the view of
being advanced to the pontificate. However it.
was, he had not been here half a year,, before he-
was chofen Pope by the council of Bafil, who took,
upon them to depofe Eugenio the fourth.. This
promifed fair at firft; but by the death of the
Emperor,, who favoured Amadeo, and the refolutioiv
of Eugenio,. the greateft part of the church threw
kfelf again under the government of their depofei
head. Our Anti-Pope however was ftill fupported'
by the council of Bafil, and owned by Savoy,
Switzerland, and a few other little (fates. This-
fchifm lafted in the church nine years, after which.
Felix voluntarily refigned his title into the hands
q{ Pope Nicholas the fifth ; but on the following
conditions, that Amadeo mould be the firii Car-
dinal in the conclave; that the Pope mould always
receive him ifanding, and offer him his mouth to
kifs-j that he mould be perpetual Cardinal- legate
M. s ^ ia
262 Geneva and the Lake..
in the dates of Savoy and Switzerland, and in the
arch bishopries of Geneva, Sion> Brefs, &c. And
laftly, that all the Cardinals of his creation mould
be recognized by the Pope. After he had made a
peace fo acceptable to the church, and io honour-
able to himfelf, he (pent the remainder of his
life with great devotion at Ripaille, and died with
an extraoidinarv reputation of fanclitv. '
A* Tonon they mewed us a fountain of water
that is in great efleem for its wholfomnefs. They
fay it weighs two ounces in a pound lefs than the
fame meafure of the lake-water, notwithstanding
this laft is very good to drink, and as clear as can
be imagined. A little above Tonon. is a caflle and
fmall garrifon. The next day we faw other fmall
towns on the coaft of Savoy, where there is no-
thing but miferv and poverty. The nearer you
come to the end of the lake, the mountains on each
iicle grow thicker and higher, until at lad they almoft
meet. One often fees on the tops of the moun-
tains feveral fharp rocks that ftand above the refH
for as thefe mountains have been doubtlefs much
higher than they are at prefent, the rains have
,fhed away abundance of the foil, that has left
the veins of flones mooting out of them; as in a
decayed body the flefia is (Iill fhrmking from the
bones. The natural hiftories of Switzerland talk
very much of the fall of thefe rocks, and the great
damage they have fometimes done, when their
foundations have been mouldred with age, or rent
by an earthquake We faw in feveral parts of the
A'p*, that bordered upon us, vaft pits of mow, as
f veral mountains that lie at a greater diftance are-
wholly covered with it. I fancied the confufion of
mounrairs and hoftows, I here obferved, furniflied
me with a more probable reafon than any I have
met
Geneva and the Lake. 263
met with for thofe periodical fountains in Switzer-
land, which flow only at fuch particular hours of
the day. For as the tops of thefe mountains caft
their fhadows upon one another, they hinder the
fun's fhining on feveral parts at fuch certain times,.
fo that there are feveral heaps of fnow which have
the fun lying upon them for two or three hours to-
gether, and are in the (hade all the day afterwards-
If therefore it happens that any particular fountain
takes its rife from any of thefe refervoirs of fnowv
t will naturally begin to flow on fuch hours of the
day as the fnow begins to melt : but as foon as-
the fun leaves it again to freeze and harden the
fountain dries up, and receives no more fupplies un-
til about the fame time the next day, when the heat
of the fun again fets the fnows running, that fail
into the fame little conduits, traces, and canals,.,
and byconfequence breakout and difcoverthemfelves
always in the fame place. At the very extremity,
of the lake the Rhone enters, and, when I faw it*
brought along with it a prodigious quantity of
water, the rivers and lakes of this country being
much higher in fummer than in winter, by reafon
of the melting of the fnows. One would wonder
how fo many learned men could fall into fo great
an abfurdity, as to believe this river could preferve
itfelf unmixed with the lake, till its going out again,
at Geneva, which is a courfe of many miles. It
was extremely muddy at its entrance, when I fav*
it, though as clear as rock water at its going out,
Befides, that it brought in much more water than
it carried off. The river indeed prefeives it fdf
for about a quarter of a mile in the lake, but is
afterwards fo wholly mixed and loft with the waters
of the lake, th-at one difcovers nothing like a
ftream until within about a- quarter of a mile of
Geneva.
2 64. < Jcrie va arid the Lake.
Geneva. From the end of the lake to the fource
or the Rhone is a valley of about four days jour-.
n$y in length, which gives the name of Valkfins
to its inhabitants, and is thedominion of the Bifhop
or Sion. We lodged thefecond night at Villa Neuve,
a little town in the canton of Bern, where we
found good accommodations, and a much greater
appearance of plenty than on the other fide of the
lake. The next day, having paiTed by the caftle
of Chilion, we came to Verfoy, another town \\\
the canton of Bern, where Ludlow retired after
having left Geneva and Laufanne. The magiftrates.
of the town warned him out of the firft by the
follicitationof the Dutchefs of Orleans, as the death
of his friend Lifle made him quit the other. He
probably chofe this retreat as a place of the greater!
i'afety, it being an eafy matter to know what Gran-
gers are in the town, by reafon of its fituation.
The houfe he lived in has this infeription over
the door ;
Omne Jolum firti £ atria
quia Patris,
The fitft part is a piece of verfe in Ovid, as the
]a{\ is a cant of his own. He is buried in the befl
of the churches with the following epitaph.
Sijle gradum et re/pi 'ce.
Hie jacet Edmond Ludlow, Anglus Natione, Pro-
rcinci<e JViitonienfis, filius Henri ci Equejiris ordinisy
? en at or ij que Parliament, cujm qiwque fuit ipfe mem-
btu?n, Pat rum jlemmate clarus et nobiiis, virtute
propria nobiiion, Rtligione protejlans et infigni pittate
of cms, Mtatis Anno .23 Tribunus MjlitUWy pavlo
•
Geneva and the Lake. 265;
py/i exercitus prator primarius. Tunc Hibernorum dcmi-
tar, in pugna intrepidus et vita prodigus, in victoria
clemens et manfuetus, patriae Libertatis Defenjor, et po-
t eft otis Arbitraria propugnator acerrimns ; cujus caufaab
eadempairia 32 annis extorris, meliorique for tuna Dignus
cpud Helvetios fe recepit ibique atatis Anno 7 3 Moriens
fui dfiderium relinquens fedes aternas latus advolavit,
Hocce Monu?nentu?n, inperpctuam vera ctfincerapie-
tatis erga maritum defwiclum me??wiamy dicat et vovet
Domina Elizabeth de Thomas , ejus Jirenua et mce/lijfima^,
tarn in infortuniis quam in matrimonio confers dileclifi?nay
qua animi magnitudine et vi amor is conjugalis mot a eum,
in exi/ium ad obitutn ufque conflanter fecuta eji% Anna
Dom. 1693.
Here lies Edmund Ludlow,, by birth an Engl'ifh-.
man, of the county of Wilts; fon of Sir Henry
Ludlow, Knight; a member of parliament, as his,
father had likewife been; more diftinguifhed by his
virtue than his family, though an ancient and good,
one; by religion a proteftant, and remarkable for
his eminent piety: In the 23d year of his age he
had the command of a regiment, and, foon af:er,
the poft of lieutenant-general : In which quality
he fubdued the Irifh, being intrepid in fight, andf
cxpofing himfelf to the- greateft dangers; but in
victory merciful and humane: A defender of the
liberty of his country,, and a frrenuous oppofes
of arbitrary power : upon which account being
bammed 33 years from his native country, anj
worthy of a better fortune, he retired into Switzer-
land, where he died, univerfally regretted, in ths
73d year of his age.
This monument was erected, in perpetual me-
inory of her true, and fincere affection towards he,?
deceafed'
266 Geneva and the Lake.
deceafed hufband, by Dame Elizabeth Thomas, hi*
beloved wife, and afflicted, but conftant, partner^
as well in misfortunes, as in wedlock; who, ex-
cited by her own greatnefs of mind, and the
force of conjugal love, followed him into banifh-
ment, and conftantly bore him company to his
death, A. D. 1693;.
Ludlow was a conftant frequenter of fermons and
prayers, but would never communicate with them
either of Geneva or Vevy. Juft by his monument
is a tombftone with the following infcription.
Depofitorium.
Andrea Brougfoon Armigeri Anglicani Maydjlonenfis in
Comitatu Cantii ubi bis prator Urbanus. Dignatufque
etiam fuit fententiam Regis Regum prof art. J^uam ob
caufam expuljus patria fua, per egrinat tone ejnsfinitd^folo
fenettutis morbo affeSfus requiefcens a laboribus juis in Do-
mino cbdormivity 23 die Feb, Anno D. 1687. atatis Jua
84. The remains of Andrew Broughton, Efq; an
Englifhman, of Maidftone in the countv of Kent, of
which place he was twice mayor. He had the
honour likewife to pronounce the fentence of the
King of Kings. Upon which account being ba-
nifhed from his country, after his travels were at-
an end, affe&ed with no other difeafe than that of
old age, he refted from his labours, and fell afleep
in the Lord, the 23d of February, A; D: 1687, in
the 84th year of his age. The inhabitants of the
place could give no account of this Broughton ; bur,..
