E CRITIC 
 
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 THE OCCIDENT 
 
 GEORGE HAMLIN FITCH 
 
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 Critic in the Occident. 
 
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 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028165813 
 
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THE CRITIC 
 IN THE OCCIDENT 
 
 GEORGE HAMLIN FITCH 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "COMFORT FOUND IN GOOD OLD BOOKS' 
 
 "MODERN ENGLISH BOOKS OF POWER" 
 
 "THE CRITIC IN THE ORIENT" 
 
 At the Spanish proverb says: 
 
 li He w ho would bring home the 
 
 "wealth of the Indies must carry the 
 
 wealth of the Indies with him. 1 * So it 
 
 is in traveling: a man must carry 
 
 knowledge 'with him if he would 
 
 bring home knowledge-— 
 
 Bos weirs Life of 
 
 Johnson 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 FROM 
 PHOTOGRAPHS 
 
 PAUL ELDER AND COMPANY 
 PUBLISHERS • SAN FRANCISCO 
 
by Paul Elder and Company 
 
 Most of the Chapters of 
 
 This Book Appeared Originally in the 
 
 Sunday Supplement of the San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 The Privilege of Reproducing Them 
 
 Here is Due to the Courtesy of 
 
 M. H. de Young, Esq. 
 
 5^0 !o3& 
 X 
 
TO THOSE WHO ARE ONLY ABLE 
 TO TRAVEL BY PROXY, THESE IMPRES- 
 SIONS OF EUROPE ARE DEDICATED, 
 WITH THE HOPE THAT THEY 
 MAY YIELD PLEASURE 
 AND PROFIT 
 
Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction K 
 
 The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident . . . xm 
 
 Greece, the Fountainhead of all Art and Letters . . i 
 Aden at the Gateway of the Red Sea-Steaming Through 
 the Suez Canal— Sailing Among the Historic Isles of 
 Greece -The Acropolis and The Parthenon of Athens— 
 Remains of Ancient Art in Athens. 
 
 Italy, Home of Art and Monuments . . . . .33 
 Naples and Its Treasures of Art- Scenes in Gay and 
 Noisy Naples-Ancient Roman Life as Seen in Pompeii- 
 Romance and Beauty of Roman Ruins-Art in St. Peter's 
 and the Vatican— The Colosseum and Along the Ap- 
 pian Way-Hadrian's Tomb and His Villa at Tivoli- 
 Florence and Its Many Art Treasures- Venice, City of 
 Romance and Beauty. 
 
 France, Land of Romance, Thrift and Artistic Life . 93 
 Monte Carlo and Its Gilded Gambling Palace-Paris, 
 the City of Magnificent Vistas- Rich Art Treasures of 
 the Louvre— Churches and Monuments of Paris— Some 
 of the Famous Museums of Paris. 
 
 London, Seat of the Founders of World-Wide Empire . 121 
 London, Huge, Smoke- Begrimed and Impressive— St. 
 Paul's and Westminster Abbey— History Seen in the 
 Tower of London— A Famous Debate in the Commons— 
 The British Museum and Picture Galleries— Literary 
 Shrines and Haunts in London. 
 
 New York, the Skyscraping Marvel of the New World i 49 
 Impressions of New York After Seven Years— Barbaric 
 Display of Wealth on Fifth Avenue— New York's Big 
 Museum, Free Library and Many Parks. 
 
 Tips to the Tourist 165 
 
 Hints for Seeing Things and Buying Things That May 
 Help the Traveler. 
 
 Bibliography 169 
 
 Books Which Throw Light on the History, Art and 
 People of European Countries. 
 
 Index . 174 
 
 w 
 
Illustrations 
 
 A Street in Pompeii Frontispiece page 
 
 Statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, at Port Said . . Facing I z 
 
 The Portico of the Temple of Pallas Athena at Athens . 26 
 
 The Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum . 56 
 
 Michelangelo's Heroic Statue of the Young David . . 70 
 
 The Tomb of Napoleon 108 
 
 The Winged Viftory of Samothrace . . . . . 114 
 
 The Chapel of Henry VII, Westminster Abbey, London 128 
 
 The Main Facade of Westminster Abbey . . . 142 
 
 Looking Down Lower Broadway, New York . . . 156 
 
 Plates 
 
 Greece ....... Following page 32 plate 
 
 The Large Arab City Back of Aden .... 1 
 
 A Steamer Passing Along the Suez Canal ... 11 
 
 Eastern Entrance to the Canal at Suez .... in 
 
 The City and Harbor of Corfu ..... iv 
 
 One of the Walks in the Grounds of the Achilleon . v 
 
 The Main Facade of the Parthenon .... vi 
 
 General View of Athens With Entrance to Stadium . vn 
 
 The Theater of Dionysius vm 
 
 The Thesion, Best Preserved Greek Temple, Athens . ix 
 
 The Graceful Arch Erefted by Emperor Hadrian . x 
 
 The Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis . . xi 
 
 A Distant View of the Acropolis xii 
 
 The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates .... xm 
 
 Great Stadium at Athens Seen During Olympian Games xiv 
 
 Statuette of the Figure of Athena by Phidias ... xv 
 
 The "Three Fates" From the Parthenon ... xvi 
 
 Italy ....... Following page 92 
 
 General View of Naples and Its Beautiful Harbor . xvn 
 
 Remains of the Forum in Pompeii ..... xvm 
 
 The Castle of St. Angelo, Rome .... xix 
 
 General View of the Roman Forum .... xx 
 
 The Fountain of Trevi ....... xxi 
 
 St. Peter's at Rome xxii 
 
 One of the Galleries of Statuary in the Vatican . . xxm 
 
 Monument to Three Stuarts in St. Peter's . . xxiv 
 
 The Great Cypresses in the Villa d'Este . . . xxv 
 
 [VII] 
 
rXATES PlATB 
 
 The Interior of the Roman Colosseum . . . xxvi 
 
 The Ruins of the Colosseum ...... xxvii 
 
 Pifturesque Medieval Houses on the Bank of the Arno xxvm 
 
 The Square of St. Mark, Venice .... xxix 
 
 The Palace of th: Doges and Little Square of St. Mark xxx 
 
 Ca d'Oro or House of Gold ..... xxxi 
 
 The Historic Bridge of Sighs xxxii 
 
 France Following page 120 
 
 A Characteristic View on the French Riviera . . xxxm 
 
 The Boulevard des Anglais, Main Promenade of Nice xxxiv 
 
 In the Grounds of the Palace of Versailles, near Paris . xxxv 
 
 Main Gambling Hall at Monte Carlo . . . xxxvi 
 
 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris xxxvii 
 
 Church and Boulevard of the Madeleine . . . xxxvm 
 
 Place de la Concorde ........ xxxix 
 
 Gallery of Apollo, Finest Room in the Louvre . . XL 
 
 The Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens .... xli 
 
 Monument to Gambetta, in the Square of the Louvre xlii 
 
 Dome of the Invalides xliii 
 
 Death Mask of Napoleon xliv 
 
 Arc de Triomphe, in the Place de l'Etoile . . . xlv 
 
 Cathedral of Notre Dame xlvi 
 
 Main Staircase of the Grand Opera House . . . xlvii 
 
 The Palais Royal xlviii 
 
 London Following page 148 
 
 Mansion House and Cheapside xlix 
 
 On the Thames Embankment ...... l 
 
 English Parliament Buildings and Westminster Bridge li 
 
 Trafalgar Square ......... Ln 
 
 In the British House of Commons .... lih 
 
 The "Old Curiosity Shop" of Dickens . ... uv 
 
 Carlyle's House in Cheyne Row, Chelsea ... lv 
 
 The Garden of Carlyle's House lvi 
 
 New York Following page 162 
 
 Brooklyn Bridge, From the East Side .... lvti 
 
 The Woolworth Building i-viii 
 
 Main Waiting-room of Pennsylvania Railroad Station lix 
 
 Looking South on Broadway ... ... ix 
 
 New York Public Library at Night .... lxi 
 
 Wall Street, Looking Toward Trinity Church . . lxii 
 
 New Municipal Building lxiii 
 
 Sky-line of Lower New York «rv 
 
 [vni] 
 
Introduction 
 
 Z[KE"<The Critic in the Orient" this is a record of 
 t impressions. Here will be found my impressions of 
 the last half of a seven months' tour around the world. 
 What other observers saw and what they thought 
 had little influence with me, except in the case of the 
 old masters in painting. For the pictures of those who 
 tried to put their religious aspirations on canvas in the 
 Renaissance of Italy, I could summon little enthusiasm. 
 A few of these pictures had the dewy freshness that is 
 found in the pages of old Thomas a Kempis; but the 
 great mass of them-covering acres of the galleries of 
 Europe— awoke no spiritual response. Yet of the great 
 piSiures I never tired, and again and again 1 spent 
 hours before them until I could flash them up on that 
 "inward eye," and thus make them a part of my mental 
 possessions, like great poems or splendid music. 
 
 The Vatican, the Pitti and the Uffizi, the Louvre 
 and the Luxembourg, the National, Tate and Wallace- 
 all these have miles on miles of paintings that one 
 never cares to see a second time; but each of these col- 
 lections has a few really great pictures, which give one 
 pleasure for the rest of his life. The famous statues of 
 the world may be studied with some satisfaction from 
 large photographs, but the great pictures must be seen 
 in the originals-no copies, no photographs give any ade- 
 quate idea of the spirit of the artist, that bridges all 
 the years and speaks to the sympathetic mind like a real 
 voice across the centuries. 
 
 The greatest things Europe had to offer me were 
 the Parthenon, the Colosseum and the ruins of Pom- 
 peii, the tomb of Napoleon, and the statue of Crom- 
 well in the shadow of the English Parliament buildings. 
 
 [ix] 
 
IntroduSlion 
 
 The Parthenon represents the perfetJ measure, the 
 love of beauty and the religious aspirations of the an- 
 cient Greek, the supreme expression of art and patriot- 
 ism, the greatest monument ever reared to the genius of 
 a nation. 
 
 The Roman Colosseum and Pompeii, revealing di- 
 verse traits of Roman character, reproduced for me the 
 tread of Rome's invincible legions more perfetJly than 
 the ruins of the Forum or the tomb of Hadrian; these 
 four summed up law, conquest, government, the building 
 of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. 
 
 From boyhood one of my hobbies was to read every- 
 thing on Napoleon; so when I stood under the dome of 
 the Invalides and looked down on the bier of the great 
 conqueror, surrounded by faded and shot-torn battle- 
 flags, it seemed as though here brooded in very truth 
 the unquenchable spirit of the man who was the fore- 
 most warrior and administrator of the modern world. 
 
 London has a powerful appeal to the American, 
 but beyond everything else the figure of dour old Oliver 
 Cromwell, with his iron jaw and grim unyielding mouth, 
 dominates the imagination. It represents the unquestion- 
 ing religious faith, the ingrained honesty, the passion 
 for governing, the genius for material conquest, that has 
 made England the greatest world-power of the last 
 hundred years. 
 
 The discomforts, the annoyances of travel soon pass, 
 but what the wise tourist holds fast is these great 
 things which typify the spiritual aspirations of the var- 
 ious peoples. And when he returns to his own country 
 and catches the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, 
 he feels that here is the land of opportunity, which has 
 shown the toilers of the Old World a new test of man- 
 hood, a new measure of efficiency— a refuge where a 
 man is free to work out his own salvation, hampered 
 by no manacles of family, caste, creed or condition. 
 
 M 
 
The Best 
 
 Fruits of Travel in 
 
 the Occident 
 
The Best 
 
 Fruits of Travel in 
 
 the Occident 
 
 /•N"The Critic in the Orient" a companion volume 
 to this, I have set down my impressions of the first 
 half of a voyage around the world. That hook includes 
 sketches of Japan, Manila, Canton, Hongkong, Singa- 
 pore, Rangoon, India and Egypt. In this second vol- 
 ume I have tried to reproduce my impressions of some 
 of the most interesting places in Europe. Unusual cold 
 barred me from Switzerland and Germany, but I was 
 fortunate in seeing Italy very thoroughly, and Italy 
 holds the same place in Europe as India in the Orient— 
 the land richest, in art, architetlure and a storied past. 
 What you bring away with you from a tour of 
 Europe, depends largely upon your reading. If through 
 great writers you know intimately the history, art and 
 architetlure of a country, you will find that your travels 
 serve mainly to stamp indelibly upon the memory many 
 of the impressions formed from the books you have read. 
 Even the best guide books are unsatisfactory ; they give 
 merely the skeleton of history and art which your read- 
 ing must transform into flesh and blood, or you lose the 
 best part of the fruits of travel. The wider your read- 
 ing, especially of poetry and romance, the richer will be 
 your recolleclions of historic places. 
 
 Americans are too apt to negleCl this reading, which 
 forms a vital part of the education of the European. 
 Historic palaces, storied temples, famous paintings, im- 
 mortal statues awake in their minds no echoes of the 
 words of the great writers who have pictured them 
 
 [xm] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 for all generations. Hence they lose that perfect blend- 
 ing of romance and reality, as one does who listens to a 
 great opera of which he knows neither the words nor 
 the story. 
 
 My plan was to prepare a schedule of the places to 
 see in each city in the order of their interest. This 
 schedule I followed diligently, and if time did not per- 
 mit me to complete it I had the satisfaction of knowing 
 that no place of first importance had been missed. The 
 artistic, historical and literary shrines were those 
 which appealed to me the most strongly. My time did 
 not permit of a study of education, charity, civic prob- 
 lems and other subjects of living interest. 
 
 Most of these chapters were written on the spot, 
 when my impressions were sharp and clear, but those 
 on Monte Carlo and Literary Shrines of London have 
 not appeared in print before. All the chapters have 
 been revised and in many cases partly rewritten, as the 
 perspective of time compels changes. The effort has 
 been made here, as in my previous book, to give the 
 reader at home as faithful and as vivid a picture as 
 possible of these strange lands and peoples. 
 
 Actual contact with people works many changes in 
 one's views. From my reading I never had any fond- 
 ness for the Latin races; yet when I saw the Italians 
 and the French at home I found in each race many fine 
 qualities that I had missed in my study of books. 
 
 The illustrations, which I have tried to select from 
 unhackneyed photographs, have been massed at the end 
 of each division of the book, as it seems to me that this 
 arrangement makes a stronger impression on the mind 
 than the usual method of scattering them through the 
 text. Each picture has been given a very full descrip- 
 tive caption, thus adding to its interest. In every way 
 I have labored to make this book appeal to the eye as 
 well as to the mind. 
 
 [xiv] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 'the trip through the Suez Canal has been included 
 because of the strong interest of. Americans in the 
 greater canal at Panama. A comparison of these two 
 ditches of commerce would be as futile as to compare 
 one of the great locomotives that hauls a train over the 
 Sierra Nevada with the crude railroad engine of thirty 
 years ago. "The towering monoliths of concrete, the tre- 
 mendous Gatun locks with their massive steel gates— 
 these are lacking at Suez, yet the Panama Canal will 
 be fortunate if it proves financially as successful as the 
 canal which the genius of De Lesseps made possible. 
 
 Athens is not usually included in a European tour, 
 mainly because of the poor arrangements for travel in 
 Greece; but one misses much who does not see this city, 
 the fountainhead of all our literature and art. Here 
 in Athens one's reading goes to the wall. The Parthe- 
 non has been described as often as the Sphinx, yet the 
 sight of this noblest struSture ever reared by man is 
 something which makes all literary art seem poor and 
 weak. Perhaps Robert Hichens, who has made the 
 great desert of Sahara so real in " The Garden of 
 Allah," has drawn the finest pen-pitlure of the Par- 
 thenon. He dwells on the faiJ that though it is won- 
 derfully simple and severe, yet it produces "an over- 
 powering impression of sublimity and grandeur." And 
 then he adds this illuminating sentence, which sums up 
 all that can be said of it: "It seems to me that the 
 impression created by the Parthenon as a building is 
 akin to that created by the Sphinx as a statue. It sug- 
 gests—seems atlually to send out like an atmosphere— 
 a tremendous calm, far beyond the limits of any severity." 
 
 This calm of the ancient world— the same calm that 
 is seen in the " Antigone" and the "ElecJra"— breathes 
 from the Parthenon and the whole Acropolis of Athens. 
 It seems as though across the centuries it carries a 
 message to us in this age of fret and worry and stren- 
 
 [xv] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 uous work, which often ends in such small achievement. 
 It seems to say: "Look on my serene beauty, which has 
 survived the sea-winds and the rains of over two thou- 
 sand years , and take a lesson in the gospel of the sensi- 
 ble life. Seek beauty in art and literature, study the 
 repose that brings real rest: so will enter into you 
 something of those god-given traits which have made 
 me immortal'' 
 
 This message, which you get from the Parthenon, 
 is worth all the trouble of the journey to Athens. No 
 other place in the whole world gives you this direS 
 word of mouth from the old Greek life, in which men 
 walked as gods and did god-like work that remains for- 
 ever matchless and forever young. 
 
 We have thrown away much of the fine spirit of 
 the antique world in discarding the study of the classics: 
 so we should draw from such remains as the Parthenon 
 something of the old Greek spirit that will serve to 
 neutralize the fierce greed for money and display which 
 is eating out the heart of the best American virtues. 
 The choragic monument of Lysicrates in Athens, 
 which he set up to commemorate his vitlory in a musi- 
 cal and dramatic contest, may seem childish to the 
 average American; yet it represents a far higher type 
 of real achievement than the libraries given by Carnegie, 
 or the medical laboratories founded by Rockefeller from 
 his spoils of fifty years of fierce commercial warfare. 
 
 If the artisan of to-day could get something of the 
 love of beauty and the desire for perfection that made 
 the old Greek builder a real artist, then we should hear 
 less of the war between labor and capital, and see none 
 of that unlovely spirit of "working by the clock," which 
 has made the name of the trades union an offense in the 
 nostrils of all who love fair play and honest labor. 
 
 " The sunny land of France" one finds an apt title as 
 he travels across it from Nice to Paris. The recollec- 
 
 [xvi] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 tion remains of long rows of slender poplars, of fruit 
 trees trained in artistic shapes against southern walls 
 and vines clambering over pretty trellises, ofchateaus and 
 cathedrals and farm houses, of flashing rivers spanned 
 by noble bridges, and of roads walled by solid rock and 
 looking as though made for all time. So one comes to 
 Paris, which is genuinely French in its gayety, its artis- 
 tic traits and its fulness of life. 
 
 Paris as it comes back to me in mental vision is 
 always the city that one sees from the top of the great 
 arch which Napoleon reared at the head of the Champs- 
 Elysies to commemorate his viffories. This largest arch 
 in the world overlooks the splendid avenue that leads 
 straight as an arrow down to the Place de la Concorde, 
 and then on to the lesser arch, in imitation of that of 
 Septimus Severus, to the Place de Carrousel. From 
 this great arch radiate eleven broad avenues. Many 
 have declared these avenues monotonous, but to me the 
 scheme of Baron Haussmann has made Paris the most 
 impressive city of the world. 
 
 These fine vistas for which he sacrificed all other 
 considerations, with the Seine and its many superb 
 bridges, make the general view of Paris one that lingers 
 in the memory. Napoleon added to the effect by a Ro- 
 man solidity and grandeur in the public buildings, arches 
 and monuments that he reared. The Madeleine alone 
 would serve to keep his name green. Under the dome 
 of the Invalides his ashes rest, but his spirit lives in 
 this noble city which he did so much to make the great- 
 est pleasure city of the world. Its two score museums 
 make Paris a place of delight to anyone fond of art, and 
 its theaters, cafes and concert halls attract all in search 
 of entertainment. 
 
 To sum up one's impressions of London in a page 
 seems well nigh impossible, so colossal is this greatest 
 city of the world, so varied its interest to the Ameri- 
 
 [xvn] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 can, so appalling its contrast between imperial luxury 
 and abject poverty. 'The likeness of language and reli- 
 gion makes it seem like home after months in strange 
 lands, where the spoken word is gibberish that carries 
 no meaning. "The honesty, the solidity, the very com- 
 placency of the Englishman makes a strong appeal to 
 the American, and nowhere is this appeal put in stronger 
 terms than in the modern Babylon, with its tremendous 
 concentration of wealth and power and tradition. 
 
 London epitomizes for the American all English 
 history, and this history the transatlantic tourist ab- 
 sorbs unconsciously, whether in the magnificent West- 
 minster Abbey, or on top of one of the countless buses 
 from which he may pick out the familiar names which 
 he has known from childhood through Mother Goose, 
 the old ballads, the histories which recount the stirring 
 deeds in this town from the time of Norman William, 
 and the novels of Fielding, Scott, Dickens, Thackeray, 
 Trollope, Bulwer, Gissing and Wells. These things are 
 in his blood and he gets thrills at every street crossing. 
 
 At last when the traveler crosses the Atlantic and 
 catches sight of the Statue of Liberty looming grandiose 
 through the fog, he knows that the spirit of patriotism 
 has not been lost in this welter of strange lands and 
 queer people. And when that gigantic sky-line of New 
 York skyscrapers rises huge and menacing, like a section 
 of the Grand Canyon, he feels a thrill that nothing in 
 Europe or the Orient was able to arouse. 
 
 Later, when riding or walking in Broadway or 
 Fifth avenue, with their arrogant display of immense 
 wealth thrown full in one's face, he sees that in this 
 new land are marvels of energy, defiance of tradition, 
 success of the impossible, limitless possibilities of growth 
 and power. And so he goes home with anew apprecia- 
 tion of the size of the world, the breadth of human 
 sympathy and the kinship of the nations. 
 
 [xvin] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 After your impressions of Europe have settled and 
 clarified., you find one feature very conspicuous, this is 
 the radically different attitude toward life of the Euro- 
 pean and the American. In every European country 
 the ambition of men is to acquire a competence, and 
 then to retire and enjoy life. In this country, although 
 a man may deceive himself with the hope of getting 
 out of harness, he seldom withdraws from acJive work. 
 The American in business life or in the professions, 
 works for the mere sake of achieving things-a spirit 
 absolutely alien to the Old World. Most young men 
 in Europe, who are heirs to large fortunes, simply 
 learn how to conserve and administer their property; 
 they seldom give any thought to increasing it, and they 
 do as little aclual work as possible. Many have intel- 
 lectual hobbies, and in this way make their fortunes 
 yield them fame. 
 
 In America, the heir of millions usually works as 
 hard as his father's clerks, or else he spends his time 
 and his money in dissipation. Even the large American 
 cities have praiJically no leisure class. A man who 
 wishes to live without work usually finds the atmos- 
 phere in America uncongenial; he must go to European 
 cities to find associates in sympathy with his ideas of 
 enjoying a life of leisure. 
 
 On my way to Greece I met a genial and learned 
 physician from Amsterdam, who spoke excellent English 
 and who was a genuine philosopher. In discussing na- 
 tional charaSter, he defined the dominant American trait 
 as love of work. "I spent three months in America" he 
 said, "and everywhere I went I found professional and 
 business men atlually in love with their work. Few 
 had any literary or scientific hobbies; few were book- 
 lovers or read regularly the standard authors, but all 
 were so enamored of their chosen work that they never 
 tired of the labor of the office. In Europe a man sel- 
 
 [xix] 
 
The Best Fruits of Travel in the Occident 
 
 dom works more than he is compelled to, in order to 
 make a comfortable living, and he always looks forward 
 to retirement between fifty and sixty years of age. He 
 is satisfied with a certain fixed income which permits 
 him to enjoy the pleasures of his station. But in Amer- 
 ica every man I met had an insatiable ambition to 
 achieve things, irrespective of the money results. Able 
 engineers who had made large fortunes were still keen 
 to develop new ideas and bring the great forces of 
 nature into harness. Great railroad managers were 
 reaching out to perfelt new systems and combinations, 
 and to increase the efficiency of labor. And so it. was 
 in every department of American life. I have two 
 sons, and I intend when they are eighteen to send them 
 to America for an education, at such a college as Cor- 
 nell or Stanford, in order that they may absorb some- 
 thing of this love of work, which I regard as the great 
 driving force that has led to American achievements 
 in the material and scientific world." 
 
 This sums up the radical difference between the 
 Old and the New World. We would gain enormously 
 by absorbing the European spirit of culture and enjoy- 
 ment of intelleblual and artistic things; but it would 
 be a national misfortune should this country ever lose 
 its keen desire to achieve things, and to make life bet- 
 ter worth living for the man who labors in the sweat 
 of his brow. 
 
 [XX] 
 
GREECE, THE 
 
 FOUNTAINHEAD OF ALL 
 
 ART AND LETTERS 
 
Aden at 
 
 the Gateway of the 
 
 Red Sea 
 
 Colombo, the capital of Ceylon, is the back- 
 door of the mysterious Orient to one who 
 travels westward. If one sees Colombo on the 
 voyage from Europe before he has seen India and 
 the Malayan coast it must seem very strange, novel 
 and distinctively Oriental; but after Singapore, Ben- 
 ares, Delhi and Bombay it has little to offer the tour- 
 ist. The harbor is artificial, like the harbor of Bom- 
 bay; it would be an open roadstead, exposed to the 
 full fury of every storm were it notfor a fine break- 
 water. Even with this, when the southwest monsoon 
 blows, the waves sweep over this breakwater and 
 made it dangerous for sampans in the inner harbor. 
 Colombo has few public buildings that can make any 
 pretense to architecTural beauty, but it has many fine 
 homes on Colpetty road, beyond the Galle Face 
 Hotel, which is built on the seashore. The climate 
 is much like that of Bombay, with steamy, enervat- 
 ing heat and an atmosphere that is destitute of all 
 life. The mixture of races is as great as in Bombay, 
 with the addition of the Cingalese. This race may 
 be distinguished by the round tortoise-shell combs 
 worn by the men to keep their long hair in place. 
 The women resemble the Hindoos in dress and 
 in their fondness for jewelry and nose rings. Much 
 of the hard manual labor here is done by the coal- 
 black Tamils of Southern India. The Cingalese ap- 
 
 [3] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 pear to fancy trade and the lighter occupations. The 
 streets are full of pedlers, who are more persistent 
 in their demands to buy than in any Indian city. 
 
 Colombo shares with Singapore the distinction of 
 being one of the two great ports of call in the Orient. 
 Few steamers from Europe, Australia or America 
 pass it by. It is the door by which the European 
 tourist enters the mysterious Orient and it is the gate- 
 way through which the traveler who has seen Japan, 
 China, Malaysia and India passes on to Egypt and 
 the shores of the Mediterranean. 
 
 Colombo is the greatest market for pearls, star- 
 sapphires, star-rubies, cats'-eyes, moonstones, tur- 
 quoises and other gems; but one must be a good judge 
 of stones or these astute dealers will sell you cut-glass 
 and other imitations. The shops are very small and 
 most of the dealers haunt the sidewalks or the lobbies 
 of the hotels. They waylay women and many refusals 
 have no influence on them; they come back with the 
 same beaming smile and the same engaging gestures. 
 
 The sea voyage from Colombo to Port Said is 
 one of the longest in the Orient. It consumes twelve 
 days, and there is scarcely anything to relieve the 
 monotony of sailing every day over oily seas be- 
 neath a relentless sun. The weather is too warm for 
 any ship games. Mental work in this climate is a 
 great effort and it is difficult to keep one's mind on 
 any reading except light fiftion. Everyone takes 
 a siesta after lunch; the only event of the day is din- 
 ner at seven o'clock, for which nearly all dress. Many 
 of the men compromise with the climate by wearing 
 black dress trousers and white waistcoat, with a curi- 
 ous white cotton coat, cut like a vest, with large la- 
 pels. This is the correct tropical dress suit, which 
 may be seen from Yokohama to Cairo. The only land 
 seen in this long voyage from Colombo to Aden is 
 
 [4] 
 
Aden at Gateway of the Red Sea 
 
 the island of Socotra, one hundred and fifty miles 
 from the African coast. It is seventy-one miles 
 long by twenty-two miles wide. England owns the 
 island, which might prove valuable as a naval station. 
 
 A half-day's steaming from Socotra brings the 
 Arabian coast into view. At early morning the 
 steamer rounds a rocky point and anchors off 
 Aden, at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden shares 
 with Yuma the unenviable reputation of being the 
 hottest place in the world. The promontory of 
 Aden is five miles long by three broad and its ex- 
 tremity bristles with great guns. So strongly has 
 England fortified this natural coign of vantage, that 
 nothing can enter or leave the Red Sea without her 
 permission. 
 
 The Rock of Aden, the seat of the main fortifi- 
 cations is seventeen hundred feet high. Back of it 
 is a crescent-shaped bay lined with stores, hotels 
 and consulates. The most conspicuous building 
 along shore is the Army and Navy Club, where 
 they serve a kind of gin sour, locally known as the 
 Perseus cocktail. It is a compound of egg, gin, ver- 
 mouth and other liqueurs and it is remarkably pleas- 
 ant to the palate. You look in vain for the native 
 city of Aden, which the books say has forty-four 
 thousand people; but this town lies about three 
 miles from the Rock in the crater of an extinct 
 volcano. 
 
 All round the forlorn, foreign settlement of Aden 
 are bare, volcanic, rocky hills which refledt the sun 
 with blinding glare. Not a green thing can be 
 seen in these hills; the rock looks like slag from a 
 furnace which has not yet cooled from fire. 
 
 A singular medley of races is to be seen in the 
 native city of Aden — Arabs, Turks, Somalis and 
 Swahilis from Africa; Egyptians, Parsees and coolies 
 
 [5] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 from India, and a sprinkling of a score of other 
 Oriental peoples. Certainly this was the real East, 
 for here was a constant procession of donkeys, camel 
 carts, bearing goods to and from the mysterious 
 desert beyond. The camel is the favorite beast of 
 burden, although the donkey is used for short jour- 
 neys. One native passed, dressed in khaki and 
 mounted on a fleet camel, which was moving at a 
 swinging trot and easily covering ten miles an hour. 
 Occasionally the drivers of the two-wheeled carts 
 were able to goad their camels into a shambling trot. 
 
 The native city stretched away for several miles, 
 the houses all one-story structures of stone or sun- 
 dried brick, and all a glaring white. Much of the 
 domestic life seemed to be carried on on the flat 
 roofs, which are surrounded by a shallow railing of 
 stone. The small houses have clay floors, no win- 
 dows and no chimneys. The smoke pours out the 
 open doors. The people are as dirty as the low- 
 caste Hindoos, but there were no signs of the grind- 
 ing poverty of many parts of India. Only the low- 
 class working women showed their faces; those of 
 the better class covered the face except the eyes, 
 while the carriages in which they rode were com- 
 pletely shrouded with canopies. 
 
 The Arab differs essentially from the Hindoo; 
 he walks with a more independent stride; he has 
 the quick, nervous movements of the Malay. Along 
 the shore on the way to the native city we passed a 
 large ship-yard, with a half-dozen dahabiyehs on 
 the stocks. A score of natives were seated on the 
 sand, sewing one of the big canvas lateen sails of 
 these native boats. They sewed in time to a monot- 
 onous chant in which all joined. One enterprising 
 youngster left the working group and ran after our 
 carriage, shouting: "Salaam, Sahibs! Bakshish! Bak- 
 
Aden at Gateway of the Red Sea 
 
 shish!" at the same time rubbing his stomach to 
 indicate that he was hungry. This ship-yard is 
 the property of the richest native of Aden, a Parsee 
 from Bombay, who came here thirty years ago and 
 began life as a clerk in a small store. 
 
 The trade of Aden is in ostrich feathers, coffee, 
 dates and salt. Across the gulf seven miles away, is 
 a flourishing city, Sheik Othman, and near it may 
 be seen huge piles of glistening salt. Here are ar- 
 ranged a series of salt pans, cut out of solid rock. 
 The sea water is pumped into these pans and then 
 evaporated by the powerful sun. The country back 
 of Sheik Othman is said to be very fertile and to 
 produce large crops of maize, sorghum, dates, cotton 
 and other produces. This country is not safe for 
 the European traveler, as any party is sure to be 
 robbed unless it has the protection of a native chief. 
 The British captured Aden from the Arabs in 1839, 
 but it was thirty years later before they secured im- 
 munity from attacks by the desert tribe known as 
 Fadhli. This peace they did not gain by force of 
 arms, but by payment of money to the influential 
 sheiks who control the savage tribesmen. 
 
 England keeps a strong garrison at Aden, but 
 the stay of Tommy Atkins is usually limited to 
 two years. Everything is done to secure the com- 
 fort of the troops and officials who are billeted in 
 this desolate corner of Arabia. The houses are 
 massively built, with double roofs and wide verandas. 
 One of the best sites is occupied by the quarters of 
 the cable and telegraph staff. These men have a 
 fine messroom, with a spacious piazza that overlooks 
 the gulf. They are on duty for shifts of four hours, 
 but it is found necessary to change them often be- 
 cause of the debilitating effect of the monotonous 
 life. The climate is dry and hot, a much better 
 
 [7] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 climate than that of Bombay or Colombo; but the 
 uneventful life is difficult to endure philosophically. 
 Aden is visited by about sixteen hundred and fifty 
 steamers yearly, but their stay is so short that in 
 many cases passengers cannot venture on shore. 
 The sea trade of the port amounts to $1,280,000 a 
 year. The chief traffic with tourists is in ostrich 
 feathers, which are sold as plumes or made up in 
 fans. A good plume which costs twenty dollars in 
 any American city, may be purchased here for five 
 dollars, and fair plumes may be secured for two 
 dollars. Good bargains may be made when the 
 steamer is about to sail, for the Arabs who come 
 aboard seem averse to taking ashore any goods. 
 
 [8] 
 
Steaming 
 Through the Suez 
 
 Canal 
 
 The passage through the Suez Canal, which 
 many travelers find tedious because of the 
 intense heat, proved entertaining for the 
 passengers on the North German Lloyd steamer, 
 Princess Alice. The warmth of the sun was tem- 
 pered by a cool breeze, and the vessel's slow progress 
 was not resented as it would have been had the sun 
 blazed down on the glittering sands. The approach 
 to the canal is not impressive. The old Arabian 
 town of Suez, at the entrance of the canal, was con- 
 verted into a busy city of nearly twenty thousand 
 people in a few years, but with the completion of 
 the big ditch the importance of the place declined. 
 It has fine docks, but its trade is now inconsiderable. 
 Seen from the sea, it is picturesque, but only with a 
 glass can one make out the entrance of the canal. 
 The remarkable spectacle may be seen of steamers, 
 apparently a half-mile inland, moving slowly through 
 great stretches of shining sand. These are vessels 
 which are entering or leaving the canal. Soon your 
 own steamer is abreast of the entrance. Then the 
 speed is suddenly reduced to about six miles an 
 hour and the big vessel enters the canal. Even at 
 this slow speed the wash of the steamer carries dirt 
 from the Arabian side into the canal; so if run at 
 full speed a single large steamer would cause dam- 
 age which it would take many days to repair. 
 
 [9] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 The first thing that impresses the visitor is that 
 though the canal has been opened for over forty 
 years, it is still uncompleted. The Egyptian side of 
 the canal is well lined with stone for many miles, 
 but the Arabian side is not finished in this way. 
 For a few miles the shore is protected by a neat 
 stone wall; then the mere bank is seen, with de- 
 vices for preventing the mud and sand from falling 
 into the canal. At various points, hundreds of work- 
 men are engaged on the Arabian side in widening 
 the canal, which varies in width from two hundred 
 and thirty to three hundred and sixty feet, with a 
 uniform width at the bottom of one hundred and 
 twenty-eight feet. The canal throughout is now 
 thirty-one feet deep, which allows vessels drawing 
 twenty-eight feet to go through. At regular inter- 
 vals are stations, with wide places for the passage of 
 large steamers. As the canal is ninety-nine miles 
 long the passage occupies from fifteen to twenty-two 
 hours. It is a singular fact that only on large pas- 
 senger steamers can one see anything of the desert 
 on either side of the canal. From the deck of a 
 small steamer the passenger can see only the sides 
 of the canal. On a big steamer, on the other hand, 
 by standing midway of the after deck, only the land 
 on each side can be seen; the vessel seems to be 
 plowing her slow way through great seas of white 
 sand, unrelieved by trees or rocks. 
 
 At Suez is a bust of Ferdinand de Lesseps and 
 at Port Said is a colossal statue of the man who 
 joined the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. That 
 is about all which this typical French promoter of 
 his time has saved from the wreck of his fortune 
 and his reputation. It is almost like a fairy tale or 
 a story from the Arabian Nights, this romance of 
 the young French diplomatic agent who dreamed 
 
 [10] 
 
Steaming Through the Suez Canal 
 
 for years of the uniting of these two great seas and 
 who was finally able to carry out his project through 
 the enthusiasm and lavishness of the Khedive, Is- 
 mail Pasha. Criminal extravagance marked the cut- 
 ting of this canal and this waste Ismail had to pay 
 for. The canal cost fifteen million dollars more 
 than De Lesseps' estimates and this deficit Ismai! 
 was called upon to make up. To do this, he was 
 forced to sacrifice his own fortune and to mortgage 
 the revenues of Egypt for such a large sum that the 
 country was hopelessly involved. The result was 
 his own deposition from power and the transfer of 
 the control of Egypt to one of the greatest English 
 administrators of his age— Sir Evelyn Baring, now 
 the Earl of Cromer. In this wreck that followed 
 the prodigal waste of Ismail and De Lesseps, the 
 French Government was also involved, for Disraeli, 
 by a shrewd move at the opportune moment, bought 
 up Ismail's canal shares and this gave to England 
 the practical control of the canal. 
 
 The digging of the Suez Canal was carried on 
 in a primitive way compared with the work that has 
 been going on for several years on the Panama 
 Canal. At the outset twenty-five thousand Arab 
 workmen dug up the soil with clumsy tools and 
 carried it in baskets on their heads, precisely as they 
 do to-day in Arabia or Egypt. Some labor-saving 
 devices were introduced before the completion of 
 the work, but during all these ten years of construc- 
 tion progress was slow. With the tremendous en- 
 gines used at Panama, the Suez Canal could have 
 been dug in three or four years. Even to-day native 
 laborers along the line of the Suez Canal may be 
 seen working with tools that have been handed 
 down for generations. Tramways have been built 
 and cars are used for getting rid of the excavated 
 
 [»] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 soil; but the Arab potters along in the hot sun and 
 does about as much work as a ten-year-old Ameri- 
 can boy. He rests on the handle of his heavy shovel 
 and inspects each steamer that passes. He shouts 
 Arabic at the intruder and if an inspector is not in 
 sight he will run along the edge of the canal and 
 beg for anything which the passengers may see fit 
 to throw to him. Several of these Arabs created 
 much diversion by fishing from the canal the old 
 pith helmets, oranges and other articles which were 
 thrown to them from the ship. One fellow, who 
 wore an American army blouse over his Arab dress, 
 retrieved a helmet from the water, put it on and 
 strutted proudly along the bank, the envy of all his 
 companions. 
 
