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AUTHOR: 
 
 BAXTER, WILLIAM 
 
 bDWARD 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE 
 TIBER; 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DATE: 
 
 1852 
 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 
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 iC MICROFORM 1 ARGET 
 
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 B33 
 
 Baxtori Wlllfam Edward, 1825 -1890. 
 
 The Tagus and the Tiber ; or, Notes of travel in Portu- 
 gal, Spain, and Italy, in 1S50-51. By William Edward 
 Baxter ... London, R. Bentley, 1852. 
 
 2 V. 10«». 
 
 Ji Portugal— Deecr. <k trav. 2. Italy— Deecr. it ttmy. 
 A trav. --^^ 
 
 3. Spain— Descr. 
 
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 THE TAGUS 
 
 AND THE TIBEE. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
THE TAGUS 
 
 AND THE TIBER: 
 
 OR, 
 
 NOTES OF TRAVEL IN PORTUGAL, 
 SPAIN, AND ITALY, 
 
 IN 1850-1. 
 
 BT 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD BAXTER. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONPOn: 
 
 r.. CL\Y. PRINTER, BKEAD 3TREKT HILL. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 IJublis^cr in ©rlrinarg to |l?et iftajeetg. 
 
 1852. 
 

 i-\ 
 
 '^ 
 
 «4 
 
 Si - 
 
 ..J 
 
 ? H E F A C E. 
 
 Steamers and railroads have rendered even 
 the most distant countries in Europe so ac- 
 cessible to travellers, that the public gene- 
 rally feel now much less interest in books 
 such as that which, with great diffidence, I 
 venture to commit to the press. Whatever 
 faults of another kind the narrative portions 
 of the work may have, they possess at least 
 the advantage of having been wTitten on the 
 spot. Dr. Johnson once remarked, — "How 
 seldom descriptions correspond with reahties ; 
 and the reason is, that people do not write 
 them till some time after, and then their 
 
 140^37 
 
 I 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 4 
 
 imagination has added circumstances.*' In 
 order to avoid this prevalent error, I omitted 
 no opportunity of recording my impressions 
 at the time, — often, indeed, when writing was 
 by no means an agreeable occupation. I 
 have endeavoured faithfully and accurately to 
 communicate to the reader some idea of the 
 countries which I visited. My narrative may 
 be very imperfect, but it has not been em- 
 beUished at the expense of truth. 
 
 The fact of my not having travelled alone 
 on either occasion, will explain the frequent 
 use of the plural pronoun in the following 
 pages. 
 
 My object in adding to the notes of these 
 successive journeys the observations contained 
 in the five last chapters of the second volume, 
 is, to call attention to subjects which a tra- 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 veller can with special propriety illustrate, 
 and which are of no small importance to us 
 as a people. If my remarks induce any to 
 study the present political condition of Italy, 
 the influence of Roman Catholicism on the 
 nations, or the social institutions of central 
 Europe, I shall feel that the leisure hours of 
 a few winter evenings have not been mis- 
 employed. They are intended to be sug- 
 gestive, not dogmatic ; to invite investigation, 
 rather than to support theories. 
 
 It has been well said, that " A long journey, 
 like a tall maypole, furnishes a sort of cloak- 
 pin on which to hang the furniture of your 
 mind ; and whoever sets out upon a tour 
 without furnishing his mind previously with 
 study and useful knowledge, erects a maypole 
 in December, and puts up a very useless 
 cloak-pin.'' Heartily coinciding with this sen- 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 timent, I have varied my journal with dis- 
 cussions which may perchance prove not un- 
 acceptable to those more interested in the 
 social state of a people than in scenery and 
 architecture. 
 
 Dundee, 
 
 February 20, 1852. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Influence and Civilizing Effects of Steam Navigation— Southamp- 
 ton on the Seventeenth of the Month— Passengers on Board 
 the Pacha^K travelling Republic— The Bay of Biscay— A 
 Morning at Vigo— Bar of the Douro— Swell at the Mouth of 
 the Tagus — Moonlight in Southern CHmates — Arrival at 
 Lisbon— Hotels in the Portuguese Capital— The Custom- 
 house • •..... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Situation and^ Buildings of Lisbon— The Aqueduct— Belem— 
 Portuguese Soldiery— Mementos of the Earthquake— Noises 
 m the Streets — State Procession to the Church of Santa 
 Vicente^The Queen—A Villa in the Country— Notes on the 
 Nation and its Rulers— Want of Roads— Attachment of the 
 Lower Classes to Don Miguel — Political Parties — Costa 
 Cabral— AboUtion of the Conventual Orders— Prospects of 
 Portugal 20 
 
 VOL. L h 
 
X CONTKNTS (►F THE FIKST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Departure for Torres Vedras — Singular mode of Conveyance— 
 A High-road in Portugal— Notes on the Appearance of the 
 Country — Travelling at Night — The Pole Star — Sudden 
 Stoppage —The Village of Torres Vedras— Scene in the Inn— 
 The Lines— Vineyards in the Vicinity— Wines and the Vintage 
 — A Grape Warehouse— Mi\fra— The Palace— Its Desolation- 
 Arrival at Cintra— Beauty of its Situation— The Cork Convent 
 —The Cliffs— Colhares—Montserrat — The La PenaConvent— 
 View from the Summit of the Rock— Donkey-rides— Dress <f 
 the Peasantry— Their Politeness— Return to Lisbon— The 
 Gallegoa— Cacilhas and Jackass Bay— Panorama of the City- 
 English Sailors— The Iberia— Xrrixal at Cadiz . 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Cadiz, its Situation and Appearance— The beautiful Gaditanas — 
 The Alameda at Sunset— Puerto Santa Maria— liiiuks of the 
 (Juadalete— Xerez de la Frontera— The " Bodegas," or Wine 
 Magazines— Manufacture of Sherry— Demand for it exceeds 
 the Supply —Description of the Country between Xerez and 
 San Lucar — Intense Heat— Steamer on the Guadal<iuiver 
 —The Mirage — Agriculture on the bimks of the River — Herds 
 of Cattle— Approach to Seville— The Fonda de la Reyna— 
 The Cathedral— Magnificence of the Interior— The Organ- 
 Power of Music — Picture of the Guardian Angel — The 
 Alcazar, or ancient Palace of the Moorish Kings— Spanish Art 
 — Murillo's Paintings — His " Moses Striking the Rock," 
 and "St. Thomas ReUeving Beggars" — Remarks on his 
 Genius ^° 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Records of Columbus at Seville— The University— The 
 Giralda Tower— Present state of the City— Return to Cadiz— 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 XI 
 
 i 
 
 The Mercurio — Trafalgar — The Pillars of Hercules — Phos- 
 phorescent Waves — First sight of Gibraltar — San Roque — Tlie 
 Free Church of Scotland — Refusal of a Site for a Presbyterian 
 Place of Worship by the Authorities of the Rock — British 
 Colonial Governors and their Policy — Notes on Gibraltar — 
 The Town — Batteries and Villas — An instance of French 
 Manners — Observations on the Propriety of England retaining 
 the Fortress — Its Position — Militaiy Strength .and Influence 
 in Southern Europe — The Spanish Tariff, not the Guns of 
 Gibraltar, the cause of the Contraband Trade . . 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Quarantine Laws — Spanish Steamers — Algeziras — The Barcino — 
 Official Indolence — Arrival at Malaga — Situation of the Town 
 — The Manufactories — Observations on the Commercial Policy 
 of Sj)ain Effects of the Tariff — Constitutional Government— 
 W.'uit of Principle among the Politicians at Madrid — Federal- 
 ism — Prospects of the Country — Raisin Trade of Malaga — 
 Road to Granada — Journey in " Calesas" — Ascent of the 
 Sierra — Dreary Nature of the Scenery — Robbers on this High- 
 way — Loja — Historical Reminiscences connected with the 
 Route — Parador de los Angeles — The Mountains of the 
 Province 124 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Leave Loja — The Vega of Granada — Distant view of the City — 
 Santa Y6 — Incident of the Siege— Arrival at the Fonda de la 
 Amistad — A Sj^anish Post-office — First Visit to the Alhambra 
 — Gate of the Pomegranates — The Torre de la Vela — Splen- 
 dour of the Prospect —The Appearance of the Vega — Surrender 
 of the City— The Alberca— The Court of the Lions— Hall of 
 
 I 
 
xu 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 the Abencemges-Lmdaraxa-s Garden-Hall of the Amba«- 
 Bador«-Faio- Character of the Palace-The Generalife- 
 Note8 on Granada-Junction of the Xenil and the Darro- 
 The Cartuja Convent-The Albaycin-Gipsy Caverns in the 
 Rocks-The VermUion Towers-Present state of the Alhani- 
 bra-Inscriptions on the Walls-Legend of the Abencerrage, 
 -The Hall of Justice-Washington Irving-View from the 
 Tower of Comares-Employments of the People-Hopes of 
 the Moors-Probable Fate of the Alhambra-The Religion of 
 Mahomet, a Meteor, which must soon pass away 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Granada by Moonlight-Spanish Diligences-0«r Fellow-travel- 
 Ters-ContineuUl Manners-Degeneracy of the Higher Cl^ 
 -Example of the Court-Necessity for a Moral Reform-\ lew 
 of the Sierra Neva.la-Badness of the Roa<l-Inns in Spam- 
 Detention during the Night-Bailen-The OUve Trees- 
 Further Delay at La Carolina-Gorge of Despena-perros- 
 Enter La Mancha->Iisery of the People-\ aldepenas-The 
 Windmills-Don Quixote-Erroneous Ideas prev-Uen re^d^ 
 ing the Scenery of the Peninsula-Absence of Trees and Shmbs 
 -Nakedness of the Fields-Inhabitants of La Ouardia^Their 
 extreme Wretchedness-Spanish Beggars-Fourth Accident 
 to our Conveyance-Aranjue^Arrival at Madnd-Douaniers 
 Tlie Puerto del Sol ..•••■ 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Situation of Madrid-Its Buildings and Shops-Province of 
 
 cIuLia-The Chapel Royal-Officiating Pnests-Scene on 
 
 U^pLo-The Queen-Her Personal Appearance -Roman 
 
 Catholicism in Spain-Irreligion in the Country-Process 
 
 from Superstition to Infidelity-Power «/ ^^^/^P^y-^^^, 
 tn^st between Protestant and Roman CathoUc Nations . 205 
 
 I 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Agriculture in Spain— Want of Roads— The Armourj- at Madrid 
 —The Museum, or Gallery of Paintings— Pictures by Murillo 
 —Titian's " Adoration of the Kings "— Rafifaelle's " Lo Spasimo 
 della Sicilia" and " La Perla" — Notes on Rembrandt and 
 Rubens— Sentimental Admiration of the Flemish School— Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds on "Instantaneous Raptures "—Vulgarity of 
 Rubens' Works— His Portrait of Sir Thomas More— The 
 Street of Alcala on Mondays— Visit to a Bull-fight— Descrip- 
 tion of the Exhibition— My Sensations while witnessing it- 
 Remarks on the Amusement— Its increasing Popularity— De- 
 parture for the Escurial— The Palace— Village and Church on 
 the Guadarama Mountains— Return to the Capital . 224 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Leave Madrid— Passports— Passengers in the Diligence— The 
 loquacious Frenchman— Spurs of the Guadaramas-Somosierra 
 —The Tagus and the Douro—Aranda— Burgos— The Cathedral 
 _" Cofre del Cid "—Traffic on the Great Northern Road— 
 The Porta Augusta^Valley of the Ebro— Beautiful Women of 
 Miranda— The Basque Provinces— The Feelings of their Inha 
 bitants toward the present Dynasty- Abolition of the National 
 "Fueros"— Battle of Vittoria— Collision at Night— Ascent of 
 the Pyrenees— Team of Oxen— Tolosa— Resemblance of the 
 Country to Switzerland- View of the Sea at St. Sebastian- 
 Inin-Fuenterrabia^Cross the Bidassoa^French Custom- 
 house-Scenery near St. Jean de Luz-Bayonne-Banks of the 
 Adour-Snowy Peaks of the Pyrenees-Journey to Bordeaux 
 —French Manners— Arrival at Poictiers ... 256 
 
XIV 
 
 (XIXTEXTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Month of May — Lausanne and the Lake of Geneva — Agricul- 
 ture of the Canton de Vaud — Priestcraft in the Vallaia — Sion — 
 ICracalous Escape of our Diligence and its PaHsengers — Awful 
 Soene — Journey in Chars-h-banc — Reach Brieg — Aacent of the 
 SbiploB— The RoiMi— The Glaciera— The Galleries —Visit to 
 tlw H<Mfnce — Dreary Prospect — Grandeur of the Mountains — 
 SardiniMi Frontier — View from the Heights above Domo d'Os- 
 aola — *n» Lftgo Maggiore — Lovely Scenery — The Breezes of 
 Italy — Arona — Seato Calende — An Austrian Custom-house 
 Examimtion — Arrival at Milan 273 
 
 ERRATUM. 
 
 Page 2, last line, /or 1,500, read 500. 
 
 ^1 
 
 
 THE TAGUS 
 AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INFLUENCE AND CIVILIZING EFFECTS OF STEAM NAVIGATION- 
 SOUTHAMPTON ON THE SEVENTEENTH OF THE MONTH — PASSEN- 
 GERS ON BOARD THE PACHA— A TRAVELLING REPUBLIC— THE 
 
 BAY OF BISCAY — A MORNING AT VIGO BAR OF THE DOURO 
 
 SWELL AT THE MOUTH OF THE TAGUS— MOONLIGHT IN SOUTHERN 
 CLIMATES — ARRIVAL AT LISBON — HOTELS IN THE PORTUGUESE 
 CAPITAL — THE CUSTOM-HOUSE. 
 
 Every man interested in the progressive civil- 
 ization of the world must feel the importance of that 
 part which steam-navigation will sustain in bringing 
 about mighty changes. How short a time has 
 elapsed since this great propelling power was 
 unknown ! How many amongst us, still in their 
 meridian strength, can look back on voyages across 
 the Irish Channel, or the Straits of Dover, in little 
 vessels, which for hours and days together expe- 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
 * 
 
THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 EFFECTS OF STEAM. 
 
 3 
 
 the opjH>>itioii of inconstant breezes! But 
 liiv tviuimcncemcnt of the present century was to 
 1^ the commencement of a new era in the history 
 oi luaiikind. The CUrmuut on the Hudson, 
 ai.d tho Cistirt on the Clyde, were the pre- 
 cursors of a revohition in the economy of nations, 
 n<> !t^:<< striking than that which the printing-press 
 •ct^ni in literal uix', or the voyages of Cohmibus 
 rtTi tho social aspects of that New "Wurkl which he 
 -vxnercd beyond the western sea. 
 The general fact that steam-vessels are now being 
 ly introduced throughout the civilised globe, 
 N\ (^ know : but perhaps there are few who would not 
 lie suqiriseil were they to see a list of all these ships, 
 and ot the ten thousand ports which they regularly 
 
 Every London tradesman can tell you that 
 daily jwicket.-* cross the Straits to Boidogne and 
 Calais, that steamers constantly ply between the 
 r < n jM.liji and places in Scotland and Germany — 
 j>erchance that Her Majesty's mails arc carried 
 over the Atlantic by majestic ships, which plough 
 the ocean at the rate of thirteen knots an hour ; 
 but i question ii very large proportion even 
 of our educated country-men know that about 1,500 
 
 
 steamers now ply on the Mississippi, that the snorting 
 of the high-pressure engine has been heard amid 
 the sombre forests on the banks of those mighty 
 streams which flow down from the Rocky Mountains 
 to join the " Father of Waters,' ' or that every day 
 the Maid of the Mist steams under the Falls ol 
 Niagara. 
 
 Feelings too varied to be described have crossed 
 my mind when, standing on the deck of power- 
 ful vessels, I looked on the Plains of Marathon 
 and Troy, passed between Scylla and Charybdis, 
 awakened the echoes of that sublime lake on 
 whose sliores William Tell swore to set free his 
 country, disturbed the countless herds which 
 graze on the banks of the sunny Guadalquiver, 
 beheld the icebergs w^iich at certain seasons stud the 
 Atlantic oif the coast of Newfoundland, and rapidly 
 shot past town after town on the rivers of those 
 Western American States, where only a few years 
 ago tlic lied Indian smoked w^th the treacherous 
 pale-faces the pipe of peace. If we wish, however, 
 to understand the greatness of the revolution which 
 steam-ships are effecting, Ave must go still further 
 away from home; we must visit the valley of the 
 
 b2 
 
-i THE TAOrS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ^ttcnuBMtito. st.intl on the slopes of the Cordilleras, 
 liia*a<l our way auionirst the islands whieh stud the 
 On!f nf Mexico and the Indian Archi|>elago, Ixjhold 
 tin* Keii 8i»a from the base of 8inai, and sail along 
 the stomiycoa^t of China from Canton to Shanghai. 
 In « few years all parts of this earth on which we 
 f^wdi will be brought near to each other by means 
 of that motive ]>«nver for whieh the advocates of 
 |jruj^v>s iuvve to thank the genius of Watt. 
 
 Fourtei^n years only have rolled over our heads 
 since Lieutenant Roberts in the Sin'us silenced, 
 bv hi> triumphant arrival at New York, those 
 scepticai writei-s who in reviews and magazines had 
 been demonstrating the impracticability of ocean 
 steam-na\ igation ; yet now we have regular mail 
 ?tr-»inpr< to places far more distant, and men take 
 ti - to Valparaiso, Buenos Ayres, and 
 
 Capetown, in the fidl assurance that neither calms 
 nor temjx'sts will prevent them from duly reach- 
 ing their destination. Vast are the changes which 
 have been alaady ])nxluced by this expeditious 
 nunie of locomotion ; but the present generation 
 cannot fully estimate the results of its agency. 
 Pctsteniy will a}>preciate the magnitude of the revo- 
 
 I 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON. 5 
 
 lution, when commerce and the steam-engine shall 
 have developed the resources of countries isolated 
 as China, unpeopled as those wide plains through 
 which flow the Uruguay and the Parana, and 
 barbarous as that forlorn Africa, which has so long 
 been the nursery of creatures doomed to slavery. 
 
 No thoughtful man can avoid meditating on 
 these things, when travelling by steam to foreign 
 lands, formerly beyond the reach of the summer 
 tourist. Every vessel built to connect one clime 
 with another is a messenger of concord, a real 
 agent of civilization, an able exponent of the bless- 
 ings of commercial freedom, a forerunner of the 
 time when men shall live as brothers, cultivating 
 the arts of peace. 
 
 Many of my readers have witnessed the scene 
 on the quay of a seaport just before the departure 
 of an outward-bound mail steamer, — the leave- 
 takings and looks of sadness, the scuffle for port- 
 manteaus and hat-boxes, the anxious countenances 
 of bad sailors, and the attitudes of indifference 
 assumed by those who have become inured to the 
 discomforts of a voyage. The seventeenth day 
 of each month is a busy one at Southampton ; 
 
6 
 
 THE TAGl'S AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ku vii It two packets leave the docks for foreign 
 
 OMmlneA, one for the West Indies, the other for the 
 
 ^musuuL Many fathoms deep below the waves 
 
 in the Straits of Malacca lies the steamer on the 
 
 4edLot wiuch I stix>d in September 1850, bound 
 
 for Spain and Portugal, and little did our attentive 
 
 Captain Weeks then suppose that in a few months 
 
 aftorwAPil*. and in a distant part of the world, 
 
 Ike Pfh^j. under other oflScers, would become 
 
 the victim of a terrible collision, and carry down 
 
 wiili her several hapless sufferers. 
 
 Very different was the scene on her deck on 
 that memorable niglit when the Enn struck her, 
 frvm that which presented itself to me in the 
 dock at Southampton. I mixed indeed with 
 a crowd; but one composed of pleasure-seeking 
 pMKi^TS like myself, — merchants returning to 
 tiwir homes, whose occupation for the moment 
 was inspecting cabins, calling for luggage, 
 remonstrating: with stewards and disputing 
 with the bearers of their baggage. — invalids 
 with pale faces, bound for Malaga and Cadiz, — 
 Portuguese noblemen, supporters of Don Migiiel, on 
 their wav back to Lisbon, and their female relations, 
 
 \ 
 
 THE PACHA. ' 
 
 whose manners did not agreeably impress their 
 fellow-travellers. Then we had also on board, a 
 Brazilian slave-dealer from Pernambuco, a loqua- 
 cious Jewess who hailed from London, a young 
 officer of the garrison at Gibraltar and his lady, 
 the excellent chaplain to the convicts at that station, 
 and various others, no fewer than seventy-eight 
 passengers being crowded into a small steamer, 
 which would have been well filled with half that 
 
 number. 
 
 As the hour of sailing approached, the " din " 
 
 on the quarter-deck increased rather than abated : 
 
 relatives rapidly exchanged parting sayings, 
 
 —sailors hurried about in the execution of 
 
 their orders,— a stream of people passed and 
 
 repassed constantly along the planks connecting 
 
 the vessel with the quay, and those unfortunates 
 
 who gave themselves uneasiness about berths and 
 
 baggage, in vain expostulated with busy stewards 
 
 and porters clamouring for higher remuneration. 
 
 But such moments, like others of more importance, 
 
 have an end ; and shortly after the arrival of the 
 
 London mail train, the Admiralty agent reported 
 
 himself ready, the bell warned loving friends to go 
 
8 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ashore, the captain mounted the paddle-box, and 
 away went the Pacha down Southampton Water, 
 her deck presenting an animated spectacle, until we 
 reached the Needles and began to experience the 
 long swell of the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 Nowhere does a man feel himself to be more on 
 a footing of equality with his fellows than on board 
 a steamer. The admirers of despotism, of aris- 
 tocracy, of rank and privileges, must conform to 
 the laws of that virtual republic. " Liherte, Igalite, 
 frat^rnite'' are words which would be much more 
 suitably painted above a cabin entrance, as far as 
 the j>a^engers are concerned, than above the doors 
 of public buildings in that '* free" country, where so 
 many editors of newspapers are in gaol, and so much 
 power is given to military officers. The dinner- 
 bell rings, and we all scramble for the best places 
 at table; the '* Duke " is nearly knocked down 
 stairs by a shopkeeper; the " Marquis " rubs 
 shoulders with a commercial traveller. What care 
 I for the dignitaries? I have paid as much for my 
 pMmge as either of them, and whatever they may 
 be ill the drawing-rooms of the Necessidades, or 
 while tnivelling in their carriages and four, they 
 
 A TRAVELLING REPUBLIC, U 
 
 are but individual members of the democracy 
 on board the Pacha, If steam-vessels are pro- 
 moting the civilization of the globe, by affording 
 immensely increased facilities for locomotion, they 
 are also bringing different classes in society more 
 together, and compelling the " high and mighty 
 exclusives " of all nations sometimes at least to de- 
 scend from their unapproachable loftiness, and asso- 
 ciate on equal terms with their fellow-men. Now 
 and then, indeed, one meets an ignorant English 
 lord, or a moustachiod German potentate, with his 
 button-holes bedizened with orders, who, affecting 
 to despise their chance company, incur the ridicule 
 of all, not excepting the cabin-boys ; but our gran- 
 dees knew the world better, and whilst the ladies 
 of their parties giggled with their domestics, they 
 talked like rational travellers to Tom, Dick, and 
 Harry. 
 
 " Like master like man," is a trite saying: but 
 it aptly applies to the economy on board steamers. 
 When the captain combines urbanity with atten- 
 tion to his duties, the passengers seldom require to 
 complain of subordinates. Fortunately for us, we 
 were so situated ; else the overcrowded state of the 
 
 b3 
 

 
 TUE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE BAY OF BISCAY. 
 
 11 
 
 cabins would have rendered the vogage in no small 
 decree di -agreeable. This remark will be mider- 
 stood by those who know what it is to experience 
 the vulprar *' hauteur " of men who imagine the 
 gilt band round their cap to l)e a badge of nobility, 
 and assume airs which, however despicable, cannot 
 well be tolerated by their superiors in education 
 and mauncTS. The Directors of our large companies 
 akonld provide for their vessels commanders who 
 know their place as well as their duties, who can 
 lieliave like gentlemen whilst they attend to their 
 n>j>..n<ibilities as seamen. 
 
 i'lic tirst wave of the Atlantic! How suddenly 
 it changers the as^x^ci ot things in our little republic! 
 Unple^wnt recollections cloud faces v.hich a few 
 minuter before were radiant with smilc:^; and still 
 more unpleasant sensations compel those to leave 
 the table who have not been inured to the long 
 tloadj swell of the ocean. One pale face after 
 another appears on the deck, all equally inconso- 
 lable, glad to quit the noisy company, and watch 
 tlie * sea in loneliness that rolls." 
 
 Ilow helpless and foolish a man feels while lying 
 foe a day or two in a narrow berth, unable to eat, 
 
 sleep, read, or think ; leading a sort of vegetative life, 
 and listening to the shrill whistle of the boatswain, 
 
 " The night wind's sigh, the breakers' roar, 
 And the shrieks of the wild seamew." 
 
 Having been thus humiliated more than once 
 previously, I could not expect, nor was I permit- 
 ted, to escape in '' Biscay's sleepless bay." The 
 wind having veered round to bloAV from south- 
 south-west, and the Pacha, like several other boats 
 belonging to the same company, being in nowise 
 renoAVTied for her sailing qualities, we made but 
 slow progress. It w^as the forenoon of the third 
 day before we came in sight of Cape Ortegal ; 
 Ferrol and Corunna remained long in sight, and 
 the " hand of eve," as Coleridge hath it, " had 
 nearly closed the western bars," when we met the 
 Erin, (fortunately not in such close quarters as the 
 two ships afterwards came to in the Straits of 
 Malacca,) steaming under the bare gloomy cliffs of 
 Cape Finisterre. Dark and threatening was the 
 sky in the direction of the Bay of Vigo ; we ex- 
 pected a hun-icane, but the clouds broke in a storm 
 of heavy rain, and darkness (^ame on apace. Very 
 early in the morning the motion of the vessel 
 under^vent a change ; it was evident that we had 
 
li 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 MORNINCf AT VIGO. 
 
 13 
 
 got into calm water, and soon aftei-wards the noise 
 of the paddles ceased, and no sound but tlie strik- 
 ing of the hours broke the silence. 
 
 The sun was just beginning to tinge with red 
 the to|v; of the hills, the church bells were tolling 
 for matui worship, and boats had put off from the 
 shore to board us, when I got on deck in time to 
 accomi>any the steward, who was in search of fruit 
 and fresh pn>visions, to the Spanish town of Vigo. 
 This pictures<|ue little place stands on a rocky 
 promontory, projecting into a spacious bay, which 
 is blinded on three sides by lofty hills, and pro- 
 tected '^ the fourth by two bold rocks from the 
 Atlantic billows. Dark woods, here and tliere cut 
 down to make way for cottages and vineyards, 
 occupv the slopes of the mountains, which above 
 ikeni rear their bare, grey crags, destitute of 
 any species of vegetation. 1 had scarcely landed 
 on the rude quay of Vigo before its resemblance to 
 Sjra, in the Grecian Archipelago, struck me, and 
 as I proceeded, there were the same steep badly 
 pav<-'l -tit-eta, the diminutive squares, the donkeys 
 laden with produce, the festoons of grapes hanging 
 over the courts, and the half-naked men on the 
 >r-steps. During my walk up to the brow of 
 
 
 the hill on which the town is built, I met the 
 peasants bringing to market their apples, melons 
 and vegetables— fine handsome men, and women 
 with piercing eyes. The view from this elevation 
 was splendid, resembling that which travellers in 
 the Highlands of Scotland now and then obtain of 
 the lakes, which add so much to the beauty of that 
 country's scenery. The mists of the morning were 
 still nestling on the summits of the hills, and par- 
 tially obscuring the lonely glens which led inland 
 as far as the eye could reach; large boats crowded 
 with people, and impelled by lateen sails, were 
 crossing to the villages on the other side of the 
 bay, and the steep pathways leading to the town 
 were covered with small horses and donkeys bear- 
 ing agi-icultural produce, w^hile troops of soldiers 
 lazily reclined below the willow-trees on the pro- 
 menade ground. Our steward having secured half 
 an ox and a supply of milk, with loads of fruit and 
 vegetables, we put off again to the steamer in a 
 lilthy boat, manned by scantily clad men. 
 
 At eight o'clock we lifted our anchor, and 
 steamed rapidly out to sea ; but scarcely had got 
 beyond the islands, when the swell again forced 
 
14 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 me to lay down my head and content myself 
 with a passing peep of tlie picturesque coast of 
 Galicia, with its bold mountains and white vil- 
 
 Beyond Bayona, the last place in Spain, sand- 
 hills and breakers marked the mouths, first of the 
 Minho, then of the Lima, and soon after diimer 
 we arrired off the bar of the Douro, and three 
 mile^i inland saw the houses and spires of Oporto. 
 No ship can take the entrance to this river after 
 a prevalence of westerly gales ; frequently, vessels 
 have to stand off and on for weeks before they gain 
 admittance to load their casks of port wine. The 
 surf was dashing furiously over the rocks and 
 sandbanks when a large boat came out to receive 
 the passengers bound for the city. What a scene 
 did that disembarkation present ! Ladies, trunks 
 and merchandise had to l)e huiTied into the boat, 
 as each successive wave for a moment brought it 
 on a level with the last step of the gangway. So 
 majestic was the roll of the sea, that the next 
 moment, the frail craft lay far down beneath us in 
 the trough between two stupendous billows. 
 
 Early next morning the wind freshened to a 
 
 MOUTH OF THE TAGUS. 
 
 15 
 
 gale, and we were not a little disconcerted to hear 
 that the log showed only four knots an hour. We 
 had made up our minds to reach Lisbon in the 
 afternoon ; while now the officers mentioned mid- 
 night as the probable hour of our arrival. These 
 disheartening reports increased the dreariness of 
 the sounds on deck, the whistling of the wind, the 
 creaking of the timbers, and the pattering of the 
 big rain drops, as Tasso says :— 
 
 " La pioggia ai gridi, ai venti, ai tuon s' accorda 
 Horribile aniionia che il mondo assorda." 
 
 When 1 got on deck tlie ship pitched so violently 
 that '' Cintra's glorious Eden " appeared at one time 
 like a village in the clouds, at another sunk in an 
 almost hidden valley, far below the keel of the 
 Pax:ha. Just as daylight left us and the moon 
 rose in all her southern glory, "bathing in rich 
 amber light" a fearful bar, over which the breakers 
 broke in hills of foam, we escaped from the roll- 
 ing billows and entered the placid waters of the 
 Tagus. '' Beautiful is the moonlight of the south ! 
 In those climes the night so quickly glides into the 
 day, that twilight scarcely makes a bridge between 
 them. One moment of darker purple in the sky, 
 
16 
 
 THE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ARRIVAL AT LISBON. 
 
 17 
 
 n 
 
 of a thousand rose-hues in the water, of shade half 
 victorious over light ; and then burst forth at once 
 the countless stars — the moon is up. Night has 
 resumed her reign." Thus writes Sir E. Bulwer 
 Lytton in tlie Last Days of Pompeii, and well 
 do his words apply to that beautiful night on whicli 
 we stopped off Belem Castle to land our dukes 
 and duchesses. Those who have witnessed a 
 nigger merrymaking in the United States of 
 America, may form some idea of the shouts, 
 screams, laughs, whistles, and yells with whicli 
 the friends and domestics in the boats welcomed our 
 nobility back to the shores of Portugal. Gladly 
 we heard the order given, " Go on ahead !" when 
 steadily the Pacha moved up the noble river, — on 
 the right the cliffs of Alemtejo glistening in the 
 moonbeams, and on the left the sparkling of innu- 
 merable lights denoting the presence of Lisbon. 
 Having delivered the letters for the British 
 squadron to a boat from the Prince Regent^ at ten 
 «)*clock we anchored off the custom-house of the 
 ancient city. 
 
 When a man has for several days been *' cribbed, 
 cabined, and confined " in a crowded packet, he 
 
 not unfrequently for some time after landing feels 
 unable to accommodate himself to the imperceptible 
 motion of terra firma. The earth seems to jerk on 
 its axis : he walks the streets as one inebriated, 
 and awakening from disturbed slumbers he fancies 
 his couch to rise and fall like a sea-fowl on the 
 
 billow. 
 
 Neither the exercise attendant on sight-seeing, 
 the society of agreeable friends, nor the comforts 
 of M. Durand's hotel, could deliver me from the 
 mastery of this sensation for a week after my 
 disembarkation. Can any person skilful in calcu- 
 lation inform me by what means the hotel-keepers 
 of the Portuguese capital contrive to support exist- 
 ence ? There being no roads in the country, and, 
 consequently, no public conveyances, the only 
 strangers that bring them custom are those who 
 arrive by the trimonthly packets, either from 
 Gibraltar or England, and the adventurous few 
 who, despising comforts, choose to ride across the 
 country from ^Madrid by Elvas and Badajos. 
 
 Next door to our comfortable abode, built on a 
 height overlooking "expanded Tagus, with its 
 populous shores," and by far the most imposing 
 
 \ 
 
THE CUSTOM-HOUSE. 
 
 19 
 
 18 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 mansion in the city, stood the Braganza Hotel, 
 tenanted during our stay by an En.G:lish barrister, 
 one of our feUow-passengers, an officer and his 
 wife, and a well-known individual who never pays, 
 but who calls himself Plantagenet, and heir to the 
 throne of Britain. The above parties and ourselves 
 seemed to be all the strangers in Lisbon, yet we 
 paid no exorbitant bills, heard no complaints of 
 poverty on the part of our entertainers. I recom- 
 mend this state of things to the earnest considera- 
 tion of those potent inaitres dliotel, who dine their 
 hundreds per diem in Switzerland and on the 
 Rhine. Mine host of the Hotel des Bergues, or 
 you of the Trois Couronnes, how can your brethren 
 at Lisbon make the two ends meet ? 
 
 Waiting for your luggage at the custom-house 
 of that place is like waiting for a prize at a 
 lottery. When you feel certain that your turn 
 must come next, another steps in before you. 
 Venturing my head into the closed chamber, 
 I perceived one searcher engaged in ransacking 
 trunks without number, so I commended my 
 baggage to the care of those who knew better the 
 ways of the place. In a comer of this apartment 
 
 I 
 
 was our friend the Jewess, exhorting the official to 
 be careful in opening the box belonging to her 
 man-servant, who liad been unfortunately left 
 behind in England. Conceive the astonishment 
 of mistress and officer when John's trunk was 
 found to contain nothing but stones. The faithless 
 one had broken his engagement, and thus deluded 
 the lady into the belief that all his worldly property 
 remained as a pledge in her safe keeping. Apart, 
 however, from the recollections of this tedious 
 process, few sights in Lisbon will better repay a 
 visit than the vast rooms and bonded warehouses 
 attached to its custom-house. They are on a scale 
 suitable, not to the petty government of Queen 
 Maria, but to the wants of a country which, when 
 navigation was in its infancy, sent its navies 
 round the southern point of Africa and conquered 
 Brazil. 
 
 i 
 
LISBON. 
 
 21 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 SITUATION AND BUILDINGS OF LISBON — THE AQUEDUCT — BELEM — 
 PORTUGUESE SOLDIERY — MEMENTOS OF THE EARTHQUAKE — 
 NOISES IN THE STREETS — STATE PROCESSION TO THE CHURCH 
 OF SANTA VICENTE — THE QUEEN — A VILLA IN THE COUNTRY — 
 NOTES ON THE NATION AND ITS RULERS — WANT OF ROADS — 
 ATTACHMENT OF THE LOWER CLASSES TO DON MIGUEL — POLITICAL 
 PARTIES — COSTA CABRAL — ABOLITION OF THE CONVENTUAL 
 ORDERS — PROSPECTS OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 Few cities afford a more pleasing panoramic view 
 than the capital of Portugal, standing as it does, 
 on undulating ground, on the northern shore of a 
 broad estuary. The newest and handsomest build- 
 ings occupy a valley between two hilly ridges. 
 You land at a quay forming the southern side of 
 Black-horse Square, an extensive open space, so 
 called from an equestrian statue of King John 
 erected in its centre, and flanked by the government 
 offices. An archway leads from this Plaza into a 
 regularly built street, which in its turn opens into 
 
 I 
 
 the Square of Don Pedro, ornamented by a hand- 
 some theatre. A short distance beyond, you arrive 
 at the public gardens, conducting to the northern 
 
 suburbs. 
 
 As you pursue this route from the river in- 
 land, a hill-slope covered with houses overlooks 
 you on the left, and on the right a similar ridge 
 crowned by the castle, and boasting likewise of 
 the cathedral. Around this hill you find the 
 dirtiest part of the city,— a filthy enough quarter 
 truly ; but I do not by any means agree with those 
 who talk of Lisbon in general as remarkably un- 
 clean. It may claim to be a garden of roses in 
 comparison with Trieste, Marseilles, and the back 
 streets of Naples. Between the castle and the 
 river are the wharves for unloading boats with 
 country produce, the markets, the government 
 foundry, the marine liospital and several large 
 prisons. The opposite rising ground constitutes a 
 healthier and more elegant part of the city. The 
 road to Belem runs between it and the Tagus, and 
 on either side of it stand the mansions of the no- 
 bility, extensive but imsightly erections. These 
 nobles nearly all live in Lisbon, scarcely ever 
 
,^ ^iMi^ssiS^-^^w* ^ 
 
 22 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 23 
 
 ii j 
 
 M i 
 
 visiting their estates, and therefore being of little 
 benelit to the country. The cats of the Portuguese 
 capital, like the dogs of Constantinople, swarm in 
 every street; and curious looking animals they are, 
 with their slate-coloured skins, short hair and crop- 
 ped ears. They seem to prowl about as hyenas in 
 the tropics, doing the work of public scavengers, 
 — functionaries belonging to a state of civilization 
 not yet reached by that people which first disco- 
 vered the marine road to India. Many portions ot 
 the city seem partially deserted, and you frequently 
 come upon ruins, mementos of the great earthquake. 
 Those of a large convent crown the height opposite 
 to the castle. In other directions a few more build- 
 ings are in process, but the population does not 
 increase. Since the suppression of the religious 
 orders in 183.3, their monasteries have been con- 
 verted into parish churches; but certainly the 
 priests do not appear to be in excess. I walked about 
 the streets for two days before seeing one. Such 
 a fact as this may serve, when compared with the 
 state of things in Naples, Rome, Bologna, Antwerp, 
 Bruges, Cologne, or even Vienna, to illustrate the 
 Catholicism of Portugal. 
 
 The lower classes in Lisbon can boast neither of 
 good looks nor cleanliness; they are said to be 
 somewhat lazy withal. Wine and spirit shops 
 abound; but no man can say that drunkenness is a 
 national vice, the liquors being weak, and the heat 
 of the climate sometimes excessive. You seldom 
 indeed meet a Portuguese,— to borrow a distinction 
 from the loquacious laird of TuUy Veolan, either 
 " ebrii orebrioli, intoxicated or half-seas over." It 
 is reserved for the inhabitants of a country claim- 
 ing to be the most religious in the world, as Shak- 
 speare says in Othello, *' to put an enemy in their 
 mouths to steal away their brains, with joy, revel, 
 pleasure and applause, to transform themselves 
 into beasts!" 
 
 Every house of any size in the city has its 
 little garden, or rather grape-terrace, the vines 
 being trained on trellis-work, and bearing loads of 
 fruit. The produce from the country comes in on 
 the backs of mules, in enormous panniers of plaited 
 willows, between which the driver sits, urging on 
 his burdened animal. I should like to transport 
 one of the smart London " w^hips " to Lisbon, and 
 show him a street cab in that antiquated capital, 
 consisting of a rude, unwieldy vehicle, hung by 
 
>c~.*',^ Ii»tw'*;ff-=*j. «*■'-« "w * 
 
 irm«mM^mmmmi^isiumfii 
 
 ti 
 
 24 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 means of great leathern straps on two i)onclerou3 
 wheels. A little horse draws in the shafts, whilst 
 a postilion rides another animal attached on the 
 near side by traces to the conveyance. All the 
 horses, whether in carriages, hackney coaches, or 
 belonging to the military, are small, slight-boned, 
 wiry beasts, of no great strength, but remarkable 
 for their powers of endurance. 
 
 The hrst question asked of a stranger in Lisbon 
 is, " Have you seen the aqueduct?" The citizens 
 firmly believe that no such work has ever been 
 erected since David cut down cedars in Lebanon 
 to build the temple at Jerusalem. To doubt this 
 is to incur the charge of heresy ; to suggest that 
 the railway companies in Britain have constructed 
 several bridges about twice as high and consider- 
 ably longer, is to lay yourself open to a suspicion 
 of attempting to impose upon your friends in less 
 energetic countries. The '>vater which supplies the 
 city comes in a gallery or wide drain of stone, all 
 the way from the Cintra hills, seventeen miles 
 distant, and crosses the valley immediately ad- 
 joining the reservoir on lofty arches, the wonder 
 and boast of Portugal. I freely admit that such a 
 work may well be deemed extraordinary by a 
 
 I' 
 
 BELEM. 
 
 25 
 
 people who have not one single road in their terri- 
 tory from the Minho to Cape St. Vincent. 
 
 From the top of the great cistern, a fine view 
 may be had of the surrounding country. We drove 
 out there one evening to enjoy it. At our feet 
 were the palaces of the Duke of Palmella and the 
 Marquis of Yiana, on our right the English and 
 Portuguese cemeteries and the handsome new 
 regal abode above Belem, now building, but with 
 little prospect of ever being completed ; behind it 
 stretched a bare corn country destitute of trees, 
 hedges, or any green thing ; before us lay the city, 
 bounded by the noble Tagus, with its fleet of mer- 
 chant ships and men-of-war, and across its waters 
 the plain of Alemtejo, conspicuous amongst whose 
 hills rose the rocky crest of Palmella overlooking 
 the sea-port of St. Ubes. The road between the 
 water- works and the hospital, or charity school - 
 like building where dwells Queen Maria, would 
 be reckoned in England undeserving of the name ; 
 an English coachman would not allow his horses 
 to venture upon it; yet we had no alternative 
 but to encounter its chasms in order to continue 
 our drive to the bathing- village of Belem, the 
 VOL. I. C 
 
UIl 
 
 26 
 
 THE TAOrS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 evening resort of the pent-up shopkeepers. In its 
 square stands a noble old church with vast con- 
 ventual buildings attached, the same in which 
 Vasco di Gama slept the night before he embarked 
 on that famous voyage, which resulted in one of 
 the most memorable discoveries in the annals of 
 medieval Europe. 
 
 I was agreeably sui^irised wnth the Portuguese 
 soldierj^ especially the light troops and the en- 
 gineers. The regiments of the line wear white 
 trowsers and dark-blue coats with yellow and 
 light-blue facings; the artillery have a darker 
 uniform, with more ornament. Every man has his 
 clothes made to fit him, consequently he looks 
 smarter than the British private, whose regimentals 
 are shaped to suit any one. The soldiers are 
 beautifully clean in their attire, have generally 
 speaking a good carriage, and can show weapons 
 kept in unexceptionable order. If not invincible 
 on the field of battle, they appear fine fellows on 
 the parade ground. 
 
 The women in Lisbon wear on their heads a 
 plain muslin kerchief, folded in a three-cornered 
 shape; many of the ladies have adopted the 
 
 f 
 
 t 
 
 
 i I 
 
 LOTTERY OFFICES. 
 
 27 
 
 Spanish mantilla. There is a great admixture of 
 Moorish blood in the lower population, and the 
 inhabitants of the suburbs have no enviable repu- 
 tation for rectitude or morality. They require tlie 
 presence of a strong police. In several parts of 
 the city, and especially near our hotel, the ruins 
 left standing by the fearful earthquake of 1755 
 are visible, rising amongst the wliite houses to 
 bear witness to the instability of all human things. 
 These w\ills appear to be chiefly those of churches 
 and convents, which have been permitted to re- 
 main in the same desolate condition as that to 
 which they were reduced by the rolling earth, 
 while houses and shops have risen statelier than 
 ever from the scene of the teiTible catastrophe. 
 
 The number of lottery offices in Lisbon, as in 
 many other cities of southern Europe, arrests the 
 attention of a traveller coming from a country 
 where the demoralizing practice has been so long 
 abolished. The shops of jewellers and money- 
 changers alone appear to be more numerous. A 
 person with delicate organs of hearing would not 
 consider it a pleasant residence, for night and day 
 the streets resound with cries of all descriptions 
 
 c 2 
 
28 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE QUEEN. 
 
 29 
 
 not, liowevcr, quite so shrill as those which startle 
 the stranger rambling along the Strada Toledo of 
 Naples. The gingling of the cabs, which rattle 
 over the stones at top speed, certainly does not 
 render these noises more melodious. In every part 
 of the city the churches shut at an early hour, 
 the people being by no means devotional in their 
 habits. 
 
 Very early one morning I was disturbed by the 
 cannonading from the castle and the ships of war, 
 in commemoration of the death of Don Pedro, 
 Duke of Braganza. In the forenoon the queen, her 
 nobles, and principal military officers attended, in 
 the church of Santa Vicente, a high mass for the 
 repose of the aforesaid illustrious individual's soul. 
 Notwithstanding a somewhat powerful sun, I 
 stood for more than an hour watching the picked 
 troops who marched in by the great door to guard 
 her majesty. There were companies from several 
 regiments of the line, lancers, sharpshooters, artil- 
 ler}'men, engineers, marines, naval cadets, and 
 national guards, all well-dressed good-looking men. 
 A person accustomed to see the pomp and circum- 
 stance of regal processions in the great capitals of 
 
 > 
 
 Europe would have been not a little surprised at 
 the poverty-stricken spectacle afforded by the 
 notables of Portugal, as they passed through 
 Black-horse Square, on their return from this 
 service. The queen herself, a coarse-looking over- 
 grown woman, with an unpleasing but not ill- 
 tempered face, drove along with her husband in a 
 shabby carriage drawn by four horses, while the 
 courtiers followed, nearly all seated in the rude 
 cabriolets of the country. 
 