I fuppofe, by his epitaph, it is the fame perfon that
was clerk to the pretended high court of juftice,
which pafTed fentence. on the royal martyr,
Tho
Geneva and the Lake.' 267-
The next day we fpent at Laufanne, the greatefl
town on the lake, after Geneva. We fow the
wall of the cathedral church that was opened by
an earthquake, and (hut again fome years after
by a feconct. The crack can but be juft difcerned at
prefent, though there are feveral in the town ftill-
living who have formerly paffed through it. The
Duke of Schomberg, who was. killed in Savoy, lies
in this church, but without any monument or in*
icription over him. Laufanne was once a republic,
but is now under the canton o-f Bern, and governed,
like the reft of their dominions,, by a bailiff, who
is fent them every three years from the Senate of
Bern. There is one flreet of this town that has
the privilegeof acquittingor condemning any perfon
of their own body, in matters of life and death.
Every inhabitant of it has his vote, which makes
a houfe here fell better than in any other part of
the town. They tell you that not many years
ago it happened, that a ccbler had the cafting vote
for the life of the criminal, which he very gra-
cioufly gave on the merciful fide. From Laufanne
toGeneva wecoafted along the country of the Vaud,
which is the fruitful left and beft cultivated part of
any among the Alps, It belonged formerly to the
Duke of Savoy, but was won.from him by the can-
ton of Bern, and made over to it by the treaty of
St. Julian, which is ftill very much regretted by the
Savoyard. We called in at Morge,. where there is
an artificial port, and a fhow of more trade than
in any other town on the lake. From Morge we
cametoNyon. TheColonia Equeftris, that Julius
Caefar fettled in this country, is generally fuppofed
to have been planted in this place. They have of-
ten dug up old Roman infcriptions and ftatues, and
3d I walked in the town. I obferved in the walls of
feveral
268- Geneva and the Lake.
feveral houfes the fragments of vaft Corinthian
pillars, with feveral other pieces of architecture,,
which muft have formerly belonged to fome very
noble pile of buildmg. There is no author that
mentions this colony, yet it is certain by feveral old
Roman infcriptions that there was fuch an one..
Lucan indeed fpeaks of a part of Caefar's army,
that came to him from the Lemon lake in the be-
ginning of the civil war.
Defer uere cavo tentoria fix a Ltmanm.
Lib. i. v. 396.
They left their tents pitch'd on the Leman lake*
At about five miles diftance from Nyon they
fliow frill the ruins of Caefar's wall, that reached
eighteen miles in length, from mount Jura to the
borders of the lake, as he has defcnbed it in the
firft book of his commentaries. The next town
upon the lake is Verfoy, which we could not have
an opportunity of feeing,, as belonging to the King
of France. It has the reputation of being extremely
poor and beggarly. We failed from hence direclly
for Geneva, which makes a very noble (how from
the lake. There are near Geneva feveral quarries
of freeftone that run under the lake. When the
water is at lowed they make within the borders
of it a little fquare inclofed with four walls. In
this fquare they fink a pit, and dig for freeftone;
the walls hindering the waters from coming in
upon them, when the lake rifes and runs on all
fides of them. The great convenience of carriage
makes thefe ftones much cheaper than any that can
be found upon firm land. One fees feveral deep
pits that have been made. at feveral times as one fails
over.
Geneva and the Lake. 269
over them. As the lake approaches Geneva it growl
ili II narrower and narrower, until at laft it changes
its name into the Rhone, that turns all the mills
of the town, and is extremely rapid, notvvith-
{landing its waters are very deep. As I have feen
great part of the courfe of this river, I cannot
but think it has been guided by the particular hand
of providence. It rifes in the very heart of the
Alps, and has a long valley that feefns hewn out on
purpofe to give its waters a paflage amidft fo many
rocks and mountains which are on all fides of it.
This brings it almoft in a direct line to Geneva.
It woujd there overflow all the country, were there
not one particular cleft that divides a vaft circuit
of mountains, and conveys it off to Lyons. From
Lyons there is another great rent, which runs acrofs
the whole country in almoft another ftraight line*
and notwithstanding the vaft height of the moun-
tains that rife about it, gives, it the fhorteft courfe
it can take to fall into the fea. Had fuch a river
as this been left to itfelf to have found its way out
from among the Alps, whatever windings it had
made it muft have formed feveral little feas, and
have laid many countries under water before it had
come to the end of its coupfe. I fhail not make
any remarks upon Geneva, that is a republic fo
well known to the Englifh. It lies at prefent under
fome difficulties by reafon of the Emperor's dif-
pleafure, who has forbidden the importation of their
manufactures into any part of the empire, which
will certainly raife a fedition among the people,
unlefs the magiftrates find fome way to remedy.it::
and they fay it is already done by the interpofition
of the ftates .of Holland. The occafion o( the-
Emperor's prohibition was their furnifhing great
fums to the Kins of France for the pavment of his
army
1
jo Geneva and the Lake.
army in Italy. They obliged themfelves to tem\t9
after the rate of twelve hundred thoufand pounds
fterling per Annum^ divided into fo many monthly
payments. As the intereft was very great, feverai
of the merchants of Lyons, who would not truft
their King in their own name, are faid to have
contributed a great deal under the names of Geneva
merchants. The republic fancies itfelf hardly
treated by the Emperor, fmce it is not any action
of the ftate, but a compact among private perfons
that have furniihed out thefe feveral remittances.
They pretend however to have put a flop to them>
and by that means are in hopes again to epen their
commerce into the empire*
Fribourgr
*>
Fribourg, Bern, Soleurre*
Zurich, St. Gaul,
Lindaw, &c.
FROM Geneva I travelled to Laufanne* and
thence to Fribourg, which is but a mean town
for the capital of fo large a canton: Its fitua-
tion is fo irregular, that they are forced to climb
up to feveral parts of it by ftair-cafes of a prodi-
gious afcent. This inconvenience however gives
them a very great commodity in cafe a fire
breaks out in any part of the town; for by
reafon of feveral refervoirs on the tops of thefe
mountains, by the opening of a fluice they con-
vey a river into what part of the town they
pleafe. They have four churches, four convents
of women, and as many for men. The little
chapel called the Salutation, is very neat, and
built with a pretty fancy. The college of jefuits
is, they fay, the fineft in Switzerland, There is
a great deal of room in it, and feveral beautiful
views from the different parts of it. They have
a collection of pictures reprefenting moft of the
fathers of their order, who have been eminent for
their piety or learning. Among the reft, many
En&lifh.
272 Switzerland.
Englifh men, whom we name rebels, and they
martyrs. Henry Garnet's infeription fays, that,
when the heretics could not prevail with him, ei-
ther by force or promifes, to change his religion,
they hanged and quartered him. At the Capuchins I
i*aw the efcargatoire, which I took the more notice
of, becaufe I do not remember to have met with any
thing of the fame nature in other countries. It is a
fquare place boarded in, and filled with a vail quan-
tity of large fnails, that are citeemed excellent food
when they are well defied. rFhe floor is flrowed
about half a foot deep with feveral kinds of plants,,
among which the fnails nefile all the winter fea-
fon. When Lent arrives, they open their magazines,
and take out of them the beft meagre food in the
world ; for there is no dim of fifh that they reckon
comparable to a ragout of fnails.
About two leagues from Fribourg we went to fee
a hermitage, that is reckoned the greatefr. curiofity
of thefe parts. It lies in the prettied folitude
imaginable, among woods and rocks, which at
firft fight difpofe a man to be ferious. There has
lived in rt a hermit thefe five and twenty years,,
who with his own hands has worked in the rock
a pretty chapel, a facriify, a chamber, kitchen*
cellar, and other conveniencies. His chimney is
carried up through the whole rock, fo that you fee
the (ky through it, notwithstanding the rooms lie
very deep. He has cut the fide of the rock into a.
fiat for a garden, and by laying on it the vvafte
earth that he has found-in feveral of the neighbour-
lOg parts, has made fuch a fpot of ground of it as
furnifhes out a kind of luxury for an hermit. As
he faw drops of water diftilling from feveral parts
of the rock, by following the veins of them, he
has made himfelf two or three fountains in the
bowels
Switzerland. 273
T>owels of the mountain, that ferve his table, and
Water his little garden.
We had very bad ways from hence to Bern, a
great part of them through woods of fir-trees. The
great quantity of timber they have in this coun-
try makes them mend their highways wich wood
inftead of ftone. I could not but take notice of the
make of feveral of their barns I here faw. After
having laid a frame of wood for the foundation,
they place at the four corners of it four huge blocks,
cut in fuch a fhape as neither mice nor any other
fort of vermin can creep up the fides of thern^ at
the fame time that they raife the corn above the
moifture that might come into it from the ground.
The whole weight of the barn is fupported by thefe
four blocks.
What pleafed me moil at Bern was their public
walks by the great church. They are railed ex-
tremely high, and, that their weight might not
break down their walls and pilafters which furround-
them, they are built upon arches and vaults.
Though they are, I believe, as high as molt iteeples
in England from the {Ireets and gardens that lie at
the foot of them, yet, about forty years ago, a
perfon iif his drink fell down from the very top to
the bottom, without doing himfelf any other-hurt
than the breaking of an arm. He died about four
years ago. There is the nobleft fummer-profpecl:
•in the world from this walk; for you have a full
view of a huo;e range of mountains that lie in the
country of the Gnfons, and are buried in- (how.
They are about twenty five leagues diftance from
the town, though by reafon of their height and
their colour they feem much nearer. The cathe-
dral church (lands on one fide of thefe walks, and
is perhaps the moil magnificent of any proteftant
church
274 Switzerland.
church in Europe, out of England. It is a very
bold work, and a mafter-piece in Gothic archi-
tecture.