 All day the big German steamer moved slowly 
 through the canal. The passengers lined the rails 
 during the early hours, for every few yards brought 
 surprises in the way of novel scenes and incidents. 
 In the first place, it was plain that on both sides of 
 the canal the country was a literal desert. Califor- 
 nians who know the Mojave and Colorado deserts 
 abounding with cactus, mesquit and other plant 
 life, must revise their ideas of a desert when looking 
 out upon the banks of this canal. Here, stretching 
 away to the purple mountains in the dim distance, 
 are vast plains of white sand, with only an occasional 
 bit of green to relieve the deadly monotony. These 
 green patches are oases, due to the presence of 
 water. The largest is near "Port Said and is known 
 as the Wells of Moses. The water of some of these 
 wells is very bitter, but the moisture has converted 
 a strip of desert sand into a garden, with fields of 
 green grass, orchards and vineyards. The true Ori- 
 ental aspect is given to this oasis by groves of date 
 palms, whose feathery tops wave in the light breeze. 
 
 [12] 
 
Steaming Through the Suez Canal 
 
 These wells are of historical interest as they served 
 as a resting place for the children of Israel and the 
 bitter waters Moses made sweet by the use of a 
 desert shrub. 
 
 Across the wastes of sand that line the canal on 
 either side were seen at intervals small parties of 
 Bedouins with camels and tents. Some were on the 
 march, the women huddled high up on the camels, 
 while the men walked, urging on the tired animals. 
 Others were camped by the wayside, the black tents 
 showing out in strong relief against the glittering 
 sand; the camels lying down,and small flocks of goats 
 or sheep browsing around. Here for the first time 
 we saw the typical nomads of the desert, with their 
 tall, gaunt frames, covered with dirty, black cloaks. 
 The Arab wears clothes that impede his work. In- 
 stead of trousers he has a long, loose dress of white 
 or blue cotton that interferes with every movement 
 of his body, and he adds to this a long, black cloak, 
 with cloth enough in it to make several American 
 overcoats. Even the laborers on the canal wear blue 
 cotton dresses, reaching nearly to their heels. The 
 Arabs, men and women, squat in the sand, and if 
 their faces and dress are any index, they seldom 
 know the luxury of a bath. The children are num- 
 erous, but, unlike those of Japan and India, they 
 are seldom naked. A shirt of dirty white or black 
 reaching to the knee appears to be the favorite gar- 
 ment of children of both sexes under ten years of age. 
 
 The camel fits into this desert picture as per- 
 fectly as his Arab driver. The ungainly animal is 
 usually of a dirty yellow, so that at a little distance 
 it is impossible to distinguish him from the desert 
 sands. He moves at a slow walk and his long stride 
 makes this a very uncomfortable motion for his 
 rider. Occasionally one sees the genuine riding 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 dromedary, which moves at a rapid trot and covers 
 great distances with small fatigue to the rider. All 
 along the Arabian side of the canal camels were seen 
 browsing on the small shrubs that grow in sheltered 
 spots or cropping the grass that marks an occasional 
 spring or small water course. With the naked eye 
 these camels could not be seen, but a strong glass 
 brought them up against their neutral-tinted back- 
 ground. An occasional coyote also slunk along, 
 his coat the very tint of the desert sand. The 
 Bedouins, however, were conspicuous at great dis- 
 tances because of their wide-flowing, black garments 
 and their white turbans. In their walk, their ges- 
 tures and their faces, they presented a great contrast 
 to the low caste Hindoos and Mohammedans of 
 India. The Arab has a fine, stately stride; he carries 
 himself like a soldier, and his face bears out the 
 martial illusion, as it is full of pride and intelligence. 
 It is of interest to American readers, in view of 
 the Panama Canal, to know that the Suez Canal 
 pays large dividends on the stock. The tariff is 
 one dollar and seventy cents per ton register and 
 two dollars for every passenger. The result is that 
 a big steamer like the Princess Alice paid twelve 
 thousand five hundred dollars in tolls for one pas- 
 sage. The day she steamed through the canal was 
 evidently good for business as a blue funnel line 
 freight steamer preceded us and three other steamers 
 followed closely in our wake. As there are no locks 
 and no sharp curves navigation goes on by night as 
 well as by day, a huge searchlight being rigged up 
 in the bow, which throws a flood of light across the 
 entire canal. It was a fine spectacle to see this cone 
 of brilliant light moving in advance of the steamer- 
 a modern pillar of fire such as that which led the 
 Israelites of old. 
 
 [H] 
 
Sailing Among 
 
 the Historic Isles of 
 
 Greece 
 
 Failure to change my ticket forced me to go 
 to Naples before proceeding to Athens. The 
 journey from Naples to Brindisi was saved 
 from monotony by the fine mountain scenery, but it 
 was tedious because of the slowness of the train and 
 the prejudice of the Italians against any fresh air in 
 the coaches. The Italian is usually of robust build; 
 he looks the picture of health; but if you open a win- 
 dow in one end of a compartment he will detect a 
 draft at once and will appeal to the guard to have 
 the fresh air cut off. The feature of this journey 
 was the sight of a half-dozen towns perched high 
 on the summits of almost inaccessible mountains. 
 These were relics of the days before the discovery 
 of gun-powder, when such strongholds could be de- 
 fended successfully by a mere handful of men against 
 an army of invaders. 
 
 Brindisi, the ancient Brundusium of the Romans 
 and the southern terminus of the Appian Way, is 
 one of the least interesting of Italian cities. In our 
 day it is known mainly as the point of transit from 
 the P. and O. steamers to the through fast trains 
 which whirl the traveler from India across the con- 
 tinent of Europe to Calais and the Channel steamers. 
 
 The voyage from Brindisi to Patras is through 
 historic waters. A stop was made at Corfu, a fa- 
 mous winter resort on an island off" the Albanian 
 
 [■5] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 coast. The houses are built on a rocky rampart 
 which encircles a spacious bay; two ancient Venetian 
 fortresses lend a touch of romance to the city. The 
 streets are narrow and crooked and the houses lofty. 
 Some old Venetian palaces remain to give an idea 
 of former splendor, but the town shows the impress 
 of the British administrators, who dominated the 
 island for nearly a half century. They built a broad 
 esplanade which lines the massive seawall and they 
 made good roads throughout the island. 
 
 The surrounding country is famous for its olive 
 groves and a drive of several miles takes one to the 
 villa of Achilleon, built for the late Empress Eliza- 
 beth of Austria, but now the property of the Ger- 
 man Kaiser. The road to this villa runs through a 
 rich farming country and is lined with groves of 
 ancient, gnarled olive trees, with trunks from two to 
 three feet in diameter. The men of Corfu appear 
 to lead leisurely lives; only the women and the don- 
 keys labor early and late. On the return from 
 market the man rides the family donkey, while his 
 wife trudges behind barefoot over the muddy roads. 
 
 The German Emperor showed good judgment 
 in selecting Corfu as a place for spending the spring 
 months, for even in midwinter the air is mild, the 
 sea calm and all nature seems at rest -a genuine 
 lotus-eating land. The Emperor's villa boasts some 
 good statuary, including a heroic figure of Achilles 
 and replicas of many famous Greek and Roman 
 statues, among which are the two boxers from Her- 
 culaneum. From a terrace in front of the statue of 
 Achilles, one has a noble view of the bay of Corfu 
 and the Aegean sea, every island and every head- 
 land being historic ground. 
 
 The villa grounds are terraced and by a wind- 
 ing pathway one may descend to the water's edge 
 
 [16] 
 
The Historic Isles of Greece 
 
 through groves of semi-tropical trees and flowering 
 plants brought from the four quarters of the globe. 
 Near the water is the tomb of the unfortunate Em- 
 press, surmounted by a beautiful marble statue. The 
 villa, which crowns the highest point of the grounds, 
 boasts some good statuary, but the paintings, and 
 especially the mural decorations, are so atrociously 
 bad that the wonder is that the Emperor can endure 
 them. Probably he tolerates them because they are 
 the work of German artists. 
 
 Not far from Corfu is the island where Odysseus 
 was cast ashore and had some pleasant parley with 
 the beautiful Greek maiden, Nausicaa, who showed 
 the wanderer her skill in playing ball. 
 
 As the steamer departs Corfu is lit up by the 
 setting sun, its picturesque houses glowing in the 
 rosy light. Soon we are in the Ionian Sea. All 
 around is historic ground. On the Epirote coast 
 lies Actium, where Antony was defeated by Odtavian, 
 while on the other side is the bold headland, the 
 Leucadian Rock, from which passionate Sappho cast 
 herself because her love for Phaon was not returned. 
 To the east is Ithaca, the home of the much-traveled 
 Ulysses, and farther on at the entrance to the bay 
 of Patras, Don John of Austria destroyed the 
 Turkish fleet at the famous battle of Lepanto. 
 
 Soon we neared the northwest point of the 
 Peloponnesus, beyond which is Missolonghi, famous 
 as the place where Lord Byron caught the fever 
 and died in 1824, just as he had thrown himself 
 with all the ardor of his nature into the Greek re- 
 volt against Turkish rule. It is curious how this 
 most creditable episode in the life of Byron colors 
 one's view of this scene. The personality of this 
 erratic man of genius is stronger than all the history 
 which forms the background of this bit of old Greece. 
 
 [*7] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 We see from his letters that he knew he was fac- 
 ing grave danger in staying at fever-itafested Mis- 
 solonghi, but he wrote: "It is proper that I should 
 remain in Greece; and it were better to die doing 
 something than nothing." Byron's last letters, as 
 well as those which he wrote in the heyday of his 
 fame, are remarkably good reading, but the world 
 ignores them now, for few editions of his poems in- 
 clude even a selection of these brilliant and witty 
 epistles. 
 
 Patras is simply a commonplace, commercial town, 
 but the railroad ride from Patras to Athens is one 
 of the most beautiful and varied in all Europe. The 
 train first passes through miles of vineyard-care- 
 fully cultivated plantations of the small, seedless 
 grapes whose dried produdt is known as the Zante 
 currant. Grape vines are pruned low as in Cali- 
 fornia, and the only support for the vine is a short 
 stake. The railroad skirts the shore of the Gulf of 
 Corinth, which is as blue as the bay of Monterey. 
 Across the water are piled the pink and violet 
 mountains that remind one, in contour and color, 
 of the Coast Range of California. In fadt, every- 
 where in this old, historic land of Greece one is re- 
 minded of the brand new California-the same rugged 
 coast line, the same contour of the hills, the same 
 wonderful shades of sea and sky and far-off myste- 
 rious mountains. The yellow sand of little beaches 
 meets the exquisite turquoise-colored sea, just as it 
 does at Carmel, and here one may look down on 
 the many shades of violet and purple, formed by 
 floating seaweed, precisely as one may from the old 
 Spanish mission church where Father Junipero 
 Serra lies at rest. 
 
 Finally the train nears Corinth. There, on a 
 hillside, is the place where St. Paul lived for eigh- 
 
 [18] 
 
The Historic Isles of Greece 
 teen months, laboring six days every week as a tent- 
 maker. Hereis'thepicturegivenof him in the Bible: 
 
 And he reasoned in the synagogue and persuaded the 
 Jews and the Greeks. 
 
 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from 
 Macedonia Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to 
 the Jews that Jesus was Christ. 
 
 And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, 
 he shook his raiment, and said unto them : Your blood 
 be upon your own heads; I am clean; henceforth I will 
 go unto the Gentiles. 
 
 While your imagination is filled with this picture 
 of the ablest of the Apostles, your eye is offended 
 by the crude, ugly work of the Corinth Canal, lying 
 two hundred feet below the train. This canal cuts 
 the Isthmus of Corinth and has been a great help 
 to commerce, but it ruins the pidluresqueness of the 
 coast. Beyond the isthmus the train runs along the 
 Gulf of Aegina, of vivid, wonderful blue, with a back- 
 ground of mountain wall, and with many islands to 
 lend beauty to the view. One of these islands is the 
 historic Salamis, where the three thousand Persian 
 ships of Xerxes were scattered and sunk by three 
 hundred ships filled with fighting Greeks, just as in 
 recent years the great navy of Russia was hammered 
 and destroyed by Admiral Togo and his fierce Jap- 
 anese sea-fighters. 
 
 Soon we see rising straight ahead a gleaming 
 summit, the Acropolis of Athens, the fountain head 
 of all our art, the mecca of the pilgrimage of every 
 lover of the noblest poetry and the finest sculpture 
 the world has ever known. 
 
 [19] 
 
The Acropolis 
 
 and the Parthenon 
 
 of Athens 
 
 On all sides in Athens is historic ground, for 
 here was developed not only the finest liter- 
 ature, sculpture and architecture that the 
 world has yet known, but here also a small but 
 brave people defeated great armies from Persia and 
 celebrated their victory by erecting temples and 
 statues that even in their ruins still make a power- 
 ful appeal to all lovers of the beautiful. What led 
 to this sudden flowering of the genius of a people 
 like the Greeks no one may say, nor has the world 
 discovered the causes of the rapid deterioration of 
 this nation. The few remaining relics of the statues 
 and buildings of the ancient Greeks thrill one's 
 heart, so perfect are they and so thoroughly do they 
 satisfy the eye. Simple in design, unapproached in 
 perfection of workmanship, they stand to-day as 
 specimens of what may be wrought by the highest 
 artistic genius. And yet with all our scientific dis- 
 coveries and our superior command of the resources 
 of the builder's art, we are unable to reproduce the 
 perfect lines of the capitals and columns of the Par- 
 thenon or to equal the beauty of the caryatides of 
 the Erechtheum. The Acropolis is the despair of 
 the modern sculptor and architect, for they recognize 
 that these Greeks of the days of Phidias and Prax- 
 iteles had a mastery of the resources of their art 
 which no modern sculptor or builder has ever gained. 
 
 [20] 
 
The Acropolis and the Parthenon 
 
 Athens impresses the stranger with the clearness 
 of its air, the beauty of its encircling snow-capped 
 mountains, and the pidturesqueness of its three hills, 
 Mount Hymettus, the Lykobettos and the Acrop- 
 olis. We arrived after dark and it was on a gloomy 
 winter morning that we obtained our first view of 
 the city. The summit of Hymettus was hidden by 
 low-lying rain clouds; the snow-clad peak of Par- 
 nassus was only faintly visible through a veil of 
 mist and cloud; but the striking solitary butte of 
 Lykobettos stood out like a sentinel, and when we 
 had walked a few blocks from our hotel we sud- 
 denly came upon the Acropolis, looming dark and 
 menacing against the stormy western sky and the 
 Aegean Sea beyond. Richard Philipp, a well-known 
 architect of Milwaukee, accompanied me from 
 Naples to Athens, and with his expert guidance and 
 his explanations of the fine features of the immortal 
 Greek structures on the Acropolis, my visit proved 
 to be of great interest. For years I had read books 
 about Greek art and studied photographs of the 
 Parthenon and the other famous buildings erected 
 in the golden age of Greece. But the actual sight of 
 these splendid structures, even in their melancholy 
 ruin, was a pleasure worth going half way around 
 the world to enjoy. 
 
 The first sight of the Parthenon is something 
 to be remembered for one's natural life. Familiar 
 as photography has made the front of this noblest 
 structure ever reared by man, the temple somehow 
 strikes you as more massive, more beautiful, than 
 any picture. It realizes your expectations; it satis- 
 fies the eye as does the lovely Taj Mahal of Agra; 
 but it far surpasses that perfect tomb erefted by old 
 Shah Jahan to the memory of his beloved Queen, 
 because in the Parthenon we have the majesty and 
 
 [21] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 the sublimity of the great temple added to the 
 rarest skill in architecture. 
 
 Set upon a natural rocky plateau, five hundred 
 and twelve feet above the level of Athens, facing 
 the rising sun which gilds its pale yellow front, the 
 Parthenon is an impressive spectacle from whatever 
 point one may view it. I saw it under many con- 
 ditions, but never found it other than beautiful, 
 majestic, and full of that divine calm which marked 
 the gods of Olympus. It is best seen under the 
 brilliant morning sunshine, which makes its age- 
 worn marbles glow with the rich amber tint of Kar- 
 nak or Luxor. It is the atmosphere of profound 
 calm, not of this world, which most deeply impresses 
 the sympathetic observer-something of the same 
 effect produced by the Antigone or the Medea 
 when seen on the stage. The more primitive one's 
 nature, the less sophisticated by fashion or worldly 
 custom, the greater will be the effect on the emo- 
 tions of this finest masterpiece of Greek art. 
 Words are poor to describe what one feels when 
 lost in contemplation of this splendid temple which 
 represented the blending of the Greek's passionate 
 love of country with his equally passionate love of 
 beauty and measure in art. To see it now, even in 
 its melancholy ruin, is to feel something of the thrill 
 which moved these old Greeks when they beheld, 
 after long absence, this visible sign of the greatness 
 of Athens. To be a Roman citizen in the days 
 when the great empire of the Caesars reached from 
 the Tiber to the farthest confines of the known 
 world, was something which the modern man can- 
 not know; but it seems to me that to be an Athe- 
 nian in the days of Pericles and Phidias was some- 
 thing finer and more satisfying. Only one age in 
 the modern world has approached this flowering 
 
 [22] 
 
The Acropolis and the Parthenon 
 
 time of Greek art and literature, and that was the 
 age of Elizabeth, which gave the world Shakespeare, 
 Marlowe, Ben Jonson and Bacon. 
 
 The Parthenon typifies the highest mark in art 
 and letters ever reached by the genius of man. 
 Hence this sense of the profound calm of the gods 
 which still breathes from these stones, making the 
 blood glow and the eyes fill as one feels again, after 
 all these eventful years, the emotions that stirred 
 these great artists and builders in the splendid noon 
 of Greek history. 
 
 Seen from a little distance the ravages of time 
 and vandalism are obscured; then it seems a nearly 
 perfect building. But, when seen nearby, the terrible 
 havoc wrought by the explosion of a Venetian 
 powder magazine in the seventeenth century is sadly 
 apparent. As you approach the Acropolis you 
 realize what a natural fortress this was before the 
 discovery of gunpowder. The rocky walls have 
 been cut down sheer to the bottom. On the south 
 side are the Greek theater of Dionysius and the 
 Roman theater, built by H erodes Atticus and com- 
 pleted by Hadrian. These are built into the side of 
 the hill, so that the audiences sat with their backs 
 to the Acropolis. 
 
 The Theater of Dionysius is noteworthy as the 
 place in which were produced for the first time the 
 great tragedies of Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschy- 
 lus and the comedies of Aristophanes. In those 
 days a special stage was erected for each perform- 
 ance, while the audience sat on the hillside. The 
 Romans paved the orchestra with marble and made 
 comfortable seats. The Roman theater on the other 
 side had an imposing front of three stories, built of 
 brown limestone, and had seating capacity for five 
 thousand. These seats were faced with marble. 
 
 [23] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 The Acropolis was a natural fort, which could 
 be scaled only on the western side, where the main 
 gateway was flanked by two towers, strongly fortified. 
 From this gate marble steps led to the Propylea 
 or main gateway, consisting of a central doorway 
 and two wings, all built of the finest Pentelic marble. 
 The Doric columns of the Propylea are very mas- 
 sive, but they are relieved by slenderer Ionic columns 
 twenty feet high. The doorway was of black marble 
 and back of it may still be seen the grooves on 
 which the huge wooden doors swung. On a bas- 
 tion at the right of the Propylea is a small but very 
 beautiful Temple of Nike, built about 440 B. C. 
 It was adorned with a sculptured frieze eighty-five 
 feet long and eighteen inches high. 
 
 Passing through the Propylea the eye is caught 
 by the beautiful and graceful Erechtheum on the 
 left, and the stately and majestic Parthenon on the 
 right. In the old Greek days the center of this 
 open space between the gateway and the two temples 
 was occupied by the colossal bronze statue of Athena, 
 modeled by Phidias and erefted with the spoils 
 taken from the Persians at Marathon. 
 
 The Parthenon was built on the south side of 
 the Acropolis with its front facing the east. It is 
 familiar in its outlines to every American school 
 child, but no amount of familiarity with pictures or 
 photographs of the building prepares one for its 
 tremendous effedt upon the beholder. Here is a 
 temple designed on simple lines, but so massive and 
 yet so perfect in every detail that it has the same 
 effect on the eye as a great work of nature like El 
 Capitan at the entrance of the Yosemite Valley. 
 When first erected it was of pure white Pentelic 
 marble, but the action of the elements for twenty- 
 four hundred years has stained many of the columns 
 
 M 
 
The Acropolis and the Parthenon 
 
 to a rich brown shade known among painters as 
 burnt umber, while others are of the tint of honey 
 or amber. This great temple was built on purely 
 Greek lines. It originally included ninety-eight 
 Doric columns, forty-six of which were thirty-four 
 feet high and the others a foot less in height; fifty 
 life-size pieces of sculpture for the pediments at 
 each end; ninety-two metopes or smaller figures; a 
 frieze five hundred and twenty-four feet long and a 
 colossal statue of Athena in gold and ivory forty- 
 three feet high. 
 
 This temple was erected by Pericles, while Phidias, 
 finest of Greek sculptors, had entire charge of its 
 ornamentation. Great as Phidias was no master- 
 piece of his remains to the world. All we know is 
 that he designed the colossal statue of Athena and 
 that he planned the frieze and the metopes and the 
 other statues that made the Acropolis the pride of 
 every Greek. His pupils and his workmen must 
 have shared in his enthusiasm, for every detail of 
 ornamentation of bases or capitals shows artistic 
 work which the Romans never equaled. 
 
 It is a great help in appreciating the Parthenon 
 to have as a companion an architect who has made 
 a technical study of Greek art, for he is able to point 
 out the perfect work of these old craftsmen. The 
 lines of the Doric bases are all absolutely true; the 
 decorative work is simple but extremely effective, 
 and the devices for correcting the natural vision are 
 so ingenious that no modern artist has been able to 
 equal them. The Greeks knew that the lines of a 
 column must not be absolutely perpendicular or 
 the column will look as though it leaned outward; 
 hence they made all their columns lean inward, so 
 that the optical illusion is maintained. Yet the 
 amount ot this divergence and the arrangement of 
 
 [25] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 it throughout the column is the despair of the mod- 
 ern architect. Experts have also discovered that the 
 great Doric columns of the Parthenon were put in 
 place by sections and that the fluting of these col- 
 umns was then carved. As this fluting is perfectly 
 accurate here also is a task that would test the skill 
 of the best modern workmen. 
 
 In the museum in Athens is a plaster repro- 
 duction of what the best authorities regard as the 
 groups of statuary that adorned the front and rear 
 pediment of the Parthenon. This space or tympa- 
 num was ninety-one and a half feet long by ten and 
 a half feet in height in the center, and the back be- 
 ing painted red, this brought out the marble figures 
 in the strongest relief. The front was devoted to 
 the birth of Athena, while the other depicted the 
 triumph of Athena over Poseidon, the god of ocean, 
 in their battle for possession of Attica. 
 
 The finest sculptures of the Parthenon were the 
 metopes or life-sized figures, most of which were 
 bought in 1802 by Lord Elgin, then Minister at 
 Athens, and transported to the British Museum in 
 London, where they now form its most valued pos- 
 session. The frieze of the Parthenon contained the 
 finest Greek work in bas-relief. In the Acropolis 
 Museum are twenty-two slabs from the frieze which 
 depict the festal procession in honor of Athena, 
 which was held every four years in Athens. 
 
 Below the Parthenon, to the left, are the ruins 
 of the Erechtheum, a smaller temple of the goddess 
 Athena Pallas and other deities, more beautiful but 
 less impressive than the great temple. The features 
 of this temple are the graceful Ionic columns, the 
 superb northern doorway, and the colonnade of the 
 Caryatides. In the latter, instead of columns, six 
 statues of maidens support the roof. These fig- 
 
 , [26] 
 
The Portico of the Erechtheum or Temple of Pallas Athena 
 
 at Athens, Showing the Portico Upheld by Caryatides. These 
 
 Figures of Women are Among the Best Remains of Greek 
 
 Art of the Age of Phidias. The Dark One is of 
 
 Plaster, as the Original is in the Elgin 
 
 Collection in the British Museum 
 
The Acropolis and the Parthenon 
 ures have all the easy grace of an Oriental woman 
 carrying a water jar on her head, while at the same 
 time they seem to be instinct with the dignity and 
 force of Greek goddesses. If ever triumphantwoman- 
 hood was wrought in marble, here it is. One feels 
 that these are women, "divinely planned," with al- 
 most the strength of men, yet with that mysterious 
 appeal of sex which removes them from the austere 
 heights of Pallas Athena. These are women who 
 have no ailments, no nerves; ideal companions for 
 men who love the strenuous life. 
 
 The north door is approached through six col- 
 umns that are beautifully decorated. This little 
 temple gives an extraordinary impression of grace 
 and lightness, which furnishes a striking contrast to 
 the strength and massiveness of the Parthenon. It 
 seems strange that with all this wealth of art work 
 in marble the Greeks should have demanded color 
 in the decoration of the Parthenon and its statues; 
 yet we have in the remains found on the Acropolis 
 and in the records of ancient writers not only ample 
 proof that the temples were brilliantly colored, but 
 that even the statuary was painted. 
 
 All the art work on the Acropolis appears to 
 have been done by sculptors and minor craftsmen 
 who were thoroughly in love with their task. In 
 our own day in the Chicago Fair we had a good illus- 
 tration of the effect of giving able artists a free hand 
 in the designing and decoration of the exposition 
 buildings. Good experts pronounced the Agricul- 
 tural building at Chicago, designed by McKim, the 
 finest structure of modern times. Something of this 
 same spirit of generous rivalry must have existed 
 among the pupils and the workmen of Phidias and 
 the architects of the Parthenon, for in every minute 
 detail this Greek temple reveals the height of skill 
 
 [*7] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 in design and carving. That all this work was ac- 
 complished in ten years shows that the workmen of 
 the time of Phidias had not absorbed the modern 
 trade union idea that the mechanic should do the 
 least amount of work possible in an eight-hour day. 
 
 It would have come down to modern times 
 practically uninjured had it not been for the vandal- 
 ism of the Venetians, who in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury used the building for storing their powder. 
 During a Turkish attack on the Acropolis a shell 
 was dropped into this powder and the resulting ex- 
 plosion destroyed much of the Parthenon. In the 
 work of restoration good sculptors should be em- 
 ployed, as much work done in recent years offends 
 the eye, so inferior is it to the old Greek carving. 
 
 In the Acropolis Museum as well as in the 
 National Archaeological Museum in Athens one 
 may get a good idea of the perfection of the work 
 of the antique sculptors. The drapery of the female 
 figures from the Parthenon clings to the limbs yet 
 reveals their rounded forms, as in life. Nothing 
 more strongly marks the difference between Greek 
 and Roman art than the method of handling the 
 drapery of the female costume. To the Greeks it 
 seemed a simple task to reproduce in marble the 
 very effects seen in everyday life; to the Romans 
 this work was beyond their power. 
 
 [28] 
 
Remains of 
 
 Ancient Art in 
 
 Athens 
 
 The Acropolis Museum is disappointing be- 
 cause so many of the exhibits are in a frag- 
 mentary condition. Legs and arms and 
 torsos abound, but it requires much imagination to 
 reconstruct the perfect figures from these remains. 
 Perhaps the most satisfactory work may be found 
 in bas-relief, for here the vandalism of time has had 
 less opportunity to destroy the perfect lines of the 
 original figures. Of this work the Parthenon frieze 
 is the most interesting, as it reveals the simplicity 
 of the method of these Greek sculptors and the 
 wonderful effects that they secured. Some of the 
 figures of Nike or Victory are rarely beautiful in 
 outline and expression, especially the one so often 
 reproduced, the Nike loosening her sandal. 
 
 In the National Archaeological Museum are 
 scores of statues and other work gathered from 
 many parts of Greece. It is to be regretted that the 
 Greek government has adopted the parochial plan 
 of permitting all the remains exhumed to stay in 
 the places where they are discovered. In this way 
 small and remote towns each possess some perfect 
 work of ancient Greek art which is never seen ex- 
 cept by enthusiasts who can afford the time to visit 
 it. If these statues were removed to Athens, then 
 the great body of tourists would be able to enjoy 
 them. Another curious rule is that which has en- 
 
 [*9] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 forced labeling of all exhibits in Greek alone. As nine- 
 tenths of the visitors are foreigners who understand 
 no Greek, the absurdity of this method is apparent. 
 Below the Acropolis is the Hill of Mars, on 
 which St. Paul stood when he preached to the 
 Athenians warning them that they were too super- 
 stitious and that the altar to the Unknown God 
 should have been erected to the "Lord of heaven 
 and earth" who "dwelleth not in temples made 
 with hands." Nearby is a cave in the hillside which 
 is said to be the one in which Socrates was confined 
 before he was made to drink the hemlock. 
 
 One of the notable Roman remains in Athens 
 is the Arch of Hadrian, that divides the city of 
 Theseus from the city of Hadrian. It is of two 
 stories, with a noble sweep of arch and a light and 
 graceful upper structure. It somehow suggests the 
 mingled strength and culture of this old Roman 
 Emperor who left enduring traces of his presence 
 from one end of the great empire to the other. 
 
 Nearby is the Byzantine church of Kahnikarea, 
 which is a beautiful specimen of the best architecture. 
 It was erected in the ninth century on foundations 
 laid in the fifth century after Christ. No attempt 
 has been made to modernize this church and the 
 result is a perfect specimen of Byzantine architecture. 
 Athens is full of the remains of Greek art, some 
 of it fully equal to that found on the Acropolis. One 
 is the monument of Lysikrates, erected by a winner 
 in the Dionysian games. It looks like a small round 
 temple and its main feature is a circle of six Corin- 
 thian half-columns, supporting a richly sculptured 
 frieze and a conical roof of a single slab of marble. 
 The bronze tripod won by the victor once sur- 
 mounted the roof. Even in its ruin this monument 
 is beautiful in its symmetry and perfection of form. 
 
 [3o] 
 
Remains of Ancient Art in Athens 
 
 Of all the old Greek buildings in Athens the 
 best preserved is the Theseion, with its thirty-four 
 Doric columns, eighteen feet high. The columns 
 are all perfect, and the building gives a better idea 
 of the Greek temple than the Parthenon, although 
 the artistic work on it is much inferior to that of 
 the great temple on the Acropolis. 
 
 All around the base of the Acropolis sprawls 
 the old city of Athens, with houses that remind one 
 of the adobe huts of Cairo. The streets are narrow 
 and crooked and the lives of the Greeks in this 
 quarter is as squalid as that of the Egyptians on the 
 Nile. The new Athens, however, with its wide 
 avenues and its fine, modern houses, has no trace 
 of the picturesqueness of the old town, but it is 
 healthy and fairly clean. Very modern also is the 
 huge Stadion, erected on the site of the Panthe- 
 nsean games, which will hold fifty thousand spec- 
 tators. 
 
 Anyone who loves Greek art and Greek poetry 
 will find Athens full of interest, because on every 
 side are places that recall notable events in Greek 
 history or the great works of the Greek sculptors 
 and poets. From descriptions of world-famous build- 
 ings or statues it is difficult to imagine the real work; 
 what one gets at Athens is actual contact with all 
 that is best in Greek art. These remains are badly 
 mutilated, but enough has survived to prove that 
 the Greeks who flourished in the fourth century 
 before Christ were unsurpassed in their control of 
 the resources of all the arts. 
 
 Many travelers find Athens disappointing be- 
 cause it has so few remains of the old Greek art and 
 because the noisy modern city distracts their atten- 
 tion from the city of Pericles and Phidias and Plato. 
 But if one only keeps in mind what Athens repre- 
 
 [31] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 seats he will be able to get rich returns from a visit 
 to this Hellenic mother of all art and literature. 
 And in summing up what Athens and the Parthenon 
 represent no one has ever put the world's debt to 
 this Greek shrine in more eloquent language than 
 Macaulay in this concluding passage of his review 
 of Mitford's History of Greece: 
 
 All the triumphs of truth and genius over prejudiqe 
 and power, in every country and in every age, have been 
 the triumph of Athens. 
 
 Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against 
 violence and fraud, in the cause of liberty and reason, there 
 has been her spirit in the midst of them ; inspiring, encour- 
 aging, consoling; by the lonely lamp of Erasmus; by the 
 restless bed of Pascal; in the tribune of Mirabeau; in the 
 cell of Galileo; on the scaffold of Sidney. 
 
 Wherever literature consoles sorrow or assuages pain, 
 wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wake- 
 fulness and tears and ache for the dark house and the long 
 sleep— there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal 
 influence of Athens. 
 
 [32] 
 
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PLATE X 
 
 The Graceful Arch Erefted by the Roman Emperor 
 
 Hadrian at Athens. Its Statuary is Gone, But the Arch is in a 
 
 Good State of Preservation, as Hadrian Built Not For 
 
 an Age, But For all Time 
 

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PLATE XIII 
 
 The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, Under the Shadow 
 
 of the Acropolis, Athens. It Has Six Columns, But These Have 
 
 Only two Rows of Leaves. It Originally Bore a Prize 
 
 Tripod Won by Lysicrates in a Dramatic Contest 
 
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PLATE XV 
 
 A Statuette of the Great Figure of Athena by Phidias, 
 
 Which Was the Most Important Statue in the Parthenon. 
 
 The Work on This Statuette is Not Good, But 
 
 it Gives the Best Idea of the Original 
 
 Figure, Which Was of 
 
 Gold and Ivory 
 
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ITALY, 
 
 HOME OF ART AND 
 
 MONUMENTS 
 
Naples and 
 
 Its Treasures of 
 
 Art 
 
 The voyage from Port Said to Naples was 
 marked only by the passage of the steamer 
 through the Straits of Messina, within sight 
 of the city which was practically destroyed by earth- 
 quake in January, 1909. Mount Etna loomed up 
 on the left hand, looking huge and threatening, al- 
 though fully sixty miles away. The snow that 
 covered the summit and flanks of the volcano could 
 be seen with the naked eye. The sea was so rough 
 when the steamer neared Messina that the captain 
 kept fully a mile from shore so that only through 
 glasses could one make out the ruins of the earth- 
 quake. The temporary structures contributed by 
 the United States still stand and reconstruction ap- 
 pears to have been very slow, as no new permanent 
 buildings could be distinguished. Clouds of dust 
 swept over the town which once had an imposing 
 sea-front, as the ruined columns and arches attest. 
 
 Just beyond Messina we passed between Scylla 
 and Charybdis, but with modern steamers there 
 seems to be little danger of a vessel going upon one 
 of these rocks while trying to avoid the other. 
 With the tremendous current that runs through the 
 straits it is easy to see how an ancient sailing vessel 
 might be in danger of going on these rocks when 
 passing between Sicily and Italy. Early on the fol- 
 lowing morning we entered the harbor of Naples 
 
 [35] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 and first saw the city under dull, leaden clouds, that 
 threatened rain. 
 
 Naples should be seen in the spring, when its 
 flowers are all in bloom, its trees and vines in leaf, 
 and when the sun lingers lovingly on its rounded 
 harbor line, and warms to their inmost depths its 
 many narrow streets that look like canyons be- 
 tween solid walls of masonry. But even in chill 
 midwinter this old capital of Southern Italy is a 
 lovely spot, with Posilipo on one end of the great 
 crescent and Sorrento on the other; with blue Capri 
 in the distance, almost melting into the deeper blue 
 of the Mediterranean, and with Vesuvius, its sum- 
 mit shadowed by fleecy clouds of smoke, dominat- 
 ing sea and shore, an ever-present menace of death 
 and destruction. 
 
 With a harbor far inferior to that of San Fran- 
 cisco in natural beauty, Naples is infinitely more 
 picturesque because of the skill shown in terracing 
 the hillsides and making the streets encircle the 
 shore. Naples has also the enormous advantage of 
 an architecture that lends itself to the bold and 
 rocky hills on which the city is built. 
 
 My most vivid impression of Naples, after nine 
 days' stay, was that of a city of stucco and stone. 
 Most of the buildings are of yellow stucco that 
 mellows with age; the streets and sidewalks are of 
 a hard, dark stone that wears smooth with long use. 
 In the densely populated streets huge buildings rise 
 for six or seven stories and leaving nothing but a 
 narrow slit of blue sky between them; massive stone 
 walls brace up the sides of the hills, and many nar- 
 row stone steps lead up the steep hillside. Looking 
 down upon the city from the suppressed Carthusian 
 monastery of San Martino, these streets appear like 
 deep clefts in solid lines of masonry. 
 
 [36] 
 
Naples and its Treasures of Art 
 
 No American city, unless it be New York below 
 Houston street, is so closely built as Naples. These 
 miles of brick walls must store up summer heat and 
 give off warmth all through the night; but in mid- 
 winter the sun seldom peeps into them, and the icy 
 east wind goes careering through as though it would 
 enjoy tearing down the long lines of family washing 
 that hang from nearly every window. The streets 
 are all paved with large, square or rectangular blocks 
 of stone. Many of these stones have sunk an inch 
 or two below the level; others have had their cor- 
 ners cracked and the rain settling in these places has 
 produced a depression. The result is that driving 
 over these streets in cabs that have no rubber tires 
 is noisy and uncomfortable. 
 
 Fully half the street noises of this noisiest of 
 cities is made up of the roaring of wheels over the 
 rough stone pavements and the incessant cracking 
 of whips by cab drivers. The Naples cab usually 
 has a single horse and seats for two people. The 
 cabman drives like Jehu and takes desperate chances 
 in the narrow streets of running over foot passengers, 
 but you appreciate his point of view when you learn 
 that the man who is run down in Naples is fined for 
 obstructing traffic, since the Italian law holds that 
 the streets are sacred to wheeled vehicles. The 
 atrocity of this law may be appreciated when it is 
 said that few sidewalks, even on the principal streets 
 of Naples, are over six feet wide and that most of 
 the pedestrians are forced to take to the streets. 
 