 As a wife and mother, the royal lady sets an 
 excellent example to her subjects; but a certain 
 degree of hauteur in her manners, blended with a 
 natural stubbornness of disposition, detracts very 
 materially from her popularity. Her consort, a 
 scion of the illustrious house of Saxe Coburg Gotha. 
 seems to be better liked, and to enjoy the esteem 
 even of his political opponents. 
 
 On another occasion our party made an excur- 
 sion to lunch at a villa about four miles up the 
 river, belonging to a friend. The house stood on 
 a height, overlooking on one hand the broad Tagus 
 and the plain of Alemtejo, on the other a well- 
 cultivated valley, covered with vegetable-garden:?, 
 
 I 
 
 ' 
 
30 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 vineyards, and wheat-fields, shaded by olive-trees. 
 The want of grass gave the country a very bare 
 look, and in point of beauty, few or none of our 
 forest trees would not be considered superior to the 
 sombre olive. But what a change from cold Scot- 
 land, to a climate where the grapes, figs, and 
 peaches himg in clusters over the pathway, — where 
 the labourer, even in the month of October, re- 
 joiced in the slightest breeze to moderate the 
 Avarmth of the atmosphere, — wdiere the gigantic 
 Indian corn showed its ripe clusters in tlie fields, 
 and the aloe rose in full fiower above every hedge 
 by the roadside ! How prosperous might this 
 country become if inhabited by enterprising, and 
 ruled by honest men ; instead of those w^hom 
 Byron stigmatises as — 
 
 " A nation swoln with ignorance and pride." 
 
 Then might the Tagus become once more celebrated 
 as rolling over sands of gold. At present, what 
 use do the Lusitanians make of this noble stream ? 
 Not a canal have they attempted to construct 
 around the rapids above Abrantes ; not a steamer 
 plies on its waters, excepting a small one which 
 
 WANT OF ROADS. 
 
 31 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 occasionally goes up part of the way to Santarem; 
 the greater portion of the province of Alemtejo is 
 as flat as Lincolnshire, and yet no railroad has been 
 made to develop the resources of the interior, and 
 form a highway into Spain, by Evora and Badajos. 
 Canals, steamers and railroads! What am I 
 writing about? lloads must first be made by 
 Portugal before such works can be thought of. 
 What a disgTace it is to the governors, past and 
 present, of that fallen country, that even in this 
 nineteenth centmy, — a century which has seen 
 the old stage-coach abandoned in many lands for 
 quicker means of communication, — which has wit- 
 nessed an electric telegraph carried below the 
 Straits of Dover, and the Pasha of Egypt proposing 
 to lay down rails in the land of Goshen, — in an era 
 of express trains hurrying from Berlin to Vienna, 
 from Paris to Brussels, from London to Edinburgh, 
 from St. Petersburg to Moscow, there is not a 
 carriage-road between Lisbon and Oporto, nor m 
 any province of the kingdom, excepting the short 
 distance between the capital and Cintra ! As long 
 as politics continues a profession, the nation which 
 explored the Amazon and doubled the Cape of 
 
32 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Good Hope will remain a laughing-stock to civi- 
 lized Europe. Until some wise and stem patriot 
 arise to preach repentance to a set of avaricious 
 courtiers, Portugal will never be improved. 
 
 With a fertile soil, fine rivers, a delicious climate, 
 abundance of timber, in fact every element of pro- 
 sperity, this kingdom continues in a semi-barbarous 
 state, behind every other European nation in agri- 
 culture, and unable to support its reduced population 
 of three and a half millions. Productions that re- 
 quire little labour you find plentiful, such as oranges, 
 vines, chestnuts, lemons, onions and garlic ; but 
 drains, manures, tolerable ploughs, and other ap- 
 pliances of an industrious race, may be said to be 
 unknown. xVnd even although great crops were 
 raised, how could they be brought to market? 
 Such an absence of principle marks the leading 
 politicians, that as soon as a movement in the 
 right direction is made by the government, the 
 opposition make of it a handle to obtain office for 
 themselves. If the latter, while in power, propose 
 to expend even a trifling sum in effecting some 
 great national improvement, the former raise the 
 cry of over taxation; a crisis ensues, and all parties 
 
 rOLlTICAL PARTIES. 
 
 3:^ 
 
 forget the measure in the struggle for power, plaee, 
 and pecuniary rewards. 
 
 Were there a single question regarding which 
 we would suppose that even the greedy politicians 
 of Portugal would be imanimous, that question is, 
 the necessity of making good roads throughout the 
 provinces ; at least of by their means connecting the 
 cities of Lisbon, Oporto, Coimbra, Elvas and Setu- 
 val. But strange to say, this very proposition has 
 overthrown more than one ministry, and seems at 
 present as far from being adopted as when Abu 
 Ali and his Moors were overthrown by Don Alonzo 
 on the 'plains of Ourique. 
 
 However excellent a thing constitutional govern- 
 ment may theoretically be, — however necessary for 
 an intelligent, energetic, industrious population, — 
 I much doubt whether it has proved a blessing to 
 benighted Portugal. The people take no interest 
 either in the elections or the measures. They 
 leave their charter as a plaything in the hands of 
 court cliques and needy nobles, whose personal 
 interests command a preference to the necessities 
 of the state,— who, like the horseleech, continually 
 cry " Give, give, give." A love of intrigue and a 
 
 c 3 
 
 i 
 
34 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 love of money characterise the advisers of Donna 
 Maria, by whatever name they may call themselves ; 
 when one man's cup of dishonesty is full, another 
 man assumes the reins, and he in his turn, laden 
 with spoil, yields to some petty Pronunciamento 
 headed by a spendthrift rival. 
 
 These changes occur too frequently to excite 
 much speculation ; the Lusitanians know nothing 
 of a character like that so eloquently described by 
 Po[)e, in his Prologue to Addison's Cato, 
 
 "A brave man struggling iu the storms of fate, 
 And gi-eatly falling with a falling state.' 
 
 The wortli, though not the wisdom or enlighten- 
 ment of the nation, many think, and with good 
 show of reason, to be with Don ^liguel, who, 
 although himself a perjured tyrant, still commands 
 the homage of certain classes, as the representative 
 of olden times, Roman Catholic ascendency, and 
 priestly power. 
 
 All the crimes and cruelties which he committed 
 from the date of his Lisbon proclamation in 1824, 
 till Leiria surrendered ten years afterwards, have 
 failed to convince thousands of Portuguese that he 
 
 
 POLITICAL PARTIES. 
 
 35 
 
 would not rule better than the magnates of the 
 present day. One can scarcely wonder at sucii a 
 feeling, considering the sample which the people 
 have had of constitutional government. 
 
 The present political state of this unfortunate 
 country amply attests the truth of a remark made 
 by a recent writer: "Let the Humes and Montes- 
 quieus, the Adam Smiths and Benthams, devise the 
 most perfect schemes, there will always be plenty to 
 do for the Chathams, the Mirabeaus, the Foxes and 
 Cannings; for man is not a merely thinking being, 
 he is also an active one ; prone to the adoption of 
 habits, but subject to the domination of impulses. 
 Government, in short, requires governors ; a self- 
 evident truism, one might suppose, if the learned 
 and ingenious had not given the world voluminous 
 tomes treating the government of the human race 
 as a mere matter of system." 
 
 Portugal cries aloud for a political saviour, an 
 unflinching patriot, who, deaf to the cries of party 
 and the whisperings of self-interest, could appeal 
 to the nation for support, and take for his standard 
 him whom Byron so powerfully describes in his 
 Ode to Napoleon, as — 
 
I i 
 
 36 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 " The first, the last, the best, 
 The Cmcinnatiis of the West, 
 Whom envy dared not hate." 
 
 When 1 was in Portugal, Costa Cabral, Count 
 of Thomar and leader of the Conservative party, 
 held the reins, as chief minister of the crown. The 
 Duke of Terceira, formerly well known as Villa 
 Flor, commanded the forces, the Duke of Saldanha, 
 the head of the Moderate party, having been dis- 
 missed from that post. A third and more republican 
 party exists in the Cortes, in addition to the still 
 influential Miguelite faction. These extreme sec- 
 tions have more than once met to spite the Queen's 
 favourite. The Junta of Oporto, which proclaimed 
 war in 1846, and were defeated by Saldanha at 
 Torres Vedras, consisted of the democratic party, 
 abetted secretly by Don Miguel's friends. Sa da 
 Bandeira was their ruling spirit. They complained 
 of the road-tax, the impost for coroners' inquests, 
 and the Queen choosing obnoxious ministers. This 
 rebellion the English, French and Spanish govern- 
 ments ended by signing a protocol in London, to 
 the effect that the insurgents must lay down their 
 arms, and that Donna Maria must dismiss her friend, 
 Costa Cabral. These conditions were at the time 
 
 
 COSTA CABRAL. 
 
 37 
 
 fulfilled, but in 1849, that chief was again recalled 
 to the royal councils, which he ruled till Saldanha's 
 successful revolution in 1851. My servant Antonio 
 thought that there was only one manner in which 
 this incessant squabbling could be remedied, and 
 that was by recalling Don ^liguel ; but then An- 
 tonio was a furious partisan of that exiled prince, 
 and swore dire vengeance against the cook of the 
 Hotel, who professed liberal principles. These 
 pugnacious worthies had occasionally to be turned 
 out of doors, when their strife assumed a serious 
 aspect. 
 
 I cannot but think that the sudden abolition 
 of the conventual orders by the constitutionalists 
 of the Peninsula was an ill-advised measure. 
 Without by any means disputing the statements, 
 that " monastic principles and institutions have 
 counterbalanced all the temporal advantages of 
 Christianity,"* and that " the virtue of the monks, 
 under the influence of a grovelling superstition, 
 lost all its usefulness,!" I venture to remark 
 that these orders had their advantages in a land 
 
 * Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire/* vol. ii. 
 chap. XV, 
 
 t Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. ii. chap. ix. 
 
 *J 
 
38 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIHEK. 
 
 PROSPECTS OF PORTUGAL. 
 
 39 
 
 i 
 
 situated like Portugal. One of the most profound 
 writers of the present day, a man whose works 
 stand the test of philosophical inquiry, has truth- 
 fully alluded to these advantages in his unequalled 
 " Natural History of Enthusiasm." They will 
 readily occur to the mind of those who have care- 
 fully studied Church History, and it would be out 
 of place to discuss them here. 
 
 That the evils produced by the monastic system 
 have more than equalled any good whicli might have 
 resulted from them, I admit ; but in destroying in- 
 stitutions which had existed for so many hundred 
 years, and which, right or wrong, a large portion of 
 the people looked on with respect, every wise ruler 
 would have exercised caution. Their immediate and 
 hasty abolition was an act of political injustice, for 
 most of the inmates had bought their fellowships, 
 and were as much entitled to enjoy tliem, or an equi- 
 valent, for life, as any officer of the crown to receive 
 his pension. Had a law been passed to prevent the 
 monasteries and convents from receiving accessions, 
 in a very few years they would have ceased to 
 exist ; the country would have been relieved from 
 the incubus of an inactive, useless population, and 
 
 still no hardship would have been inflicted on any 
 individual. The dislodged monks, as it is, have 
 become pests to the nation. Unfitted for labour, 
 they have fallen down into the substratum of 
 society, wander about from place to place as 
 beggars, and in some instances, it is said, have 
 joined the bands of 'banditti which infest the 
 Alemtcjo. Such inconsiderate legislation generally 
 injures a good cause. The miseries of these men 
 may produce a revulsion in public feeling, and pro- 
 mote the restoration of a system, which, however 
 well adapted to the case of such divines as Basil 
 of Cesarea, who retired from the world during the 
 reign of Julian, has been condemned by the in- 
 creasing intelligence of the age. If bare-footed 
 friars again lift up their head in Portugal, the 
 liberals may blame themselves, not the adherents 
 of priestcraft. 
 
 No man who feels an interest in human progress 
 can visit this country without deploring its political 
 degradation. Leaving the shores of England, in a 
 few days he is transported from the enteq^rise of the 
 nineteenth century to the semi-barbarism of the 
 ninth; from a land of raikoads and telegraphs, 
 
 
40 
 
 THE TAGUb AND THE TIBEU. 
 
 Steam-engines and printing-presses, to a land, once 
 high in influence among the powers of Europe, 
 but in which there is yet no road! Description can 
 scarcely convey to an enlightened inhabitant of a 
 free country a true idea of the condition in which 
 Portugal remains at the present day. Her soil 
 uncultivated, her trade decaying, her people dis- 
 contented and ignorant, her governors scrambling 
 for influence and emolument, while the true end of 
 government they neglect : without manufactories, 
 "without money, without an anchor to which to 
 trust, she is drifting down the stream of time 
 an abandoned wreck, though once, when better 
 manned, she proudly breasted the billows. May we 
 expect to see the dawning of a brighter future, or is 
 Lusitania to proceed from one degree of desolation 
 to another, till the vineyards of Estremadura and 
 the palaces of Lisbon become the abodes of the 
 wild boars and still wilder men which dwell in 
 the mountains of Algarve and by the banks of the 
 Guadiana? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DEPARTURE FOR TORRES VEDRAS — SINGULAR MODE OP CONVEY- 
 ANCE— A HIGH-ROAD IN PORTUGAL — NOTES ON THE APPEARANCE 
 OP THE COUNTRY — TRAVELLING AT NIGHT — THE POLE STAR — 
 SUDDEN STOPPAGE — THE VILLAGE OF TORRES VEDRAS — SCENE 
 IN THE INN — THE LINES — VINEYARDS IN THE VICINITY — WINES 
 AND THE VINTAGE — A GRAPE WAREHOUSE — MAFRA — THE PALACE 
 —ITS DESOLATION — ARRIVAL AT CINTRA — BEAUTY OF ITS SITU- 
 ATION — THE CORK CONVENT — THE CLIFFS — COLHARES— MONT- 
 SERRAT — THE LA PENA CONVENT — VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT OF 
 THE ROCK — DONKEY-RIDES — DRESS OF THE PEASANTRY*-THEIR 
 POLITENESS — RETURN TO LISBON — THE GALLEGOS — CACILHAS 
 AND JACKASS BAY— PANORAMA OF THE CITY— ENGLISH SAILORS 
 — THE IBERIA — ARRIVAL AT CADIZ. 
 
 Not a little to the surprise of friends who thought 
 the plan impracticable, and although the mule- 
 path or track along which the route lay resembled 
 in many places the bed of a torrent, compared to 
 whicli the stony fields were smooth as a race-course, 
 our party resolved to adventure a journey to Torres 
 Vedras in a carriage and four. After the usual 
 amount of controversial discussion regarding the 
 cost of such an extraordinary mode of conveyance, 
 
42 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TIIK TIBER. 
 
 NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 43 
 
 a bargain was struck, and an lioiir fixed for start- 
 ing next morning. About two hours subsequent 
 to the time aforesaid, (for no power on earth can 
 prevent tlie delays exjxirienced by travellers in the 
 south of Europe,) a rattling noise was heard in the 
 street, and an apparition appeared before our hotel 
 door, in the shape of an ornamented box, highly 
 exalted by means of leathern straps on wheels, the 
 workmanship of which would have astonished the 
 denizens of Long Acre. I doubt if such a vehicle 
 would not have l>een thought old-fashioned in the 
 time of the Tudors. To draw this venerable rem- 
 nant of the middle ages we had four wiry horses, 
 guided by two tall postilions, in ponderous boots 
 and sombreros. On the woodwork al)ove the fore 
 axle, holding on vigorously by ropes attached to 
 the massive straps, sat Antonio, a loquacious fel- 
 low, who had been an officer's servant during the 
 Peninsular War, and witnessed Waterloo, as well 
 as Talavera, Salamanca, and Torres Yedras. But 
 Don Miguel was the hero of his favourite stories. 
 He lost no opportunity of declaring that the very 
 existence, not to say the prosperity of Portugal, 
 depended on the restoration of the usurj)er. 
 
 Having with difficulty clambered up into the in- 
 terior of the so-called carriage, we started on our 
 excursion, passing first through the dirty suburbs, 
 and then between villas with lovely gardens, filled 
 with vines, oranges, lemons, and figs, and shaded 
 by taller trees from a powerful sun. To them suc- 
 ceeded a valley, formerly the property of Don 
 Miguel, and still displaying ruined houses and 
 broken-down walls, the memorials of conflicts 
 between his adherents and those of the present 
 queen. Vegetables for the Lisbon market appeared 
 to be the chief production of the soil, kidney beans 
 predominating. This part of the country also 
 produces Indian corn; a lofty reed, resembling that 
 plant in appearance, but higher, and used for vine- 
 supports, serving as a hedge to separate the fields. 
 The hills looked very sombre, for nothing relieved 
 the bare ground, from which the crops of wheat 
 and barley had been reaped, but a few melancholy 
 
 olives. 
 
 The peasantry were clothed in the veriest rags, 
 especially the men, whose appearance by no means 
 prepossessed me. At a village where we stopped 
 to give the horses a little bread, the blacksmith 
 
44 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 45 
 
 busy shoeing oxen, by nailing a flat piece of 
 iron on each division of tlie hoof. These animals 
 floemed to be used as the sole beasts of draught, 
 horses, mules, and donkeys being employed for 
 cany'ing burdens on their backs. The latter, 
 conveying produce to the capital, thronged the 
 road. 
 
 At this village we left the cultivated district to 
 cross bare gloomy hills, on a paved track, so rugged 
 and full of dangerous holes, that our postilions 
 frequently diverged from it to seek a smoother way 
 over the iields. No words can convey to civilized 
 ears any adecpiate idea of the execrable path, over 
 which tour hardy horses dragged our vehicle at the 
 imte of two and three-quarter miles an hour to 
 Torres Vedras. Sometimes wt* descended an in- 
 filled plane, more like a timber-^) ide than anything 
 tin; sometimes the horses scrambled like cats up 
 a precipice ; sometimes the wheels settled down 
 into deep hole^, out of which violent efforts were 
 rei^uired to drag them, and at others we were jolted 
 over huiTi' Wulders and shelves of rock, until every 
 bone m our Ixniie^ ached. Many mule-patlis in 
 Switzerland are well made in comparison with this 
 
 high-road between Lisbon and Oporto. I would 
 ratlier ride forty miles on the mountains of Scot- 
 land than ten on the leading thoroughfare of Por- 
 tugal. How Antonio managed to hold on, no man 
 can tell. At the termination of the journey he 
 complained of innumerable bruises. 
 
 An excellent soil covers these hills, although 
 they are stony and quite destitute of trees. When 
 we passed the little gardens attached to cottars' 
 houses, the depth and richness of the earth sur- 
 prised us. The principal crops seemed to be 
 barley and Indian corn, divided from each other by 
 rude stone dykes ; but at this season of the year 
 all was desolation, the grain having been long ago 
 gathered in, and the stubble having withered in the 
 ground. For several miles we saw few houses, 
 and those few resembled the dwellings in the East, 
 gloomy erections attended by a single fig-tree. At 
 the highest point we had an extensive view over 
 Estremadura and Alemtejo, with the silvery Tagus 
 and the rugged hills of Cintra. A hazardous 
 descent then conducted us into a valley studded 
 with abodes of the peasantry, and green with figs 
 and vines. Here we gave our horses a rest, whilst 
 
 
 < 
 
 f 
 
46 
 
 THE TAGTS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 TORRES VEDRAS. 
 
 47 
 
 ^i I 
 
 we regaled ourselves with grapes, piiri^le and green 
 figs, and the bread of the country. 
 
 The tops of all the neighbouring hills exhibited 
 remains of those forts which so effectually checked 
 Marshal Massena, and saved the Portuguese ca- 
 pital. Again mounting an elevated ridge, we looked 
 down on well-cultivated dales, where the dark 
 hue of the olives afforded a singular contrast to the 
 beiiutiful green of the fir-trees, which they despoil 
 of their leaves and branches, excepting a bunch at 
 the top, in order to obtain fuel for the wine-l)oilers. 
 The trees, therefore, in the distance, look like 
 
 palms. 
 
 Every elevated mound in Portugal has its wind- 
 mill for grinding com, rude buildings in tliemselves, 
 but still giving a pleasant variety to the prospect. 
 
 The Manpiis d'Abrantes owns the greater part 
 of the property in this vicinity ; but we passed 
 a fine estate belonging to a private gentleman, and 
 producing annually a thousand casks of wine. At 
 sunset we missed our way, and had to retrace our 
 footsteps to seek another path. And such a path ! 
 It resembled exactly the bed of those Alpine tor- 
 rents, which every spring sweep away portions ot 
 
 roads over the Simplon, Splugen, and St. Gotliard. 
 We had proceeded about a mile on this track, 
 following the polcstar as our guide, when a sudden 
 stoppage, a volley of Portuguese oaths, and the 
 rocking of the vehicle, warned us to get out with 
 all possible expedition. One of the leaders had 
 fallen, and lay quietly in a rut. The clamorous 
 postilions seemed to have no idea of raising a 
 horse in such a situation, but we managed to 
 extricate him, and convey the carnage to something 
 which looked more like the path than the one our 
 drivers had chosen. 
 
 Antonio now said that we must be quite close to 
 Torres Vedras ; but at a wayside house we learned 
 that four miles of the dreadful jolting had yet to be 
 endured. The fact, 1 believe, was that the rascals 
 had lost their way, and had been steeple-chasing 
 over the country at random. Another hour passed 
 tediously, and glad wxre we to see the light of a 
 convent at the little town where our journey was to 
 tenuinate. Had it not been for that kindly polar 
 star, I question whether we should have reached 
 our destination that night, although Torres Yedras 
 is only twenty-eight miles distant from Lisbon ! 
 
4« 
 
 THE TAOrS AND THE TIRER. 
 
 A« it was. we took ten hours to accomplish the 
 jouniey! Do the Portuguese know that they live 
 in the nineteenth century? 
 
 At the entrance of the \411age we encountered 
 m new difficulty, the streets being so narrow that 
 our j>ecuUar vehicle could scarcely be |iersuaded to 
 tuni the comers. Finally, however, we reached 
 tkte door of a miserable hospedaria, or tavern, in 
 the P^MU? of which muleteers, wrapped in their 
 ch^ks. lay buried in profound slumber, and greeted 
 «ft with quite a chorus of snoring. The most 
 unpleasant odours perfimied, and a few dirty chairs 
 fiimished the apartments ; but having discovered a 
 chamlier, the floor of which apjx^ared to have been 
 washed within a year, we expelled the sleepers. 
 and took possession. Fresh eggs, the only com- 
 niiniity to lie had, ser\'ed us for supper, and then we 
 lav down for the night, wrapped in our rugs, beds 
 iH'inir a luxurv unknown to our entertainers. 
 
 1 s}>ent the remaining hours of darkness very 
 indiflPerently, for the dogs howled without, and tor- 
 mentors of a smaller species assailed me within. 
 Happily, morning soon broke, and we rose to 
 inspect the castle, a Moorish ruin which overhangs 
 
 « 
 
 THE LINES. 
 
 49 
 
 the town, and from which a fine view may be ob- 
 tained of those famous lines which the Duke of 
 Wellington so stoutly held against Massena's well- 
 appointed army. 
 
 The British commander's head-quarters were at 
 Fort Santa Vicente, crowning a hill above Torres 
 Vedras, and forming one of the fortified positions 
 which, connected with each other, constituted the 
 first or outer line. A series of valleys intervene 
 between them and the heights nearer Lisbon, on 
 which stood the second chain of forts, and a wider 
 plain separated them in their turn from the inner 
 defences. Every schoolboy knows that the suc- 
 cessful maintenance of this line of forts by the then 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley, extending, as it did, from 
 the Tagus to the sea, saved the Portuguese capital, 
 and checked the progress of the French arms. 
 
 In 1846 the village of Torres Vedras became 
 again the scene of conflict, for there Saldanha 
 encountered the troops acting under the orders of 
 the Junta of Oporto. The streets are narrow, and 
 given up to all manner of uncleanness. Pigs grovel 
 at every doorstep amidst filth indescribable. 
 
 After breakfast we set out for Mafra, passing 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
50 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 WINE WAREHOUSE. 
 
 51 
 
 tln»i)irh vineyards in which the husbandmen were 
 busy phicking the grapes. These they transport 
 to tlie presses in carts drawn by two oxen, and con- 
 sisting of a large tub or vat fastened by sticks on a 
 fxmme, which rests on wheels of solid wood, creaking 
 at everv revolution. To make ordinary wines, they 
 mix the red and white grapes ; but to produce the 
 Knter qualities, they use the latter alone. The 
 oouaer bunches of grapes are boiled in a caldron 
 to extract the essence, which adds strength to the 
 liquid when put into the vats. 
 
 From the summit of the second lines, we enjoyed 
 an extensive \'iew of the fortifications, the heights 
 above Cintra, the white houses of Torres Vedras, and 
 the villagt^s in the valleys near the Atlantic Ocean. 
 This mountain side has been the scene of not a few 
 robberies and murders. At night banditti still 
 iiifest the |>ath, the inequality of the ground 
 and the absence of habitations favouring their 
 design>. It has sometimes been remarked that 
 briirands abound in wine-growing districts, where 
 coutmuous industry is unnecessary. The people, 
 having too much leisure on their hands, become 
 Uiy, take to gambling, and then resort to dishonest 
 
 practices to furnish them with the means of grati- 
 fying that vice. A copper or tvvo procured for us 
 in the next valley as many ripe grapes as we could 
 eat. Hedges of aloes separate the vineyards, and 
 every now and then shoot up a tall treelike stem, 
 crowned w4th a flower. 
 
 At a small village on the succeeding rising 
 ground, we visited a wine warehouse filled with 
 casks of various years' manufacture. At one end 
 the workmen were boiling the worst grapes, and 
 unloading the carts w^hicli conveyed the produce 
 of the vineyards. At night they begin the process 
 of pressing. Whilst we were inspecting the pre- 
 mises, the master arrived and invited us to enter 
 his '' palace." This we declined, but he would not 
 allow us to depart until we had tasted the new^ly- 
 pressed juice, the fermenting wine of the previous 
 year, and his best white wine of old manufacture. 
 The wagons laden w4th grapes arrived one by one 
 during our stay, driven by a man who walked 
 before the oxen, guiding tliem with a goad or sharp- 
 pointed stick. The grapes were thrown from the 
 carts with pitchforks, in the same manner as we 
 in England unload a wagon of hay. 
 
 d2 
 
 |1 
 
52 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Four miles before reaching Mafra, we came 
 to a wall fifteen miles in circumference, which 
 surrounds the royal hunting-ground attached to 
 that palace. A short distance beyond, the leaders 
 broke the bar attaching them to the pole of the 
 carriage ; so we got out and walked to the village, 
 built on the top of a hill, and in front of an 
 enormous edifice with three lofty towers, and con- 
 sisting of a church, several quadrangles formerly 
 tenanted by three himdred Franciscan monks, and 
 a palace now empty and rapidly falling into decay. 
 The suite of rooms behind serve as a barrack and 
 a military school This vast building presents an 
 aspect of desolation quite overwhelming. The 
 wind whistles through the doorless entrance, piles 
 of wood lumber the spacious courts, the rain from 
 the Atlantic pours in at the broken windows, and 
 spirits write " Mene, mene, tekel," on every deserted 
 wall, reminding one of Hannali More*s lines on 
 Babylon : — 
 
 ** While DeflolatioD, snatching from the hand 
 Of Time the scythe of ruin, sits aloft, 
 Or stalks in dreadful majesty abroad." 
 
 We wandered through suites of rooms, either unfur- 
 
 
 MAFRA. 
 
 53 
 
 nished or containing chairs and tables scarcely 
 good enough for a second-rate English pawnshop. 
 Yet the Queen had resided in them for four weeks, 
 a very short time previous to our visit.^ The 
 church, which various writers admire, appeared 
 to me a heavy building, more like a vast marble 
 tomb. The weight above seems as if about to 
 crush the pillars and arches. The chief object 
 of attraction at Mafra is the library, containing an 
 extraordinary number of books in all languages, 
 chiefly on church matters, but also historical, legal, 
 philosophical, poetical, and connected with miscel- 
 laneous literature. The volumes are handsomely 
 bound and remarkably well arranged. 
 
 Having attempted to dine on a fowl which had 
 been killed since our arrival, we started for Cintra, 
 passing first through the royal park and then over 
 a much better road than we had hitherto travelled 
 upon. They have taken up the stones and are 
 macadamising it. Yet, strange to say, our pos- 
 tilions pronounced it worse than the execrable 
 track we had been before pursuing. Can we feel 
 surprised that Childe Harold should indignantly 
 ask, why " Nature has wasted her wonders on such 
 
^« 
 
 54 
 
 TUE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CINTRA. 
 
 55 
 
 men r 
 
 Shortly before our arrival darkness closed 
 around us, and our leading postilion lit a flaming 
 torch, which he held aloft to show the path to 
 Cintra. 
 
 When I awoke next morning I found myself in 
 a room commanding a splendid prospect, — two 
 windows looking towards Mafra and the sea, a 
 third towards the summit of the wooded hill, on 
 the side of which stands the Portuguese paradise. 
 Borrow designates Cintra " an enchanted region ;" 
 it would be beautiful in any country — no wonder 
 then that it is so much thought of in bare, 
 un wooded, sunburnt Portugal. Around it you see 
 nothing excepting brown fields, without tree or 
 green blade ; but Cintra is buried in foliage, rich 
 in picturesque objects, and surmounted by preci- 
 pitous crags, on the loftiest of which the La Pena 
 convent, now a royal abode, affords a beacon to 
 vessels far off on the wide Atlantic. 
 
 The remains of a Moorish castle crown the 
 height next in point of elevation, while every 
 eminence on the hill-side below has its palace, 
 the summer resorts of the Portuguese nobility. 
 Thither they escape from dust, heat, and burnt-up 
 
 fields, to enjoy shady groves and the breezes from the 
 ocean. Lord Byron, in his correspondence, says 
 that Cintra "unites all the wildness of the western 
 highlands with the verdure of the south of France." 
 Every lover of poetry recollects his beautiful 
 description of the scenery in the first canto of 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 
 The village itself contains about one thousand 
 inhabitants, the ugly palace of the Queen occupy- 
 ing the rocky eminence which rises in the midst 
 of it. The day following our arrival the ladies 
 procured donkeys and the gentlemen mules, for an 
 excursion in the neighbourhood. Climbing the 
 heights immediately above the houses, we crossed 
 a rugged mountainous region to the mouth of the 
 Tagus, the animals choosing their steps with re- 
 markable foresight and care, yet progi^essing at 
 a sharp pace. A lad ran alongside to goad the 
 lazy ones. So easy was the motion that I wrote 
 in my note-book while riding. We first stopped 
 to inspect the remains of a convent, built entirely 
 of cork wood in a cleft of the rocks, a curious relic 
 of the monkish age, " where St. Honorius dug his 
 den.*' 
 
56 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Then we descended in the direction of the sea, 
 passing several populous villages, the inhabitants 
 of which were busily employed in packing unripe 
 lemons for exportation. The fruit was quite green, 
 although it comes out of the boxes yellow. Others 
 worked among heaps of grape refuse, separating 
 the seeds, which they give to the pigs, from the 
 husks, which the oxen consume. The vineyards 
 and gardens are protected from the cold biting 
 winds by hedges of the reed before mentioned, 
 which grows to a great height above all other 
 shrubs. 
 
 Along a path which even a Scotch Highlander 
 would have pronounced impassable, we proceeded 
 to the sea-shore, — a bold coast of perpendicular 
 cliffs, on which the breakers roared in fury, and 
 broke in hills of foam. Travellers usually here 
 witness a very dangerous and stupid feat; we had of 
 course likewise to submit to the ordeal. Three 
 men descended the rocks at a point where they 
 slightly shelve, in order to prove to us how like 
 cats habit has rendered them, and to claim a reward 
 for such a display of intrepidity. 
 
 Keturning through orchards, laden with apples, 
 
 MONTSERRAT. 
 
 57 
 
 pears, lemons, oranges, and other fruits, we stopped 
 at the little town of Colhares, to drink at the 
 hospedaria a glass of the excellent wine which 
 bears its name. It resembles claret, but has a 
 fuller body. Few rides in the Peninsula are more 
 beautiful than this. Between rows of fruit-trees, 
 looking down on a smiling valley, and meeting 
 groups of peasants returning with their empty 
 panniers, you at one time scramble down a ravine, 
 at another canter along the hill-side, enjoying the 
 unusual exercise and scenery. How it would have 
 amused friends at home, could some Paduan 
 Doctor have for their benefit reproduced our caval- 
 cade in an Aunt Margaret's mirror ! 
 
 In a forest of cork-trees and arbutus, on an 
 eminence dividing into two parts a wild dingle, 
 stand the desolated ruins of Montserrat, a castel- 
 lated edifice, built by Mr. Beckford, the eccentric 
 author of " Vathek." Here once that spoiled child 
 of fortune " schemed his plans of pleasure," but 
 now " the fairy dwelling is lone," and 
 
 " giant weeds a passage scarce allow 
 To halls deserted, portals gaping wide." 
 
 The path between this house and Cintra is, per- 
 
 d3 
 
58 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 MAGNIFICENT VIEW. 
 
 59 
 
 haps, the most picturesque in Portugal, leading 
 over a wooded hill amidst rocks, ravines, and 
 gardens, above which rise the ruins of the Moorish 
 fort. 
 
 On Sunday morning I sauntered into tlie village, 
 but found the church shut, the market-place being 
 full of people buying and selling fruit and vege- 
 tables. 
 
 I do not recollect ever having seen a more 
 romantic object than the building which crowns 
 the highest of those pointed hills between the plain 
 of Mafra and the Tagus. It was built for the 
 monks of the Jeronymite convent at Belem, by 
 King Emmanuel, on the rock which he had often 
 ascended to see if he could descry the returning 
 fleet of Yasco di Gama, and from which lie did, in 
 fact, discover it. When the monastic orders were 
 abolished, it became private property, but the 
 King-Consort purchased it, and is restoring it with 
 great taste in the Moorish style. It has numerous 
 turrets, several moresco courts, columns of mosaic 
 work, and a lofty tower, the view from which can 
 scarcely be described. 
 
 Beneath our feet was the castle, its grounds 
 
 adorned with gardens, woods, sheets of water, and 
 well laid out walks; towards the west the hills 
 ended at the cliffs on which roll the Atlantic 
 surges, and Colhares appeared in the foreground, 
 with its vineyards and orchards ; northwards rose 
 the towers of Mafra and the heights of Torres 
 Vedras, with Mont Junta in the distance ; on 
 the east we could see the suburbs of Lisbon, the 
 silvery river, and the plain of Alemtejo; while 
 towards the south lighthouses and breakers indi- 
 cated the mouth of the Tagus, the rocky hill of 
 Palmella bounding the prospect. 
 
 I felt loth to leave such a splendid observatory, 
 even to inspect the other parts of the castle. A 
 smooth carriage-road, winding in graceful sweeps 
 up the valley, leads to the principal entrance, over 
 which a gigantic human figure supporting a vine 
 has been exquisitely sculptured in stone. Govern- 
 ment has surrounded this hill, and that occupied 
 by the Moorish ruin, by a wall, with numerous 
 turrets, having an excellent effect, and laid out the 
 sides of both eminences as pleasure-grounds, where 
 the huge rocks, left as nature placed them, contrast 
 beautifully with the flowers of the geranium groves, 
 
 J 
 
60 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the bright arbutus berries, the graceful green leaves 
 of the acacia and sensitive plant, and the bushy 
 firs. Walks wind round the heights to various 
 points of view, and stone benches, each one having 
 a name, enable the visitor to enjoy at liis leisure 
 this charming paradise. One could for hours 
 saunter there amidst the geraniums and myrtles, 
 meditating on the glories of that Natm-e which 
 Herv-ey says '* is a book, and rich with sacred hints 
 on every page." 
 
 The winds rose and the clouds descended as I 
 left my seat among the rocks, and scarcely had I 
 reached the village, when the mists shrouded these 
 uplifted gardens from mortal gaze. 
 
 Before leaving Cintra, we had another ride on 
 the mules and donkeys ; the former, as I can testify, 
 very much addicted to kicking. Descending the 
 hill on wliich the \Tillage is perched like an eagle's 
 nest, by a precipitous path, we crossed the valley, 
 and turning to the left, rode along the treeless 
 ridge, until we entered the oasis of orchards where 
 Colhares is embowered. On this route, we had 
 ever-changing views of the graceful woods and 
 pinnacles of rock which charm the Portuguese, 
 
 THE PEASANTRY. 
 
 61 
 
 of La Pena and the Moorish castle towering above 
 them, of the melancholy walls of Montserrat, the 
 palace of the Duke de Cadaval, and the stately 
 quinta, where Goa's viceroy, old John de Castro, 
 spent his latter years. Near these mansions stands 
 the villa formerly belonging to the Marquis of 
 Marialva, now to the Duke of Terceira, where half 
 the world believed that Sir Hew Dalrimple and 
 Marshal Junot signed the well-known " Convention 
 of Cintra," until Napier, in his admirable History 
 of the Peninsular War, exposed the misrepresen- 
 tation. 
 
 When travelling in the country districts of 
 Portugal, one finds out the reason why jewellers' 
 shops are so numerous in the capital. The common 
 people passionately love ornament and gaudy 
 clothing; every peasant woman possesses a gold 
 chain and several trinkets, which she treasures up 
 with great care, knowing that they can be turned 
 to account in an evil day. These valuables she 
 never washes, lest the weight of the metal be 
 diminished. The highest ambition of a damsel is 
 to possess a gold chain and a cloak or capote- 
 a-lengo. For the latter she pays about three 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
II 
 
 62 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 pounds sterling, and she makes it serve for four 
 years. 
 
 The Portuguese appeared to me a polite people ; 
 not only polite in the French acceptation of the 
 term, willing to bow, grimace, and lift their hats, 
 but really considerate and well-bred. They would 
 scorn to show that selfishness which animates their 
 Gallic neighbours, and which can easily be disco- 
 vered in the midst of all their fine speeches. One 
 experiences in the Peninsula none of that staring 
 at ladies, smoking tobacco in their faces, and un- 
 accommodating beha\4our which makes travelling 
 in France so disagreeable. The Portuguese have 
 not as yet discovered the truth of the remark made 
 by Joseph Surface in the School for Scandal : 
 " The silver ore of pure charity is an expensive 
 article in the catalogue of man's good qualities ; 
 whereas the sentimental French plate 1 use instead 
 of it, makes just as good a show, and pays no 
 tax." 
 
 The postboy who drove us from Cintra to Lisbon 
 made us feel rather uneasy, for he rolled on his 
 saddle as if he had no power over either himself or 
 his horses. We were never able to ascertain 
 
 r* 
 
 GALLEGOS. 
 
 63 
 
 whether he was drunk, insane, or only intolerably 
 lazy. However he brought us safely to the ter- 
 mination of the journey, having done no further 
 damage than capsizing an old woman and her 
 donkey ; so we charitably concluded that he was 
 unwell. 
 
 The road between the tw^o places passes through 
 a bare, undulating country, well cultivated, and 
 abounding in windmills. It is amply provided 
 wdth hospedarias for the refreshment of man and 
 beast. At the first one where w^e stopped to bait 
 our horses, I counted twenty-six beggars around 
 tlie carriage together. 
 
 The Gallegos, or natives of Gallicia, are to the 
 inhabitants of Lisbon what the Irish are to the 
 English, what the Gibeonites were to the children 
 of Israel, — their " hewers of wood and drawers of 
 water;" their porters, house-servants, and drudges, 
 peribrming all the hard work of the capital One 
 of their chief occupations is to cany water from 
 the numerous fomitains. They use for this pur- 
 pose small barrels, rows of which you see at every 
 public well. The shrill cry of "Agoa," may be 
 heard in all the thoroughfares. 
 
-^ — 
 
 I ■ 
 
 64 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 I was Struck with the wide-spread infusion of 
 Negro blood into the population of Lisbon. In 
 the evenings, when the people look out of their 
 windows, I saw in every street some face either 
 black or blackish, and mulatto dandies appeared to 
 me nearly as common as cats without tails. 
 
 One day, after our return, we sailed across the 
 Tagus to Cacilhas, the village in Alemtejo, oppo- 
 site the city. The landing-place has been called 
 ** Jackass Bay" by the English sailors, from the 
 crowd of donkeys and boys, clamorous for em- 
 ployment, which beset strangers arriving there. 
 Mounted on stout asses, we rode up to the tele- 
 graph station, from which we had a most splendid 
 panoramic view of *' Old Lisboa." On our left 
 was the mouth of the river with its lighthouses, 
 the breakers whitening the bar; then came the 
 village, bay, and castle of Belem, above it the 
 half-finished palace of Ajuda, and in the distance 
 the La Pena convent crowning the Cintra hills. 
 Before us the city extended its long line of white 
 houses and red roofs, conspicuous amongst which 
 appeared the Estrella church, the Palace, the Castle 
 of St. George, the Cathedral, the church of St. 
 
 ENGLISH SAILORS. 
 
 65 
 
 Vincent, and the custom-house, off which last 
 edifice hundreds of vessels lay at anchor. Further 
 east the Tagus seemed to expand into a vast 
 inland lake, and on our right, as far as the eye 
 could reach, stretched the woods of Alemtejo, 
 two picturesque bights of the river giving cheer- 
 fulness to the foreground of the landscape. The 
 day being clear and warm, we remained for a long 
 time enjoying this fine prospect, and watching 
 the little boats which threaded their way among 
 the ships of war below us. It was with reluctance 
 that we turned our donkeys' heads towards the 
 landing-place. 
 
 Wearied of wandering about the hot streets of 
 the city, we got a boat and went out to see the 
 " warlike world within " the British line-of-battle 
 ship Prince Regent^ bearing the flag of Commo- 
 dore Martin, — a most agreeable manner of spend- 
 ing an idle forenoon. 
 
 The sailors of our fleet have acquired for them- 
 selves an unenviable reputation in Lisbon. They 
 never go ashore without making a disturbance, 
 very often a serious one. So well known is their 
 propensity for strong drink, that they are syste- 
 
66 
 
 THE IBERIA. 
 
 67 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 r 
 
 i 
 
 matically drugged and then robbed by the " land- 
 sharks." I saw a band of them trying to sell their 
 shoes for liquor, in Don Pedro-square. Their 
 dnmkenness and brawling have impressed the 
 Portuguese most unfavourably, in regard to the 
 English nation. Surely something can and ought 
 to be done by the officers to check an evil which 
 has brought such discredit upon our country ! 
 When boat-loads of men come alongside the ships 
 in the last stage of intoxication, some notice, I 
 think, might be taken of the offence, and some 
 means employed to prevent its recurrence. 
 
 We returned on shore in the " barge," and liad 
 scarcely reached our hotel, when a regular Scotch 
 mist set in, which obscured the blue sky of the 
 morning, and falling in a drizzling rain, made the 
 Tagus look as uninviting as the Tay, although so 
 much nearer the equator. 
 
 Next morning we embarked for Cadiz, on board 
 the British mail steamer Iheria, which had had a 
 very stormy passage across the Bay of Biscay, and 
 arrived later than usual. Fever of a suspicious 
 kind having broken out at Oporto, the authorities 
 hesitated for two hours before giving us a clean 
 
 bill of health, although the packet had not called 
 at that place. For once, however, they acted with 
 some degree of intelligence, an unusual thing for 
 such functionaries in Southern Europe; so we 
 weighed anchor and bade adieu to a city where 
 we had been hospitably entertained, and of which 
 1 have many pleasant recollections. 
 
 Having crossed the bar, we found the wind fair, 
 but the roll of the ocean soon drove me down 
 below. We passed Cape St.Yincent at midnight, 
 and at two o'clock came in sight of 
 
 " Fair Cadiz, rising o'er the dai'k blue sea," 
 
 As we approached its beautiful white houses, I 
 almost fancied myself again gazing from the Lido's 
 sands on Venice, the bride of the ocean. The city 
 stands on a narrow neck of land, protecting the 
 bay from the Atlantic. I cannot take leave of the 
 creaking Iberia j without observing that if that 
 vessel is during all her voyages as ill-provided and 
 uncomfortable as the passengers on board agreed 
 she then was, the Directors of the Peninsular and 
 Oriental Company had better look to their repu- 
 tation. 
 
„. ,. .-^■*«^«!^*#.^i^^fe«'-" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CADIZ — ITS SITUATION AND APPEARANCE — THE BR<VUTirUL GADI- 
 TANAS — THE ALAMEDA AT SUNSET — PUERTO SANTA MARIA — 
 BANKS OP THE GUADALETE — XEREZ DE LA FRONTERA — THE 
 "BODEGAS," OR WINE MAGAZINES — MANUFACTURE OP SHERRY 
 — DEMAND FOR IT EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY — DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 COUNTRY BETWEEN XEREZ AND SAN LUCAR — INTENSE HEAT — 
 STEAMER ON THE GUADALQUIVER — THE MIRAGE — AGRICULTURE 
 ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER — HERDS OP CATTLE — APPROACH 
 TO SEVILLE — THE FONDA DE LA REYNA — THE CATHEDR.VL — 
 MAGNIFICENCE OP THE INTERIOR — THE ORGAN — POWER OF 
 MUSIC — PICTURE OP " THE GUARDIAN ANGEL " — THE ALCAZAR, 
 OR ANCIENT PALACE OP THE MOORISH KINGS — SPANISH ART — 
 MURILLO'S PAINTINGS — HIS " MOSES STRIKING THE ROCK" AND 
 
 (( 
 
 ST. THOMAS RELIEVING BEGGARS — REMARKS ON HIS GENIUS. 
 
 Cadiz, the principal, and for years almost the 
 only sea-port of Spain, is perhaps the oldest city 
 in Europe, having been founded by the Phoenicians 
 eleven hundred years before Christ. The discovery 
 of America raised it at once to opulence and power. 
 Now its trade languishes, for the wine-mercliants 
 have begun to ship their cargoes direct from Puerto 
 Maria and San Lucar, while many wealthy families 
 
 CADIZ. 
 