I Taw the arfenal of Bern, where they fay there
are arms for twenty thoufand men. There is in-
deed no great pleafure in vifiting thefe magazines of
war after one has feen two or three of them ; yet
it is very well worth a traveller's while to look in-
to all that lie in his way; for befides the idea it
gives him of the forces of a ftate, it ferves to fix
in his mind the moft confiderable parts of its hi-
flory. Thus in that of Geneva one meets with the
ladders, petard, and other utenfils which were
made ufe of in their famous efcalade, befides the
weapons they took of the Savoyards, Florentines,
and French in the feveral battles mentioned in their
hiftory. In this of Bern you have the figure and
armour of the count who founded the town, of
the famous Tell, who is reprefented as {hooting at
the apple on his fon's head. The ftory is too
well known to be repeated in this place. I here
like Wife faw the figure and armour of him that
headed the peafants in the war upon Bern, with
the feveral weapons which were found in the hands
of his followers. They mow too abundance of
arms that they took from the Burgundians in the
three great battles which eftablifhed them in their
liberty", and deftroyed the great Duke of Burgundy
himfelf, with the braveft of his fubje£ts. I faw no-
thing remarkable in the chambers where the coun-
cil meet, nor in the fortifications of the town.
Thefe laft were made on occafion of the peafants in-
furrcclion, to defend the place for the future againft
the like fudden aflaults. in their library I obierved
a couple of antique figures in metal, of a priefr.
pouring wine between the horns of a bull. The
prieft
Switzerland. 275
pried is veiled after the manner of the old Roman
facrificers, and is reprefented in the fame a&ion
that Virgil defcribes in the fourth iEneid.
Ipfa ienens dexira pateram pulcherrima Dido,
Candenth vaccce media inter cornua fundit, v. 6o,
The beauteous Queen before her altar ftands,
And holds the golden goblet in her hands:
A milk-white heifer me with flow'rs adorns,
And pours the ruddy wine betwixt her horns.
Drydcn.
This antiquity was found at Laufanne,
The town of Bern is plentifully furnimed with
water, there being a great multitude of handfome
fountains planted at fet diltances from one end of
the ftreets to the other. There is indeed no coun-
try in the world better fupplied with water, than
the feveral parts of Switzerland that I travelled
through. One meets every where in the roads
with fountains continually running into huge
troughs that (land underneath them, which is
wonderfully commodious in a country that fo much
abounds with horfes and cattle. It has fo many
fprings breaking out of the fides of the hills, and
fuch vaft quantities of wood to make pipes of, that
it is no wonder they are fo well flocked with foun-
tains.
On t! e road between Bern and Soleurre there is
-a monument erected by the republic of Bern,
which tells us the flory of an Englifhman, who is
not to be met with in anv of our own writers. The
4
infcription is in Latin verfe on one fide of the
' ftone, and in German on the other. I had not time
to
276
Switzerland.
to copy it; but the fubftance of it is this: " One
<c Cuflinus, an Englishman, to whom the Duke of
*{ Auftria had given his lifter in marriage, came
c< to take her from among the Swifs by force of
ct arms; but, after having ravaged the country
V for fome time, he was here overthrown by the
ct canton of Bern."
Soleurre is our next confiderable town that
feemed to me to have a greater air of politenefs
than any I faw in Switzerland. The French Ambaf-
fador has his refidence in this place. His Mailer
contributed a great fum of money to the jefuits
church, which is not yet quite finished. It is
the fineft modern building in Switzerland. The
old cathedral church flood not far from it. At
the afcent that leads to it are a couple of antique
pillars, which belonged to an old heathen tem-
ple, dedicated to Hermes: They feem Tufcan by
their proportion. The whole fortification of So-
leurre is faced with marble. But its belt fortifi-
cations -are the high mountains that lie within its
neighbourhood, and feparate it from the Francne
Compte.
The next day's journey carried us through other
parts of the canton of Bern, to the little town of
Meldingen. I was furprifed to find, in all my road
through Switzerland, the wine that grows in the
county of Vaud on the border of the lake of Ge-
neva, which is very cheap, notwithstanding the
great diltance between the vineyards and the towns
ihat fell the wine. But the navigable rivers of
Switzerland are as commodious to them in this re-
fpecl, as the fea is to the English. As foon as the
vintage is over, they fhip of their wine upon the
lake, which fumifhes all the towns that lie upon
its borders. What they defign for other parts of the
country
Switzerland. 277
country they unload at Vevy, and after about half
a day's land-carriage convey it into the river
Aar, which brings it down the ftream to Bern,
Soleurre, and, in a word, diftributes it through ali
the richeft parts of Switzerland; as it is ealy to
guefs from the fu-ft fight of the map, which fhows us
the natural communication Providence has formed
between the many rivers and lakes of a country
that is at (o great a diftance from the fea. The
canton of Bern is reckoned as powerful as all the
reft together. They can fend a hundred thoufand
men into the field ; though the foldiers of the ca-
tholic cantons, who are much poorer, and therefore
forced to enter oftner into foreign armies, are more
efteemed than the proteitants.
We lay one night at Meldingen, which is a little
Roman catholic town with one church, and no
convent, It is a republic of itfelf, under the
protection of the eight ancient cantons. There
are in it a hundred bourgeois, and about a thoufand
fouls. Their government is modelled after the
fame manner with that of the cantons, as much
as ib fmall a community can imitate thofe of fo
large an extent. For this reafon, though they have
very little bufinefs to do, they have all the variety
of councils and officers that are to be met with in
the greater Hates. They have a town-houfe to
meet in, adorned with the arms of the eight can-
tons their protectors. They have three councils,
the great council of fourteen, the little council
of ten, and the privy council of three. The
chief of the ftate are the two Avoyers: When I
was there the reigning Avoyer, or Doge of the
commonwealth, was ion to the inn where I was
lodged; his father having enjoyed the fame ho-
nours before him. His revenue amounts to about
N thirty
zj% Switzerland.
thirty pounds a year. The feveral councils meet
every Thurfday upon affairs of ftate, fuch as the
reparation of a trough, the mending of a pave-
ment, or any the like matters of importance.
The river that runs through their dominions puts
thcrri to the charge of a very large bridge, that is
all made of wood, and coped over head, like the
reft in Switzerland. Thofe that travel over it pay
a certain due towards the maintenance of this bridge.
And as the French AmbafTador has often occafion to
pais this way, his matter gives the town a penfio'n
of twenty pounds flerling, which makes them ex-
tremely induftrious to raife all the men they can for
his fer vice, and keeps this powerful republic firm.
to the French intereft. You may be fure the pre-
serving of the bridge, with the regulation of the
dues arifing from it, is the grand affair that cuts
nut employment for the feveral councils of ftate.
They have a fmall village belonging to them,
whither they punctually fend a bailif for the dif-
tribution of juif.ice; in imitation ftill of the great
cantons. There are three other towns that have
the fame privileges and protectors.
"We dined the next day at Zurich, that is prettily
fituated on the out-let of the lake, and is reckoned
the handfomeft town in Switzerland. The chief
places lhown to ftrangers are the arfenal, the li-
brary, and the town-houfe. This lad is but
lately finilhed, and is a very fine pile of building.
The frontifpiece has pillars of a beautiful *black
marble ftreaked with white, which is found in the
neighbouring mountains. The chambers for the
feveral councils, with the other apartments, are
very neat. 1 he whole building is indeed fo well
defiimed, that it would make a good figure even
in Italy. It is pity they have fpoiled the beauty of the
walls
Switzerland. 279
wails with abundance of childilh Latin fentences,
that confift often in a jingle of words. I have in-
deed obferved in feveral infcriptions of this country,
that your men of learning here are extremely de-
lighted in playing little tricks with words and fi-
gures; for your Swifs wits are not yet got out of
the anagram and acroftic The library is a very
large room, pretty well filled. Over it is another
room furnifhed with feveral artificial and natural
curiofities. I faw in it a huge map of the whole
country of Zurich drawn with a pencil, where they
fee every particular fountain and hillock in their
dominions. I ran over their cabinet of medals,
but do not remember to have met with any in it that
are extraordinary rare. 7^he arfenal is better than
that of Bern, and they fay has arms for thirty thou-
fand men. At about a day's journey from Zurich we
entered on the territories of the Abbot of St. Gaul.
They are four hours riding in breadth, and twelve
in length. The Abbot can raife in it an army of
twelve thoufand men well armed and exercifed. He
is fovereign of the whole country, and under the
protection of the cantons of Zurich, Lucerne, Gla-
ris and Switz. He is always chofen out of the ab-
by of Benedictines" at St. Caul. Every father and
brother of the convent has a voice in the election,
which! mufl afterwards be confirmed by the Pope.
The laft Abbot was Cardinal Sfondrati, who was
advanced to the purple about two years before his
death. The Abbot takes the advice and confent
of his chapter before he enters on any matter of
importance, as the levying of a tax, or declaring of
a war. His chief lay- officer is the grand Adaitre
d? Hotel, or high fteward of the houfltold, who is
named by the Abbot, and has the management of
all affairs under him. There are feveral other judges
N 2 and
280 Switzerland.
and difrributers of juftice appointed for the feveral
parts of his dominions, from whom there always
lies an appeal to the Prince. His rcfidence is ge-
nerally at the Benedicline convent at St. Gaul, not-
withstanding the town of St. Gaul is a little pro-
tcftant republic, wholly independent of the Abbot,
and under the protection of the cantons.