 This is the case even on the Via Roma, the 
 main street of Naples, which runs for a mile and a 
 half through the heart of the city. This thorough- 
 fare, which was opened by the Viceroy, Don Pedro 
 de Toledo, in 1 540, is only about forty feet wide, 
 with the usual narrow sidewalks. As all Naples 
 
 [37] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 drives through this street in the afternoon and as 
 it is crowded with pedestrians, the congestion of 
 traffic is fearful. To add to the woes of the foot 
 passenger, fakers and pedlars are permitted to sell 
 their wares on the edge of the sidewalk. The Italian 
 does not seem to surfer from confusion and delay 
 that would drive an American insane. The Italian 
 gentleman takes to the street with perfect good 
 humor when he can find no place on the sidewalk, 
 and he shows that he is a genuine democrat by mix- 
 ing with dirty and poorly-dressed workingmen on 
 terms of fraternity. 
 
 On both sides of the Via Roma, which until 
 forty years ago was known as the Toledo, extend 
 narrow streets that are densely crowded. On the 
 left as one ascends the Via Roma these streets 
 climb the hill that is crowned with an ancient castle; 
 on the other side they lead to the water-front. 
 Even Cairo has no streets narrower than these, and 
 this narrowness is accentuated by the great height 
 of the buildings. 
 
 Many of these alleys that climb the hill are a 
 series of stone steps, very picturesque, but extremely 
 difficult to reach. Most of the supplies for the dwell- 
 ers in these alleys are carried up by hand or on the 
 heads of women. Long lines of bay windows reduce 
 the space between the two rows of tenements, and 
 the alley is further darkened by the laundry of 
 scores of families which flutters from lines stretched 
 from window to window across the narrow street. 
 
 This hanging of washing on the outer walls is 
 one of the peculiar customs of Naples, which does 
 not add to the attractiveness of the water-front or 
 the tenement quarters. What increases the unsight- 
 liness of this exhibit is that the linen, though freshly 
 washed, is not clean. Father's shirt and mother's 
 
 [38] 
 
Naples and its Treasures of Art 
 
 waist flap against the grimy buildings, but no one 
 seems to care; nor does there seem to be any hesi- 
 tation about exposing garments that are frayed and 
 full of holes. 
 
 Slatternly women lean out of the windows of 
 these tall buildings and exchange gossip; the streets 
 are rilled with children, and the stairways are alive 
 with them. Privacy appears to be something un- 
 known to the dwellers in these mean and narrow 
 streets. Many incidents of domestic life, which in 
 other lands are always hidden behind closed doors, 
 are here seen in the open. 
 
 The army and the Church are liberally repre- 
 sented in the crowds that throng the streets of 
 Naples at all hours except the early morning. The 
 war with Tripoli was the cause during my visit of 
 the appearance in Naples of large bodies of troops 
 that embarked here for service in Africa. The 
 soldiers were short, stocky fellows, who looked fit 
 physically, but their low stature injured their appear- 
 ance. They seemed to be drawn largely from the 
 farm, but what they lacked in elegance and in skill 
 in marching was made up by the officers, who wore 
 very becoming costumes and whose mustaches, 
 waxed to remarkable points, gave them a martial air. 
 
 Priests are very numerous and they may be dis- 
 tinguished at a distance by their peculiar flat hats 
 of black beaver and their black robes. Many are 
 barefooted save for rude sandals. These priests 
 serve in the scores of churches scattered throughout 
 the city. Some of these churches date back to the 
 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; many were built 
 in the fifteenth century. Upon most of them age 
 has certainly set its mark, and not even elaborate 
 gilding and ornamental work in bronze and stone 
 can redeem their interiors from gloom. 
 
 [39] 
 
Scenes in 
 
 Gay and Noisy 
 
 Naples 
 
 The chief pleasure ground of Naples is the 
 Villa Nazionale, a pretty park, bounded by 
 the sea on one side, which is planted to many 
 palms and ornamental trees. It is laid out in artistic 
 style and in the season it is the great resort of 
 strangers as well as the gathering place of fashion- 
 able Naples. A band plays three times a week in 
 summer evenings and the avenue next to the bay is 
 then crowded with carriages and the walks in the 
 park thronged with pedestrians. In winter it is a 
 chilly, wind-swept place, and the small tables and 
 chairs of the open-air cafes serve to bring out the 
 sharpness of the east wind. 
 
 The park contains an antique granite basin from 
 Paestum and a number of modern statues, including 
 one of Thalberg, the pianist, who died in Naples. 
 There are also small temples in honor of Virgil and 
 Tasso. Here also is the Naples Aquarium, regarded 
 as the most interesting in the world because of its 
 great variety of rare marine life. Perhaps the most 
 remarkable tank is that containing a half dozen 
 varieties of the octopus. These repulsive monsters 
 frequently advance to the front of their tank and 
 endeavor to get nearer to the visitor, spreading their 
 formidable tentacles and working in and out the 
 peculiar apparatus for blood-sucking. Many beauti- 
 ful varieties of coral and medusas from the Mediter- 
 
 [4o] 
 
Scenes in Gay and Noisy Naples 
 
 ranean are also shown. What adds greatly to the 
 attractiveness of these exhibits is the artistic arrange- 
 ment of the tanks, which far surpasses that in the 
 New York aquarium. 
 
 Other interesting things in Naples are the Gal- 
 leria Umberto Primo, a great arcade, built in the 
 form of a cross and adorned with fine statues. The 
 naves are one hundred and twenty-five feet high 
 and the central dome is one hundred and eighty- 
 five feet in height. This gallery is brilliantly lighted 
 at night and is a fashionable gathering place of men, 
 although one sees very few ladies. Ladies do not 
 seem to go out in Naples in the evening except to 
 the opera and the theater. It does not seem to be 
 the custom for them to walk, even in such streets of 
 fine shops as the Via Roma. They ride invariably 
 in carriages and motors, even when shopping, a 
 habit probably due to the street crowds and the 
 difficulty of getting about with any comfort. 
 
 The shops in Naples are fine and there is a be- 
 wildering variety of ornaments and jewelry in coral 
 and lava and tortoise shell. These three are the 
 specialties of Naples, but scarcely inferior is the imi- 
 tation in marble and bronze of the famous sculp- 
 tures of antiquity found in Pompeii, Herculaneum, 
 Passtum, Rome and other places. The most com- 
 mon of these are reproductions in bronze, marble 
 or lava of the Dancing Faun, Narcissus, Apollo 
 playing the lyre, the Farnese Hercules and the Far- 
 nese Bull, the head of Homer and many famous 
 bas-reliefs. These replicas of some of the best 
 work of ancient art meet one at every turn. They 
 satisfy the eye, but they suggest the query why the 
 modern Italian sculptors, with the originals before 
 their eyes, have failed to equal the ancient artists 
 in the simplicity and beauty of their work. 
 
 [41] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Naples takes life very easily as the American 
 tourist soon learns to his cost. No museum opens 
 before ten o'clock and the hour of closing in winter 
 is four o'clock and in summer three o'clock. It is 
 useless to go out in the street to do any shopping 
 before ten o'clock, as no salesmen will be found on 
 duty, and the same rule applies to most of the steam- 
 ship offices. Leisurely methods prevail in regard 
 to the answering of telegrams of inquiry about 
 steamship berths and other matters. Twenty-four 
 hours must be allowed for a reply by wire which 
 would be received in any part of America in two or 
 three hours. 
 
 A friend of mine suffered from the lax methods 
 in many steamship offices. He saw a clerk in a 
 German steamship office who assured him that a 
 good steamer would leave in four days for Athens. 
 He returned a day before the date of sailing only 
 to be informed by another clerk that the steamer 
 had been withdrawn and that the information given 
 him was based on an obsolete time table. His Italian 
 was not equal to the expression of his feelings. 
 
 This same tourist had an equally unfortunate 
 experience at the National Museum. Being an 
 architect he wished to copy the detail of certain bas- 
 reliefs from Pompeii. He applied for permission, 
 showing a general letter from the American Secre- 
 tary of State. Two francs and a half were demanded 
 for stamps, but the permit was only issued after he 
 had wasted a full half-day in waiting. Then his 
 anger overcame him and he tore up the permit and 
 threw it in the waste-basket, a proceeding which 
 aroused much excitement among the director's staff. 
 
 The Neapolitan takes his early breakfast of 
 coffee and rolls about nine o'clock, his main break- 
 fast at twelve-thirty o'clock, which is a hearty meal 
 
Scenes in Gay and Noisy Naples 
 
 and over which he spends an hour or an hour and 
 a half, while his dinner is never served before seven- 
 thirty o'clock in the evening. This makes all thea- 
 ters and operas very late, as the curtain does not 
 rise until nine o'clock, and the performance seldom 
 ends until after midnight. Cafes and restaurants 
 abound, where it is the custom to take coffee and 
 light refreshments about four or four-thirty o'clock 
 in the afternoon, to tide over the long interval 
 between breakfast and dinner. No one except the 
 cabman ever seems to be in a hurry in Naples. The 
 shopkeepers are extremely polite and they seem 
 never to lose their tempers when ladies inspect their 
 stock but do not purchase anything. 
 
 Naples, in its own way, makes a strong appeal 
 to the American tourist. The people are gay, light- 
 hearted, polite and accommodating; the city and its 
 surroundings are so beautiful that they are a con- 
 stant delight to the eye. Even the annoyances take 
 on an amusing aspect after one has recovered from 
 his first irritation over the persistence of cabmen 
 and street venders. It is wearing on the temper to 
 be hailed by cabman after cabman when one is so 
 eccentric as to prefer walking on a cold morning, or 
 to have the same vender of postal cards accost you 
 day after day with an unwearied persistence worthy 
 of a better cause. One great nuisance the city 
 authorities have practically suppressed: this is the 
 indiscriminate begging which once made the tourist's 
 life a burden. To-day one is seldom accosted in 
 Naples' streets by mendicants, which is a great relief 
 after bitter experience in Cairo and Indian cities. 
 
 [43] 
 
Ancient 
 
 Roman Life As Seen 
 
 in Pompeii 
 
 The tourist who reaches Naples by steamer 
 or by rail receives many reminders that he 
 is near Pompeii in photographs of the ruins 
 and of the chief works of art found in the buried 
 city. His eye is also caught on every hand by 
 reproductions of these works of art in marble, lava, 
 bronze and plaster. So when he sets out for Pompeii 
 his mind is already stored with impressions. A 
 well-built eledric railroad, with remarkably poor 
 cars, carries one to the ancient city in an hour and 
 a half. The road passes many pretty villages along 
 the shore of the bay of Naples, and it runs through 
 an exceedingly fertile country, with vineyards and 
 orange groves and quaint villas, built of the tufa, 
 or soft stone formed by the hardening of the vol- 
 canic ashes of Vesuvius. 
 
 At Torre del Grecco fields of lava are seen, just 
 as they poured down the mountain side in the last 
 big eruption in 1906. In this eruption the lava 
 threatened a little church and town; so the villagers 
 dropped on their knees, the priest raised the cross, 
 all prayed fervently, and the lava stream was stayed 
 within a stone's throw of the sacred edifice. 
 
 The vines on these hillside estates are trained to 
 grow on trees, set out at regular intervals, instead of 
 stakes. The drain on the land caused by these trees 
 is apparently ignored because of the extreme rich- 
 
 [44] 
 
Ancient Roman Life in Pompeii 
 
 ness of the soil, the ashes from Vesuvius being full 
 of potash and salts that furnish plant food. The 
 oranges are mainly the small Mandarins, very sweet 
 and juicy. 
 
 On arrival at the small station of Pompeii, one 
 enters a gate, and at once comes face to face with 
 the ancient Roman road at the Nola gate, paved 
 with many-sided blocks of lava. Here is a bit of 
 antiquity brought down to us from 600 B. C. Here 
 is a road, showing the ruts of Roman chariot wheels, 
 just as it was in the time of Cicero. This visible 
 presence of the old Roman world of which you have 
 read so much comes upon you with a certain shock. 
 These marks worn by the chariot wheels of Romans 
 who lived two thousand, five hundred years ago are 
 the most impressive things in this resurre&ed city 
 of the ancient world. 
 
 As you walk down to this road you see the 
 enormous mass of volcanic ashes and dirt which 
 covered Pompeii down to two hundred and fifty 
 years ago, when excavations were first begun on an 
 extensive scale. It is over twenty feet deep, so that 
 the excavation of the city represents costly work. 
 As you walk up the street of Nola you see the 
 ruined walls of houses on either hand, and you sud- 
 denly realize that here at last is a sedition of Roman 
 life, before the time of Christ, preserved through all 
 these years by the ashes of Vesuvius. 
 
 And here it may be well to give a few fads about 
 Pompeii which will serve to refresh the reader's 
 memory. The city was mainly a pleasure resort of 
 wealthy Romans, and its chief structures, aside from 
 the public buildings, theaters and temples, were the 
 homes of rich men, elaborately decorated and orna- 
 mented with many fine specimens of Greek art. 
 Certain architedural remains prove that the city was 
 
 [45] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 in existence in 600 B. C, although most of the 
 buildings that have come down to us unchanged 
 were constructed after 63 A. D., when Pompeii was 
 practically destroyed by a severe earthquake. Only 
 sixteen years after this rebuilding came the final 
 catastrophe, which buried the city for over seventeen 
 centuries. 
 
 The city wall was a little over a half mile long, 
 with eight gates, and the town was in the form of 
 an ellipse. Four wide streets traverse the city in 
 one direction and two bisect it in the other direc- 
 tion. These main avenues are only about twenty- 
 four feet wide, including narrow sidewalks, while the 
 smaller streets are merely fourteen-foot alleys, with- 
 out any sidewalks. It must be borne in mind that 
 the hot ashes burned away all the woodwork of the 
 houses and that the weight of the wet volcanic rub- 
 bish crushed in the roofs. Thus the remains are 
 simply of one story, with broken pillars and columns. 
 
 Only one house was preserved with some com- 
 pleteness, but this served to give the world an ac- 
 curate idea of the arrangement and decoration of a 
 Roman home of the best class. Pompeii was founded 
 by the Oscans; it absorbed Greek culture and re- 
 mained under Greek influences until 290 B. C, 
 when it fell under control of the Romans. Before 
 the Christian era Pompeii had become a genuine 
 Roman city. 
 
 Pliny, the younger, left the world the best ac- 
 count of the destruction of Pompeii, in which his 
 uncle, the naturalist, lost his life. Read it and you 
 will get a vivid idea of the terror and confusion 
 which prevailed when day was turned into night, 
 and a continuous shower of pumice stones and ashes 
 fell for hours. Most of the inhabitants had ample 
 time to escape, but of the two thousand who lost 
 
 [46] 
 
Ancient Roman Life in Pompeii 
 
 their lives the greater part probably tarried to try 
 to save their property. 
 
 For over seventeen centuries this ancient city 
 remained lost to the world. In 1748 some bronze 
 statues found by a peasant stimulated Charles III 
 to begin the work of excavation, which was con- 
 tinued without any regular plan until i860, when 
 Professor Fiorelli entered upon systematic digging 
 that has achieved great results. Many fine statues 
 and frescoes were removed to the museum at Naples, 
 but lately the sensible plan has been adopted of pre- 
 serving any objects in the house in which they are 
 found. It was Fiorelli also who devised the ingeni- 
 ous scheme of preserving in plaster the forms of 
 many victims of the earthquake. The wet ashes 
 formed a mold about each figure, and Fiorelli poured 
 liquid plaster into these natural casts and in this 
 way actually preserved the figures in the agonies of 
 death. In the small museum in Pompeii may be 
 seen figures of men in various attitudes of death by 
 strangulation; a girl lying on her face and two 
 women, trying to shield their mouths from the deadly 
 fumes. An extraordinary figure is that of a dog bent 
 double in his death agony. 
 
 In this museum are also preserved bread just 
 from the oven, grains, meats and other food, besides 
 many utensils and implements in common use. 
 These plaster figures of poor victims caught in their 
 death struggles give one a more vivid impression 
 of the horrors of the great disaster that overwhelmed 
 this pleasure-loving city than even Bulwer Lytton's 
 graphic pictures in The Last Days of Pompeii. 
 
 As one enters Pompeii by the street of Nola he 
 is first struck by the stepping stones placed in the 
 middle of the street so that people might cross in 
 rainy weather without wetting their feet. These 
 
 [47] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 steps were so arranged that chariot wheels could pass 
 between them, but the horses were forced to leap 
 over the stones. It is between and near these step- 
 ping stones that the deepest ruts are worn by the 
 heavy wheels of the chariots. In many streets near 
 the corners are stone drinking fountains, the water 
 being brought up in lead pipes by the sidewalk and 
 then allowed to pour through a spout into a square 
 stone basin. On each side of the spout the hard 
 stone is hollowed by the hands of thousands who 
 bent over the fountain to drink. 
 
 This street by which we entered was a street of 
 shops, although the Romans used no signs to indi- 
 cate their business. Several of these were bakers' 
 and cook shops; others were stores for the sale of 
 wine, as large earthen jars are set into marble count- 
 ers. One of the largest was a laundry, with tubs of 
 stone and a big furnace for heating water. 
 
 It would be tedious to describe in detail even a 
 few of the houses that have been preserved in Pom- 
 peii. One typical residence, the house of the Vettii, 
 will suffice for all. This house, one of the largest 
 and finest in the city, was built by two brothers, 
 who were once slaves, but who became rich and 
 bought their freedom. The house is built in the 
 regular Roman style, with a narrow passage leading 
 to a vestibule, and this in turn opening into a large 
 open court or atrium, with a reservoir for rain water 
 in the center. On each side were small bedrooms 
 for guests. Back of the atrium was a room where 
 the master of the house transacted his business. 
 The remainder of the house was sacred to the fam- 
 ily. In the center was a large open court or garden, 
 encircled by columns, called the peristylium, and 
 opening ofF this were the dining-room, drawing-room, 
 the room of the mistress of the house, the kitchen 
 
 [48] 
 
Ancient Roman Life in Pompeii 
 
 and the wine cellar. Decoration was lavished on the 
 walls of the principal rooms, and the peristylium 
 was adorned with statuettes in bronze or marble. 
 Very little marble was used in decoration in Pom- 
 peii, the columns being covered with stucco and the 
 floors made of mosaic. 
 
 In the house of the Vettii, uncovered about six- 
 teen years ago, is seen Pompeiian mural decoration 
 at its best. The finest work is in the atrium, the 
 dining-room and the big room to the right of the 
 peristyle. The decoration in all these rooms is 
 mythological, the small figures on dadoes and friezes 
 being superior in drawing and coloring to the large 
 mural paintings. In the dining-room several large 
 sections of the wall have been preserved and these 
 show the brilliant Pompeiian red, apparently as clear 
 and as brilliant as when painted over two thousand 
 years ago. 
 
 Among the large pictures are the infant Hercules 
 strangling the serpents, Pentheus slain by the Bac- 
 chantes, the Farnese Bull group, Apollo and Daphne, 
 and Perseus and Andromeda. Beautiful as is this 
 house it contains several paintings which show the 
 darker side of Roman life and character. The worst 
 painting in Pompeii is in the vestibule, now covered. 
 In the old days it was open to the gaze of all, as 
 were various paintings of hermaphrodites and of 
 erotic subjects. 
 
 The Roman phallic worship tinctures all the art 
 in Pompeii and brutalizes it. It is shown in the 
 stone phallus, built into the walls of many buildings, 
 to keep off evil spirits. It is abundantly shown in 
 the secret room of the Naples Museum, which con- 
 tains an amazing collection of paintings and statu- 
 ettes. From these remains the conclusion is inevi- 
 table that the ancient Roman was not immoral but 
 
 [49] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 unmoral. Christianity introduced a new code of 
 morals in which purity of thought was one of the 
 leading features. Beside it the Pagan religions are 
 unspeakably gross and vile. It was not strange that 
 the Egyptian worship of Isis found many followers 
 in Pompeii and that the initiation of novices degen- 
 erated into the most fantastic orgies. 
 
 Another interesting place in Pompeii is the 
 House of the Faun, so named because in the court 
 was found the famous bronze figure, the Dancing 
 Faun, one of the most perfecl specimens of ancient 
 Greek art. This figure, not over two feet high, is 
 alive in every muscle. The Faun, with his curly 
 hair and beard, is dancing with a pure delight in 
 every movement of his body, which the sculptor 
 has caught with surpassing skill. Other beautiful 
 bronzes found in Pompeii are the Youthful Satyr 
 with a wine skin ; Narcissus, which experts now say 
 was intended for a youthful Dionysius listening to 
 soft music, and Apollo playing a lyre. All these 
 statues are of the pure Greek school and they have 
 been photographed so often and reproduced in vari- 
 ous materials that every American school child is 
 familiar with them. 
 
 Very interesting even to one who makes only a 
 single visit to Pompeii are the thermae or baths, 
 with the remains of the various rooms in which the 
 sybaritic Roman of the last days of Pompeii spent 
 so many hours. The Forum, adorned with rows of 
 columns and with many fine statues, is very impres- 
 sive, while the many temples show the strong hold 
 which the worship of the gods still maintained over 
 the popular imagination. A Greek theater, with an 
 annex for the accommodation of gladiators, and a 
 great amphitheater, capable of seating twenty thou- 
 sand spectators, are also among the remains. The 
 
 [So] 
 
Ancient Roman Life in Pompeii 
 
 work of excavation is constantly going on and new 
 treasures of Greek art may be discovered any day. 
 Too much praise cannot be given to the Italian 
 Government for the care which it has taken of these 
 remains of a civilization that is brought very near 
 to us by a visit to Pompeii. 
 
 On the return from Pompeii one should visit 
 the National Museum in Naples, which is crowded 
 with works of art and mural remains from the buried 
 city. Days may be spent in the study of these works, 
 which include invaluable specimens of the archaic 
 and golden ages of Roman art, Greek portraits, 
 ancient frescoes and many fine specimens of bas- 
 relief from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Aside from 
 the bronzes already mentioned, some notable figures 
 in this museum are the Farnese Hercules, a colossal 
 marble figure found in the baths of Caracalla at 
 Rome, representing the hero leaning on his club and 
 holding in his right hand the golden apples of the 
 Hesperides; and the Farnese Bull, a group also 
 found in the baths of Caracalla. No one should 
 miss the head of Homer, dug up in the theater of 
 Herculaneum, with its massive forehead and its re- 
 fined nose and mouth, nor the bust of Julius Caesar, 
 with the splendid dome of the head, and the lean 
 cheeks, full of suffering. Hours may also be spent 
 in profitable study of the beautiful work of Greek 
 and Roman artists on glass and precious stones. 
 Here are rooms full of cameos and intaglios that can- 
 not be fully appreciated without a magnifying glass; 
 work in gold and silver that is the despair of the 
 modern jeweler; vases in endless variety, many of 
 them adorned with engravings. 
 
 [51] 
 
Romance and 
 Beauty of Roman 
 
 Ruins 
 
 Rome makes a powerful appeal to anyone fond 
 of history or of ancient art. More than any 
 .other city in Europe it seems to link the 
 modern to the ancient world. Its atmosphere is 
 charged with the romance of a history that will 
 never lose its charm. Its streets and its galleries are 
 filled with statues that make the glory of Greece 
 live again in our prosaic days. Behind the magnifi- 
 cent modern memorial to Vi&or Emmanuel stands 
 the old Roman Forum, with the arch of Septimus 
 Severus and portions of the temples of Vespasian 
 and of Castor and Pollux. Within sight is the 
 Colosseum, where the Dacian gladiator was "butch- 
 ered to make a Roman holiday" and hundreds of 
 Christian martyrs were thrown to the lions. 
 
 The ruins of the magnificent palaces of the 
 Caesars on the Palantine Hill look down on the new 
 palaces of trade and finance that face the square of 
 Vi&or Emmanuel and line the Corso. From what- 
 ever point one views the city, the dome of St. Peter's 
 dominates everything. Fountains abound, from the 
 superb fountain of Trevi, the finest in the world, to 
 the curious four fountains that give the name to the 
 street that leads into the Via Quirinale, on which 
 stands the Royal Palace. Every square has an his- 
 toric monument, an Egyptian obelisk or a statue to 
 the memory of a famous Roman. Bred among such 
 
 [5*] 
 
Romance and Beauty of Roman Ruins 
 
 surroundings, is it strange that the modern Roman 
 is artistic to the tips of his fingers, or that hundreds 
 of shops are devoted to the carving and sale of 
 copies of the great works of Greek and Roman 
 sculptors ? 
 
 This romantic blending of history and art is felt 
 by the most prosaic tourist. He cannot escape it if 
 he has read anything of Roman history or of the 
 early days of Christianity. When he walks over the 
 Via Sacra in the old Roman Forum, he is treading 
 on the identical stones which Cassar trod on that 
 day which saw the sudden end of his crowded life. 
 
 When he drives out on the Appian Way he 
 sees the Arch of Drusus, through which the apostles, 
 Peter and Paul passed on their way to martyrdom. 
 Not far away he sees the tomb of the two Scipios, 
 surnamed Africanus, because they were leaders in 
 the Punic wars, which ended in beating down the 
 power of Carthage into the dust. Out on the Appian 
 Way he may see the ruins of the Claudian aqueduct, 
 which Ruskin likened to a funeral procession de- 
 parting from a nation's grave. All about the city 
 are columns, pillars, statues, many of them the origi- 
 nals which have come down from the days of the 
 Caesars. And here also may be seen the Roman 
 cypress, fit tree to stand as sentinel over the ruins 
 of Imperial Rome. 
 
 With so much beauty in Greek sculpture, with 
 so much grandeur in Roman temples and palaces, 
 it is difficult to give any adequate description of 
 this old city by the Tiber. We know that the 
 Romans fell far short of the Greeks in their sculp- 
 ture and in their architecture; but we know that 
 they gave to the world law and government in such 
 enduring form that many modern nations have 
 taken these for their models. We also know that 
 
 [53] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 the Romans preserved for us all that was best in 
 the art of Greece. Thus the Emperor Hadrian, 
 when master of the world, gathered at his villa at 
 Tivoli, near Rome, five thousand of the best works 
 of Greek art. Many of these were copies of origi- 
 nals which were afterward lost or destroyed by fire; 
 others were wrought by the greatest artists the world 
 has known. Could this villa with all its wealth of 
 art have been preserved for us, as Pompeii was pre- 
 served by volcanic ashes, then we should have seen 
 Imperial Rome as it was in its proudest days. 
 
 To the newcomer, modern Rome, the Rome 
 which has been built on the Pincian Hill, the site 
 of the spacious gardens of the historian Sallust, 
 seems incongruous and out of place; but he soon 
 sees that this new Rome has no vital relation to 
 the old city. Of the ancient Roman buildings only 
 one has come down in regular daily use through all 
 the centuries. This is the Pantheon, one of the 
 most impressive relics of Imperial Rome. It was 
 built by Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus Caesar, 
 and his name still stands carved on its front; but 
 we know that it was altered by Domitian, and that 
 Hadrian restored it after much damage had been 
 done by lightning. It is a curious fz& that the 
 height and diameter of the Pantheon are the same- 
 one hundred and forty-two and a half feet. All 
 the light comes from an aperture in the dome, 
 twenty-seven feet in diameter. Entering the gloomy 
 building on a rainy morning it was a shock to find 
 that the middle of the floor was wet. What pre- 
 served this pagan temple from spoliation was its 
 use as a Christian Church. Later it was converted 
 into a burial place for the illustrious dead. Here 
 lie the remains of Raphael and here also repose 
 King Viftor Emmanuel and King Humbert. 
 
 [54] 
 
Romance and Beauty of Roman Ruins 
 
 Next to the Pantheon naturally comes the 
 Forum, the center of Imperial Rome. It has been 
 partly excavated and its ruins now stand just back 
 of the modern buildings that crown the summit of 
 the Capitoline Hill. Seen in photographs the re- 
 mains of temples and columns have a huddled look, 
 but in reality the sight of these ruins is singularly 
 impressive. The arch of Septimus Severus bounds 
 one end and the arch of Titus the other, while the 
 Forum extends in width from the house of the 
 Vestal Virgins to the enormous basilica erected by 
 Constantine. It seems incredible as one looks down 
 upon the Forum to-day that only fifty years ago all 
 these relics of Imperial Rome were covered by over 
 twenty feet of earth and that only what Byron 
 called a "nameless column with a buried base," 
 represented the wealth of ancient art that lay hid- 
 den here. Even Gibbon, when he formed the plan 
 of his great history while listening to the barefooted 
 friars chanting in the Church of Ara Coeli, was ig- 
 norant of the fact that he was treading on ground 
 which covered that Forum he revived for us. 
 
 To-day the Roman Forum is as full of interest 
 as is Pompeii. Here may be traced the Via Sacra, 
 with its original pavement of heavy blocks of lime- 
 stone, and here also may be seen the remains of the 
 small shops which were once permitted along this 
 thoroughfare. The Forum was the chief meeting 
 place of the people and in its best days it covered 
 about twenty-five acres. Originally it had been a 
 marshy lake and it was drained by the Cloaca Max- 
 ima or great sewer, built by the first Tarquin. Al- 
 though constructed without mortar, this old sewer 
 still survives and serves to carry the drainage of the 
 Forum into the Tiber. We may look down into it 
 to-day from an opening in the Forum. 
 
 [55] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Arranged in the form of a parallelogram, the 
 most conspicuous things in the Forum to-day are 
 the three Corinthian columns of the temple of 
 Castor and Pollux, the eight columns of the temple 
 of Saturn, the three columns of the temple of Ves- 
 pasian, the arch of Septimus Severus, the arch of 
 Titus, the temple of Faustina and the Basilica of 
 Constantine. The two arches are in excellent preser- 
 vation. That of Septimus Severus is battered, but 
 one can still trace the bas-reliefs which record the 
 victories of the Emperor in his campaigns in the 
 East. The arch of Titus commemorates his con- 
 quest of Jerusalem, and one of the reliefs shows the 
 Emperor's triumphal entry into Rome. 
 
 All about the Forum are scattered remains of 
 famous objects. One of the most interesting is some 
 portions of the rostra from which Cicero and other 
 great orators delivered their speeches. The place 
 gained its name from the brazen beaks of captured 
 ships of war, which were brought home and nailed 
 up on the orators' platform. A few steps are all 
 that is left of the Basilica Julia, a massive court- 
 house begun by Julius Caesar, but finished by Au- 
 gustus. A heap of concrete is all that remains of 
 the temple of Vesta, where the sacred fire was kept 
 burning at all hours. The vestals who performed 
 this service were highly honored, but the ruins of 
 their house show that it was poorly located for com- 
 fort. Built with an open court, it stood at the base 
 of the Palatine Hill and must have been very damp 
 and unwholesome. We can still see the furnace 
 where charcoal made from olive and oak wood was 
 burned to heat this house. 
 
 Besides the many magnificent temples, arches 
 and columns that lined the Forum, the place 
 was ornamented with statues gathered from many 
 
 [56] 
 
The Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, With the 
 
 Colosseum in the Distance. This Arch was Eredted by Domitian 
 
 to Commemorate the Subjection of the Jews by 
 
 Titus in the Year 70 A. D. 
 
Romance and Beauty of Roman Ruins 
 
 places. The pride that the Athenian took in the 
 Acropolis was shown by the Roman in the Forum. 
 It represented the splendid empire that embraced 
 the entire known world. Every Roman felt that he 
 had a personal interest in the place, and when any 
 great public demonstration was announced all turned 
 out to see what was done in the Forum. The Caesars 
 spent imperial fortunes in decorating the Forum 
 and in erecting the superb buildings which lined the 
 Via Sacra. Gold and marble were lavished on these 
 structures, which were finished in the highest style 
 of art. 
 
 On one side of the Forum was the Capitoline 
 Hill, the seat of the Kings and the Republic, and 
 on the other the Palatine Hill, the homes of the 
 Emperors. The Capitoline is now covered by a 
 museum which contains some famous art treasures, 
 chief among which may be mentioned the Dying 
 Gaul, misnamed the Gladiator by Byron, the Marble 
 Faun and others. Here also is shown the Tarpeian 
 Rock, which commemorates the treachery of the 
 Roman maiden Tarpeia and the swift vengeance that 
 overcame her when the enemies of Rome were given 
 admittance to this stronghold. The Rock is not 
 impressive, as buildings have been erected at its 
 base. On the Capitoline Hill is the Church of Ara 
 Coeli, which is mainly noteworthy because it pos- 
 sesses a famous Bambino or holy image that is be- 
 decked with gems by faithful Catholics. The shrine 
 of the Bambino is filled with letters from persons 
 who hope by these appeals to have their prayers 
 answered. 
 
 The Palatine Hill is a picturesque heap of ruins, 
 crowned by a line of cypresses. Here are masses of 
 brickwork and great arches which once formed the 
 foundations of the palaces of the Caesars. Incredibly 
 
 [57] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 massive are all these remains, the brick and cement 
 having defied the ravages of time. Originally the 
 home of many private citizens of wealth, the Pala- 
 tine was gradually absorbed by the Emperors. The 
 finest remains to-day are those of the palace of 
 Caligula, the Emperor who came to believe that he 
 was a god and should be worshiped by the people 
 as a deity. Caligula greatly enlarged the palace 
 built by Domitian, and his house has been preserved 
 because it was used by the Popes who succeeded to 
 this property. 
 
 The Italian Government, by its systematic ex- 
 cavations, is doing much to clear up many disputed 
 points in early Roman history. Back of the house 
 of Livia, on the summit of the Palatine Hill, the ex- 
 cavations have recently uncovered an ancient well 
 of plainly denned Mykenian work, showing that the 
 Greeks from the site of ancient Troy preceded the 
 Romans in this settlement on the banks of the 
 Tiber. Here may be seen the well and the peculiar 
 curbing which the best archaeologists agree was the 
 work of Mykenians, whose ancient cities on the 
 windy plain of Troy were unearthed by Professor 
 Schliemann. One of the impressive sights on the 
 Palatine Hill is the series of massive arches built by 
 Septimus Severus on the southeastern end of the 
 hill to make more room for his palace. These arches 
 served as the foundations for this imperial residence 
 which has been absolutely destroyed. They are so 
 finely built that they seem to be the ruins of the 
 palace itself. 
 
 [58] 
 
Art in 
 St. Peter's and the 
 
 Vatican 
 
 St. Peter's of Rome is the greatest religious 
 shrine in Christendom, as it is the largest 
 church edifice in the world. Its fine dome, the 
 work of Michelangelo, is the central feature in 
 every view of Rome, precisely as the Washington 
 monument appears in every view of our national 
 capital. Two enormous colonnades form a half- 
 circle in which are grouped an Egyptian obelisk and 
 two artistic fountains. The whole square is paved 
 with stone and many wide stone steps lead up to 
 the entrance of the church. Your eye is satisfied 
 with the sweep of the colonnades, surmounted by 
 fine statues, the beauty of the fountains and the 
 spaciousness of the plaza; but when you enter the 
 church itself, the unexpected size of it hits you like 
 a blow. You may have mastered all the dimensions, 
 but figures are worthless before these soaring arches 
 and this tremendous dome, which is so well pro- 
 portioned that it gives no hint of its great size. 
 
 A friend with whom I first saw St. Peter's said 
 this dome seemed to him no larger than St. Paul's 
 in London; yet two domes such as that constructed 
 by Sir Christopher Wren could be placed in this. 
 It is the same with the colossal nave. Entering the 
 door on a dark morning, the nave seems to lose it- 
 self in the dim shadows of the dome. On each side 
 is another nave as large as an ordinary church. Far 
 
 [59] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 in the distance gleams the circle of ever-burning 
 lamps about the tomb of St. Peter. On every hand 
 are pillars of marble, richly ornamented with de- 
 signs in gold, silver, malachite, onyx and other 
 beautiful stones. All around are the tombs of Popes, 
 wrought in marble and bronze, with panels filled 
 with mosaic copies of famous masterpieces. 
 
 When you look up into Michelangelo's dome 
 it gives you no idea of its height to say that it is 
 four hundred and ninety-three feet in the clear. 
 The only way to get any conception of this tre- 
 mendous height is to ascend the dome and look 
 down from the topmost gallery. From this point 
 of vantage people walking over the floor below 
 look like ants. Here also may be studied the splen- 
 did mosaics designed by the great sculptor. Be- 
 neath the dome is a massive bronze canopy covering 
 the papal altar over the tomb of St. Peter. Ninety- 
 three lamps, always burning, are arranged along the 
 marble balustrade around the tomb. 
 
 To the right, in the nave, is the bronze statue 
 of St. Peter, with the great toe of the right foot 
 worn smooth by the kisses of thousands of devout 
 Catholics. To the left, in the transept, are confes- 
 sional boxes for all the nations of the earth. It is 
 borne in upon you that this is a sanctuary for Catho- 
 lics of the whole world, to which many famous art- 
 ists have lent their skill and upon which over fifty 
 million dollars have been lavished. Yet usually this 
 vast church is well nigh empty, the most regular 
 and enthusiastic visitors being tourists of all nations 
 with Baedekers in hand. 
 
 The decoration of St. Peter's would be called 
 over-florid in any other church edifice, but here gold 
 and marble and mosaics of the most beautiful stones 
 have been so lavishly used that each adds to the 
 
 [60] 
 
St. Peter's and the Vatican 
 
 effectiveness of the others. Among the art treasures, 
 the most famous is the marble Pieta by Michel- 
 angelo, carved when the sculptor was only twenty- 
 three years old. The face of the Virgin is very 
 youthful, but touched with heavy sorrow, and the 
 figure of Christ is full of pathos. 
 
 Canova has contributed two works of the great- 
 est beauty-the tomb of Pope Clement XIII and 
 the monument to the Stuarts. It will surprise most 
 readers to learn that three of the unfortunate Stuart 
 family are buried here in a tomb for which Canova 
 designed two angels guarding the gate, figures that 
 have never been surpassed in their union of majesty 
 and grace. Thorwaldsen has also furnished a strik- 
 ing design for the tomb of Pius VII, and Bernini 
 fashioned the bronze canopy that rises above the 
 high altar. 
 