 69 
 
 have removed to enjoy the better society of Seville. 
 Ever since Spain lost her transatlantic colonies, 
 the prosperity of this city has been on the wane ; 
 situated like Venice, like Venice she has been 
 shorn of her pristine glory. But although said to 
 have been the site of a temple dedicated to Hercules 
 long before profane history began, no city in the 
 Peninsula looks more modem than Cadiz. 
 
 Walking along its narrow but "well-paved and 
 regularly-built streets, you look up to a strip of 
 blue sky, in some places scarcely visible, on account 
 of balconies and projecting windows, all painted 
 green, so as to form a pretty contrast to the white 
 facades of the houses. Every large mansion has, 
 too, its turret or observatory, where may be some- 
 times seen peeping from among the folds of a man- 
 tilla, those Andalucian eyes, which, like the ring in 
 Orlando Furioso, dazzle and enchant the observer. 
 
 Excepting in some suburban alleys, the city is 
 remarkable for its cleanliness ; along even the chief 
 thoroughfares the Gaditanas may trip it in their 
 ball dresses. " The town is built," says a recent 
 writer, " as if for the celebration of a continued 
 carnival." 
 
f 
 
 70 
 
 THE GADITANAS. 
 
 71 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 For the energetic measures wliich lie took in 
 1785 to improve and beautify the place, the citi- 
 zens have to thank Governor O'Reilly. The streets 
 open into neat squares. That of the Constitution, 
 at eight o'clock in the evening, — the fashionable 
 hour of promenade,— displays such a procession 
 of handsome women, as few towns in Europe can 
 boast of. 
 
 Our hotel stood at one end of the Alameda, or 
 public walk, on the northern ramparts, command- 
 ing a fine view of the bay, the towns of Rota 
 and Puerto Santa Maria on the opposite shore, 
 and the fishing-boats returning from the Atlantic. 
 The deep blue sea, green trees and houses of 
 spotless white, reminded me strongly of Genoa 
 and Naples. The ramparts extend quite round 
 the city, affording a strong defence in case of war, 
 and a pleasant walk in times of peace. The whole 
 day long you find them covered with anglers, 
 disputing with legions of gulls for the ''salmonete" 
 or red mullet, a delicious fish caught under the 
 walls. 
 
 A line of what might be rendered impregnable 
 fortifications defend Cadiz on the side of the narrow 
 
 sandy peninsula connecting it with the mainland. 
 Beyond them a carriage-drive and public walk 
 lead to the imposing church of San Jos^, which 
 has a pleasing effect amid the trees and shrub- 
 bery. 
 
 It will be long before I forget the lovely faces 
 and still more striking figures which I saw in the 
 churches on Sunday mornings, dressed in the 
 black lace scarf, or mantilla, the national substitute 
 for bonnets. It would be difficult indeed for a 
 stranger in such dangerous company to look 
 steadily towards the altar. The common men 
 wear handsomely embroidered jackets, narrow 
 trowsers, with frequently leather gaiters laced up 
 the side, and sombreros, or circular hats, with two 
 bows or nobs, somewhat like our English " wide- 
 awakes." The higher classes dress their children 
 very fantastically in the Parisian fashion. 
 
 On the western ramparts stands an immense 
 yellow poor-house, — Casa di Misericordia, — the 
 same in which the Duke of Wellington was enter- 
 tained after his victory at Salamanca. Here a nar- 
 row ledge of rocks stretches out into the sea, 
 having at its furthest point the lighthouse of St. 
 
72 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE ALAMEDA. 
 
 73 
 
 Sebastian, 172 feet high. This breakwater saved 
 Cadiz in 1755 from the wave caused by the great 
 earthquake which laid Lisbon in ruins. The 
 rocks rise highest on the southern side of the city, 
 where stand the chapel and hospital of Santa Cata- 
 lina, embowered among palm-trees. I can scarcely 
 concur in the sweeping censure which some 
 writers have bestowed on the new cathedral, a 
 massive building in the semi-moorish style, which 
 the present bishop is completing at his own ex- 
 pense. Overloaded with ornament it may be, but 
 surely most Italian churches are heavier and not 
 so well proportioned. A walk towards the main- 
 land exposed to us the disabled guns and tottering 
 walls, w^iich a scanty guard pretend to garrison. 
 
 In one of the streets a jolly fat miller showed us 
 his mules employed in grinding corn by bruising 
 it with a large stone. The animals went round in 
 a circle, turning the wheel on its axis. We were 
 shown the flour in different stages of refinement. 
 The bread in Cadiz is excellent, but the water 
 dreadfully bad. At certain seasons, the desolating 
 sirocco wind renders the place undesirable for the 
 residence of invalids. Every visitor, at least every 
 
 
 one who loves to gaze on Murillo's matchless 
 pictures, must go to the chapel of Santa Catalina, 
 to see the last work of that great painter, while 
 occupied on which he fell from the scaffolding 
 and received injuries which proved fatal. 
 
 At sunset too you must mingle with the multi- 
 tudes who assemble on the Alameda — " tomar al 
 fresco," listening to martial music, and meeting 
 friends. It was a lovely evening when I first saw" 
 this gay scene, and nothing could be finer than the 
 effects of the setting rays on the distant and pictu- 
 resque mountains of Konda, the blue waters of the 
 bay, and the white houses. Every object seemed 
 lighted up with an unearthly radiance — 
 
 " Parting day- 
 Died like the dolphin, whom esich pang imbues 
 With a new colour, as it gasps away." 
 
 Then, tliere was the hum of voices, w^liile dark- 
 eyed beauties shrouded in mantillas flitted past, 
 mingling with the crowd of smart gentlemen in 
 nankeen trousers, peasants with their embroidered 
 jackets, and officers of Queen Isabella in blue and 
 gold. Merrily laughed this fairy throng till " the 
 halcyon glow " gave place to that grey light which 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 E 
 
74 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 PUERTO SANTA MARIA. 
 
 75 
 
 M 
 
 lasts but a moment, before darkness covers tbe 
 earth, and heaven instantaneously appears resplen- 
 dent with ten thousand twinkling luminaries. In 
 these climes, there is no " pensive Twilight," whom 
 Rogers has, in one of the iinest passages in English 
 poetry, described as seated in her " dusky car," 
 and coming *' slowly on to meet the star of 
 
 evening." 
 
 A little steamer plies between Cadiz and Puerto 
 Santa Maria. I found it crowded with passengers, 
 while the captain, a man of enormous bulk, sat on 
 the gangway of the paddle-box, smoking his cigar 
 and issuing his orders without seeming to move, 
 and apparently acting as ballast to preserve the 
 equilibrium of his tiny vessel. A breeze materially 
 increased the speed with which we crossed the 
 bay, and the afternoon being clear, we enjoyed a 
 beautiful view of the Ronda Mountains, and the 
 numerous villages in the neighbourhood. The 
 uproar caused by our appearance on landing may 
 be imagined but scarcely described. In vain did 
 we endeavour to drive away a crowd of men and 
 bovs, who, in their desire to secure our patronage 
 for their " calesas," seemed atout to cut us up into 
 
 > 
 
 V 
 
 infinitesimal portions. Remonstrance, vitupera- 
 tion, entreaty, tlireats — all were thro^vn away on 
 the clamorous scoundrels. A dogged silence on 
 our part at length wearied the assailants, and hav- 
 ing procured conveyances, we set out for Xerez 
 de la Frontera. Puerto contains twenty-five thou- 
 sand inhabitants, being now the principal place for 
 the exportation of sherry wines. It stands on a 
 point of land at the confluence with the sea of tlie 
 river Guadalete, over which a somewhat inelegant 
 suspension bridge has been thrown. From this 
 stream Cadiz derives its supply of water at a cost of 
 25,000/. sterling per annum. 
 
 After jolting for a mile along a bad road, we 
 left the highway and turned to the left across a 
 rocky hill, where there were scarcely any vestiges 
 of a path. From the top of this rising ground, we 
 beheld the city of sherry, on an eminence before 
 us, while in the other direction we commanded a 
 prospect of Andalucia's sea-port, its bay and 
 shipping. 
 
 We trod on classic ground, for there on the 
 banks of the Guadalete, Tarik and his Saracens 
 vanquished King Roderick, and ended the Gothic 
 
 E 2 
 
76 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BODEGAS. 
 
 77 
 
 monarchy of Spain. Deserted by the traitor 
 Julian, the Christian army fled before the last 
 charge of the Mussulmans, leaving their leader to 
 consult his safety by flight, and finally to perish 
 in the waters of the Guadalquiver.^ 
 
 The country between us and the city presented 
 n singular appearance, being undulating like the 
 sea in a swell, quite destitute of trees, but dotted 
 over with white houses. The soil, consisting of a 
 deep red loam, is cultivated, although there are no 
 enclosures. From the top of the hill, we drove 
 along a track across the fields, diverging to the 
 right or left as the ground suited us. Sometimes 
 our horses trotted briskly, at others they picked 
 their steps with great care in what seemed a stony 
 watercourse. Darkness closed around us as we 
 entered the picturesquely situated towTi of Xerez, 
 and drove on its wide handsome streets to the 
 Fonda of St. Dionysius in the great square, a truly 
 Spanish abode, the walls of its public rooms hung 
 round with representations of scriptural scenes. 
 Here we got very tolerable meals, and the ac- 
 
 • Gibbona "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," voL vi, 
 p. 478 
 
 I 
 
 commodation, barring a few bad odours, was better 
 than we expected to find it. 
 
 Xerez de la Frontera is a large town, with 
 several imposing churches and spires, situated on 
 a height, and surrounded by an old crenated 
 Moorish wall. Conspicuous above its houses rises 
 the Carthusian convent, now desolate and forsaken. 
 Former writers have described its streets as nar- 
 row, ill-built, and unclean. Either they have 
 written incorrectly, or a great change has recently 
 taken place, for I found neither filth nor irregu- 
 larity. On the contrary, several of the thorough- 
 fares struck me as more elegant than those of 
 Spanish towns in general. The mansions of the 
 sherry merchants stand chiefly in the suburbs, 
 close to tlieir " bodegas," or wine magazines. The 
 houses in the town, as well as those in the vine- 
 yards, are whitewashed every tvvo years, and 
 therefore present a very neat aspect. 
 
 An Aberdeenshire family of Gordons have for a 
 century occupied the principal place among the 
 mercantile princes of this city. We were by them 
 kindly received, and shown over their vast esta- 
 blishment, adjoining the Alameda and Plaza de 
 
78 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Toros, and of the same length as the cathedral at 
 Seville. The "bodegas," where the sherry is 
 stored in casks, piled one above another, are 
 immense warehouses, resembling a good deal the 
 sheds imder which they build men-of-war in the 
 dockyards, but of course more substantial, and 
 better enclosed. We tasted a most delicious dark 
 and sweet sherry, called " Pajarete," as well as 
 the light coloured iVmontillado, both old and new, 
 the latter more bitter and not so palateable as that 
 which had been kept for some time. This wine is 
 pale in colour, and bitter to the taste, because made 
 of unripe grapes. They produce the darkest 
 sherry by fermenting the husks along with the 
 
 juice of the grapes. 
 
 Numerous windows admit a free circulation of 
 air to the magazines, some of which contain 4,000 
 butts, for exportation to all parts of the world. 
 
 Sherry is quite an artificial wine, made by mix- 
 ing the produce of different kinds of vines,— sweet 
 with bitter, red with white, brandied with compa- 
 ratively pure. Every merchant has some casks of 
 famous old wine, with which to flavour his stock. 
 They do not keep tlie vintages distinct from each 
 
 SHERRIES. 
 
 79 
 
 other, every cask being composed of a mixture. 
 The wine is collected from the neighbouring 
 vineyards ; but some of the exporters also them- 
 selves are vine-growers. 
 
 The Spaniards do not drink sherry. They 
 pronounce it too strong and dear ; but they use 
 large quantities of a weaker and very bitter pale 
 wine, grown round San Lucar, and called " Man- 
 zanilla." I really cannot agree with those who 
 maintain it to be so delicious. The demand for 
 sherry is increasing, new markets having been 
 lately opened up for it, especially in the British 
 colonies ; but owing to want of roads, the mer- 
 chants, who are chiefly of French and Scotch 
 extraction, experience great difficulty in adding 
 proportionably to the supply. 
 
 There is no highway from Xerez to the Guadal- 
 quiver ; but a track has been formed across the 
 fields by mules, donkeys, and calesas, and has 
 acquired rather an unenviable reputation for rob- 
 beries. It passes between extensive vineyards, 
 protected from rains and thieves by embankments 
 of mud and thick hedges of the prickly pear. 
 We met multitudes of carts drawn by oxen, and 
 
80 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 containing barrels of wine for the bodegas in the 
 city. The winter ton'ents seem, to judge from the 
 chasms in the road, to devastate the country. The 
 morning on which we started was cloudless, and 
 soon became excessively warm. At midday we 
 could scarcely bear the intensity of the rays — 
 
 " It seem'd 
 As if the air had fainted, and the pulae 
 Of Nature had run down and ceased to beat." 
 
 Andalucia's "sun was up in the clear heaven, 
 and every beam was heat." What a glorious blue 
 sky was our canopy that day! Everything bore 
 the marks of such weather having prevailed for 
 many a week before ; not a blade of green grass, 
 not a brook of water, not a leafy tree did we en- 
 counter. The landscape can best be described 
 by a verse from one of the satires of Ariosto : — 
 
 " Una stagion fu gia, che si il terrene 
 Arse, ch'l sol di nuovo a Faetonte 
 De' suoi corsier parea aver dato il freno ; 
 Secco ogni pozzo, secco era ogni fonte, 
 Gli stagni, i rioi, e i fiumi piii famosi, 
 Tutti passar si potean senza ponte." 
 
 Crossing a ridge of sandy hillocks, we traversed 
 a wood of pines, and stopped at Bonanza on the 
 
 THE GUADALQUIVER. 
 
 81 
 
 Guadalquiver, a village consisting of an enormous, 
 and now unused custom-house, witli a few minor 
 buildings, and acting in the capacity of port to the 
 town of San Lucar, two miles further down the 
 river, where they export the inferior sherries. 
 
 Here we waited half an hour under a burning 
 sun, until the steamer Adriano touched at the quay 
 on her voyage from Cadiz. Another quarter of an 
 hour was spent in putting on board furniture 
 belonging to the Duke of Montpensier, who had 
 been at sea-bathing quarters. This done, we 
 started on our trip up the muddy and uninteresting 
 Guadalquiver, a river which indeed owes much to 
 romance, its banks being as flat as those of the 
 Zuyder Zee, and for miles displaying only marshy, 
 flooded pastures, a few olives, and herds of oxen. 
 At a distance the Honda mountains rise, as it were, 
 out of the sea, the low intervening land being in- 
 visible. These hills sometimes looked exactly like 
 clouds, and more than once during our passage we 
 witnessed the " mirage." Lakes appeared and 
 disappeared, and cattle feeding in the fields seemed 
 to be standing up to their knees in clear water, 
 till a nearer view dissipated the delusion, 
 
 e3 
 
82 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 So muddy is the river, as at several places to 
 resemble sandbanks. Never have I seen such 
 immense herds of cattle and horses as feed on 
 its banks. To obtain shade, the latter form a 
 circle, with their heads in the middle. These 
 droves belong to farmers paying rent to the noble 
 owners of the soil. They procure the best pasture 
 in winter after the rains. 
 
 In Andalucia the people thresh the corn imme- 
 diately subsequent to the harvest, and convey it to 
 the towns to be sold or stored. None remains on 
 the fields, which consequently in autumn, from 
 the absence both of trees and grass, have a most 
 desolate appearance. No hay is made in the pro- 
 vince of Seville. They feed the cattle, which are 
 very lean, on broken straw. The farmers rely 
 chiefly on their olive oil ; garlic is also cultivated 
 to some extent ; but much might be done to im- 
 prove the agriculture of these rich plains. The 
 Betis rolls tlirough provinces which require only to 
 have their resources developed to supply a continent 
 with grain, and add millions to the wealth of the 
 Peninsula. 
 
 Our little steamer had a pleasant cabin, adorned 
 
 SEVILLE. 
 
 83 
 
 
 with panelling representing Andalucian scenes 
 and costumes. These steamers on the Guadal- 
 quiver have been built on English models, and 
 have English machinery. They sail fast, and are 
 now well patronised, although the Spaniards took 
 them at first for sorcerers. 
 
 About four o'clock in the afternoon we observed 
 high land ahead, and passed several plantations of 
 thriving orange-trees, giving a delightful shade; 
 villages became more frequent ; convents, too, ap- 
 peared amongst groves of olives, and at length 
 the Giralda of Seville rose gracefully above the 
 Christina Gardens, just as we were passing the old 
 Moorish castle of St. Juan de Alfarache, a few 
 miles from the capital of Andalucia. 
 
 Crowds witnessed our disembarkation, as the 
 quay adjoins the Alameda. One custom-house 
 vampire here opened our bags, and another at the 
 gate must needs also have a peep at their col tents. 
 The latter indeed signified that a peseta would be 
 equally satisfactory, but this I politely declined to 
 give him. Threading our way tlirough narrow 
 streets, we took up our quarters at the Fonda de la 
 Reyna, a small two-storied Moorish house, with a 
 
84 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL. 
 
 85 
 
 court in the centre, into which all the rooms open. 
 So balmy was the air of evening, that I sat writing 
 on the balcony, looking at the galaxy of stars 
 which shone above us with a brilliance unknown in 
 northern climes, those bright gems which Long- 
 fellow, with an excess of poetic fervour, calls the 
 " Forget-me-nots of the angels." 
 
 I have seen nearly all tlie great churches in 
 Europe, and if inclined to award the prize for 
 exterior architecture to the magnificent Duomo of 
 Milan, I no less heartily affinn that, in point of 
 interior gi-andeur, none, not even St. Peter's, " to 
 which Diana's marvel was a cell," can compare 
 with the cathedral of Seville. The outside of the 
 building strikes one only as a vast collection of 
 cupolas, towers, and pinnacles, huddled together 
 wdth no great regard to architectural beauty ; but 
 enter by a small portal near the Giralda, pass 
 through a court of orange-trees, and raise the 
 screen whicli faces you; take three steps towards 
 the central nave, and then tell me if in contem- 
 plating the works of man you ever before expe- 
 rienced such a sense of awe produced by the effect 
 of immensity, and the change from the bright sun- 
 
 shine of Andalucia to the twilight gloom which 
 reigns beneath the arches of that noble pile. 
 
 The eye wanders from the pillars to the bronze 
 railings, from the railings to the highly-ornamented 
 choir, and from it to the religious rays which steal 
 through the painted w^indows far above the balus- 
 trade, itself ninety feet from the pavement. No 
 paltry ornaments interfere with the majesty of 
 those noble columns, which divide the centre nave 
 from the seven aisles, and seem to form the very 
 vestibule to the abode of Deity. 
 
 Fain would I convey some idea of that temple's 
 sublimity, — of the mingled sensations of vene- 
 ration, wonder, and awe, which it produces in the 
 human mind ; but words fail me, and even while 
 writing, far away from the hallowed dome, I feel 
 as if venturing into the very presence of the 
 Invisible. 
 
 Without being in any unusual degree influenced 
 by my feelings, I must confess that little surprise 
 would have been excited in my mind, if while 
 looking up toward the angelic figure which crowns 
 the high altar of the Cathedral at Seville, I had, like 
 Moses in the land of Midian, heard a voice saying, 
 
86 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 " Draw not nigh hither, for the ground whereon 
 thou standest is holy." 
 
 Four hundred and thirty-one feet long, by three 
 hundred and fifteen feet wide, this glorious temple 
 contains ninety-three windows, and is one hundred 
 and forty-five feet high. For the performance of 
 its services, more than eight hundred persons are 
 employed; while five hundred masses are daily 
 recited at its different altars. So vast is it, that 
 they frequently play more than one of its six organs 
 at the same time, without causing discord. Twice 
 I heard the grand instrument which has ^vq thou- 
 sand three hundred stops pour forth its tones. I 
 have listened to many an organ in many a land; 
 to that at Freylmrg, imitating the artillery of 
 heaven; and to that at Haerlem, executing passages 
 of wonderful power. I have heard the *' Gloria in 
 excelsis " played before the Archbishop of Cologne, 
 and to similar strains in presence of the Pope and 
 Cardinals, but none of these performances affected 
 me so much as that still small voice of exquisite 
 sweetness, which, gentle but rich, seemed to melt 
 into tenderness every worshipper in the Cathedral 
 of Seville. It was like a seraph bringing a mes- 
 
 THE GUARDIAN ANGEL. 
 
 87 
 
 sage of mercy to fallen man, attended by the harps 
 of the celestial hosts who appeared to the shepherds 
 at Bethlehem. 
 
 " Music ! oh, how faint, how weak. 
 Language fades before thy spell ! 
 Why should Feeling ever speak, 
 AVhen thou canst breathe her soul so well ?" 
 
 How tiresome, after gazing on such a noble 
 temple, and listening to such heavenly strains, to 
 be dragged into a sacristy, and forced to look at 
 the jewellery belonging to the diocese. Many 
 sculptures, paintings and other ornaments, guide- 
 books and travellers describe in this cathedral; but 
 I mention only one, and that one I never can for- 
 get. Thanks to Borrow for calling my attention 
 to it. Facing the central nave, on the right of the 
 principal door, stranger, you will find Murillo's 
 picture of the Guardian Angel. He leads by the 
 hand the Infant Saviour, and looks with an ex- 
 pression of mingled reverence and tenderness on 
 his precious charge. But the step of the godlike 
 child! Who can fail to recollect the tread of the 
 heavenly one? He walks as the Kuler of all, the 
 Immortal and Eternal King, who, though in the 
 
88 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 form of a babe, ** created all things by the word of 
 hi? power." 
 
 Oil the other side of the open space, to the east- 
 ward of the cathedral, you see the outer walls of 
 the Alcazar, or ancient palace of the ^loorish kings. 
 Luicnng under an archway, and passing through 
 two uninteresting courts, we anived at tlie facade 
 of the inner abode, a truly Arab portal, ornamented 
 with rich tracery, roofed with carved cedar, and 
 having on each side graceful suites of arcades. (Jf 
 all the ajmrtments in this fairy dwelling, none gives 
 the stranger such pleasure as the Hall of the Am- 
 bassadors, forming a square of about thirty-three 
 feet by sixty feet in height, with a ceiling on 
 which the artists seem to have attained to the per- 
 fection of decoration. Near it is the Patio de los 
 Muccnas, or Court of the Dolls, where ten small 
 pillars and arches have produced an effect bordering 
 on the marvellous. 
 
 In a room opening from this enclosure, and 
 commanding a view of the beautiful gardens, dwelt 
 Maria Padilla, the favourite mistress of Don Pedro 
 the Cruel, whose influence over the bloodthirsty 
 king, i^erhaps in no small degi'ce contributed to 
 
 THE ALCAZAR. 
 
 89 
 
 the embellishment of the Alcazar. The subter- 
 ranean baths called after this lady enter from the 
 pleasure grounds. This palace was built for a 
 Moorish prince, on the site of the Roman qua3Stor's 
 house, and was much altered both by Isabella and 
 by Charles the Fifth. Philip the Fifth spoiled it 
 by subdividing its fine rooms, which, to complete 
 the Vandalism, were white- washed by a barbarous 
 Englishman, Sir John Downie, who inhabited it in 
 1813. 
 
 Charles the Fifth planned the gardens, or rather 
 the groves of oranges and lemons, laden with de- 
 licious fruit. Walks paved with mixed brick and 
 porcelain, and perforated with holes, each one of 
 which can be converted into a fountain, separate 
 the flower-beds. By means of a handle concealed 
 on the person of some ancient god or goddess, the 
 gardener causes a thousand silvery streams to burst 
 from the paths and astonish the visitor. The 
 garden can thus in a moment be cooled by invisible 
 fountains. The fruit belongs to an English bank- 
 ing firm, who export it to their wealthy native 
 land, before it has quite reached its maturity. 
 
 Along the walls of every apartment in the 
 
90 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Alcaxar, runs a gallery, from which the ladies un- 
 perceived could be spectators of the feasts and 
 oompMiy. During tlie palmy days of Moorish 
 4MBination, when these courts were full of princes, 
 and Moslem warriors, when fountains 
 
 threw up their cooling streams in the centre, and 
 of music resounded in the corridors, wliat a 
 of enchantment must have been presented 
 within the rough walls of this fairy Alcazar ! 
 
 Those who love that style of art which labours 
 to produce an exact imitation of nature, will find 
 
 pie food for contemplation in Seville ; for there, 
 several masterpieces by Zurbaran, are the 
 glomus works whicli have rendered Miirillo's name 
 imnortal and dear to Spain. " It has been re- 
 marked,'' says Mr. Urquhart, ** that when a person 
 becomes an admirer of this painter, he is wholly 
 fiMcinated and incapable of all discrimination, 
 admires his master's defects, and despises all others' 
 Biedts; but who ever painted such children as he 
 did? In comparison with them the cherubs of 
 Rubens are foetuses." No school of artists has 
 ever apfntMched to the perfection with which he 
 imitated material objects. As a copyist of nature. 
 
 MURILLO. 
 
 91 
 
 he excels RafFaelle; as a delineator of mind, he 
 must be considered as inferior to the great painters 
 of Italy. " His Virgin Mother," remarks an 
 accomplished American writer, "is the stainless 
 and radiant handmaid of the Lord, but yet a wo- 
 man nursing her first-bom. His beautiful chil- 
 dren, whom no man ever painted like Murillo, 
 though in feature they have that which tells you 
 ' of such is the kingdom of Heaven,' remind you 
 always, notwithstanding, of some pure and happy 
 beings whom you have known and loved on earth. 
 They are of a better world, but they went to it 
 from this." 
 
 But, although Murillo certainly did possess this 
 peculiarity of the Spanish school, he knew well 
 also how to paint poetic beauty, and produce that 
 " divinity of expression " for which Guido and 
 Rafi'aelle are so famed. Full of human tender- 
 ness, he has left behind him some noble examples 
 of the loftiest spiritual conceptions. The Hospital 
 of La Caridad and the ]\Iuseum contain his greatest 
 works. In the former I admired his San Juan de 
 Dios, in which he represents the founder of the 
 institution bearing on his back a poor man, and 
 
92 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TUE TIBER. 
 
 MURILLO. 
 
 93 
 
 miraculously assisted by an angel, who with his pre- 
 sence illuminates the darkness of night, and an Infant 
 Sa\'iour painted on the panel. The grouping of 
 ** The Loaves and Fishes '* appeared to me imper- 
 fect ; the artist likewise seems to have committed a 
 serious error in allowing two of the disciples to 
 talk to each other, while our Lord is giving thanks ; 
 but in what language shall I attempt to describe 
 that gem of the collection, *' Moses striking the 
 Bock/' by many thought to be Murillo's_ master- 
 
 For hours together did Sir David Wilkie gaze 
 with admiration on this prodigy of art. The 
 Agones and groups are exquisite, while the ex- 
 pfression on the face of a boy, who sits on the back 
 of a camel, may be safely set down as unrivalled 
 in the annals of painting. Moses has just struck 
 the rock, and stands in a dignified attitude beside 
 It ; while the people are so eager to drink, that 
 no two use similar vessels to hold the grateful 
 liquid. Never did ^lurillo give such proof of his 
 ooosmnmate talent as in the harmonious grouping, 
 the inimitable countenances, and the poetical com- 
 ]x»sition of this justly celebrated " Las Aguas." 
 
 \ 
 
 The ]\Iuseum contains, in addition to a number 
 of very inferior pictures, several line works by 
 Zurbaran, Castillo, Roelas, &c., but my recol- 
 lections centre in Murillo's room, with its eighteen 
 paintings by tliat prince of art. No pen can 
 describe the joyous features and piercing eyes 
 of his children, the emaciated faces and coarse 
 garments of his monks, the tottering steps of his 
 paupers. He himself considered "the St. Thomas 
 relieving Beggars," presen^d in this apartment, 
 as his " chef-d'oeuvre." It is really hard to say 
 whether this one or " the Moses " deserves the 
 highest praise. I never can forget the countenances 
 of these mendicants. Gazing upon them, you 
 almost expect to hear a piteous supplication 
 for charity. Need I mention '* the St. Anthony,'' 
 " St. Francis embracing the Dead Saviour," the 
 very embodiment of reverential tenderness, " St. 
 Leander and St. Buenventura," " St. Felix pre- 
 senting the Infimt Saviour," and a Virgin and Child, 
 said to have been painted on a dinner napkin 
 as a present to the cook of the Capuchin 
 Convent, where the artist bad been hospitably 
 entertained ? 
 
H 
 
 94 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Words might indeed be added to words ; but 
 words cannot convey to the reader's mind an idea 
 of "those beautiful things, not only warm with 
 life, but radiant with inspiration," which led the 
 Andalucians to say that " Murillo vi6 al cielo, 
 y lo pint6," ** had seen Heaven, and painted what he 
 
 saw." 
 
 Every successive work of this great man which 
 I have seen, has increased the admiration which 
 I first felt on beholding a picture by him ; and no 
 paintings, even the masterjiiecea of Raffaelle and 
 Guido, have afforded me greater pleasure than those 
 few triumphs of genius in the public buildings 
 of Seville. Although a devoted admirer of 
 Murillo, I feel myself inadequate justly to celebrate 
 his praises, or even to express that strong sense 
 of admiration which I entertain of works which 
 have ranked him amongst 
 
 " The grand old masters, 
 Whose distant footsteps echo 
 Through the corridors of tmie." 
 
 J 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE RECORDS OF COLUMBUS AT SEVILLE— THE UNIVERSITY — THE 
 GIRALDA TOWER — PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY — RETURN TO 
 CADIZ — THE "MERCURIO" — TRAFALGAR — THE PILLARS OP HER- 
 CULES — PHOSPHORESCENT WAVES — FIRST SIGHT OF GIBRALTAR 
 — SAN ROQUE — THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND — REFUSAL OF 
 A BITE FOR A PRESBYTERIAN PLACE OF WORSHIP BY THE 
 AUTHORITIES OF THE ROCK — BRITISH COLONIAL GOVERNORS 
 AND THEIR POLICY — NOTES ON GIBRALTAR, THE TOWN BAT- 
 TERIES AND VILL^VS — AN INSTANCE OF FRENCH MANNERS — 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROPRIETY OF ENGLAND RETAINING THB 
 FORTRESS — rrS POSITION — MILITARY STRENGTH, AND INFLUENCE 
 IN SOUTHERN EUROPE — THE SPANISH TARIFF, NOT THE GUNS 
 OF GIBRALTAR, THE CAUSE OF THE CONTRABAND TRADE. 
 
 Adjoining the Cathedral of Seville is a fine 
 building, the lower flat of which the merchants 
 use as an exchange, while a handsome marble 
 staircase conducts to the upper story, where are 
 preserved the archives of the Indies, from the 
 discovery of America down to the present day. 
 In the inner room the stranger may see the walls 
 hung round with Arrowsmith's English maps. 
 
96 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 side by side with cases containing the despatches 
 of the " Great Admiral." Oh Spain, Spain, how 
 art thou fallen! Shade of Columbus! Your 
 countrymen of the present day buy charts from 
 northern islanders to show them the way to the 
 regions where you first planted the banner of 
 Castile ; from the same islanders they purcliase 
 steamers to cross that ocean, which the " Pinta,'' 
 when she reached St. Salvador, first proved had 
 a bound ! 
 
 Desirous of visiting the University, we were 
 denied entrance, as examinations were in progress, 
 and a crowd of students at the portal " politely " 
 hooted us. Eight hundred of these young men 
 attend the classes, and so troublesome have they 
 lately become, that the professors have been 
 obliged to abolish the college dress, in order that 
 refractor}' students may be more easily recognised 
 by the police. When all dressed alike the autho- 
 rities found it no easy matter to identify the 
 
 ringleaders of disturbances. 
 
 To the height of three hundred and fifty feet 
 above the Moorish courtyard at the north-east 
 door of the cathedral, rises tlie beautiful Giralda 
 
 
 I 
 
 THE GIRALDA TOWER. 
 
 97 
 
 Tower, resembling somewhat St. Marco's Campanile 
 at Venice. It was built in 1196 by Geber, and 
 has a motto in large letters near the top, from 
 Proverbs xviii. 10 : " Nomen Domini fortissima 
 turris." From one of the balconies the muezzin 
 in Mahometan times summoned the faithful to 
 prayers. Large bells, called after saints, and 
 sounded by men pulling them round with ropes, 
 now serve the same purpose to the Christians. 
 Just as we reached the termination of the inclined 
 plane, paved with brick, which leads to the top, 
 this tolling began, and for a minute or two quite 
 stunned us. On the summit of the whole, a colossal 
 statue representing Faith holds in one hand an 
 olive branch, and in the other a shield. By means 
 of the latter it obeys the wind, and thus gives to 
 the tower the name of Giralda, or weathercock. 
 
 The day being fine, we enjoyed a view of the 
 city and neighbourhood. Below us lay Seville, an 
 oval patch of brown roofs and white houses in a 
 dreary, treeless plain. So narrow are the streets, 
 as to be scarcely visible ; the churches tower above 
 the other edifices, but cannot boast of architectural 
 elegance. Looking towards the river, we saw a 
 
 VOL. L F 
 
98 
 
 THK TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 bridge in process of building, to connect the city 
 with the poor suburb of Triana, the abode of the 
 Gipsies. Further down was the spacious bullring, 
 and below it again the Torre del Oro, or Tower of 
 Gold, which in Moorish times commanded the 
 river by means of a chain attached to a similar fort 
 on the opj>osite side. It is now used as a custom- 
 house, and, although very ancient, appears new as 
 well as handsome. 
 
 Southwards we looked down upon the Duke of 
 Montpensier's palace, with its extensive gardens, 
 the government manufactory of tobacco, where four 
 thousand people work, and the cavalry ban*acks, 
 the Ronda Mountains in the distance rising like 
 giants from the plain ; while at our feet in a cluster 
 were the Cathedral, the Alcazar, the Exchange, 
 and the Palace of tlie Archbishop. 
 
 Moorisli architecture prevails in Seville. The 
 large houses have all interior courts, in which 
 flowers are cultivated, and fountains play, and over 
 which in summer they spread awnings to keep out 
 the burning rays of an xVndalucian sun. The city 
 contains about one hundred thousand inhabitants. 
 On the discovery of the New World it rose to be 
 
 STATE OF SEVILLE. 
 
 99 
 
 a place of greater importance than it was when 
 capital of Spain before the court removed to 
 Valladolid. 
 
 Students of Spanish history know that there the 
 Inquisition had its head-quarters, and that witliin 
 its walls, in three hundred years, this hellish 
 tribunal consigned thirty-live thousand people, the 
 best and most industrious in the province, to the 
 devouring flames. Somehow this city has obtained 
 a bad name for robberies and assassinations. 
 Thither, we are told, '' Don Quixote's fellow-tra- 
 vellers entreated him to accompany them, it being 
 a place the most likely to furnish him with adven- 
 tures, since they were to be met with there in 
 every street, and at every turning." If recent 
 travellers have not deceived us, certain quarters of 
 Seville have their perils now, as well as in the 
 time of Cervantes. Most people carry arms after 
 nightfall, when they walk in the less-frequented 
 alleys. Meeting a grandee mufiied in his cloak, 
 you may sometimes perceive the point of a naked 
 blade peeping out from the folds of the garment. 
 
 The Andalucian capital, though rich in ancient 
 remains, cannot be called a decaying city. On 
 
 F 2 
 
100 
 
 THE TAGUIS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the contrary, Malaga and Barcelona perhaps alone 
 excepted, it flourishes more than any other place in 
 8pain. Several manufactories have lately been 
 erected, and many improvements are in progi*ess. If 
 not so rich and prosperous as when the wealth of a 
 newly-discovered world was pouring up the Guadal- 
 •luiver, Seville is neither a Carthagena nor a Venice. 
 
 It is amusing to wander on an evening to the 
 Alameda, and watch the horsemen passing by. 
 Their steeds throw up their fore-feet, so as to show 
 all the iron on their hoofs, and appear to go fast, 
 whilst in reality they do not. Every rider uses a 
 curb bit of tremendous power, with which he could 
 pull any horse on his haunches in a moment. The 
 saddles and stirrups are richly decorated, but not 
 by any means elegant. 
 
 ^lany more pages might have been devoted by 
 me to a description of this famous city, which 
 •• boasts her strength, her wealth, and site of ancient 
 days ;" but I merely wish to record a few of my 
 own impressions, not to reproduce what the reader 
 will find in guide-books, or to attempt a critical 
 examination of those works of art which Mr. 
 Stirling, and other able \VTiters, have illustrated 
 
 THE GUADALQUIVER. 
 
 101 
 
 witli so much talent. It would be absurd in me 
 to expect that those who have Ford and Boitow 
 in their hands, would wish me elaborately to de- 
 scribe the sights of Seville. And yet I leave 
 that fair city with regret, as the Rapido steams 
 down the Guadalquiver, and the Giralda, last of 
 its buildings, gradually disappears bv^hind the 
 orange groves which shelter the capital of love 
 and song. 
 
 Our passengers included General Concha and 
 suite, on his way to the island of Cuba, where, as 
 Captain-General, he has since successfully pro- 
 tected the honour of the Spanish arms. 
 
 I always associate the sunny Guadalquiver with 
 the loss of my hat, which fell overboard during 
 this passage, and disappeared beneath the muddy 
 waters. The incident, trifling though it was, has 
 quite changed the current of my ideas regarding 
 this classic stream. 
 
 Another evening walk in the principal square of 
 Cadiz ! There I went to see the elegant and beau- 
 tiful Gaditanas, as they flitted in their lace man- 
 tillas by the gaslight below the trees. 
 
 Next morning early we were on board a small 
 
102 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 boat, tacking against a headwind to reach the 
 Spanish steamer Mercurio, which lay in tlie bay. 
 This celebrated vessel — for all travellers on the 
 Spanish coast know her well — was built in Liver- 
 pool, in 1837, and has neither been cleaned nor 
 examined since. Wlien the ^\^nds are contrary 
 she makes no way at all ; sometimes, it is said, 
 she has l^een driven backwards, and frequently 
 she has insisted upon touching at ports which her 
 crew had no intention of visiting. If ever vessel 
 deserved the appellation of " tub," the Mercurio is 
 that vessel; for she took fourteen hours, under 
 favourable circumstances, to steam the eighty miles 
 between Cadiz and Algeziras. For this, too, we 
 each had to pay no less a sum than thirty-three 
 shillings sterling. A steamer of ordinary sailing 
 qualities would have been half-way to Gibraltar 
 before this box-built and foul-bottomed hulk had 
 fairly got round the light-house, or at least lost 
 sight of the Cathedral towers. 
 
 As the coast of Andalucia is very uninteresting, 
 I laid myself quietly down to sleep, expecting to 
 awaken within hail of the Pillars of Hercules. But, 
 alas ! I had good reason for agreeing with Aga- 
 
 I 
 
 p 
 
 TRAFALGAR. 
 
 103 
 
 memnon, that "the ample proposition that hope 
 makes in earthly designs, fails in its promised 
 largeness;" for, when I roused myself from a 
 comfortable slumber, there were still the walls of 
 Cadiz apparently a very short distance off, on our 
 larboard beam. Could we have cast anchor V 
 This simple explanation of our position occuiTcd 
 at once to my mind ; but it proved incorrect, for 
 smoke issued from the funnel, the paddle-wheels 
 revolved, and the captain stood on the quarter- 
 deck, attired in a dressing-gown and slippers, and 
 looking as knowing as if the Mercurio had been 
 steaming at the rate of sixteen knots an hour 
 between Scylla and Charybdis. Tediously the 
 hours passed away, till, at two o'clock, we made 
 a stony headland with a solitary tower, seaward 
 from which, some four miles off the shore. Nelson 
 fell in the arms of victory. 
 
 Scarcely had we time to mark that now lonely 
 Trafalgar, where England so signally demonstrated 
 her maritime superiority, when the wind l)egan to 
 blow in gusts, and had it not been for the current 
 which always runs into the Mediterranean, we 
 might, despite the efforts of an eiglity horse-powov 
 

 ,w 
 
 104 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 engine, have been driven to seek adventures on the 
 wide Atlantic. After doubling the headland of 
 Tarifa, however, daylight and the gale both dis- 
 appeared ; we could, however, perceive Cape Spar- 
 tel, in Africa, looming on the starboard. In cahn 
 water the Mer curio sped her way towards Alge- 
 ziras, leaving behind her a bright phosphorescent 
 track, and recalling to my mind those beautiful 
 lines in the '' Lord of the Isles :" — 
 
 " Awaked before the rushing prow, 
 The mimic fires of ocean glow, 
 
 Those lightnings of the wave.' 
 
 At ten o'clock we anchored off the little Spanish 
 town of Algeziras, having left Cadiz at half-past 
 seven in the morning. Pity that no American 
 was on board to compare the exploits of the 
 steamers which sail twenty-two miles an hour on 
 the Hudson, or Long Island Sound, with the rate 
 of progress on that coast from which Columbus 
 departed on his voyage of discovery. What 
 changes have happened since then ! The best 
 steamers in the Spanish navy at present are two 
 which, having been superseded on the line be- 
 tween New York and Liverpool by faster ships, 
 were pui'chased by the Spanish Government. 
 
 GIBRALTAE. 
 
 105 
 
 Under new names, the Caledonia, and my old 
 friend the Hihernia, have been lately figuring on 
 the coast of Cuba as war vessels belonging to 
 Queen Isabella of Spain. 
 
 Very early next morning I went on deck and 
 immediately looked southward, where, at the end 
 of a sandy promontory, between me and the hills 
 of Africa, rose the rock of Gibraltar. Like a sulky 
 lion, watching but disdaining its prey, does this 
 isolated mountain of adamant look gloomily across 
 to Algeziras. A Levanter had blown the day be- 
 fore, so a nightcap of mist crowned Gibel Taric, 
 so called l^ecause the Arab commander there won 
 the first of those engagements which overthrew 
 the Gothic monarchy. Having landed at Tarifa, 
 and, like Cortes, burned his ships to cut off from his 
 men the means of escape in case of disaster, Taric, 
 shouting, " Your only chance is in victory 1 " led 
 his troops forward, till Theodomir's army being 
 put to the rout, he planted the crescent upon the 
 rock of Calpe, the prelude of those triumphs which, 
 after the battle of the Guadelete, filled Europe w4th 
 a superstitions dread of the Saracens. 
 
 Having landed at Algeziras, and obtained pass- 
 
 F 3 
 
106 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ports, we made a bargain with four chattering, 
 queer-looking Spanish boatmen, to row us over the 
 bay, in a little cockleshell of a skiff, to Gibraltar. 
 On our way we disturbed several beautiful flying- 
 fish, and passing over the spot where sank the 
 burning Missouri, in about an hour stopped at the 
 little quay of the fortress. 
 
 "British subjects, Sir?" asked a handsome 
 soldier on guard. I felt inclined to reply in 
 American, " Yes, Siree ;" but the emphasis would 
 have invalidated the answer. Permitted to pass 
 the lines, we found our way along the semi-Eng- 
 lish, semi-Moorish streets, to " the Club-house." 
 
 On the forenoon of our arrival, an esteemed 
 friend drove us out to the village of San Roque, 
 six miles distant, and commanding a fine view of 
 Gibraltar. The road, which is pretty good, is 
 kept in repair by a voluntary subscri])tion among 
 the English! It passes first along the neutral 
 ground on the isthmus, and then, crossing the 
 Spanish lines, skirts the bay. 
 
 Next day was Sunday ; it rained in ton-ents ; 
 so heavy, indeed, that we got quite wet while 
 walking a few paces to the Scotch place of wor- 
 
 FREE CHURCH. 
 
 lo: 
 
 ship. The only Presbyterian congregation on the 
 "Rock" are connected with the Free Church. 
 They number about 200, including soldiers, and 
 have generally, as their minister, some clergyman 
 belonging to the parent body, who seeks health 
 and strength in a warmer climate. The worship- 
 pers at present meet in an upper room, but are 
 anxious to obtain a suitable site on which t<> 
 erect a chapel. This, the military authorities, at 
 the instigation, it is alleged, of dignitaries belong- 
 ing to the Church of England, have hitherto 
 denied them. Nor do they refuse the request in 
 a straightforvvard manner. That would be to lay 
 themselves open to the charge of having infringed 
 that great principle of religious liberty which has 
 done so much to consolidate the power of Britain. 
 Wise in their generation, those persecutors at heart 
 have adopted another course. 
 
 *' Certainly you shall have a site," say they, 
 "and here is an admirable one," pointing to a 
 quarry half-way up the mountain, where they well 
 know a congregation could not be assembled. 
 
 This and other stances equally out of the 
 question, they have repeatedly offered ; but when 
 
..„,,. -..-^s-^^W^^*^*^^'^^***"™**^*'^*'^'^^^*^ 
 
 -^■«{^E*'"'^^*^ -w*"^ 
 
 *- 
 
 108 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the Free Churchmen mention any situation which 
 woukl even be tolerably suitable, the reply in- 
 variably is, " that we are sorry it cannot be given, 
 it is required for military purposes;" the plain 
 meaning of which is, " A chapel x^laced there would 
 attract scores of people from the cathedral," the 
 preachers in which can by no means be compared 
 with those talented men who have lately gone out 
 from Scotland, and whose superiority even the 
 Episcopalians cannot but acknowledge. 
 
 The annoyances experienced l)y the Presby- 
 terians of Gibraltar in attempting to erect a place 
 of worship, reflect discredit on the British name, 
 and must, if government, of whom better things 
 might l>e expected, continue to refuse justice, be 
 brought before parliament. Does Mr. Fox ^laule, 
 himself a member of that church v/hich cannot 
 obtain a suitable building to assemble its adherents, 
 know the state of matters? Can it be that a 
 cabinet in which he occupies a place, has set its 
 seal on such paltry exclusiveness ? Whether this 
 be the case or not, it will benefit all parties con- 
 cerned in thus withholding the natural liberties of 
 Englishmen, if a suitable site be without delay 
 
 COLOXTAL GOVERNORS. 
 