One would wonder to fee fo many rich bourgeois
in the town of St. Gaul, and fo very few poor peo-
ple in a place that has icarce any lands belonging
to it, and little or no income but what arifes from its
trade. But the great iupport and riches of this
little {rate is in its linen manufacture, which cm-
ploys alnioft all ages and conditions of its inhabi-
tants. The whole country about them furnifhcs
them with vafl quantities of flax, out of which
they are faid to make yeaily forty thoufand pieces
of linen cloth, reckoning two hundred ells to the
piece. Some of their manufacture is as finely
wrought as any that can be met with in Holland;
for they have excellent artifans, and great commo-
dities for whitenins- All the fields about the town
were covered with their manufacture, that coming
in the dufk of the evening we miftook them for a
kke. They fend off their works upon mules into
Italy, Spain, Germany, and all the adjacent coun-
tries. They reckon in the town of St. Gaul, and
in the houfes that lie fcattered about it, near ten
thoufand fouls, of which there are fixteen hundred
1 urgeois. They chcofe their councils and burgo-
mafters out of the body of the bourgeois, as in the
other governments, of Switzerland, which are every
where of the fame nature, the difference lying only
in the numbers of fuch as are employed in flate-
affairs, which are proportioned to the grandeur of
the ftates that employ them. The abbey and the
town
Switzerland. 281
town bear a great averfion to one another; but in
the general diet of the cantons their reprefentatives
lit together, and act by concert. The Abbot de-
putes his grand Maitre d' Hotel, and the town one
of its burgo-mafters.
About four years ago, the town and abbey would
have come to an open rupture, had it not been
timely prevented by the interpofition of their com-
mon protectors. The occafion was this. A Bene-
dictine monk, in one of their annual proceiiions,
carried his crofs erected through the town, with a
train of three or four thouiand peafants following
him. They had no fooner entered the convtnt, but
the whole town was in a tumult, occafioned by
the infolence of the prieit, who, contrary to ail
precedents, had prefumed to carry his crofs in that
manner. The bourgeois immediately put themfelves
in arms, and drew down four pieces of their cannon
to the gates of the convent. The procefiion, to
efcape the fury of the citizens, durft not return by
the way it came, but, after the devotions of the
monks were finiihed, paffed out at a back-door of
the convent, that immediately led into the Abbot's
territories. The Abbot on his part raifes an army,
blocks up the town on the fide that faces his do-
minions, and forbids his fubjects to furnifh it with
any of their commodities. While things were juft
ripe for a war, the cantons, their protectors, inter-
poied as umpires in the quarrel, condemning the
town that had appeared too forward in the difpufce
to a fine of two thoufand crowns; and enacting at
the fame time, that as foon as any proceiiion en-
tered their walls, the prieft mould let the crofs hang
about his neck without touching it with either hand,
until he came within the precincts of the abbey.
The citizens could bring into the field near two
N 3 thoufand
282 Switzerland.
thoufand men well exercifed, and armed to the beft
advantage, with which they fancy they could make
head againff. twelve or fifteen thoufand peafants ;
for fo many the Abbot could eafily raife in his terri-
tories. But the proteftant fubjects of the abbey, who
they fay make up a good third of its people, would
probably, in cafe of a war, abandon the caufe of
their Prince for that of their religion. The town
of St. Gaul has an arfenal, library, town-houfes,
and churches proportionable to the bignefs of the
irate. It is well enough fortified to refill any fud-
den attack, and to give the cantons time to come
to their afliftance. The abbey is by no means fo
magnificent as one would expect from its endow-
ments. Their church has one hug-c nef with adou-
ble aifle to it. At each end is a large quire. The
one of them is fupported by vaft pillars of ftone,
cafed over with a competition that looks the moft
like marble of any thing one can imagine. On the
cieling and walls of the church are lifts of Saints,
Martyrs, Popes, Cardinals, Archbifhops, Kings,
and Queens, that have been of the Benedictine or-
der. There are feveral pictures of fuch as have been
ciiftiuguiihcd by their birth, fanctity, or miracles,
with inferiptions that let you into the name and
hi ft or v of the perfons reprefented. I have often
Wifhed that fome traveller would take the pains to
gather together all the modern inferiptions which are
to be met with in Roman catholic countries, as
Gruter and others have copied out the ancient hea-
then monuments. Had we two or three volumes
of this nature, without any of the collector's own
i-tflexions, I am furc there is nothing in the world
could give a truer idea of the Roman catholic re-
ligion, nor expofe more the pride, vanity, and felf-
intereft of convents, the abufe of ir.dulgencies, the
folly
Switzerland. 283
folly and impertinence of votaries, and in fhort
the fuperftition, credulity, and childifhnefs of the
Roman catholic religion. One might fill feveral
fheefs at St. Gaul, as there are few confiderable
convents or churches that would not afford larg-e
contributions. N
As the King of France diftributes his penfions
through all the parts of Switzerland, the town and
abbey of St. Gaul come in too for their fhare. To
the firft he gives five hundred crowns per Annum ^
and to the other a thoufand. This penfion has not
been paid thefe three years, which they attribute to
their not acknowledging theDuke of Anjou for King
of Spain. The town and abbey of St. Gaul carry
a bear in their arms. The Roman catholics have
this bear's memory in very great veneration, and
reprefent him as the firft convert their faint made
in the country. One of the moft learned of the
Benedictine monks gave me the following hiftory of
him, which he delivered to me with tears of af-
fection in his eyes. St. Gaul, it feems, whom they
call the great apoftle of Germany, found all this
country little better than a vaft defert. As he was
walking in it on a very cold day, he chanced to meet
a bear in his way. The faint, inftead of being
ftarded at the rencounter, ordered the bear to bring
him a bundle of wood, and make him a fire. The
bear ferved him to the beft of his ability, and at his
departure was commanded by the faint to retire
into the very depth of the woods, and there to pafs
the reft of his life without ever hurting man or
beaft. From this time, fays the monk, the bear
lived irreproachably, and obferved to his dying day
the orders that the faint had given him.
I have often confidered, with a great,deal of plea-
fure, the profound peace and tranquility that reigns
N 4 in
284 Switzerland.
in Switzerland and its alliances. It is very wonder-
ul to fee fuch a knot of governments, which are
io divided among themfelves in matters of religion,
maintain fo uninterrupted an union and correfpon-
cJence, that no one of them is for invading the rights
of another, but remains content within the boundsof
its rirft eftablifhment. This, I think, muff, be chiefly
afcribed to the nature of the people, and the confti-
tution of their governments. Were the Swifs ani-
mated by zeal or ambition, fome or other of their
ifatcs would immediately break in upon the reft; or
were the itates fo many principalities, they might
often have an ambitious fovereign at the head of
them, that would embroil his neighbours, and facri-
fice the repofe of his fubiects to his own glory.
But as the inhabitants of thefe countries are natu-
jally of a heavy phlegmatic temper, if any of their
leading members have more fire and ipirit than
comes to their fhare, it is quickly tempered by the
coldnefs and moderation of the reft who fit at the
helm with them. To this we may add, that the
Alps is the worft fpot of ground in the world to
make conquefts in, a great part of its governments
being fo naturally intrenched among woods and
mountains. However it be, we find no fuch difor-
dcrs among them as one would expect in fuch a
multitude of ftatesj for as foon as any public
rupture happens, it is immediately cloied up by the
moderation and good offices of the reft that in-
tcrpofe.
As all the confiderable governments among the
Alps are commonwealths, fo indeed it is a confti-
tution the moft adapted of any other to the poverty
and barrennefs of thefe countries. We may fee
only in a neighbouring government the ill confe-
rence of having a defpotic Prince, in a ftate that
is
SWI T ZERL AND. 285
is moll of it compofed of rocks and mountains ; for
notwithstanding there is a vaft extent of lands,
and many of them better than thofe of the Swifs
and Grifons, the common people among the latter
are much more at their eafe, and in a greater afflu-
ence of all the conveniencies of life. A Prince's
court eats too much into the income of a poor
irate, and generally introduces a kind of luxury
and magnificence, that fcts every particular perfon
upon making a higher figure in his ftation than is
generally confident with his revenue.
It is the great endeavour of the feveral cantons of
Switzerland, to baniih from among them every
thing that looks like pomp or fuperfluity. To this
end the minifters are always preaching, and the
governors putting out edicts, againft dancing,
gaming, entertainments, and fine clothes. This is
become more necefiary in fome of the governments,
fince there are fo many refugees fettled among
them; for though the proteflants in France afFc& or-
dinarily a greater plainnefs and fimplicity of man-
ners, than thofe of the fame quality who are of the
Roman catholic communion, they have however too
much of their country-gallantry for the genius and
conftitution of Switzerland. Should drefling, feaft-
ing, and balls once get among the cantons, their,
military roughnefs would be quickly loft, their
tempers would grow too foft for their climate, and
their expences out-run their incomes; bcfides that
the materials for their luxury muft be brought from
other nations, which would immediately ruin a
country that has few commodities of itb own to
export, and is not overftocked with money. Luxu-
ry indeed wounds a republic in its very vitals,
as its natural confequences are rapine, avarice,
and injufticej for the more money a man fpcnds,
N .5. the
286 Switzerland,
the more muft he endeavour to augment his flock;
which at laft fets the liberty and votes of a com-
monwealth to fale, if they find any foreign power
that is able to pay the price of them. We fee no
where the pernicious effects of luxury on a repub-
lic more than in that of the ancient Romans, who
immediately found itfelf poor as foon as this vice got
fooling among them, though they were poffeiTed of
all the riches in the world. We find in the be-
ginnings and increafes of their commonwealth
ffrange inftances of the contempt of money, becaufe
indeed they were utter flrangers to the pleafure that
might be procured by it; or in other words, becaufe
they were wholly ignorant of the arts of luxury.