 St. Peter's was built on the spot where the great 
 apostle was crucified by Nero's executioners. Here, 
 where rises the greatest church in all the world, 
 was the Circus of Nero, that witnessed the torture 
 and the cruel death of hundreds of the early Chris- 
 tians. St. Peter had been confined in the Mamer- 
 tine prison, one of the ugliest dungeons of old 
 Rome, near the Forum. It was in this underground 
 hole, walled about with ancient stone, that Jugurtha 
 was starved and that many other prisoners of the 
 Caesars were done to death in the most cruel way. 
 
 Here also is a spring of pure water bubbling 
 up out of the floor, a miracle wrought by St. Peter 
 that he might secure water with which to baptize 
 his jailer whom he had converted. This gloomy 
 Mamertine prison gives you a realization of the 
 atrocious cruelty of the pagan Emperors of Rome, 
 just as St. Peter's makes you appreciate the religion 
 that softened men's hearts and made love the trium- 
 
 [61] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 phant force of conquest, greater than the swords of 
 all the Roman legions. 
 
 The Vatican was used first for state ceremonies, 
 but, after the return of the Popes from Avignon it 
 became the papal residence. Nicholas V, in the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, conceived the idea 
 of making the Vatican a superb palace for housing 
 the Cardinals and all the public offices of the church. 
 That idea was carried out by his successors, each of 
 whom has added to its magnificence. 
 
 The result is a little city of buildings surround- 
 ing St. Peter's, three hundred and eighty-four yards 
 long by two hundred and fifty-six yards broad, with 
 over eleven thousand halls and chambers and twenty 
 courts. The main entrance to the Vatican is at the 
 end of the right colonnade of St. Peter's, but since 
 the papal government was deprived of temporal 
 power nearly all visitors have been forced to pass 
 around to the left and back of St. Peter's to gain 
 entrance to the galleries. The first way is only 
 about one hundred yards; the other fully three- 
 quarters of a mile. On rainy days it is a sad sight 
 to see tourists of all races trudging through the wet 
 because they are barred from this direct entrance. 
 
 The most attractive part of the Vatican collec- 
 tions is the museum of sculpture, which contains a 
 few great masterpieces and an enormous mass of 
 other statuary which is worth little attention. The 
 average tourist wearies himself by trying to see 
 everything. The result is that he has only a con- 
 fused recollection of interminable lines of marble 
 and bronze figures. Among the great things, the 
 best is the Apoxyomenos or scraper, a Greek ath- 
 lete scraping the oil from his right arm. The statue 
 is believed to be a copy from Lysippus, one of the 
 foremost Greek sculptors, and it is so perfecl in 
 
 [6a] 
 
St. Peter's and the Vatican 
 every way that one never tires of studying it. The 
 Antinous, from an original by Praxiteles, and the 
 Apollo Belvedere have the same lightness and grace 
 as the Greek athlete; they embody in enduring 
 marble the strength and beauty which everyone 
 admires, and they rest and satisfy the eye by their 
 perfect proportions and their immortal youth. 
 
 A great contrast to these is the group of The 
 Laocoon, a tragedy in stone, which seems just as 
 poignant to-day as when the unknown sculptor 
 carved it from a block of marble. The agony in 
 the father's face as he realizes that the serpent is 
 too powerful to struggle against, touches the heart. 
 This figure of the poor father, with tense muscles 
 and despairing face, seems to typify the lot of so 
 many hopeless people in their fruitless struggle 
 against misfortune, sickness and sorrow. Canova 
 has contributed three statues to this gallery, but, 
 though they are wonderfully clever, you feel in- 
 stinctively that the modern sculptor had not grasped 
 the secret of the old masters of the craft. 
 
 Aside from the statuary, the other great things 
 in the Vatican are the Sistine Chapel and the Stanze 
 of Raphael. Pope Sixtus IV decided to have a 
 chapel decorated by the greatest artists of his day. 
 The result is the most sumptuous room in Rome, 
 if not in the world. Perugine, Botticelli and Ghir- 
 landajo were among the minor artists who lent their 
 genius to the decoration of the walls and the panels; 
 but it was Michelangelo who made the chapel 
 unique. He covered the ceiling of this chapel with 
 heroic figures of prophets and sibyls, and he pictured 
 in a great series the creation, the fall of man and the 
 prospect of redemption. The figures of Michel- 
 angelo are drawn with the same power that shines 
 through the stone figures which adorn the tombs of 
 
 [63] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 the Medici in Florence. No other artist ever drew 
 with the same combination of demoniac force and 
 perfect certainty of form. 
 
 This work on the chapel ceiling is far finer than 
 anything in "The Last Judgment," the enormous 
 fresco that covers the end ofthe chapel. What this 
 picture may have been before it was blackened by 
 time and smoke, no one can say, but I doubt the 
 sincerity of those who indulge in superlatives to- 
 day about its grandeur and impressiveness. At least 
 they must have a powerful imagination to get any 
 pleasure or any thrills from this gloomy picWe of 
 a denunciatory Christ dealing out punishment to a 
 wicked world. Only with the aid of a strong glass 
 can one get any satisfaction from this fresco. 
 
 The Stanze or Halls of Raphael, which you 
 enter after viewing the Sistine Chapel, were executed 
 on the order of Julius II, who desired some fine 
 decoration for his four living-rooms. In a series of 
 allegorical and religious pictures Raphael covered 
 these walls with the rich fruit of his imagination. 
 The leaders of literature and of religion are depifted 
 as well as significant events in the history of the 
 church. These pictures give the impression of a 
 firmly centered, wholesome genius who found this 
 world a good one to live in. There is nothing mor- 
 bid nor gloomy in the whole series, while the pict- 
 ures reveal marvelous command over all the tech- 
 nical difficulties of the artist's work. 
 
 In the Vatican picture gallery is another paint- 
 ing by Raphael which is worthy of study. It is the 
 famous "Transfiguration" on which the painter 
 was at work when death came, after a brief illness. 
 Of all the religious paintings that I saw in Rome 
 this pleased me the best. It is full of spirituality 
 and the coloring is as fine as in any canvas of Titian. 
 
 [<H] 
 
St. Peter's and the Vatican 
 
 Throughout Rome are scattered a half dozen 
 galleries of pictures, each of which contains a few 
 masterpieces. For the sake of the tourist, it would 
 be a boon if the really great paintings from each of 
 these galleries could be gathered in one central 
 place. In the Borghese gallery is Titian's "Sacred 
 and Profane Love," for which Pierpont Morgan is 
 said to have offered one million dollars. Although 
 the coloring is extraordinarily beautiful the picture 
 in itself does not seem to me to rank with many 
 masterpieces of other painters. In this same gallery 
 is one of Canova's best pieces of sculpture-the 
 well-known, life-size statue of Princess Borghese, 
 who was the beautiful Pauline Bonaparte. 
 
 In the Barberini gallery is one great picture- 
 Guido Reni's portrait of Beatrice Cenci, a haunting 
 face that never seems to look twice the same. The 
 painter has given this girl, who killed her father, 
 heavy-lidded eyes, which seem ready to fill with 
 tears, but there is something mysterious and elusive 
 about the expression of her face, as though she 
 longed to tell her secret, yet dared not break her 
 silence. If we had portraits such as this of all the 
 famous historical personages of Rome, it would be 
 much easier to understand their actions. 
 
 In the time of Trajan, Rome is said to have had 
 thirteen hundred fountains. How many there are 
 to-day I know not, but you seem to come upon 
 them in the most unexpected places. The finest of 
 all is the Fountain of Trevi, built by Clement XII 
 and supplied with water by the Acqua Vergine, 
 which once brought water to the Baths of Agrippa. 
 Another beautiful fountain is that of the Nymphs, 
 in front of the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, and 
 not far from the railway station. This fountain is 
 one of the first things seen on entering Rome. 
 
 [65] 
 
The Colosseum 
 
 and Along the Appian 
 
 Way 
 
 The ancient pagan remains in Rome seem to 
 appeal to the average tourist far more than 
 the churches and the relics of the early Chris- 
 tian era. Perhaps this is because Roman history in 
 the days of the Cassars was so filled with romance 
 that it impresses itself upon the imagination more 
 vividly than any other era in the annals of the 
 world. Never before was centralization of power 
 and wealth carried to so high a degree; never before 
 nor since has one man exercised despotic rule over 
 so many millions. Augustus, Domitian, Trajan, 
 Hadrian-to take only a few of the typical builders 
 among the Emperors— lavished millions in treasure 
 upon palaces and public buildings; they gathered 
 statues from Greece, obelisks from Egypt and beauti- 
 ful marbles from many lands. Gold and ivory and 
 precious stones were freely used in the decoration 
 of their buildings. 
 
 It is this excess of luxury, joined to absolute 
 power of life or death over millions of people, that 
 has so powerful an effect upon the modern imagina- 
 tion. Hence, of all the buildings in Rome that 
 have come down from the days of the Cassars, the 
 one which satisfies the eye and the mind most com- 
 pletely is the Colosseum, that gigantic amphitheater 
 which probably witnessed more bloodshed and mis- 
 ery than any other place in Rome. Familiar as are 
 
 [66] 
 
The Colosseum and the Appian Way 
 the ruins of this great Flavian amphitheater, through 
 photographs and prints, the building itself is one of 
 the most impressive in all Rome, through sheer size 
 and massiveness. 
 
 The vandal hands of Popes and others have 
 stripped the Colosseum of the marbles that covered 
 its walls, but nothing can harm the magnificent pro- 
 portions of this great open-air theater. We are told 
 that it had seats for seventy thousand spectators, 
 and Gibbon gives many details of the arrangement 
 of the tiers of seats and the provisions for the com- 
 fort of the patricians who filled the choice places 
 near the arena. To-day about half the outer wall is 
 standing, which permits us to see the four stories, 
 with Doric columns on the first, Ionic on the second, 
 Corinthian on the third and Corinthian pilasters on 
 the fourth story. 
 
 Twelve thousand captive Jews are said to have 
 been employed in building this huge structure and 
 they certainly did their work well. Left merely to 
 the elements, the Colosseum would be to-day among 
 the best preserved of the ruins of Rome; but used 
 as a quarry for hundreds of years, the wonder is 
 that one stone remains upon another. As it is, the 
 massive limestone slabs are dug full of holes, the 
 marks left by those who searched for the bronze or 
 iron clamps used to fasten the stones together. 
 Several millions have been spent by Popes in re- 
 storing various parts of the Colosseum and the 
 Italian Government has done good work in excavat- 
 ing the interior, so that the ancient arrangements 
 for providing entertainments are now made clear. 
 
 Here may be seen the underground passages by 
 which the lions and tigers were driven into the 
 arena, and here are the small rooms where Chris- 
 tians and other captives were kept until the time 
 
 [67] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 came for them to be exposed in the great amphi- 
 theater. Standing in the center of the arena and 
 looking up at these tiers on tiers of seats, one may 
 easily understand the fear that must have gripped 
 the hearts even of the professional gladiators when 
 they surveyed the vast and unsympathetic audience 
 that soon would decide their fate, should they chance 
 to be defeated. And what imagination can conceive 
 the cold horror of the defenseless Christians when 
 they saw the savage lions bounding toward them. 
 These stones of the wall that encircles the arena 
 could tell some grisly tales of bloodshed, cruelty 
 and unspeakable terror. Walking about this old 
 arena brings you very close to the days of the Fla- 
 vians and the Antonines; it makes history warm 
 and vital. 
 
 Not far from the Colosseum begins the Appian 
 Way, that great highway which led from Rome to 
 Brindisi, by way of Capri. You pass through the 
 Porta Capena out upon this old road, which has 
 been cleared for a distance of over ten miles. It is 
 only about twenty-six feet wide, with a curbstone on 
 each side, but so well was it paved with hexagonal 
 slabs of lava that some of the old pavement remains 
 to-day, as it was in the time of the Caesars. 
 
 For several miles out of Rome the Appian Way 
 was lined with tombs, the ruins of which may be 
 seen on either hand. The Roman law was very 
 stringent in prohibiting burial inside the city walls, 
 so the custom prevailed of erecting tombs along the 
 public roads near the city. 
 
 A short distance from the Porta Capena a side 
 road leads up to the colossal ruins of the Baths of 
 Caracalla, which are a mile in circumference. Only 
 the massive walls and arches of these baths now re- 
 main, but these impress one as deeply as the Colos- 
 
 [68] 
 
The Colosseum and the Appian Way 
 
 seum with the lavish extravagance of the Roman 
 Emperors. These walls are from ten to fifteen feet 
 thick and they rise to a height of one hundred and 
 forty feet. Many arches are from sixty to eighty 
 feet high. You walk through the enormous chamb- 
 ers which Caracalla provided for the luxurious bath- 
 ing of sixteen hundred people. 
 
 In the center was a spacious recreation ground, 
 where hundreds indulged in athletic sports, and 
 Gibbon tells us that this place was really a great 
 club, where the poorest Roman citizen could find 
 entertainment all day with the expenditure of only 
 a few cents. For years the arches and walls of these 
 baths were overgrown with trees and vines. On one 
 of these arches Shelley wrote the greater part of his 
 Prometheus Unbound. 
 
 Christian and pagan dead jostled one another 
 out on this Appian Way. When the persecution of 
 the Christians was at its height it became the custom 
 for this seel: to quarry subterranean passages in the 
 soft volcanic rock and in these to bury their dead. 
 These burial places came to be called catacombs. 
 Many miles of them extend around Rome, but two 
 of the largest are on the Appian Way. In the cata- 
 combs of St. Calixtus fifteen Popes and two hundred 
 thousand Christians found burial. Provided with a 
 wax taper one may descend into the catacomb of St. 
 Calixtus and walk through hundreds of feet of under- 
 ground passages, with niches on both sides in which 
 once rested the bodies of Christians. 
 
 One of the most interesting places on the Appian 
 Way is the Quo Vadis Church, said to be erected 
 on the spot where St. Peter, fleeing from Rome, 
 saw a vision of the Lord. Peter, who had escaped 
 from the Romans and found liberty very sweet, 
 asked Jesus: "Lord, whither goest thou?" The 
 
 [69] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 answer came, as the figure disappeared: "To be 
 recrucified in Rome." Peter accepted this as a re- 
 proof and returned to Rome and martyrdom. This 
 spot was marked by a chapel and a marble slab on 
 which were the impression of the feet of the Lord. 
 The original slab is now in the basilica of St. Sebas- 
 tian, but a replica is in this little church, with a copy 
 of Michelangelo's fine statue of Christ, with the 
 cross. This legendary incident furnished the main 
 motive for Sienkiewicz's romance, §>uo Vadis, and 
 for Wilson Barrett's play, "The Sign of the Cross. 
 
 Beyond this church is the finest tomb on the 
 Appian Way, the burial place of Cecilia Metella, 
 daughter of Quintus Metellus, who conquered Crete, 
 and wife of Crassus, the Rockefeller of his time. It 
 looks like a circular fort, massively built of traver- 
 tin stone, and it may be seen for many miles. 
 Originally it was covered with white marble, but 
 this was stripped off during the Middle Ages to 
 make lime, the lower slabs being removed by Pope 
 Clement XII in order to build the Fountain of 
 Trevi in Rome. Although used as a fortress in the 
 thirteenth century, this tomb has survived practi- 
 cally as it was originally built, with the exception 
 of the loss of the conical roof. The irony of fate 
 has given to Cecilia Metella a tomb that has sur- 
 vived the splendid palaces of Augustus and Nero, 
 but it has left not a single line about the woman to 
 whose memory this superb memorial was reared. 
 Lord Byron, in Childe Harold, touches on this 
 curious feature in some noble lines, which are well 
 worth reading. In fact it will pay anyone to read 
 what Byron wrote on the famous things which he 
 saw in Rome. Though he spent much time in 
 dalliance with the beautiful Countess Guiccioli, he 
 saw Rome thoroughly, and no one in verse or prose 
 
 [70] 
 
Michelangelo's Heroic Statue of the Young David, 
 
 Now in the Cupola of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. It 
 
 Stood in Front of the Palazzo Vecchio Until 1873, But 
 
 its Place There is Now Filled With a Plaster Copy 
 
The Colosseum and the Appian Way 
 
 has ever surpassed his word-pictures of the ruins of 
 the Imperial City. 
 
 Beyond this tomb the Appian Way extends 
 straight across the desolate Campagna toward the 
 south. The eye can trace it for about ten miles, a 
 white line cutting through a great expanse of green. 
 Nothing breaks the monotony of this vast sea of 
 verdure but the ruins of the Claudian aqueduct that 
 once brought millions of gallons of water to Rome 
 to supply the baths and fountains of the Caesars. 
 These crumbling arches extend for miles across the 
 Campagna and give a human touch to what would 
 otherwise be a desolate waste. Rome is the only 
 city that I know which has no suburbs. Here is 
 no gradual change from busy thoroughfares to vil- 
 lage quiet, but one passes suddenly from the bustle 
 and life of a great city to the solitude of a desert. 
 All around the city stretches this great level plain, 
 without trees, without houses, without life. 
 
 On the return from the Appian Way it is cus- 
 tomary to stop at the great church of St. Paul be- 
 yond the walls. This huge basilica, which is scarcely 
 less impressive than St. Peter's, was erected on the 
 spot where the body of St. Paul was buried, after 
 his decapitation by order of Nero. The main nave 
 is decorated with pillars of granite which cost one 
 thousand dollars each, and in the center is the papal 
 altar, its bronze pavilion supported by four alabaster 
 pillars from Assouan, Egypt, a gift from Mehemet 
 AH. This pavilion covers the place where St. Paul 
 and the Apostle Timothy are buried and it was 
 here that Ignatius de Loyola and his followers took 
 the vows of the Society of Jesus. One of the feat- 
 ures of the church is the portraits of all the Popes, 
 from Peter down to Pius X. The roof is especially 
 rich being covered with gilding. 
 
 [7i] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 On the way back from St. Paul's it is well to 
 stop at the English and American cemetery, where 
 may be seen the graves of Shelley and Keats. Shel- 
 ley loved Italy, but it was his fate to be drowned 
 in the bay of Spezia. He left directions in his 
 will for the cremation of his body, and Trelawney 
 has given a graphic account of these funeral rites 
 in classic style, performed under his direction in the 
 presence of Lord Byron. 
 
 The most conspicuous thing in the cemetery is 
 the pyramid of Caius Cestus, made of concrete and 
 brick and faced with marble. The pyramid is ex- 
 actly one-twentieth of the size of Cheops, and it 
 was probably designed by Cestus to be an enduring 
 monument to him. To the right of this pyramid 
 is the tomb of Keats, which will appeal to all lovers 
 of The Eve of St. Agnes and the Ode On a Grecian 
 Urn because of its pathos: 
 
 This grave 
 
 Contains all that was mortal 
 
 of 
 
 A young English poet 
 
 Who 
 
 On his death-bed, 
 
 In the bitterness of his heart 
 
 At the malicious power of his enemies, 
 
 Desired 
 
 These words to be written on his tombstone: 
 
 "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." 
 
 February 27, 1824. 
 
 If the tourist has only a short time to spend in 
 Rome he will find it profitable to attend the lectures 
 delivered by several professors amid the scenes 
 which they describe. It was my good fortune to 
 hear several leftures by Professor L. Reynaud, an 
 accomplished Roman scholar, who is an admirable 
 talker with a genuine gift of humor. 
 
 [72] 
 
Hadrian's 
 
 Tomb and His Villa 
 
 at Tivoli 
 
 In any view of Rome one of the most conspicu- 
 ous objects is the round fortress known as the 
 Castle of St. Angelo. It has come down straight 
 from the time of Hadrian, who planned it for his 
 tomb. The Emperor was buried in it, as well as 
 five of his successors, but a century after his death 
 it was converted into a fortress, and as such it was 
 the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in the 
 Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Hadrian built 
 this tomb with massive walls, which have defied 
 Goths and Vandals. The marble carving was re- 
 moved as well as the beautiful marble statues that 
 once adorned the top of the walls, but the remainder 
 of the building stands to-day as it was erected by 
 the greatest builder among the Romans. 
 
 The Borgia family built an underground pas- 
 sage from the castle to the Vatican and the Popes 
 took advantage of this to seek safety in the castle 
 when they were hard pressed by their enemies. 
 The castle is now one of the most interesting 
 museums in Rome, as many relics have been pre- 
 served here of famous prisoners within its walls. 
 You are shown the cell in which Beatrice Cenci and 
 her mother spent their last days before the final 
 condemnation, as well as the cell that held the in- 
 genious Benvenuto Cellini. From the appearance of 
 the walls and the door of this cell it is plain that 
 
 [73] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 the famous sculptor was permitted to escape, as 
 without aid he never could have freed himself from 
 this living tomb. 
 
 Here are preserved the various instruments of 
 torture which were used by Popes and others to 
 force confessions from prisoners. Pope Sixtus IV 
 has the evil reputation of having retained a doctor 
 to keep prisoners alive in order that they might en- 
 dure the full limit of torture. The cells and oubli- 
 ettes in this castle give one a vivid idea of the 
 cruelty with which prisoners were treated in those 
 days when the common people had no rights. The 
 whole place reeks with blood and lust. 
 
 One of the best excursions outside Rome is to 
 Tivoli and Hadrian's villa. Tivoli was celebrated 
 in the early history of Rome as the place where the 
 enemies of that city always gathered, but finally the 
 Romans had their revenge. They conquered the 
 place in 338 B. C, and after that Tivoli became one 
 of the most popular of summer resorts and near it 
 were built the villas of prominent Romans. To- 
 day it is a picturesque hill city, with a portion of an 
 old Roman temple of Hercules. 
 
 The Arno used to pass through scores of holes 
 in the rocks and form more than one hundred water- 
 falls just below Tivoli, but when Gregory XVI was 
 in the papal chair, a landslide occurred at Tivoli 
 which caused many deaths. The Pope decided that 
 the waterfalls had undermined the earth and thus 
 led to the disaster; so he had the waters diverted 
 into a single channel and by boring a tunnel through 
 the rock he converted many small cascades into one 
 fine waterfall. Over on the other side of the canyon, 
 beyond the waterfall, is a house which stands on the 
 site of the villa of Horace, the Latin poet, who has 
 sung of the beauty of Tivoli and its falling waters. 
 
 [74] 
 
Hadrian's Tomb and Villa at Tivoli 
 
 Near Tivoli is the Villa d'Este, one of the most 
 beautiful of Italian gardens. Originally, in the mid- 
 dle of the eleventh century, it was laid out for Card- 
 inal Ippolito d'Este, who was the son of the Duke 
 of Ferrara and Lucrezia Borgia. The grounds are 
 arranged on a side hill, and from the terrace on the 
 highest level a superb view may be had of the whole 
 Campagna stretching away to Rome. The dome 
 of St. Peter's is clearly visible, as is the old Roman 
 road which leads to the city. 
 
 The glory of this villa is several rows of mag- 
 nificent cypress trees, the tallest in the world, planted 
 in the year that Columbus discovered America. 
 They seem to flourish in this damp soil and their dark 
 green foliage fits in with the amber-colored statuary 
 and the moss-grown marble balustrades. The villa 
 has passed into the possession of the Austrian royal 
 family, and it is badly cared for. The gardens give 
 one a good idea of the magnificence of Italian life 
 in the sixteenth century. 
 
 Not far from Tivoli are the ruins of Hadrian's 
 villa, one of the most remarkable sights in Italy. 
 Hadrian was the greatest traveler of all the Roman 
 Emperors and when he decided to retire as the 
 active head of the empire, he amused himself by 
 duplicating the most interesting things he had seen 
 in his journeys. In this villa he reproduced the 
 Academy, the Lyceum and the Poekile of Athens, 
 a theater at Corinth, the Temple of Serapis at 
 Canopus and the pyramid of Gizeh. In walking 
 over the ruins one may see the remains of the 
 Greek theater and of many other buildings. The 
 whole place feeds the imagination and gives one a 
 glimpse of the splendors of Imperial Rome. 
 
 [753 
 
Florence 
 
 and Its Many Art 
 
 Treasures 
 
 any lover of Dante and Petrarch, of Michel- 
 /\ angelo and Raphael cannot fail to feel a 
 X A-thrill when first entering Florence, the Italian 
 city which most completely represents the beauty 
 and the spirituality of the Renaissance. And, when 
 it is added that this was the favorite field of Savon- 
 arola and the scene of his cruel death, nothing more 
 is needed to commend it. Florence is beautifully 
 situated on the banks of the Arno, along which the 
 train runs from Arezzo. The city is surrounded by 
 hills which bear a striking resemblance to the hills 
 about San Francisco, in their rounded forms as well 
 as in their coloring. 
 
 When you leave the railroad station and drive 
 through the city, its mediaeval character impresses 
 you. Here are solid stone pavements which have 
 been in continuous use since the times of the Medici. 
 Here are massive palaces, with small grilled lower 
 windows, that could easily be converted into for- 
 tresses to withstand a long siege. Your carriage 
 passes an open gallery of sculpture and a great, for- 
 tress-like building with a tower, which you recog- 
 nize from the pictures you have seen, as the Palazzo 
 Vecchio, the home of the Medici and the scene of 
 Savonarola's imprisonment and torture. In front 
 of this grim palace Savonarola and two other priests 
 were burned to death by the same Florentine mob 
 
 [76] 
 
Florence and Its Art Treasures 
 that only a few months before hung breathless on 
 the eloquent words of this Dominican friar. Michel- 
 angelo's statue of David and Benvenuto Cellini's 
 Perseus holding up the head of Medusa now look 
 down on the place of death of this monk, who tried 
 to induce the gay Florentines to lead better lives. 
 
 The first walk around Florence is one long to 
 be remembered. From my hotel it was only a short 
 distance to the Duomo, or Cathedral, with Giotto's 
 Campanile and Baptistry. All these buildings are 
 of black and white marble, the white badly black- 
 ened by the weather. The facade of the Cathedral 
 is imposing, although it is comparatively new; but 
 the Campanile, designed by Giotto, is the finest 
 thing architecturally to be seen in Florence. Ruskin 
 declared it was the only building in the world which 
 could not be improved in any detail. 
 
 In going from the Piazza del Duomo down to 
 the Piazza della Signoria you pass through a num- 
 ber of narrow, crowded streets. The houses are tall 
 and massively built, but the finest is the Strozzi 
 Palace, built of rustic granite. This palace was 
 erected for one of the great enemies of the Medici 
 and it stood several sieges. In the end the Medici 
 overthrew the Strozzi and this palace passed into 
 other hands. The Piazza della Signoria is a large 
 square, paved with stone slabs. On one side rises 
 the Palazzo Vecchio, with its impressive tower. It 
 was originally used by the officers of the Florentine 
 republic, but afterward became the home of Cosimo 
 I, the founder of the Medicean dynasty. 
 
 On the lower side of the square is the Loggia 
 dei Lanzi, an open portico, beautified with master- 
 pieces of statuary in marble and bronze. It was de- 
 signed as a place for public functions or a rostrum 
 for speakers. Here are Cellini's bronze statue of 
 
 [77] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Perseus holding up the severed head of Medusa, 
 Donatello's bronze Judith and Holofernes, the 
 marble group of the Rape of the Sabines by Bologna, 
 Menelaus with the body of Patroclus, and Bologna's 
 Hercules and Nessus. Three of these are master- 
 pieces of the first class. 
 
 In front of the palace is now a copy of Michel- 
 angelo's heroic figure of the young David and 
 Bologna's bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I. 
 This massing of these masterpieces in bronze and 
 marble is characteristic of Florence, whose makers 
 were eager that it should be the most beautiful of 
 Italian cities. Beyond the Loggia is the long and 
 splendid facade of the Uffizi Palace, now one of 
 the greatest art galleries in the world. 
 
 Florence is built on both sides of the Arno and 
 the quays which run along the water's edge are 
 called Lungarno. One of the finest, bears the name 
 of Amerigo Vespucci, the navigator who had the 
 honor of having the continent Columbus discov- 
 ered, named after him. The Arno is carefully walled 
 up on each side and is spanned by six bridges, the 
 most picturesque of which is the Ponte Vecchio. 
 Near this bridge the old houses on the south bank 
 of the river, form one of the most picturesque views. 
 They rise directly from the water to the height of 
 six or seven stories, with many curious buttresses 
 and balconies. With their tiled roofs and discolored 
 walls they present a picture of mediaeval homes such 
 as may be seen in few European cities. Here along 
 the south bank of this river everything is mellowed 
 with age; nothing seems to have been retouched for 
 hundreds of years. Over the river on the north 
 side are the spick and span new quays and the great 
 hotels built to accommodate the globe-trotter who 
 thinks he can "do" Florence in two days. On the 
 
 [78] 
 
Florence and Its Art Treasures 
 
 south side of the river are many narrow streets, 
 not over ten feet wide, which follow the winding 
 course of the river. The houses are very old, with 
 few windows on the street floor, and with massive 
 oaken doors, studded with wrought iron spikes. 
 
 One of the buildings in Florence which makes 
 the deepest impression on the stranger is the 
 Palazzo Vecchio. It was long the residence of the 
 Medici, that remarkable family which owed its rise 
 to its success in medicine and which was not ashamed 
 to place pills on its coat of arms. Although Flor- 
 ence was nominally a republic, Cosimo de Medici 
 ruled it like a despot and his successors wielded the 
 same power. But these Medici, although they gave 
 the people no share in the government, did every- 
 thing in their power to beautify the city and make 
 it the home of art and literature. Under Lorenzo 
 the Magnificent, this reached its height, and to him 
 the Renaissance in Italy owed much of its splendor. 
 
 Here in this Palazzo Vecchio may be found 
 works by many famous artists. The later decoration 
 by Vasari and others is very striking. One of the 
 finest rooms is now used by the Council of Flor- 
 ence. Higher up in the tower is a room, with a 
 small window facing the south, in which Savonarola 
 was confined during the few days before he was 
 burned at the stake. Down in the square, almost in 
 the shadow of the equestrian figure of Cosimo, the 
 ruler to whom he had refused absolution, is a bronze 
 plate in the pavement which marks the spot of the 
 martyrdom of Savonarola. Any reader of Romola 
 will recall the two great scenes in that novel-one in 
 which the fiery monk induced the great multitude 
 that hung on his words to make a bonfire of all 
 their ornaments; the other, which pictures the ter- 
 rible death of the man who saved Romola from 
 
 [79] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 spiritual despair. George Eliot's historical romance 
 is worth careful reading for its beautiful pictures of 
 Florence and for its study of the spiritual relations 
 of an unselfish woman and a priest, who was con- 
 sumed with desire to make the world better. 
 
 The Piazzo del Duomo contains three structures 
 that together have made Florence famous for over 
 five hundred years. The first is the Baptistry, an 
 octagonal structure, which served as a cathedral 
 until the building of the Duomo in the fourteenth 
 century. The Baptistry, in which all children born 
 in Florence must be baptized, is mainly noteworthy 
 to-day because of its three magnificent bronze doors, 
 the two finest of which were made by Ghiberti. One 
 represents, in twenty-eight sections, the history of 
 Christ, while the other and better known depicts ten 
 scenes from sacred history. Architects have seen in 
 the construction of the Baptistry and its dome the 
 influence of the Pantheon at Rome. The Cathedral 
 or Duomo was ordered built by a popular vote in 
 1294, but it was not completed until 1436. The 
 dome was executed by Brunelleschi, who secured 
 the work by public competition. The facade of the 
 Cathedral is modern, but, despite the criticisms of 
 many experts, it seems to me that it fits the general 
 design of the building and is unusually impressive. 
 
 Adjoining the Cathedral is the Campanile or 
 bell tower, designed by Giotto. Ruskin, in his 
 Seven Lamps of Architecture, declares that power 
 and beauty exist in their highest degree only in this 
 building. The Campanile is two hundred and sev- 
 enty-six feet in height, a square structure of four 
 stories, with beautiful windows ornamented with 
 Italian Gothic tracery, and with many statues and 
 bas-reliefs. From whatever side one views the 
 Campanile it satisfies the eye completely. 
 
 [80] 
 
Florence and Its Art Treasures 
 
 Florence is as famous for its pictures as for its 
 architecture and its statuary. Three buildings house 
 three great collections. The first, in the Uffizi Pal- 
 ace designed by Vasari, is the greatest. The finest 
 bit of sculpture in these galleries is the Venus de 
 Medici, found in Hadrian's villa. Of the paintings 
 it is impossible to do more than touch upon some 
 of the greatest. Here may be seen a whole room 
 full of Sandro Botticelli's masterpieces, of which the 
 greatest is Venus rising from a sea-shell. Cor- 
 reggio has several superb pictures, among which I 
 liked best "The Repose in Egypt," and Michel- 
 angelo is seen in only one canvas-a fine Holy 
 Family with splendid coloring and with a number 
 of nude figures in the background that are perfectly 
 drawn, but have no connection with the picture. Of 
 Titian, Tintoretto, Leonardo and other masters 
 there are several specimens, besides a large number 
 of pictures of the German and Flemish schools, in- 
 cluding some interesting specimens of Albert Diirer's 
 work. In fact, this series of richly ornamented 
 rooms is so full of fine statuary and pictures that it 
 would require many days to study them as they 
 deserve. I spent two days in this gallery and felt 
 well repaid for my time and effort. 
 
 A long gallery which extends across the Arno 
 joins the Uffizi and the Pitti galleries. The latter 
 are in the Pitti Palace, built in the fifteenth century 
 for Luca Pitti, one of the bitter enemies of the 
 Medici. Pitti boasted that he would have the finest 
 house of any private citizen of Florence, but it was 
 not many years before misfortunes fell upon him 
 and a century later the palace passed into the hands 
 of the wife of Cosimo I. The long gallery which 
 you walk through on the way from the Uffizi to 
 the Pitti Palace is lined with portraits of the Popes 
 
 [8 1] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 and of many other famous people, many of them 
 hung in such dark places that they cannot be seen 
 even on sunshiny days. The Pitti gallery has a 
 dozen of Raphael's works, among which the finest 
 are two Madonnas, the portraits of Leo X and Julius 
 II, and the picture of the painter's sweetheart, 
 whom tradition has incorrectly represented as a 
 baker's daughter. The face of this woman shows 
 rare refinement and charm. 
 
 Titian is represented here by more than a half- 
 dozen masterpieces. The finest is the heads of 
 three musicians, called "The Concert," which has 
 been reproduced in many ways but which gives 
 one fresh delight when seen in the colors that the 
 master used. It is usually attributed to Giorgione, 
 but the ablest critics assign it to Titian. Other 
 great pictures by Titian are "The Magadalen," 
 "The Bella" and portraits of Ippolito de Medici 
 and of a young Englishman, supposed to be Thomas 
 Howard, third Duke of Norfolk. The latter is a 
 splendid canvas, the dark, refined face standing out 
 as though alive. Here also are masterpieces by 
 Perugino, Velasquez, Tintoretto, Rembrandt, Van 
 Dyck, Rubens and Botticelli. The eye soon tires 
 of this wealth of color and it requires several visits 
 to get these pictures properly placed in the memory. 
 
 Another picture gallery which is worth some 
 study is the Accademia di Belli Arti. It has a col- 
 lection of pictures of the fourteenth, fifteenth and 
 sixteenth centuries which give admirable material 
 for the study of the development of Florentine art. 
 Here are seen fine specimens of the work of Fra 
 Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli and Ghirlandajo. 
 The most celebrated picture in the collection is 
 Botticelli's "Spring," so familiar from countless re- 
 productions of "Mercury" and the "Three Graces". 
 
 [82] 
 
Florence and Its Art Treasures 
 
 Of statuary the finest thing is the original of Michel- 
 angelo's "David." This was carved from a block 
 of marble that had been spoiled. For over three 
 hundred and fifty years this great statue stood in 
 front of the Palazzo Vecchio; then in 1873 it was 
 removed to this gallery and a copy was substituted. 
 It should have been allowed to stay near the other 
 masterpieces of sculpture out in the open. 
 
 Another great piece of Michelangelo's work 
 may be seen in the tombs that he carved for the 
 Medicisin the New Sacristry of San Lorenzo Cathe- 
 dral. Under the figure of Giuliano de Medici the 
 sculptor carved two figures which are called Day 
 and Night; under the thoughtful figure of Lorenzo 
 he wrought two figures known as Twilight and 
 Dawn. All these figures are very beautiful, but 
 they depress you, for in them you seem to see the 
 famous sculptor's idea that it was useless to struggle 
 against fate. An ardent lover of liberty, he was 
 forced to carve these memorials to the men who 
 deprived his favorite city of its freedom. In the 
 old Franciscan Church of Santa Croce may be 
 found Vasari's monument to Michelangelo, with 
 a bust by Lorenzi which shows how the sculptor's 
 nose was refined by age and suffering. Here also 
 are the tombs of Alfieri the poet, and of Macchia- 
 velli whose name is a synonym for duplicity. 
 
 Florence is so rich in memorials of the Italian 
 Renaissance that one comes upon them at every 
 turn. The city is rich also in beautiful suburbs, the 
 finest of which is Fiesole, from which a splendid 
 view may be gained of the city, the Arno and the 
 surrounding country. Many days may be spent 
 with pleasure and profit in Florence, which shares 
 with Rome the power of appealing to any lover of 
 history, art or beauty in nature. 
 
 [83] 
 
Venice, 
 
 City of Romance 
 
 and Beauty 
 
 The charm of Venice lies in its unlikeness to 
 any other place. You may have read of its 
 canals and its lagoons, its palaces and its 
 prisons, its gondolas that glide mysteriously through 
 dark stretches of glassy water, but the reality comes 
 upon you with unexpected force. My arrival was 
 at night and my introduction to the Grand Canal 
 and the smaller canals was made on the way from 
 the railroad station to the hotel. It was a half hour's 
 ride in a gondola and it was a fitting prelude to six 
 days of sight-seeing in this curious old city of the 
 Adriatic. The gondola was black; the waters of the 
 canal were inky black; the only sign of life was the 
 splashing of the paddles of the gondoliers and their 
 cries as they approached a sharp turn in the canal. 
 High on each side towered houses, also black as 
 night. An occasional light on an iron cresset cast its 
 rays far over the oily water. 
 