 109 
 
 i 
 
 granted; for it will save an exposure in the British 
 senate, which will add no honour either to the 
 authorities of Gibraltar, or their masters at the 
 
 Colonial Office.* 
 
 It is very lamentable that a government, which 
 at home shows so much liberality, should in many 
 instances have proved itself most illiberal abroad. 
 The acts of some of our goverfiorsof dependencies 
 accord more with the policy of Naples or Russia, 
 than that of free England. The evil lies in ap- 
 pointing to important commands men without 
 ability, sometimes without common sense. 
 
 As far as civil expenses are concerned, Gibraltar 
 causes no burden to the mother country. The 
 population,— consisting of twenty-one thousand, 
 about six thousand five hundred of whom are Pro- 
 testants, one thousand Jews, and the remainder of 
 Spanish descent,— pay £28,000 per annum in taxes, 
 which the governor lately resolved to increase. 
 Against this the people protested, and appealed to 
 Earl Grey, urging that they were already suffi- 
 ciently burdened, and that the expenses ought to 
 
 • Since the above was written, the authorities have yielded 
 the long contested point, and the Presbyterians have obtained, 6y 
 purchase, a suitable site for their chapel. 
 
 
^Si^WiK«''^«^^*»B«' 
 
 r ^^ ^%„^^^'^^ir<-'fii^^'-' -^J^ 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 no 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 be reduced to correspond with the decline in trade. 
 This remonstrance having proved successful, the 
 sapient Sir Robert Gardiner has erased from the 
 list of parties to be invited to government-house, 
 the names of those who signed it— the wealthiest 
 and most influential men in Gibraltar— the very 
 individuals who pay his excellency £5,000 per 
 
 annum. 
 
 " The patronage of the Colonial Oflice," wrote 
 the late highly esteemed Charles BuUer, '' is the 
 prey of every hungry department of our govern- 
 ment. On it the Horse Guards quarters its worn- 
 out general officers as governors; the Admiralty 
 cribs its share; and jobs which even parliamentary 
 rapacity would blush to ask from the Treasury, are 
 perpetrated with impunity in the silent realm of 
 Mr. Mother Country."* To persevere in this policy 
 is not the way to preserv^e intact the dependencies 
 of that empire on which the sun never sets. 
 
 The town of Gibraltar consists of one long 
 street, with lanes at right angles to it, built on a 
 sloping part of the hill, facing the west, and 
 looking across the bay towards Algeziras. The 
 
 • « Mr. Mother Country of the Colonial Office," quoted in 
 Wakefield's " Art of Colonization," p. 292. 
 
 " THE ROCK. 
 
 7? 
 
 Ill 
 
 houses, generally speaking, resemble those in Ger- 
 many ; some, however, are more in the English 
 style, while others are evidently Moorish. The 
 walls, especially the ramparts fronting the sea, 
 bristle with cannon, and British sentries silently 
 guard every comer. How different these erect, 
 dignified men, from the lounging chattering senti- 
 nels on the Spanish lines ! 
 
 Above the houses, "the Rock," a brown crag 
 with a few scattered trees and cottages, rises per- 
 j^endicularly till it terminates in three points, the 
 highest and furthest west l)eing crowned with a 
 flagstaff. Towards the feandy isthmus connecting 
 this isolated hill with Spain, it presents a wall of 
 adamant fifteen hundred feet high, perforated w4th 
 galleries and portholes, out of which peep guns of 
 no trifling calibre, warning enemies of the reception 
 they may expect, if foolish enough to attack a 
 place quite impregnable when garrisoned by five 
 thousand British soldiers, and where every pre- 
 paration has been made to bafl^e the ingenuity of 
 the most subtle foe. On a signal given, a thousand 
 cannon could l)e in less than five minutes dealing 
 death and destruction around. 
 
II 
 
 r 
 
 12 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 GALLERIES. 
 
 113 
 
 The gates are shut punctually at sunset. After 
 that hour no key can unlock Gibraltar. In some 
 continental strongholds, silver can always open a 
 postern, even at midnight; but no such appliance 
 can procure an evasion of the martial laws of 
 England. 
 
 Foreigners may not reside longer than three 
 months within the walls, and for that period they 
 must find a resident to he their security. One 
 meets on the well-paved streets a strange mixture 
 of Spaniards, " Scorpions," or persons born on the 
 ^' Rock," Jews, Moors, Arabs, and Englishmen. 
 So influential are the children of Israel, that Satur- 
 day has been recognised as a business holiday. 
 We saw the congregation of the synagogue dis- 
 persing on the forenoon of our arrival. The Bar- 
 bary Jews are said to be a most superstitious 
 race. 
 
 Gibraltar is a free port, and has no searchers of 
 baggage. Provisions are plentiful, and the beef 
 comes from the African coast. Accordino: to the 
 ancient tradition, Hercules, to mark the termina- 
 tion of his travels, threw up this rock, and that of 
 Giliel Musa, above Ceuta, on the opposite side of 
 
 the straits. Most people believe that the entire hill 
 is perforated with caverns like a honeycomb, as no 
 end has been as yet found to any of the numerous 
 caves which branch off from the great grotto of 
 St. Michael, on the eastern face of the rock. 
 
 Our hotel occupies one side of the Commercial 
 Square, in the centre of which stands the Exchange. 
 The famous battery called " the Line Wall " protects 
 these houses from the waves. A pretty Alameda, 
 laid out by General and Lady Don, lies immediately 
 outside the southern wall of the town, on the road 
 towards Europa Point, where are the lighthouse, 
 numerous batteries, and a pavilion of the gover- 
 nor's. On approaching "Old Gib" from Algeziras, 
 you observe, about one-third of the way up the 
 Rock, just at the point where it becomes precipi- 
 tous, and the excavations begin, an old Moorish 
 castle, much battered by the balls which struck it, 
 during the ever memorable four years' siege which 
 Gibraltar sustained against the combined forces of 
 France and Spain. Ascending to this position, 
 we got a corporal of artillery to show us those 
 extraordinary galleries which, cut in the li\ang 
 rock, twelve feet from the edge of the cliffs, and 
 
';^.!mm^^T''^^^'--'~ ' 
 
 I 
 
 %\ ■ 
 ■«♦■ 
 
 il 
 
 |W 
 
 114 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 broad enough to admit horsemen, open up at 
 various points into chambers, filled with cannon, 
 carronades, mortars, cartridges, balls, ramrods, and 
 other instruments of war. Every opening reveals 
 a murderous gim, one of the eight hundred and 
 seventy which defend Gibraltar against foreign 
 foes. Entering by an excavated path we were 
 ushered into the first gallery, from which two or 
 three others, ^vith embrasures at every short dis- 
 tance, lead upw^ards in a southern direction. These 
 guns command the isthmus, gates and shipping. 
 They terminate on a platform of rock, from w^hich 
 you look down on the neutral ten'itory and the 
 Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 From this point we mounted by a rocky path 
 to the higher galleries, from which shot can be 
 projected quite across the bay upon the hills of 
 Spain. They end in a circular chamber bristling 
 with cannon, and called St. George's Hall. Eight 
 hundred feet perpendicularly below it the Mediter- 
 ranean breaks on the storm-beaten shore. 
 
 We descended by a zigzag ladder from this 
 gallery to Cornwallis Battery, hollowed out of the 
 cliff some distance below. In these excavated 
 
 f 
 
 
 8T. MICHAEL S CAVE. 
 
 115 
 
 fortifications they keep everything in such order 
 and so wxU prepared for action, that on very short 
 notice a terrific fire could be opened on the lines. 
 Between the upper and lower galleries, other rows 
 of cannon and mortars, unseen from below, being 
 hidden by the rocks, but no less effective and 
 deadly, surround the solitary powder magazine, on 
 which a sentinel continually keeps his eye. An 
 excellent path conducts from this point to the 
 summit of the rock and telegraph station, com- 
 manding a spendid view of the straits, the bay, 
 and the coasts of ^lorocco and Spain. 
 
 A great variety of southern plants grow on this 
 stony hill-side, especially dwarf date-palms, on 
 which the monkeys at certain seasons feed. These 
 animals are rarely seen, excepting during fine 
 weather and east wind, two things which very 
 seldom exist at the same time in that latitude. 
 
 After a visit to St. Michael's Cave, a most sin- 
 gular opening in the rock, the termination of 
 which no man has yet reached, although several 
 have perished in the attempt, we descended the 
 western slope of the cliffs, enjoying a most beau- 
 tiful prospect. Below us were Southport Barracks, 
 
 1 
 
116 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LANGUAGE. 
 
 117 
 
 «ll 
 
 surrounded by houses and villas, the gardens of 
 which displayed innumerable groves of oranges, 
 pines, chestnuts, and pomegranates, while beyond 
 the buildings the ramparts looked down on the 
 con\4ct hulks. On our left. Windmill Barracks 
 occupied part of the stony waste called Europa 
 Point, the southern extremity of the rock. Be- 
 tween them and Southport rose a few grey cliffs, 
 contrasting well with the green foliage of the \nlla 
 pleasure-grounds amongst them. On our right, 
 the Alameda, the little town, and shipping agree- 
 ably varied the view ; while before us, stretching 
 away from the lighthouse towards the coast of 
 Africa, a distinctly marked line indicated the 
 junction of the blue waters of the bay with the 
 darker waves of the straits. 
 
 The drive roimd the Rock from the town to the 
 governor's ugly summer residence on the coast is 
 exceedingly pretty, affording much variety both of 
 scenery and prospect. 
 
 Gibraltar left a most pleasing impression on my 
 mind. Expecting to see a barren rock without 
 roads, vegetation, or natural beauties, I found a 
 neat town with a pretty Alameda, picturesque 
 
 s 
 
 J 
 
 
 walks, excellent carriage drives, handsome villas, 
 and a cheerful bustling population. Well con- 
 tented may British soldiers be if they never find 
 worse quarters. 
 
 In tlie warerooms of a friend I met some fine 
 specimens of the regular Spanish contrabandista, 
 stout men with herculean frames and noble coun- 
 tenances, dressed in sombreros, embroidered jackets 
 of superior cloth, and leathern gaiters highly orna- 
 mented and open down the calf of the leg. They 
 had pleasant faces, and bear a good reputation for 
 honour in their transactions with the merchants. 
 It is singular to hear the mixture of Spanish and 
 English spoken by the Hock Scorpions, and even 
 by the British residents. They often begin a 
 sentence in one language and finish it in another 
 without drawing breath. A stranger might sup- 
 pose the people afflicted with absence of mind. 
 
 At the table d'hote of the Clubhouse, we one day 
 had an instance of French " politeness," which I 
 thought very characteristic of that nation, " in whose 
 frippery," to use an expression of Edmund Burke's, 
 '^ WE are expected to dress our behaviour." In 
 order to visit the excavations, it is necessary to get 
 
b\ 
 
 118 
 
 THE TAGL:?. AND THE TIBER. 
 
 an order from the governor. Four Frenchmen, 
 who most probably had not applied for it in a 
 proper manner, were complaining bitterly of hav- 
 ing been refused it on the preceding day. They 
 must have been under an erroneous impression 
 regarding this permission, but what shall we say 
 of those who, the majority of the company being 
 Englishmen, and in the presence of English ladies, 
 talked in no measured terms of abuse regarding 
 England, and everything connected with it, lean- 
 ing at the same time their elbows on the table and 
 staring every one out of countenance ? Now, these 
 persons were no boors ; they were neither shop- 
 keepers nor farmers — but men moving in high 
 society, and one of them a distinguished individual. 
 Yet their conduct strongly reminded me of Dr. 
 Johnson's remark, " The French are an ill-bred, 
 gross people. What I gained by being in 
 France was to be better satisfied \\ath my own 
 land." 
 
 It has been the fashion lately to maintain that 
 we ought to give up Gibraltar to the country to 
 which, by natural situation, it belongs, it being a 
 useless burden to Great Britain, while our possess- 
 
 GIBRALTAK. 
 
 119 
 
 ing it serves but to exasperate the government of 
 Spain. 
 
 This famous fortress of yours, say the men who 
 take this view of the question, does not command 
 the straits ; its batteries are placed so as to insult 
 a friendly power ; it affords an asylum for contra- 
 bandistas, and under protection of its guns the 
 smuggling craft take refuge from the Spanish 
 guarda costas ; besides, the maintenance of its 
 numerous garrison, storehouses, barracks, and in- 
 struments of war, annually costs Great Britain a 
 very heavy sum, without procuring for her any 
 commercial advantages. If w^e are to view the 
 matter only in this light, as a debtor and creditor 
 account, the foregoing arguments may appear un- 
 answerable ; but I think that few men of patriotic 
 feelings, and who understand the position which 
 our country occupies amongst the nations, will 
 admit that the question ought to be considered 
 only as one of pounds, shillings and pence. 
 
 Gibraltar stands associated with one of the most 
 brilliant achievements in English history. It is a 
 monument seen by every mariner who passes 
 through the straits, to warn him of the respect due 
 
120 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 GIBRALTAR. 
 
 121 
 
 to that nation, whose fleets have always been tri- 
 umphant on the ocean ; a signal tower from which 
 a watch can always be kept on civil, military, and 
 ecclesiastical despotism by that country which has 
 ever been the home of the oppressed ; a beacon on 
 whose summit people lying in darkness and igno- 
 rance may see unfurled the banners of rational 
 liberty, religious toleration, and an unrestricted 
 commerce. While advocating extensive financial 
 reforms in many departments of government, I 
 would not consent, for the sake of a few thousand 
 pounds, to part with those dependencies, which, 
 though not perhaps remunerating to us in a com- 
 mercial point of view, cannot fail widely to diffuse 
 the principles which have rendered England the 
 admiration of mankind. Money surely is well 
 spent, if the political sentiments, the pure religion, 
 the love of order and at the same time of freedom, 
 the mercantile ardour, energ}', and integrity, the 
 generous philanthropy of this happy island, be 
 diffused from many isolated positions throughout 
 
 the globe. 
 
 Economv, no doubt, must not be overlooked; 
 but it may be carried to an undue extreme, and 
 
 - 
 
 
 produce evils of a far more serious nature than 
 those which its advocates so much dread. If Great 
 Britain owes something to herself, she owes also 
 something to the world ; if bound to relieve a 
 heavily taxed people, she is bound likewise to 
 maintain a rank which God has given her for wise 
 and gracious ends. The refuge of the oppressed, 
 the asylum of liberty, the exponent of the true 
 principles of commerce, the hive of industry, the 
 abode of order — may our country not resign but 
 extend lier settlements throughout the earth, tha 
 men of every tribe may bless her, and that wherever 
 tyranny, slavery, and ignorance prevail, she may 
 shield the victims and overawe the oppressors ! 
 
 Let it not, still further, be forgotten, that the 
 five thousand men who garrison Gibraltar must 
 be supported soinewhere ; that through it English 
 merchants carry on a profitable commerce both 
 with Spain and Morocco ; and that as to the 
 charge of its being a nest of smugglers, a contra- 
 band trade w^ill always exist on the coast of a 
 country which attempts to protect native manu- 
 factures, or raise a revenue by means of exorbitant 
 duties. The abandonment of Gibraltar by England 
 
 VOL. L o 
 
122 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 certainly would not put an end to the trade of 
 these contrabandistas, who have been raised into 
 consequence, not by the guns of our batteries, but 
 by the absurd laws of Spain. 
 
 As long as Manchester goods are wanted by the 
 Spaniards, so long the Spaniards will get them ; 
 if the Rock change hands, then every desolate 
 headland, every lonely bay, will become a recei)- 
 tacle for foreign merchandise. Instead of one, 
 many Gibraltars will spring into existence, all the 
 vigilance of the guarda costas notwithstanding; 
 for it is possible to smuggle to a vast extent 
 without warehouses, depots, or friendly cannon.* 
 There are enough quiet coves overlooked by the 
 snowy crests of the Sierra Nevada, or washed by 
 the billows of the Bay of Biscay, where, in the 
 still hours of night, the little vessel might be un- 
 loaded, and its goods safely transferred to dens 
 and caves in the mountains, the scene of their 
 disembarkation returning in the morning to its 
 wonted repose. 
 
 As to the supposed insult which we habitually 
 
 * " In reality," says the Hon. Mr. Murray, ** the whole pea- 
 santry of Andalucia are interested in the contraband trade." 
 
 I 
 
 » 
 
 GIBRALTAR. 
 
 123 
 
 offer to Spain by holding Gibraltar, has that 
 country forgotten who saved her national indepen- 
 dence, who expended blood and treasure to drive 
 her enemies over the Pyrenees whence they 
 came ? We have fortified the rock of Calpe, not 
 to defy tiie Spaniards, — that would be beneath 
 the nation whose armies rescued them from slavery, 
 — but to perj)etuate their independence ; not 
 because we wish to take advantage of a neighbour's 
 weakness, but because we have no confidence that 
 a people who submitted to Joseph Buonaparte 
 would be able to maintain Gibraltar against a 
 foreign foe. The words " Salamanca," " Tala- 
 vera," " Barossa," '' Yittoria," " Badajos," '' Pam- 
 peluna," and '^ Ciudad Kodrigo," must be blotted 
 out of the map of Spain, before her people can 
 with decency accuse England of being ungenerous 
 to the feeble. Never should a Spaniard forget 
 that he yet lives in the nineteenth century, a 
 century which saw Murat issuing his commands 
 from the Escurial, Massena within thirty miles of 
 Lisbon, and Britons laying down their lives on 
 many bloody fields — 
 
 " From RoncesvsJlea to the blue sea-wave.^, 
 Where Calpe looks on Afric." 
 
 g2 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 QUARANTliVE LAWS — SPANISH STEAMERS — ALGEZIRAS— THE " BAU- 
 Cixo" — OFFICIAL INDOLENCE — ARRIVAL AT MALAGA — SITUATION 
 
 OF THE TOWN — THE MANUFACTORIES OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
 
 COMMERCIAL POUCY OF SPAIN — EFFECTS OF THE TARIFF — 
 CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT — WANT OF PRINCIPLE AMONG 
 THE POLITICIANS AT MADRID— FEDERALISM— PROSPECTS OF THE 
 COUNTRY — RAISIN TRADE OF MAL.VGA — ROAD TO GRANaDA — 
 JOURNEY IN "CALESAS" — ASCENT OF THE SIERRA — DREARY 
 NATURE OF THE SCENERY — ROBBERS ON THIS HIGHWAY — LOJA — 
 HISTORICAL REMINISCENCES CONNECTED W^TH THE ROUTE — 
 PAR\DOR DE LOS ANGELES— THE MOUNTAINS OF THE PROVINCE. 
 
 The KSpanish steamers between Marseilles and 
 ('adiz, touching at the intermediate ports, call off 
 Algeziras; the French vessels sail from the Rock 
 itself. At the time of our visit, however, the latter 
 had been placed in quarantine by the authorities 
 of Malaga, whither we were bound. Any one 
 desirous of going to that town, might hire a mule 
 and ride along on the coast, or he might cross the 
 
 SPANISH STEAMERS. 
 
 125 
 
 > 
 
 bay and embark in one of tlie regular packets ; 
 in either case, he suffered no detention; but let 
 him proceed from Gibraltar by sea direct, and he 
 must be transferred, on arrival, to a miserable 
 lazaretto. Perhaps the " Quarterly Review,'* the 
 credulous defender of quarantine laws, will be good 
 enough to give a sufficient reason for this aiTange- 
 ment also. 
 
 1 remember once stepping into the office of the 
 Austrian Lloyd's Company at Constantinople, to 
 ask when their steamers sailed from the isthmus 
 of Corinth for Corfu. The manager and chief 
 clerk, being of different opinions on this difficult 
 question, referred to the captain of one of the ships 
 who at the moment happened to walk in. He 
 having asserted that both were wrong, search was 
 made amongst piles of papers to ascertain the 
 truth, but in vain, so I had to rest satisfied with 
 the polite reply, — 
 
 " Really, Sir, I cannot tell you ; perhaps 1 may 
 find the information you want in a day or two." 
 
 Visitors to Gibraltar can with justice complain 
 of the same ignorance on the part of the people there 
 who profess to be agents of steamers. Go into a 
 
126 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 bureau, and ask when their next vessel sails for 
 Cadiz or Malaga. 
 
 " Quien sabc?" replies the interrogated indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 " Surely you can tell me if there will be a vessel 
 this week," you continue. 
 
 " There may be, and there may not be one,'' 
 answers the official. 
 
 " But I understood that the vessels had fixed 
 days of departure," you further remark. 
 
 " Perhaps they have," replies the complacent 
 Spaniard. 
 
 •• Then tell me," you demand in despair, " when 
 is The Cid advertised to leave Cadiz?" 
 
 '* The directeur at Cadiz can tell you that," im- 
 perturbably remarks the functionary. 
 
 Desirous of reaching ^lalaga without delay, I 
 called several times at the agencies of the various 
 companies, but neither there, at the hotel, nor in 
 the news-room, could any one tell me when to 
 expect the next packet. 
 
 " It might be a week, perhaps a fortnight ; the 
 vessels are very irregular." 
 
 This being the sum and substance of the 
 
 ALGEZIRAS. 
 
 127 
 
 information to be procured, I was revolving in my 
 mind whether to take a passage in an American 
 barque about to sail, and submit to quarantine, 
 or to engage a felucca, notrv^ithstanding an easterly 
 wind, or to expose the ladies to swollen rivers and 
 bad roads by riding overland on mules, when a 
 friend called to say, that he observed in a Cadiz 
 newspaper that the Barcino, a fine new Spanish 
 steamer, and one of the regular packets, was to 
 call off Algeziras on the morrow. Straightway I 
 sallied to the office of these vessels, to ask the truth 
 of this statement. " It might be true or it might 
 not," said the intelligent agent. '' Quien sabe?" 
 
 Believing firmly in the advertisement, notwith- 
 standing the callousness of those who ought to 
 have known best, and the incredulity of others 
 in the same predicament as ourselves, we started 
 next day, at two o'clock, in a sailing boat for 
 Algeziras, passing between the vessels in quaran- 
 tine, with the dismal yellow flag at the foremast- 
 head, and enjoying, as we tacked across the bay, 
 many beautiful vistas of the Spanish hills, Ceuta 
 in Africa, and the Mountain of the Apes. After 
 a custom-house examination by officers stationed 
 
 »f 
 
12S 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 MALAGA. 
 
 129 
 
 » 
 
 in a small boat off the town, the steamer not being 
 in sight, we took a walk through Algeziras, 
 visiting its pretty Alameda, and markets well 
 stocked with chestnuts, pomegi*anates, and fish. 
 
 The neat houses are nearly all white-washed, 
 and have their windows painted green. Many 
 beautiful women peeped on us from behind the 
 Venetians, and now and then ventured on a smile. 
 In every street we met soldiers ; few of them, 
 however, martial in their appearance. 
 
 Returning to the quay, we descried the Barcino 
 steaming rapidly up the bay. In a few minutes 
 she had anchored and landed her passengers. 
 But as yet neither agent nor deputy had arrived 
 at the office, where it behoved us to procure tickets. 
 An hour and a half passed away before this func- 
 tionary deigned to appear, and, when he did come, 
 it was to chat with his friends, smoke a cigar, 
 and keep us in waiting. At last he condescended 
 to transact business, and, wonderful to relate, 
 in half an hour he sold two tickets, and received 
 l^ayment of the freight on three boxes. But 
 *^ Cosa Espana f there was no use in gnmibling, 
 at either this old fellow's laziness, or a charge 
 
 of four reals for attaching a useless signature 
 to our passport. Then one halfpenny each had to 
 be paid for landing at, and the same sum for start- 
 ing from, a heap of stones, called a pier, nominally 
 to repair it, but really to feed hungiy offi- 
 cials. The Barcino waited till half-past eight 
 o'clock in the evening for two passengers, who did 
 not think proper to go on board with the others ; but 
 at that hour we weighed anchor, and soon were 
 bounding over the waves, off Europa Point, the 
 lighthouse on that headland illuminating our 
 way. 
 
 When I awoke next morning, the motion had 
 ceased. I got on deck, and found that we were 
 quietly moored in the harbour of Malaga, or 
 3Ialacca ; so called, says Washington Irving, be- 
 cause there the wretched Florinda, daughter ot" 
 Count Julian, committed suicide by throwing 
 herself from a tower. Above us, crowning a preci- 
 pitous hill, were the walls of the Gibralfaro, 
 the stronghold of the Moors, the citadel where 
 Hamet El Zegri hung out the white banner of the 
 Moslem santon, as a signal to the inhabitants 
 of the town that God had not deserted the cause 
 
 a 3 
 
130 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TlBEFv. 
 
 II 
 
 of the Prophet, and from which, shouthig '' Allah 
 ackbarl" sallied a devoted band of fanatics, to fall 
 beneath the swords of the Christians. 
 
 Further down the eminence, and connected with 
 the fort by two walls, rose the ruins of the 
 Alcazaba, a still older stronghold of the Africans, 
 and more immediately commanding tlic city. 
 Looking westward, the next striking object was 
 the Cathedral, an immense pile of no great beauty, 
 also on a height, with the dingy houses of the town 
 clustering around it. Beyond it smoked the four 
 chimneys of the iron, cotton, and linen manu- 
 factories, l)elonging to the Messrs. Heredia and 
 Messrs. Larios, the merchant princes who are 
 making fortunes at the expense of the nation. 
 Their cloth is monstrously dear in comparison with 
 that made in England ; but a protective, or 
 rather, a prohibitory tariff gives them the command 
 (»f the trade, and government in every respect 
 meet their wishes. These firms employ in Malaga 
 and at their works in the country upwards of two 
 thousand people. 
 
 Both here and in Catalonia immense factories 
 have lately l)een erected, which, fostered by absurd 
 
 MANUFACTORIES. 
 
 131 
 
 » 
 
 legislative enactments, are picking the pockets 
 of the people of Spain. A paternal government 
 would strive, by every means in its power, to 
 develop tlie agricultural resources of that coimtry 
 by making roads, railways and canals, encouraging 
 the growth of trees, and seeking to enrich the 
 peasantry by permitting them to buy their clothing 
 in the cheapest markets ; whereas at present, 
 a regard for the interests of a few manufiicturers 
 enjoying a sort of hot-house prosperity, not a 
 disposition to benefit the people at large, influences 
 every act of Cortes. What is the consequence ? 
 I give it in the words of an intelligent American 
 traveller.* " According to the most accurate 
 accounts, from three-fourths to seven-eighths of 
 the foreign articles consumed in Spain pass 
 through the hands of contrabandistas. England 
 and France, rivals in most things, str'aggle more 
 earnestly for no mastery than for that in cheat- 
 ing the Spanish revenue. Arcades amlo I Bat 
 this is not the worst. The very Catalan manu- 
 facturers, who clamour most loudly for the per- 
 petuation of the tarifi', are themselves frequently, 
 
 • "Glimpses of Spain," by S. T. Wallis. London. 1850. 
 
132 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 COMMERCIAL POLICY. 
 
 133 
 
 the chief smugglers. I was assured by many 
 Spaniards familiar with the facts, that a very 
 large portion of the goods sold from the factories 
 of Catalonia into the other provinces, are actually 
 manufactured and marked as Catalonian in Eng- 
 Lnnd, smuggled into Barcelona, and there disposed 
 of triumphantly, as the genuine thing, by the very 
 l)est houses. One gentleman told me that in one of 
 tlie English manufacturing towns, he had been 
 t'hown a ware-room of orthodox Catalan goods, 
 made and marked in the most Spanish manner, for 
 the Barcelonese home production, by order of one 
 of the largest concerns there, than whose members 
 none clamoured more loudly for protection. A 
 man must be either interested, or mad nor'-nor'- 
 west, to have any seiious doubts as to the 
 propriety of upsetting a system which has such 
 consequences." 
 
 It is really melancholy to think that millions 
 of people should be compelled to support a legion 
 of custom officers, guarda costas, and gens-d'armes, 
 for the pui*pose of rendering efficient a policy, 
 by which they are taxed enormously to make 
 colossal fortunes for a dozen manufacturers. It 
 
 does not keep out foreign goods, for every shop- 
 window, even in Barcelona and Malaga, is filled 
 with them ; it does not add to the real prosperity 
 of the country, for the great works we allude to 
 are mere exotics, which a change of policy must 
 shortly wither up by the roots ; it only robs the 
 hardworking peasant, who loves a comfortable suit 
 of clothing, to encourage the bloated functionary 
 and the daring contrabandista, — to foster an un- 
 natural production and an unprincipled evasion 
 of all moral laws. 
 
 There are some districts of Spain, Catalonia 
 especially, which will become manufacturing, owing 
 to natural causes. So far well, but to force this 
 branch of industry, to the prejudice of the great 
 agricultural interests of the Peninsula, appears to 
 me a policy so infatuated, that no honest statesman 
 could for a moment defend it, no Cortes really 
 representing the sentiments of the people hesitate 
 one day before decreeing its instant reversal. Alas! 
 when will rulers of integrity and properly elected 
 senators be found in Spain? 
 
 ^Ir. Ilallam tells us,* '^ that the forms of a Cas- 
 
 * " Europe during the Middle Ages," p. 395. 
 
 Jil 
 
134 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TUE TIBER. 
 
 SPANISH POLITICS. 
 
 135 
 
 ^n 
 
 tilian Cortes were analogous to those of an English 
 Parliament in the fourteenth century," and that 
 " the laws of Alphonso X. in 1258, those of the 
 same prince in 1274, and many others in subsequent 
 times, are declared to be made with the consent of 
 the several orders of the kingdom." One might 
 suppose that, in the ordinary course of events, a 
 nation which thus early manifested the germs of 
 constitutional government would at this moment 
 have stood high among the free coinitries of the 
 globe, an example of the harmonious working of 
 institutions gradually developed by tlie people 
 themselves ; but what do we find in the nineteenth 
 century? A vast peninsula, destitute of wealth, 
 energy, and internal mode of communication; 
 without proper roads, a sufficient supply of fuel, 
 or the means of transporting com from the 
 various provinces ; while one miYitSiry parvenu after 
 another seizes the reins of government, disfranchises 
 electors, threatens justices, and thereby secures a 
 Cortes to do his bidding. 
 
 In private you hear it broadly stated that all the 
 leading politicians, no matter what may be their 
 creed, are equally dishonest, equally devoted to 
 
 back-stair intrigues, and their o^\ti private hite- 
 rests. Ministry succeeds ministry at Madrid; one 
 legislative body after another serv^es to keep up the 
 delusion of a constitution ; whilst the people re- 
 main very much in the state in which Columbus 
 left them when he sailed from Palos to discover 
 America. 
 
 Venality, coniiption, ambition, and bad faith, 
 make no secret of their predominance in the coun- 
 cils of the Escurial, and universal Europe pro- 
 claims the Spanish government a mockery, a delu- 
 sion, and a snare. Burke said in regard to the 
 French, '' The power of the city of Paris is evi- 
 dently one great spring of all their politics."^ It 
 may, in like manner, be obsei-ved of the Spanish, 
 that intrigues at Madrid at present sway the desti- 
 nies of the nation. This crying evil must be 
 remedied. Let the provinces come forward and 
 deprive the seat of government of the power to 
 do evil ; let them modify the provisions of a con- 
 stitution \rhich experience has proved unsuitable 
 to the people, and establish a system which will 
 ensure due attention being paid to the interests of 
 
 * " Reflections on the French Revolution." 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
136 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 RAISIN TRADE. 
 
 137 
 
 the nation at large. In another volume,* 1 have 
 expressed a preference for the federal fonii of go- 
 vernment in countries peculiarly situated. The 
 cantons of Switzerland, and the states of North 
 America, illustrate the happy operation of this 
 principle ; the German Zollverein, and the attempt 
 to form a Germanic empire, both show how natu- 
 rally the human mind falls back upon it as a remedy 
 for existing evils. That centralising power must 
 inevitably yield to local authority in many Euro- 
 pean countries seems highly probable, and perha])s 
 the various provinces of the Peninsula, differing 
 from each other in customs, opinions, interests, and 
 laws, might enjoy greater freedom and prosperity, 
 if constituting a federation, than as a consolidated 
 monarchy. 
 
 This idea I would express with all deference, 
 aware, however, that there are Spaniards of talent 
 and foresight, wdio think that its adoption may yet 
 save their country. Be this as it may, one thing 
 is certain, that a sifting time approaches on the 
 other side of the Pyrenees. Disgusted with the 
 
 • " Impressions of Central and Southern Europe." London. 
 1850. 
 
 events of the last two years, the people expect a 
 reformation, and perhaps, when the politicians of 
 Europe least expect it, like a thunder-cloud from 
 the Guadaramas, it will burst on the Escurial. 
 Inert, ignorant, prejudiced, the Spaniards may be, 
 but they are men, and as men they cannot help 
 feeling that their interests have been neglected, 
 their country unimproved, their civilization re- 
 tarded, while political adventurers and military 
 upstarts have made unw^orthy intrigues the step- 
 ping-stones to power. 
 
 We spent an hour and a half pacing up and 
 down the deck of the Barcino, before the lazy 
 officials gave us pratique. Very shortly aftenvards 
 we were enjoying our breakfast at the excellent 
 Fonda de la Alameda, one of the best hotels in Spain 
 :Malaga contains eighty thousand inhabitants, and 
 has of late, owdng to the factories, been increasing. 
 It exports raisins largely to all parts of the world. 
 I w^as surprised to learn that four-tenths of the 
 whole quantity go to the United States, and only 
 one-tenth to England. The packing season was 
 nearly over at the time of our visit, but I saw 
 several warehouses piled with boxes ready for 
 shipment. 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
138 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ROAD TO GRANADA. 
 
 139 
 
 ll 
 
 Malaga appeared to me a very dirty, and by no 
 means pretty tOTVu. The inhabitants said that 
 recent rains had rendered the streets filthier than 
 usual ; but be that as it may, Lisbon would have 
 seemed a garden in comparison. The Alameda, a 
 broad but formal walk, leads from the harbour to 
 the river Guadalmedina, whicli is in summer a 
 stony waste. The best houses front this pleasiu-e- 
 ground, and there you may see on an evening 
 groups of delicate-looking children and consump- 
 tive patients from England, enjoying the balmy 
 air. 
 
 Although dry and genial in winter, the climate 
 of ^lalaga becomes in summer excessively wann, 
 so much so that sugar-canes grow in the vicinity. 
 Some, indeed, think that this plant found its way 
 to the West Indies from the Orient, by the Canary 
 Islands and the province of Granada. The best 
 view of the city may be obtained from the top of 
 the tower of the cathedral, a huge pile, uglier 
 within than without, and possessing no object of 
 interest. 
 
 At seven o'clock at night the Granada diligence 
 arrived at our hotel, a vehicle dra\\Ti by ten mules, 
 a rider guiding the leading pair. To a stranger 
 
 this conveyance has a most singular appearance, 
 recalling to his mind times long gone by. It starts 
 from Malaga every two days ; but we found on our 
 arrival that all the seats were engaged for a fort- 
 night; so we resolved, notwithstanding the pre- 
 valence of robberies, to make the journey in 
 " calesas," the rude gigs, without springs, so 
 much used by the Spaniards, stopping the first 
 night at Loja, pronounced Locha, distant forty- 
 two miles. 
 
 It took us exactly sixteen hours and a half 
 to reach that place, so that the reader may form 
 some idea of the dreadful state of the road. 
 For several leagues, — indeed, about half way,— it 
 is quite frightful, unfit for wheeled vehicles of any 
 sort, huge boulders of rock and deep ruts seeming 
 every now and then to obstruct further progress. 
 In many places it resembles the track between 
 Lisbon and Torres Vedras. How the diligence 
 manages to get on, even with ten horses, passes my 
 comprehension. No English-built carriage could 
 proceed half a mile without being knocked to 
 pieces. And yet this is the leading highway 
 between the capital and a flourishing seaport ! 
 
 1 
 
t 
 
 I 
 
 ll t 
 
 I' I 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 140 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Disappointed with the situation and appearance 
 of Malaga, at three o'clock one fine "vvarm morning 
 we started from the Fonda de la Alameda in two 
 calesas, a baggage-horse following with our port- 
 manteaus. Slowly we pursued our way along the 
 silent streets until we reached the famous gate of 
 Granada, where sixteen hundred Christian captives, 
 many of whom had for years been slaves to the 
 jMoors, met Ferdinand and Isabella after Hamet el 
 Zegi-i surrendered the city. " When they beheld 
 themselves," says Washington Irving,* " restored 
 to liberty and surrounded by their countrymen, 
 some stared wildly about, as if in a dream, others 
 gave way to frantic transports, but most of them 
 wept for joy. All present were moved to tears by 
 so toucliing a spectacle. When they came in pre- 
 sence of the king and queen, they threw themselves 
 on their knees, and would have kissed their feet as 
 their saviours and deliverers ; but the sovereigns 
 prevented such humiliation, and graciously ex- 
 tended to them their hands. They then prostrated 
 themselves before the altar in a tent erected not 
 far from the city, and all present joined them in 
 
 * " Chronicle of the Conquest of Granatin," p. 235. 
 
 DREARY SCENERY. 
 
 141 
 
 giving thanks to God for their liberation from 
 this cruel bondage." 
 
 The Spaniards may well feel grateful to the 
 Americans for the writings of such men as Pres- 
 cott and Irving. The first, in my opinion, holds 
 the highest place among historians ; while the 
 second has immortalised the Moslem and Christian 
 heroes who fought so stoutly for the possession of 
 
 Spain. 
 
 Until eight o'clock, or for five weary hours, we 
 continued steadily to ascend, winding up the sterile 
 hills which approach so close to the Mediterranean 
 Sea. When we left the city the air was hot, but 
 when we had advanced for an hour or two, it 
 became chill. Every turn of the road revealed to 
 us finer and finer views of Malaga, the vega 
 behind it, the coast, and the mgged sierras below 
 and around us. 
 
 The sides of the hills, quite destitute of trees, 
 and cut up into a thousand ridges by water- 
 courses, dry in summer, presented a very pecu- 
 
 iar appearance; and inland, a range of higher 
 mountains, rocky and sterile, bounded the prospect. 
 
 We saw many lonely spots, answering well to 
 
142 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SPANISH VENTA. 
 
 143 
 
 Mrs. Hemans's description in the Forest Sanc- 
 tuary : — 
 
 " Wildest of all the savage glens that lie 
 In far sierras, hiding their deep springs, 
 And traversed but by storms or sounding eagle's wings." 
 
 We met crowds of mules and donkeys, bearing 
 in their panniers for shipment at, or use in ^lalaga, 
 produce of various kinds,— grapes, raisins, and 
 beans. On the top of the elevations the vines 
 flourish, but the vintage was over when we passed. 
 When we were within an hour's drive of the sum- 
 mit, one of the calesa horses gave in, refusing to 
 go further ; so a rope had to be made fast to the 
 other calesa, and the poor little animal attached to 
 it stimulated to do the whole work— no easy task 
 on such a road. 
 
 The labourers employed in repairing the high- 
 way were all armed with muskets, as no part of 
 Spain has suffered so much from robbers. About 
 a year previously the diligence had been stopped 
 by banditti on these hills, fired at, and ransacked. 
 The soldiers afterwards caught the authors of this 
 outrage, and shot them summarily without trial. 
 The garments taken from the passengers betrayed 
 them. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 At a little venta on the top of the hills, not far 
 from the scene of this attack, we rested for a short 
 time, to eat our sandwiches and drink our wine. 
 This was a true specimen of a Spanish wayside 
 tavern, where mules, hens, dogs, and human 
 beings, mingle on the mud floor with swarms of 
 vermin. A muddy but somewhat better road led 
 us down into a valley and the little town of Col- 
 menar. On the hill-slopes we observed several 
 snug fann-houses, in vineyards and oliveyards, 
 Avith curious avenues of cypress- trees. On our 
 right and before us rose tremendous rocks, many 
 thousand feet high, and quite destitute of vegeta- 
 tion. Scotland can show few ranges so desolate, 
 although Scotland's poet has, in words that will 
 live for ever, described a similar scene,* — 
 
 " But here, above, around, below, 
 On mountain or in glen, 
 Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower, 
 Nor aught of vegetative power. 
 
 The weary eye may ken ; 
 For all is rocks at random thrown. 
 Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone." 
 
 The worst road I ever saw or heard of, — a mere 
 
 • " Lord of the Isles," canto iii. 
 
I 
 
 144 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 track, in fact, among stony hills, — conducts from 
 Colmcnar to the venta of Alfarnate, a place some- 
 what like Tyndrum in Argyleshire, where, to save 
 a dollar, which the greedy inmates demanded for a 
 room, we ate a cold fowl and a dishful of boiled 
 eggs among the rocks, leaving the remains of our 
 feast to a mighty legion of black ants. But we 
 had little time to delay, for our rate of progress in 
 this vicinity was only two miles and a half an 
 hour. 
 
 Having for some time traversed a dreary glen 
 among the mountains, flanked by precipitous rocks, 
 we descended into a ravine covered with olive- 
 trees, and then crossed a stony waste, where Indian 
 com grows amongst the huge boulders on the side 
 of every eminence. The moon rose before we 
 reached the valley of the Xenil, enabling us to 
 observe that the scenery had improved very con- 
 siderably. 
 
 It was nearly eight o'clock when our rude 
 vehicles entered Loja, a town of fourteen thousand 
 inhabitants, where large shops, well lighted and 
 filled with customers, rows of new houses, and a 
 bustling population, gave unmistakeable evidence 
 
 * .« 
 
 4 
 
 LOJA. 
 
 145 
 
 of prosperity. The place derives its name from its 
 situation, as " Guardian" to the Vega of Granada. 
 It is famous in the Moorish wars, having in 1488 
 sustained a long siege from the Christians, and 
 having been taken chiefly by the steady valour of 
 Lord Kivers, who with his English auxiliaries 
 fought in the army of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 No student of Spanish history can pass over the 
 rugged sierras between Loja and the coast wltliout 
 thinking of the disasters which happened to that 
 noble band of soldiers who, under the leadership 
 of the Marquis of Cadiz, issued from the gates of 
 Antequera to recover Malaga from the Africans ; 
 but on reacliing the Axarquia, commanding a dis- 
 tant view of the sea, experienced the first of those 
 disasters wliich ended in the total dispersion of the 
 band, and the death of their foremost champions. 
 From the top of the cliffs the Moors hurled down 
 on the mailed cavalry great masses of rock, while 
 ignorant guides led them deeper and deeper into 
 the recesses of a country where a few courageous 
 mountaineers could defy the disciplined troops of 
 Europe. Night overtook them in a wild glen, sur- 
 rounded with beetling crags ; and as the shadows 
 
 VOL. L '^ 
 
146 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEn. 
 
 MOUNTAINS OF GEANADA. 
 
 147 
 
 closed around, cries of " El Zagah FA Zagal," 
 resounded from rock to rock, beacon fires Wazed on 
 every liiH, and on rushed to the conflict a host of 
 revengeful Moslems. Daylight witnessed the 
 Marquis of Cadiz flying over the mountains, his 
 brothers transfixed by a hundred darts, and a 
 crowd of Christian knights, once the flower of 
 Castilian chivalrj-, now cold as the stonn-beaten 
 sierras covering " la cuesta de hmatanza,"—" the 
 hill of the massacre." 
 
 The stranger who must needs stop at the Parador 
 de los Angeles in Loja, will find it necessarj- to eat 
 bad provisions, sleep in beds literally swarming, 
 and pay exorbitant charges. I shall never forget 
 my sensations on awakening, after a night's broken 
 rest, and finding that my assailants were like the 
 sands on the sea-shore for multitude. 
 
 Early in the morning the market-place of the 
 town presented to a stranger a curious appearance. 
 I looked down from a height on a moving mass 
 of men in long brown cloaks and sombreros, buying 
 and selling all kinds of wares and country produce ; 
 while beyond, the Xenil, dark and muddy, flowed 
 among gardens and oliveyards to meet the Guadal- 
 
 
 quiver. How green its banks seemed to me after 
 the treeless hills on the road from Malaga ! 
 
 The kingdom of Granada is very mountainous. 
 Between you and the deep-blue sky rise rugged 
 chains of rocks without shrub or plant, enclosing 
 sometimes, however, a fertile spot, where the fig 
 and olive shelter the habitation of a peasant. 
 Entering next a gloomy pass, you see an old 
 Moorish watchtower frowning above you, or a 
 village perched among the cliffs like the nest of an 
 eagle ; then you pass along the edge of an awful 
 precipice, by a path so narrow that you fear to 
 look down into the abyss beneath. Sometimes 
 your mule picks his way down the dry bed of a 
 torrent ; and again he scrambles up broken steps in 
 the face of terrific rocks, which seem to menace the 
 traveller, who ventures among the haunts of ban- 
 ditti and the lurking-places of the wolf. 
 
 h2 
 
CHAPTER VII, 
 
 LEAVE LOJA-THE VEGA OF GRANADA-DISTANT VIEW OF THE 
 CITY— SANTA F^— INCIDENT OF THE SIEGE— ARRIVAL AT THE 
 FONDA DE LA AMISTAD-A SPANISH POST-OFFICE-FIRST VISIT 
 TO THE ALHAMBRA-OATE OF THE POMEGRANATES-THE TORRE 
 DE LA VELA-SPLENDOUR OF THE PROSPECT-THE APPEARANCE 
 OF THE VEGA-SURRENDER OF THE CITY— THE ALBERCA— THE 
 COURT OF THE LIONS-HALL OF THE ABENCERRAGES— UNDA- 
 BVXa'8 garden — HALL OF THE AMBASSADORS-FAIRY CHA- 
 rIcTER of the PALACE-THE GENERALIFE-NOTES on GRANADA 
 -FUNCTION OF THE XENIL AND THE DARRO-THE CARTUJA 
 CONVENT-THE ALBAYCIN - GIPSY CAVERNS IN THE ROCKS- 
 THE VERMILION TOWERS-PRESENT STATE OF THE ALHAMBRA 
 ^INSCRIPTIONS ON THE WALLS -LEGEND OF THE ABENCER- 
 RVGES— THE HALL OF JUSTICE-WASHINGTON IRVING— VIEW 
 FROM THE TOWER OF COMARES— EMPLOYMENTS OP THE PEOPLE 
 —HOPES OF THE MOORS— PROBABLE FATE OF THE ALHAMBRA— 
 THE RELIGION OF MAHOMET, A METEOR WHICH MUST SOON PASS 
 AWAY. 
 