But as foon as they once entered into a tafte of plea-
sure, politenefs, and magnificence, they fell into a
thousand violences, confpiracies, and divifions, that
threw them into all the diforders imaginable, and
terminated in the utter fubverfion of the common-
wealth. It is no wonder therefore the poor com-
monwealths of Switzerland are ever labouring at the
iuppreffion and prohibition of every thing that may
introduce vanity and luxury. Befides, the feveral
fines that are fet upon plays, games, balls, and
feaftings, they have many cuftoms among them
which very much contribute to the keeping up of
their ancient fimplicity. The bourgeois, who are
at the head of the governments, are obliged to
appear at all their public affemblies in a black
cloke and a band. The womens drefs is very
plain, thofe of the bed quality wearing nothing on
their heads generally but furs, which are to be met
with in their own country. The perfons of diffe-
rent qualities in both fexes are indeed allowed their
different ornaments; but thefe are generally fuch as
are by no means coitly, being rather defigned as
marks
Switzerland. 287
marks of diftincYion than to make a figure. The
chief officers of Bern, for example, are known by
the crowns of their hats, which are much deeper
than thofe of ah inferior character. The peafants
are generally clothed in a coarfe kind of canvas,
that is the manufacture of the country. Their
holy-day clothes go from father to fon, and are
feldom worn out, 'till the fecond or third genera-
tion : So that it is common enough to fee a country-
man in the doublet and breeches of his sreat-
grandfather.
Geneva is much politer than Switzerland, or any
of its allies, and is therefore looked upon as the
court of the Alps, whither the proteftant cantons
often fend their children to improve themfelves in
Iantz;ua2;e and education. The Gehevois have been
very much refined, or, as others will have it, cor-
rupted, by the converfation of the French protef-
tants, who make up almoil a third of their people.
It is certain they have very much forgotten the ad-
vice that Calvin gave them in a great council a
little before his death, when he recommended to
them, above all things, an exemplary modefty
and humility, and as great a fimplicity in their
manners, as in their religion. Whether or no
they have done well, to fet up for making another
kind of figure, time will witnefs, There are fe-
veral that fancy the great fums they have remitted
into Italy, though by this means they make their
court to the King of France at prefent, may fome
time cr other give him an inclination to become the
mafter of fo wealthy a city. --
As this collection of little ftates abounds more
in padurage than in corn, they are all provided
with their public granaries, and have the huma-
nity to furnilh one another in public exigencies,
when
288 Switzerland.
when the fcarcitv is not univerfal. As the ad-
miniftration of affairs, relating to theie public
granaries, is not very different in any of the
particular governments, I (hall content myfelf to
let down the rules obferved in it by the little
commonwealth of Geneva, in which I had more
time to inform myfelf of the particulars than
in any other. There are three of the little
council deputed for this office. They are obliged
to keep together a provifion fufficient to feed the
people at lead: two years, in cafe of war or fa-
mine. They muft take care to fill their magazines
in times of the greateft plenty, that fo they may
afford cheaper, and increafe the public revenue
at a fin all expence of its members. None of the
three managers muft, upon any pretence, furnifh
the granaries from his own fields, that fo they
may have no temptation to pay too great a price,
or put any bad corn upon the public. They muft
buy up no corn growing within twelve miles of
Geneva, that fo the filling of their magazines, may
not prejudice their market, and raife the price of
their provifions at home. That fuch a collection
of corn may not fpoil in keeping, all the inns and
public-houfes are obliged to furnifh themfelves out
oi' it, by which means is raifed the moll: confider-
able branch of the public revenues; the corn being
ibid out at a much dearer rate than it is bought up
at. So that the grcateft income of the common-
wealth, which pays the penfions of moft of its
officers and minifters, is raifed on ftrangers and
travellers, or fuch of their own body as have
money enough to fpend at taverns and public-
houfes.
It
Switzerland. 289
It is the cuftom in Geneva and Switzerland, to
divide their eftates equally among all their children,
by which means every one lives at his eafe without
growing dangerous to the republick; for as foon as
an overgrown eftate falls into the hands of one that
has many children, it is broken into fo many por-
tions as render the iharers of it rich enough, with-
out raifing them too much above the level of the
reft. This is ahfolutely neceflary in thefe little re-
publicks, where the rich merchants live very much
within their eftates, and by heaping up vaft funis
from year to year might become formidable to the
reft of their fellow-citizens, and break the equa-
lity, which is fo neceflary in thefe kinds of go-
vernments, were there not means found out to dis-
tribute their wealth among feveral members of
their republick. At Geneva, for inftance, are mer-
chants reckoned worth twenty hundred thoufand
crowns, though, perhaps, there is not one of them
who fpends to the value of five hundred pounds a
year.
Though the proteftants and papifts know very-
well, that it is their common intereft to keep a
(teddy neutrality in all the wars between the ftates-
of Europe, they cannot forbear fiding with a party in
their difcourfe. The catholics are zealous for the
French King,, as the proteftants do not a little glory
in the riches, power, and good fuccefs of the Eng-
lifh and Dutch, whom they look upon as the bul-
warks of the reformation. The minifters in parti-
cular have often preached againft fuch of their fel-
low-fubjects as enter into the troops of the French
King; but fo long as the Swifs fee their intereft in
it, their poverty will always hold them faft to his
fervice. They have indeed the exercife of their re-
290 Switzerland.
ligion, and their minifters with them; which is the
more remarkable, becaufe the very fame Prince
refilled even thofe of the church of England, who
followed their matter to St. Germains, the public
exercife of their religion.
Before I leave Switzerland, T cannot but obferve,
that the notion of witchcraft reigns very much in
this country. I have often been tired with accounts
of this nature from very fenfible men that are mod
of them furniihed with matters of facT: which have
happened, as they pretend, within the compafs of
their own knowledge. It is certain theie have been
many executions on this account, as in the can-
ton of Bern there were fome put to death during
my flay at Geneva. The people are lb univerfally
infatuated with the notion, that, if a cow falls
fick, it is ten to one but an old woman is clapped
up in prifon for it; and if the poor creature chance
to think herfelf a witch, the whole country is for
hanging her up without mercy. One finds indeed
the fame humour prevail in mod of the rocky bar-
ren parts of Europe. Whether it be that poverty
and ignorance, which are generally the produces of
thefe countries, may really engage a wretch in fuch
dark practices, or whether or no the fame princi-
ples may not render the people too credulous, and
perhaps too eafy to get rid of fome of their unpro-
fitable members.
A great affair that employs the Swifs politics at
prefent is the Prince of Conti's fucceflion to the
Dutchefs of Nemours in the government of Neuf-
Chatel. The inhabitants of Neuf-Chatel can bv no
means think of fubmitting themfelves to a Prince,
who is a Roman catholic, and a fubjecT: of France.
They were very attentive to his conduct in the
prin-
Switzerland. 291
principality of Orange, which they did not queftiorr
but he would rule with all the mildnefs and mo-
deration imaginable, as it would be the beft means
in the world to recommend him to Neuf-Chatel.
But notwithstanding it was fo much his intereft to
manage his proteftant fubjects in that country, and
the jftrong aifurances he had given them in protect-
ing them in all their privileges, and particularly in
the free exercife of their religion, he made over
his principality in a very little time, for a fum of
money, to the King of France. It is indeed gene-
rally believed the Prince of Conti would rather ftilt
have kept his title to Orange; but the fame re-
fpecf, which induced him to quit this government,
mi^ht at another time tempt him to give up that of
Neuf-Chatel on the like conditions. The King of
Pruflia lays in his claim for Neuf-Chatel, as he did
for the principality of Orange, and it is probable
would be more acceptable to the inhabitants than
the other; but they are generally difpofed to declare
themfelves a free commonwealth, after the death
of the Dutchefs of Nemours, if theSwifs will fupport
them. The proteftant cantons feem much inclined
to affift them, which they may very well do, in cafe
the Dutchefs dies, whilft the King of France has
his hands fo full of bufinefs on all fides of him.
It certainly very much concerns them not to fufTer
the French King to eitablim his authority on
this fide mount Jura, and on the very borders of
their country; but it is not eafy to forefee what
a round fum of money, or the fear of a rupture
with France, may do among a people, who have
tamely fuftered the Francbe-Ccmpt} to be feized on,
and a fort to be built within canfton-fhot of one
of their cantons.
There
<X^2r SwiTZERIAN D.
There is a new feci: fprung up in Switzerland,*
which fpreads very much in the proteftant cantons,
The profefTors of it call themfelves Pietifts: And
as enthufiafm carries men generally to the like
extravagancies, they differ but little from feveral
fectaries in other countries. They pretend in ge-
neral to great refinements, as to what regards the
practice of chriftianity, and to obferve the follow-
ing rules. To retire much from the conversa-
tion of the world: To fink themfelves into an in-
tire repofe and tranquility of mind : In this
date of filence, to attend the fecret illapfe and
flowings in of the holy fpirit, that may fill their
minds with peace and confolation, joys or rap-
tures: To favour all his fecret intimations, and
give themfelves up intirely to his conduct and di-
rection, fo as neither to fpeak, move or act, but
as they find his impulfe on their fouls j to re-
trench themfelves within the conveniencies and
necemties of life: To make a covenant with all
their fenfes, fo far as to fhun the fmell of a rofe
or violet, and to turn away their eyes from a
beautiful profpect: To avoid, as much as is poiii-
ble, what the world calls innocent pleafurcs, Jefi
they mould have their affections tainted by any
fenfuality, and diverted from the love of him,
who is to be the only comfort, repofe, hope, and
delight of their whole beings. This feet prevails
very much among the proteitants of Germany, as
well as thofe of Switzerland, and has occafioned
feveral edicts againil it in the dutchy of Saxony.