 Soon we passed from a side canal into the Grand 
 Canal, whose borders were marked by a series of 
 lights at the doorways of the palaces. Romance and 
 mystery brooded over this expanse of water which 
 had seen in the heyday of Venice some magnificent 
 pageants, such as the annual wedding of the city to 
 the Adriatic. As the gondola neared the brilliantly 
 lighted platform in front of the hotel, the deep tones 
 of a great bell sounded ten o'clock, and a number 
 
 [84] 
 
Venice, City of Romance and Beauty 
 
 of smaller bells repeated the strokes. Then silence 
 fell again, broken only by the occasional hoarse 
 warning of a gondolier. 
 
 The modern hotel in Venice has a fierce struggle 
 with its sixteenth century environment. All the 
 hotels are located in ancient palaces, many of them 
 fronting on the Grand Canal. The ele&ric light and 
 running water have been introduced, but this is as 
 far as modernization has gone. No attempt has 
 been made to clean up the fronts of these old pal- 
 aces, many of which are blackened by the salt sea 
 winds. The rooms are huge, the halls vast, the mod- 
 ern landlord mourns over the waste of good rentable 
 space devoted to spacious reception rooms and hall- 
 ways. The result is that you seem to be dwelling 
 in a baronial castle on some enchanted island, and 
 this illusion is emphasized by the lapping of the 
 waters of the Grand Canal under your window. 
 
 In the morning when you look out the first 
 thing that meets your gaze is the long reach of the 
 Grand Canal; near by is the golden ball over the 
 Custom-house and the beautiful lines of the Church 
 of Santa Maria della Salute. Down the canal stretch 
 two rows of palaces, their fronts gleaming in the 
 sunlight. The canal is full of gondolas, which are 
 tossed about like corks by the wash of a passing 
 ferry-boat. In the harbor, beyond the Custom- 
 house, are several ocean steamers. Everything looks 
 bright and clear and the longing comes upon you 
 to get out upon the canal and make the acquaint- 
 ance of Venice near at hand. 
 
 The Venetian gondolier used to dress in fancy 
 costume, with a brilliant red sash; now he wears 
 ready-made clothes and a sweater. But he hasn't 
 forgotten the gay spirits of his ancestors. He sings 
 at his work and he calls out for your edification the 
 
 [85] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 names of the palaces as you go by. Venetian archi- 
 tecture always appealed to me in photographs and 
 the reality was not disappointing. The massing of 
 the Gothic windows in many of these palaces is 
 singularly attractive; while the richly ornamented 
 doorways furnish a constant source of pleasure to 
 the eye. My hotel, built in the pointed style of the 
 fifteenth century, was formerly the Palazzo Giusti- 
 niani. Chateaubriand and Ruskin lived at this hotel 
 many years ago, and just before her death George 
 Eliot spent several weeks here. In one of the front 
 rooms Verdi was inspired by a terrible storm, which 
 swept across the lagoon and thundered against the 
 house, to write the fourth act of " Riggoletto." 
 Here also Wagner wrote parts of "Tristan and 
 Isolde." 
 
 Going down the Grand Canal, among the note- 
 worthy houses are the Palazzo Contarini-Fasan, 
 "the House of Desdamona," a small three-story 
 structure with a highly ornamental front; the Palazzo 
 Rezzonico, a magnificent building in which Robert 
 Browning died; the two Palazzos Giustiniani, in one 
 of which Howells wrote his Venetian Life, and in 
 the other Wagner wrote the fourth act of "Tristan 
 and Isolde;" the Palazzo Mocenigo, the home of 
 Lord Byron in 1815; the Palazzo Grimani, the fin- 
 est Renaissance building on the canal, now occupied 
 by the Court of Appeals; the Palazzo Manin, the 
 home of the last Doge of Venice, now the Bank of 
 Italy; the Ca d'Oro, or Golden House, the hand- 
 somest palace on the canal, with a double set of 
 Gothic windows, and the Signory's Palace, now con- 
 verted into a hotel, once the abode of George Sand 
 and Alfred de Musset during that tour which began 
 so auspiciously and ended so tempestuously in bitter 
 quarrels and two books of biting satire. 
 
 [86] 
 
Venice, City of Romance and Beauty 
 Many of these palaces are built of white marble, 
 which is blackened in places by the sea winds. It is 
 singular that this blackening does not follow any 
 regular rule. Sometimes it is the heavy cornice over 
 the door, sometimes the spaces under the window 
 ledges, but frequently a black stripe extends clear 
 across the front of the building. Many of the build- 
 ings are plastered brick, and these do not seem to 
 show the effects of the atmosphere like the marble 
 palaces. The favorite color is a rich yellow. These 
 palaces are all built on piles and the walls rise di- 
 rectly from the water. All are provided with im- 
 posing entrances and fine marble stairs, and in front 
 of most of them wooden poles are erected for the 
 protection of gondolas. A stately life the ancient 
 Venetians led in these great palaces, with their wide 
 halls and spacious rooms, many of them finely orna- 
 mented with frescoes on the walls and the ceilings. 
 The Grand Canal is spanned by three bridges, the 
 most picturesque of which is the Bridge of the Ri- 
 alto, with small shops on each side of the steps. 
 
 The heart of Venice is the Square of St. Mark, 
 laid out in the old days like the Forum of Rome. 
 At one end is St. Mark's Cathedral and the Doge's 
 Palace, while the other three sides are filled with 
 the two palaces of the nine Procurators and the 
 A trio, erected in 1810. These three buildings are 
 all of three stories, and their ground floors are a 
 series of arcades, containing shops and restaurants. 
 The square is paved with marble and in front of 
 the church rises the great Campanile, three hundred 
 and twenty-two feet in height, which fell to the 
 ground in 1902, but which is now restored in finer 
 style. Some critics have declared that the Campanile 
 dwarfs the church and that St. Mark's Square would 
 be more artistic without this tower. 
 
 [87] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Entering the square of St. Mark by one of the 
 narrow streets the effect is bewildering. The Cathe- 
 dral looks as though it were made of iridescent shell, 
 the sunlight bringing out new shades every hour. 
 Its architecture is Byzantine, with domes in the 
 center and at the end of each arm of the Greek 
 cross that forms the body of the edifice. The front 
 is richly decorated in colors and gold and gorgeous 
 mosaics, and, as Ruskin well says, its effect depends 
 "on its color, and that the most subtle, variable, in- 
 expressible color in the world-the color of glass, of 
 transparent alabaster, of polished marble and lus- 
 trous gold." Over the main door are the four horses 
 in gilded bronze which once surmounted the tri- 
 umphal arch of Titus in Rome. From Rome they 
 were taken to Constantinople and the Venetians 
 captured them with that city. They impressed Na- 
 poleon so much that he carried them to Paris to 
 adorn his Arch of Triumph but after his downfall, 
 the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria restored 
 them to Venice. 
 
 To the left of the church is the great clock 
 tower, which forms the last building on the north 
 side of the Piazza. It is of four stories. The first 
 is an arch, supported by marble pillars; the second 
 is the big blue and gold dial; the third is made up 
 of a gilded statue of the Madonna, and the fourth, 
 which is really a tower, presents a figure of a doge 
 kneeling before a lion, both in half relief against a 
 background of blue with golden stars. The clock 
 tower is surmounted by two colossal bronze figures, 
 the "Two Moors," which strike the hours with 
 hammers on a bronze bell. 
 
 It is impossible in a few words to give any idea 
 of the richness of the interior of St. Mark's. Mosa- 
 ics, sculpture, gilding and carved ivory are lavished 
 
 [88] 
 
Venice, City of Romance and Beauty 
 here with Oriental magnificence. The high altar is 
 ablaze with jewels and behind it is a second altar 
 with four spiral columns of alabaster, two of which 
 are translucent. Tradition says that these columns 
 came direct from the temple of Solomon. 
 
 The decoration of St. Mark's is Byzantine in 
 color and richness; the pavement is formed of many 
 colored marble; the walls are incrusted with precious 
 stones in mosaic of the most intricate patterns; gold 
 is laid on with a lavish hand. Barbaric is the only 
 word that applies to this decoration which is in such 
 great contrast to the rich but more chaste decoration 
 of St. Peter's in Rome. But it must be borne in 
 mind that the builders of St. Mark's and the many 
 beautiful homes on the Grand Canal were men who 
 for years had had intimate relations with the Orient. 
 These Venetian Grandees were merchants who 
 knew the values of Oriental gems and precious 
 stones as well as though they lived in Colombo or 
 Bombay. But they were also Italians who were 
 profoundly influenced by the Gothic spirit as well 
 as by the finest models of Greek sculpture and 
 architecture. The combination produced this unique 
 church which seems to differ in appearance every 
 time one sees it. I liked it best at early morning 
 when the sunlight from the lagoon gave it the tint 
 of a great seashell. But the interior may be seen 
 best at high-noon on a sunny day when rifts of 
 light through the openings in the dome brought to 
 view brilliant mosaics glowing with the wealth of 
 the Indies. The great curiosity in the church is 
 the Pala d'Oro, a masterpiece of the goldsmith's 
 work, once studded with priceless stones, now a 
 mere make-believe with paste jewels. 
 
 To the left of the church is the Palace of the 
 Doges, the most striking building in Venice. Its 
 
 [8 9 ] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 effective feature is a double arcade in Gothic style, 
 which extends around two sides of the building. 
 The capitals of the columns are richly decorated 
 and the whole effect of the facade is so gorgeous 
 that it does not suffer by contrast with the Cathe- 
 dral. The entrance to the Palace is by the golden 
 stairs, which could be trod only by those whose 
 names were inscribed as nobles in the Golden Book. 
 On the upper floor are the great rooms in which 
 the officials of the Republic held their meetings. 
 Here are waiting-rooms, the Doge's reception room, 
 the meeting place of the Senate, the room of the 
 Council of Ten, the chamber of the Three In- 
 quisitors and the hall of the Great Council. All 
 these rooms have magnificent ceilings and their 
 walls are adorned with masterpieces by Paolo Vero- 
 nese, Titian, Tintoretto, Bassano and other artists. 
 
 In the wall of one of these rooms in the Doge's 
 Palace may be seen the Lion's Mouth, in which 
 were placed written accusations against any member 
 of the Republic. The old lion's head on the out- 
 side has been nearly chiseled away, but its faint out- 
 lines may be made out. Going down a flight of 
 stairs, a passageway takes you out upon the famous 
 Bridge of Sighs which connects the palace with the 
 prisons on the other side of a narrow canal. Senti- 
 ment need not be wasted on this bridge, however, 
 as it was never used by any of the famous prisoners 
 confined here. You may see the dark dungeons 
 and the chamber where prisoners were tortured, 
 but the old prisons under the leaden roof of the 
 palace have been destroyed. 
 
 The Doge's Palace is one of the most interest- 
 ing buildings in the world, as it shows the magnifi- 
 cence of this government of a Republic founded 
 on commerce. The Republic was a republic only 
 
 [9o] 
 
Venice, City of Romance and Beauty 
 in name, for all the power was practically in the 
 hands of the Council of Ten, an oligarchy of nobles. 
 
 Opposite the side of the palace is the piazetta, 
 which is bounded on the west by the Library, a 
 splendid building by Sansovino, consisting of a 
 double colonnade with arches and embedded col- 
 umns. At the south end near the lagoon are two 
 granite columns, one surmounted by the winged 
 lion of St. Mark, the other by St. Theodore, patron 
 saint of the Republic, standing on a crocodile. The 
 Square of St. Mark in the heyday of the Republic, 
 was the chief gathering place of the people. Here 
 from the great door of the palace were read the de- 
 crees of the Council. And on Palm Sunday pigeons 
 were sent out and found nests in adjacent buildings. 
 
 From this came the custom of protecting pigeons 
 in this square. For many years down to the end of 
 the Republic the state cared for these pigeons; now 
 they are kept sleek and fat by the tourists and the 
 children of Venice, who buy corn and peas of a 
 privileged vender. One of the pretty sights of 
 Venice is a flock of these tame pigeons feeding from 
 the hand of a little child. 
 
 The Venetians seem to have an abundance of 
 leisure. At noon and again between five and six 
 o'clock in the afternoon the open-air cafes that line 
 the Square of St. Mark are crowded with people 
 drinking coffee and liqueurs and eating cakes. In 
 the afternoon the military band plays on several 
 days and the crowd promenades up and down the 
 square. With the sunlight gleaming on the gold 
 and colors of St. Mark, with the pigeons wheeling 
 in the air, with the stirring music of the band and 
 with the laughter and gay talk of the merry crowds, 
 this square presents a spectacle that can be matched 
 in few cities of the world. 
 
 [91] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Venice is rich in art collections, but it must suf- 
 fice here to glance at only a few of the best pictures 
 by the great masters. The most famous painting in 
 the Academy is the "Assumption of the Virgin," by 
 Titian, which reminds one of Raphael's "Transfig- 
 uration" in the beauty of its composition and the 
 splendor of its coloring. In the same room is Tin- 
 toretto's "St. Mark Rescuing a Slave" and Paul 
 Veronese's "Madonna Enthroned With Saints"- 
 two masterpieces. Other noteworthy pictures are 
 "Jesus in the House of Levi," by Paul Veronese, 
 and Tintoretto's "Descent From the Cross." 
 
 A score of churches in Venice will richly repay 
 the tourist who visits them. Among these the finest 
 is the Frari, a Gothic church built in the early 
 part of the fifteenth century. It contains a fine 
 monument to Titian, and an altar piece by Titian, 
 which some critics regard as superior to the "As- 
 sumption." The Church of Santa Maria della 
 Salute is noteworthy for its perfect dome and its pic- 
 tures by Titian. Santi Giovanni e Paulo, in the 
 Italian Gothic style, contains the tombs of the 
 Doges; Santa Maria dei Gesuiti is lined with marble 
 inlaid with verd antique and it possesses an altar 
 piece by Tintoretto and a fine Titian. 
 
 The best statue in Venice is the bronze eques- 
 trian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, a famous Gen- 
 eral of the Republic. It was modeled by Verrocchio, 
 the teacher of Leonardo da Vinci, and it fully justi- 
 fies Ruskin's high praise. The soldier sits his horse 
 in splendid fashion and the whole figure gives the 
 impression of a fighter and a leader of men. 
 
 Venice in its history, its art and its architecture 
 is unique, while its miles of canals, its ancient houses 
 and its picturesque bridges furnish material that is 
 the despair of the artist. 
 
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PLATE XXV 
 
 The Great Cypresses in the Villa d'Este, Near Tivoli, Planted 
 in the Same Year That Columbus Discovered America. The Villa 
 Was Built by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, Whose 
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PLATE XXXII 
 
 The Historic Bridge of Sighs, Connecting the Palace of the 
 
 Doges in Venice With the Prison Across the Rio Canal. Over this 
 
 Bridge Prisoners Condemned by the Council of Ten Were 
 
 Taken to the Terrible Dungeons of the Prison 
 
FRANCE, LAND OF 
 
 ROMANCE, THRIFT AND 
 
 ARTISTIC LIFE 
 
Monte Carlo and 
 
 Its Gilded Gambling 
 
 Palace 
 
 To escape the severe cold which held fast in 
 ice all the country north of the Alps, I 
 crossed Northern Italy and journeyed to 
 France by way of the Riviera. The ride from 
 Venice to Genoa was tedious, although it was over 
 historic ground, and for part of the way was in sight 
 of the snow-crowned Alps. 
 
 This railroad ride across Northern Italy takes 
 one through Vicenza, Verona, Brescia, and Milan. 
 The long ride is relieved by exquisite views of the 
 snow-clad Alps and of the string of Italian lakes, 
 that are counted among the loveliest in all Europe. 
 The night ride from Milan to Genoa was tiresome, 
 but the sight of Genoa in the morning was one long 
 to be remembered. 
 
 This ancient city which boasts that it was the 
 birthplace of Columbus, is essentially a seaport, with 
 a great mingling of races on its picturesque water- 
 front. Its palaces of sixteenth century noblemen 
 are among the finest in Italy and it also has many 
 interesting relics of the discovery of America. The 
 Palazzo Doria is the most magnificent of the build- 
 ings reared to commemorate the glories of ancient 
 families, and it stands as a monument to Andrea 
 Doria, who established the supremacy of Genoa. 
 
 From Genoa to Nice the railroad ride gives one 
 a succession of views of the Italian and French 
 
 [95] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 Riviera. The coast line is constantly cut by bold 
 headlands, and the villages are perched on rocky 
 crags. With their stuccoed walls and red-tiled roofs, 
 the villas of wealthy foreigners give the whole coast 
 the look of the background of a comic opera. There 
 is a constant succession of tunnels, but as the train 
 shoots out of one to enter another, the eye is caught 
 by lovely glimpses of flashing blue sea and clear 
 blue sky. The air is warm and still, for here we are 
 under the shelter of the Maritime Alps where the 
 cold winds from the north cannot reach. The train 
 passes through Savona, Oneglia, San Remo, Venti- 
 miglia, Mentone and Monte Carlo to Nice. 
 
 Nice is the favorite pleasure ground for all 
 Europe, but here, as in Egypt, the English and 
 Americans outnumber all other foreigners. The 
 place lies well on a small bay and the main avenue 
 along the waterfront is called the Boulevard des 
 Anglais. Here is a broad esplanade always crowded 
 by strangers, while the roadway is choked with two 
 streams of carriages and motor cars. The ladies 
 make a brave show of furs and diamonds and the 
 atmosphere is redolent of wealth and fashion. On 
 the seaside is a great casino, while on the other is 
 an unbroken line of palatial hotels and private villas. 
 
 With its rows of shade trees and palms this is 
 a magnificent avenue. It was originally begun by 
 English residents and visitors in 182a to furnish 
 work to the unemployed. Nice was the birthplace 
 of Garibaldi and of Massena, one of the ablest of 
 Napoleon's marshals, and there are noble statues of 
 both. It is a pleasure city pure and simple, and 
 many excursions may be made to places of interest 
 in the vicinity. Among these the most famous is 
 Monte Carlo, which may be reached by a short ride 
 on the steam cars or by the pleasanter electric railway. 
 
 [96] 
 
Monte Carlo and Gambling Palace 
 
 Monte Carlo is probably the best-known place 
 in Europe, and few tourists fail to try their luck at 
 the roulette tables. It is this extraordinary adver- 
 tising which has made the Casino so enormously 
 profitable. The principality of Monaco, when it fell 
 to Prince Albert of the old family of Grimaldi 
 about forty years ago, scarcely yielded revenue 
 enough to maintain him; but the shrewd scheme of 
 establishing a great gambling resort at this prettiest 
 spot on the Riviera has made him a multi-million- 
 aire. For years he has drawn a huge revenue from 
 the gambling company which runs the Casino. A 
 few years ago he had the stirrings of ambition to be 
 known as something beside the owner of the great- 
 est gambling house in the world. So he took up 
 the study of oceanography, and in a few years he 
 has become known as the largest contributor to the 
 world's knowledge of the creatures that dwell in the 
 deep sea. He has built a large museum near the 
 Casino, to which he is constantly adding new speci- 
 mens of marine life. This may be nothing more 
 than a fad, but it certainly puts illicit gains to better 
 use than pouring them into the greedy hands of the 
 courtezans of Paris. 
 
 The Prince receives about six hundred thousand 
 dollars a year for the gambling concession and it is 
 reported about as much more from customs' receipts 
 and taxes on business. He also draws a large rev- 
 enue from the half franc or ten cent tax on those 
 who stay longer than fifteen days in the principality. 
 The Prince is a thrifty soul and he has a son and 
 heir who also has a keen eye to the main chance. 
 This son, Prince Louis, had a daughter by a pro- 
 fessional beauty of Paris, and this girl he utilized 
 several years ago to increase his allowance from his 
 father. The old man became very fond of the girl, 
 
 [97] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 so Prince Louis devised the abduction of the child 
 from her grandfather's home in Paris and held her 
 as a hostage. He demanded that she be given a 
 legal name and title, and that he himself be granted 
 an allowance of twenty thousand dollars a year, with 
 payment of all his debts. The old Prince yielded 
 and thus recovered his favorite. 
 
 To secure admittance to the Casino, one applies 
 to an official near the entrance. He takes your 
 name, nationality, residence, occupation, and your 
 request, either for a single admission, or for a pass 
 for a fortnight. A longer stay than two weeks sub- 
 jects one to a trifling payment as a residence tax. 
 After checking hat and overcoat, you present your 
 admission slip and the guard allows you to enter 
 the main hall. From this hall opens a suite of three 
 magnificently decorated rooms, with many mirrors 
 and paintings, and with lofty ceilings, in the center 
 of which are the tables for roulette and baccarat. 
 
 The pictures are not particularly good, the most 
 striking being a huge canvas filling one side of the 
 first room, and supposed to portray "The Three 
 Graces." Some caustic critic of Prince Albert's taste 
 in art dubbed this "The Three Disgraces" and the 
 name has stuck. No one now refers to it in any 
 other way. It has the suggestiveness of some of 
 Bouguereau's nudes, and the more one sees of it the 
 less he likes it. It seems, however, to form a fitting 
 background to the people usually seen around the 
 roulette tables. 
 
 More than half of these patrons are evidently 
 professional gamblers, who take no heed of the 
 crowd that comes and goes. Their whole attention 
 is fixed upon the play on this green board, with its 
 parallelogram on which a lucky play may yield a 
 small fortune. At each table are three attendants 
 
 [98] 
 
Monte Carlo and Gambling Palace 
 
 who furnish silver change for gold. One is the 
 croupier, who announces when the play is to be 
 made and who pays the winnings. He also spins 
 the marble ball which flies around the roulette wheel 
 and finally settles into one of the numbered spaces. 
 No stake is accepted under five francs or one dollar. 
 
 Every seat at the roulette tables is occupied and 
 there is a fringe of standing spectators and players 
 from two to three deep. Each of the seated players 
 has his fund of money in front of him. In most 
 cases this is about evenly divided between gold and 
 silver. About half the gamblers at the tables are 
 women. The faces of these people are not pleasant. 
 Ofthoseatone table that I studied closely, only 
 one had a fresh, unspoiled face. This was a richly 
 dressed young woman, who looked to me as though 
 she had set out to wager a certain amount of money 
 for the mere sport of the game. She had about two 
 hundred and fifty dollars in gold and silver in 
 front of her and she was gradually adding to this 
 heap by very carefully considered plays. She occa- 
 sional' consulted a small note book and was evi- 
 dently playing upon some system. 
 
 The others all had hard faces, deeply lined, and 
 showing the same marks of mental strain that may 
 be seen in the faces of automobile racing drivers. 
 These lines, fixed by greed or envy or disappoint- 
 ment, could never be smoothed out in this world, 
 for one felt in looking at these people that they 
 would never give up this game. As well expect the 
 poor dweller in a big city to leave the spectacle of 
 blazing electric lights and the intoxication of huge 
 crowds for the quiet and peace of the country. 
 
 Three at this table were old women, with faces 
 so repulsive that one did not need to be told that 
 life meant to them only the hope of winning a great 
 
 [99] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 stake, the desire to figure for a few moments as the 
 envied one whose play had brought in thousands of 
 francs. Their hands trembled, and you could see 
 the gambler's passion in every movement. The 
 men did not seem so much under the influence of 
 the dominant passion as the women, but two who 
 had evidently had hard luck, wore looks of great 
 depression. One of these men had a small sheet of 
 paper covered with calculations, but although he 
 studied it carefully and played with great deliber- 
 ation, he lost with monotonous regularity, while a 
 man standing behind him, who played in a reckless 
 way, won steadily. A venomous gleam of envy shot 
 out of the losing man's eyes as he saw this careless 
 gambler rake in coin that he was trying so desper- 
 ately to win. 
 
 In walking about the rooms I saw only one sign 
 of the tragedy that is always so near the surface of 
 this gambling mania. Two women were seated on 
 a divan in the corner of one of the roulette rooms. 
 The elder was trying to comfort her companion, 
 who was weeping bitterly. Suddenly at some word 
 from her friend, the weeping woman threw up her 
 hands with a gesture that said as plainly as words 
 that she had lost everything. 
 
 For such as those who ruin themselves and 
 have not enough money to return to their homes, 
 the Casino authorities provide what is called a viat- 
 icum, or passage money which the loser is expected 
 to repay. The coin is not paid over, but a railroad 
 ticket is purchased and the victim is escorted to the 
 train and seen to leave Monte Carlo. The names 
 and addresses of these people who apply for this 
 fund are taken, and should they fail to repay the 
 loan, as is usually the case, they can never gain ad- 
 mittance to the Casino again. 
 
 [100] 
 
Monte Carlo and Gambling Palace 
 
 Many stories are told of the suicides at Monte 
 Carlo, which are carefully concealed by the Casino 
 authorities, but these tales are figments of the imagi- 
 nation. It is often reported that a gambler who 
 takes his life on the grounds is hurried out of the 
 principality and buried as an unknown in a potter's 
 field maintained by the Casino; but there is no 
 proof of the truth of these tales. I n fact, everything 
 shows that they are apocryphal, for there are too 
 many strangers always in Monte Carlo to make it 
 possible to dispose of bodies secretly in this way. 
 The man who loses everything at the roulette table 
 is carefully watched and is not allowed to make a 
 scene or to take his own life. 
 
 The long ride from Nice to Paris may be made 
 in fourteen hours by the train de luxe, which carries 
 a good dining-car, but the American tourist should 
 see to it that he is near this car when the manager 
 goes through the train to deliver slips for seats at 
 the tables. If you happen to be in the last car you 
 will find that all the tickets for these first two tables 
 have been taken, and that you will have to wait for 
 the third table, a matter of two hours' delay, as 
 everyone must finish and the tables be cleared be- 
 fore a new lot of patrons is admitted. 
 
 This ride, which is by way of Lyons, the third 
 city in size and importance in France, gives one a 
 good idea of rural France. There is little woodland, 
 every acre seeming to be carefully cultivated. Es- 
 pecially picturesque are the vineyards and orchards, 
 with vines and fruit trees trained on trellises in 
 many artistic designs. Lyons at the junction of the 
 Rhone and the Saone, handles half the silk pro- 
 duced by the world. It has noble quays and fine 
 public buildings. Among famous men born in Lyons 
 were Meissonier and Puvis de Chavannes. 
 
 [IOI] 
 
Paris, the 
 City of Magnificent 
 
 Vistas 
 
 Paris is a city of surprises and disappoint- 
 ments. As a place of magnificent vistas it sur- 
 passes one's conceptions; but its buildings and 
 its statuary disappoint the tourist fresh from Italy. 
 Its shops, which were once the wonder of Europe, 
 are now easily surpassed in artistic quality by the 
 shops of second-rate cities like Rome and Naples. 
 Its gayety and brightness it has not lost, nor its 
 fondness for the outdoor life of the cafes and boule- 
 vards and great public parks. 
 
 The first thing that strikes the tourist in Paris 
 is the art with which the place has been converted 
 into a city of magnificent vistas. On one side of 
 the Seine a series of fine quays, with many statues 
 and beautiful approaches to bridges, gives an aspedt 
 of spaciousness. On the other side a succession of 
 open squares linked together with magnificent tree- 
 lined boulevards charms the eye. On the left 
 bank are the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadero, the gilded 
 dome of the Invalides, the fine towers of Notre 
 Dame and the huge crown of the Pantheon. On the 
 right bank are the Bois de Boulogne and the Champs- 
 Elysees, with the two arches of triumph, the Tuil- 
 eries and the Obelisk, the Column of July and the 
 great mass of the Louvre. On the left bank the 
 quays will average twenty feet in width; on the right 
 bank the gardens of the Tuileries are fully fifteen 
 
 [102] 
 
Paris, the City of Magnificent Vistas 
 
 hundred feet wide, while the Champs-Elysees and 
 the Bois de Boulogne are noble avenues, flanked by 
 triple rows of trees on each side. 
 
 The avenues are mainly paved with wooden 
 blocks set upon a solid bed of concrete. They are 
 kept beautifully clean by a small army of street 
 sweepers, who flush the gutters on each side and use 
 large brooms for collecting any refuse. In the Tuil- 
 eries, the Place de Carrousel and the Place de la 
 Concorde are fine fountains. Everywhere are statues 
 and monuments, not so impressive as those in 
 Rome or Florence, but far superior to any work in 
 American cities, save a few statues that may be 
 counted on the fingers of one hand. 
 
 Nothing in Paris is so fine as the new monument 
 to Victor Emmanuel in Rome, nor are there any 
 fountains in the French capital that equal the Foun- 
 tain of the Trevi or the Fountain of the Nymphs 
 in the old city of the Caesars. 
 
 What impresses one in Paris is the reverent 
 care with which the name and the work of French 
 men of genius are commemorated. It is common 
 in America to find the names of statesmen and sol- 
 diers given to the streets of cities, but here in Paris 
 scores of streets bear the names of authors, play- 
 rights, painters and sculptors. Here we have the 
 Avenue Victor Hugo, the street of Balzac, even the 
 street of Zola. Over one hundred monuments have 
 been reared to the memory of patriots, authors, 
 artists and musicians. Many of these statues bear on 
 their bases significant words which keep alive the 
 virtues and the wisdom of these great men whom 
 Paris loves to honor. 
 
 The history of the French Revolution may be 
 learned from the epitaphs on the statues of the men 
 who gave their lives that the people might enjoy 
 
 [ io 3] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 liberty. Thus on the base of the statue of Danton, 
 one of the greatest of the revolutionists, are these 
 noble words: "After bread, the chief need of the 
 people is education." Everywhere may be seen the 
 care taken to preserve old relics and to perpetuate 
 history by placing tablets on the walls of historic 
 houses. In a vacant space by the side of the ancient 
 Church of St. Germain-des-Pres may be found sev- 
 eral arcades from the old chapter-house of the abbey 
 and other Gothic sculptures. Scores of bits from 
 the facades of ancient historic houses may be found 
 inserted in the fronts of modern structures. Memo- 
 rial tablets commemorate the fact that statesmen or 
 writers lived in the houses which they adorn. 
 
 The Seine is one of the most important features 
 in every general view of Paris. Seen from any ele- 
 vation, like the Eiffel Tower, the Seine winds 
 through Paris like a great python. The river is 
 spanned by many bridges and is bordered on one 
 side by spacious quays and on the other by beauti- 
 ful parks. Ferry steamers ply up and down and 
 the river is also alive with tugs and other small 
 craft. The quays are walled with massive masonry. 
 Everything is as though it were built to endure 
 forever. 
 
 Viewed from any height, Paris looks like a toy 
 model of a city. Each block of houses is complete 
 and fills the whole space between the four streets; 
 but in each large house is an air well varying in size 
 with the size of the building. Looking down upon 
 the city, these blocks of brick and stone buildings, 
 with their red-tiled roofs in Mansard form, stand 
 out in high relief against the well-paved, cleanly 
 swept streets and avenues. For above all things 
 Paris is a clean city. Its gutters are flushed every 
 morning and its main thoroughfares are constantly 
 
 [104] 
 
Paris, the City of Magnificent Vistas 
 
 swept, so that no dirt accumulates as in London or 
 New York. Asphaltum and wood form the princi- 
 pal pavements, which on all the main streets are 
 kept in superb order. Many of the boulevards 
 have two or three lines of trees on each side, that 
 form a grateful shade in the heat of summer. 
 
 As one looks down from the Eiffel Tower one 
 of the most conspicuous objects is the gilded dome 
 of the Invalides. Beneath it in a splendid tomb of 
 red porphyry rest the remains of Napoleon; but 
 the stamp of the greatest of Frenchmen has been 
 placed upon all parts of Paris. You see the magic 
 letter "N" on several of the bridges that span the 
 Seine; on the two arches reared to commemorate 
 the victories of the conqueror from his first brilliant 
 campaign in Italy down to the Russian campaign 
 which began so ably and ended in disaster; on the 
 Vendome column, and on many other monuments 
 and bits of statuary. 
 
 On the triumphal arches Napoleon proclaimed 
 his deeds with no false modesty. Above all other 
 rulers of France, he knew how to appeal to the 
 national love of glory, and the proof of this may be 
 seen in the faces of Frenchmen to-day as they read 
 the inscriptions on these arches, which proclaim the 
 supremacy of French arms. These sonorous proc- 
 lamations by Napoleon help them to forget the 
 feebleness of Napoleon the Little and the disasters 
 of Metz and Sedan. 
 
 Napoleon's name is still one that fires the 
 French heart. His tomb attra&s larger crowds than 
 any other show place in Paris. It is in the Dome 
 des Invalides, a church in the rear of the Hotel des 
 Invalides and the Church of St. Louis. Above all 
 other sights in Paris this is the most truly impress- 
 ive. Frenchmen and foreigners alike feel the gran- 
 
 [i°5] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 deur of the tomb, which is enhanced by these elo- 
 quent words from Napoleon's will: "I desire that 
 my ashes may rest on the banks of the Seine in the 
 midst of the French people whom I have loved so 
 well." 
 
 The tomb of Napoleon would be far more im- 
 pressive had it been placed directly on the banks 
 of the Seine, as Grant's tomb is placed on the shore 
 of the Hudson. You pass from the Church of the 
 Invalides through a narrow arcade, turn a corner 
 and enter the door of a second church at the rear. 
 But once inside you forget the meanness of the ap- 
 proach. Directly under a splendid dome is an open 
 circular crypt thirty-six feet in diameter. Leaning 
 on the marble coping one looks down upon the 
 dark red sarcophagus, thirteen feet long and nearly 
 fifteen feet high. Around the tomb is a mosaic 
 pavement of beautiful design and coloring, on which 
 are the names of eight of Napoleon's greatest battles. 
 Encircling the crypt are twelve colossal statues in 
 marble, representing the victories of Napoleon, and 
 twelve marble bas-reliefs. Six trophies include sixty 
 tattered flags captured on many battle fields. 
 
 From the dome a soft bluish light adds to the 
 effectiveness of the scene. The design of the tomb 
 is simple, massive and singularly solemn and im- 
 pressive. Whatever may be one's opinion of the 
 moral character of Napoleon or of his influence on 
 France, it is impossible not to feel a genuine thrill 
 as one looks down upon the remains of the man 
 who for twenty years ruled Europe and made France 
 the leading nation of the world. In the modern 
 world he holds the same position that Caesar held in 
 the ancient world. Everyone pays willing tribute to 
 the enormous ability and force of this man whose 
 achievements will remain the marvel of the ages. 
 
 [106] 
 
Paris, the City of Magnificent Vistas 
 In the museum of the Hotel des Invalides are 
 many interesting souvenirs of Napoleon. Here 
 may be seen the simple army pallet on which he 
 slept during his campaigns; his field glasses and 
 telescope; the old gray coat and cocked hat which 
 endeared him to his soldiers; his swords and pistols 
 and many beautiful presents given him by sover- 
 eigns of Europe. Here also are souvenirs of his 
 captivity at St. Helena; his favorite armchair and 
 the bench on which he sat in the garden of Long- 
 wood. And here is the death mask which brings 
 out in a startling way the essentially Italian cast of 
 Napoleon's features; the high-bridged yet delicately 
 cut nose, the firm mouth and the strong chin. The 
 mask reveals the enormous size of Napoleon's head 
 measured from ear to ear. In this respect only two 
 men of genius of modern times have equaled him- 
 Gladstone and Carlyle. 
 
 Many documents and letters that illustrate the 
 rapid rise of Napoleon to power and fame are also 
 shown in these rooms, which furnish material for 
 several hours of interesting study to anyone familiar 
 with the great Emperor's career. Here again the 
 popular interest in Napoleon is shown in a striking 
 way. Every scrap of paper that pertained to the 
 great Emperor, every article that was associated 
 with his life, is the center of an eager throng. The 
 souvenirs of Napoleon III as well as those of the 
 earlier Emperors are passed by carelessly, but the 
 magic name of the first Napoleon still has power to 
 attract the people of France. 
 
 [107] 
 
Rich Art 
 
 Treasures of the 
 
 Louvre 
 
 To the average tourist Paris is always associ- 
 ated with the Louvre, one of the greatest 
 collections of art in the world. To one who 
 has not seen the big galleries in the Italian cities 
 the Louvre is a liberal education in the art of the 
 last four centuries, but to one who has made a care- 
 ful study of the best statuary and paintings in 
 Naples, Rome, Florence and Venice, the Louvre 
 has very little to offer which is original. The array 
 of bronze and marble copies of great original statues 
 of antiquity is impressive, but these copies, though 
 fine for educational purposes, are far inferior to the 
 marble originals. 
 
 About the only things which are unique are the 
 Venus of Melos and the winged Victory of Samoth- 
 race. The first is too well known by many repro- 
 ductions to claim more than passing mention; and 
 it is a fact that fine photographs of this statue are 
 almost as satisfying as the original. The winged 
 Victory, however, is one of the priceless treasures 
 of Greek art that have come down to us. Though 
 it lacks a head, it is full of life, and the free move- 
 ment of the limbs and the sweep of the drapery are 
 fine beyond the power of words to describe. The 
 stone boat on which this statue stood was also re- 
 covered, and this gives additional interest to the 
 Victory. Coming upon it as you go up the main 
 
 [108] 
 
The Tomb of Napoleon, Under the Dome of the 
 Church of the Invalides — the Most Impressive Sight in all Paris. 
 Captured Battle-Flags From Historic Fields and Colossal 
 Figures Symbolizing Victories, Surround the Tomb 
 
Rich Art Treasures of the Louvre 
 staircase to the picture galleries, this bit of the 
 noblest Greek art impresses itself upon the imagina- 
 tion more vividly than anything else in the miles 
 of galleries in the Louvre. 
 
 More even than the priceless pictures in the 
 Louvre one is impressed with the wealth of decora- 
 tion lavished upon all the rooms. Here are scores 
 of rooms with the ceilings decorated by famous 
 artists, and the cornices painted and gilded and 
 often made beautiful by groups of statuary. So rich 
 and varied is this adornment that the eye becomes 
 sated with lovely forms and harmonious colors. 
 The handsomest room in all the Louvre, and prob- 
 ably the finest in the world, is the gallery of Apollo, 
 a rectangular chamber, over two hundred feet long. 
 The prevailing tints are bronze and gold. Every 
 inch of ceiling, woodwork and walls is covered with 
 decoration, while superb marble statues, bronzes and 
 many artistic tables and cabinets add to the general 
 richness of effect. In the center of the room, in a 
 carefully guarded cabinet, are the crowns of Louis 
 XV and Napoleon I, the latter an imitation of the 
 crown of Charlemagne. In this same case are sev- 
 eral crown jewels which were set apart when the 
 others were sold in 1887. Among these are the 
 Regent, one of the finest diamonds of the world, 
 and the Mazarin. The display in this room of 
 work in rock crystal, gold and enamel and silver 
 repousse work is so rich that it would require a 
 whole day to examine it adequately. The exhibits 
 include many priceless specimens, whose beauty is 
 enhanced by their artistic setting in rich cases. 
 