 After a poor breakfast at Loja, we started for 
 Granada, on a road which, excepting where it 
 fords the streams, may be set down as the best ni 
 Spain. We had not advanced a mile, when a 
 covered cart, drawn by three stout mules, passed us 
 
 THE VEGA OF GRANADA. 
 
 149 
 
 at full gallop. This vehicle, without sprmgs, 
 .eats, or leathern reins, was Her Majesty s mad. 
 On the wayside we observed several large olive 
 farms and bean-fields. The peasants were busy 
 ploughing and irrigating the land, which is better 
 cultivated than any we had hitherto seen m the 
 Peninsula. The water-courses reminded me ot 
 Italy, and the milky streams of the Tyrol and 
 
 Lombardy. 
 
 Leaving the Xenil, we erossed a bare taUe-knc, 
 destitute of anything hut a few flocks of black 
 «heep; and, turning a comer, suddenly came m 
 ,i,ht of the promised land, the classical Vega ot 
 Granada, a well-watered garden, like that wh,ch, 
 by the hanks of Hiddekel and Euphrates, was 
 formed by the bountiful Creator of man. Far m 
 the distance, the white buildings of the cUy looked 
 down on a fruitful plain, while beyond them the 
 eighty summits of the Sierra Nevada seemed to 
 end in a heaven of clouds. At the western ex- 
 tremity of the plain, under a lofty rock, we ob- 
 served the Duke of Wellington's estate, Soto Ai 
 Roma. Stopping at a large vineyard, we bo.ght 
 for a halfpenny as many clusters of brown, red, 
 
150 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 purple, and green grapes, as would have cost fifteen 
 or sixteen shillings in England. 
 
 Soon aftenvards we passed through the walled 
 village of Santa Fe, built by Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bella when besieging Granada, to convince the 
 Moors that surrender was inevitable. Nine of the 
 cities of Spain contributed to this work, " which 
 remains," says Antonio Agapida, " to this day, a 
 monument of the piety of the Catholic sovereigns." 
 A conflagration having destroyed the Christian 
 camp, the hopes of the Moslems rose ; but the 
 dauntless queen, more effectually to protect her 
 troops from such another disaster and from the 
 winter rains, gave orders to erect a city, which, 
 rising phantom-like from the plain, struck terror 
 into the heart of Boabdil el Chico. There, too, 
 Columbus, on his recall, formed with Isabella that 
 treaty which resulted in adding a new world to the 
 territories of Castile. 
 
 '• I saw this morning near the trail," writes a 
 traveller journeying over the Kocky Mountains, 
 " a solitary rose, the first I have seen blooming in 
 the prairies, the delightful fragrance of which in- 
 stantly excited emotions of sadness and tenderness. 
 
 SANTA FE. 
 
 151 
 
 •^1 
 
 by reviving in the memory a thousand asso«s 
 connected with home, and friends, and cmUzatxcn, 
 all of which we had left behind for a weary journey 
 through a desolate wilderness. It is not poss.Ue to 
 acscrL the effect upon the sensibilities produced 
 ,y that modest and lonely flower. The per ume 
 /.haled from its petals, and enriching ' the desert 
 air,- addressed a language to the heart more tlml- 
 li„g than the plaintive and impassioned accents 
 from the inspired voice of music or poesy. 
 
 Feelings somewhat kindred to those thus beauti- 
 fully described filled my mind, when I found my- 
 self really in Santa F^, in the centre of that \ ega 
 .here so many acts have been l-Jonned^ ^^e y 
 exampled in the history of chivalry. There the 
 Moorish cavalier Tarf e, overleaping the bamers of 
 ihe camp, hurled his lance so near the royal pa v. - 
 tltbat quivered in the earth within heanng o 
 
 tl. sovereigns; there Fernando Pere. del Puga 
 
 replied by affixing to the principal mosque o 
 Znada I tablet, bearing the words" Ave Mar.^ 
 
 there Garcilasso de la Vega, in single combat, slew 
 the bravest of the Mussulman warriors ; there was 
 heard the mighty shout of " Santiago, Santiago, 
 
A SPANISH POST-OFFICE. 
 
 153 
 
 152 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 when the Christian court and army saw the silver 
 cross, the monument of victory, glittering in the 
 sunbeams, on the great tower of the Alhambra* 
 With these and other exploits my mind was 
 occupied when treading this classic groimd. It 
 seemed as if the age of chivalry had revived ; as 
 if the Generalife might once more display the 
 banner of the Crescent, and the vineyards of the 
 plain again afford camping ground for the plumed 
 wamors, the dauntless heroes who have left their 
 footsteps so deeply imprinted " in the sands of 
 time. 
 
 Nothing can be more majestic than the appear- 
 ance of Granada from the Vega, near Santa F^. 
 Perched on the slope of the hills, flanked by the 
 deep ravine of the Darro, and the valley of the 
 Xenil, and crowned by the red w^alls of the Al- 
 hambra, its houses seemed the vestibule of a 
 glorious temple, with the plain as its court, the 
 mountains of the Nevada as its minarets, and 
 Mulahacen's awful summit as the heaven-aspiring 
 dome- which guides the mariner far away on the 
 blue Mediterranean. 
 
 After the customhouse officers had searched our 
 
 I 
 
 luggage for provisions, an absurd practice still 
 persevered in at the gates of cities in countries far 
 more advanced than Spain, we drove along the 
 narrow streets amidst the jeers of straggling sol- 
 diers and students, who appeared not to have seen 
 a stranger for many a day, to Vasquez's Fonda de 
 la Amistad, a small but comfortable new hotel, 
 which deserves the support of travellers. Senor 
 Vasquez, a warm admirer of English manners, did 
 everything in his power to render our residence in 
 Granada agreeable, besides giving us much infor- 
 mation regarding the lamentable state of his own 
 
 native land. 
 
 We had scarcely reached our rooms, when the 
 rain descended in torrents from the Sierra Nevada, 
 and the water-spouts from the house-tops poured 
 floods upon the narrow lanes. Fortunately the 
 weather, during the remainder of our stay, proved 
 
 delightful. 
 
 After breakfast next morning I went to the Post- 
 office in quest of intelligence from home. In Spain 
 a list of all those to whom letters are addressed 
 appears at the entrance to the bureau. Feeling 
 certain that there were some for me, although none 
 
 h3 
 
i 
 
 154 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 had been thus advertised, I applied to the clerk, 
 who referred me to the names posted up at the 
 door, demanding to know the number of the one 1 
 wanted. By chance I asked him to show me a 
 letter addressed " Sefior Hebenstedt," when lo ! 
 he handed me one inscribed most legibly to 
 myself. So much for the literature of the Spanish 
 Post-office! These government functionaries ob- 
 tain their situations entirely by interest, how- 
 ever personally unfit to perform the duties de- 
 volving on them. In many ways they plunder 
 the public and disgi-ace their country. I have 
 heard it confidently stated, that there are clerks- 
 in the public offices who can neither read nor 
 write. 
 
 Spain indeed urgently requires some stern re- 
 former, who, fearless of party hate, might assume 
 the reins of power, sweep the Augean stable, full 
 as it is of the impmities of an unprincipled patron- 
 age, and bring back that true freedom to the land 
 which Mrs. Hemans says has been driven from it 
 by her degenerate sons. 
 
 Ascending the steep and narrow street in which 
 our hotel was situated, until we reached a large 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 THE ALUAMBRA. 
 
 155 
 
 square, we turned to the right up the Calle de 
 los Gomeles, and soon found ourselves at a 
 massive portal, built by Charles V, and forming 
 the entrance to the Alhambra-the Gate ot the 
 Pomegranates, so famous in history and song. A 
 broad walk, overshadowed by lofty elms imported 
 from England and watered by artificial channels, 
 led us to the Gate of Justice, a noble arch, with a 
 hand and a key graven over the doorway. Accord- 
 ing to an old legend, when this hand reaches the 
 key, the whole pile will crumble into dust, and 
 reveal the treasures hidden in former ages by the 
 Moslems. Entering, we stood in the Plaza de los 
 Algibes, or Place of the Cisterns, so called from the 
 great reservoirs below it, cut out of the solid rock 
 by the Moors. A few soldiers now guard the old 
 fortress, because prisoners are kept in the Alcazaba. 
 They are no longer the half-starved, badly clothed 
 ^^-retches which former travellers described; for 
 General Narvaez has put the army on a new 
 and better footing, so that now they compare 
 advantageously, in appearance at least, with any 
 troops in Europe, the British only excepted. 
 
 On our right was the huge square palace, to 
 
156 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 build which Charles V. knocked down part of 
 the Moorish dwelling ; but reserving the wonders 
 which it partially hides to another visit, we turned 
 lirst to the left, and ascended the Torre de la 
 Vela, or Tower of the Watch, occupying the 
 extreme point of the rock, and looking down on 
 the city. A belfry has been placed on the top. 
 They ring the bell on the anniversary of the taking 
 of Granada : it also regulates the irrigation of the 
 Vega. From this elevation we enjoyed a most 
 superb view of the country. 
 
 The Alhambra stands on a precipitous hill, a 
 spur of the Sierra Nevada, 2,700 feet long by 700 
 wide, of great height, and separating the nan'ow 
 ravine of the Darro from the wider valley of the 
 Xenil. The sides of this eminence form a plan- 
 tation of elms, fig-trees, and vines, with delightfully 
 odoriferous flowers, watered by channels cut by 
 the Moors, which derive their supply from the 
 hills behind, by means of an aqueduct. 
 
 The city proper lies immediately below the 
 fortress, on the tongue of land formed by the two 
 rivers at their junction. The streets, being naiTOw, 
 are scarcely visible from the watch-tower ; but the 
 
 APPEARANCE OF THE VEGA. 
 
 157 
 
 chui'ches, especially the cathedral, rise conspicu- 
 ously above the brown roofs of the houses. 
 
 On the hill slope across the Darro stands the 
 Albaycin, a large suburb, or rather half of the 
 city, where Boabdil retired with his adherents, 
 when driven by traitors from his hereditary halls. 
 Further up the gorge of the stream, holes in the 
 rock indicate the dwellings of the gipsies. Shall 
 I attempt to describe the prospect towards the 
 fertile Vega, that " vast garden of delight," the 
 land of wood and rills of water, of orchards and 
 vineyards, with its groves of orange, citron, and 
 myrtle, its limpid fountains, its meadows, com- 
 fields, plantations of olives and mulberry-trees, a 
 paradise of pleasant places amid the dreary plains 
 of Spain ? Thirty miles long by twenty-five broad, 
 and two thousand four hundred feet above the sea, 
 it unites the delicious climate of Southern Europe 
 with the coolness of a less heated air ; the pro- 
 ductions of Germany there grow side by side with 
 those of the Barbary coast. 
 
 Between it and the Mediterranean, mountains 
 covered with perpetual snow, the majestic Sierra 
 Nevada, arrest the progress of those withering 
 
158 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 winds which come from the great desert of Sahara ; 
 while on the north, the Sierra de Elvira, a pictu- 
 resque range, on which we vvitnessed the most 
 beautiful effects of light and shade, shut out this 
 secluded spot from the valley of the Guadalquiver. 
 Pei-petual verdure decks this extended plain, for 
 numerous streams descend from the hills, which, 
 flowing less impetuously as they reach more level 
 ground, in ten thousand channels meander grace- 
 fully among the groves. No wonder that the 
 Moors imagined the Paradise of their prophet to 
 be placed in that part of heaven which overhung 
 the kingdom of Granada. There the fragrance of 
 the rose and the citron bower mingle with the 
 breezes from the mountains, while the serenity of 
 the sky, when its deep azure, as the sun declines, 
 is dyed with tints of glory, reminds one that even 
 within sight of those snowy peaks he can yet enjoy 
 *' the rich evening of a southern heaven." 
 
 The new soil brought down by the torrents from 
 the decomposition of the rocks, and by means of 
 the irrigating process spread over the fields, adds 
 greatly to the fertility of the Vega. 
 
 But, to return to our prospect ; far away in the 
 
 SURRENDER OF THE CITY. 
 
 159 
 
 direction of the Loja we could distinguish the wind- 
 ings of the Xenil, with Soto di Roma and Santa Fd 
 nearer the city, like storehouses among the vine- 
 yards of the plain. But where, we asked, is the 
 desolate spot where Boabdil bid farewell to his 
 beautiful kingdom, the place familiar to all readers 
 of Spanish history as ''el ultimo suspiro del Moro,^^ 
 — " the last sigh of the Moor?" 
 
 " Yonder," pointing to an eminence toward the 
 south and west, " yonder," said an old woman, 
 who keeps the Toitc de la Vela, " is the very point 
 for which you inquire." 
 
 Between us and these heights was the valley of 
 the Xenil, with the well-shaded Alameda of the 
 city ; and close to the junction of the two rivers, 
 we could see the house where Boabdil is said to 
 have delivered up to his conquerors the keys of 
 Granada. This account, however, though adopted 
 by Prescott and Irving, seems at variance with a 
 bas-relief on the altar of the royal chapel in the 
 cathedral, which represents the Moorish king on 
 his knees at the Gate of the Pomegi'anates, giving 
 the keys to Ferdinand, Isabella, and Cardinal 
 !iIendoza, who are all on horseback ; while a train, 
 
160 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE ALBERCA. 
 
 161 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 either of downcast Moslems, or Christian captives, 
 I forget which, issues from the portal of the 
 Alhambra. 
 
 Whilst we were enjoying this magnificent pro- 
 spect from the Tower of the Watch, the peaks of 
 the Sierra Nevada remained lost in the clouds ; but 
 above us the red hill, on which, in Moorisli times, 
 stood the mosque, overshadowed the gardens in 
 which the Generalife, the summer palace of the 
 African sovereigns, is embosomed. This delight- 
 ful villa now belongs to the Marquis of Campo- 
 tejar, who resides at Genoa. It is a white building, 
 the most elevated in Granada, with balconies and 
 terraced pleasure-grounds, fanned always by the 
 breezes from the adjoining Sierra. 
 
 On the Vela Tower the Christian flag was first 
 hoisted, when the city suiTcndered to the victorious 
 army of Castile and Aragon. On the top of a rock 
 between it and the Xenil stand the Vermilion 
 Towers, the origin of which remains in obscurity, 
 but they appear mucli older than the Alhambra. 
 No histories have ever interested me so mucli as 
 those of the conquest of Spain by the Moors, and 
 the reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and 
 
 Isabella. Keplete with instances of noble daring, 
 heroic self-devotion, and chivalrous valour, they 
 inspire an ardent longing on the part of the reader 
 to behold the soul-stirring scenes. Need, then, 
 I say what were my feelings, when I first ascended 
 the Torre de la Vela, and beheld amid nature's 
 magnificence the Vega of Granada stretched out 
 before me ? The realization of the waking dreams 
 of boyhood chained me to the spot. 
 
 But much remained to be seen. Returning 
 therefore to the Plaza de los Algibes, and passing 
 on the left the palace of Charles V, we arrived at 
 a high stone wall, and knocked at a little door. 
 It opened, and behold ! a peep of a different world ; 
 it closed, and we found ourselves, with nothing to 
 remind us of the unpoetical age we had left, 
 walking beneath the arches of the Court of the 
 Fishpond, the noble Alberca, where reclined the 
 Mussulman monarchs of Spain. No part of the 
 Alcazar at Seville can be compared with this 
 quadrangle. Its graceful pillars and filagree work, 
 its basin of pure waters stocked with gold fish 
 and surrounded by a hedge of myrtle, and its cool 
 marble halls, seemed to invite a luxurious repose. 
 
 r 
 
162 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 lindaraxa's garden. 
 
 163 
 
 ■M 
 
 Could this fairy scene be a reality, or had the 
 wand of a magician recalled the glories of the past? 
 We looked around for an answer to the question, 
 and beheld a portal, passing through which we 
 found ourselves in the Court of the Lions ; the most 
 magnificent specimen of Moorish architecture in 
 the world. One hundred and forty elegant pillars 
 there support the arches and decorated roof; while 
 in the centre, a fountain, raised on the backs of 
 lions, throws up its cooling streams. Need we 
 wonder that Boabdil sighed on leaving a palace 
 like this? I felt, on entering the court, small 
 though it is, as if in the presence of those Avanior 
 kings whose names for so many ages struck terror 
 into Christendom. 
 
 Two apartments, of beautiful proportions and 
 ornamented with remarkable taste, open from this 
 court-the Hall of the Abencerrages, where history 
 or fable tells us that that tribe were treacherously 
 murdered by Abenabdoulah, and the Sala de las 
 dos Hermauas, or Two Sisters, where you see 
 a gallery for ladies, from the jalousies of which 
 they could, while unseen, gaze on the company. 
 The eastern end of the Court of the Lions conducts 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 t%. 
 
 to the Hall of Justice, adorned with a fresco re- 
 presenting Moorish counsellors in divan assembled. 
 The floors of the halls are of white marble, and 
 recesses in the walls of that called the Two Sisters 
 indicate the former position of the sleeping apart- 
 ments. The window of this elegant room looks 
 into the garden of Lindaraxa, a lovely open space, 
 fragrant with the perfume of lemons, oranges, and 
 flowers. In the apartments opposite, Washington 
 Irving, to whom the Alhambra owes half its 
 charms, took up his abode. 
 
 As we gazed on this scene of enchantment, the 
 sun shone brightly on the shrubs, a gentle breeze 
 rustled the orange branches, and the smell of 
 odoriferous plants rose towards the balconies. 
 I could almost fancy myself borne back to the 
 times when dark-eyed beauties peopled these fairy 
 bowers, and the courts of the Alhambra were one 
 blaze of purple and of gold. 
 
 The Tocador, or Balcony of the Sultanas, occu- 
 pies an aerial tower, looking down on the Darro and 
 across to the Albaycin. In one corner of it a large 
 marble flag full of holes, through which the smoke 
 of perfimies ascended from the furnaces below, 
 
164 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS ON THE WALLS. 
 
 165 
 
 shows the spot where the Moorish Queen sat to be 
 fumigated. From this cabinet the ladies could, 
 themselves invisible, watch the city and enjoy 
 the charming prospect from their windows. 
 The lofty rock beneath is quite perpendicular. 
 The stranger next descends into the secret room, 
 entering, from the garden of Lindaraxa, an apart- 
 ment constructed as a whispering gallery, near the 
 ante-rooms and baths, where, soothed by strains 
 of music, the lords of creation smoked and lounged 
 
 on divans. 
 
 Returning, we had a fine vista of the little 
 orange grove through the vaulted treasure room, 
 guarded by two figures, who look towards the 
 same spot, and revealed thereby, according to the 
 legend, the stores of gold there hidden. Beyond 
 this curious passage is the mosque, which 
 Charles V. converted into a paltry chapel. 
 Ascending from this tour of the lower rooms, we 
 found ourselves suddenly in the magnificent Hall 
 of the Ambassadors, where Boabdil assembled a 
 council of warriors, alcaydes, and alfaquis, or 
 doctors of the faith, before he surrendered Granada 
 to the Christians. It occupies the entire base 
 
 
 » 
 
 of the Tower of Comares, being thirty-seven feet 
 square and seventy-five feet high. In the recess 
 of the window, which overlooks the Darro, stood 
 the throne. The walls are covered with Moorish 
 inscriptions, and a fine dark roof adds greatly to 
 the elegance of the apartment. In the long ante- 
 room adjoining the neighbouring Court of the 
 Alberca, you see remnants of the ancient gilding, 
 which have suffered little in the freshness of their 
 colour from the destroying hand of time. Mosaic 
 work, disposed in curious festoons, ornaments the 
 lower part of the walls. 
 
 This terminates the splendid suite of courts and 
 halls where dwelt the Arab conquerors of Granada. 
 From without, no beauty can be discerned. A poor 
 tiled roof, rough red walls of gravel and pebbles 
 daubed over with plaster, windows of unequal size 
 and irregularly placed, and balconies of coarse 
 materials, give no indication that within may be 
 seen a palace unlike anything else on earth, the 
 very fairy abode of which we read in our youth in 
 those tales of genii familiar to the Arabian ear. 
 
 Returning once more to the Court de los Algibes, 
 we followed a path leading through the dirty 
 
166 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE ROYAL CHAPEL. 
 
 167 
 
 village, which, with its church, occupies the 
 opposite side of the hill, and entering a little 
 garden, crossed it to the Torre de las Infantas, 
 where Zayda, Zorajda, and Zorahayda were con- 
 fined, and from the window of which two of them 
 escaped to the arms of Christian cavaliers. As a 
 dirty, miserable family inhabit this tower, the fine 
 carving is being rapidly spoiled by the smoke. 
 A savage looking lad rushed out when we reached 
 the door. The tower is one of four which rise 
 above the walls of the fortress, where they approach 
 the narrow ravine separating it from the gardens 
 of the Generalife. 
 
 Another of them, called La Torre de los Siete 
 8uelos, or of the Seven Floors, celebrated in the 
 vicinity as the scene of strange apparitions, has 
 become still more noted since Mr. Irving's dis- 
 covery that by it Boabdil departed from the 
 Alhambra. Great masses of stone, covered by 
 fig-trees and other plants, lie round this porch, 
 monuments of the devastation committed by the 
 French, when they evacuated the fortress. The 
 sun being exceedingly powerful, we gladly escaped 
 from its rays to the gardens of the Generalife, 
 
 where nut-trees, cypresses, and vines trained on 
 forest trees, afford a delightful refuge. Ascending 
 to the summer tower above the palace, we enjoyed 
 a view still finer than that obtained from the 
 Torre de la Vela, for at our feet lay the Alhambra, 
 with its halls, courts, and towers. In the patio 
 of this villa are cypresses seven hundred years old, 
 the scene of Queen Zoraya's reputed misdemeanour 
 with the Abencerrage. The rooms contain inferior 
 pictures of Ferdinand, Isabella, Charles Y., Boabdil, 
 and Gonsalvo di Cordova. 
 
 Our homeward route lay along a steep path, 
 leading down the ravine, between the Alhambra 
 and the Generalife, and looking across to the 
 Albaycin, with the gipsy dwellings in the caves 
 on the Darro. From the opposite side of that 
 stream the red walls of the Vela and Comares 
 towers, and the balcony of the sultanas, have a 
 most imposing effect. We retraced our way to 
 the hotel by the " Zacatin," or street of shop- 
 keepers, still cheerful, though not so bustling 
 as when monarchs reigned in the commanding 
 fortress. 
 
 In the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral are two 
 
168 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CARTUJA CONVENT. 
 
 169 
 
 splendid marble monuments, one to Ferdinand and 
 Isabella, the other to Philip and Joanna, the two 
 latter lying with a^'erted faces, in death as in life 
 estranged. No one must visit this place, where 
 they hand him Ferdinand's sword and crown him 
 with his diadem, without descending into the 
 dreary vault, wdiere that monarch and his once 
 energetic queen sleep in leaden coffins till the 
 resurrection of the just. The adjoining cathedral 
 itself is a large edifice, conceived in the worst 
 possible taste, and remarkable for nothing but 
 whitewash and gilding. What a pity that the 
 money which its erection cost, had not been 
 expended in dignifying Granada with another 
 temple like that of Seville, for the worship of the 
 Most High ! 
 
 Granada contains about 60,000 inhabitants ; 
 the Darro, in some places arched over like a drain, 
 divides it into two parts. The Carrera avenue 
 leads along its banks to the Xenil and the Alameda. 
 That portion of the city has spacious streets : but 
 the other thoroughfares are mere lanes, opening 
 into two squares, the Plaza de la Constitucion, 
 formerly well known as the Vivarrambla, and the 
 
 1 
 
 1. 
 
 
 Plaza Nueva. The shops and most of the houses 
 are in the Moorish style ; some of the narrow w^ays 
 reminded me of the bazaars at Smyrna. 
 
 One morning, before breakfast, I took a walk 
 (\o\Mn the Carrera avenue to the junction of the 
 Darro with the Xenil, and then along the Alameda 
 by the banks of the latter. The air was bitterly 
 cold, for during the night a snow-storm had 
 whitened the Sierra Nevada, and the wind blew 
 directly from its summits. This public promenade 
 is extensive and wtII laid out ; fountains cool its 
 gi'oves, and canals from the Xenil produce perpetual 
 verdure. In the forenoon we sallied out to visit 
 the Cartuja convent, situated some little distance 
 from the northern suburbs. Our way lay by the 
 Triunfo, a pretty public garden which two years 
 ago was a waste, but the shrubs and trees have 
 gi'own wonderfully in that short time. Government 
 now owns the convent, having sold, on the confis- 
 cation of monastic property, the extensive walled 
 garden, to a lady for a tenth part of its value. 
 
 Several now wealthy families in Spain owe their 
 riches to these spoils. We must recollect, however, 
 that in buying them even at a very cheap rate, 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
170 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 tliey incurred a great risk ; for, had Don Carlos 
 succeeded, they would have lost their purchase- 
 money, besides suffering punishment for their 
 rapacity and treason to the priesthood. Entering 
 the now deserted halls, we were ushered through 
 a door formed of tortoiseshell and ivory, richly 
 inlaid, into the chapel, and from thence into the 
 sacristy, which, in point of tasteful decoration, can 
 scarcely be excelled. Between splendid pilasters 
 of jasper are armoires, or drawers, of cedar, faced 
 and covered with tortoiseshell, ebony, and ivory, 
 where formerly the priests kept their vestments. 
 Graceful pillars of jasper, with marble capitals, 
 surmount the altar, which, on each side, has two 
 splendid fonts of agate built into the wall. Some 
 good frescoes adorn the roof of this handsome apart- 
 ment, now tenantless, empty, and silent as the 
 
 tomb. 
 
 We next climbed the steep street of the Albaycin, 
 inhabited chiefly by gipsies. The petticoats of 
 the women, short, floimced, and invariably of 
 bright colours, such as yellow and red, have a 
 singular effect in the doors of low filthy dwellings. 
 Arrived at the terrace on the hill top in front of 
 
 THE VERMILION TOWERS. 
 
 171 
 
 St. Nicholas's Church, we had a splendid prospect, 
 for the clouds had cleared away, revealing distinctly 
 objects which had before been hidden. 
 
 Before us the snowy peak of Veleta towered 
 ten thousand feet above the plain, its hoary 
 summit contrasting beautifully with the trees and 
 gardens of the Generalife and Alhambra in the 
 foreground, most of them as yet green, though a 
 few were tinged with the yellow of autumn. 
 Another white mountain closed the view towards 
 the head waters of the Darro ; between which and 
 the elevation where we stood, the College on Monte 
 Sacro rose conspicuously above the gipsy holes in 
 the rocks. In my opinion, the Moorish palace 
 appears to the greatest advantage from this point, 
 its various buildings, and the singularity of its 
 position, standing out into bold relief. 
 
 Let us again enter the Gate of the Pomegra- 
 nates, and after climbing the steep hill, to inspect 
 the curious old Vermilion Towers, retrace our steps 
 to the Portal of Justice, so called because between 
 the outer and inner gateways, in Moorish times, 
 judges sat to hear pleading ; a custom common in 
 the East, and mentioned frequently in the Scrip- 
 
 i2 
 
172 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 tures.* Under the dominion of the Arabs, the 
 Alhambra could hold 40,000 men ; it as frequently 
 served as a refuge for the king against rebellious 
 subjects, as a stronghold to defy foreign foes. 
 
 Until within the last few years, no one cared for 
 its noble monuments, which consequently fell 
 rapidly into decay. Contrabandistas and lawless 
 characters there took up their abode to escape the 
 officers of justice, who might have seized them in 
 the town below. To such an extent indeed had 
 this gone, that the palace of the Moorish kings had 
 become in very truth a den of robbers. Now all 
 such characters have been expelled ; no longer can 
 idlers be seen angling for swallows from the walls, 
 and convicts are constantly employed repairing and 
 restoring whatever seems likely to decay. Half 
 the houses in the village adjoining were some 
 time ago demolished by order of government, but 
 the outer towers yet remain in the possession of 
 the tatterdemalion families whom Washington 
 Irving so graphically describes. *' I have often 
 observed," says that delightful writer, "that the 
 more proudly a mansion has been tenanted in the 
 
 * 'Daniel ii. 49. 
 
 THE ALHAMBRA. 
 
 US 
 
 days of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabit- 
 ants in the day of its decline, and that the palace 
 of the king commonly ends in being the nestling 
 place of the beggar." 
 
 Entering once more the Court of the Myrtles, 
 let us linger a moment to observe the minute and 
 intricate fretwork of stucco over the pillars, the 
 peristyles paved with marble, and the oft-repeated 
 Arabic inscription, " There is no conqueror but 
 God ;" or shall we pass into the ante-chamber, to 
 admire again the coloured ornaments, the red, 
 yellow, and blue of which the Moors were s<i 
 fond ? 
 
 Slowly we wander into the Court of the Lions, 
 and leaning against one of that gi-aceful colonnade 
 which surrounds it, gaze on the border of small 
 escutcheons on the walls, or that alabaster fountain 
 which cooled the Royal Moors. How beautiful 
 the roof of the Sala de las dos Hcrmanas, shining 
 with lapis lazuli, and the noble Hall of the 
 Abencerrages, where at night, it is said, low 
 murmuring sounds may be heard, as the spirits of 
 the mighty dead converse together, in their un- 
 known sepulchres. Moderns ascribe these noises 
 
174 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 to the dropping and flowing of tlie water, which 
 runs through every part of the hill ; but the 
 popular behef must not thus be rudely assailed : 
 
 " When Science from creation's face 
 Enchantment's veil withdraws, 
 "What lovely visions then give place, 
 To cold material laws." 
 
 Bo my readers recollect that in the Hall of 
 Justice liigh mass was performed, in the presence 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella, after the capture of the 
 city? At that Te Deum Columbus was present. 
 Imagination nearly persuaded me that I heard the 
 Ghria in excelsis^ and saw the careworn face of 
 liim who added a greater kingdom than Granada 
 to the dominions of Spain. How thrilling must 
 have been that scene, when the Court of the Lions 
 was filled with Castilian chivalry, and nmg with 
 the praises of the Christian's God! Lurking 
 among the ruins on the neighbouring hill, the Silla 
 del Moro, where sat Boabdil on a former occasion, 
 looking down on a rebellious town, might not some 
 forlorn Moor have been watching the gorgeous 
 spectacle below, as the voices of chanters rose on 
 the breeze, the Catholic flag floated from the Vela 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 175 
 
 Tower, and the tramp of Andalucian steeds 
 mingled with the hum of the distant city, in which 
 the Christians celebrated their victory? Even to 
 this day the floors cherish the belief that they will 
 reconquer Granada ; for this they ofler up prayers 
 every Friday, and some of them preserve carefully 
 the keys of apartments in the Alhambra, which 
 their ancestors occupied, and where they hope 
 their children will dwell. 
 
 But hand me Washington Irving's charming 
 tales, that I may read alone in Lindaraxa's garden, 
 undisturbed except by the chirping of the swallow, 
 or the rustling of the orange leaves, as the breeze 
 from the sierra plays among the branches. Time 
 flies, however, and I must begone, I hasten along 
 the corridor, taking a last look at the Albaycin 
 from the Balcony of the Sultanas, to the Hall of 
 the Ambassadors, where months might be spent 
 by the scholar in deciphering the sentences from 
 the Koran, and other ornaments on the walls. 
 As the day is clear, let me now ascend the tottering 
 brick staircase leading to the Tower of Comares, 
 from which Boabdil's mother lowered her son to 
 save him from his foes. From the top of this 
 
176 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 building, the liigliest in the Alhambra, 1 again 
 enjoyed the prospect of the striking scenery 
 around. Below me were the halls, courts, and 
 corridors of the fairy palace; hundreds of feet 
 further down, the Darro trickled along its stony 
 bed ; among the rocks on its banks I could see the 
 flaming petticoats of the gipsy women as they 
 scaled to their dens from the city; the sound of 
 church bells, and the stentorian tones of water- 
 carriers invoking custom, rose on the wind ; while 
 far above the green foliage of the Generalife, 
 Veleta reared in middle air his diadem of snow. 
 
 Lonely and forsaken now are the halls of the 
 Alhambra. There no longer minstrels mingle 
 their strains with the murmur of fountains; no 
 longer turbaned brows gaze from the battlements 
 on the lances of the plain; the atabal has been 
 hushed; the revels are over, and not a sound 
 disturbs the deserted palace, but the shrill note of 
 the martlet, and the melancholy sighing of the 
 wind. But, shade of Boabdil el Chico ! hast thou 
 not been revenged ; is not your ancient palace an 
 apt emblem of that desolate land from whicli the 
 Moslems were driven ; do not the sterile valleys of 
 
 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 177 
 
 the Alpuxarras lament the cruel expulsion of the 
 industrious Moors? How would the generous 
 Isabella weep, were she to arise and behold the 
 fallen fortunes of the once gi*eat Castile ! 
 
 Once in descending from a visit to the Alhambra, 
 we chose a path by the Vermilion Towers, which 
 we thought would lead us direct to the banks of 
 the Xenil ; but on reaching the base of the hill, we 
 soon lost ourselves in the narrow ill-paved streets, 
 which verily were constructed without a plan. In 
 the course of our walks, we observed many signs 
 of industry, especially among the females of tlie 
 population. 
 
 Throughout the province, much attention is 
 paid to the rearing of silk- worms, and consequently 
 to the cultivation of mulberry-trees, on the leaves 
 of which these voracious animals feed. The pea- 
 sants carefully tend the plants, cut off their tops to 
 increase the number of leaves, and take care never 
 to present damp food to the insects. By these and 
 other means they have arrived at great perfection 
 in the production of silk, which the women of the 
 city wind and weave. Woollen and linen stuffs 
 also employ in their manufacture a considerable 
 
 i3 
 
178 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 portion of the inhabitants, who work, like the 
 Scotch, in their own dwellings. 
 
 With Granada and the Alhambra I was any- 
 thing but disappointed, although for years I had 
 looked forward to behold a fairy palace and a noble 
 town. Seen from the Vega, or the heights of the 
 Albaycin, the Moorish fortress appears a striking 
 and superbly situated ruin. When monarchs there 
 held their court, how brilliant must have been the 
 lovely halls within. Now all is changed; their 
 glory has departed, and time is carrying on the 
 work which ruthless ignorance began; sometimes, 
 too, the ground trembles under the red walls, and 
 it would not much surprise me to hear that another 
 and greater earthquake has converted the tottering 
 palace with its watch-towers and gardens into a 
 rocky and desolate waste. To say so, would be 
 heresy in the opinion of those deluded Moors, who 
 pray for restoration to Granada, in the mosques of 
 Barbary, who in poverty and exile preserve their 
 Spanish titles in the hovels of Tetuan; but let 
 them come and see the cracked walls and crushed 
 arches, let them remember the convidsions of the 
 earth by which Charles Y. was deterred from 
 
 RELIGION OF MAHOMET. 
 
 179 
 
 finishing his palace, before expressing so confident 
 a belief that a Mahometan prince will yet reign in 
 the Court of the Lions; that a muezzin will yet 
 rom the Vela Tower summon the faithful to 
 prayers. Pleasant indeed it is to indulge such 
 hopes; but they are vain; for Islamism no longer 
 girds on its sword to conquer; its power culminated 
 in the West when the Saracens reached Tours, 
 and the Moslems of the East now entertain ideas 
 far different from those still fondly cherished in 
 Africa; they look forward to a time, not of conquest 
 and triumph, not to extension of empire on the 
 Danube and the Drave, but to a season of weak- 
 ness and decay, that will end when the cross once 
 more gleams from the dome of St. Sophia, and the 
 colours of a Christian host wave from the Seraskier's 
 Tower. 
 
 The religion of Mahomet appears to me more 
 like the comet which, describing in the heavens an 
 erratic course, alarms the rustic unversed in its 
 locomotive laws, than like the planets, which, re- 
 volving regularly in their spheres, seem to teach 
 the immutability of God. From the deserts of 
 Arabia it burst upon mankind; astonishment seized 
 
180 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 upon the Christian powers after Damascus and 
 Grand Cairo fell, and Europe started as if paralysed 
 by an electric shock, when Constantine Pala^ologus 
 cast away the pui-ple amid the ruins of Byzantium. 
 Scarcely had the chivalry of the West recovered 
 from the effects of a blow so discouraging, when 
 the victory of Mohacs opened up new countries to 
 the ambition of Sulieman the Magnificent, and the 
 universal panic continued to prevail, till Charles 
 Martel showed that the Saracens were not invin- 
 cible; till they shrank back from the walls of 
 Vienna, when the adjoining heights displayed the 
 banners of John Sobieski, King of Poland. History 
 relates no career more wonderful than that of the 
 Moslem conquerors, from the date of the Ilegira, 
 to the time when every mother in Christendom 
 prayed for deliverance from the annies of the cres- 
 cent. But as a meteor rushing through the sky, 
 it passed over us, for a moment striking terror into 
 men, then sinking into sudden night. The con- 
 quests of the Arab, like his style of building, soon 
 reached their zenith, and as rapidly were checked. 
 *' Much he achieved; and yet, in the effort of his 
 overtaxed invention, restrained from its proper food, 
 
 KELIGION OF MAHOMET. 
 
 181 
 
 he made his architecture a glittering vacillation of 
 undisciplined enchantment, and left the lustre of 
 its edifices to wither like a startled dream, whose 
 beauty we may indeed feel, and whose instruction 
 we may receive, but must smile at its inconsistency 
 and mourn over its evanescence." * 
 
 • Ruskin'a « Stones of Venice," vol. i. p. 229. 
 
CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 GRANADA BY MOONLIGHT — SPANISH DILIGENCES — OUR FELLOW- 
 TRAVELLERS — CONTINENTAL M.VNNERS — DEGENERACY OF THE 
 HIGHER CLASSES— EXAMPLE OF THE COURT — NECESSITY FOR A 
 MORAL REFORM — VIEW OF THE SIERRA NEVADA — BADNESS OF 
 THE ROAD — INNS IN SPAIN — DETENTION DURING THE NIGHT — 
 BAILEN — ^THE OLIVE-TREES — FURTHER DELAY AT L.V CAROUNA 
 — GORGE OF DESPESa-PERROS — ENTER LA MANCHA — MISERY OF 
 THE PEOPLE — VALDEPENAS — THE WINDMILLS — DON QUIXOTE — 
 ERRONEOUS IDEAS PREVALENT REGARDING THE SCENERY OF 
 THE PENINSULA — ABSENCE OF TREES AND SHRUBS — NAKEDNESS 
 OP THE FIELDS — INHABITANTS OP LA GUARDLA — THEIR EXTREME 
 WRETCHEDNESS — SPANISH BEGGARS — FOURTH ACCIDENT TO OUR 
 CONVEYANCE — ARANJUEZ — ARRIVAL AT MADRID — DOUANIERS — 
 THE PUERTO DEL SOL. 
 
 Granada by moonliglit! The evening before 
 our departure was cloudless, and the moon shone 
 clear in the heavens. I ascended to the flat roof 
 of the hotel, to enjoy the extraordinary prospect 
 around. The houses and narrow streets of the old 
 town were buried in silence, and the chastened 
 
 GRANADA BY MOONLIGHT. 
 
 183 
 
 rays of " the light by night " shone full on their 
 turrets and balconies ; here and there a huge church 
 rose grimly above them, and the Alhambra's red 
 towers appeared like giant guardians of the sleeping 
 city. Beyond the dark Vega I could distinguish 
 the rocky hills of Elvira, and towards the south- 
 east, the heavens seemed to touch 
 
 " Th* eternal snow that crowns Veleta's head." • 
 
 A few light fleecy clouds hovered on the other 
 peaks of the Sierra, serving only to mark their 
 great elevation above the plain. Now and then a 
 bell tolled, and a cold breeze, descending from the 
 mountains, fanned the housetops. What a scene 
 for Salvator Rosa ! Would that some native genius 
 might arise to immortalize this province as that 
 gi'cat painter has immortalized the Abruzzi! I felt 
 a sort of indescribable awe, produced partly by the 
 novelty and grandeur of the scene stretched out 
 before me, the snowy hills, the grim old Alhambra, 
 and the Moorish city, and partly by the historical 
 recollections connected with places, which, though 
 familiar to me as household words, I had scarcely 
 
 • Mrs. Hemans's '* Abencerrage." 
 
184 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBKK. 
 
 expected to behold. The moon was careering 
 in the sky, and iUuminating the white diadem of 
 Veleta; the Vela Tower of the fortress seemed to 
 approach nearer as the light changed, and shadows 
 came and went on the slopes of the sierras, like 
 spirits moving to their midnight revelry. I wished 
 that some African santon, versed in the legends of 
 Granada, might join me on the balcony, to speak 
 rapturously of the scenery, and mutter imprecations 
 on the head of Boabdil el Cliico, who gave up all 
 to the Christians. 
 
 In Spain it is often no easy matter to get seats 
 in the diligences. So few public conveyances 
 travel on the roads, that places in them are fre- 
 quently secured weeks beforehand. For tliis reason, 
 we found ourselves under the necessity of travel- 
 ling from Granada to Madrid, a journey of sixty 
 hours, although only two hundred and twenty miles, 
 in the rotonde. The Spanish diligences are built 
 in the same form as the French, but drawn by 
 mules instead of horses. Generally speaking, 
 however, two small horses act as leaders to a team 
 of from six to eight mules. On one of these a lad 
 rides, and, incredible as the statement may appear, 
 
 SPANISH DILIGENCES. 
 
 185 
 
 the same boy rode w^ithout rest, except at meals, 
 from mid-day on Wednesday, until one o'clock on 
 Saturday morning, or the entire distance to the 
 capital. Strangers may well w^onder how these 
 postilions can survive such extraordinary exertion. 
 Alongside of each team a driver runs, not so much 
 to guide the animals, as to whip those which 
 cannot be reached either by the conductor or the 
 lad on the leader. These men run surprisingly 
 fast. Instead of the sombrero, which w411 not 
 keep on during quick motion, they w^ear parti- 
 coloured handkerchiefs wrapped round their heads. 
 Soldiers always accompany the diligence between 
 Granada and Malaga, on account of the frequent 
 robberies committed on that road; but of late this 
 guard has been discontinued on the Madrid route, 
 which is patrolled constantly by gens-d' amies, 
 both on foot and horseback. We saw great num- 
 bers of these officers — lierce-looking fellows they 
 are, with their cocked hats, muskets and musta- 
 chios, as they unexpectedly rise up from the brush- 
 wood to see who passes. 
 
 The interior of our conveyance contained six 
 cloaked Spaniards; four men in jackets and 
 
186 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER 
 
 sombreros occupied the banquette, and a gentleman 
 with his wife and two boys the coupe. These last 
 behaved with politeness, but the others, like most 
 of their countr^^men with whom we came into con- 
 tact, did not favourably impress us. I certainly 
 was disappointed to find that persons moving in 
 good society thought nothing, like their Gallic 
 neighbours, of staring at, standing before, and 
 pushing against ladies, or of sneering at the cos- 
 tume of strangers. Excepting in Italy, one rarely 
 meets on the continent with really polished man- 
 ners, although somehow or other a most mistaken 
 idea has got abroad, that rudeness characterises 
 the Anglo-Saxon race. '' I have before this been 
 con\4nced," says a very competent judge — Lady 
 Emmeline Stuart Wortley,* "that no manners on 
 earth can be more thoroughly distinguished, noble, 
 and gracefully polished than those of a high-bom 
 American gentleman; nay, I doubt whether any 
 can equal them, unless those of our own country- 
 men." Those who have seen much of European 
 travelling, and who have also visited our Trans- 
 atlantic friends in their own land, know well how 
 * " Travels in the United States," vol. ii. p. 243. 
 
 CONTINENTAL MANNERS. 
 
 187 
 
 true this testimony is. Those, on the other hand, 
 wdiose continental experience consists of a trip up 
 the Rhine, or a week in Paris, whose acquaintance 
 with the United States goes no further than meet- 
 ing half a dozen vulgar commercial travellers of 
 that nation, have uniformly arrived at a different 
 conclusion. I have met with more rudeness in 
 France than during a journey of several thousand 
 miles in the territory of the Western Republic, 
 and I have heard many old travellers say that 
 there is more true politeness, although less grimace, 
 among the working classes in England, than among 
 the so-called gentlemen, in countries where true 
 religion has not softened the intercourse of men, 
 where woman never has been respected, and where 
 little is known of a cheerful, virtuous, happy 
 home. 
 
 Yet, I did expect to find more nobility of man- 
 ners in Spain. The Castilian peasant may be a 
 highminded being, but no country can prosper 
 with such an ignorant and degraded higher class. 
 With nothing in which to take an interest, ener- 
 vated by climate, indolent from temperament, the 
 hidalgo \\Taps his cloak around him, touches his 
 
188 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 guitar, and indulges in every pleasure which re- 
 quires neither exertion nor mind. In ^Madrid, 
 indications of general profligacy amongst the upper 
 ranks, of a very unmistakcable nature, everywhere 
 meet the eye; indeed, it may be fairly questioned if 
 there exists in Europe a race so debased as the 
 aristocracy of Spain. The palace sets the example, 
 its visitors imitate ; can we therefore wonder if the 
 lower classes are becoming more addicted to vice ? 
 Men usually follow the pattern of their superiors, 
 and after what has transpired in the most exalted 
 circle, what can we expect of peasants and mule- 
 teers ? This subject, although delicate, must 
 not be overlooked ; for where moral character is 
 awanting, energy, industry, and national improve- 
 ment will be looked for in vain: "Righteousness 
 exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any 
 people;" so says the Wise Man, and history well 
 bears out the truth of his maxim.* 
 
 In every truly great country morality and 
 
 • Sir Walter Scott, in his Life of Napoleon, justly obsen'es, 
 that " Patriotism has always been found to flourish m that state 
 of society which is most favourable to the stern and manly 
 virtues of self-denial, temperance, chastity, contempt of luxur}-, 
 and patient exertion ; and the public spirit of a nation haa 
 invariably borne a just proportion to ita private morals." 
 