The profefTors of it are accufed of all the ill prac-
tices, which may feem to be the confequence of
their principles; as that they afcribe the worft
of actions, which their own vicious tempers
throw
Switzerland. 293
throw them upon* to the dilates of the holy
fpirit; that both (exes, under pretence of devout
converfation, vifit one another at all hours, and in
all places, without any regard to common decency,
often making their religion a cover for their immo-
ralities ; and that the very beft of them are poffeffed
with fpiritual pride, and a contempt for all fuch as
are not of their own feci:. The Roman catholics,
who reproach the prcteftants for their breaking into
fuch a multitude of religions, have certainly taken
the moil effectual way in the world for the keeping
their flocks together ; I do not mean the punifhments-
they inflict on mens peribns, which are commonly
looked upon as the chief methods by which they
deter them from breaking through the pale of the
church, though certainly thefe lay a very great re-
ftraint on thofe of the Roman catholic perfuafion.
But I take one great caufe, why there are fo few
feels in the church of Rome, to be the multitude of
convents, with which they every where abound,
that ferve as receptacles for all thofe fiery zealots
who would fet the church in a flame, were not
they got together in thefe houfes of devotion. All
men of dark temperf, according to their degree
of melancholy or enthufiafm, may find convents
fitted to their humours, and meet with companions
as gloomy as themfelves. So that what the pro-
teftants would call a fanatic, is, in the Roman
church, a religious of fuch or fuch an order; as
I have been told of an Englifh merchant at Lifbon,
v/ho, after fome great difappointments in the world,
was refolved to turn quaker or capuchin; for, in
the change of religion, men of ordinary under-
standings do not fo much confider the principles,
as the practice of thofe to whom they go over.
Fi'or&
IU TTZERLAND.
i took hoife to the lake of
Co h lies at two leagues dil'tance from
it, and is formed by <he entry of the Rhine. This
is the only lake fn Europe thar difputes for ^reat-
nefs w h that of Geneva; it appears more beauti-
ful to the eye, but wants the fruitful fields and
vineyards that border upon the other. It receives
its name from Conduce, the chief town on its
banks. When the cantons ot Bern and Zurich
propofed, at a general diet, the incorporating Ge-
neva in the number of the cantons, the Roman
catholic party, fearing the proteftarrt intereft night
receive by it too great a ftrengthning, propofed
at the fame time the incantoning ot Conilance,
as a counterpoife; to which the proteftants not
confenting, the whole project fell to the ground.
We eroded the lake to Lindaw, and in feveral
parts of it obferved abundance of little bubbles of
air, that came working upward from the very
bottom of the lake. The watermen told us, that
they are obferved always to rife in the fame places,
from whence they conclude them to be fo many
fprings that break out of the bottom b? the lake.
Lindaw is an imperial town on a little ifland
that lies at about three hundred paces from the
firm land, to which it is joined by a huge bridge
of wood. The inhabitants were all in arms when
we palled through it, being under great apprehen-
fions of the Duke of Bavaria, after his having
fallen upon Ulm and Memminghen. They flatter
themfelves, that by cutting their bridge they
could hold out againft his army: But, in all
probability, a mower of bombs would quickly
reduce the burgeois to furrender. They were
formerly bombarded by Guftavus Adolphus. We
were
Switzerland. 295
were advifed by our merchants by no means to
venture ourfelves in the Duke of Bavaria's coun-
try, fo that we had the mortification to lofe the
fight of Munich, Aufburg and Ratifbon, and were
forced to take our way to Vienna through the
Tirol, where we had very little to entertain us
befide the natural face of the country.
' 1
TIROL,
Tiro l,
INS-PRUCK,
HALL,
c.
AFTER having eoafted the Alps for fome
time, we at Jaft entered them by a pailage
which leads into the long valley of the Tirol; and
following the courfe of the river Inn, we came to
Infpruck, that receives its name from this river,
and is the capital city of the Tirol.
Infpruclc is a handfome town, though not a great
one, and was formerly the refidence of the arch-
Dukes who were Counts of Tirol: The palace where
they ufed to keep their court is rather convenient
than magnificent. The great hall is indeed a very
noble room : the walls of it are painted in Frefco,
and reprefent the labours of Hercules. Many of
them look very finely, though a great part of the
work has been cracked by earthquakes, which are
very frequent in this country. There is a little
wooden palace that borders on the other, whither
the court ufed to retire at the firft. fhake of an
earthquake. I faw here the largeft manage that
I have met with any where elfe. At one end of it
is a great partition defigned for an opera. They
mowed
Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &c. 297
ihowed us alfo a very pretty theatre. The ] aft
comedy that was acted on it was defigned by the
jefuits for the entertainment of the Queen of the
Romans, who paiTed this way from Hanover to
Vienna. The compliment, which the fathers made
her majefty on this occafion, was very particular,
and did not a little expofe them to the rallery of
the court. For the arms of Hanover beinjr a horfe,
the fathers thought it a very pretty allufion to re-
prefent the Queen by Bucephalus, that would let no
body get upon him but Alexander the great. 7"he
wooden horfe that acted this notable part is ftiil
to be feen behind the fcenes. Jn one of the rooms
of the palace, which is hung with the pictures of
feveral illuftrious perfons, they mowed us the por-
trait of Mary Qjeen of Scots, who was beheaded
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The gardens
about the houfe are very large, but ili kept. There
is in the middle of them a beautiful ftatue in brafs
of an Arch-Duke Leopold on horfeback. There
are near it twelve other figures of water-nymphs
and river-gods, well caft, and as big as the life.
They were defigned for the ornaments of a water-
work, as one might eafily make a great variety
-of jetteaus, at a imall expence, in a garden that
has the river Inn running by its walls. The late
Duke of Lorrain had this palace, and the govern-
ment of the Tirol, affigned him by the Emperor,
and his lady the Queen Dowager of Poland lived
here feveral years after the death of the Duke her
hufband. 7^here are covered galleries that lead
from the palace to five different churches. I paffed
through a very long one, which reaches to the
church of the Capuchin convent, where the Duke
of Lorrain ufed often to afiiit at their midnight
devotions. They fhowed us in this convent the
aca.'t-
298 Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &c.
apartments of Maximilian, who was Arch-Duke
and Count of Tirol about fourfcore years ago. This
Prince, at the fame time that he kept the govern-
ment in his hands, lived in this convent with all
the rigour and aufterity of a Capuchin. His anti-
chamber and room of audience are little fquare
chambers wainfcoted. His private lodgings are
three or four fmall rooms faced with a kind of fret-
work, that makes them look like little hollow ca-
verns in a rock. They preferve this apartment of
the convent uninhabited, and (how in it the altar,
bed and itove, as likewife a picture and a ftamp
of this devout Prince. The church of the Fran-
cifcan convent is famous for the monument of the
Emperor Maximilian the firft, which ftands in the
midft of it. It was ere&ed to him by his grand-
ion Ferdinand the firft, who probably looked upon
this Emperor as the founder of the Auftrian great-
nefs. For as by his own maniage he annexed the
low-countries to the houfe of Auftria, fo, by
matching his fon to Joan of Arragon, he fettled en
his pofterity the kingdom of Spain, and, by the
marriage of his grand-fon Ferdinand, got into his
* family the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary.
This monument is only honorary; for the aflics
of the Emperor lie elfewhere. On the top of it is
a brazen figure of Maximilian on his knees, and
on the fides of it a beautiful Bay- Relief reprefenting
the aclions of this Pnnce. His whole hiftory is
digefted into twenty-four fquare pannels of fculp-
ture in Bas-Relief. The f.bjecl: of two of them
is his confederacy with Henry the eighth, and the
wars they made together upon France. On each
iide of this monument is a row of very noble
brazen ftatues much biaser than the life, molt of
them reprefenting iuch as were fome way or other
4 related
Tirol, Infpruckj Hall, &c. k 299
related to Maximilian. Among the reft is one that
the fathers of the convent tell us reprefents King
Arthur the old Britim Kins;. But what relation
had that Arthur to Maximilian? I do not queftion
therefore but it was defigned for Prince Arthur,
elder brother of Henry the eighth, who had efpoufed
Catharine, fitter of Maximilian, whofe divorce
afterwards gave occafion to fuch fignal revolutions
in England. This church was built by Ferdinand
the firft. One fees in it a kind of offer at modern
architecture; but at the fame time that the archi-
tect has mown his diflike of the Gothic manner,
one may fee very well that in that age they were
not, at leaft in this country, arrived at the know-
ledge of the true way. The portal, for example,
confifts of a compofite order unknown to the an-
cients j the ornaments indeed are taken from them,
but (o put together, that you fee the volutes of the
Ionic, the foliage of the Corinthian, and uovali of
the Doric, mixed without any regularity on the
fame capital. So the vault of the church, though
broad enough, is incumbered with too many little
tricks in fculpture. It is indeed fupported with
fingie columns, inftead of thofe vail clutters of little
pillars that one meets with in Gothic cathedrals;
but at the fame time thefe columns are of no regular
order, and at lead twice too long for their dia-
meter. There are other churches in the town,
and two or three palaces which are of a more
modern make, and built with a good fancy. I was
mown the little Notredame that is handfomely de-
figned, and topped with a cupola. It was made as
an offering of gratitude to the blcfled Virgin, for
having defended the country of the Tirol againft the
victonou , arms of Guftavus Adolphus, who could
not. enter this part of the empire after having over-
run
300 Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &c.
run mod of the reft. This temple was therefore
built by the contributions of the whole country.
At about half a league's diftance from Infpruck
Hands the cattle of Amras, furnifhed with a pro-
digious quantity of medals, and many other forts
of rarities both in nature and art, for which I mull
refer the reader to Monfieur Patin's account in his
letter to the Duke of Wirtemberg, having myfelf
had neither time nor opportunity to enter into a
particular examination of them.