 The Louvre has a splendid equipment for the 
 study of Italian, Flemish, Spanish and French art. 
 An entire room is devoted to Rubens, while there 
 are brilliant specimens of the best work of Raphael, 
 
 [ io 9] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Titian, Rembrandt, Paul Veronese, Van Dyck and 
 other masters. In the rooms devoted to French art 
 it is very interesting to trace the development from 
 the classical style of David to the impressionist 
 work of Corot, the realism of Millet and the enor- 
 mously clever effects of Meissonier. What cannot 
 fail to strike any observer of French pictures is the 
 supreme excellence of the draughtsmen and their 
 easy mastery of all the technical resources of their 
 craft. This is especially noteworthy when their pic- 
 tures are compared with the best work of the mod- 
 ern Italian artists who appear to revel in weird color 
 effects and whose drawing is often atrociously bad. 
 
 One of the best departments of the Louvre is 
 the Chauchet collection given by a wealthy member 
 of the French chamber of deputies, which includes 
 the originals of Millet's " Angelus," Meissonier's 
 "The Return From Russia," Henner's" Reading 
 Magdalen," and masterpieces by Corot, Daubigny, 
 Troyon, Rosa Bonheur and others. There are few 
 poor canvases and one spends more time profitably 
 in these rooms than in many of the more preten- 
 tious galleries. Here also are many of the finest 
 bronzes of Barye, master of all the sculptors of wild 
 animals. The only collection of Barye's bronzes 
 that approaches it may be found in the Corcoran 
 gallery in Washington. 
 
 The Louvre has been arranged as a great edu- 
 cational exhibit of the art of the world, and especi- 
 ally on the free days, one may see how the people 
 take advantage of this school of sculpture, painting 
 and the applied arts. The effect of such a national 
 exhibit is incalculable. It stimulates the artistic 
 faculty among those who possess the genuine crea- 
 tive impulse, while it trains the eye and the judg- 
 ment of the great mass of the people. 
 
 [no] 
 
Rich Art Treasures of the Louvre 
 
 Next to the Louvre the most interesting collec- 
 tion of statuary and paintings may be found in the 
 Luxembourg Palace, built by Maria de Medicis. 
 The palace is now used as the meeting place of the 
 French Senate and in the former orangery is the 
 museum, which contains a large number of superb 
 specimens of the work of modern French sculptors. 
 The paintings include masterpieces of foreign artists, 
 among which may be mentioned Watts' "Love and 
 Life" and Whistler's portrait of his mother. Among 
 the great canvases by French painters may be 
 named Bastien-Lepage's" Haying," Rosa Bonheur's 
 "Husbandry in Nivernais," Jules Breton's "Bless- 
 ing the Crops" and Bonnat's portrait of Cardinal 
 Lavigerie. The garden of the Luxembourg is a 
 beautiful renaissance garden with many fountains 
 and groups of statuary. 
 
 [Hi] 
 
Churches 
 
 and Monuments of 
 
 Paris 
 
 Of the churches of Paris Notre Dame appeals 
 most strongly to the tourist, largely per- 
 haps because it is so firmly stamped upon 
 the popular imagination through the historical ro- 
 mance of Vidtor Hugo. It stands on an island in 
 the Seine, and although it is surrounded by lofty 
 buildings it impresses one by the majesty of its 
 facade, which has three large recessed doors orna- 
 mented with statuary. Above these portals is a 
 gallery with twenty-eight niches, containing statues 
 of Kings of Israel and Judah. Above this gallery 
 is a fine statue of the Virgin, while the center of 
 the second story is filled by a great rose window, 
 with double-pointed windows on each side. On the 
 third story is a gallery of pointed arches, and the 
 whole is surmounted by a balustrade with figures 
 of animals and monsters. Two unfinished towers, 
 each fifty-two feet in height, complete the facade. 
 Despite the fa6l that the towers appear too short, 
 the whole facade is singularly impressive because 
 of the portals and the rose window and the richness 
 of the decoration. 
 
 The interior of the church is noteworthy for its 
 early Gothic construction, the beauty of the stained 
 glass in the windows over the portals and the rich- 
 ness of the pulpit, which was designed by the great 
 architect, Viollet-le-Duc. From the towers of Notre 
 
 [112] 
 
Churches and Monuments of Paris 
 Dame one commands a superb view of Paris and 
 its suburbs. In the south tower is the great bell, 
 weighing twelve and a half tons. All about the 
 gallery that runs around the tower are hideous gar- 
 goyles which Victor Hugo has made memorable by 
 his pen picture of the deadly struggle on this tower 
 of the priest and Quasimodo, the dwarf. 
 
 At the head of the Rue Royale, which leads 
 from the Place de . la Concorde, stands the Made- 
 leine, a church which bears a striking resemblance 
 to a Roman temple. Napoleon designed it as a 
 temple of glory, but it was not until 1842 that it 
 was completed. Surrounded by a colonnade of 
 great Corinthian columns, the niches filled with 
 statues of thirty-four modern saints, this church has 
 a simplicity and a majesty that is very striking. 
 The interior, which consists of one great nave with 
 side chapels, is the most impressive in Paris. The 
 building, which is three hundred and fifty-four feet 
 long, one hundred and forty-one feet wide and one 
 hundred feet in height, has a bronze roof which is 
 conspicuous by its green shade in any birdseye view 
 of the French capital. 
 
 Another imposing edifice, built in imitation of 
 the oldest building in constant use in Rome, is the 
 Pantheon. Originally designed as a church, it has 
 now become the tomb of many famous Frenchmen. 
 Built in the form of a Greek cross, the dome rises 
 to a height of three hundred and eighty-four feet. 
 The portico consists of a great colonnade of twenty- 
 two Corinthian columns, each eighty-two feet in 
 height. The interior is singularly spacious and is 
 adorned with many historical and religious paint- 
 ings. In the vaults are the tombs of famous men, 
 from Rousseau to Victor Hugo. Here also is the 
 tomb of that first Grenadier of France, La Tour 
 
 ["3] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 d' Auvergne, of whose valor such wonderful romances 
 are related. Among the latest literary men to be 
 buried here was Emile Zola. 
 
 Another imposing building is the Opera-house, 
 designed by Charles Gamier, and famous as the 
 largest theater in the world. It covers three acres 
 and occupies an entire block. Facing a public square, 
 the exterior is embellished with statuary and other 
 decoration, while gilding, bronze and marbles of 
 many colors add to the richness of the effeft. One 
 of the most picturesque features is a series of cande- 
 labra, female torch-bearers in bronze. The finest 
 features of the interior are the grand staircase, with 
 steps of white marble, handrail of Algerian onyx, 
 bronze statuary as lamp supporters and magnificent 
 ceiling frescoes, and the foyer, which is one hundred 
 and seventy-seven feet long, forty-three feet wide 
 and fifty-nine feet in height. The vaulting is orna- 
 mented with mosaics, and this noble room is made 
 more splendid by huge mirrors, gilded statues and 
 two marble chimney-pieces. The auditorium is 
 beautifully decorated, but the colors are now faded. 
 
 It was my ill fortune to hear in this beautiful 
 place the opera of "Romeo et Juliette" sung in the 
 most perfunctory way. The soprano was a fine 
 woman in face and form, but her voice was medi- 
 ocre, while the tenor was so atrocious that no audi- 
 ence in any large American city would have toler- 
 ated him. The costumes, the scenery and the great 
 ballet at the end of the fourth aft were all -superb, 
 but it was melancholy to see this fine temple of 
 music given over to commonplace singers. 
 
 The audience at the Grand Opera was not large, 
 but it interested me because of the peculiarities of 
 the French playgoer. Of the three tiers of boxes, 
 the top ones alone were well filled. In some of the 
 
 ["4] 
 
The Winged Viflory of Samothrace, One of the Finest 
 
 Pieces of Greek Sculpture. It is the Chief Treasure of the Louvre 
 
 in Paris and Stands in the Prow of the Stone Boat 
 
 Which Was Found With the Statue 
 
Churches and Monuments of Paris 
 
 lower boxes were overdressed women wearing for- 
 tunes in diamonds and pearls; in others sat white- 
 haired men who seemed to spend most of their 
 time between the acts in leveling their opera glasses 
 upon attractive young women in various parts of 
 the house. After each act those in the parquet and 
 orchestra circles left their seats and promenaded in 
 the galleries and the foyer, many taking drinks, ices 
 and cakes at the large buffet. The men all carried 
 their silk hats into the house and between the acts, 
 with hats on their heads, they faced about and de- 
 liberately raked the boxes with their opera glasses. 
 Two good-looking negroes in full dress suits occu- 
 pied conspicuous seats in the orchestra circle. 
 
 The waits between the acts were very long and 
 at midnight, when I left, the last act had just begun. 
 Ladies' hats and wraps and gentlemen's overcoats 
 are left in the dressing-rooms with women who give 
 checks for them. You pay for a programme no 
 matter what part of the house you may have a ticket 
 for. Orchestra chairs about halfway back from the 
 stage are fourteen francs, but it costs a franc and a 
 half extra to reserve seats, making the total cost of 
 a seat a trifle over three dollars. 
 
 The most conspicuous of the public monuments 
 of Paris are the two arches of triumph erected by 
 Napoleon, one in the Place de Carrousel and the 
 other in the Place d'Etoile at the end of the Champs- 
 Elysees. The first was originally the principal 
 entrance to the Tuileries. An imitation of the arch 
 of Septimus Severus at Rome, this arch is too wide 
 for its height, but it is ornamented with some fine 
 marble reliefs representing famous victories of Na- 
 poleon. It is surmounted by a quadriga of bronze 
 depicting the triumph of the Restoration. This 
 took the place of the famous quadriga brought from 
 
 ["5] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 St. Mark's in Venice by Napoleon, but restored to 
 the Venetian church by the Austrian Emperor. 
 The other triumphal arch is the largest in the world. 
 It is one hundred and sixty-four feet high and one 
 hundred and forty-eight feet wide, and is adorned 
 with statuary and bas-reliefs of famous victories by 
 Napoleon. This arch is a landmark which is visible 
 for many miles. 
 
 Of the many monuments erected in Paris to 
 distinguished Frenchmen, one of the finest is the 
 Gambetta monument in the Square of the Louvre. 
 Against a pyramid of granite is a bronze group 
 representing Gambetta organizing the Committee 
 of National Defense in 1870 and 1871. Decorative 
 statues in bronze and passages from Gambetta's 
 speeches complete the monument. Scattered about 
 Paris, mainly in small squares and parks, are scores 
 of bronze and granite monuments to famous men, 
 many of them writers and artists. 
 
 [116] 
 
Some of 
 
 the Famous Museums 
 
 of Paris 
 
 Of the various museums in Paris the richest 
 is the Cluny, which occupies the old build- 
 ing erected by the Benedictine abbots. It is 
 a fine specimen of the late Gothic style which has 
 come down from the fifteenth century with very 
 few changes. The museum includes over eleven 
 thousand objects, representing works of art and in- 
 dustry. The display of magnificent work in iron, 
 silver, ivory and wood of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries is bewildering. To this is added superb 
 collections of tapestries, faience, enamel, musical in- 
 struments and many objects connected with royalty 
 and the church. 
 
 Even more interesting to the American than 
 the Cluny is the Carnavalet Museum, which illus- 
 trates the history of Paris and especially of the 
 French Revolution. For eighteen years this house 
 was the home of Mme. de Sevigne, whose letters 
 to her daughter are among the classics of French 
 literature. The many relics and prints of old Paris 
 are extremely interesting, but what will linger long 
 in the memory of every visitor are the letters and 
 documents bearing on the French Revolution. 
 Here are autograph letters of Robespierre, Marat, 
 Mirabeau, Danton, Desmoulins, Voltaire and many 
 others. Of all these, Voltaire in his old age wrote 
 the clearest manuscript. Here also is the death 
 
 ["7] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 warrant of Louis XVI, in which the King is referred 
 to as Louis Capet, as well as the King's autograph 
 order for the defenders of the Tuileries to stop firing. 
 
 Among these relics are specimens of the lettres 
 de cachet, signed by Louis XV and Louis XVI, by 
 means of which any courtier or favorite could secure 
 the imprisonment of an enemy without process of 
 law. Among the relics in one case is a copy of the 
 Constitution of 1793, bound in human skin. There 
 are portraits and miniatures of many famous actors 
 in the revolution, including a fine picture of Char- 
 lotte Corday, sketched while she was on trial for 
 killing Marat in his bath tub. In this room is the 
 arm-chair in which Voltaire died and the snuff" box 
 carried by Marat. These relics make very real to 
 us the actors in this great struggle for popular liberty. 
 
 Another museum of much interest to me was 
 the house of Victor Hugo in the Place des Vosges. 
 For fifteen years from 1833 to 1848 the author oc- 
 cupied the second floor of this house, which looks 
 out upon a little square, and in these rooms have 
 been preserved some of the furniture which he used, 
 with many of his books and pictures and a large 
 number of sketches made by famous artists for illus- 
 tration of his books. The stairway is hung with 
 many of these drawings by Rochegrosse, Brion, 
 Robert-Fleury and others as well as playbills of the 
 first performances of "Ruy Bias," "Notre Damede 
 Paris" and other dramas. 
 
 The drawing-room is hung with pictures, many 
 of them suggested by Hugo's novels, and there are 
 busts of the poet by Rodin and others. In the 
 center of the room is a table made by Victor Hugo 
 in Guernsey with the autographs, the pens and the 
 inkstands of Lamartine, George Sand, Alexandre 
 Dumas the elder, and Hugo himself. In the library 
 
 [118] 
 
Famous Museums of Paris 
 are first editions of Hugo's works with the later 
 editions, and a large number of drawings by the 
 poet which show that he was a very poor drafts- 
 man. On the wall are portraits of Lincoln, George 
 Sand and the elder Dumas, given to Hugo. On the 
 floor above are many interesting relics, the best be- 
 ing the simple furniture of the room on the Avenue 
 d'Eylau where Hugo died. Here is his bed, his 
 dressing case, his writing table, pens, inkstand and 
 manuscript case. 
 
 Among the interesting features of Paris are the 
 halles or markets which Zola depicts so well in one 
 of his novels. The best time to see these markets 
 is early in the morning, when the streets around the 
 large building are filled with women selling vege- 
 tables, fruit and flowers. These women line the 
 streets on each side so that it is difficult for wagons 
 to drive between them. In the great market build- 
 ing everything is classified. In one avenue may be 
 found a huge flower display, in the next fruit, in 
 the next nuts, and so on. In one quarter poultry is 
 being sold at auction and in another sheep and 
 cattle. Considering the enormous business trans- 
 acted, the market is very clean. 
 
 It seems to be the custom for thousands of men 
 and women to do their own marketing, for here 
 were scores buying provisions for the day and pack- 
 ing them in small baskets. It was a cold morning 
 when my visit was made and many men and women, 
 who had been there since midnight, were taking 
 soup or coffee and bread. Itinerant venders with 
 steaming pots passed through the lanes of people 
 and dispensed refreshments. The fruit and vege- 
 tables displayed in the street looked clean and fresh, 
 and in the stalls much artistic taste was shown, es- 
 pecially in the arrangement of flowers and fruit. 
 
 ["9] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 One of the sights of Paris which many neglect 
 is the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, where rest the re- 
 mains of the famous dead. From the main entrance 
 an avenue bordered by cypress trees leads up a 
 slight hill to the Monument to the Dead, by P. A. 
 Bartholome. This is carved from a single block of 
 limestone and represents humanity pressing forward 
 to the door of the tomb. The figures are full of 
 pathos and, taken all in all, this seemed to me the 
 most effective piece of sculpture in all Paris. The 
 cemetery includes over one hundred and ten acres. 
 It is laid out in avenues, but much of the beauty of 
 the place is lost because of the fences that inclose 
 so many graves and tombs. 
 
 The finest monument in the cemetery is that 
 erected to Thiers. It consists of a large granite 
 chapel, with massive bronze doors. One of the most 
 popular monuments is that erected to Abelard and 
 Heloise. Under a Gothic canopy rest the statues 
 of the couple whose love and misfortunes have 
 been the theme of so many writers. In wandering 
 through the cemetery one comes upon the graves 
 of many famous authors, dramatists and composers, 
 each marked by statue, bust or medallion. It is 
 good to see the loving care with which the French 
 people honor their men and women of genius. 
 
 [120] 
 
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PLATE XLII 
 Monument to Gambetta, in the Square of the Louvre, Paris. A 
 Stone Column With a Bronze Group Representing Gambetta as Organ- 
 izer of the National Defense in 1870-71. Decorative 
 Statues Adoin the Sides. Above is 
 Democracy Astride a Lion 
 
PLATE XLIII 
 
 The Dome of the Invalides, Paris, Which Houses the 
 
 Tomb of Napoleon. It Was Built as a Royal Church Where 
 
 the King and His Court Could Worship 
 
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PLATE XLVII 
 
 Main Staircase of the Grand Opera House, Paris, the 
 
 Largest Theatre in the World, Covering Nearly Three Acres. 
 
 This Entrance Was the Masterpiece of the Architect, 
 
 Charles Gamier 
 
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LONDON, SEAT OF 
 THE FOUNDERS OF WORLD- 
 WIDE EMPIRE 
 
London, Huge, 
 
 Smoke-Begrimed and 
 
 Impressive 
 
 The first impression that London makes is 
 one of immensity. To the sensitive tourist 
 it seems impossible in a short visit to see 
 anything of this huge city, with its miles of streets 
 and its thousands of famous buildings. This im- 
 pression is heightened by the gloom due to a cloudy 
 sky and a pall of soft coal smoke. But after the 
 first depression the tourist sets out in systematic 
 fashion to see what he can do in the short time at 
 his disposal. Two weeks I spent in this task of 
 seeing all that was most interesting in London and 
 its environs. This labor was made more difficult 
 by ten days of continuous rain. In any other place 
 this rain would have discouraged me, but the spec- 
 tacle of men and women going about London streets 
 without umbrellas put me on my mettle, and after 
 the first half day I never deferred any excursion be- 
 cause of showers or a genuine downpour. 
 
 To an American, London in March is not at- 
 tractive, because of the gloomy skies and the per- 
 vasive coal smoke; but it impresses the most care- 
 less observer by its tremendous business activity, 
 its massive buildings and its millions of people. 
 London goes late to bed and rises very late. At 
 nine in the morning more than half the shops have 
 not opened; at ten you are lucky to find any of the 
 responsible heads of departments at their desks. 
 
 [ I2 3] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 There are no signs anywhere outside of the Stock 
 Exchange of the feverish rush that marks New 
 York or Chicago; five o'clock tea is served in most 
 of the offices; but these do not close before six-thirty 
 or seven, and in the business day probably as much 
 work is done as in the great American cities. 
 
 In getting a general idea of London streets the 
 best plan is to take a seat on the top of a motor 
 omnibus and ride through the principal avenues of 
 business and pleasure. The motor bus is one of the 
 great time-savers of London. It goes everywhere 
 and its speed is far superior even to that of a good 
 carriage. For one penny or two cents the tourist 
 may ride about a mile and a half; for threepence he 
 may go to the suburbs, a distance of about seven 
 miles. Next to the motor bus in convenience is the 
 surface tram-car, which reaches all parts of the city, 
 but which is slower than the bus and not so pleasant, 
 as the upper seats are glassed in. 
 
 Nothing more exhilarating can be imagined than 
 riding for the first time on the top of a motor bus 
 through historic streets of London, like the Strand 
 and Fleet street, Holborn and Oxford street, Picca- 
 dilly, Park Lane and Regent street. He must be 
 sadly lacking in imagination who cannot get a thrill 
 as he passes Trafalgar Square, the Parliament build- 
 ings, Westminster Abbey, the Temple, the Tower 
 and other famous places which have been familiar 
 in his reading from childhood. The two under- 
 ground railroad systems do an enormous business 
 and many Londoners will tell you that they enjoy 
 travel on these lines, especially on the deep tubes 
 which Yerkes built. But the American who has 
 any nerves cannot bring himself to fancy the tubes 
 because of the tremendous roar made by the trains. 
 These tubes are about sixty feet underground and 
 
 [124] 
 
London, Huge and Impressive 
 
 the descent is made by an elevator. The circulation 
 of air is good, but the roar affects the ear disastrously. 
 
 The main thing that impresses the stranger in 
 London is the massiveness of the buildings and 
 bridges and all public monuments. Everything, 
 even to the private residences, looks as though 
 made to endure forever. Wood as building material 
 is practically unknown. In Holborn are a few old 
 buildings with plaster fronts and battens of wood, 
 but these were the only structures that I saw in 
 London not built of brick or stone. Even the roofs 
 are of tile, so that there is practically nothing for a 
 fire to feed upon. In all the public buildings and 
 in many of the private houses the stairways are of 
 stone or cement and the floors are of tile or inlaid 
 hardwood. In the finest streets, where land isvery 
 valuable, few buildings are over six stories in height. 
 This is because the English law recognizes the right 
 of a property owner to protect the light and air 
 about his building. You cannot erect a skyscraper 
 even on a valuable lot, because the owners of ad- 
 joining houses would sue you for destroying their 
 light and air. Thus there is a uniformity in height 
 in all public buildings which adds much to the 
 beauty of London streets. 
 
 The city is also made picturesque by many 
 small parks and squares and by some splendid great 
 parks and avenues in the West End. The Thames 
 is not so essential an element in the beauty of the 
 city as is the Seine in Paris, but the series of em- 
 bankments on one side, with the gardens and many 
 noble buildings, make the river front singularly im- 
 pressive. The river, with its many bridges and its 
 numerous boats, suggests something of the great 
 ocean carrying trade which has done its share in 
 making London the greatest city of the world. 
 
 [«S] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 The green of many small parks, squares and 
 private gardens does much to rest the eye in Lon- 
 don; but the city is very somber because of the de- 
 posit of soft coal smoke which blackens and corrodes 
 marble and stone and begrimes everything which it 
 touches. While I was in London the Daily Tele- 
 graph printed many letters suggesting remedies for 
 the smoke nuisance. One scientist pointed out that 
 it was the sulphuric acid that resulted from the 
 combustion of soft coal that ruined fine buildings 
 like Westminster Abbey and St. Paul'd Cathedral. 
 The acid forms a deposit that frequently hangs like 
 stalactites on the marble cornices of great public 
 buildings and eats into the stone. Many of the 
 marble buildings are cleaned periodically, but thij 
 deposit may be seen best on old brick structures 
 where it has accumulated for years. All statuary 
 in the open air soon becomes blackened. The effect 
 of this coal smoke on human beings cannot fail to 
 be disastrous. In my own case the pungent reek 
 of this smoke in the morning when fires were lighted 
 forced me to close the hotel window. As I was out 
 practically all day my throat and lungs were irri- 
 tated from breathing the smoke-laden air and my 
 eyes became sore and swollen. Of course, one soon 
 gets accustomed even to such impure air, but sev- 
 eral Americans whom I met and who were residents 
 of London declared that they had chronic bron- 
 chitis, which only disappeared when they left the 
 sooty atmosphere of the city behind them. It is as 
 idle to attempt to keep clean linen in London as 
 in Pittsburg in the old days, for a large flake of soot 
 at any time may smudge collar or shirt front. 
 
 What impresses the American in London most 
 strongly is the ease with which the enormous street 
 traffic is handled. The London "bobby" or police- 
 
 [126] 
 
London, Huge and Impressive 
 
 man has been praised for this, but it is due largely 
 to the wise custom of turning to the left in driving. 
 This rule splits traffic into two great streams, one 
 going down the street on the left and the other 
 coming up on the right. This simplifies greatly the 
 problem of crossing busy thoroughfares, for the 
 pedestrian need look in only one direction while 
 crossing half of the street. It also makes the regu- 
 lation of traffic very easy for the police officer, as 
 in case of any sign of congestion he merely lifts his 
 hand and stops all vehicles that are bearing down 
 on the threatened point. It is a marvel how so 
 many motor buses and taxis can get about the 
 streets of London without collisions, especially as 
 the drivers allow only an inch or two of space even 
 when passing tram-cars. These drivers are wonder- 
 fully skillful, and in all my wandering about Lon- 
 don I never saw a serious motor collision. Most 
 of the accidents are due to horses slipping upon the 
 wet pavement. The street pavements are largely 
 of wood, the old Nicholson pavement which San 
 Francisco tried thirty years ago and rejected because 
 the wooden blocks warped and bulged. Much of 
 this was due to the failure to lay a good bed of 
 concrete under the wood. This pavement appears 
 to endure well the tremendous traffic of London's 
 busiest streets, and it is the ideal roadway for 
 loaded teams, as the horses can always secure a grip 
 with their shoes, even in wet weather. 
 
 [127] 
 
St. Paul's 
 
 and Westminster 
 
 Abbey 
 
 Iondon I saw under the evil influences of the 
 great coal strike and of suffragette activity. 
 _^The result of the smashing of many fine 
 show windows in the West End streets was that 
 the stores dropped their curtains at night and made 
 the streets look like a tomb. The most disastrous 
 result to the tourist, was that because of fear of the 
 threats of these women many of the public build- 
 ings were closed. The British Museum shut its 
 doors, and the only department that remained open 
 was the reading-room. Hundreds of tourists were 
 turned away every day from this, the chief show 
 place in London. To secure admittance to any of 
 the priceless collections of this museum an Embassy 
 letter to the director was necessary. Hampton 
 Court palace was shut, and so much red tape was 
 necessary to get admission that few attempted it. 
 The London newspapers, with that quiet disregard 
 of public convenience which enrages the American, 
 continued to print daily lists of museums and build- 
 ings open to the public, but a notice at the bottom 
 said that owing to the suffragette activity certain of 
 these places were closed. No attempt was made to 
 specify the places that were shut; this labor was 
 calmly thrown upon the reader. In the same way, 
 when the steamer Oceana was wrecked not a single 
 newspaper in London printed the list of the seven 
 
 [128] 
 
itMStt" 
 
 The Chapel of Henry VII, the Chief Glory of Westminster 
 
 Abbey, London. Note the Elaborate Carving of the Oak Choir 
 
 Stalls, the Fan-tracery of the Ceiling, Which Though 
 
 Executed in Stone, Seems Light and Delicate as 
 
 Lace Work, and the Beautiful Windows 
 
St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey 
 
 passengers and twelve members of the crew who 
 were drowned until three days after the wreck, when 
 the steamship company furnished an official list. 
 This list would have been the first thing that an 
 American reporter would have secured. 
 
 London has no avenues so fine as the fiois de 
 Boulogne and the Champs-Elysees, but the great 
 open spaces of St. James and Hyde Parks and 
 Kensington Gardens, with such streets as Regent 
 street, Piccadilly, Park Lane and Hyde Park Place 
 make very good substitutes. Here in this new West 
 End, with the magnificent monument to Queen Vic- 
 toria, are spacious avenues and broad, green fields 
 and freedom from the smoke and grime that hurt 
 so seriously the older quarters of the city. And 
 here, too, in walking through Whitehall one gets 
 his first idea of the enormous number of houses and 
 offices needed for the army and navy and the civil 
 service. Old buildings are now being demolished 
 near St. James Park to provide for the massing of 
 all these Government offices in one district. 
 
 Of all the sights in London, the American prob- 
 ably turns first to St. Paul's Cathedral, the city's 
 most famous building and its greatest landmark. 
 The Cathedral stands in a busy commercial center, 
 and tall buildings approach it so closely that one 
 cannot get a proper view, as of St. Peter's at Rome. 
 Yet the structure designed by Sir Christopher Wren 
 is impressive from whatever direction one may see 
 it. Walking up Ludgate Hill it fills the whole end 
 of the street, although the beauty and size of the 
 dome cannot be appreciated except from a distance. 
 After seeing St. Peter's, with its wealth of decora- 
 tion, the interior of St. Paul's seems comparatively 
 bare and forbidding, but a study of the splendid 
 Gothic arches and the great rose windows will con- 
 
 [129] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 sole one for the lack of pictures and statues and 
 gilding. The Cathedral is second only to West- 
 minster Abbey as the resting place of England's 
 illustrious dead. Here are monuments to Welling- 
 ton, Nelson, Rodney, Napier and many others. In 
 the crypt, which is the full size of the Cathedral, is 
 the sarcophagus of Wellington, of porphyry on a 
 granite base, and in the place of honor, under the 
 dome, the black marble sarcophagus of Nelson, 
 which was originally made for Cardinal Wolsey. 
 The churchyard at the back of St. Paul's is sur- 
 rounded by buildings which are associated with 
 many worthies of English literature, from Shakes- 
 peare to Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith. 
 
 Next to St. Paul's naturally comes Westminster 
 Abbey, which is singularly impressive at first en- 
 trance, but when studied proves disappointing be- 
 cause of the way the various monuments are hud- 
 dled together and of their inartistic character. Any 
 nation that was sensitive to bad art would clear out 
 many of these ugly monuments erected to mediocre 
 men and fill their places with tributes to those who 
 deserve national recognition. As it is, fully one- 
 half of the monuments bear the names of people of 
 small reputation. Even in the Poets' Corner there 
 is an enormous monument to the Duke of Argyll, 
 while Macaulay, Thackeray and Scott are repre- 
 sented by simple busts. The Chapel of Henry VII 
 is the finest in the Abbey. The choir stalls are 
 beautifully carved and the chapel is famous for its 
 fan-tracery ceiling, executed in stone, but so light 
 and graceful that it looks like lacework. The Chapel 
 of Henry V is made noteworthy by the old oak 
 coronation chair of Edward I, in which every Eng- 
 lish monarch since his time has been crowned. The 
 Abbey is full of interest to any one fond of Gothic 
 
 l>3°] 
 
St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey 
 architecture. The vistas made by nave and transepts 
 are very beautiful and a study of the carving in the 
 various chapels will reveal many curious features of 
 sixteenth century decorative work. 
 
 London is full of old churches that have great 
 historical and architectural interest. Among these 
 may be named the old Temple Church, which still 
 stands among the cloisters of the Inner Temple. 
 All around it the ancient buildings are devoted to 
 law offices and quarters for educating and housing 
 students of law. In this old church may be heard 
 on Sunday some of the finest music in London. 
 Near this church is the grave of Oliver Goldsmith, 
 and not far away in Brick Court is an old building 
 with a medallion of the author of The Vicar of 
 Wakefield, stating that the writer lived and died in 
 a chamber on the second floor of the building. 
 Thackeray also had chambers in this building at 
 one time. The Temple cloisters and the gardens 
 give one the idea of age more vividly than any other 
 buildings in London. It is significant of the pious 
 care that Englishmen take of historical places that 
 the large gardens belonging to the Temple should 
 have been preserved through all these years although 
 the land is very valuable. 
 
 Down in the heart of London, off" Cheapside, 
 stands the Church of St. Mary le Bow, which is 
 noteworthy from the fact that the Cockney or gen- 
 uine Londoner is supposed to be born within sound 
 of Bow bells, which are rung from the steeple of 
 St. Mary's. 
 
 [131] 
 
History 
 
 Seen in the Tower 
 
 of London 
 
 Of all the show places in London the one 
 which appeals most strongly to the Ameri- 
 can tourist is the Tower. Doubtless this is 
 due to the many stories told of famous prisoners 
 who spent weary days in the gloomy chambers of 
 the Tower. From Anne Boleyn to Lord Fraser of 
 Lovat, the list is long and illustrious of those who 
 were beheaded, either in the Tower itself or on the 
 hill, which is marked to-day by a stone slab. The 
 Tower, which is built on the shore of the Thames, 
 consists of two lines of walls with towers at regular 
 intervals. Beyond the outer wall is a moat, and 
 outside of this is now a handsome garden. In the 
 center rises the square white Tower from which floats 
 the flag. For centuries the Tower was used as a 
 prison and a royal residence, but for many years it 
 has served mostly as an arsenal. The warders, or 
 Beef Eaters, as they are called, were made familiar 
 to Americans by Gilbert and Sullivan's opera, "The 
 Yeoman of the Guard." 
 
 Most Londoners are unfamiliar with the Tower, 
 which gives a series of object lessons in English 
 history more striking than any pictures or stories. 
 Here are some of the original towers built by the 
 Norman conqueror, and in spite of hideous efforts 
 to modernize many of the buildings, one may get 
 from the white Tower the best idea of Norman ar- 
 
 [ J 32] 
 
History Seen in Tower of London 
 
 chitecture. It is a great pity that all the old towers 
 were not preserved, but as it is, here are the relics 
 of English history from the time of Norman Wil- 
 liam down to the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 when the last execution took place in the Tower 
 grounds. Originally planned as a palace and a place 
 of defense against uprisings of the people, the Tower 
 finally became simply a gloomy prison and torture 
 house, where many of the greatest of England's 
 nobility were put to a shameful death. 
 
 The Plantaganet and the Tudor kings and 
 queens seem very near to us when we see in the 
 Tower the actual reminders of their power and their 
 cruelty. Henry VIII gave many heads to the 
 block, including the wives of whom he tired very 
 speedily. His daughter Elizabeth, who spent some 
 of her girlhood in this gloomy tower, was almost 
 equally industrious in lopping off the heads of 
 those who defied her autocratic will. Here are 
 relics of all these sovereigns, as well as of the vic- 
 tims of their hatred and fear. The most impressive 
 object in the Tower is the huge Traitors' Gate, 
 which in early days was the only means of entering 
 the Tower from the river. The gate was always 
 partly covered with water and the prisoners were 
 brought up to the steps in front of the bloody 
 Tower. The old steps which were trod by many of 
 the most famous men and women in English his- 
 tory may still be seen under their modern stone 
 facings. Another impressive sight is the stone 
 which marks the scaffold and block on Tower Hill, 
 above the prison, where London's thousands gath- 
 ered to see illustrious victims hanged or beheaded. 
 
 It is most unfortunate that the Tower should 
 not have been placed in the hands of real antiqua- 
 rians and thus preserved for us as one of the best 
 
 [ J 33] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 relics of Norman England. The spirit of restora- 
 tion in ignorant hands has spoilt much of the 
 beauty and value of these priceless remains of Eng- 
 lish history. Shakespeare in several of his historical 
 plays and Scott in The Fortunes of Nigel and in 
 Peveril of the Peak have given brief glimpses of the 
 Tower. The touch of the great Scotch romancer 
 adds much to our interest and serves to restore the 
 real atmosphere of this grim place of torture and 
 death; but the illusion is difficult to retain because 
 of the stupid attempts at modernization which have 
 converted many of the most interesting smaller 
 towers into quarters for the guards, and thus closed 
 them to the public. An ugly modern building has 
 also been eredled to provide quarters for guards and 
 other officials. It is the same dense stupidity which 
 has put hideous iron roofs on some of the old Fran- 
 ciscan Mission churches in California and white- 
 washed their age-mellowed walls. 
 
 On entering the Tower the visitor walks through 
 courts paved with slabs of stone, past the Traitors' 
 Gate by which state prisoners were taken from the 
 Thames to Wakefield Tower, where are now on ex- 
 hibition the crown jewels of England. This display 
 is remarkable, as it includes the King's crown, which 
 contains no less than twenty-eight hundred and 
 eighteen diamonds, three hundred pearls and other 
 precious stones. Among the diamonds is the Culli- 
 nan. There are other crowns, solid gold scepters, 
 beautifully decorated with gems, bracelets, spurs, 
 spoons and other objefts, all of great value. The 
 total value of the regalia is estimated at fifteen mil- 
 lion dollars. From the regalia one passes to the 
 main, or White Tower, which is ninety-two feet 
 high, with walls from twelve to fifteen feet in thick- 
 ness. In going up the winding staircase built in the 
 
 [134] 
 
History Seen in Tower of London 
 thick wall the guide shows the place where the two 
 skeletons, supposed to be those of the unfortunate 
 princes murdered by Richard III, were found. 
 
 On the second floor is the famous chapel of St. 
 John, with its barrel vaulted ceiling, which experts 
 have pronounced one of the best specimens of Nor- 
 man architecture that remains in England. The 
 other rooms on this floor contain a remarkable col- 
 lection of armor, the most interesting feature of 
 which is the series of fully armed knights on horse- 
 back ready for the tournament. The armor ranges 
 from the early Norman, with metal sewn on leather, 
 to the finest armor of the sixteenth century. Per- 
 haps the most interesting suit of armor is that which 
 belonged to Henry VIII. It is much larger than 
 an ordinary suit and was presented to that monarch 
 by the Emperor Maximilian. It brings history 
 very close to you when you look upon the well 
 worn suit of armor which belonged to the Earl of 
 Leicester, the favorite of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 In an adjoining room are many instruments of 
 torture, including the thumbscrews and the rack, 
 and a wooden block used at the beheading of Lord 
 Lovat, the last prisoner who was executed in this 
 way in England. The other Tower shown to visitors 
 is the Beauchamp Tower, the middle chamber of 
 which housed many famous state prisoners, who left 
 inscriptions in prose and verse on its walls. Among 
 these are some ingenious lines by John Dudley, 
 Earl of Warwick, and an inscription by Philip 
 Howard, Earl of Arundel. Here Lady Jane Grey 
 was confined, and on the wall may be traced I-a-n-e, 
 supposed to represent her name. Most of the 
 buildings of the Tower give the impression of age 
 more vividly than any other structures in London. 
 
 [135] 
 
A Famous 
 
 Debate in the 
 
 Commons 
 
 Whether seen from the river or from the 
 shore, the Parliament buildings are the 
 most imposing in all London. Of late 
 Gothic architecture, with two great towers, these 
 buildings with their Tudor wealth of decoration, 
 never weary the eye. The river frontage is nine 
 hundred and forty feet, and this enormous length 
 gives a certain flatness to the facade, but seen from 
 the opposite shore this impression does not hold. 
 The north tower, nearest to Westminster bridge, 
 contains a clock with four dials, each twenty-three 
 feet in diameter. The great bell, known as "Big 
 Ben," weighs thirteen tons, and it can be heard over 
 all London. 
 