 NEED OF MORAL REFORM. 
 
 189 
 
 religion have a certain hold upon the minds of 
 the people ; but unblushing vice, like an insidious 
 disease, undermines the very foundation of national 
 prosperity. Spain may struggle to maintain her 
 place among the powers of Europe, but the attempt 
 will prove hopeless, until greater respect be paid to 
 the laws of heaven. A moral must precede a 
 political reform, pennanently to raise that miser- 
 able country from her debased position, and that 
 moral refomiation must begin in high places, in 
 that palace whose intrigues have scandalised the 
 best friends of constitutional freedom.* "It delights 
 me to think," wrote one of the best of men,t "that, 
 after all, monarchy is so congenial to man, that the 
 monarch has simply to show himself, and have a 
 tolerable character, and he is sure of the honest 
 welcome and cordiality of air his subjects." This 
 sentiment will be disputed by few who have 
 studied human nature; it applies more empha- 
 
 * "It well beseemeth that in princes' hall 
 That vertue should be plentifully found, 
 \\ hich of all goodly manners is the ground, 
 And roote of civill conversation." 
 
 Spenser's " Fairie Queene," book vi. 
 
 t Rev. Dr. Chalmers's Memoir, vol. ii. p. 402. 
 
190 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 tically to nations which can hoast of a glorious 
 history ; but nothing would surprise me less than 
 to hear that Spain had proclaimed a republic. 
 
 We started from Granada at twelve o'clock, on 
 a fine clear day, in a diligence drawTi by five 
 horses and four mules, and for the first few miles, 
 tlie road being good, we galloped along at a 
 famous pace, animated by the shouts of the driver 
 as he lashed his team. When clouds do not ob- 
 scure its summits, the 8ien*a Nevada has a most 
 imposing appearance from the plain. We were 
 fortunate enough to see distinctly, and for several 
 hours, the w^hole range as far eastward as the 
 rounded top of Mulahacen, twelve thousand seven 
 hundred feet above the sea. But Yeleta, which 
 more immediately rises above Granada, being of a 
 more conical form, appears higher, though in reality 
 lower than its giant neighbour. The road to 
 Madrid passes through the well-cultivated and irri- 
 gated Vega. Several aqueducts conveying water 
 from the heights cross it, and on both sides, for a 
 long distance, you see nothing but gardens of fig- 
 trees, oranges, vines, melons, olives, nuts, vegetables, 
 and Indian corn. 
 
 INNS IN SPAIN. 
 
 191 
 
 On leaving this fertile plain the highway becomes 
 worse, and continues bad all the w^ay to the capital, 
 excepting for a few miles near Cardenas, where it 
 crosses the hills between Andalucia and La Mancha. 
 Although the traffic on it, especially after it joins 
 the road to Cadiz and Seville, has for a long time 
 been great, it is full of ruts, and in many places 
 very stony. Sometimes the jolting became quite 
 painful; in vain w^e attempted to hold on, for every 
 moment it appeared as if the vehicle were about to 
 be turned topsy-turvy. 
 
 Ascending from the Vega of Granada, we 
 first traversed a corn country, bare of trees, and 
 then a forest of evergreen oaks, the pasture-ground 
 of pigs innumerable. The road further on winds 
 in a series of zigzags up the Sierra Susana, from 
 the top of which an extensive prospect of rocky 
 hills and treeless plains presents itself. I walked 
 on before the diligence to w^atch the peasants riding 
 up and down the hill on their mules and horses, 
 wrapped in their cloaks, and attired in all the trap- 
 pings of Spanish finery. Most of the men were 
 tall, handsome, and quite as fierce-looking as tra- 
 vellers represent banditti. At the poor village of 
 
192 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Campillo the passengers stopped to sup. The 
 kitchens of coiintry-inns in Spain fonn a sort of 
 lobbies near the entrance-door, without any par- 
 tition or barrier between them and the mules in 
 the court-yard, or the people walking past. The 
 great gate of the dwelling stands open, and who- 
 ever enters find himself in the presence of the cook. 
 The poorer houses of entertainment — consisting 
 generally of one long room, with men at one end, 
 and mules, pigs, and poultry at the other, are called 
 Yentas; the second class, which boast of a few 
 apartments on the second floor, having doors and 
 locks, they denominate Posadas or Paradors ; 
 while the term Fonda is regarded as synonymous 
 with hotel. 
 
 About an hour and a half elapsed before the con- 
 ductor announced his determination to start. When 
 I awoke from my first slumber, we were passing 
 l3etween the picturesque rocks forming the gorge 
 called Puerto de Arenas, two formidable-looking 
 gens-d'annes standing on the step of the vehicle, 
 to scare the robbers of that dreary locality. Then 
 we passed the town of Jaen, capital of a small 
 kingdom under the Moors. Here I again fell 
 
 BAILEN. 
 
 193 
 
 asleep, to be roused by a total change, or rather 
 an absence of motion. Where could we be? What 
 could have happened? I opened the door, and 
 leaped out. The rain poured in torrents ; the wind 
 whistled mournfully through the apertures in the 
 insufficient framework; and neither horse, mule, 
 driver, postilion, nor conductor was to be seen. 
 We had apparently stuck fast in the mud, in the 
 midst of a howling wilderness ; but the Spanish 
 passengers, apparently quite accustomed to such 
 incidents, laughed and chatted as if they had been 
 progressing with great celerity towards the capital. 
 Two weary hours passed away before men and 
 mules came to extricate us, and conduct the pon- 
 derous vehicle across the Guadalquiver stream and 
 valley. 
 
 Daylight found our party at the miserable 
 village of Bailen, where the roads from Madrid to 
 Seville and Granada join, and where, in 1808, the 
 Spaniards, led by Castanos, actually defeated tlie 
 French under Dupont. Of course, the army of the 
 latter had been previously thoroughly demoralized, 
 else an event so extraordinary could never have 
 
 occurred, 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
 
194 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TUE TIBER. 
 
 LA CAROLINA. 
 
 195 
 
 The road between this place and La Carolina is 
 execrable, and bruises of all kinds must be endured 
 by the hapless travellers. For five hours we passed 
 through continuous plantations of olive-trees. As 
 far as the eye could reach, on hills and in valleys, 
 nothing could be seen but rows of green or silvery 
 leaves ; for, as Lorenzo de' Medici, the great ruler 
 of Florence, expresses it in one of his sonnets — 
 
 " L'uliva, in qualche dolce piaggia apnea 
 Secondo il vento par, or verde, or bianca." 
 
 The prettily situated village of La Carolina was 
 founded in 1767, by a colony of Swiss and Ger- 
 mans, who all died of vexation and disappointment 
 on account of the treatment they experienced from 
 those who had induced them to emigrate. 
 
 Here it was discovered that our diligence had 
 been seriously injured, a threatening crack being 
 visible above the front springs, and extending 
 nearly across the vehicle. So the conductor lighted 
 his cigar and examined the damage, then lighted 
 another one, preparatory to explaining to the by- 
 standers what had happened. In about an hour 
 he sent for a carpenter. He came, tools in hand; 
 not, however, immediately to repair the carriage, 
 
 \ 
 
 but to smoke his cigar and have a chat with the 
 conductor. Ropes being required, a boy was sent 
 to bring them ; of course, he brought too few ; so 
 t^ie authorities again consulted, produced once 
 more the fragrant weed, and resolved to send back 
 the lad. Three precious hours elapsed before the 
 crack and a broken seat were repaired, but the 
 passengers seemed from the beginning instinctively 
 to have known that all this must needs happen. No 
 one asked when we should start ; no one appeared 
 in the least desirous of proceeding on his journey. 
 Without inquiring as to the cause of the stoppage, 
 as soon as the vehicle came to a halt, they all dis- 
 persed to buy bread, grapes, or w^hatever else in 
 the shape of eatables the village afforded; then 
 aasembled in a shop to smoke and gossip, until the 
 mules appeared, when they resumed their seats 
 wHith the greatest sangfroid imaginable. 
 
 In this poor place we with difficulty procured a 
 little bread and three hard-boiled eggs on which to 
 make a scanty breakfast. Our road now lay over 
 the Sien-a which separates Andalucia from La 
 Mancha, a series of uninhabited hills covered with 
 brushwood and arbutus shrubs. Some well-exe- 
 
 k2 
 
196 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 cuted zigzags brought us to the gorge of Despeiia 
 Perros, a grand defile between tremendous rocks, 
 somewhat resembling the Via Mala in Switzerland. 
 It forms a natural defence to Andalucia ; five hun- 
 dred men might defend it against an army ; and 
 indeed the Duke of Wellington at one time thought 
 of making it a Toitcs Yedras. The road winds round 
 lofty cliffs and overhangs terrible precipices, at 
 every turn unfolding new views of the lonely pass. 
 
 La Mancha is a poor and uninteresting province, 
 destitute of trees and scenery, reminding me of 
 Dr. Johnson's exclamation in regard to Mull, 
 *' Oh, sir, it is a most dolorous country." The 
 people look WTctched and dress in rags ; in their 
 dwellings glass seems an unknown luxury, and of 
 cleanliness they know nothing. The rich soil pro- 
 duces both com and wine ; but water is extremely 
 scarce, and shade does not exist. 
 
 At the Venta of Cardenas, celebrated in Don 
 Quixote, we changed mules. Cervantes has im- 
 mortalized the neighbouring Sierra, as the scene, 
 where performed penance. 
 
 " The gentle knight, La Mancha'a glory, 
 Famed in never-dying story." 
 
 DON QUIXOTE. 
 
 197 
 
 Here another accident befel us ; one of the fore- 
 wheels had become so hot from the friction, that 
 cold water poured upon it hissed as if it liad been 
 cast into the fire. Instead of remedying this at once 
 and thoroughly, the conductor adopted some tem- 
 porary expedient every stage, until in the morning 
 it would no longer run, and he was forced to 
 have it taken oif, cooled, and properly repaired, 
 on account of which we suffered an hour's de- 
 tention. 
 
 We had a very tolerable supper at Yaldepcnas, 
 celebrated for its^ red wine, produced from vines 
 imported from Burgundy. The Bodegas, or wine 
 stores, occupy a large part of the town. During 
 our meal, we were entertained with music and sing- 
 ing, the latter by no means melodious. 
 
 Passing through Manzanares during the night, 
 we breakfasted next morning at Puerto Lapiche, 
 where Don Quixote told Sancho that they might 
 get " elbow deep in adventures.*' The peasantry 
 here are in obvious misery; they hover round 
 their mud dwellings dressed in tattered clothes and 
 hempen shoes, the images of discomfort and sad- 
 ness. Nothing can be more desolate than the 
 
198 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ABSENCE OF TREES. 
 
 199 
 
 appearance of the country : not that it is a waste ; 
 for the soil is excellent, and might produce large 
 crops ; but not a tree occurs for miles — not even a 
 hedge or a wall. You see a vast flat plain bounded 
 by stony hills with windmills on their tops. These, 
 being smaller than ours, the knight might be ex- 
 cused for supposing them to be giants. 
 
 Most people imagine that Spain is a beautiful 
 land, with luxuriant foliage, meandering streams, 
 and mountains clothed watli vegetation ; they be- 
 lieve it a region of cascades, rich landscapes, and 
 singing birds, like lovely Italy. How surprised 
 would they be to behold bare stem hills, and 
 boundless plains, treeless as those of Africa, and 
 silent as the desert around the mount of God. 
 No streams water flowery meadows, or refresh 
 bowers of roses which vines overhang ; no groves 
 enliven the dreary fields or afford a refuge for the 
 little choristers, whose notes cheer the leaden skies 
 of England; but naked plains, grim rocks and 
 trains of mules remind one of the trackless ocean. 
 To Castile and La Mancha may be applied Dr. 
 Johnson's description of Brighthelmstone Downs: 
 " It is a country so desolate that if one had a mind 
 
 1. 
 
 to hang oneself for desperation at being obliged to 
 live there, it would be difficult to find a tree on 
 which to fasten a rope."* 
 
 As we passed, the peasants were ploughing, or 
 rather scraping, the soil with a stick, and sowing 
 grain. So lazy are they, that in many fields bushes 
 which one might uproot with one's hand remain in 
 the soil, while the Manchegans plough round 
 them. 
 
 Near the town of Madridejos, a few fields 
 of olives and vineyards relieve the monotony of 
 the plain; I observed also several wells with 
 wheels and buckets for the purposes of irrigation. 
 Three frightfully wearisome stages occur after 
 leaving this place. No living thing did we see 
 but a few black sheep; not even a bush varied 
 the expanse of burnt-up stubble. Tempeque, where 
 we changed mules, is certainly the most wretched 
 village I have ever seen ; it remains very nearly 
 in the same state as that in which the French left 
 it, after sacking and burning it in 1809. 
 
 The next town, La Guardia, also continues in 
 ruins. Instead of re-building their houses after 
 
 ♦ Croker's edition of Boswell's Life, p. 145. 
 
200 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the departure of the spoilers, the people have 
 burrowed in the rock on which the place is built, 
 and from these caves they rush out, like creatures 
 belonging to a lower world, to beg from the pas- 
 sengers in the diligence. And here one word 
 as to the mendicants of Spain. Wherever we 
 journeyed they infested us. Old men and youths, 
 crones and maidens, bright-eyed children of every 
 age, both in the towns and countr}^, resolutely 
 beset our path ; undaunted by refusals, however 
 gruffly given, they continued to elbow and push 
 us as if w^e had been their debtors. Several lads 
 left their work to run after us and clamour for 
 alms, and well-dressed women, sitting on their 
 doorsteps, encouraged their daughters to assail us, 
 like keepers unloosing greyhounds to dart after 
 the prey. 
 
 Begging seemed to be considered a calling any- 
 thing but dishonourable, even by well-dressed 
 people ; a crowd of mendicants surrounded every 
 coach-office, and the door of every inn. Surely 
 they must meet with greater encouragement than 
 their brethren of the north, else they would not be 
 either so numerous or so pertinacious. When 
 
 ACCIDENTS. 
 
 201 
 
 Murillo painted, monks, mendicants, and black- 
 eyed women seem to have been the sole inhabitants 
 of Spain. 
 
 At 09ana, where Soult totally defeated the 
 Spanish army in 1809, and where the roads from 
 Valencia, Murcia, and Andalucia meet, we supped 
 in a neat upper room of the Parador. We had 
 scarcely started from this place when accident 
 No. 4 befel us. Strange oscillations on the part of 
 the vehicle led the driver to conjecture that some- 
 thing was wrong, and on stoppings he discovered 
 that one of the springs had snapped asunder. So 
 out came the conductor's formidable tool-box, 
 cigars were lighted, and the repairs commenced, 
 not one of the Spanish passengers meanwhile 
 inquiring the cause of the detention, or making 
 any remark on the subject. I almost wished that 
 accident No. 5 might prove an overset, just to 
 see if it would discompose these imperturbable 
 worthies. Fortunately, daylight was rapidly de- 
 parting, so the conductor had nothing for it but to 
 work vigorously in order to repair the disaster 
 before it became quite dark. 
 
 About seven o'clock we stopped a very unneces- 
 
 K 3 
 
202 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 sary time at Araiijuez, the beautiful summer resi- 
 dence of the Spanish kings. The palace stands on 
 the wooded banks of the Tagus, which, on leaving 
 the village, we crossed by a handsome suspension- 
 bridge of iron. In summer, when the plain around 
 :\Iadrid has been burnt up by the sun, no wonder 
 that the citizens consider these forests and gardens 
 as a sort of paradise. And yet many a third-rate 
 country residence in England can boast of far more 
 l)eautie8 than this same oveiTated Aranjuez. 
 
 On a clear cold moonlight night we approached 
 the capital of Spain. Long and weary did the 
 leagues appear between it and the Tagus. At 
 length, however, we reached two tall pillars, indi- 
 cating the way, crossed the Manzanares, and 
 ascended an avenue between rows of young trees, 
 to the gate of the royal city. 
 
 At a quarter past one in the morning, the 
 diligence stopped at the office in the street of 
 Alcala, just six hours behind time. This, we 
 afterwards learned, is no unusual occurrence with 
 the coaches of the " Empresa Navarra," or New 
 Diligence Company of Spain. Imagine our in- 
 dignant astonishment when the custom-house 
 
 ARRIVAL AT MADRID. 
 
 203 
 
 officials declined either to examine any of our 
 ^^gg^gCj ^^ to permit us to take with us out of the 
 bureau even a bag. 
 
 " We might have our luggage at breakfast time, 
 but not sooner," they replied to all our remon- 
 strances, and yet several officers were in attendance. 
 They could smoke, chat, gossip, and sneer; but 
 condescend to look at trunks they would not. A 
 curious kind of freedom that, which, under the 
 name of constitutionalism, vexes and annoys every 
 one but the intriguer and the placeman. 
 
 There being no hotel in Madrid, we had written 
 from Granada for apartments in the excellent 
 boarding-house kept by Mr. Purklss. Supposing 
 that our diligence had broken down, he, after 
 waiting a long time for its arrival, had left the 
 office and gone to bed. A porter led us along the 
 silent streets to 23, Calle Caballero de Gracia, 
 which, by the assistance of a watchman, we found, 
 and after violent rapping, awakened Mr. P. 
 who, to our dismay, informed us that his house 
 was quite full. He, however, accompanied us, 
 notwithstanding the untimely hour, (between two 
 
204 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 and three in tlie morning,) to the little Spanish 
 Fonda of St. Luis, situated in the Calle de la 
 Montera, the most bustling street in tlie capital. 
 The sun had nearly reached its meridian before we 
 awakened from the sound slumbers induced by a 
 drive of sixty-two hours in a rough diligence, and 
 sauntered down the street to take a first luuk at 
 the celebrated Puerto del Sol. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SITUATION OF MADRID— ITS BUILDINGS AND SHOPS— PROVINCE 
 OP CATALONIA— THE CHAPEL ROYAL— OFFICIATING PRIESTS- 
 SCENE ON THE PRADO— THE QUEEN— HER PERSONAL APPEAR- 
 ANCE—ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN SPAIN — IRRELIGION IN THE 
 COUNTRY — PROGRESS FROM SUPERSTITION TO INFIDEUTY — 
 POWER OF THE PAPACY— CONTRAST BETWEEN PROTESTANT AND 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC NATIONS. 
 
 Madrid stands on elevated and uneven ground 
 overlooking the river Manzanares. It is sur- 
 rounded by mud walls, with rather imposing 
 gateways. Near the centre of the city, and 
 in front of the vast Post Office, is the Puerto 
 del Sol, an open space, from which diverge tlie 
 leading thoroughfares of the capital. The Calle 
 de la Montera, where we lived, leads northward 
 in the direction of the Burgos road, the Calle 
 Mayor westwards to the Palace, and the Calle de 
 Alcala in an easterly direction. 
 
■■■•* 
 
 203 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 MADRID. 
 
 207 
 
 The last is, perhaps, the finest street in Europe, 
 being broad, adorned with rows of acacia-trees, and 
 built across a gentle acclivity. The inequality both 
 in appearance and height of the houses on eacri 
 side detracts, however, from its elegance. At the 
 further end of this highway, you come to the 
 Prado, a wide walk and drive, with trees planted 
 along it, extending a mile southward. Beyond it, 
 and covering a large extent of ground, are the 
 Buen Retiro gardens, which no one can fail to 
 admire. Tastefully laid out, and diversified with 
 flower walks, wooded groves, fountains, parks, and 
 promenades, they afford a delightful retreat to the 
 population of the city. A large part of this 
 pleasure-ground has only recently been opened. 
 A handsome arch close to the Bull Ring terminates 
 the Street of Alcala in this direction. From it 
 another public walk leads northward to the Puerto 
 de los Recoletos. 
 
 Following the Calle ]\Iayor to the suburb directly 
 opposite to the Prado, wx arrive at the Royal 
 Palace, a very extensive and rather handsome 
 edifice, on an elevation commanding a view of the 
 plain and Guadarama mountains. A wide espla- 
 
 nade in front separates it from the Armoury. It 
 faces the south, and on the east looks into a 
 crescent, where stand the new theatre, and a fine 
 bronze statue of Philip IV. on horseback. This 
 garden has been disfigured by an array of frightful 
 stucco figures of Spanish notables. Towards the 
 west the palace windows look across the Manza- 
 nares to the Casa del Campo, with its woods, 
 pleasure-grounds, and little lake. This is the 
 hmiting-seat of royalty, the district beyond it being 
 plentifully stocked w^ith game. 
 
 Excepting in the vicinity of the Prado and 
 regal dwelling, the houses of the poor stand near 
 the walls, while the mansions of the nobility and 
 consulates occupy very imsuitable situations in the 
 interior of the city. Few of the streets are either 
 handsome or curious. Around the Plaza de la 
 Constitucion you find arcades, with innumerable 
 tailors' and clothiers' shops, which, during our 
 sojourn, the w^eather being cold, were filled w4th 
 people buying winter garments. 
 
 The shopkeepers in Madrid, like those in the 
 East, are the most indifierent people in the world. 
 They do not seem to care whether you buy anything 
 
208 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CATALONIA. 
 
 209 
 
 or not, and consider it rather a trouble to serve you. 
 I \va3 forcibly reminded on several occasions of the 
 cross-legged bearded old cheats, who tried so per- 
 severingly to get the better of me in the bazaars 
 of Constantinople. The excessive paucity of their 
 valuables, however, makes this sauciness less 
 annoying ; generally speaking, the warerooms are 
 miserably supplied. Frenchmen and Germans 
 keep the best shops. 
 
 Although the import duty on carriages is 
 70Z. each, nearly all- those used by the higher 
 classes have been brought from Paris or London ; 
 a sad illustration of that want of industrial 
 energy, which appears, year after year, to take 
 more complete possession of Spain. While all 
 other European nations are striving to excel in the 
 arts and sciences, — while they are making railroads, 
 building gigantic steamers, laying electric wires 
 over mountains and under seas,— seeking, in fact, 
 by every possible means, to annihilate both time 
 and distance, to economise labour, and add to the 
 comforts of man, the Spaniard rides his mule, 
 wraps himself in his cloak, lights his cigarrito, and 
 contentedly remains in the same position as that 
 
 in which Charles V. left him three liundred years 
 ago. If the Catalans form an exception to this 
 rule of ignorance and indolence, their example only 
 renders more lamentable the state of the other 
 provinces. 
 
 Flourishing manufactories, and more than a 
 thousand common schools, have given an impulse 
 to Catalonia, not shared in by the nation in general ; 
 but even yet you may see the proud Castilian 
 walking along the streets of Barcelona with an air 
 of conscious superiority which might provoke a 
 smile, did not the sight recal to one's mind the 
 history and destinies of that once mighty people, 
 whose chivalry checked the Saracenic conquests, 
 whose princes ruled on the Danube and the Scheldt, 
 and whose mariners braved the tempests of an 
 unknown sea to plant the colours of Castile on 
 Tenochtitlan's towers. 
 
 All day long a crowd of idle gossips, wrapped 
 in their cloaks and smoking their cigarritos, lounge 
 about the comer of the Calle de la Montera and 
 Puerto del Sol. Neither the men nor the women 
 in Madrid are so graceful and good-looking as the 
 Andalucians. An excessive dandyism renders the 
 
^MMii«Hpp««VMi«-ii^'^V" 
 
 210 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 youths of the better classes truly ridiculous. 
 Their leading object in life seems to be to have 
 fashionably shaped clothes, and mustachios like 
 twisted whip-cord, in order to set off to the greatest 
 advantage their diminutive persons. All the streets 
 may be said to be well paved and kept in good 
 order, with excellent foot-paths and crossings. 
 Soldiers guard every public building, an evident 
 sign of the want both of security and of that 
 orderly freedom which abhors such military sur- 
 veillance. What feelings would arise in English 
 minds were troops placed at the gates of all our 
 banks, post-offices, museums, and libraries, were 
 passports demanded on entering every city, and 
 elections controlled by general officers greedy of 
 
 power ! 
 
 The stranger visiting Spanish iovms must have 
 observed curious little pigeon holes, more like 
 vnne cellars than shops, entering directly from the 
 streets. These are the lawyers' offices. Behind 
 a little desk sits the notary, his papers arranged in 
 shelves round the walls of his square box. These 
 escribanos, of course, occupy localities near the 
 Courts of Justice. Mr. Paget, in his admirable 
 
 CAMPO SANTOS. 
 
 211 
 
 work on Hungary and Transylvania,* remarks — 
 " I have often thought that a glance at the book- 
 sellers' shops gives a more correct idea of the state 
 of education in a country than the most profound 
 disquisitions on its schools and universities.'' 
 I fear that such a test, — and a very sensible one it 
 is, — if applied to the cities of Spain, would produce 
 in the traveller's mind an unfavourable estimate of 
 the instruction afforded to the population. They 
 are few and far between ; even those which, after 
 a long search, you do find, scarcely deserve the 
 appellation, and perhaps but a small portion of 
 the inhabitants know of their existence. 
 
 The city has two large Campo Santos, or bury- 
 ing grounds, both on the other side of the Man- 
 zanares river. It contains considerably more than 
 two hundred thousand people, and being subject to 
 sudden extremes of heat and cold, from its situation, 
 without any shelter from the sun, and yet twenty- 
 four hundred feet above the sea, it enjoys an 
 unenviable sanitary reputation. Charles V. fixed 
 there the seat of government, because the climate 
 agreed with his diseased frame ; but he committed 
 
 • Vol. i. p, 23. 
 
212 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 OBESITY OF PRIESTS. 
 
 213 
 
 a notable mistake, for the site has not a single 
 advantage, excepting that of being central ; indeed 
 former kings, both Moorish and Christian, never 
 could be induced permanently to reside in the city. 
 
 ^lules may be very well suited to travelling over 
 mountains, where the bed of the winter-torrent 
 forms the only road, but I cannot admire them in 
 harness, particularly when the carriage has any 
 pretensions to elegance. Surely the Queen of 
 Spain might provide her attendants with horses. 
 Yet the first time I saw the royal cortege, her coach 
 was followed by three others, each drawn by six 
 long-eared animals, which certainly looked some- 
 what contemptible beside the prancing steeds of 
 
 Castile. 
 
 Next day was Sunday. We went in the morn- 
 ing to the Chapel Royal in the palace, where the 
 Queen's consort, his brother, and two sisters attended 
 service. The king is a plain-looking man, with a 
 stupid and careworn countenance ; but he appeared 
 a giant and a beauty in comparison with his 
 relations, the most dwarfish and ugliest trio I have 
 ever seen out of the slave states of America. A 
 long line of priests in purj)le robes occupied the 
 
 centre of the chapel, every one of them so corpu- 
 lent as to merit Sir John Falstaff 's description of 
 himself, " a man of continual dissolution and 
 thaw, it was a miracle to escape suffocation." 
 
 How I wished that those good people in Eng- 
 land who will not believe that the Roman Catholic 
 clergy abroad generally manifest so decided a 
 tendency to obesity, could have seen these men, 
 all of them much stouter than any layman whom 
 I had met in Spain. Their plump cheeks and 
 bulky bodies bore testimony to living of the most 
 sumptuous kind. They reminded me of the story 
 which Longfellow tells in Hyperion, of ''the watcli- 
 man's wife in the tower of Waiblingen, who grew 
 to such a size that she could not get down the 
 narrow staircase, and when her husband died, his 
 successor was forced to marry the widow in her 
 prison.'* Perhaps the royal pair have an object in 
 patronising well-fed men, agreeing in the sentiment 
 expressed by Julius Csesar — 
 
 " Let me have men about me that are fat ; 
 Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights : 
 Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look ; 
 He thinks too much ; such men are dangerous." * 
 
 
 • "Julius Caesar," Act I. Scene 2. 
 
214 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 All the shops in Madrid are open on Sunday, 
 and business goes on as on other days, excepting 
 that A FEW people go to mass in the morning, 
 and A GREAT MANY to the Prado, public walks, 
 and coffee-houses in the evening. About three 
 o'clock several tradesmen shut their doors, in order 
 to enjoy themselves for the remainder of the 
 afternoon. 
 
 Our windows looked into the Calle de la Mon- 
 tera, which after twelve o'clock was crowded with 
 carriages, horsemen, and foot-passengers. First 
 came a group of Frenchified dandies with silk 
 hats, fashionably-shaped coats, pale gloves, and 
 curled moustachios, followed by provincials in the 
 national jacket and sombrero, by peasants with 
 their leathern gaiters, and shopkeepers TVTapped in 
 cloaks of glossy cloth. Ladies, too, dressed in lace 
 mantillas, or with Parisian bonnets, glided past, 
 looking at whom, we had almost forgotten to ob- 
 serve the Castilian steeds, preceding half-naked 
 boys on donkeys, troops of soldiers, unwieldy car- 
 riages and wagons drawn by trains of mules. 
 
 In the afternoon the Prado presented an ani- 
 mated appearance, being filled with pedestrians of 
 
 T* 'J 
 
 \ 
 
 SCENE ON THE PRADO. 
 
 215 
 
 fashion, and equipages belonging to the wealthier 
 classes, but by no means handsome. Among the 
 thousands on the promenade, I did not see one 
 pretty woman, and very few fine-looking men. 
 The nurses, who all come from the Biscayan 
 provinces, and a number of whom were walking 
 with their youthful charges, wear a sort of livery, 
 varying according to the taste of their mistresses, 
 and consisting, besides bright dresses, of parti- 
 coloured kerchiefs wrapped round their heads in- 
 stead of mantillas or bonnets. 
 
 About five o'clock tlie Queen, attended by the 
 Marchioness of Santa Cruz, drove slowly down the 
 Prado, in an open carriage drawn by six cream- 
 coloured horses. I at first felt convinced that it 
 was Christina, and not Isabella, for although only 
 nineteen years of age, she looks nearly forty. 
 Neither in face nor figure does she appear yoimg, 
 and had not others told me to expect a middle-aged 
 woman, not a girl, I should not have believed the 
 evidence of my ow^n senses. 
 
 As the sun declined, and its last lingering rays 
 shone upon the gay company moving along the 
 Prado and Calle de Alcala, they produced a very 
 
216 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 pleasing effect: naturally, I mean ; for, in a moral 
 and religious point of view, how low tlie condition 
 of that amusement-seeking throng ! 
 
 As the arts declined, and the political greatness 
 of the nation waned, Christianity seemed to become 
 less and less the religion of Spain; even that 
 corrupt form of it which centres in Rome began to 
 lose its energy. Perhaps, had tlie Jews and Moors 
 been permitted to dwell in the land, some degree 
 of fervour might have continued amongst those 
 who needed clever preachers and zealous monks to 
 preserve them from adopting the errors of such 
 pestilent sects; but religious indifference now 
 reigns almost unchallenged in every province, and 
 worldly politicians were lately permitted, without 
 a murmur, to confiscate the entire possessions 
 of the Church. 
 
 A man might travel for days in the hereditary 
 dominions of Isabella the Catholic, without dis- 
 covering that her subjects had a faith ; undisturbed 
 by priests or friars, he might chant a dirge to the 
 memory of other days in those deserted fanes 
 where once Cardinal Ximenez received homage 
 from the proudest vassals of the Castilian crown. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 SUPERSTITION. 
 
 217 
 
 A few dirty, shabbily-clothed clergymen may now 
 and then be seen in the precincts of a church ; but 
 on Sundays the market-place, even in villages, 
 is always better filled than the sanctuary; the 
 butchers' shops have more visitors than the con- 
 fessionals. You may see also the peasants busy 
 ploughing, watering or sowing, when in other 
 Popish countries they would have been hearing 
 mass. 
 
 There was a time when Spain showed herself 
 by her superstitious observances, by her liberality 
 in providing money for the propagation of the 
 faith, by her religious pomp and her persecuting 
 efforts, to be the eldest daughter of the church. 
 There the Inquisition did its deadly work; there 
 the Pope had only to command, and a nation's 
 chivalry rushed to the rescue; there a monarch 
 laid aside the cares of state " to conform to all the 
 rigour of monastic austerity."* "Such," says 
 Dr. Robertson, " was the superstitious veneration 
 of tlie Spaniards for the papal character, that Alva, 
 though perhaps the proudest man of the age, and 
 accustomed from his infancy to a familiar inter- 
 
 ♦ Robertson's " Charles V." 
 VOL. I. L 
 
218 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 course with princes, acknowledged that when he 
 approached the Pope he was so much overawed 
 that his voice failed, and his presence of mind 
 forsook him." 
 
 I mourn not over the decUne of a childish faith, 
 supported by monkish legends among an ignorant 
 peasantry, not that the influence of Rome no longer 
 reigns paramount in council, but that from super- 
 stition the Spaniards have fled for refuge to indif- 
 ferentism, from the creed of Loyola to the creed of 
 Voltaire ! 
 
 Perhaps the papal advocate may feel inclined to 
 attribute all the misfortunes of this fallen country 
 to her departure from the belief of her fathers, to 
 the absence of that devotion which marked the 
 steps of Las Casas, and overthrew the toecallis of 
 Montezuma's gods; but may it not be fairly 
 answered, that infidelity is the natural consequence 
 of credulity, and that men who believe in the 
 healing virtues of " the dew that dropped from 
 the tomb of Saint Walpurgis," * are the men 
 most likely to go to the opposite extreme, and 
 deny the first principles of the Christian faith ? 
 
 • Ranke's " Popes," vol. i. p. 417. 
 
 INFIDELITY. 
 
 219 
 
 Without unduly depreciating the influence of 
 those writings which, emanating from Paris and 
 Femey, rendered unbelief throughout Europe far 
 more daring than before, one cannot fail to observe 
 that Christianity has suffered less from the attacks 
 of the philosophical school than from the relic and 
 image worship, the false miracles and lying im- 
 postures, sanctioned by the successors of St. Peter. 
 If Pope Paul III. peribrmed no public duty with- 
 out consulting the constellations ; if St. Louis, 
 attended by the noblesse of France, walked barefoot 
 on the road before Sens to meet '' the crown of 
 thorns," sent him from Constantinople, as the 
 diadem of our Saviour; if in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury tens of thousands made a pilgrimage to wor- 
 ship the Holy Coat of Treves, — need we wonder 
 that the learned, the logical, and the acute friends 
 of philosophy embarked on the mare magnum of an 
 unhallowed scepticism ? * 
 
 • Sir Walter Scott, in his Life of Napoleon, remarks concern- 
 ing the middle classes inhabiting the Spanish cities, " In many 
 instances they ha<i acquired good education, and were superior 
 to the bigotry with which the ecclesiastics endeavoured to in- 
 spire them ; but mistaking the reverse of wrong for the right, 
 many of them had been hurried into absolute scepticism, having 
 
 l2 
 
II 
 
 220 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 A CONTRAST. 
 
 221 
 
 Neither let it be forgotten that in other countries 
 the power of the Papacy has declined without pro- 
 ducing such effects as have been witnessed in 
 Spain. " Thus," says Professor Ranke,* " on either 
 side tlie Alps, the progress of the age was in direct 
 opposition to ecclesiastical ascendency. In Italy 
 this tendency was associated with science and 
 literature ; in Germany it arose from biblical 
 studies, and a more profound theology. There it 
 was negative and incredulous ; here it was positive, 
 and full of an earnest faith. There it destroyed 
 the very foundations of the church ; here the 
 desire was to construct the edifice anew." 
 
 These remarks have reference to the fifteenth 
 century, and now we are able to compare the civil, 
 political, and social condition of the countries which 
 embraced Protestantism with that of the countries 
 which maintained their allegiance to the Pontiffs 
 of Rome. And what a comparison ! How favour- 
 renounced altogether the ideas of religion, which better instruc- 
 tion would have taught them to separate from superstition, and 
 having adopted in their extravagance many of the doctrines 
 which were so popular in France at the commencement of the 
 Revolution." 
 
 ♦ Ranke's " Popes," vol. i. p. 68. 
 
 able to those doctrines which the Jesuits rolled 
 back again to the north, from which they came ! 
 
 Let us take the respective capitals of the rival 
 faiths, and try if we cannot deduce a moral, wlien 
 contemplating on the one hand the majestic energy 
 of London, on the otlier, the decrepitude of Rome. 
 Where Wycliffe preached, and where his opinions 
 triumphed, we see civilization in its grandest forms 
 — the canal, the railroad, the manufactorv, the 
 telegraph, the steam-ship, the coal-mine, the Exhi- 
 bition of 1851; while the cupola of St. Peter's 
 overlooks a dreary waste, the pasture-ground of wild 
 horses, the dens from whence banditti rush upon 
 the couriers of the Pope. Beautiful is Calabria, its 
 hills yielding the vine, the fig, and the olive ; its 
 valleys waving witli vegetation unknown in the 
 north : but its inhabitants scare the passing 
 traveller ; for they are fiercer than the wolves and 
 buffaloes which roam over their land. Cold and 
 inhospitable the Romans found Caledonia; there 
 nature has bestowed her bounties with no lavish 
 hand ; but the Scotch, taught by John Knox, 
 wedded to his precepts, have by indomitable per- 
 severance, untiring energy, and unconquerable zeal, 
 
222 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 educated themselves, encouraged manufactures and 
 commerce, and rendered tlieir country one of the 
 best cultivated portions of God's earth. 
 
 Or contrast Germany with Spain — the fatherland 
 of Luther — with the kingdom where Loyola saw 
 the light. In the case of the former we have 
 advancement, industrial progress, political power — 
 in the latter we have feebleness, retrogression, and 
 every symptom of decline. Sweden has got rail- 
 ways; Portugal wants a road. The posts are 
 irregular in the Legations, because robbers stop the 
 way; the electric wires connect Berlin with Lon- 
 don. On the Mississippi there are fifteen hundred 
 steamers; the sources of the Amazon remain un- 
 known. New York will soon be the second city 
 in the world; Vera Cruz has not increased since 
 the days of Cortez. Protestant America bids fair 
 to rule the Western World; Roman Catholic 
 America has become the prey of the designing, 
 and might do worse than restore that dynasty of 
 the Incas which Pizarro overthrew. Opulent 
 England, Ireland in rags, — the busy Elbe, and 
 deserted Guadalquiver, — the industry of Berne, 
 and the poverty of the Valais, — all show that man, 
 
 COSTUME. 
 
 223 
 
 to enjoy social and political prosperity, must be 
 ecclesiastically free. 
 
 Exceptions, it is admitted, prove the rule, and if 
 the adherents of the papal faith can only point to 
 the apparent enlightenment of Belgium, Pro- 
 testants may look abroad over the world in which 
 they dwell, and invoke the inhabitants of every 
 continent and every land, — from Australia to 
 Oregon, from Iceland to the Cape, — to testify the 
 truth of Macaulay's declaration: "Our firm belief 
 is, that the North owes its great civilization and 
 prosperity chiefly to the moral effect of the Refor- 
 mation, and that the decay of the Southern 
 countries of Europe is mainly to be ascribed to 
 the great Catholic revival." 
 
 One little incident on the Prado struck me 
 forcibly as illustrating the inconsistency of man. 
 The Spaniards, every one knows, are proverbially 
 proud of their country, their language, and espe- 
 cially of their dress. Yet all the riders on the 
 ground wore the French costume, and I saw a 
 cuirassier on guard order off two respectable-look- 
 ing men on horseback, solely because they were 
 dressed in jackets and sombreros. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 AGRICULTURE IN SPAIN — WANT OF ROADS — THE ARMOURY AT 
 MADRID — THE MUSEUM, OR GALLERY OF PAINTINGS — PICTURES BY 
 MURILLO — TITIAN's "ADORATION OF THE KINGS " — RAFFAELLE's 
 " LO 8PASIMO DELLA SICILIa" AND " LA PERLa" — NOTES ON 
 REMBRANDT AND RUBENS — SENTIMENTAL ADMIRATION OF THE 
 FLEMISH SCHOOL — SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS ON " INSTANTANEOUS 
 raptures" — VULGARITY OF RUBENS' WORKS — HIS PORTRAIT OF 
 SIR THOMAS MORE — THE STREET OF ALCALA ON MONDAYS — VISIT 
 TO A BULL-FIGHT — DESCRIPTION OF THE EXHIBITION — MY SENSA- 
 TIONS WHILE WITNESSING IT — REMARKS ON THE AMUSEMENT — 
 ITS INCREASING POPULuV-RTTY — DEPARTURE FOR THE ESCURIAL 
 — THE PALACE — VILLAGE AND CHURCH ON THE OUADARAMA 
 MOUNTAINS — RETURN TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 House-rent, provisions, and fuel are very ex- 
 pensive in Madrid, and year by year the last is 
 becoming scarcer. The Castilians never plant 
 trees unless to bear fruit, or shade their Alamedas, 
 as they entertain a foolish idea that their branches 
 afford shelter to birds which eat the com. The 
 consequence is that the soil has got calcined, and 
 as they do not plough it deep enough, the heat 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 225 
 
 withers the roots of the plants, rendering the ground 
 comparatively unproductive. Around the capital 
 I observed numerous fields of the small purple 
 saffron flower, much used in Spanish cookery. 
 The beds of it require to be made very smootli. 
 
 One peculiarity of the rural scenery strikes the 
 English traveller, viz. the absence of farm-houses, 
 for the peasants, generally speaking, live in ham- 
 lets at a distance from the scene of their labours. 
 This custom, originating in warlike times, perse- 
 vered in because banditti still abound, causes a sad 
 waste of time and labour; for every ploughman 
 requires to drive his mules for miles before he 
 reaches the field, and to traverse the same miles 
 again on his return. At sunset you see the 
 labourers returning across the treeless plains, 
 riding their jaded mules, and slowly wending their 
 way to the villages where they dwell. Clearly 
 outlined against a southern sky, they look like 
 Arabs crossing the deserts where neither the fig nor 
 the palm-tree grow. 
 
 ** This," says the Honourable Mr. Murray,* " is 
 one of the characteristics of Spanish scenery. In 
 
 • " Cities and Wilds of Andalucia," vol. ii. p. 81. 
 
 l3 
 
226 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 Other lands a kindly feeling seems to exist between 
 the soil and those who cultivate it ; the husband- 
 man's dwelling is by his vineyard, or in the midst 
 of his fields ; the shepherd lays him down by his 
 pastures green and quiet waters ; the sequestered 
 glen has its cottage, and the chalet speaks of an 
 attachment which mountain hardships and labours 
 serve but to rivet ; but here an unwonted estrange- 
 ment is everywhere observable ; the cultivator 
 seems to manifest an aversion to the scene of his 
 labours, and removes his dwelling as far as possible 
 from it. Rich, therefore, as the plain may be, it 
 wants all those signs of life which we are accus- 
 tomed to associate with fertility of soil. There 
 are no cottages by the wayside, nor farm-houses 
 apart at intervals ; no curling smoke marks the 
 sites of homes and hearths ; no scattered hamlets 
 crown the knolls, or lie basking in the slopes. 
 Out wide and far the eye travels over a houseless 
 prospect, so expressive, notwithstanding its natural 
 abundance, of solitude and abandonment, that the 
 abode of the pestilence could not surpass it in sad- 
 dening impressions." 
 
 The want of internal communication sadly in- 
 
 THE CURRENCY. 
 
 227 
 
 jures Spain ; there are no tolerable roads, and not 
 a single canal to bring the produce to market ; 
 consequently, the cities on the coast actually import 
 com from Odessa, although situated in a country 
 wiiich might be the granary of Europe. Three- 
 fourths of the soil at present remain untilled ; agri- 
 culture has not advanced for centuries ; an enormous 
 national debt weighs upon the people, and not one- 
 half of what they pay in the shape of taxes ever 
 reaches the treasury. Since the loss of her Trans- 
 atlantic colonies the balance of trade has been two 
 to one against Spain. 
 
 It is a singular fact, that although Spanish dol- 
 lars are so favourite a coin in other countries of 
 Southern Europe, they are almost unknown in the 
 land which coined them, excepting in Madrid, 
 where government has issued them anew. Five- 
 franc pieces, worth nineteen reals each, form the 
 circulating medium, while pesetas, equivalent to 
 francs, half-pesetas, and quarter-dollar pieces, are 
 the commonest smaller silver coins. 
 
 None of the armories which I have seen in any 
 part of Europe pleased me so much as that occupy- 
 ing a long building opposite the gate of the royal 
 
228 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 palace at Madrid. The eiFect on entering strikes 
 one with surprise. The centre of a gallery two- 
 hundred and twenty-seven feet in length is filled 
 with steel-clad warriors on foot and horseback ; 
 from the roof hang banners captured in war, and 
 glass cases containing swords, shields, and muskets 
 of antique and curious workmanship surround the 
 room. The antiquary would object to the bright 
 polish of all these mementos of Spanish chivalr}'. 
 I remarked with especial interest the litter in 
 which they carried Charles V. when suffering from 
 the gout, the veritable armour of Gonsalvo de Cor- 
 dova, the Great Captain whose triumphs astonished 
 Italy, and the scuttle-like helmet worn by Boabdil 
 el Chico, the last king of the Moors. 
 
 From the Puerto del Sol, the Calle de San 
 Jeronimo leads to the south end of the Prado, run- 
 ning at about an angle of 45o to the street of 
 Alcala. It has some good shops and handsome 
 houses. In Madrid, as in Vienna and other con- 
 tinental cities, several families inhabit each of these 
 stately mansions, having a common entrance, and 
 a common porter, the latter dressed in expensive 
 livery and holding the stick of office. This street 
 
 PICTURES. 
 
 229 
 
 ends in the Plaza de las Cortes, where stands the 
 new Parliament House, a humble imitation of the 
 Chamber of Deputies in Paris. 
 