From Infpruck we came to Hall, that lies at a
league diftance on the fame river. This place is
particularly famous for its falt-woiks. There are
in the neighbourhood vaft mountains of a tranfpa-
rcnt kind of rock not unlike allum, extremely folid,
and as piquant to the'tongue as fait itfelf. Four
or five hundred men are always at work jn thefe
mountains, where, as foon as they have hewn down
any quantities of the rock, they let in their fprings
and refervoirs among their works. The water
eats away and diiTolves the particles of fait which
are mixed in the (lone, and is conveyed by long
troughs and canals from the mines to the town
of Hall, where it is received in vaft cifterns, and
boil'd off from time to time.
They make after the rate of eight hundred
loaves a week, each loaf four hundred pounds
weight. This would raifc a n;reat revenue to the
Emperor, were there here fuch a tax on fait as
there is in France. At prcfent he clears but two
hundred thoufand crowns a year, after having de-
frayed all the charges of working it. There are
in Switzerland, and other parts of the Alps, feveral
of thefe quarries of fait, that turn to very little
account, by reafon of the great quantities, of
wood they confume,
The
Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &c. 301
The falt-works at Hall have a great conveni-
ence for fuel, which fvvims down to them on the
river Inn. This river during its courfe through
the Tirol, is generally fhut up between a double
range of mountains that are mod of diem covered
with woods of fir-trees. Abundance of peafants are
employed in the hewing down of the larger! of thefe
trees, that, after they are barked and cut into mape,
are tumbled down from the mountains into the
ftream of the river, which carries them off to the
falt-works. At Infpruck they take up vafb quan-
tities for the convents and public officers, who
have a certain portion of it allotted them by the Em-
peror; the reft of it paffes on to Hall. There are
generally feveral hundred loads afloat; for they be-
gin to cut above twenty leagues up the river above
Hall; and there are other rivers that flow into
the Inn, which bring in their contributions. Thefe
falt-works, and a mint that is eftablifhed at the
fame place, have rendered this town, notwithftand-
ing the neighbourhood of the capital city, almoft
as populous as Infpruck itfelf. The defign of this
mint is to work off part of the metals which are
fqund in the neighbouring mountains; where, as
we were told, there are feven thoufand men in
conftant employ. At Hall we took a boat to carry
us to Vienna. The firft night we lay at Rottenburg,
where is a ftrong caftle above the town. Count
Serini is ftill a clofe prifoner in this caftle, who, as
they told us in the town, had loft his fenfes by
his long imprifonment and afflictions. The next
day we dined at Kuff-ftain, where there is a fortrefs
on a high rock, above the town, almoft inaccefii-
ble on all fides: This being a frontier place on the
dutchy of Bavaria, where we entered after about
an hour's rowing from Kuff-ftain. It was the plea-
O fanteft
302 Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &c.
fame ft voyage in the world, to follow the windings
of this river Inn through fuch a variety of pleafing
fccncs as the conrfe of it naturally led us. We had
iometimes on each fide of us a vaft extent of naked
rocks and mountains, broken into a thoufand ir-
regular deeps and precipices; in other places we faw
a long foreft of fir-trees, Co thick fet together,
that it was impoilible to difcover any of the foil
they grew upon, and rifing up fo regularly one above
another, as to give us the view of a whole wood
at once. The time of the year, that had given
the leaves of the trees fo many different colours,
compleated the beauty of the piofpect. But as the
materials of a fine larudfkip are not always the
mod profitable to the owner of them, v\e met with
but very little com or pafturage for the proportion
of earth that we paffed through, the lands of the
Tirol not being able to feed the inhabitants. This
lorjgvalky of the Tirol lies inclofed on all fides by the
Alps, though its dominions (hoot out into feveral
branches that lie among the breaks and hollows of
the mountains. Jt is governed by three councils
refiding at Infpruck; one fits upon life and death,
the other is for taxes and impofitions, and a third
for the common diftributions of juftice. As thcic
courts regulate themfelvesby the orders they receive
from the imperial courts, fo in many cafes there
are appeals from them to Vienna. The inhabitants
of the Tirol have many particular privileges above
thofe of the other hereditary countries of the Em-
peror. For as they are naturally well fortified
arnonf their mountains, and at the (ame time border
upon many different governments, as the Grifons,
Venetians, Swii's, Bavarians, Sec. a (eveic treat-
ment ini^ht tempt them to^ fet up foi a republic,
er at lcaft throw themfeives under the milder go-
vernment
Tirol, Infpruck, Hall, &e. 303
vernment of fome of their neighbours : Befides that
their country is poor, and that the Emperor draws
confiderable incomes out of its mines of fait and
metal. They are thefe mines that fill the country
with greater numbers of people than it would be
able to bear without the importation of corn from
foreign parts. The Emperor has forts and cita-
dels at the entrance of all the pafles that lead into
the Tirol, which are fo advantageouHy placed upon
rocks and mountains, that they command all the
valleys and avenues that lie' about them. Befides
that the country itfelf is cut into fo many hills
and inequalities, as would render it defensible by a
very little army againft a numerous enemy. It
was therefore generally thought the Duke of Bava-
ria would not attempt the cutting of}' any fuccours
that were fent to Prince Eugene, or the forcing his
way through the Tirol into Italy. The river Inn,
that had hitherto been (hut up among mountain",
pafles generally through a wide open country during
all its courfe through Bavaria, which is 3 voyage of
two days, after the rate of twenty league? a" da-.
O 2 INDEX.
INDEX.
A.
ADD A, and the Addige, both defcribed by Claudian,
page 43» 44-
Albano, for what famous, 219.
Alps, defcribed by Silius Italicus, 256.
St. Ambrofe, his refolute behaviour towards Theodofius
the great, before the gates of the great church at
Milan, 30.
Ambrofian library in Milan how furnifhed, 32.
Ancona, its fituation, 90.
St. Anthony of Padua, his magnificent church, 47. a na-
tural perfume iiTuing from his bones, ibid, a con-
jecture upon it, ibid* his famous fermon to an af-
fembly of fifh, 47. the titles given him by a poor
peafant, 53.
Antiquaries, wherein faulty, 189.
Antiquities, two fets in Rome, 176. the great difference
between them, 177.
Antium, its extenfive ruins, 170. for what famous for-
merly, 171.
Anxur, its pleafant fituation, 117. defcribed by Mar-
tial, SiC ibid.
Appennine mountains defcribed by the Latin Poets, 246.
Arioit.0, his monument in the Benedictine church in f/ec-
rara, 75.
B.
Baias, the winter retreat of the old Romans, 139.
St. Bartholomew, his famous ftatue in the great church
in Milan, 28.
Bern, its public walks, 273. and arfenal, 274.
Bolonia, for what famouf, 248. its rarities, ibid.
Brefcia,
I N D E X.
Brefcia, why more favoured by the Venetians than any
other part of their dominions, 42. famous for its
iron works, ibid.
C.
Calvin, his advice to the Genevois before his death. 287.
Caprea, defcribed, 150, &c, its fruitful foil, ibid, fome
account of the medals found in it, 1 ^6.
CafTis, a French port, its pleafant neighbourhood, 13.
Cenn;s, a mountain between Turin and Geneva, 254.
St. Charles Boromeo his fubterraneous chapel in Milan,
28. an account of that faint, ibid, compared with
the ordinary faints in the Roman church, 29.
Cimmerians, where placed by Homer, 167.
Givita Vecchia, its unwholfome air, 229.
Clitumnus, the quality of its waters, 95.
Golonna Infame, a pillar at Milan, 34. the occafion of
it, ibid.
ConfefHonals, infcriptions over them, 31.
E.
Englim courted by the prefent Pope to fettle at Civira
Vecchia, 229.
Efcargatoire, the ufe of if, 272.
F.
Fano, from whence fo called, 90.
Felix the fifth, his flory, 261, 262.
Ferrara, thinly inhabited, 75. the town- defcribed, ibid,
Florence, 235. an account of its public buildings, ibid,
its famous gallery, 236. and rarities contained in it,
ibid. Sec. and in Tome chambers adjoining to it, 240,
&c. famous for modern ftatue?, 245. the great Duke's
care to prevent Civita Vecchia from being made a frm
port, 228. incenfed againft the Lucquefe, 231. for
what reafon, 232.
fortune. Two Fortunes wormipped by the heathens at
Antium, 170.
O 3 F£un«
INDEX.
Fountains in Switzerland, a reafon given for their pe<-
riodical fluxes, 262.
Fribourg defcribed, 271. with an hermitage near if,
272.
G.
St. Gaul, Abbot of, the extent of his territories, 279-.
manner of his election, ibid, the riches of the in-
habitants, 280. their quarrel with the Abbot, 281.
the abbey, 282. their arms, 2S3.
Su Gaul, the great apoille of Germany, fo me account
of him, 283.
Geneva, its fituation, 25S. under the Emperor's dif-
pleafure, and for what reaibn, 270. eiteemed the
court of the Alps, 287.
Genoefe, their manners defcribed, 17. their character
from the modern Italians, and Latin Poets, 17, 18.
an instance of their indifcretion, 21. why obliged to
be at prefent in the French intereft, ibid, their fleet,
and its fervice, 22. their Doge claims a crown and
fcepter from their conquelt of Corfica, ibid, and ad-
vantage arifing to them from it, and a different maxim
obferved by the ancient Romans, 22.
Genoa, its defcription, 18, Uc. its banks noburden to-
the Genoefe, 21 . why uncapable of being made a freq
port, 229.