 It is fitting that the only great Englishman to 
 be given a place in Parliament square is Oliver 
 Cromwell, who showed his contempt for the trap- 
 pings of royalty, when he ordered the removal of 
 the mace in the well-known words: "Remove that 
 fools' bauble!" Cromwell, whose body was dug up 
 from where it lay in Henry VI's chapel and thrown 
 into a pit at Tyburn while his head was set up on 
 Westminster Hall, now stands in heroic size with a 
 lion at his feet in the grass plot at the entrance to 
 the Parliament buildings. It gives an American a 
 genuine thrill to find the great Commoner honored 
 before kings, while the weak monarch who treated 
 
 [136] 
 
A Famous Debate in the Commons 
 
 the Protestor's body with contumely is well nigh 
 forgotten. Cromwell's is the only statue that is seen 
 at the entrance to the houses of Parliament. You 
 pass it as you walk toward the magnificent West- 
 minster Hall, now used as a vestibule to the houses 
 of Parliament, but for centuries the palace of the 
 Anglo-Saxon and Norman Kings. The oaken roof 
 with heavy beams and the enormous size of the 
 room make this the most impressive hall in Lon- 
 don as it is the richest in historical interest. 
 
 One of the finest rooms in the Parliament build- 
 ings is the Victoria gallery, one hundred and ten feet 
 long, through which the King passes on his way to 
 prologue Parliament. It is very lofty, with richly 
 decorated ceiling and lined with bronze statues of 
 English monarchs. 
 
 Having procured an order of admission to the 
 House of Commons from the American Embassy, 
 you enter the hall that leads to the lobby. Visitors 
 are admitted in parties of ten every few minutes. 
 After passing up a winding staircase you reach a 
 gateway, where you surrender your card and in- 
 scribe your name in a great register, with your Lon- 
 don address, nationality and sponsor. Then you 
 pass up another stairway to the gallery, where three 
 rows of seats at the back of the house are reserved 
 for visitors. Unless you are on the front row you 
 can see only about one-half of the house, which is 
 rectangular, with projecting galleries on three sides. 
 On the fourth side are the seats for reporters, and 
 behind these a gallery with a screen, which is the 
 only place provided for women. Because of the 
 antics of suffragettes, who chained themselves to 
 this grating and then disturbed the proceedings of 
 the house, only female relatives of members are 
 now admitted. In the middle of the chamber is a 
 
 [*37] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 large table, on one side of which are the ministerial 
 benches and on the other the seats of the opposi- 
 tion. There are no desks and the members seem 
 to be pretty badly crowded on long benches. On 
 the afternoon when I visited the House about an 
 hour was devoted to the answering of questions by 
 members of the Government. These questions had 
 been asked at the previous session and they were 
 printed for the convenience of members. 
 
 Then the coal strike bill was brought forward 
 and many members nocked in from the cloakrooms. 
 On the Government benches were all the leaders 
 except Winston Churchill and the Premier. Mr. 
 Balfour stalked in and sat down, stretching out his 
 long legs and resting on the small of his back, ex- 
 actly as the caricaturists represent him. His face is 
 florid and he looks to be in the pink of condition, 
 presenting a marked contrast to many of his associ- 
 ates, who are extremely pallid. It is announced by 
 a Government assistant secretary that the confer- 
 ence between the coal miners and the Government 
 is still on, but, in case the Premier is needed to 
 make any statement, he may be called. While sev- 
 eral members are declaring that they prefer to have 
 the Premier present, Mr. Asquith walks in and 
 takes his place by the side of sharp-featured Sir 
 Rufus Isaacs, the Attorney-General. 
 
 A hush falls on the assembly as the Premier, 
 after a whispered conference with his lieutenants, 
 rises and addresses the house. His face is pale and 
 drawn, and, with his gray hair which is rapidly sil- 
 vering, he presents an appearance of extreme lassi- 
 tude. In a clear voice, with no hesitancy in his 
 choice of words, he tells the House of the failure 
 of his attempts to secure any compromise between 
 the coal miners and the owners. He dwells on the 
 
 [138] 
 
A Famous Debate in the Commons 
 unceasing labors of himself and his colleagues and 
 his voice breaks with emotion when he speaks of 
 his profound sorrow over the failure of negotiations 
 which he hoped would end the disastrous strike. 
 The House applauds with the sharp staccato "Hear! 
 Hear!" which has almost the effect of a cheer. 
 
 Then follows an interesting debate of an hour 
 in which opposition and labor leaders define their 
 views. One of the clearest speakers is Mr. Bonar- 
 Law, the opposition leader, who, while promising 
 that no attempt will be made to check the passage 
 of the measure, makes sharp comment on what he 
 regards as defects of the bill. The Government 
 secretaries rally to its support and then labor leaders 
 like Keir-Hardie and Ramsey McDonald intervene 
 and defend the claims of the miners. Many sharp 
 thrusts are made, but, aside from the labor leaders, 
 who talk like Americans, the majority of the 
 speakers are not effective. As the discussion settles 
 down upon minor points of the bill, I go downstairs 
 for a glimpse of the House of Lords. 
 
 In the House of Peers, which is a lesser replica 
 of the Commons, without the gallery, a prosy dis- 
 cussion was on concerning water rates in London. 
 Lord Selborne was speaking in a way that showed 
 he could go on indefinitely. There was a thin repre- 
 sentation of peers and a few Bishops with big lawn 
 sleeves. On the front bench was the Duke of Marl- 
 borough, with one arm in a sling. His thin, pallid 
 face, with its heavy-lidded eyes and weak mouth, 
 never changed its bored expression. A few minutes 
 of Selborne's monotonous talk was sufficient for 
 me, and I left the place. The lobby was full of 
 members, who evidently regarded the proceedings 
 as unprofitable. 
 
 ^39] 
 
The British 
 
 Museum and Picture 
 
 Galleries 
 
 The British Museum is one of the sights 
 which no tourist in London can afford to ig- 
 nore; but, unfortunately, when my visit was 
 made, the authorities had closed the place to the 
 general public because of fear of the suffragettes. 
 Through the kindness of the first secretary of the 
 United States Embassy, I secured a letter to the 
 director and this gave me the entree to the museum. 
 What interested me beyond anything else in these 
 great collections was the Elgin marbles, which are 
 arranged in one large room. These are the statues 
 and bas-reliefs from the pediment and the frieze of 
 the Parthenon which were bought by Lord Elgin, 
 English Minister to Athens, and by him sold to 
 the British Government. They are represented in 
 the museum at Athens by plaster casts, but here 
 they are seen in all their original beauty. A few of 
 the bas-reliefs are nearly perfect and the whole col- 
 lection represents Greek sculpture at its best. 
 Whether Phidias or his pupils did this work it has 
 never been equaled and a study of these figures of 
 gods and goddesses, men and horses, cannot fail to 
 give one a better idea of the perfection of Greek art. 
 The Greek and Roman rooms contain a number 
 of original statues and heads which are noteworthy. 
 The finest statue in the museum is the Demeter 
 of Cnides, a seated figure with flowing robes, and 
 
 [140] 
 
British Museum, Picture Galleries 
 
 with an expression of calmness and majesty that 
 keeps her aloof from the world. It is evidently the 
 work of Praxiteles or of one of his pupils. Next to 
 this in its power of making us realize the attitude 
 of the ancients toward life, is the head of Julius 
 Caesar, a splendid bit of revelation of character in 
 marble. The Egyptian rooms house a collection 
 second only to the great museum at Cairo. 
 
 The other rooms give an unequaled survey of 
 the whole world, arranged in such form that these 
 exhibits cling to the memory. As material for 
 study the British Museum is the ideal place in 
 Europe. To me there was a special charm in the 
 long lines of cases that contain illuminated books 
 and autographs and letters of authors and other 
 famous people. Here are bits of manuscript by 
 many of the famous authors of the world, private 
 letters, and specimens of early book-making. In 
 these long galleries one who loves literature may 
 lose all count of time for many happy hours. 
 
 The main reading-room affords an opportunity 
 for study which is furnished in no other city in the 
 world. Here the student may have access to the 
 finest working reference library in the world under 
 conditions which make research a pleasure. The 
 circular hall has a dome of glass and iron that is 
 one hundred and forty feet in diameter, two feet 
 larger than the dome of St. Peter's, and one hun- 
 dred and six feet high. Here four hundred and 
 fifty-eight readers may work, each having a folding 
 desk, a book-shelf, pens, ink and paper. The library 
 from which the student may draw contains over two 
 million volumes and it is increasing at the rate of 
 fifty thousand volumes a year. 
 
 London is rich in collections of paintings and 
 other works of art, and if one has not seen the gal- 
 
 [Hi] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 leries of Italy he can get a very good idea of these 
 from the art galleries of London. The National 
 Gallery, housed in a great building opposite Trafal- 
 gar Square, is the most important. Here the paint- 
 ings of various nations are arranged according to 
 schools, which makes it valuable to the student of 
 art. The most remarkable picture in the gallery is 
 Raphael's "Madonna degli Ansidei," which was pur- 
 chased by the British Government from the Duke 
 of Marlborough for three hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. To my mind it stands next in color- 
 ing and composition to the "Transfiguration "in the 
 Vatican. Of the other pictures by Italian masters 
 the finest is "The Family of Darius at the feet of 
 Alexander the Great," by Paul Veronese. The 
 coloring is richer than that of any of this master's 
 works in Florence or Venice. Flemish, German 
 and British art is also represented by a long roll of 
 masterpieces. 
 
 Other collections which contain many fine pic- 
 tures are the Tate Gallery and the Wallace collec- 
 tion. In the Tate there are noteworthy collections 
 of the work of Turner and George Frederick Watts. 
 Here the student may have an excellent opportun- 
 ity to study the paintings of the artist whom Rus- 
 kin put at the head of modern painters. It is safe 
 to say that few will agree with Ruskin in this esti- 
 mate, for Turner's work has not stood the test of 
 time. Much of the brilliant coloring has faded and 
 many of the devices which he adopted to produce 
 striking effects are seen to be inartistic. 
 
 The finest picture hereis"The Fighting Temer- 
 aire Towed to Her Last Berth." The best picture 
 in the Watt's collection is "Love and Life," which is 
 so familiar through reproductions in photographs 
 and engravings. 
 
 [142] 
 
The Main Facade of Westminster Abbey, London, With the 
 
 Two Ugly Towers Built by Sir Christopher Wren. In the Square 
 
 in Front is a Monument to Those Who Fell in the Indian 
 
 Mutiny and the Crimean War 
 
British Museum, Picture Galleries 
 
 The South Kensington Museum contains an 
 enormous collection of works illustrating decorative 
 and applied art. To walk through the various rooms 
 takes more than four hours and even a superficial 
 examination of the exhibits will consume more than 
 an entire day. 
 
 The Wallace collection is in Hertford House, 
 the home of the fourth Marquis Hertford, the dis- 
 reputable old lord who was the original of Thack- 
 eray's Marquis of Steyne in Vanity Fair. The 
 house afterward passed into the hands of Sir Rich- 
 ard Wallace, who gathered the art works which his 
 widow bequeathed to the British nation. The gallery 
 is noteworthy for its collection of French, Dutch 
 and Flemish paintings and for its examples of 
 French sculpture and furniture, Sevres porcelain, 
 enamels and ivories. London has many other col- 
 lections of pictures and regular exhibitions are held 
 in the spring at the opening of the season. 
 
 A month could be spent with profit in a careful 
 study of London and its suburbs and at the end of 
 that time much would remain unvisited. The city 
 is so vast and so much of English history is recorded 
 in its streets and buildings, its monuments and its 
 squares, that a residence of months would not ex- 
 haust its objects of interest. 
 
 [143] 
 
Literary 
 
 Shrines and Haunts in 
 
 London 
 
 To anyone of strong literary tastes London 
 is rich in the homes and haunts of famous 
 English writers. Much that is mentioned 
 in the guide-books is worthless, as it represents lit- 
 erary fame commercialized, or famous memorials of 
 literary genius that are not genuine. Thus it is im- 
 possible to get any thrill from the Johnson corner 
 in the Cheshire Cheese on the Strand, because there 
 is no proof that the bench and the table shown for 
 a shilling are really those used by the Doctor when 
 he laid down the law to Goldsmith, Garrick and 
 others. Nor does the Cock restaurant appeal to 
 one because Tennyson wrote a rather poor poem 
 to the "plump head waiter" there. 
 
 But what is of the deepest interest are the houses 
 and the streets that are associated with the English 
 writers whom we love. Thus I spent several happy 
 hours in the Temple grounds in identifying the 
 chamber in Brick Court where Goldsmith worked 
 during his last years,and the staircase, which when he 
 lay dead in the room above, was filled with weeping 
 women whom he had helped. Across the paved 
 court is Goldsmith's grave by the side of the 
 Temple Church, where you may hear some of the 
 best organ music and choir singing in London. In 
 this same building, No. 2 Brick Court, Thackeray 
 lived for a time before fame came to him, and in 
 
 [H4] 
 
Literary Shrines in London 
 the neighboring Pump Court, Fielding had chambers. 
 The only genuine relic of Shakespeare in Lon- 
 don is old St. Olave's churchyard in Silver street. 
 In the church, which was swept away by the great 
 fire, Shakespeare witnessed the marriage of the 
 young daughter of Christopher Mountjoy, a wig- 
 maker, with whom the dramatist lived over the little 
 shop at the corner of Silver and Monkwell streets, 
 direclly across from the churchyard. An old tav- 
 ern, "The Cooper's Arms," now stands on this 
 corner. The court records show that Shakespeare 
 was a witness in a lawsuit brought against Mountjoy 
 by his son-in-law to recover the dowry which he had 
 promised to give to his daughter. This was in 
 1612, and this record goes far to cast doubt on the 
 accepted facl that Shakespeare spent the last years 
 of his life at Stratford. It is certain that he wrote 
 in this house over Mountjoy' s shop, Othello, Mac- 
 beth and King Lear, which makes this a literary 
 shrine of the first importance. 
 
 Not far away down Cheapside is the site of the 
 famous Mermaid Tavern where Shakespeare spentso 
 many hours with Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, 
 Dekker, Raleigh and other choice spirits. This tav- 
 ern lay direftly on Shakespeare's way from his 
 lodgings to Thames street, where he took boat to 
 the Globe Theatre on Bankside. Not a stone re- 
 mains of the Globe Theatre, but near by is St. 
 Saviour's Cathedral, in the churchyard of which 
 were buried Shakespeare's youngest brother, Ed- 
 mund, a player, as well as Fletcher and Massinger. 
 Cheapside, now given over to trade, was in Shakes- 
 peare's day the favorite haunt of writers and players, 
 and even in the last century Keats lived in rooms 
 in Bird-in-Hand Court, where he wrote one of his 
 finest sonnets on Chapman's Homer. 
 
 [H5] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 Anyone who loves De Quincey will always as- 
 sociate him with "stony-hearted" Oxford street, 
 which witnessed the tragedy of poor Anne and his 
 fruitless search for the girl of the underworld who 
 saved his life by her prompt aid. The Confessions 
 of an English Opium Eater are full of vivid pictures 
 of London and with little trouble one may identify 
 the shabby house in Green street, Soho, where the 
 runaway boy shared cold and hunger with the poor 
 little girl in the empty house of the disreputable 
 lawyer. Hazlitt and Shelley also lived in Soho and 
 their places of residence may be identified. 
 
 Chelsea is probably the district in London that 
 will appeal most strongly to the American literary 
 pilgrim, for a score of famous authors made this 
 pleasant suburb their home. Chief among these 
 was Carlyle whose home for nearly fifty years was 
 in the simple three-story house at No. 5 Cheyne 
 Row. This house has now been set aside as a 
 national museum, and it is of exceptional interest 
 because everything has been left exactly as it was 
 in the days when the author of The French Revolu- 
 tion demonstrated here the value of plain living and 
 high thinking. Few Londoners make the pilgrim- 
 age to Carlyle's house; most of the visitors are Amer- 
 icans. It is a long ride by auto bus, but the traveler 
 is rewarded by the spectacle of this pretty village 
 by the side of the Thames, and the quaint old house 
 in which was written some of the most inspiring of 
 modern English prose. 
 
 Carlyle himself described the house when he 
 was moving in in 1834 as "eminent, antique, wains- 
 coted to the very ceiling; broadish stair, with a 
 massive balustrade in the old style, corniced and as 
 thick as one's thigh; floors as thick as a rock, wood 
 of them here and there worm-eaten, yet capable of 
 
 [146] 
 
Literary Shrines in London 
 
 cleanliness and still with thrice the strength of a 
 modern floor." This prophecy proved true for the 
 old floors and the staircase still remain as testimony 
 to the honesty of the builder. The garden at the 
 back, which in Carlyle's day looked out on pleasant 
 fields, is now shut in by neighboring walls, but it is 
 sunny and quiet and it brings old Carlyle nearer to 
 you than anything in the house. 
 
 A woman care-taker shows real interest in the 
 relics and allowed me to look at the books in the 
 locked cases and to spend much time in these rooms 
 whose record of tremendous work may be found in 
 Froude's Forty Tears in London. The dining-room 
 in the basement contains many souvenirs of Carlyle, 
 the most interesting of which are letters and bits of 
 manuscript. Back of this room is the large kitchen 
 where he and Tennyson used to sit and smoke in 
 the evening. In the drawing-room on the street 
 floor are many literary curiosities including the 
 Prussian Order of Merit and Carlyle's correspond- 
 ence with Goethe, Bismarck and other famous men; 
 the offer of a baronetcy by Disraeli and Carlyle's 
 dignified refusal; notes for many books, including a 
 carefully written copy of the translation of Goethe's 
 Mason's Song. Connecting with this room is the 
 bedroom of Mrs. Carlyle, where she spent so many 
 unhappy hours worrying over such imaginary woes 
 as her husband's infatuation for the brilliant Lady 
 Ashburton. On the floor above are Carlyle's bed- 
 room and the spare room where Emerson slept 
 when he made his pilgrimage to the home of the 
 man whose work he had done so much to make 
 known to Americans. On the top floor is the sound- 
 proof room which Carlyle had constructed so that 
 he could be free from all noise of the outside world. 
 Here he wrote Frederick the Great, but the chamber 
 
 [147] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 proved to be so hot in summer and so cold in 
 winter that Carlyle was forced to abandon it. One 
 of the most interesting relics is the cast of Carlyle's 
 hands, slender, delicate, but suggesting great mus- 
 cular strength, and the cast of the head with the 
 tremendous reach from ear to ear. 
 
 At the end of Cheyne Row is a little square, in 
 which is a seated statue of Carlyle looking out on 
 the river, and "the still country where at last we and 
 our loved ones shall be together again." Nearby 
 in Cheyne Walk are the houses where George Eliot 
 died, and where Leigh Hunt, Rossetti, Swinburne, 
 Meredith, Whistler and Turner lived. Whistler's 
 house at No. 96 Cheyne Walk is noteworthy, as 
 here he painted the fine portrait of Carlyle and the 
 picture of his mother, his greatest works. 
 
 The houses in London which have sheltered 
 literary genius are many, but perhaps Americans are 
 most interested in those associated with Dickens 
 and Thackeray. Both moved frequently, so that 
 there is no place which speaks of them as Carlyle's 
 house does of him. Many of the haunts of Dickens 
 may be identified as well as the originals of places 
 that he mentions in his books. One of these is the 
 corner store, the original of Old Curiosity Shop. In 
 Doughty street and Devonshire Square are houses 
 in which Dickens wrote some of his best work and 
 his novels are full of vivid descriptions of London. 
 Thackeray's home at No. 16 Young street, Ken- 
 sington, is noteworthy as the scene of the writing of 
 Vanity Fair, which brought him tardy fame. He died 
 at No. 2 Palace Green, Kensington, on Christmas 
 Eve, and his passing saddened thousands who had 
 learned to love him, "because his heart was tender 
 as is the heart of a woman." 
 
 [148] 
 
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PLATE LV 
 
 Carlyle's House in Cheyne Row, Chelsea. Here in This 
 
 Plain Brick House the Author Lived From 1 824 Until His Death 
 
 in 1 88 1. It is a Museum of Carlyle Relics and Manuscripts, 
 
 One of the Most Interesting Places in London, Yet Most 
 
 Londoners Have Never Seen It. The Majority of 
 
 Visitors Are Americans 
 
PLATE HI 
 
 The Garden of Carlyle's House. A Sheltered, 
 
 Sunny Place, With One Old Beech Tree and Vines on the 
 
 High Brick Walls. Here Carlyle Loved to Sit 
 
 and Smoke and Think Out His Books 
 
NEW YORK, THE 
 
 SKY-SCRAPING MARVEL OF 
 
 THE NEW WORLD 
 
Impressions 
 
 of New York After 
 
 Seven Years 
 
 The voyage across the Atlantic from Liver- 
 pool to New York was uneventful. My 
 steamer was the Baltic which was followed 
 by the ill-fated Titanic. Few icebergs were seen, 
 but slow time was made through the great New 
 Foundland fog-belt. 
 
 The first sight of the Statue of Liberty in New 
 York harbor and of the ships flying the Stars and 
 Stripes, looks very good to the man who has 
 scarcely seen an American flag since he left home, 
 seven months before. Then comes that awe-inspir- 
 ing skyline of New York, which is changed by 
 every new skyscraper-a spectacle more impressive 
 than anything that can be seen in Europe. This 
 skyline is as rugged and looms as dark and menac- 
 ing against the clear blue background as a moun- 
 tain wall of the high Sierra. Each skyscraper repre- 
 sents a distinct peak that rises above the high table- 
 land made by the mass of ordinary buildings, which 
 a few years ago were regarded as lofty structures. 
 A new and loftier peak has risen and swims into the 
 ken of the new arrival who has not seen New York 
 for several seasons. This is the towering Wool- 
 worth building, which rises a full twenty stories 
 above its lofty neighbors. 
 
 Nothing in the Old World can compare for im- 
 pressiveness with this skyline, which is the huge, 
 
 [151] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 cyclopean finger-print of commerce against the sky 
 of the New World. It is a fitting introduction to a 
 city which is as unique as Venice or Florence. 
 
 When one passes through the canyons of lower 
 New York, into which the many narrow streets have 
 been converted by clifF-like skyscrapers, it seems 
 almost incredible that only twenty-four years ago 
 the first of these distinctively American buildings 
 was erected, in the face of bitter opposition and pes- 
 simistic criticism. This pioneer structure was the 
 Tower building on Lower Broadway, erected on a 
 lot only twenty-one and a half feet wide. The build- 
 ing was thirteen stories high, or about one hundred 
 and sixty feet. The steel frame was to bear all the 
 weight and the inclosing walls were to be only 
 twelve inches thick. All New York was aroused 
 over what conservative architects denounced as a 
 dangerous innovation, which would result in seri- 
 ous disaster. As it happened, the architect, Brad- 
 ford Lee Gilbert, was able to demonstrate the 
 stability of his plan at the outset. A hurricane blew 
 on the day following the completion of the steel 
 frame. Thousands gathered to watch the fall of the 
 new structure, but it was not disturbed. That suc- 
 cess led to the transformation of lower New York. 
 
 Now it looks as though the skyscraper was 
 destined to swarm over all Manhattan Island, for 
 away up in Harlem, where only a few years ago the 
 land was covered by the shacks of squatters, are 
 rising huge apartment houses of fifteen and twenty 
 stories, of the most ornate architecture, and with 
 appointments so elaborate that the yearly rental of 
 an apartment of eight or ten rooms amounts to 
 twenty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 New York has scores of great edifices, some on 
 small side streets, which are gems of architectural 
 
 [152] 
 
Impressions of New York 
 beauty. All along Broadway and Fifth Avenue one 
 catches glimpses of these buildings, which are worth 
 careful observation, as specimens of the art of adapt- 
 ing the styles and methods of other ages and other 
 lands to our needs. It is the boldness and original- 
 ity of the American architect in this work that will 
 appeal to any person who has made a study of the 
 problems of this art. There is far less of the con- 
 ventional in the work of our architects than in that 
 of English artists, and the result is that the new 
 buildings in New York please one far more than 
 those of London. 
 
 Henry James, after many years of absence in 
 Europe, returned a few years ago to find New York 
 what he called hideous, because of the skyscrapers 
 and the encroachment of business as far up Fifth 
 Avenue as Central Park. What he failed to take 
 into consideration was that New York above every- 
 thing else is a business city, not a city of homes 
 like Philadelphia. Commerce is writ large on its 
 skyscrapers, on its streets and in its subways. All 
 other considerations have had to give way to this 
 insistent demand for space for the great dynamos 
 that move the business of the whole country. Yet 
 with all this strenuous clamor for the swift and 
 most economical transaction of trade, Henry James 
 could have seen much beauty had his eyes not been 
 blind to the many things that make this one of the 
 most attractive cities in the world. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Railroad depot is a massive 
 building which satisfies the eye. Its most striking 
 feature is the main waiting-room, three hundred 
 and fifteen feet long, one hundred and eight feet 
 wide and one hundred and fifty feet high, the larg- 
 est and most imposing room in the world. This 
 room is purely ornamental, as it does not contain a 
 
 ['53] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 
 single seat. Another feature of the building is the 
 long arcade of shops, which contain everything that 
 a traveler needs. This depot cost one hundred and 
 thirteen million dollars. The New York Central 
 depot cost one hundred and fifty million dollars 
 and is the most complete railroad terminal in the 
 world, with depressed tracks and trains run from 
 the suburbs by electricity. Its architecture is fully 
 as fine as that of the Pennsylvania depot. 
 
 The most striking of the new buildings in New 
 York is the Woolworth building on Broadway, just 
 opposite the new Municipal building. This build- 
 ing, which rises seven hundred and fifty feet above 
 the street level, is the result of the profits of a score 
 of years of the pioneer in the five and ten cent 
 stores. With its fifty-seven stories this structure so 
 dominates everything in the vicinity that even the 
 huge Municipal buildings are dwarfed, and sky- 
 scrapers that a few years ago were regarded as colos- 
 sal now look like pygmies. The building has twenty- 
 eight elevators, and one whole floor is given up to 
 a dining-club. 
 
 One of the finest of the new buildings is the 
 Public Library, formed by the union of the Astor, 
 the Lenox and the Free Public Libraries. It stands 
 on Fifth avenue at Forty-second street on the lot 
 so long occupied by the city reservoir. The archi- 
 tecture is noble and impressive, the interior arrange- 
 ments are admirable, the mural decorations are fine 
 and appropriate, but there is no statuary, except the 
 two badly designed lions that guard the main en- 
 trance. Such a building abroad would have noble 
 statues at the entrance and on every stair landing. 
 Strip the public buildings of Rome, or Florence, or 
 Paris of their statuary and you would rob them of 
 the greater part of their impressiveness. 
 
 [154] 
 
Barbaric 
 
 Display of Wealth on 
 
 Fifth Avenue 
 
 In New York the one thing that impresses you, 
 especially if you are fresh from the cities of the 
 Old World, is the unlikeness of the place to 
 any other. Here traditions of the Old World are 
 thrown aside as useless lumber. Here for the first 
 time we have a city which has absolutely no uni- 
 formity in any of its salient features, yet is more 
 interesting than Paris or London, because it con- 
 stantly piques curiosity and arouses wonder or an- 
 tagonism. You cannot be indifferent to New York; 
 you cannot even rest in this great human hive that 
 is always humming with eager life. If you stay in 
 your room the hoarse roar of the street comes up 
 and grips you by the throat; it is useless to try to 
 escape its compelling force. Before you know it 
 you are out on the street and in the thick of this 
 strenuous life that goes to your head like strong 
 wine. You set your pace by the moving throng be- 
 side you, and it is the pace that kills. Before the 
 day is over you are lucky if you escape blistered 
 feet and aching limbs that make you feel as though 
 you had taken a twenty-mile tramp over rough 
 country. 
 
 What there is in this ardent city life that saps 
 the vitality of the stranger is a mystery, but anyone 
 who comes to New York from quieter places will 
 agree with me that three days in the American 
 
 [i 55] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 metropolis are more exhausting than two weeks in 
 London. Whatever the cause, it requires long resi- 
 dence to save one from the tendency to walk too 
 far and too much, and to share too freely in the 
 hustling spirit of the ever-moving crowds. 
 
 Impressive is the spectacle of the crowded streets. 
 Here are lesser crowds than in London, but in 
 some way these crowds suggest a more tumultuous 
 life, a greater eagerness for work, a fiercer desire for 
 display, a more intense existence. Here too are 
 more striking contrasts between rich and poor than 
 London can furnish. On Fifth avenue and Broad- 
 way colossal wealth seems to be hurled in your face; 
 you can't escape it. In the elaborate automobile 
 turnouts; in the extravagant costumes and the price- 
 less jewels of the women who look at you with the 
 cold eyes of disdain, as though they asked why any 
 except the possessors of many millions should invade 
 these sacred haunts of wealth; in the shops where 
 no one of moderate means would dream of enter- 
 ing to buy what is reserved for the plutocrat; in 
 the obsequiousness of all who come in contact with 
 this class— in all these the stranger who has not seen 
 New York for some years feels this insistent de- 
 mand of great wealth that it be recognized with 
 more honor than is given abroad to crowned heads 
 and ancient lineage. 
 
 And yet a walk often minutes from this dis- 
 play of colossal wealth will take one to the haunts 
 of such extreme poverty and misery as may be seen 
 in no city of the Old World. On the East Side of 
 New York, in the crowded tenement buildings, in 
 the unspeakable sweat-shops, where the life of thou- 
 sands is slowly sapped; in the reek and squalor of 
 the crowded streets, where the children of the poor 
 never have a chance for normal development of 
 
 [I56J 
 
Barbaric Display of Wealth 
 
 body or mind; in the great breeding houses of vice 
 and crime, where whole families live in a single 
 room and then take in boarders and lodgers; in the 
 saloons that wink their evil eyes from every corner 
 and to which women and children are slyly admitted; 
 in the swirl of painted harlots, plying their ancient 
 trade openly and unashamed-in all these features 
 of East Side tenement life in New York, one may 
 find the gravest indictment of the luxurious life of 
 the very rich. These never give a thought to the 
 thousands who are swarming into this country from 
 all parts of the earth, and who are paying for the 
 privilege by having all that is good and pure beaten 
 out of their lives by the mere animal struggle for 
 existence. 
 
 If you are in New York any time during the 
 summer or fall take a walk down through Hester, 
 Orchard, Ludlow, Catherine and others of these 
 tenement streets, and see with your own eyes this 
 unspeakable misery and degradation, which is the 
 worst indictment of our system of city government. 
 It is not as though these people did not work. 
 They labor like galley slaves until far into the 
 night; they have no comforts, yet they never escape 
 from the edge of the abyss of poverty and aftual 
 starvation. They are in the same evil state as the 
 viclims of the loan sharks: the harder they work the 
 deeper they sink into the quick-sand of debt. It is 
 because all the necessaries of life cost them ten times 
 as much as they cost those who are able to buy in 
 larger quantities, and also because they have no 
 judgment in spending their small earnings. 
 
 New York has too many fine sights to make it 
 wise to spend very much time in the tenement 
 quarter. Take Fifth avenue, for example, which, to 
 me, is far more impressive than the finest residence 
 
 [*S7] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 quarter of London, because here the wealth is 
 massed and concentrated. Park Lane and Hyde 
 Park Place in London give one the impression of 
 wealth that has been handed down for ages, until 
 the present possessors are unconscious of it; but 
 these splendid homes of great wealth are few in 
 number, whereas, in New York there are miles of 
 imposing houses, each of which requires the income 
 of a multi-millionaire to keep it up. Many of these 
 houses are flamboyant in architecture and are furn- 
 ished regardless of all that is genuinely artistic; but 
 taken in mass they have the same effect upon the 
 beholder as the endless rows of skyscrapers in lower 
 New York. They force upon you this idea of enor- 
 mous wealth from which there is no escape. 
 
 And this impression of vast wealth is thrust 
 upon you again on Fifth avenue on such occasions 
 as the Easter fashion show, which, though it has 
 now degenerated largely into a rivalry of great dress- 
 making establishments, is still one of the spring 
 sights of the city, which draws thousands from all 
 parts of the country. On this noble avenue, which 
 has now ample sidewalk space from Twenty-third 
 street to the park at Fifty-ninth street, great crowds 
 gather a full hour before the show. Then, when 
 the church services are over, two lines form, one 
 going up the avenue, the other coming down. In 
 these lines are many brilliantly-gowned women, 
 who probably make a braver show with their ex- 
 quisitely-designed garments than real ladies would 
 do. For most of these women are the professional 
 models whose business it is to show off these gar- 
 ments in the shops, and who are selected from many 
 thousands for their perfection of form and their grace 
 of carriage. These things wealth cannot buy, and 
 there is some satisfaction in the thought that the 
 
 [158] 
 
Barbaric Display of Wealth 
 daughters of the poor have their innings in this 
 great function, to which otherwise they would have 
 no admission. 
 
 Much of the charm of Fifth avenue is due, as 
 Arnold Bennett says, to the magnificent cornices, 
 which the architects have provided for these great 
 retail stores that have taken the place of the palaces 
 of millionaires. These cornices furnish a fine sky- 
 line and they serve to bring out the ornamental 
 upper story, which is almost universal. The Italian 
 Renaissance is the prevailing architecture of these 
 new palaces of trade. There are infinite variations 
 in it, but its beauty, grace and lightness seem to 
 harmonize with the brilliant blue of the sky and 
 the limpid clearness of the atmosphere. Clubs and 
 hotels and the homes of many firms which are known 
 all over the country make up this, the finest avenue 
 in the world. A few of the old residences, which 
 once gave the street its prestige, remain, but they 
 are doomed. A few years will see them transformed 
 and they will go the way of the others. The Vander- 
 bilts still take up one entire block with the houses 
 which were once celebrated as the finest in the city, 
 but which are now surpassed by the homes of men 
 who were roustabouts and miners, or brakemen on 
 new railroads forty years ago, when the Vanderbilt 
 houses were new. 
 
 [159] 
 
New York's 
 
 Big Museum and Many 
 
 Parks 
 
 among the things in New York which no one 
 /\ should neglect is the Metropolitan Museum 
 X \ of Art in Central Park. Here is a museum 
 designed in the ideal way as a school of art for the 
 public. Besides paintings of all the great masters, 
 ancient and modern, it includes a large number of 
 characteristic works by the best American painters. 
 George A. Hearn gave one hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, the income of which is applied to the 
 purchase of paintings by living American artists. 
 But the feature of the place which struck me as the 
 most valuable from an educational point of view 
 was the collection of plaster casts and models, now 
 one of the largest in the world. 
 
 Besides plaster models of all the great works of 
 sculpture, this collection includes models of the 
 architectural masterpieces of Egypt, Greece, Rome 
 and the modern world. Here are large models of 
 the Hypostile Hall at Karnak, the Parthenon of 
 Athens, the Pantheon of Rome, and the Cathedral 
 of Notre Dame in Paris. The latter especially is a 
 wonderful reproduction of one of the finest speci- 
 mens of Gothic architecture in Europe. It is a 
 liberal education in art to be able to study these 
 models, which are large enough to enable one to 
 appreciate all the detail of each work. The paint- 
 ings are admirably arranged for study. 
 
 [1 60] 
 
New York's Museum and Parks 
 
 New York is not rich in parks, the largest be- 
 ing Central Park, which has an area of eight hun- 
 dred and forty acres. Although artistically laid out 
 and kept in wonderful condition, the park lacks 
 picturesqueness because of the general low level of 
 the ground. There is no height from which one 
 may get a general view; but the drives are finely 
 arranged and the color scheme in flowers, vines and 
 trees could not be improved upon. The finest of 
 the new parks is the Riverside Park, on a high 
 ridge skirting the Hudson and overlooking the 
 Palisades and the New Jersey shore. The River- 
 side drive is the best in New York. It is a pity 
 certain restrictions had not been enforced on pur- 
 chasers of these building sites, as then a good land- 
 scape artist could have made this drive the noblest 
 in the world. As it is, it is well worth careful atten- 
 tion as a specimen of what great wealth may accom- 
 plish in a few years. 
 
 Many of the old squares in New York are ex- 
 tremely picturesque. Of these the finest are Gra- 
 mercy Park on the East Side, once surrounded by 
 the homes of distinguished citizens, but now largely 
 given over to business and manufacture; and Wash- 
 ington Square, which still preserves much of its old- 
 time air. Here is the Washington Arch that is 
 more perfect than any work of its kind in this 
 country. Through this arch, looking north, one 
 may get a superb view of the new Fifth avenue. 
 
 Around Central Park the feature that will im- 
 press anyone who has not seen New York in sev- 
 eral years is the great increase in the number of 
 colossal apartment houses. These bulk enormously 
 against the skyline, many of them rising to twelve 
 or fifteen stories and having hundreds of rooms, 
 leased at rentals as lofty as their own towering roofs. 
 
 [161] 
 
The Critic in the Occident 
 The tremendous roar of the elevated roads in 
 New York always stirs the gorge of the foreigner, 
 but the American, who is more used to noise, soon 
 becomes accustomed to it. Still, in streets like Sixth 
 avenue and the Bowery, the overhead trains and 
 electric surface cars, with gongs constantly sounding, 
 do make a pandemonium during eighteen hours of 
 the day. The subway is the greatest convenience to 
 the visitor, as he may get aboard an express train 
 at One Hundred and Fiftieth street and go to the 
 Battery in about twenty minutes, a ride which used 
 to consume over an hour. These trains stop only 
 at long intervals and run at high speed. 
 
 But beyond any of the other sights in New 
 York is the people, who crowd all the surface, ele- 
 vated and underground cars. It is easy to distin- 
 guish the New Yorker from the stranger, and it is 
 not difficult to pick out the visitor from the Pa- 
 cific Coast, the Canadian or the people from Chi- 
 cago and the Mississippi Valley, while the South- 
 erner differs radically from all the others in dress, 
 manners and speech. This endless tide of humanity 
 furnishes an interesting study of racial traits. 
 