 Crossing the Prado, you have on the left the 
 pyramidical monument erected to the victims sacri- 
 ficed by Murat on the 2d of May, 1808, and on 
 the right an extensive, but ill-planned, and clumsy 
 building, now called the Museum. The lower 
 story contains the sculpture, which is very inferior, 
 and there the stranger will not tarry, for the 
 picture-galleries above can boast of 2,000 paint- 
 ings, amongst which, to say nothing of second-rate 
 artists, are 22 works by Vandyke, 10 by Claude, 
 16 by Guido, 46 by Murillo, 21 by N. Poussin, 
 10 by Eaffaelle, 53 by Ribcra, 62 by Rubens, 52 
 by Teniers, 43 by Titian, 27 by Tintorello, 62 by 
 Velasquez, 24 by Paul Veronese, 10 by Wouver- 
 mans, and 14 by Zurbaran. 
 
 Neither in Rome nor in Florence, neither in 
 Munich nor Vienna, have I seen anything so com- 
 plete, so rich, so varied as this celebrated collec- 
 tion. The paintings of the Spanish school hang in 
 two rooms which you enter from the right and left 
 of the rotunda or lobby. There the admirers of 
 
2e30 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Velasquez will find food for meditation during a 
 lifetime; but none of his works arrested my 
 attention so much as that whicli represents the 
 Infanta Margarita talking to her pages, while her 
 two dwarfs tease a patient dog. The perspective 
 and colouring of the room in which she sits attract 
 notice, even before you observe the dog, which one 
 might easily suppose to be alive. The fact of so 
 many paintings by Velasquez being in this gallery 
 may be accounted for when we recollect his close 
 intimacy with Philip the Fourth. They were 
 nearly as confidential friends as Charles the Fifth 
 
 and Titian. 
 
 In those days Spain held the leading place 
 among the nations of Europe; her influence ex- 
 tended from the Carpathian Mountains to the 
 Pillars of Hercules, and a large portion both of 
 Italy and Germany owned allegiance to the same 
 king. Several successive sovereigns patronised 
 painters of merit, and collected from all countries 
 works of art; so that even now, notwithstanding 
 political disasters, Madrid possesses the finest 
 gallery in the world. 
 
 In describing Seville, I have already said so 
 
 MURILLO. 
 
 231 
 
 much in praise of Murillo, that I feel it would be 
 out of place to allude at any length to his pictures 
 in the National Museum; but there is a Holy 
 Family near the door of the first room, where 
 Joseph, thoughtful and silent, leans over the 
 majestic babe, as if meditating on his wonderful 
 origin, and still more wonderful destiny. No 
 human pen could narrate the history so graphically 
 as the great artist has told it on his canvas. How 
 many texts in holy writ does it illustrate, how 
 many expressions of the Evangelists might be 
 inscribed on it as mottos ! Then there are lovely 
 pictures of St. John and the Infant Saviour,— 
 Rebecca at the Well,— St. Bernard's Vision,— the 
 Virgin with a rosary, so life-like that you start on 
 beliolding it, and a Conception which exceeds all 
 praise. As you walk up and down these tw^o 
 rooms, Murillo's bright-eyed children joyously 
 salute you, and beggars seem, in Andalucian ac- 
 cents, to implore alms. No one can mistake the 
 works of that distinguished man,— I required no 
 guide to tell where he had been employed. 
 
 The longest apartment in the edifice, called the 
 Italian gallery, enters also from the rotunda. It 
 
232 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 RAFFAELLE. 
 
 233 
 
 were a vain task to describe the leading works 
 which adorn it, or even to mention them by 
 name. Few paintings by Titian have given me 
 so much pleasure as his " Adoration of the Kings," 
 though the background has either been left un- 
 finished, or retouched by a novice. Near the door 
 a picture by one in no-wise celebrated— Andres 
 Vaccaro, of Naples— struck me as of remarkable 
 merit. It represents the dedication of San Caye- 
 tano when a child to the Virgin. The light from 
 behind the altar shines on the infant and her 
 attendants, so as to produce an effect not only 
 striking but beautiful. 
 
 I was walking along this gallery in order to 
 begin my examination of its wonders at the further 
 end, when three celebrated works by Raifaelle 
 stopped my progress. No man in the possession of 
 eyesight could pass these paintings without paying 
 a tribute of admiration to the " grand old master," 
 who committed to after ages a legacy so sublime. 
 
 " La Spasimo della Sicilia," so called because 
 executed for the IVIonastery of Santa Maria dello 
 Spasimo at Palermo, represents the moment when 
 our Saviour, oppressed by the weight of his cross. 
 
 I 
 
 has fallen on his knees while ascending Calvary ; 
 resigned to the will of God, lie with his right hand 
 grasps the accursed tree; while looking to the 
 weeping women he exclaims, " Weep not for me, 
 but for yourselves and your children!" Language 
 cannot express the intensity of that grief which 
 Mary's face discloses, or the calm majestic endur- 
 ance written in the countenance of her Lord. 
 
 Raffaelle alone of all artists could render hu- 
 manity and divinity equally observable in the 
 appearance of Christ. We see him staggering, 
 falling under the pressure of physical agony, but 
 looking up to heaven while he says, " God's will 
 be done." Every minor detail in this picture may 
 be said to be perfect. You see the Roman escort 
 defiling from the city, through the rugged pass, 
 the subdued sadness of Mary Magdalen, and the 
 tears trickling do^v^l the cheeks of St. John ; atten- 
 tion is concentrated at once on the face of Jesus ; 
 but the back-ground shows no want of careful 
 finishing, and in the minutest particular genius 
 can be discerned. Vasari, in the third volume of 
 his "Vite de Pittori," tells us that this work 
 suffered shipwreck on its way to Palermo, was 
 
234 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 cast ashore, on the coast of Genoa, uninjured, the 
 case having been water-tight, and then restored 
 by order of Leo X. to Sicily. We know that 
 Philip IV. carried it off from thence, that it 
 was afterwards removed to Paris, and finally, in 
 1816, returned to Spain. Few works of art have 
 met with so many adventures. 
 
 If we may judge from the style and colouring, 
 another work of Raffaclle's, scarcely less famous, 
 was executed about the same time. Philip IV. 
 purchased it from Cromwell for £3,000, at the 
 sale of Charles the First's gallery. When he first 
 saw it he exclaimed, " This is my pearl ;" hence 
 it has been called " La Perla." It represents the 
 Madonna holding the Infant Jesus, while the little 
 St. John offers to the heavenly babe some fruits 
 which he had gathered. Christ looks inquiringly « 
 towards his mother, whose left ann rests on the 
 kneeling St. Anne. In the back-ground we see 
 Joseph standing near some ruins. 
 
 Another Holy Family, also by Raffaelle, hangs 
 beside this magnificent picture ; but the third chef 
 (Tceuvre to which I refer is that called "The 
 Visitation," where Elizabeth meets, on the banks 
 
 I 
 
 CLAUDE — VANDYKE — REMBRANDT. 
 
 235 
 
 of the Jordan, her who was to be the mother of 
 her Lord. The very words of St. Luke occur to 
 the mind of whoever beholds this painting, dis- 
 tinguished as it is for truthfulness of sentiment, 
 nobility of conception, and simplicity of execution. 
 Mary seems sliglitly embarrassed, though reposing 
 in the promises of God, while Elizabeth cordially 
 greets her with a mingled respect and affection, 
 which none but Raffaelle could have portrayed. 
 
 In a circular saloon entering from this long 
 gallery, are pictures by German, French, and 
 Spanish artists, amongst which I remarked two 
 landscapes by Claude— one a sunrise, with boats 
 and palaces — the other a morning scene, with 
 Magdalen praying amid the rocks. 
 
 You pass next into the two rooms filled with 
 masterpieces from Holland and Flanders. There 
 you see Vandyke's grim but speaking portraits; 
 Rembrandt's fine touches, visible even amid the 
 blackness of darkness, and those ill-conceived 
 groups, sensual subjects, and flashes of paint which 
 detract so much from the merit of Rubens, not- 
 withstanding his bold natural touches, energetic 
 action, and real flesh and blood. In a former 
 
236 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 I 
 
 RUBENS. 
 
 237 
 
 work I took the liberty of calling by their proper 
 name the cherubs of the great Fleming, those 
 vulgar representations of winged beings, so little 
 admired by connoisseurs of the fine arts. This 
 passage excited the indignation of a local reviewer, 
 one of those petulant men, whom Sheridan has so 
 happily described in his preface to the Rivals, as 
 " little puny critics, who, usually spleen-swoln, from 
 the vain idea of increasing their own consequence, 
 scatter their peevish strictures in private circles, 
 and scribble at everyone unconnected with them." 
 If this gentleman had known anything about the 
 subject under discussion, he would no doubt have 
 concurred in the censure pronounced by a great 
 majority of artists on Rubens' heavenly hosts. 
 Perhaps, however, most men who once in their 
 lives have crossed the channel and visited Antwerp, 
 imagine that he who painted (and painted with 
 such power) "the Descent from the Cross" had no 
 faults, and that whoever dares to say a word in his 
 dispraise, commits an unpardonable sin against 
 good taste. 
 
 "There are others, who," says Sir Joshua Rey- 
 nolds, in the first volume of his works, '-from 
 
 natural imbecility incapable of relishing divine 
 performances, make pretensions to instantaneous 
 raptures at first beholding the works of every man 
 whose name they have heard before." Because 
 they are ignorant and pedantic, let us, however, 
 not be betrayed into an admiration for that eccen- 
 tricity of design, which, derived neither from 
 nature nor from feeling, may delight the vulgar, 
 but not the man of taste. "Childhood in its 
 puiity," remarks a critic, who does not write with- 
 out knowledge, "embodies our poor notion of a 
 cherub better than anything we know; and thus 
 we bear with art, when it confines its pictures of 
 celestial choirs to the mere groups of beaming, 
 happy, sinless faces, which make some master- 
 pieces so attractive. But legs and arms and 
 sliirts and tunics are altogether unangelic, though 
 wafted upon wings ; and thus it happens that we 
 sometimes laugh in spite of us, when high in air, 
 and seated on clouds, and scraping their unearthly 
 fiddles, we see the hierarchy of the skies making 
 concertos for the saints." 
 
 There are some large pictures, by Rubens, in the 
 LouvTC, which, however little thought of by men 
 
238 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 of taste, excite the intense admiration of London 
 shopkeepers and contributors to local gazettes, 
 who think that an occasional ramble in the Scotch 
 Highlands, or a visit to the modern exhibitions at 
 home, entitles them to pronounce an opinion on 
 descriptions of x\lpine scenery, and references to 
 the great painters of Europe. They criticise and 
 dogmatise as if from their infancy they had been 
 familiar with those charming works which fill the 
 galleries of Germany, Italy, and Spain, entirely 
 ignorant of what Mat Prior long ago denominated 
 
 " The Titian stroke, the Guido air," 
 
 but for which one will look in vain in the Pina- 
 
 kotheques of Flanders. 
 
 Returning to the Dutch rooms of the Museum,— 
 Neff has there some fine interiors of churches, and 
 Antonio Moro a large portrait of Bloody Mar>^ 
 which, if as faithful as well painted, gives one no 
 very exalted idea of the lady's dispositions. The 
 best work in the collection, by Rubens, and one 
 of extraordinary energy and power, is a portrait of 
 Sir Thomas More. It arrests the eye at once. 
 No one can have often visited the picture gal- 
 
 TENIERS. 
 
 239 
 
 leries abroad, without remarking those beautiful 
 works by Teniers, which, life-like, and graphic 
 as any theatrical scene, represent chiefly rustic 
 subjects. 
 
 There are a great number of these charming 
 works in Madrid. One has a Village Festival for 
 its subject; in another the artist paints himself 
 showing a picture gallery to the Arch-Duke 
 Albert ; in a third, '' La Gracios a Fregatrix," we 
 see an old woman peeping in at her kitchen door, 
 while her aged husband caresses the pretty servant 
 girl. This is a splendid picture. You expect 
 while gazing on it every moment to hear the 
 injured lady's burst of indignation. Near it hangs 
 a fine portrait of Charles V. on horseback, by 
 Vandyke. But I forbear, out of respect for the 
 reader, for it borders on presumption in me to 
 describe what Mengs has illustrated, and so many 
 artists admired. "Thou shalt not covet" was 
 proclaimed from Sinai out of the cloud; but 
 corrupt human nature whispered to me, " Oh for a 
 few paintings by Raffaelle, Murillo, Guido, Titian, 
 Teniers, and Neff, on which to meditate while 
 
240 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 eyesight lasts! " — give me them, and I should never 
 break the tenth commandment on seeing the works 
 of Zurbaran, Velasquez, Paul Veronese, Kubens, 
 and Vandyke. 
 
 What a curious place is the Puerto del Sol ! 
 From morning to night it is filled with cloaked 
 men, gossiping, place-hunting, seeking news, 
 planning intrigues, selling lottery-tickets, smoking, 
 idling, and looking out for victims. There assem- 
 ble the patriotic debauchees who scheme revo- 
 lutions, and the no less patriotic adventurers 
 who overturn ministries ; and there has occurred 
 many a scene which will be long remembered in 
 
 Spain. 
 
 On Monday afternoon this square presents an 
 appearance of unusual bustle, for carriages, cabs, 
 and omnibuses drive rapidly past, conveying 
 passengers up the Calle del Alcala to the 
 bull-fight. 
 
 Following the eager multitude, I found this 
 spacious street lined by cuirassiers, part of a bat- 
 talion formed specially for such services, while 
 horses, mules, and vehicles ran a race in their 
 
 PLAZA DE TOROS. 
 
 241 
 
 anxiety to reach tlie place of spectacle ; every one 
 seemed breathless with excitement, eager to see 
 tlie fray ; for 
 
 " As * Panem et Circenses' was the cry 
 Among the Roman populace of old, 
 So 'Pan y Toros* is the cry in Spain." 
 
 The Plaza de Toros stands immediately outside 
 of the gate of Alcala. It holds fourteen thousand 
 people, and during summer always fills ; indeed, 
 the tickets then are generally at a premium. 
 I was surprised to find that on Mondays, being the 
 bull-fight day, the cab-drivers raise their fares, 
 having so many demands to satisfy. I walked 
 slowly up the Calle del Alcala watching the 
 excited populace, and at half-past three o'clock 
 found myself seated on one of the upper benches, 
 looking do^v^l on the vast amphitheatre and tlie 
 motley company there assembled. The boxes 
 resemble balconies, those of private parties being 
 partitioned off' from the space allotted to the rick 
 public. Below them are wooden forms, also pro- 
 tected from wind and rain; while the crowd 
 occupy stone seats around the ring, uncovered, but 
 protected from tlie arena, first by a circular walk, 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 and then by a palisade six feet high. A stone 
 step suiTOunds this palisade on the inside to enable 
 the chulos, who assail the bull with flags, to leap 
 out of his way when he turns to attack them. 
 From the windows of the passage, behind the 
 boxes, you obtain a fine view of Madrid and the 
 Guadarama hills. A strong guard of soldiers 
 attends every bull-fight, for the spectators some- 
 times become mischievous, and their rulers think 
 that rows may end in revolution. Government 
 owns the Plaza de Toros at Madrid, and gives the 
 net proceeds to the cliarities. Before the perform- 
 ance commenced, the crowd of cloaked figures 
 below became very noisy, and every now and then 
 a sombrero was tossed into the arena to raise a 
 
 « 
 
 laugh at the expense of its owner. 
 
 Soon after half-past three o'clock a yell of im- 
 patience echoed through the amphitheatre; then 
 sounded the trumpets and drums, and the actors 
 entered to exhibit themselves and bow to the 
 director, who sat in his elevated seat near the box 
 of royalty. First came the matadors and chulos 
 on foot, all richly dressed in particoloured garments 
 and jackets of silver twist. The province of the 
 
 VISIT TO A BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 243 
 
 fonner is to end each act by stabbing the bull in a 
 vital ])art witli a two-edged sword, while the 
 animal tries to gore a bright red flag, which they 
 hold in the left hand. The latter run round tlie 
 brute with flags of other colours, to excite his ire 
 and make him rush more furiously to the conflict 
 The picadors followed on horseback, gaily attired, 
 and wearing armour under their clothes to protect 
 them when unseated from the liorns of the bull. 
 Behind them, adorned with fantastic trappings, 
 entered two teams of three mules each, which drag 
 the carcases out of the arena when all is over. This 
 ceremony being ended, the combatants dispersed, 
 the trumpets sounded again, and in rushed an 
 infuriated bro^vn bull, unhorsing one picador in 
 his wild career, and in a moment afterwards hurling 
 another horse and rider to the earth. A third time 
 he charged, and again his assailant rolled in the 
 dust ; but the chulos kept him, with their flags, lon^ 
 at bay over the body of the fallen man. His fourth 
 charge proved more successful, for his liorns, 
 entering the poor horse's belly, caused instantaneous 
 death. A fifth time the bull assaulted a picador, 
 and his unfortunate steed shared a similar fate. 
 
 m2 
 
244 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 A"-ain and a^am the brute returned to gore the 
 mangled body, from which flowed torrents of 
 blood. This amusement he seemed to relish, for 
 the chulos could not for a long time tempt him 
 from the spot ; but the audience loudly expressed 
 their disapprobation by shouts of " Cavallo," in 
 which most lustily I joined. Tlien the drum 
 sounded, the picadors retired, and the chulos, 
 advancing to the bull, adroitly stuck into his neck 
 barbed rods, called banderillas, in order to render 
 him more furious. Then came the matador with his 
 bright red flag and sword, and plunged the latter 
 up to the hilt in the animal. But he had missed 
 his aim, and another sword had to be procured. 
 A second time he stabbed him, and then proved 
 more successful, for the bull instantly fell ; the 
 spectators cheered, the military band struck up a 
 lively tune, and the mules were driven at full 
 ppeed into the arena to drag out the carcases. 
 
 As soon as these had been removed, a large 
 black and white bull rushed madly into the ring, 
 bellowing with fury. His first exploit was to drag 
 out the entrails of a horse, which, throwing its 
 rider, galloped in this maimed state several times 
 
 A BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 245 
 
 round the arena, till caught by a spectator wlio 
 leaped the palisade. Six times did another picador 
 charge this combatant, and four times he and his 
 steed parted company ; but they rose again to 
 renew the conflict. The sixth rencounter proved 
 fatal to the horse, and only a few minutes elapsed 
 before two other chargers also breathed their last. 
 
 The third bull showed evident symptoms of 
 cowardice. He fled from the picadors and refused 
 to charge. So the chulos ran for squibs, and 
 stuck them into his neck, w^hich rendered him 
 fui'ious enough. The matador, whose duty it was 
 to slay this animal, missed his stroke several times ; 
 the audience each time raised a loudor and louder 
 yell, hearing whicli the poor man seemed to 
 tremble from head to foot; at length the bull 
 crouched down from exhaustion, and a chulo di- 
 spatched him with a dagger. 
 
 The fourth bull was soon killed. The fifth 
 animal, a huge black one, charged the first picador 
 he saw, hurled him to the ground, and leaping 
 over his prostrate enemies, bounded madly away. 
 But his ardour speedily cooled, and he refused 
 to face the foe. 
 
246 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Just as the drum sounded for the matador to 
 dispatch him I left the circus, for it began to get 
 botli dark and cold, but not a single person out of 
 the nine thousand present departed before me, 
 although, perhaps, all of them had seen the same 
 spectacle hundreds of times previously. Men, 
 women, and little children seemed quite absorbed 
 with the contests, and expressed their interest by 
 constant shouts, especially of applause when some 
 poor worn-out horse, gored by the infuriated 
 animal, bit the dust. 
 
 My readers, I hope, will pardon this somewhat 
 minute description of a sight which can only be 
 witnessed in Spain, and the mode of conducting 
 which many may have wished to know. I have 
 felt myself, when reading books on the Peninsula, 
 that travellers are apt to take it for granted that 
 folks at home understand the nature of such exhi- 
 bitions, whereas several persons have asked me if 
 the bulls fought with each other, what sort of wild 
 beasts are in the arena, whether the gladiators or 
 the animals were generally victorious, and such 
 like questions, manifesting an entire ignorance of 
 the performance which the Spaniards so much love. 
 
 A BULL-FIGHT. 
 
 247 
 
 Another query, somewhat more difficult to answer/ 
 has also been frequently put to me, — " What did 
 you think of a bull-fight?" 
 
 Although the mangling of horses is a spectacle 
 repulsive to every humane mind, yet this great 
 national amusement was neither so disgusting nor 
 so exciting as I expected. Instead of prancing 
 high -mettled Castilian steeds, eager to encounter 
 an enemy, you find in the ring emaciated broken- 
 kneed old horses, the worn-out hacks no longer 
 useful to the cab-drivers, so terrified that their 
 riders can with the greatest difficulty induce them 
 to face the bull, and so feeble that they die almost 
 without a struggle. The most horrible scenes 
 occur when the horns of the beast drag out their 
 entrails, or enter often into their bodies without 
 touching a vital part. I saw one white charger 
 which had been gored so frequently that a spec- 
 tator would have imagined him painted red; he 
 had three legs out of four broken, but notwith- 
 standing, when I left my box, his rider had not 
 dismourited. 
 
 As to the interest caused by the conflict, I do 
 not see how any one can feel it to be so great as 
 
24S 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 that felt in a good horse race, or a spirited run 
 with the fox-hounds. There is no uncertainty, no 
 doubt as to the result; the bull must kill the 
 horses and the matador must kill the bull. 
 
 When the Komans filled the Coliseum, when 
 Paul fought at Ephesus, even when Caligula feasted 
 his eyes on cruel orgies, there was a kind of fair 
 play, a chance that either combatant might prove 
 victorious; but the Spaniards have nothing on 
 which to speculate, excepting the different degrees 
 of spirit shown by the bulls, and the varieties of 
 skill displayed by those who use the two-edged 
 sword. We must undoubtedly take into consider- 
 ation the influence of custom and education before 
 setting down cruelty as a characteristic of the 
 nation, solely on the gi*ound that all classes delight 
 in these exhibitions ; some writers, perhaps, have 
 arrived too hastily at this conclusion ; but surely 
 wherever Christian precepts exert a powerful in- 
 fluence on character, they would not for a moment 
 be tolerated. 
 
 My predominant feeling while gazing on the 
 excited multitude was one of intense pity, that 
 rational men and gentle women could feel pleasure 
 
 REMARKS ON THE EXHIBITION. 
 
 249 
 
 in witnessing a sport so utterly degrading to 
 humanity, and at the same time so devoid of all 
 those accompaniments which exhilarate and in- 
 terest the sportsmen of England. Sensually de- 
 graded indeed must be the minds of those who 
 week after week can spend hours in the bull-ring. 
 It is strange what expedients men will adopt, 
 who, unaccustomed to the delights of domestic 
 happiness, uninfluenced by the exalted laws of 
 Christianity, unacquainted with the pleasures of 
 intellectual pursuits, spend their lives in seeking 
 for enjo}Tnent to the senses, and have no thoughts 
 beyond the occupations of the hour. Even in the 
 present practical century, and in countries which 
 require active exertion and mental industry, we 
 have, especially in the south of Europe, men who 
 may be addressed in the words of Young — 
 
 " ye Lorenzos of our age ! who deem 
 One moment unamused a misery." 
 
 Incredible as it may appear, it is nevertheless 
 true, that so far from love for this sport diminish- 
 ing in Spain, it increases year by year; new 
 bull-rings are building in many provinces : I saw 
 them laying the foundation of one at the little 
 
 m3 
 
250 
 
 .THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 village of San Roque, near Gibraltar ; and even in 
 Catalonia, where the amusement has hitherto been 
 unpopular, picadors and chulos cannot be obtained 
 in sufficient numbers to meet the demand. 
 
 The street and gate of Alcala have a strikingly 
 line eifect at sunset, when the golden rays illumi- 
 nate the white houses, the acacia-trees and the 
 equipages returning from the Prado. Few cities 
 in Europe can boast of an entrance so noble ; 
 indeed Madrid has been highly favoured in this 
 particular, for most of its approaches sweep up the 
 hill between rows of elms, and end in a handsome 
 arcli. 
 
 We set off late one afternoon to visit that enor- 
 mous edifice built by Philip II. in memory of the 
 battle of St. Quentin, as a church, a monaster}", and 
 a palace, dedicated to St. LawTcnce, constructed in 
 the form of a gridiron, because, according to the 
 legend, it had been the instrument on which that 
 saint suffered martyrdom, and called the Escurial. 
 Our conveyance consisted of a rickety carriage 
 drawn by five horses, with a driver and a running 
 attendant to urge on the leaders. The road is 
 broad and in good repair all the way. Passing out 
 
 THE ESCURIAL. 
 
 251 
 
 of the city at the Palace Gate, we drove for a 
 couple of miles along an avenue of elms, rather 
 disfigured by tall brick columns connected with an 
 aqueduct which supplies the capital. The bed of 
 the Manzanares being nearly dry was serving for a 
 bleaching green to hundreds of women, who washed 
 their clothes in the brook and dried them on the 
 stones. 
 
 From the rising ground beyond, the city is seen 
 to advantage ; I counted twenty-three towxrs. For 
 a considerable distance the road skirts the Prado, 
 a vast hunting enclosure belonging to the royal 
 family, surrounded by a low wall and covered 
 with evergreen oaks. The vines had all withered 
 for the w^inter, and the peasants were busy plough- 
 ing, or rather scraping the grain fields for the 
 crop of the following year. In a few hours dark- 
 ness came on, and we arrived at the Posada of 
 the village, near the palace, during rain and 
 tempest. 
 
 Next morning early we sallied out to see the 
 situation of our lodging, and inspect that huge pile 
 of buildings founded by a monk, a madman, and a 
 
252 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE ESCURIAL. 
 
 253 
 
 h^ III 
 
 fanatic, and now used as the regal tomb. It stands 
 on the slope of, and its chief entrance faces, a wild 
 gloomy Sierra, crowned with rocks and destitute 
 of trees. In the centre is a large church sur- 
 mounted by a dome, and surrounded by the former 
 dwellings of the monks. The windows of the 
 palace command a splendid view over a finely 
 wooded park as far as Madrid. These apartments 
 form the handle of the gridiron. So vast is the 
 edifice, that it looks grand even amidst the ever- 
 lasting hills, and may be easily seen twenty miles 
 off on the road to the capital. It measures seven 
 hundred and forty-four feet long, by five hundred 
 and eighty broad, has eleven hundred windows, all 
 of them small, sixty-three fountains, eighty stair- 
 cases, and sixteen court-yards, and covers three 
 thousand and two square feet of ground. At each 
 comer rises a tower. The French sacked it in 
 1808, and many parts are now in bad repair — 
 windows want glass and roofs slates. Around the 
 open space outside are buildings formerly tenanted 
 by courtiers, once the quarters of Wellington's 
 troops, and now silent as the tomb. 
 
 The adjoining village has been nearly deserted, 
 ruined and half-finished houses testifying to a time 
 of prosperity gone by, and reminding one of 
 Goldsmith's description of Auburn — 
 
 " E'en now the devastation is begun, 
 And half the business of destruction done." 
 
 After visiting the dismantled state-rooms of the 
 regal abode we were ushered into the closet 
 where Philip II. so long slept in sight of the 
 high altar of the church, and into the adjoining 
 room, where he received liis ministers, and in which 
 they still show the chair he sat on, the stool on 
 which he placed his gouty leg, tlie board covered 
 with velvet on which he planned his wars, and 
 the writing-table stained by the ink from his pen. 
 In the sacristy of the chapel there is a picture by 
 Claudio Coello, exceedingly well painted, and 
 illustrating forcibly the superstitions of a former 
 age. It represents the imbecile Charles II. 
 and his courtiers kneeling before the wafer which 
 bled at Gorcum when trodden on by the Zuinglian 
 heretics. 
 
 In the old church you are sho^ai Titian's 
 
254 
 
 THE TAGU8 AND THE TIBER. 
 
 famous altar-piece, representing h?an Lorenzo being 
 burnt alive on a red-hot gi'idiron. This work has 
 a European reputation ; but really, the lovers of 
 the horrible alone could enjoy it. Ascending to 
 the high choir, we inspected some of the illuminated 
 manuscripts, two hundred and eighteen of which— 
 the finest in the world— are there preserved. The 
 last place we visited was the Pantheon, or burial 
 vault of the kings, a circular hall directly under 
 the great altar of the church. The centre of the 
 apartment was occupied by the coffin of the Prnice 
 of the Asturias, waiting there until it is decided 
 whether or not the babe may be buried in the 
 royal sepulchre. 
 
 The Escurial looks better at a distance than 
 when you are close to it ; from the wooded park, 
 at the base of the elevation, it has a majestic 
 appearance, more, however, on account of its vast 
 size than of its architecture. As we pursued our 
 way back again to the capital, every now and then 
 casting a glance behind towards the gigantic 
 palace, the sky presented a singular spectacle- 
 dark threatening clouds moved amongst the hills, 
 
 RETURN TO THE CAPITAL. 
 
 niK 
 
 " a halcyon glow," like that one sees at sunset, 
 illuminated the southern horizon, while a magnifi- 
 cent double rainbow spanned the plain, the one 
 end seeming to set on fire the Guadarama Moun- 
 tains, the other making Madrid appear like 
 Bunyan's Celestial City— all glorious with light. 
 
PASSPORTS. 
 
 257 
 
 it 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LEAVE MxVDRID— PASSPORTS — PASSENGERS IN THE DILIGENCE— THE 
 LOQUACIOUS FRENCHMAN — SPURS OF THE GUADARAMA8 — 80- 
 MOSIERR^V — THE TAGUS AND THE DOURO — ARANDA — BURGOS — 
 THE CATHEDRAL — " COFRE DEL CID" — TRAFFIC ON THE GREAT 
 NORTHERN ROAD — THE PORTA AUGUSTA — VALLEY OF THE EBRO 
 — BEAUTIFUL WOMEN OF MIRANDA — THE BASQUE PROVINCES 
 — THE FEELINGS OF THEIR INHABITANTS TOWARD THE PRESENT 
 DYNASTY — ABOLITION OP THE NATIONAL " FUEROS" — BATTLE 
 OF VITTORIA— COLLISION AT NIGHT — ASCENT OF THE PYRENEES — 
 — TEAM OF OXEN — TOLOSA — RESEMBLANCE OF THE COUNTRY TO 
 SWITZERLAND — VIEW OF THE SEA AT ST. SEBASTIAN — IRUN — 
 
 FUENTERRABIA CROSS THE BIDASSOA — FRENCH CUSTOM-HOUSE 
 
 — SCENERY NEAR ST. JEAN DE LUZ — BAYONNE — BANKS OF THE 
 ^DCUR — SNOWY PEAKS OF THE PYRENEES — JOURNEY TO BOR- 
 DEAUX — FRENCH MANNERS — ARRIVAL AT POICTIERS. 
 
 The British traveller leaving Madrid requires to 
 get his passport signed by six different officials, 
 and to pay sixty reals ; so he must attend to the 
 various forms in good time, or run the risk of 
 being detained. Rising at three o'clock in the 
 morning, at five we found ourselves in the coupd 
 
 of the diligence, bound for Burgos and Bayonne. 
 Two Englishmen travelled in the banquette, and 
 the sole occupant of the interior was a lively old 
 Frencliman, who had spent two years in Spain, but 
 could not speak a word of the language. He 
 complained much of his loneliness and bad fortune 
 — for "this time," he said, *' I have no one to 
 speak to, and last time, I sat in the coupe 
 between two of your countrymen, who, when I 
 slept, knocked my head about between them like 
 a shuttlecock." This little gentleman was very 
 talkative, and afforded us much amusement at the 
 various halting-places. "I am," he exclaimed, 
 "sixty-one years of age. I have been married 
 three times, the last time to a Spanish lady." 
 "Mais," he added, " nous parlous Fran9ais, toujours, 
 toujours, I have a son, who is forty years old, 
 and has a paper manufactory near Madrid. I hate 
 Spain, nor do I like England neither, * Vive la 
 France ! ' " Being stupid, as well as loquacious, 
 he paid three pesetas at Burgos for a cup of 
 chocolate, which only cost me one. This little 
 incident gave him a text on which to discourse, 
 regarding the villany practised in Spain, and 
 
258 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 everywhere in fact, excepting always Ly the 
 ** Grande Nation." London he thought a ras- 
 cally place, nearly as bad as Madrid ; and when 
 we crossed the Bidassoa he leaped frantically into 
 the airj exclaiming " Maintenant je respire ; oui, je 
 respire ici." 
 
 During our stay in Madrid two public convey- 
 ances had been stopped and robbed near the city, one 
 on the southern road, the other on the route to 
 Bayonne. We saw, however, no banditti, althougli 
 a great number of soldiers, both on foot and horse- 
 back, looking out for them. The highwaymen 
 generally attack the malle-poste, in hopes of 
 obtaining specie. 
 
 The sun rose as we were traversing the treeless 
 plain on which stands the capital ; but for a long 
 time his full orb was not visible. 
 
 " Sorgeva il novo Sol dai lidi Eoi 
 Parte gih fuor, m '1 piu nell' onde chiuso." • 
 
 And before the day had far advanced we began to 
 ascend the spurs of the Guadarama Mountains, 
 the highest peaks of which, covered with snow, 
 rose majestically between us and Valladolid. For 
 
 • Tasso'a " Jeruaalein Delivered," 
 
 SOMOSIERRA. 
 
 259 
 
 several hours we slowly pursued our way on the 
 rugged Sierra, over which a strong wind was 
 blowing, rendering desolation still more dreary. 
 All around us we beheld a waste of stones, nearly 
 destitute of vegetation, enlivened by a few poor vil- 
 lages witli their half-cultivated fields. Toward the 
 west the view terminated in a perpendicular range 
 of rocky mountains, the cliffs of which seemed 
 about to descend like avalanches on the winding 
 road. Descending from this inhospitable region we 
 crossed the Lozoya at the curious walled village of 
 Buitrago, and then began our toilsome journey up 
 the Pass of Somosierra, which separates the great 
 valley of the Tagus from that of the Douro. On 
 the summit, where we changed horses, are two 
 little rivulets within a few feet of each other ; but 
 the one flows into the former, the other into the 
 latter river. Here, in 1808, twelve thousand 
 cowardly Spaniards, ordered to defend against 
 Napoleon tliis, the gate of Madrid, ran away at 
 the first charge of the Polish Lancers, whom the 
 Emperor had ordered to force a passage. 
 
 Advancing into a rich but uninteresting plain, 
 we supped on viands swimming in oil, at the 
 
260 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BURGOS. 
 
 261 
 
 Castilian posada, near Araiida, on the Douro. 
 I fell sound asleep after we again started, and 
 when I awoke next morning the three towers of 
 Burgos Cathedral were in sight. This ancient 
 citj, the former capital of Castile, stands on the 
 river Arlanzon. It once contained 50,000 people ; 
 but has now only 12,000 inhabitants. Above it 
 rises a rock, crowned by a very strong castle, 
 before which the Duke of Wellington received a 
 check after his victory at Salamanca. The 
 Cathedral, a splendid Gothic pile, rich in wood 
 carving and sculpture, has been, both for its 
 interior and exterior decoration, justly celebrated 
 among the churches of Europe. The choir, as is 
 frequently the case in Spanish edifices, occupies 
 too much space. The porches deserve attention 
 for the remarkable beauty of their architectural 
 ornaments, while the statuary in the apse enjoys 
 an unrivalled reputation. In the sacristia is the 
 famous '' Cofre del Cid," which that great leader 
 of Spanish chivalry filled with sand, and telling 
 the Jews that it contained gold and jewels, 
 borrowed from them on the faith of it money to 
 carry on his enterprises. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 You enter Burgos from Madrid by a new suburb, 
 a row of modern houses built on the bank of the 
 river, and then crossing the stream arrive at the 
 curious old gate of the city. The diligence stops 
 in a large square with piazzas all round, which has 
 changed its name, no one knows how many times ; 
 for the Spaniards, like the French, alter the titles 
 of their principal streets on every vicissitude of 
 government. 
 
 The traffic on the northern highway is great; 
 we met a multitude of mules and wagons. I was 
 struck not only during that journey, but in other 
 parts of Spain, with the number of deformed 
 people. The absence of hands seemed common ; 
 and at various places, strong and otherwise healthy 
 persons, having this defect, solicited charity from 
 me. The day we left Burgos being a festival, we 
 observed the people in the morning flocking to the 
 village churches, and in the afternoon standing in 
 groups at the doors of the posadas and in the 
 market-places. Passing the town of Bri\'iesca, 
 and driving along a bare plain, we turned sharply 
 to the left and entered the defile of Porta Augusta, 
 flanked by rocks from six to eight hundred feet high, 
 
262 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 between which the river Oroncillo forces a passage 
 so narrow tliat in one place the road has been built 
 on buttresses overhanging the stream. 
 
 The evening proved beautiful, and the sun slione 
 brilliantly on the mountains as we descended to 
 the valley of the Ebro. A slight breeze shook 
 the now yellow leaves of the walnut, elm, and 
 poplar-trees which lined the road ; and hidalgos on 
 fiery little horses ; farmers on mules, and dressed 
 in brown cloaks and bonnets of light blue cloth ; 
 women on donkeys, having their hair plaited in 
 long queues reaching far down their backs, and 
 their heads covered with red kerchiefs, — rode 
 briskly along the highway, returning from the 
 little town of Miranda. The effects of light and 
 shade on the hills were very beautiful ; and when 
 w^e entered the market square of the above place, 
 we found the inhabitants enjoying the delicious 
 atmosphere. The principal street was filled with 
 stalls, on which vegetables, especially capsicums 
 and tomatoes, were exposed for sale. Seldom have 
 I seen more lovely women than tliose bright-eyed, 
 laughing Spanish maids, who seemed not insen- 
 sible to the admiration audibly expressed by the 
 
 THE BASQUE PROVINCES. 
 
 263 
 
 occupants of the diligence during its stay in 
 Miranda. 
 
 Crossing the deep and rapid Ebro by a stone 
 bridge, we passed the barrier and custom-houses 
 of Castile, and entered tlie Basque provinces. The 
 Basques are a race of hardy independent moun- 
 taineers, distinct in language, feelings, and customs 
 from the inhabitants of the plains. They live on 
 the produce of their own small farms, and are 
 miserable when absent from home. Maize has 
 long been their staple article of food. These men 
 were the chief supporters of Don Carios in the 
 late war ; but it is a great mistake to suppose that 
 they adopted his cause because they believed him 
 to be their rightful sovereign. The motive which 
 induced them to take his side w^as liatred to the 
 ministers who, after Ferdinand's death, abolislied 
 their national fueros, or ancient pri\dleges, granted 
 more than a thousand years before, and to preserve 
 which every king of Spain, as Lord of Biscay, 
 swore on his accession to the throne. 
 
 In a former work* I endeavoured to trace the 
 history of the feud which lately broke out between 
 
 • "Impressions of Central and Southern Europe." 
 
2CA 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the Austrian government and tlic people of Ilun- 
 gary, and to show tlie righteous nature of that 
 cause on which Kossuth's unexampled speeches 
 have since thrown such a flood of light. Very 
 similar to the grievances which have for ever 
 alienated from the perjured house of Ilapsburg the 
 affections of their noblest subjects are those which 
 threw the Basques into the arms of Don Carlos. 
 Unable to distinguish between men and measures, 
 they embraced the first opportunity which pre- 
 sented itself of overthrowing the rulers who be- 
 trayed them; and perhaps, like the Hungarians, 
 they will yet rise in strength to take ample ven- 
 geance. 
 
 The fueros gave the people the regulation of the 
 taxes and militia, freed them from conscription, 
 and guaranteed their independence of the custom- 
 house annoyances of Castile. These mountaineers 
 did not recognise that principle of centralisation 
 which has become an absolute mania with the 
 governors of Europe. Each partido, or district, 
 with its alcaldes and curas, acted in its own matters 
 without the control of higher officials, either lay 
 or clerical. They were municipal bodies, totally 
 
 BATTLE OF VITTORIA. 
 
 265 
 
 opposed to that bureaucratic system, whose sup- 
 porters are impelling, not one but many, European 
 governments towards perils which may convulse 
 the entire framework of society. 
 
 Continuing our journey, we ascended the banks 
 of a river which, swollen and muddy from recent 
 rains, was ovei-flowing lields and plantations. The 
 hills in Biscay are much greener than the bare 
 elevations of Castile, and remind one forcibly of 
 Switzerland. We now approached classic ground, 
 the scene of that brilliant achievement of our war- 
 rior Duke, when, forcing Soult from his position, he 
 drove the Frencli army headlong across the passes of 
 the Pyrenees. Perhaps no enterprise in the history 
 of the Peninsular War awakens more strongly in 
 the mind of a Briton liis feelings of pride and pa- 
 triotism than the Battle of Yittoria, the memora- 
 ble engagements around that little town, the last on 
 Spanish ground which has given its name to one 
 of Wellington's victories. 
 
 Two extremely pretty girls who waited at the 
 supper-table in tlie Posada of this flourishing 
 place amused themselves very much with our 
 English and French conversation. Darkness had 
 
 VOL. I. jf 
 
266 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 obscured the scenery before we again started. 
 Some hours afterwards I was roused by a crash 
 and a Babel of voices. Looking out of the window, 
 I observed at a sharp comer of a narrow street we 
 had come in contact with a huge diligence proceed- 
 ing towards Madrid. Then followed such a time 
 of talking, advising, remonstrating, disputing, and 
 lighting of matches as one passes only in Spain. 
 An English driver, by turning the pole a foot to 
 the right, and at the same time holding his team 
 well together, while he suddenly applied the whip, 
 would have cleared our vehicle in a moment, as 
 nothing was fast, and there was room enough for 
 the manoeuvre. Perceiving this, I exhorted the 
 chattering crew to do so, but a French lady in the 
 interior of the other diligence instantly called out, 
 " Non, non, nous ne pouvons pas avancer — con- 
 ducteur, conducteur, nous descendrons." 
 
 At length they did as I had directed, having, 
 however, previously taken out all the mules save 
 the wheelers ; a bump which sadly terrified the 
 Frenchwoman followed, and we were free. This 
 happened about ten yards from the changing-place, 
 and I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw the 
 
 ASCENT OF THE PYRENEES. 
 
 267 
 
 fellows actually reyoke the leaders to draw us this 
 distance, instead of attaching the new team ! Cosa 
 Espana ! Well may travellers thus exclaim ! 
 
 We were now at the foot of that lofty spur from 
 the Pyrenees which ends at Cape Finisterre. Two 
 mules and eight cream-coloured oxen dragged us 
 at a creeping pace up the ascent, and when day- 
 light dawned next morning we had almost reached 
 Tolosa, a curious old town of 5,000 inhabitants, 
 capital of Guipiscoa, situated at the base of green 
 hills, on the rapid river Oria. We then entered a 
 Swiss-like country, with crops of Indian corn and 
 turnips, neat chalets with ornamented roofs, sub- 
 stantial houses, factories, foundries, and even mills, 
 all evidences of a more industrious and enterprising 
 people than the inhabitants of Andalucia, Granada, 
 and Castile. The drive down the valley of the Oria 
 reminded me very much of the canton Berne. 
 Crowds of peasants, the men in blue bonnets 
 shaped like those formerly worn in Scotland, the 
 women barefooted, and with long plaited pig-tails, 
 were going with produce to Tolosa. 
 
 After changing horses at Andaoin, we passed 
 through a wooded defile, where the river forces its 
 
 N 2 
 
268 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 way "between rocks, in a series of rapids, then 
 crossed the elevation on tlie right, and tumino- 
 round a corner, suddenly came in siglit of the sea 
 at St. Sebastian. This town is most picturesquely 
 situated on a narrow isthmus, communicating on 
 the side of the Bay of Biscay with a rocky hill 
 four hundred feet high, crowned by a castle famous 
 in the annals of ancient and modem warfare. A 
 similar but lower hill forms an island near it. 
 Looking at them from the landward side, the 
 batteries, church, and lofty houses, have a very 
 striking effect. Passing under tlirce rickety-look- 
 ing gateways, guarded by dirty soldiers, we stopped 
 and breakfasted at tlie Posada — our last meal in 
 Spain. Here our passports had to be examined 
 by the authorities, as they had been before at 
 Burgos, Vittoria, and Tolosa. 
 
 The day being sunny and fine we enjoyed the 
 drive from St. Sebastian to Irun, by tlie picturesque 
 arm of the sea called Passages, which has quite 
 the appearance of a fresh-water lake, and somewhat 
 resembles the Bosphorus, as its antique houses, 
 "backed by steep hills, rise almost out of the water. 
 Gaining the top of a rising ground, we beheld a 
 
 ST, JEAN DE LUZ. 
 
 269 
 
 varied prospect. Xcar the spot where the Bidassoa 
 entered the sea was Fuenterrabia, on an eminence 
 looking across to France; further up the river, 
 occupying the slope of a hill, we saw Irun, and 
 beyond it the bridge, with the custom-houses of 
 the two countries on either side of it. 
 
 At Irun we changed our team of mules for one 
 of six white horses, and had our passports viseed. 
 These documents had again to be produced at the 
 Spanish end of the bridge, and as soon as we 
 reached French ground our baggage underwent the 
 usual custom-house examination. Continuing our 
 journey, and ascending the heights, we had a fine 
 view of the mouth of the Bidassoa, the towns of 
 Irun and Fuentcn-abia, the wooded elevations with 
 their chalets and maize-fields, and the peaks of the 
 more distant Pyrenees. 
 
 The first place we came to in France was the 
 clean seaport of St. Jean de Luz.* We had left 
 behind the bare brown fields, the mud hovels and 
 filth of Spain, to enter apparently a different world, 
 
 • In 1814, English merchants sent cargoes of every kind into 
 this harbour, to supply the army of the Duke of Wellington, 
 then enaimped in the vicinity. 
 
270 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BANKS OF THE ADOUE. 
 
 271 
 
 the seat of industry and civilization ; green parks, 
 well-tilled fields, and substantial houses refreshed 
 our eyes, and enabled us almost to s;)Tnpathise 
 with our friend, the lively little Frenchman, in the 
 " interieur." At seven o'clock in the evening we 
 drove over the drawbridges of Bayonne, and soon 
 afterwards were comfortably lodged in the Hotel 
 St. Etienne. 
 