St. George, his church at Verona, 46.
Granaries, the administration of them in Switzerland*
2S7.
Grotto del Cani, fome experiments made in it, 140,
141. leafons cffvred for the effects of its vapours*
1 41 1 U2'
Grotto Obfcuro, I 54.
Gulf of Genoa, its nature, 15.
H.
Hall* its fait works, 300. the method of preparing them*
ibid, its mint, 301.
Henry the eighth of England, his letter to Anne of Bul-
kinj 2U,
Her-
I N D E X.
Hercules Monsecus, 16.
Homer, his Apotheoiis, 199.
I.
Jefuits, their particular compliment to the Queen of the
Romans in a comedy defigned for her entertainment,,
297-
Infpruck, its public buildings, 296.
Ifchia, by the ancients called Inarime, 163. fome ac-
count of it. ibid.
Italians, the ufual furniture of.their libraries, 32. com-
pared to the French, 37. the difference of manners
in the two nations, 38. the great averfion to the
French obferved in the common people, ibid, fome
■ realbns for it, 39. their extravagant tomb-Hones, 46.
the difference betwixt their poetical and profc lan-
guage, 66. a great help to their modern poetry, 67.
their comedies low and obfcene, ibid, a reafon for
it, 68. the chief parts in all their comedies, ibid,
a great cuftom among them of crowning the holy;
Virgin, 79.
Italy divided into many principalities, as more natural to
its fituation, 36. its prefent defolation, 1 1 2. compared
to its ancient inhabitants, ibid.
Juno Sifpita, or Sofpita how reprefented, 240. Tully's
defcription of this goddefs, ibid.
St. Juftina, her church one of the fineft in Italy, 55.
L.
LagodiComo, formerly Larius, 42. defcribed by Clau*
dian, 44.
Lago di Garda, or Benacus, defcribed by Virgil, 43.
Lapis Vituperii, what, and to what ufe applied, 55.
Laufanne, 267. a peculiar privilege belonging to one
ftreet in this town, ibid.
Lawyers, their great numbers, and continual employ-
ment among the Neapolitans,, 1 27.
Leghorn, 226. a free port, ibid, the great reform of
-. othex
INDEX.
other nations to it, 227. the advantage the great
Duke receives from it, ibid. Sec.
Lemanus, the lake defcribed, 259, &c. with the towns-
upon it, 260.
Lindaw, 294.
Liris, or the Garigliano defcribed, 116.
Loretto, its prodigious riches, 93. why never attacked
by the Turks, ibid, or the chriflian Princes, ibid, a
defcription of the holy houfe, 94.
Lucan, his prophecy of the Latian towns, 221.
Lucca, the induftry of its inhabitants, 231. ander the
King of Spain's protection, 232, in danger of ruin*
ibid, the great contempt the inhabitants have of the
Florentines, 233. why never attempted as yet by the
great Duke, ibid, the form of its government*
234-
Ludlow, Edmund, his epitaph, 264.
M.
St. Marino, its fituation, 84. the extent of its domi-
nions, 85. the founder, and original of this little
republic, ibid, the antiquity of it, 86. the form of
the government, 87, &e.
Mary Magdalene, the deferts rendered famous by her
Penance, 13. defcribed by Claudian, 14,
Maximilian, the firfl founder of the Auftrian greatnefs,
298.
Meldiogen, a little republic in Switzerland, 277. the
model of its government, ibid, and bufinefs of the
councils of ftate, 278.
Milan, its great church, 27, cSr. the relics and great
riches contained in it, 30. the citadel, 36. the fitu-
ation of its date, ibid, an affectation of the French
drefs and carriage in the court, 37. Milan defcribed
by Aufonius, 40.
Mincio, defcribed by Virgil, 43. and Claudian, 44;
Mifeno, its cape defcribed, 162. its fet of galleries,
163.
Modena,
INDEX.
s>
Modena, the extent of its dominions, and condition cf
the inhabitants, 250.
Monaco, its harbour defcribed by Lucan, 16. its do-
minions, ibid.
Monte Circeio, why fuppofed by Homer to have been an
ifiand, 168. v£neas his paffage near it defcribed by
Virgil, ibid.
Monte Novo, how formed, 143.
Morge, its artificial port, 267.
Morpheus, why reprefented under the figure of a boy,
238, 239. in what manner addreffed to by Statius,
239.
N.
Naples, 121. its many fuperftitions, 122. its delightful
Bay, 124. defcribed by Silius Italicus, 147. its plea-
fant fituation, 126. the litigious temper of the in-
habitants, 127. different from what it was in Statius
his time, ibid, the great alteration of the adjacent
parts from what they were formerly, 1 34. the natural
curiofities about it, 140.
Narni, why fo called, 102.
Neapolitans addicted to eafe and pleafure, 129, the
reafon, ibid.
Nemi, why fo called, 218.
Nettuno, for what remarkable, 17Q.
O.
Ocriculum, its ruins, 103.
Oitia, defcribed by Juvenal, 173.
P.
Padua, its univerfity, 55. the original of Padua from?
Virgil, 55, 56,
Parker an Knglifh ecclefiaftic, his epitaph on his tomb
in Pavia, 25.
Parma, its famous theatre, 249. the extent of its do-
minions, 250. and condition of the inhabitants, ibid,
Pavia.*
INDEX.
Pavia, its defcription, 23, &c. why cal'ed Ticinum by
the ancients, 26.
PaufiJypo's Grotto, 132. the beautiful profpect of its
mount, 161.
St. Peter's church at Rome defcribed, 109. the reafon
of its double dome, no. its beautiful architecture,
1 1 1,
Pietifts, a new feci in Switzerland, 292.
Pifatello, fee Rubicon.
Pifauro, Doge of Venice, his Elogium, 61.
Po, defcribed by Lucan, 72. Scaliger's critic upon it, 7 ;>
defcribed by Claudian, 252.
Pope, his territories very defolate, 112. and the. in-
habitants poor, 114. reafons for it, ibid,
Puteoli, its remains near Naples, 134. its mole mirtaken
for Caligula's bridge, 135. the error confuted, ibid*
m
R.
Ravenna, y$. its ancient fituation according to Martia!,
76. and Silius Italicus, ibid, the city and adjacent
parts defcribed, ibid. Sec. its great fcarcity of frtlh
water, 107.
St. Remo, a Genoefe town, defcribed, 15.
Rhone, fome account of it, 269.
Rimini, its antiquities, 80.
Rome, the modern ftands higher than the ancient, 176.
the grandeur of the commonwealth, and magnificence
of the Emperors differently confidered^ 177. its rari-
ties, ibid. Sec. and confiderations upon them, ibid.
why more frequented by the nobility in fummer
-than in winter, 220.
Romulus, his cottage defcribed by Virgil, 95.
Rubicon, called at prefent Pifatello, defcribed by Luca»a
79> 80.
S.
Sannazarius, his verfes upon Venice, 70.
Sienna, 224. its cathedral, ibid.
Snew
INDEX.
Snow monopolized at Naples, 146.
Soleurre, the refidence of the French AmbaiTadors,
276.
Soracle, called by the modern Italians St. Orefte, 103.
"Spaniards, their policy obferved in the government of
Naples, 126, 128, 129.
Spoletto, its antiquities, g$.
Suffolk, Duke of, buried in Pavia, 24. the infcription
on his tomb, ibid, his hiitory, 25.
Switzerland, its wonderful tranquility, 283. the reg-
ion for it, 284. the thrift of its inhabitants, 285.
the reafon for it, ibid, their drefs, 2S6. their cuftom
in bequeathing their eftates, 289. their notion of
witchcraft, 290.
T.
Terni, why called formerly Interamna, 97.
Theatines, their convent in Ravenna, 78.
Tiber, an account of it from Virgil, 173. its great
riches, 196.
Ticinus, or Tefin, a river near Pavia, 26. defcribed by
Siiius Italicus, ibid, and Claudian, 44.
T imavus, defcribed by Claudian, 44.
Tirol, the particular privileges of its inhabitants, 302.
Turin, a convenience particular to it, 254, the aver-
fion of the common people to the French, ibid,
V.
Valina Rofea Rura, why called fo by Virgil, 99. the
cafcade formed by the fall of that river, 100.
Venetians, their thirir, after too many conquefts on the
Terra Firrna prejudicial to the commonwealth, 62.
wherein, ibni. the republic in a declining condition,
ibid, on what terms with the Emperor, ibid, the
Pope and Duke of Savoy, 63. their Senate the wiielt
council in the world, ibid, the refined pjrts of their
Viidom, ibid, their great fecrecy in matters of
£la;e, ibid, an inilance of it, 64. the -number of
3 their
I N D E X.
their nobility, ibid, their operas, 6$. a cuftom
peculiar to the Venetians, 69. a fhow particular to
them exhibited on Holy Thurfday, ibid, defcribed by
. Claudian, 70.
Venice, its advantageous fituation, 57. convenient for
commerce, 58. its trade declining, 59. the reafon
of it, ibid, its defcription, 59, 60. remarkable for
its pi&urcs from the beft hands, 60. the moillure of
its air, ibid, its arfenal, 61. its carnival, 65, the
neceffity and confequences of it, ibid. &c.
Venus, her chambers, 138.
Verona, its amphitheatre, 44. its antiquities, 45.
Vefuvio defcribed, 143, &c. much different from Mar-
tial's account of it, 152.
Virgil's tomb, 132.
Ulyffes, his voyage undetermined by the learned, 14.
Volturno defcribed, 116.
Z.
Zurich, an account of it, 278.
I N I S.
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