 I have merely touched on a few of the sights of 
 New York, which make it, despite its lack of his- 
 torical interest, more absorbing than any city of 
 Europe. It differs absolutely from Rome, or Paris, 
 or London; it is newer, cruder, if you will, but it 
 grips you as none of these older cities does, and it 
 lingers in the memory as something which you can- 
 not explain. It is the greatest symbol of American 
 material achievement, while at the same time it 
 represents all that has been accomplished in the do- 
 main of the ideal by a people who are far more 
 given to spiritual things than any of the nations 
 of the Old World. 
 
 [162] 
 
PLATE LVIH 
 
 The Woolworth Building, New York. The Tallest 
 
 Building in the World, Seven Hundred and Ninety-two Feet High, 
 
 With Fifty-five Stories and Twenty-eight Elevators; the Highest 
 
 Structure Except the Eiffel Tower. A Monument to American 
 
 Thrift and Opportunity, as the Thirteen Million Dollars 
 
 Investment is the Result of Thirty Years' Work 
 
 by a Poor New York Country Clerk, Who 
 
 Originated the Five and Ten Cent Stores 
 
 (Copyright by 
 
 Underwood and Underwood, 
 
 New York) 
 
a & 
 
 J = £ 3 „ _. I 0S3 3 
 
 SB-PS. 
 
 £0. 
 
 3=- 
 
 *= ~ *l ■= ™ ™ 
 
 2. 5 
 
 g.E-3 
 
PLATE LX 
 
 Looking South on Broadway, New York, 
 
 Through the Canyon Made by Lofty Buildingsj The 
 
 Singer Building With the Flagstaff 
 
 (Copyright by 
 
 Underwood and Underwood 
 
 New York) 
 
PLATE LXI 
 The New York Public Library at Night. One of the Im- 
 pressive New Buildings of New York, With Ample Space to Dis- 
 play Its Architectural Beauties from Fifth Avenue 
 (Copyright by 
 Underwood and Underwood 
 New york) 
 
PLATE LXII 
 
 Wall Street, Looking Toward Trini y Church. The Financial 
 
 Center of the New World. Trinity and Its Ground Represents Twenty 
 
 Million Dollars in Value. No. I Wall Street, an Eighteen Story 
 
 Building Only Twenty-eight by Thirty-two Feet is 
 
 Built on the Most Valuable Bit of Ground 
 
 in the World 
 
 (Copyright by 
 
 Underwood and Underwood, 
 
 New York) 
 
nuiiiiiiiiiii'nlff 
 
 rnni iitinxn, rnrl-tii I I | III 
 
 !!" !!!!!!!»'ilH *ririr^ 7, .r ti 
 
 PLATE LXIII 
 New Municipal Building, New York. Largest Public Building 
 in Th's Country Except the Capital at Washington. Height Five 
 Hundred and Eighty Feet; Forty Stories j Cost Eigh- 
 teen Million Dollars, Including the Site 
 (Copyright by 
 Underwood and Underwood, 
 New York) 
 
Empire 
 
 Banker's Trust 
 
 American Surety 
 
 Singer 
 
 City Investment 
 
 Hudson Terminal 
 
 St. Paul 
 Park Row 
 
 New Municipal 
 
 
 > 
 
 ° b 6 - ,3-M-mis 
 
 a ° 
 
 2 '•? ^ 3 r, ;: :.•; "i ' • 
 
 " 5," 5 
 
APPENDIX 
 
Tips for the Tourist 
 
 Hints for Seeing Things and Buying 
 
 Things That May Help 
 
 the Traveler 
 
 Much of the comfort of traveling in Europe depends upon the 
 smallness and compactness of your baggage. If you carry 
 even a small steamer trunk, you will wish before you get back to 
 England that the sea had swallowed it up early in your voyage. A 
 trunk is a constant source of worry and expense. As nothing is 
 ever checked in Europe, you must make sure personally that this 
 piece of baggage is on every train and boat. If you don't look after 
 it yourself, the chances are that it will be left on dock or station 
 platform. Every time it is moved you not only pay stiff freight 
 charges, but tip every porter who even looks at it. 
 
 Even a woman can get all her belongings in a large suit case 
 and a hold-all, which is a god-send to the Continental traveler. 
 These are stowed in your compartment on every train, and it is no 
 trouble to look after them and to point them out to the porter. 
 Your steamer trunk you can leave in London or Paris in storage, 
 or you can ship it to other large cities, if you are a woman and 
 must have room for fluffy ruffles and evening gowns. But don't 
 take your trunk on tours of France, Italy or other Continental 
 countries, unless you have unlimited patience and money. You can 
 buy a large leather suit case in London for ten dollars that is better 
 than can be bought in any American city for thirty dollars. This 
 will last, as the leather is honest and all the sewing is done by hand, 
 and will not give way. The hold-alls have water-proof cases and 
 they are marvels of capacity. 
 
 It is useless to carry much clothing, but some things you 
 should never take any chance of wearing out. These are collars, 
 shoes, and dental supplies. Every American has a special collar 
 which fits his neck. Therefore don't sail with a small stock and 
 trust to luck in supplying yourself abroad ; you will work yourself 
 into a dangerous rage in this quest. The same may be said of shoes. 
 Several American shoe manufacturers do an enormous business 
 abroad as their shoes are far superior to those made in Europe; but 
 a man's own last and number they are sure not to keep in stock, 
 
 [I6 5 ] 
 
Tips for the Tourist 
 
 As much of the enjoyment of travel depends upon the condition of 
 your feet, you can't afford to take any risks with strange shoes. 
 
 In selecting steamship lines, the North German Lloyd is the 
 surest for comfort. In crossing the Atlantic, it is always best to 
 take the slower boats, because these are not infested with the Amer- 
 ican plutocrat, who has not recovered from the shock of sudden 
 weahh, and his pestilent brood of spoiled children. All these unde- 
 sirable Americans crowd into the newest, swiftest and most luxuri- 
 ous boats. You pay an extra price for berths on such boats and 
 you get nothing in return except the opportunity to study the un- 
 speakable manners of the insolent and uncultured rich, who devour 
 squab and lobster a la Newberg with appetites that reveal recent 
 training on corned beef and cabbage. 
 
 In the Mediterranean and the Orient the North German 
 Lloyd steamers are always to be preferred, as the Italian lines are 
 to be avoided. On one of these big German liners, everything 
 moves like clockwork. Strains of music wake you at seven-thirty 
 in the morning, breakfast is served promptly at eight, lunch at one 
 and dinner at seven. The menu at all these meals is lavish in good 
 things, with entrees and desserts at dinner, which are masterpieces 
 of the chef's skill. Besides the regular meals there are coffee and 
 rolls at early morning served in your room or on deck, lemonade 
 or tea with sandwiches at eleven in the morning and at four in the 
 afternoon, and lemonade again on deck at half past nine in the even- 
 ing. An orchestra composed of members of the ship' s staff discourse 
 music on deck at four in the afternoon, and at dinner it plays a 
 selection of good music and plays it very well. As these ships aver- 
 age three hundred and fifty miles a day and always sail and arrive 
 on time, is it any wonder that they are popular with Americans? 
 
 Travel in Greece is still primitive. The trains are slow and 
 seldom on. time: in winter there is no heat. A lunch basket is a 
 necessity as the stations furnish only the food of the country, which 
 looks better than it tastes. The Asiatic Lloyds is the best steamer 
 line from Italy to Greece. Don't patronize the Greek or Italian 
 lines, or you will regret it. The boats are small and dirty, the food 
 is poor, and the service worse. 
 
 In Italy the chief discomfort of travel to the American arises 
 from the national objection to fresh air. In winter the stuffiness of 
 the cars is almost unbearable. To open a window is to invite a 
 near riot. The only way to avoid trouble is to stand in the corri- 
 dor where the opening of the door gives some fresh air at intervals. 
 
 In Naples get rooms at any of the hotels along the harbor- 
 front, near the Castel del'Ovo. If you go on the hill, you pay 
 
 [i 66] 
 
Tips for the Tourist 
 
 double price, and every time you stir out you must take a tram-car 
 or a carriage and waste a half hour in reaching the heart of the city. 
 The Hotel Santa Lucia was recommended to me and I found there 
 good rooms and board at three dollars a day, with a table that it is 
 a pleasure to recall. The chef was an artist and the maitre d'hotel 
 arranged for something new and appetizing every day. It was like 
 home with far more than the ordinary home comforts. 
 
 In Naples, spend as much time as possible in the museum 
 which is one of the richest in Europe. If you are a man, don't 
 fail to see the secret room in this museum, which will give you 
 more light on the reason why Rome fell than all the histories. Also 
 make two visits to Pompeii. On the first it is well to go with a 
 Cook's party. Then go again, take your lunch, and stay all day. 
 This is the only way to get the real spirit of the place. 
 
 In Rome the best method of absorbing the spirit of old Roman 
 life is to attend the walking lectures. Professor L. Reynaud I found 
 very entertaining and instructive. His lectures on the Vatican, 
 the Forum, the Capitoline Hill, and his trips to the Appian Way, 
 Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa were rich in instruction. His schedule 
 of lectures may be found at any of the hotels or tourist agencies. 
 
 Don't be inveigled into an English pension in Rome. These 
 places are usually in old, musty buildings, in noisy streets, with a 
 common table at which your neighbor may sup his soup and eat 
 with his knife. One of the pleasantest places in Rome is the Hotel 
 Boston, which caters to Americans. It is on the Pincian Hill where 
 the air is good, and you can get room and excellent board for two 
 dollars a day. 
 
 There are many temptations to spend money in Rome, especi- 
 ally for jewelry and curios. Don't buy any Roman pearls unless 
 you have the advice of an expert. Most of them are made by 
 Tecla of Paris. Don't buy antiques unless you have an expert's ad- 
 vice. The Italian is a past master in manufacturing antiques. If 
 you buy any small articles in marble or lava in Rome or other 
 Italian cities, do not trust the dealer to pack them. As a rule the 
 shop-keepers are very careless in packing and if you trust them, you 
 are apt to find your statuettes without arms or noses. There are 
 several pretentious shops near the Piazza di Spagna, which make a 
 specialty of Roman pearls, but they are to be avoided, as they 
 charge five or ten times the price asked for the same goods in Ven- 
 ice or Paris. 
 
 Naples is famous for its coral and lava work, as Rome is for 
 its artificial pearls and its jewelry. Florence is also one of the best 
 cities in Europe for the purchase of jewelry. The work is artistic 
 
 [l6 7 ] 
 
Tips for the Tourist 
 
 and the prices are much more reasonable than in Rome. A place 
 which is a favorite with Americans is Fratelli Cappini at Borgo 
 S. Lacopo 6. This shop is across the Arno in a mean little alley. In 
 front are the goods and directly behind are rows of benches at 
 which are working young men and women making the jewelry. 
 You can buy there necklaces of oxidized silver, with lapis lazuli, 
 topaz, and other stones, for one fifth what you pay in this country. 
 Florence is rich also in artistic articles of leather and morocco. 
 Venice is famous for its jewelry, its lace and its work in leather. 
 Venetian point lace is sold at about fifteen dollars a yard. Every- 
 thing made in Venice has the color and aroma of the Orient. 
 
 In Paris the tourist must depend largely on Baedeker and his 
 own special tastes. The only way to get the real feel of the Latin 
 Quarter and of old Paris is to walk through its streets and spend 
 time in absorbing impressions. As for buying things, Paris is a sore 
 temptation to one who must economize to reach home. 
 
 The best way to get around London quickly is by the tubes, 
 which are quicker than the subway in New York. The penny 
 motor bus is a great convenience for shorter distances. London is 
 one of the best places in Europe to buy things, especially clothing. 
 What puzzles an American is the cheapness of furnishing goods and 
 clothing. 
 
 Why should a London shop be able to make good shirts of 
 zephyr with an extra pair of cufFs, for one dollar and a half each, 
 for which an American dealer charges you four dollars and a half 
 each? The English shirt will wear about three times as long as the 
 American, and you are never bothered with seams ripping or buttons 
 coming loose. You can get a suit of tweed made to order in Lon- 
 don with an extra pair of trousers for twenty-five dollars. For a 
 similar suit in this country you will pay from forty-five to fifty 
 dollars. 
 
 In buying things in Europe or the Orient one must always 
 take into consideration the duty which must be paid in New York. 
 One hundred dollars worth of clothes and small articles are passed 
 free of duty. But a friend of mine, who bought two small table 
 covers in Hongkong for which she paid seventy-five cents each, 
 was amazed when the New York inspectors insisted that these were 
 worth five dollars apiece and charged her three dollars duty on each. 
 
 New York dazes the foreigner and it has much of this same 
 effect upon the American who has not seen it for several years. 
 With the "rubber neck" wagon, the auto-buses and the subway 
 trains you can see the city very well in two or three days. 
 
 [168] 
 
Bibliography 
 
 Books Which Throw Light on the 
 
 History, Art and People of 
 
 European Countries 
 
 Little can be done in this bibliography, except to in- 
 delicate the books that I found most helpful. On 
 Italian art alone, several hundred books have been 
 written. What I have tried to do here is to mention 
 the books that best will repay reading, before the reader 
 sees the countries that are described in this volume. 
 The more thoroughly you master these books, the greater 
 will be the benefit you will derive from seeing things 
 with your own eyes. If you read nothing but the guide 
 books, you will gain very little from a European trip, 
 as the guide books do not feed the imagination. 
 
 GREECE 
 
 The best general work on Greece is Mahaffy's Rambles and 
 Studies in Greece. Professor Mahaffy is one of" the greatest living 
 authorities on Greek literature and archeology. He is saturated 
 with the Greek classics, but he never displays his learning, except 
 to illustrate a subjeft. His chapters on Athens, and especially his 
 description of the Parthenon, are very fine. It will be well also to 
 read his book, What Have the Greeks Done for Civilization? 
 
 An invaluable book on Greek statuary and architecture is The 
 Art of the Greeks, by H. B. Walters, with many fine full-page re- 
 productions of photographs. The British Museum has printed in 
 large folio many plates of the Elgin marbles, with detailed descrip- 
 tions of all the treasures of the collection. Another excellent work 
 is The Acropolis of Athens, by Martin L. D'Ooge, which reviews 
 all the great archeological discoveries in Greece up to 1908, with 
 an abundance of clear illustrations from photographs. Other good 
 books on Greece and Athens are Studies and Sketches in Italy and 
 Greece, by J. A. Symonds; The Customs and Lore of Modern 
 Greece, by J. Rennell Rodd, and Robert Hichens descriptions of 
 
 [169] 
 
Bibliography 
 
 Dalmatia and Greece, illustrated by Guerin, which are appearing 
 in Scribner's Magazine. The best short works on Greek art are 
 Walter's The Art of the Greeks, and Gardiner's Handbook of Greek 
 Sculpture. For one who wishes merely an outline of Greek art, 
 the best summary is Percy Gardner's monograph of twenty-two 
 pages in the Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 
 ITALY 
 
 So large is the collection of really good books on Italy that the 
 most rigid selection is necessary. The one book which I found 
 more valuable than any other is The Ideal Italian Tour, by Henry 
 James Forman, a young American writer. It is sympathetic, and 
 the author has a most picturesque touch. Next to this I should 
 place Roman Holidays and Others, by William Dean Howells, full 
 of humor and wisdom, by one of the best observers of our day. In 
 Henry James's Transatlantic Sketches, and in Hawthorne's Notes of 
 Travel, will be found many good things about Rome, Naples and 
 Florence. A book that reproduces the feelings of the tourist who 
 is fond of literature and art is The Spell of Italy, by Caroline At- 
 water Mason. John Addington Symonds' Sketches and Studies in 
 Italy ana Greece, is valuable, as Symonds is one of the best English 
 interpreters of the romance and beauty of Italian and Greek life 
 and literature. For vivid description of Italian cities, especially of 
 Venice and Florence, see Theophile Gautier's Travels in Italy, 
 forming the fourth volume of his collected works, in an English 
 translation. Here one of the greatest of modern artists in words, 
 gives his impressions of Venice by night, and of the art and archi- 
 tecture of Florence. Equally skilful, but more modern is Henry 
 James in Italian Hours, which has been made into a beautiful book 
 by fine full-page illustrations in color by Joseph Pennell. Katharine 
 Hooker in Wayfarers in Italy, has written one of the best appre- 
 ciations of this land of art and natural beauty. 
 
 NAPLES 
 
 The most picturesque city in Italy does not seem to have 
 been a favorite with travelers. They are fond of referring to its 
 noises, its odors and its other repulsive traits; but its perfect harbor, 
 its attractive heights, and its swarming street life will always linger 
 in the memory. Howells gives several chapters to the city in 
 Roman Holidays and Others, and there are good chapters devoted 
 to the city in Italian Lanes and Highways, by Russell Wood- 
 ward Leary, a book of clever description. Albert Osbourne de- 
 votes an appreciative chapter to Naples and its surroundings in 
 
 [l 7 o] 
 
Bibliography 
 
 Finding the Worth While in Europe: this book is of real value 
 because it gives the results of many years of travel. Naples, the 
 City of Parthenope, by Clara Erskine Clement, gives a complete 
 history of the art and people of a city, which legend says was 
 founded by a goddess cast upon this favored shore. 
 
 On Pompeii one of the best books is Pompeii, Its Life and 
 Art, by August Mau of the German Archeological Institute of 
 Rome. It has elaborate plans of the various houses and many good 
 illustrations. Bulwer in The Last Days of Pompeii, furnishes a 
 graphic description of the life of this old Italian pleasure city, and 
 of the eruption of Vesuvius which destroyed it. 
 
 ROME 
 
 A large library has been written on ancient Rome and its re- 
 mains. Two of the best books are Ruins and Remains of Ancient 
 Rome, and Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, by 
 Rudolph Lanciani. These with his Wanderings in the Roman 
 Campagna, give a very comprehensive sketch of the ancient city. 
 Middleton's, The Remains of Ancient Rome, is readable. For the 
 art of Rome, the best short book is Roman Sculpture, by Mrs. 
 Arthur Strong, which gives reproductions of photographs of all the 
 great statues and reliefs. Rome, by Esther Singleton, is a valuable 
 book containing chapters by Maeterlinck, Crawford, Dickens, 
 Ouida, Hawthorne, Zola, Gibbon, Hugh Macmillan and others. 
 In all literature I know nothing so full of suggestion to one who 
 has seen Rome as Maeterlinck's chapter in this book. It is a poet's 
 impressions of the Eternal City. Very fine also are the chapters on 
 the Vatican and the Palatine Hill by Zola. The monograph in the 
 Encyclopedia Britannica on Ancient Rome, by John Henry Middle- 
 ton and Henry Stuart Jones, is very complete and has numerous 
 plans and maps. Read Byron's Childe Harold, for its pen-pictures 
 of Rome. His verses on the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Ap- 
 pian Way are worth many readings. The scene of many of 
 Marian Crawford's novels are laid in Rome, and this American 
 novelist, who was half-Italian because of his long residence at Sor- 
 rento, has given in his novels many truthful pictures of Roman life 
 and character. Especially good are Corleone, Cecilia, The Heart of 
 Rome, and Saracinesca and its sequels. 
 
 FLORENCE 
 
 A small library of books has been written on Florence, which 
 has been the favorite winter home of the English for twenty years. 
 Here was the home of Robert Browning and his wife; here Mrs. 
 
Bibliography 
 
 Browning wrote her Casa Guidi Windows and Aurora Leigh, and 
 here she died and was buried. For general sketches of Florence no 
 book contains more vivid work than Romola, for George Eliot loved 
 Florence and knew it well. For the architefture and the art of 
 Florence no guide is better than Ruskin, although he it an extrem- 
 ist and one may not be able always to follow him in his great en- 
 thusiasms. Useful books are Florentine Palaces and Their Stories, 
 by Janet Ross ; Florence and Some Tuscan Cities, by Clarrissa Goff, 
 with colored illustrations by Colonel R. C. Goff; The Road in 
 Tuscany, by Maurice Hewlett, which gives charming glimpses of 
 Florence with much out-of-the-way information. Grant Allen's 
 Historical Guide to Florence will be found valuable, especially for 
 its information on art and architecture, as well as A Wanderer in 
 Florence, by E. V. Lucas. 
 
 VENICE 
 
 Of course the great book about this city is Ruskin's The 
 Stones of Venice. You can get what you want out of it without 
 going through all the volumes. The best things are about the 
 Square of St. Mark's and the Doges' Palace. More attractive to 
 the American reader is Howells' Venetian Life, which is as good 
 as when it was written nearly fifty years ago. Howells was a 
 Consul in those days before he became a novelist, and this book is 
 written by one who had learned to love the Venetians and their 
 unique city. For the Venice of the period read F. Hopkinson 
 Smith's Gondola Days. He interprets Venice with the skill of an 
 artist and he gives many charming glimpses of the days of the 
 Republic from old writers. A small book which is of much value 
 for its text and pictures is Things Seen in Venice. 
 
 PARIS 
 
 The Stones of Paris, by Benjamin Ellis Martin, gives good 
 sketches of the history of the city and its literary characters, with 
 a fine chapter devoted to Victor Hugo; The By-ways of Paris, and 
 Nooks and Corners of Old Paris, by George Cain, curator of the 
 Carnavalet Museum and one of the authorities on Old Paris, are 
 richly illustrated; The Color of Paris, by members of the Goncourt 
 Academy, is excellent for description and for the colored plates of 
 Parisian scenes; very clever sketches of the artists' quarters may be 
 found in Bohemian Days in Paris, written by W. C. Morrow, 
 from notes by Edouard Cucuel, and with many capital sketches by 
 this French artist. Paris, by Esther Singleton, is a fine volume 
 with selections from Victor Hugo, Balzac, Hamerton, Renan, Pros- 
 
 [172] 
 
Bibliography 
 
 per Merimee, Zola, Gamier and others. E. V. Lucas' A Wan- 
 derer in Paris, would be valuable alone for its hints for seeing the 
 best things in the Louvre and the other museums. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 One of the best books on London is A Wanderer in London, 
 by E. V. Lucas, with many illustrations. The author keeps far 
 from the guide book, but no one can fail to get valuable hints from 
 his pages, especially in regard to the historical and literary features 
 of the city. Another good book, light and sketchy, is Three 
 Weeks in the British Isles, by John U. Higginbothan. Our House 
 and London Out of Our Windows, by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, is 
 noteworthy for the charming and unusual views of London by 
 Joseph Pennell, especially of the river views. Other good books 
 are: London Vanished and Vanishing, by Philip Norman; London, 
 by Walter Besant; The Scenery of London, by G. E. Milton, with 
 pictures by Herbert M. Marshall ; In London Town, very graphic 
 sketches with illustrations by F. Berkeley Smith, of the theaters and 
 the night life of Piccadilly and Leicester Square ; Bohemia in Lon- 
 don, by Arthur Ransome, with clever pen and ink sketches by 
 Fred Taylor; The Thackeray Country, by Lewis Melville, with 
 many pictures of the homes of the novelist and the scenes of his 
 works ; The Dickens Country, by Frederick G. Kilton, which does 
 the same service for the author of Pickwick. Walks in London, by 
 Augustus J. C. Hare, in two volumes, is as good as when it was 
 first written forty years ago. It is rich in quotations from many 
 authors. London Films, by William Dean Howells, contains charm- 
 ing glimpses of famous places by one who has a genius for pictur- 
 esque description. Howells, more than any other of our writers, 
 makes one feel the kinship of the American to historic shrines of 
 London. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 One of the best books on the American metropolis is The 
 New New York, by John C. Van Dyke, with many fine illustra- 
 tions by Joseph Pennell. It sums up the enormous changes made 
 in the city in the last twenty years. A good guide book for pic- 
 tures is The Art of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, by 
 David C. Preyer. Other books are: Moses King's Handbook of 
 New York; F. B. Kelley's Historical Guide to the City of New 
 York; The Wayfarer in New York, edited by E. S. Martin; New 
 York, by Theodore Roosevelt; New York Old and New, by R. C. 
 Wilson. 
 
 [ x 73] 
 
Index 
 
 Abelard and Heloise, monument 
 to, in Pere-Lachaise, 1 20 
 
 Acropolis of Athens, 20-28; its 
 unrivaled artistic treasures, 20- 
 21 ; the Parthenon, 21-24-26; 
 the Erechtheum, 24 ; the Propy- 
 lea, 24; the Museum, 28 
 
 Actium, one of the great naval 
 battles of the world, 1 7 
 
 Aden, at Gateway of Red Sea, 5- 
 8 ; one of hottest places in 
 world, 5 ; British Army Post, 
 5 ; the Perseus cocktail, 5 ; the 
 big native city, 6 ■ salt works of 
 Sheik Othman, 7 ■ trade in os- 
 trich feathers, 8 
 
 Appian Way, great Roman road 
 from Rome to Brindisi, 53-68- 
 69 
 
 Arab, traits of, 6-7 ; along the 
 Suez Canal, 13-14 
 
 Athena, Pallas, gold and ivory 
 statue of, by Phidias, 25 
 
 Athens, Capital of Greece and 
 source of all that is best in lit- 
 erature and art, 20-32; Mount 
 Hymettus and Lykobettos, 21 ; 
 the Parthenon, 22-26; Theater 
 of Dionysius, 23; Theater of 
 Herodes Atticus, 23 ; the Pro- 
 pylea, 24; the Erechtheum, 24; 
 the Elgin marbles, 26; Acrop- 
 olis Museum, 28-29; National 
 Museum, 29-30; Arch of Ha- 
 drian, 30; monument of Lysi- 
 krates, 30; the Theseion, 31 ; 
 Macaulay's tribute to Athens, 
 
 32 
 Bartholome, sculptor of the mon- 
 ument to the dead in Pere-La- 
 chaise, Paris, 1 20 
 
 Brindisi, southern end of old Ap- 
 pian Way, 15; now transfer 
 point on line from England to 
 India, 15 
 
 Byron, his work for Greek inde- 
 pendence, 18; his death at 
 Missolonghi, 17; his amusing 
 letters, 18; fine pictures of 
 Rome in Childe Harold, 70 
 
 Byzantine, church of Kahnikarea, 
 Athens, 30 
 
 Cesar, Julius, bust in Naples 
 Museum, 5 1 ; built Basilica 
 Julia, 56 
 
 Carnavalet, museum illustrating 
 the history of Paris, 1 1 7- 1 1 8 
 
 Cingalese, natives of Colombo, 
 
 3-4 
 
 Cluny, rich museum in Paris, 117 
 
 Colleoni, Bartolomeo, Italian sol- 
 dier commemorated by the best 
 statue in Venice, 92 
 
 Colombo, Capital of Ceylon, 3- 
 4 ; Tamils, the common labor- 
 ers, 3 ; world's greatest pearl 
 market, 4 ; door to the Orient, 4 
 
 Colosseum, the amphitheater built 
 by the Flavians, 66-68 ; de- 
 spoiled by the Popes, 67 ; where 
 Christians were thrown to the 
 lions, 67-68 
 
 Corfu, Greek island off the Al- 
 banian coast, 15-17; Achilleon, 
 German Emperor's villa, 16- 
 1 7 ; ancient olive trees, 1 6 
 
 Corinth, canal which pierces the 
 isthmus of Corinth, Greece, 
 18-19 
 
 De Lesseps, Ferdinand, promoter 
 of the Panama Canal, I o ; lav- 
 ish extravagance which ruined 
 
 [174] 
 
Index 
 
 Ismail, 1 1 ; statue at Port Said, 
 10 
 
 Dionysius, Greek theater of, at 
 Athens, 23 
 
 Doges' Palace, Venice, 89-90 
 
 Elgin Marbles in British Mu- 
 seum, 26, 140 
 
 Emperor William of Germany, 
 winter villa on Corfu, 16 
 
 Empress Elizabeth of Austria, 
 builder of Achilleon at Corfu, 
 16; her tomb in the villa 
 grounds, 1 7 
 
 Florence, Tuscan capital famous 
 for art and architecture, 76- 
 83 ; the Loggia dei Lanzi, 77- 
 78 j the Palazzo Vecchio, 79; 
 scene of Savonarola's death, 79- 
 80 ; the Duomo or Cathedral, 
 77-80; the Campanile and the 
 Baptistry, 80-8 1 ; the Uffizi and 
 Pitti galleries, 81-83; the acad- 
 emy of fine arts, 82; Michel- 
 angelo's David, 82-83; torn bs 
 of the Medicis, 83 
 
 French Revolution, relics of, in 
 Carnavalet Museum, 117 
 
 Gambetta, monument to, in Paris, 
 116 
 
 Genoa, birthplace of Columbus, 
 95; fine sixteenth century pal- 
 aces, 95; great Italian seaport, 
 
 95 
 
 Greece, fountainhead of literature 
 and art, 15-32; Corfu, off the 
 Albanian coast, 1 6-1 7; Patras, 
 port of commerce, 1 8 ; Corinth 
 and the canal, 19; Athens and 
 the Acropolis, 20-28 
 
 Hadrian, his arch at Athens, 30; 
 one of the greatest of Roman 
 builders, 66; tomb at Rome, 
 23-24; villa at Tivoli, 74-75 
 
 Herculaneum, Italian city des- 
 troyed on same day as Pom- 
 peii, 41-51 
 
 Hichens, Robert, description of 
 the Parthenon, xv 
 
 Hints to tourists, 165-17 1 
 
 Homer, head of Greek poet found 
 in Herculaneum, 51 
 
 Hugo, Victor, his home in Paris, 
 118-119; "Notre Dame de 
 Paris," 112-113 
 
 Italy, the land of art and scenic 
 beauty, 35-92; Naples, rich in 
 ancient art, 35-43; Pompeii, 
 which reveals old Roman life, 
 44-51; Rome, the most inter- 
 esting city in Europe, 52-65 ; 
 the Appian Way, 66-72 ; Tiv- 
 oli and Hadrian's villa, 73-75; 
 Florence and its art treasures, 
 76-83; Venice, the city of 
 romance, 84-92 
 
 Ithaca, home of Ulysses and Pen- 
 elope, 17 
 
 James, Henry, comment on New 
 York, 153 
 
 Louvre, great art museum of 
 Paris, 108- 1 11 
 
 London, England's capital and 
 world's largest city, 123.148; 
 famous buildings and squares, 
 1 24; motor buses and tubes, 
 1 25; splendor of the West End, 
 1 29;St. Paul's, 1 29-1 30; West- 
 minster Abbey, 1 30-131; the 
 Temple, 1 31-144; the Tower, 
 1 3 2- 1 3 5 ; the Parliament build- 
 ings, 136-137; in the Com- 
 mons, 137-139; in the House 
 of Lords, 139; the British Mu- 
 seum, 140-141' the National 
 Gallery, 142; the Tate Gal- 
 lery, 142; the Wallace collec- 
 
 [*7S] 
 
Index 
 
 tion, 143; South Kensington 
 Museum, 143; literary shrines 
 and haunts, 144-148; relics of 
 Shakespeare, 1 45 ; reminders of 
 De Quincey, 146; homes of 
 Dickens and Thackeray, 147- 
 148- Carlyle's house, 146-147 
 
 Lyons, important manufacturing 
 city of France, ioi; handles 
 half the silk of the world, 101 
 
 Lysikrates, who erected a cho- 
 ragic monument at Athens, 30 
 
 Macaulay, tribute to the influ- 
 ence of Athens, 32 
 
 Metropolitan Museum of art, 
 New York, 160 
 
 Messina, small rehabilitation 
 since great earthquake of 1 909, 
 
 35 
 
 Missolonghi, Greek port where 
 Lord Byron died of fever, 17 
 
 Monte Carlo, the world's most 
 famous gambling place, 97- 
 101 ; property of the Prince of 
 Monaco, 97-98 ; decoration of 
 the Casino, 98 ; method of 
 gambling at roulette and bacca- 
 rat, 99- 1 00 ; scenes in the Ca- 
 sino, ioo-ioi; apocryphal 
 stories of suicide, 101 
 
 Naples, Italian city of art and 
 natural beauty, 35-43 ; Posilipo, 
 Sorrento and Capri, 36; closely 
 built, 37; one of noisest cities 
 in world, 37 ; Via Roma, form- 
 erly the Toledo, 37-38; Villa 
 Nazionale, 40; Aquarium, 40- 
 41- Galleria Umberto Primo, 
 41 ; National Museum, 41-42 ; 
 swarming street life, 43 
 
 Napoleon, his tomb in Paris, ix- 
 105-107 ; two triumphal arches, 
 105; souvenirs in th Invalides, 
 
 [176] 
 
 106-107; Regalia in the Lou- 
 vre, 109 
 
 New York, recent changes in, 
 151-162; first sight of Statue of 
 Liberty, 151; the sky-line of 
 skyscrapers, 152; costly rail- 
 road depots, 153-154; wealth 
 displayed on Fifth avenue, 155- 
 156; misery in tenement quart- 
 er, 1 58 j Central Park, 160- 
 161 ; Metropolitan Museum, 
 1 60 ; Riverside Park, 1 6 1 ; 
 swift transit on the subway, 
 162 
 
 Nice, famous winter resort on the 
 Riviera, 95-96; Boulevard des 
 Anglais, 96 
 
 Paris, Capital of France and lead- 
 ing pleasure city of Europe, 
 102-120; magnificent vistas, 
 102-103; avenues and boule- 
 vards, 103; importance of the 
 Seine, 104; Napoleon's tomb, 
 105-106; Hotel des Invalides, 
 105-106; treasures of the Lou- 
 vre, 1 08- 1 1 1 ; the Luxembourg 
 Gallery, 1 1 1 ; Notre Dame de 
 Paris, 1 1 2- 1 1 3 ; the Madeleine, 
 113; the Pantheon, 1 1 3.1 14 ; 
 the Grand Opera-house, 1 1 4- 
 1 1 5; Arches of Triumph, 1 1 5- 
 116; the Gambetta monument, 
 116; Cluny and Carnavalet Mu- 
 seums, 1 1 7-1 1 8 ; Victor Hugo's 
 home, 1 1 8-1 19; Pere-Lachaise 
 cemetery, 120 
 
 Pere-Lachaise, famous cemetery 
 of Paris, 1 20 
 
 Pompeii, the burned Italian pleas- 
 ure city, 44-5 1 • street of Nola, 
 45 ; destroyed by Vesuvius, 
 45-46 ; Professor Fiorelli's ex- 
 cavations, 47 ; plan of Roman 
 
Index 
 
 houses, 48; mural decorations, 
 49; the House of" the Vettii, 49 ; 
 the House of the Faun, 50 
 
 Port Said, at Mediterranean end 
 of Suez Canal, 10- 11 ; statue 
 of De Lesseps, 10 
 
 Rome, Capital of Italy, 52-72; 
 rich in historical and art inter- 
 est, 52; the modern city, 54; 
 the Pantheon, 54; the Forum, 
 55.56 ; the Capitoline Hill, 56 ; 
 the Palatine Hill, 57; arch of 
 Septimus Severus, 58; arch of 
 Titus, 56 ; St. Peter's, 59-61 ; 
 the Vatican, 61-64; tne ^or- 
 ghese Gallery, 65; Guido 
 Reni's Beatrice Cenci, 65; 
 Fountain of Trevi, 65 ; the 
 Colosseum, 66-68; the Appian 
 Way, 68; Baths of Caracalla, 
 68; the catacombs, 69 • Quo 
 Vadis Church, 69; tomb of 
 Cecilia Metella, 70 ; the Cam- 
 pagna, 70-71; basilica of St. 
 Paul's, 7 1 ; graves of Keats and 
 Shelley, 72 
 
 Ruskin, Seven Lamps of Archi- 
 tecture, 80 
 
 St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice, 
 88-89 
 
 St. Peter's of Rome, the greatest 
 religious shrine in Christendom, 
 59-61 ; Michelangelo's work, 
 60-61; Canova's masterpieces, 
 61 
 
 Salamis, scene of the destruction 
 of Persian fleet by the Greeks, 
 
 19 
 
 Scvlla and Charyedis, historical 
 rocks near Straits of Messina, 3 5 
 
 St. Paul, lived as tent-maker at 
 Corinth, 1 9 ; preached on Hill 
 of Mars, Athens, 30 
 
 St. Paul's basilica at Rome, 7 1 
 
 Socotra, an bland in the Indian 
 Ocean, 5 
 
 Suez Canal, 9- 14 ; old Arabian 
 town of Suez, 9; passage by 
 steamer, 10-13; cana l scill in- 
 complete, 1 o ; Arab laborers 
 inefficient, II-IZ; desert on 
 both sides, 12-13; large divi- 
 dends paid, 14 
 
 Tintoretto, famous pictures in 
 Venice, 92 
 
 Titian, Assumption of the Vir- 
 gin, 92 
 
 Vatican, the, home of the Popes, 
 62-65 ; gallery of sculpture, 62- 
 63; the Sistine Chapel, 63; 
 "The Last Judgment," 64; 
 Stanze of Raphael, 63-64; 
 Raphael's "Transfiguration," 
 64 
 
 Venice, the unique city of Europe, 
 84-92 ; gondolas and gondo- 
 liers, 84-85 ; the Grand Canal, 
 84-85; hotels in old palaces, 
 85; historical palaces on the 
 Grand Canal, 86-87; Square 
 of St. Mark, 87-88; St. Mark's 
 Cathedral, 88-89; the Doges' 
 Palace, 90-91 ; feeding the 
 pigeons, 91; churches and art 
 collections, 92 
 
 Venus of Melos, in the Louvre, 
 108 
 
 Veronese, Paul, celebrated pic- 
 tures in Venice, 92 
 
 Vesuvius, active volcano which 
 overlooks Naples, 36; its de- 
 struction of Pompeii, 45-46 
 
 Villa d'Este, beautiful Italian 
 garden near Tivoli, 75 
 
 Winged Victory of Samothrace 
 in the Louvre, 108-109 
 
 [ l 77] 
 
AND SO ENDS THE CRITIC IN THE OCCIDENT, CONTAINING 
 THE IMPRESSIONS OF GEORGE HAMLIN FITCH ON THE 
 LAST HALF OF HIS TRIP AROUND THE WORLD, PUB- 
 LISHED IN BOOK FORM BY PAUL ELDER & COMPANY 
 AND SEEN THROUGH THEIR TOMOYE PRESS BY JOHN 
 SWART DURING THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, MCMXIII, IN 
 THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO 
 
\tAi:\ 
 
 n flagfea-TJ its Sills 
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