 This city is a first-class fortress, guarding one 
 of the two great roads into Spain, situated chiefly 
 on the left bank of the Rive, at the point of its 
 junction with the broad Adour. A part of the 
 town occupies the peninsula between the two 
 rivers, and is connected by a handsome bridge, 
 with a suburb on the right bank of the latter; 
 further down which, on an elevation, stands the 
 citadel, the scene of the last conflict betv^xen the 
 British and French during the Peninsular War. 
 Soult having heard of Napoleon's abdication, had 
 asked and obtained a suspension of arms; but 
 during the night his troops made a murderous 
 sally, which, though repulsed, cost the lives of 
 eight hundred and thirty Englishmen. 
 
 Opposite this stronghold, extending for a mile 
 
 along the river, is a very pretty public walk. On 
 this promenade we took a stroll the evening of the 
 day after our arrival, when, as not a cloud appeared 
 in the heavens, the upper classes had congregated, 
 ''tomar al fresco." How singular the contrast be- 
 tween the beautiful dresses of the ladies, and those 
 hideous, ill-shaped uniforms worn by the military 
 of France. Dingy dark blue coats, and trousers 
 of a colour midway between scarlet and brown, 
 would disfigure the best-looking men in the world, 
 without the addition of clothes made to fit people 
 of twice their circumference. If the French know 
 how to blend colours, certainly they do not display 
 their usual taste in the attire of their soldiers. 
 
 The banks of the Adour, below Bayonne, are 
 very pretty. Sand-hills covered with wood rise 
 above the blue waters, and small craft may be 
 always seen sailing up and down the stream. 
 From the end of the promenade ground we had a 
 fine view of the vicinity. Before us, peeping out 
 of a clump of trees like the spire of an English 
 village church, was the tower of the cathedral, 
 the town being nearly hidden by the foliage; 
 
272 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BRIDGE OVER THE GARONNE. 
 
 273 
 
 elegant arches spanned the river, and between 
 them and our position lay at anchor several vessels, 
 including a smart man-of-war steamer. On our 
 left, embowered in woods, the citadel displayed 
 the tricoloured flag of the Republic ; on our right 
 we could see the mountains near Irun, the three 
 tops of the Trois Couronncs being conspicuous; 
 whilst in the far distance, beyond Bayonne, illu- 
 minated by the rays of tlie setting sun, rose the 
 snowy peaks of the Pyrenees. It struck me as a 
 landscape such as Claude alone could have trans- 
 fen-cd to canvas, and Turner converted into a very 
 paradise. 
 
 At six o'clock next morning we took our places 
 in the ''interieur" of the diligence about to start 
 for Paris via Bordeaux, and who should we find 
 seated there before us but the lively old French- 
 man who had journeyed with us from Macbid. 
 Extensive forests of cork-trees, the bark of which 
 is stripped off all round the stem, to supply the 
 wine-merchants on the Garonne, occur on this 
 road. The bark soon grows again after being cut; 
 but the operation gives the tree a peculiar appear- 
 
 ance. There arc also numerous plantations of fir- 
 trees, similarly cut, but not for the w^hole circum- 
 ference, in order to extract rosin. 
 
 Having done justice to a sumptuous repast at 
 Mont de Marsan, on the Medaize, capital of the 
 department of the Landes, we entered gloomy 
 woods, more wintry in their aspect as wx pro- 
 ceeded towards the north, the leaves of which were 
 falling in showers. 
 
 Next morning we arrived at Bordeaux, one of 
 the handsomest as well as the most flourishing: 
 cities in France. It has a quay extending for 
 three miles along the broad Garonne, the water up 
 to which is so deep that ships of twelve hundred 
 tons are there moored. A bridge of seventeen 
 arches, more than fifteen hundred feet long, con- 
 nects the town with the villas and vineyards on 
 the opposite bank. A few miles further on the 
 road crosses the Dordogne by a " pont suspendu," 
 2,952 feet in length, and 93 in height, one of the 
 greatest works in Europe. 
 
 We left Bordeaux very early in the morning, 
 and about mid-day the passengers in the diligence 
 began to get hungry; the little Frenchman, who 
 
 n3 
 
274 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 still travelled with us, especially felt the pangs 
 of an unsatisfied appetite, and as they became 
 stronger and stronger, he applied increasingly 
 violent epithets of abuse to the conductor, Messrs. 
 Lafitte, Caillard & Co. and all concerned, for their 
 cruelty to travellers — "disgusting" and "piggish" 
 being the mildest of these terms. 
 
 At length we stopped at an inn, somewhat 
 inviting in its appearance, and the old man felt 
 sure that his troubles were over. But no, the 
 object of the halt was only to afford the conductor 
 time to take a glass of wine. This was too much 
 for frail humanity to endure; so the fat gentleman, 
 who had been for some hours requesting us to 
 remonstrate, as he cared not to do so himself, 
 mustering all his courage, roared out in a tone of 
 injured innocence, mixed with ill-concealed wrath, 
 "Conducteur, conducteur, h quelle heure est-ce que 
 vous dinez?" "A trois heures," replied the interro- 
 gated in the mildest and most conciliator}' manner 
 possible. The "soft answer" not only "turned 
 away wrath," but for a moment deprived the 
 wrathful man of utterance ; instantly disai*med — 
 for he had prepared a furious declamatory' attack 
 
 FRENCH MANNERS. 
 
 275 
 
 on the official— our hero seemed at a loss for a 
 rejoinder. At length, to the infinite amusement of 
 all present, he stammered, " Merci, merci bien, mon- 
 sieur." This garrulous individual was a true repre- 
 sentative of French manners. "Mercis" were never 
 out of his mouth; his shoulders seemed bent from 
 incessant bowing, and at home or in a " Chemin 
 de Fer du Nord" first-class can-iage, he might 
 liave delighted a cockney by his afifability— yet he 
 swallowed his coffee at Bordeaux in a great hurry, 
 professedly to get the best seat in the vehicle, 
 before my wife arrived at the coach-office, and 
 when a Basque man remonstrated with him for 
 conduct so ungallant, he replied tliat politeness 
 was all very well when it cost nothing, but it 
 should never be allowed to interfere with one's 
 }Xirsonal comfort. This remark affords the tme 
 key to the feelings of the French. 
 
 Dr. Johnson said of Mr. Langton, " Sir, he has 
 no grimace, no gesticulation, no bursts of admiration 
 on trivial occasions ; he never embraces you with 
 overacted cordiality." Our neighbours have all 
 these things, and if politeness be playacting, they 
 eminently deserve credit for the virtue ; but let 
 
276 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 any Englishman of observation and gentlemanly 
 education, who knows somewhat more of travelling 
 in France than chance visitors to Paris, be asked 
 his opinion of the national manners, and he will 
 tell you that nowhere else in Europe has he met 
 with such rudeness as in the public conveyances 
 of that country, the inhabitants of which, by some 
 strange mental hallucination, we have been accus- 
 tomed to style preeminently " polite/' 
 
 I have seen educated men conduct themselves, 
 on the roads between Geneva and Paris, between 
 Bayonne and Tours, between Marseilles and 
 Lyons, in a manner that would have disgraced 
 ia coal-heaver on the Thames ; and men of far 
 more experience than I, have told me of scenes 
 in France, on which weavers in England, or 
 back-woodsmen in America, would have called 
 ** shame." 
 
 But to return to the narrative. " Trois heures" 
 came, and ''quatres heures" also, but still no signs 
 of anything to eat, and our patience was nearly 
 exhausted, when at five o'clock we sat down to 
 table in the picturesque town of Angouleme, situ- 
 ated on a liill two hundred feet above the river 
 
 ARRIVAL AT POICTIERS. 
 
 277 
 
 Charente. As daylight dawned on the morrow, 
 we drove into Poictiers, where Edward the Black 
 Prince routed the chivalry of France, and where 
 many years before Charles Martel had proved to 
 Abdehramen that the armies of the crescent liad 
 reached the zenith of their fame. 
 
CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 THE MONTH OP MAT— LAUSANNE AND THE LAKE OF GENEVA 
 
 AGRICULTURE OF THE CANTON DE VAUD — PRIESTCRAFT IN THE 
 VALLAIS — SION— MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF OUR DILIGENCE AND 
 ITS PASSENGERS— AWFUL SCENE— JOURNEY IN CHARS-A-BANC— 
 
 REACH BRIEG — ASCENT OF THE SIMPLON — THE ROAD THE 
 
 GLACIERS — THE GALLERIES — VISIT TO THE HOSPICE — DREARY 
 PROSPECT— GRANDEUR OP THE MOUNTAINS— SARDINIAN FRON- 
 TIER—VIEW FROM THE HEIGHTS ABOVE DOMO d'oSSOLA— THE 
 L.VGO MAGGIORE— LOVELY SCENERY — THE BREEZES OF ITALY 
 — ARONA — SESTO CALENDE — AN AUSTRIAN CUSTOM-HOUSE 
 EXAMINATION — ARRIVAL AT MILAN. 
 
 The advent of the month of ]\ray lias for many 
 ages been celebrated by the nations with feasting 
 and song. The Romans then at the command of 
 the Sibylline oracle invoked divine protection to 
 the blossom, and wherever their cohorts advanced 
 they spared no pains to render the great days of 
 the Floralia a season of games and gladness. A 
 like custom prevailed in Northern Europe from 
 
 THE MONTH OF MAY. 
 
 279 
 
 the remotest times, and although now we may see 
 neither processions nor festivals, we hail the May- 
 pole as an antepast of summer, the rosebud which 
 will shortly blossom and fill the air with fragrance. 
 Then the days are long and lengthening, fleecy 
 clouds shelter the verdure and gentle showers fall 
 during darkness to refresh and beautify the face of 
 nature. Any one fond of travelling will at that 
 time experience the " thirst to be away," to pass as 
 many as possible of those precious hours in com- 
 muning with the w^orks of God displayed in river, 
 mountain, plain, and sea. The spring of 1851 
 had not far advanced when I thought of Italy, 
 and felt 
 
 (( 
 
 A yearning for its sunny sky." 
 
 In these days of rapid locomotion, a visit to any 
 part of Europe can easily be accomplished, and in 
 less than a week after lea\4ng London, having 
 travelled by Belgium, the Rhine and Berne, I 
 found myself once more enjoying that charming 
 prospect w^hich enchants the stranger from the 
 terrace of the public promenade at Lausanne. 
 
 * Waiis' Melanie. 
 
280 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Beneath me lay vineyards eniLosomed in eliest- 
 nut, walnut, and elm-trees, and extending as far 
 as Oucliy, the little port where the steamers call 
 for passengers on their way to and from Yilleneuve ; 
 beyond, the calm blue lake of Geneva reposed as 
 tranquilly as a sleeping child, its mirror-like waters 
 reflecting here and there the latine sails which 
 fishermen had in vain hoisted to catch a passing 
 breeze, and the dark mountains of Savoy towards 
 whose summits the mists of the morning were 
 slowly rising. Sometimes the vapours revealed 
 majestic precipices of rock; at others, wooded 
 slopes enlivened by a few scattered villages. 
 
 On my right the Juras and hills above the 
 Rhone were distinctly visible, with the fertile 
 fields of the Canton de Yaud in the foreground ; 
 while on my left rose the mighty peaks which 
 impend over Vevay and Chillon, and all of which 
 seem to do obeisance to the Dent de Midi, whose 
 eternal snows guard the entrance to the Vallais. 
 It was one of those glorious views which cannot 
 well be described so as to convey a just idea to the 
 mind of a Briton who has not journeyed abroad, 
 for much as I admire the mountain and lake 
 
 CANTON DE VAUD. 
 
 281 
 
 scenery in our own island, it cannot be named in 
 the same breath with that among the Alps, and on 
 the shores of those blue waters which reflect the 
 " Palaces of Xature." 
 
 Standing on the balcony of the Hotel Gibbon, 
 the classic spot where the great historian finished 
 his " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and 
 contemplating the clifl's and glaciers, the blooming 
 fields and sparkling sea before him, one feels the 
 grandeur of creation, and sympathises with the 
 sentiment of that writer, when speaking of the 
 magnificence of St. Sophia he exclaims, " Yet 
 how dull is the artifice, how insignificant is the 
 labour, if it be compared with the formation of 
 the vilest insect that crawls upon the face of the 
 temple."* 
 
 Our destination being Milan, we engaged the 
 cabriolet of the light diligence which crosses the 
 Simplon. No one who has travelled through the 
 Canton de Yaud can forget the beautifully kept 
 vineyards which overhang the lake between Yevay 
 and Lausanne, or the industrious peasantry, who 
 
 • Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. v 
 p. 90. 
 
1 
 
 282 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 PRIESTCRAFT IN THE VALLAIS. 
 
 283 
 
 have converted that rocky soil into a garden of 
 delights. Sometimes the road passes between care- 
 fully built walls, the abode of myriads of lizards, 
 over which peep the tendrils of the vine, or the 
 waving tops of maize ; at others it commands a 
 view of the blue waters and tlie fishermen partak- 
 ing, in their picturesque boats, of a frugal mid-day 
 meal. 
 
 At the charming towm of Yevay we were joined 
 by a party of Brunswickers, on their way to the 
 Lago Maggiorc. Enjoying the ever varying pro- 
 spects of the Savoy hills, and the fragrance of 
 fruit blossom and new mown hay, we drove along 
 the margin of the lake, past scenes amidst which 
 I had spent a week or two seven years before. 
 The churchyard of Montreux, the " Pension '* at 
 Veytaux, the castle of Chillon, the wooded banks 
 and tumbling brooks — all were unchanged, for no 
 manufactories or railroads disturb those quiet 
 spots which Byron and Rousseau have combined 
 to celebrate. 
 
 Leaving the vineyards of de Vaud, we reached 
 the low marshy land formed by the alluvial de- 
 posits of tlie Rhone, and entered the Roman 
 
 Catholic canton of the Vallais, where the effects of 
 priestly influence appear in the inferior agriculture, 
 the wretched houses, and the general aspect of 
 discomfort, which contrast so unfavourably with 
 the state of things in the Protestant districts 
 adjoining. From no quarter have the federal go- 
 vernment met with gi'cater opposition to their 
 educational and other liberal measures than from 
 the ecclesiastics who sit in conclave in Sion to 
 oppose the civil and religious advancement of the 
 people. Already these abettors of ignorance have 
 involved the province in civil war; and when 
 I formerly resided on the shores of Lake Leman, 
 it was raging in the valley of the Rhone. 
 
 Passing through a forest of walnut-trees, in full 
 view of the snows of the Little St. Bernard, we 
 crossed the river at the deep gorge, where under 
 lofty rocks stands the village of St. Maurice. The 
 conducteur, who had hitherto occupied the seat 
 beside us in the cabriolet, here gave his place to 
 one of the gentlemen from Brunswick, who, in bad 
 French, asked me if I w^ere an Englishman. I re- 
 plied, ** Non, Monsieur, je suis Ecossais.^' This 
 answer completely puzzled him, as I have seen it 
 
284 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 do many more besides, for Scotland seems a " terra 
 incognita " abroad. 
 
 After a pause, he rejoined, " Mais voiis parlez 
 Anglais un peu ? " On my assenting, lie joyfully 
 remarked that as we both knew '' Ainglish a 
 leetle," we might now and then converse. At 
 Martigny, where the footpaths over the Tete Noire 
 and Col de Balme to Chamouni join the Simplon 
 road, we began to traverse a poor, badly tilled 
 district where miserable houses and more miserable 
 looking people attest the general poverty. Sion, 
 the capital of the canton, occupies one of the most 
 picturesque situations in Switzerland ; three castles 
 on the tops of as many hills, and several large 
 churches, having a very imposing appearance. 
 Here we rested for supper, and it was half-past 
 ten o'clock before we again started. I soon fell 
 asleep, little imagining the scene which we were 
 about to witness, or the extremity of the danger to 
 which we were so soon to be exposed. 
 
 At one o'clock in the morning, I was awakened 
 by a crash and a tremulous motion. Thinking 
 that we had run against a wagon, I kept my seat, 
 but in a minute or two the driver turned towards 
 
 MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. 
 
 285 
 
 the lamp a countenance on which ten-or was so 
 legibly written, that T instantly opened the door 
 and sprung out. '' For God's sake. Sir, take care," 
 shouted the conductor, who, seated on the box 
 beside the coachman, with one hand held the 
 wheel-horses on their haunches, while with the 
 other lie finnly pressed the handle of the drag. 
 It was a pitchy dark night, the sides of the road 
 being invisible excepting Avhere the lamps shone. 
 Beside me the driver, his teeth chattering with 
 fright, could say nothing but '' Oh, mon Dieu." 
 I heard somewhere or other the roaring of a ton-ent, 
 and on a tree near me a screech-owl added its 
 shrill cry to the voices of the night. Several 
 minutes elapsed before I could realize the awful 
 nature of the peril which, thanks to the extraor- 
 dinary presence of mind displayed by the con- 
 ductor, we had almost miraculously escaped. Had 
 he not left his usual place to sit on the box, 
 liumanly speaking, not one would have survived 
 the hour to narrate the terrible catastrophe. 
 
 A wooden suspension-bridge seventy feet iii 
 height, and spanning a rapid river, had been swept 
 away by a rise of waters, consequent on a thunder- 
 
286 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 storm in the mountains. On the brink of the 
 precipice thus caused we stood, our leading horse 
 having fallen over it and been instantaneously 
 killed. Had his harness been of stout leather, no 
 mortal power could have saved us ; but providen- 
 tially he had been attached to the vehicle only by 
 two rope traces and a slight back strap. The 
 tremulous motion I had felt was the struggle 
 between the wheel-horses pulled back by the 
 heroic conductor, (for the driver was powerless 
 from terror,) and this unfortunate animal, as it 
 hung suspended in middle air over the roaring 
 torrent. The crash was the recoil of the vehicle, 
 when the traces broke and the victim fell headlong 
 into the abyss below. 
 
 Cautiously approaching the brink of the chasm 
 we found the remains of the harness, and discovered 
 the exact nature of our situation. I have travelled 
 not a little both by land and sea, in all manner 
 of conveyances, and on every kind of road, but 
 such a scene as that I never expect to witness 
 again, though I should spend the remainder of my 
 years in wandering to and fro over the earth. 
 The dread hour of midnight, the solitude of the 
 
 AWFUL SCENE. 
 
 287 
 
 Alps, the rushing of the river, the cries of the 
 screech-owl, the chattering teeth of the poor 
 driver, the sighing of the wind, the cold air from 
 the glaciers, the terrible nature of the danger, the 
 miraculous manner of escape, combined to fill my 
 mind with an awe, which returns to produce a 
 tremour even while I write. It was one of those 
 awful scenes which solemnize the feelings of the 
 most callous, and remain engraven on the memory 
 while life itself endures. Unenviable, indeed, must 
 be the principles of him, who, after recovering from 
 the stunning effects of a deliverance so wonderful, 
 can forget to offer up his most hearty thanks to 
 that Great Being, to whom belongeth the issues 
 from death, and whose are all our ways. Had 
 the conductor been inside, had the harness been 
 of leather, had we attempted to cross when the 
 bridge was sinking instead of after it had sunk, 
 had the horses been at a gallop, our bodies might 
 even now have been buried in some of those 
 rocky caldrons from which the Ehone struggles to 
 get free. 
 
 None of these most likely contingencies hap- 
 pened ; to whom shall we ascribe the praise ? To 
 
288 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 wliom but to Him who '' sitteth on the circle 
 of the earth and weigheth the hilk in a balance?" 
 And yet, will it be believed, two Sardinians, who 
 had slept for a quarter of an hour after the 
 accident, when they discovered our situation, 
 began to curse and swear in a manner to which 
 it was awful to listen. Not till the other passen- 
 gers remonstrated with them for such daring 
 impiety did they cease their horrible imprecations. 
 On what ungrateful beings does God bestow his 
 preserving mercies ! 
 
 And now what was to be done ? The supports 
 of the bridge were still standing, but the roadway 
 had fallen in; so cross the vehicle could not. 
 The stream was not only deep, but wide and rapid, 
 besides having precipitous banks ; so fording was 
 out of the question. But fortunately for us, the 
 conductor had p oved himself a man equal to an 
 emergency. As soon as we had recovered from 
 the shock, the driver was sent with a lamp to 
 scramble along the side rails of the ruined bridge 
 and alarm a village about half a mile beyond. 
 Wearily did the minutes pass away before, amid 
 the darkness, we heard the cheering cry from the 
 
 JOURNEY IN CHARS-A-BANC. 
 
 289 
 
 opposite bank, '^ Au secours, au secours." In a 
 very short time the active peasants had laid planks 
 along the ruins, on which, one by one, led by our 
 intrepid conductor, we crossed the stream. Our 
 trunks and bags succeeded, while the horses 
 dragged back the diligence to the place from which 
 they had started. Three hours of darkness we 
 spent in an empty room of the village tavern, until 
 two chars-k-banc arrived from the nearest post 
 station of Tourtemagne, whither wx proceeded. 
 
 Similar vehicles conveyed us to Yierge, our 
 baggage meanwhile following in a cart ; where 
 again we changed carriages, before traversing 
 a desolate tract covered with stones, and the debris 
 of mountain torrents, which in some places had 
 obliterated all trace of the road. Beyond it, at 
 the foot of those tremendous zigzags, by means 
 of which Napoleon carried a path passable for 
 cannon over the snowy Simplon, stands the village 
 of Brieg, the inhabitants of which had guessed the 
 cause of our delay, for it was well known in the 
 Vallais that the bridge in question had been for 
 some time insecure. Such shameful neglect should 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
290 
 
 THE TAUUb AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ROAD OVER THE SIMPLON. 
 
 291 
 
 be punished with unsparing severity. Whether 
 owing to the carelessness of the surveyor, or the 
 stinginess of the cantonal government, it is a 
 disgrace to the country to expose travellers to such 
 unnecessary danger. 
 
 After a bad breakfast in a worse inn, we began 
 slowly to ascend the sweeps by which the great 
 Italian road is conducted to the summit of the 
 Simplon. Six horses had been yoked to the spare 
 diligence, kept at Brieg in case of accidents, but 
 they progressed at a creeping pace, for the sun had 
 become very powerful. Passing first between 
 green fields of grass and com, we soon entered a 
 vast forest of pines, occupying the apparently per- 
 pendiciUar side of the mountain. Looking upwards, 
 you see no possible means of overcoming the diffi- 
 culties which present themselves to the engineer ; 
 nevertheless, every turn reveals a new zigzag, more 
 skilfully executed than the preceding, till at length, 
 after six hours' exertion, you reach the snowy 
 summit. The vastness of this undertaking was 
 worthy of Napoleon's genius, and for it Europe 
 will thank him when Marengo and Austerlitz will 
 
 be regarded as the bloody exploits of a barbarian 
 age.* 
 
 Three thousand labourers were employed four 
 years in making this road, and so well did the 
 scientific men perform their task, that a light 
 carriage scarcely ever requires a drag when 
 descending. The way is twenty-five feet broad, 
 and crosses fifty bridges. As we rose higher 
 among tlie pines, we saw Brieg and the village 
 of Naters on the other side of the Rhone far below 
 us. Beyond the valley were the Spitzhorn and 
 the other peaks, which surround the passes of 
 Furca and Grimsel, summits familiar to me fi'om 
 other points of view, while above them, in all their 
 snowy majesty, towered the giant mountains of 
 the Bernese Oberland. Sweeping round the 
 shoulder of the hill, we drove on more level ground 
 up a wild defile, looking down on terrible precipices, 
 and up towards crags no less terrible, which 
 
 • " The victories of Buonaparte have been without resultg ; 
 but his road over the Simplon will long be the communiciition 
 betwixt peaceful countries, who will apply to the ends of com- 
 merce and friendly intercourse that gigantic work which was 
 formed for the ambitious purpose of warlike invasion."— Sir "W. 
 Scott's "Highland Widow." 
 
 o 2 
 
292 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 seemed about to topple over and crush us, a snowy 
 mountain, with glaciers on its sides, bounding the 
 prospect towards the head waters of the torrent, 
 the local representative of what Coleridge calls 
 Mont Blanc : 
 
 " A kingly spirit throned among the hills." 
 
 Crossing the ravine by a lofty bridge, we as- 
 cended to the post-station of Berisaal, where the 
 diligence changes horses. Here we got out of the 
 vehicle, and walked for three hours to the hospice 
 on the summit. For the first hour-and-half our 
 way led still through pine-forests, and the weather 
 continued warm; but gradually the air became 
 colder, till, passing through a short tunnel, we 
 entered a cheerless waste destitute of vegetation, 
 overhung by the Kaltwasser glacier, and covered 
 with deep snow. Three long galleries hewn out 
 of the rock, with sloping roofs, and openings to 
 admit the light, protect this part of the road. 
 Although very wet, and bitterly cold, we scrambled 
 through them, admiring the beautiful stalactites 
 and waterfalls which they display. Emerging 
 from the third and dreariest of all, we reached the 
 
 DREARY PROSPECT. 
 
 293 
 
 last of the refuge-houses built at intervals along 
 the route. A wooden cross only a short distance 
 beyond this marks the summit of the Simplon 
 Pass, 6,580 feet above the sea. 
 
 For several miles, when we crossed, although in 
 June, the road passed between walls of snow 
 varying from ten to twenty feet high. Even whilst 
 walking quickly we felt the air very chill, as well 
 as rarefied. The diligence overtook us at the 
 hospice, a large white building, with numerous 
 small windows and green blinds, built in a sheltered 
 hollow near the top. A portly friar, of the St. 
 Augustine order, of whom three occupy this abode, 
 showed us the chapel, refectory, and sleeping- 
 rooms, as well as the noble dogs. Nothing could 
 be more dreary than the scene on the summit of 
 this pass. Around are fields of snow; above 
 you see clouds play among gloomy peaks and 
 glaciers; the eye finds no cheerful thing on 
 which to rest— all is desolation, and no sound 
 breaks the silence but the occasional cracking 
 of the icy seas. There Nature is on a gigantic 
 scale; each cliff seems more majestic than its 
 
294 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 fellow ; surveying them the traveller asks with 
 Southey — 
 
 " What walls, or towere, 
 Or battlements, are like these fastnesses, 
 These rocks, and glens, and everlasting hills ? " * 
 
 A few miles below the hospice, on the Italian 
 
 side, is the poor village of 8imj)lon, where om- 
 
 company, appetizecl by the keen air, did remarkable 
 
 justice to the good things and bad things of my 
 
 landlord. A fine sweep of the road carries you 
 
 down from this elevated hamlet to the first gallery 
 
 on the southern slope, beside which tlie Doveria 
 
 toiTcnt thunders along ; then you pass through tlie 
 
 longest gallery of all— that of Gonda, measuring 
 
 six hundred feet, emerging from which you are 
 
 stunned by a cascade, which seems to fall over the 
 
 road into the abyss below. 
 
 Driving down a narrow defile, between stupen- 
 dous crags, we soon reached the picturescpie 
 Sardinian custom-houses at Isella, where the pas- 
 sengers, at the request of the authorities, signed 
 a strong declaration, setting forth the imminent 
 
 * " Roderick, the Last of the Gk)th8." 
 
 VIEW FROM THE HEIGHTS. 
 
 295 
 
 danger to which we had been exposed by the 
 carelessness of the surveyors in the Swiss canton 
 of the Vallais. With this document, an officer 
 immediately set out to head-quarters. Scenery of 
 the most romantic character interests the traveller 
 in this vicinity ; in many places the torrents had 
 carried away tlie road, and workmen were busy 
 repairing the damage done by the melting of the 
 snows. 
 
 Crossing the lofty bridge of Crevola, we sud- 
 denly came in sight of that view, certainly beau- 
 tiful, but far too much lauded by tourists, of the 
 valley in which stands Domo d'Ossola. Nothing 
 is more common than to hear people talking of the 
 prospect, from the hills above that town, of the 
 Italian plain.* Such a phrase must be objected to : 
 for it is not the plain of Italy which you see, but 
 an Alpine valley, — wider, no doubt, than that which 
 you have left, but still completely Swiss in appear- 
 ance. The scene has quite sufficient real beauties 
 
 • " Italiam ! Italiam I primus conclamat Achates ; 
 Italiam ! lieto socii clamore salutant." 
 
 Virg. ^Eneid. book iii. 
 
296 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LAGO MAGGIORE. 
 
 297 
 
 ^ll 
 
 without ascribing to it points of interest to which 
 it can lay no claim. 
 
 At this stopping-place we had a few hours' sleep 
 before the corresponding diligence set out; but 
 Hoon after two o'clock in the morning we again 
 took our seats, and descending the valley of the 
 Tosa, we twice crossed that stream in a boat im- 
 pelled by a rope fastened on each shore, the bridges 
 having been can-ied away by inundations ; then 
 traversing a beautiful plain covered with chestnut 
 and mulberry-trees, at a sudden turn of the road 
 beheld the lovely Lago Maggiore sparkling in the 
 sunbeams. 
 
 At Baveno, a village on its shores, our German 
 fellow-travellers left us. It would be vain in me 
 to attempt u description of the scenery between 
 this place and Arona, where the lake forms a bay. 
 and laves the banks of four islands celebrated in 
 narrative and song — the Isola Madre, covered with 
 wood — the Isola dei Pescatori, on which stands a 
 picturesque fishing- village — the Isola St. Giovanni 
 — and finally the charming artificial Isola Bella, 
 built upon terraces, and ornamented with every 
 
 species of plant and flower. In 1671 this lovely 
 spot was a barren rock, but about that date Count 
 BoiTomeo took it into his head to beautify it, and 
 now a palace and gardens, with luxuriant vegeta- 
 tion, and trees of various climates, render it one of 
 the pleasantest retreats in Italy. 
 
 If the Lakes of Lucerne and Como indisputably 
 excel all others in point of grandeur, Maggiore 
 must be admitted to bear away the prize for 
 beauty. Its broad expanse of calm waters reflects 
 " that sky so darkly and intensely blue, never seen 
 but over landscapes that a Claude or a Rosa loved 
 toj^aint;"* on its surface picturesque boats may 
 be always descried, carrying peasants between the 
 villages, parties on trips of pleasure, and fishermen 
 from the Isola dei Pescatori ; at the foot of the 
 wooded hills which extend nearly round it, are 
 smiling fields of maize and rye, with little towns oc- 
 cupying romantic promontories ; Avhile, beyond the 
 minor elevations towards the north, rise the snowy 
 summits of the Alps. I never enjoyed a prospect 
 more than that from the top of the diligence as we 
 
 • Bulwer's " Rienzi ; Last of the Tribunes." 
 
 -* ^ - -^ - 
 
298 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 crept slowly along the margin of this azure 8ea. 
 The day was oppressively warm ; not a cloud 
 obscured the rays of that southern sun, which 
 shone on the mulberry-trees and vineyards, the 
 groves of walnuts, and meadows of sweet-smelling 
 hay, on each side of our path. The gardens with 
 outspreading fig-trees, the patches of wheat and 
 green cari^et-like hemp, the villas and villages, and 
 the lovely colour of the waters, strongly reminded 
 me of Naples, the " bright city of the waves." 
 
 As the " first warm breezes of Italy swept by," 
 it seemed, in the beautiful words of Willis, to 
 " melt the chilling mist on my lip and cheek, and 
 kiss away the frozen rime from my breath," 
 calling upon me to invoke " God's blessing on the 
 radiant climate;^ the very air of which has always 
 filled me with joy. How beautiful the vines 
 trained from tree to tree at the margin of the 
 grain-fields; they look like festoons on the tri- 
 umphal arch of the conqueror ! Many peasants 
 were busily engaged when we passed in stripping 
 the leaves from the mulbeny-trees to feed the 
 silkworms. 
 
 AUSTRIAN CUSTOM-HOUSE. 
 
 299 
 
 I tried to get the conductor to converse about 
 the state of Italy, and the feelings with which 
 his Sardinian countrymen regarded Austria ; but 
 although I encouraged him by disparaging "i 
 Tedeschi,"he maintained an obstinate reserve, being 
 the only Italian I met who did not express his 
 detestation of that unnatural government, which 
 Russian policy alone has enabled to keep its footing 
 beyond the Alps. Had Paskewitch not crossed the 
 Car})athians during the civil war in Hungary, 
 not a German soldier would now have been visible 
 in Venetian Lombardy. 
 
 On the top of a hill, overlooking the lake near 
 Arona, stands a gigantic bronze statue, one hun- 
 dred and eight feet in height, erected to commemo- 
 rate the virtues of St. Carlo Borromeo. At this 
 town we exchanged our Sardinian for an Austrian 
 diligence, and tAvo hours afterwards crossed the 
 Ticino at Sesto Calende, where it issues from 
 Maggiore. There were no other passengers ; our 
 baggage consisted of a very small portmanteau and 
 bag, yet we suffered here a detention of an hour 
 and a half, until the rascally German douaniers 
 
I 
 
 300 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ARRIVAL AT MILAN. 
 
 301 
 
 ransacked our things in a manner disgraceful to a 
 civilized country. I have seen severe custom- 
 house examinations, but never such an exhibition 
 of low curiosity and vulgar insolence as I wit- 
 nessed at this frontier. Every article of dress was 
 turned out and spread on the table ; my hotel bills, 
 and note books, inspected with scrupulous care ; 
 and an attempt made to read my letters on the 
 part of ignorant clowns, who, so far from under- 
 standing English, could not speak the language of 
 that beautiful country which suffers so much from 
 their rule of terror. A tattered sheet of the lUus- 
 ti-ated London News, which served to cover a map, 
 filled their minds with suspicion, and the chief 
 douanier himself had to be sent for to his dwelling- 
 house, to decide whether or not half a supplement 
 of the "Times" could be admitted into the do- 
 minions of Hapsburg. Surely the camarilla at 
 Vienna might be more lenient towards a journal 
 which has proved itself so unscrupulous an advocate 
 of their military tyranny. 
 
 And why were we exposed to these annoyances ? 
 Simply because we were English and had come from 
 
 Sardinia. The ill-bred officials of Austria, feeling 
 the sorry figure which they cut before the Czar 
 delivered them from the patriots of Hungary and 
 Lombardy, revenge themselves for the contemp- 
 tuous expression of public feeling towards them in 
 Western Europe, by subjecting travellers to petty 
 hardships, which a judiciously applied bribe may, 
 however, generally alleviate. 
 
 After the portmanteau had been examined, my 
 passport had to be vt'seed, a matter of some diffi- 
 culty, for the blockhead in charge of the bureau 
 could neither read the printing, nor the signature. 
 Before starting, the douaniers ordered the porter 
 to ask payment from me for removing and re- 
 placing the luggage. This was too much for my 
 equanimity; I had submitted to insolence, but 
 told the man to get his wages from his German 
 masters, for I had no inclination to be robbed as 
 well as insulted by the miserable official tyrants, 
 whose object in spending a few years in Lombardy 
 is plunder. 
 
 After a tedious drive along a dusty road, unen- 
 livened by the least diversity in scenery, we saw 
 
 I 
 
302 
 
 THE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the white tower of Milan's magnificent Duomo 
 rising majestically above the green trees, and soon 
 entered that handsome city by tlie famous trium- 
 phal arch built by Nai>oleon, and ornamented by 
 a bronze gi'oup, cast from the cannon taken at 
 Marengo. The '• Arco della Pace'' has always 
 appeared to me the very perfection of architectural 
 elegance. 
 
 END UF VOL. 1. 
 
 B. CLAY, TRIBTIR, BBBAD STREET HllL. 
 
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 1 
 

 THE TAGUS 
 
 AND THE T I P> E E, 
 
 VOL. II, 
 
THE TAGUS 
 
 AND THE TIBER; 
 
 OB, 
 
 NOTES OF TRAVEL IN PORTUGAL, 
 SPAIN, AND ITALY, 
 
 IN 1850-1. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM EDWARD BAXTER. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. IL 
 
 LONDON • 
 R. CLAY, P&INIER, BREAD STRKKT HILL. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 IJubhofirr in ©rliinart) to Jijrr iHatwty. 
 
 1852. 
 
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Duomo of J^Iilan— St. Ambrose— The Corso in 1844 and in 
 1851— Hatred of the People to the Austrians — Treatment of 
 the Soldiers by the Civilians — Politeness of the Italians- 
 Leave for Bologna— The Lombards— Excessive Heat — Lodi — 
 Parmesan Cheese — Passports — Cross the Po — Piacenza — Fron- 
 tier of Modena— Reggio — Capital of the Duchy— Escort <.f 
 Dragoons— The Legations — Insecurity of Travelling— The 
 Quarterly Review— Bolognar— Its Streets and Leaning Tower 
 —Ascent of the Apennines— Beggars— Scenery on the Summit 
 —Tuscan Custom-house- View of Florence— German Military 
 Government— Appearance, Buildings, and Historical Recol- 
 lections of the Etrurian Athens 1 1 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 The English in Florence— The Pitti Palace— Its Gallery of 
 Paintings— Guido's " Cleopatra "—Raffaelle's "Leo the Tenth" 
 and "Madonna della Segiola " — Canova'a "Venus" — The 
 
 1 
 
 
VI 
 
 CONTEJ^TS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 Boboli Gardens — Gkilileo's Chamber — The Church of Santa 
 Croce — The Casine — Austrian Horsemanship — Campanile of 
 Santa Maria del Flore — The Oonfaloniere of Florence — The 
 Laurentian Library — ^The Loggia — Tower of the Ducal Palace 
 — The Gallery — The Venus de Medici — Americans at the 
 Table d'Hote — Manners of our Transatlantic Brethren . 34 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 Feadt of St. Ranieri at Piaa — Crowd on the Railway — Agriculture 
 of Tuscany — Sienna — Our Fellow-traveller — The Despotisms 
 of Europe weakening Roman Catholicism — Pasfl of Radicofaui 
 — Volsinium — Montefiascone — Viterbo — Lake of Vice — So- 
 lemn Feelings on approaching Rome — Dreariness of the 
 Vicinity — First View of the Eternal City — Different Points 
 from which to enjoy the Prospect of Rome — Bustling Streets — 
 English Handbills— Porta del Popolo— The Pincian Hill— The 
 Janiculum — Foimtains — Summit of St. Peter's — Back Streets 
 of the modem Town — Drainage — Fort St. Angel o — Temple of 
 Vesta — Ruins and Gardens on the Aventine — Palatine and 
 Coelian Hills — Belt of Pleasure Grounds round the City — The 
 Campagna — Its utter Desolation 56 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NOTES ON THE RUINS OF ROME. 
 
 Inundations of the Tiber — Who destroyed the Monuments of 
 ancient Rome ? — Rienzi, last of the Tribunes — The City in the 
 Fifteenth Century — Climate of Central Italy — The Pantheon 
 — Columns of Marcus Aurelius and Trajan — Baths of Titus, 
 of Diocletian, and of Caracalla — The Appian Way — Valley of 
 Egeria — Tomb of Cecilia Metella — The Catacombs — Road to 
 Tivoli — Mons Sacer — The Capitol and Tarpeian Rock — The 
 Fonim Romauum — Temple of Jupiter Tonans — Arch of Sep- 
 
 fX)NTENTS 'OF THE SECOND VOLlTMlv, 
 
 vn 
 
 timius Severus — The Mamertine Prison — The Coliseum — 
 Arches of Constantine and Titus — The Palatine Mount — Its 
 Ruins and Gardens ....... S2 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Churches of Rome — Basilics of St. Paul, Santa Croce, and Sivnta 
 Maria Maggiore — Piazza St. Pietro — First Impresi*ions of St. 
 Peter's — Its colossal Dome — Statuary in the Interior — Ca- 
 nova's Monument to Clement XIII. — Feast of Corpus Domini 
 — Procession of Ecclesiastics — The Monks, Prelates, and Car- 
 dinals — Pio Nono — General Gemeau — The Pope's Beneilictiou 
 from the High Altar of St. Peter's '— English Spectators — 
 Feelings produced by the Ceremony — Procession of the Holy 
 Sacrament in the Square of the Lateran — The Scala Santa — 
 Festival of St. John the Baptist in the Lateran Church — 
 Arrival of the Pope — The Swiss Guards — Pio Nono on his 
 Pontifical Throne — Homage of the Cardinals —The Cistine 
 Chapel — Michael Angelo's "Last Judgment" — The Vatican 
 Palace — Raffaelle's " Loggie" — Genius of that Painter — Pom- 
 pey's Statue in the Spada Palace — St. Pietro in Vincoli — 
 Michael Angelo's " Moses"— Gallery on the Capitol— Domeni- 
 chino's " Cumsean Sybil"— "The Bronze Wolf"—" The Dying 
 Gladiator" — Statuary in the Vatican— The " Laocoon " and 
 ^'Apollo Belvidere" — Guercino's Pictures — The Three " Ecce 
 Homos " in the Corsini Palace—" The Martyrdom of St. Sebas- 
 tian"— Guido's ■** Beatrice Cenci"— His Fresco of " Aurora" in 
 the Pavilion of the Rosprgliosi Palace — Paintings in the Va- 
 tican— Domenic)iino's "St. Jerome" — Raffaelle's " Coronation 
 of the Virgin," and " Madonna de Foligno"— " The Transfigu- 
 ration"— Notes on Raffaelle's Pictures— Feelings on leaving 
 Rome 103 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Observations on the Papal Territories — Miserable State of the 
 Country— Its probable Fate— Two Theories on this Subject— 
 
Vlll CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 Civita Vecchia — Travellers and their Couriers — Arrival at 
 Leghorn — Procession of the Holy Sacrament — Railroad to Pisa 
 and Lucca — An American Locomotive — The Sardinian Malle- 
 poste — Picturesque Situation of Massa — The Marble Quarries 
 at Carrara — Excellence of the Agriculture, and Garden-like 
 Appearance of the Province — Gulf of Spezzia —Industry of 
 the People — Arrival at Genoa — Beautiful Scenery on the Coast 
 — Savona — St. Remo — Terrible Precipices — Grandeiu* of the 
 Cliffs above Monaca — View of Nice — Marseilles — Pleasures of 
 Travelling in Southern Europe 135 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 NOTES ON THE POUTICAL CONDITION OF ITALY. 
 
 Effects of Climate — The National Character — Influence of 
 Despotism an,d of the Fine Arts — Pictures and Civilization — 
 The Austrian Government — Its Finances and Soldiery —Ob- 
 servations on the Present State of Lombardy, Venice, Tuscany, 
 the Papal Territory, and Naples — Mr. Gladstone's Pamphlet — 
 The Last of the Bourbons — Piedmont and Sardinia — Prophecy 
 of Sir Ekiward Bulwer Lytton — Prosperity of that Kingdom — 
 The Hopes of Italy centred in Turin — Political Opinions of 
 the Italians — Their Choice between Military Tyranny and 
 Republicanism — Instability of the Governments now in 
 Existence — Feelings of the People towards the King of Naples 
 — Spread of Disaffection to the Papacy — Prospects of Pro- 
 testantism ......... 15d 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NOTES ON THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM. 
 
 The Latitudinarian Party in England — Their Alliance with the 
 L^ltramontane Roman Catholics — Difference between the 
 Agents of the Papacy in Britain and those on the Continent — 
 
 : 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 IX 
 
 Aggressions of the Pope in the Sixteenth Century — Effects of 
 the Catholic Emancipation Act — Prophetic Words of Sir 
 Robert Peel — Examination of the Question regarding the 
 Right of the Roman Pontiff to appoint Bishops to control the 
 Affairs of National Churches, and to exercise Temporal Autho- 
 rity — Real Object of those represented by Cardinal Wiseman 
 — Influence of Popery on Morals and Learning , . 194 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NOTES ON THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, 
 
 continued. 
 
 Professed Liberality of Papal Agents — Bearings of their Leading 
 Doctrines on Civil Society — The Crusades — Asceticism — 
 Mariolatry — Pilgrimages — Pretended Miracles — Observations 
 on the History and Influence of Auricular Confession — Some 
 Effects produced by the Celibacy of the Clergy — Monasteries 
 and Convents in England — "Persecution a necessary Ele- 
 ment of the Romish Church Theory " — The Inquisition — The 
 Conflicts in France — The Huguonots — Closing Remarks , 220 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 NOTES ON THE LAND QUESTION AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
 
 Importance of this Subject — English Agriculture — Leases — 
 Appearance of Holland — Scotch Farming — The Peasant Pro- 
 perties in France, Flanders, Switzerland, and Tuscany — 
 Observations on the Cultivation of the Soil in Normandy, the 
 Canton of Berne, and the Valley of the Loire — Comfortable 
 Aspect of the Landholders in the Lowland parts of Switzer- 
 land — Sismondi's Opinion — Agricultural Improvements 
 amongst the Mountains — Remarks on the Fields of Styria, 
 Carinthia, the Tyrol, and Piedmont — Colleges Abroad for the 
 Education of Farmers — Conservative Influence of Peasant 
 
 A3 
 
CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME, 
 
 Properties — The Freehold Land Societies — Tendency of the 
 English Feudal Laws to prevent the Natural Division of the 
 Soil — DUad vantages of Small Estates — Indebtedness of these 
 Properties in France and Canada — They prevent the free 
 Interchange of Industry, increase the number of Idlers in 
 large Towns, and afford no Reserve against an Evil Day — 
 Dangers threatening Britain 248 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 NOTES ON THE EDUCATION OP THE PEOPLE AT HOME AND 
 
 ABROAD. 
 
 Ignorance yet prevalent in England — The Common Schools in 
 the United States of America — Statistics of Educational Insti- 
 tutions in Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Denmark, Holland, 
 and France — Mr. Joseph Kay's Work on this subject — The 
 Evils of Centralization — Functionaries in Germany — Mr. 
 Laing's Testimony — Observations on Mr. Kay's Praise of the 
 Landwehr System and of the Amusements popular on the 
 Continent — Effects of the National Instruction in Baden — 
 Objections to the Plan of Education adopted abroad — The 
 Scholars taught rather to be good Subjects than useful Men — 
 Mr. Kay's peculiar Sentiments regarding Religious Training — 
 The Fr^res Chretiens — The Common Schools of Austria — 
 Opinion of Mr. Paget — Unsuitableness of the German System 
 of Instruction to the Circumstances of England 27C 
 
 
 THE TAGUS 
 
 AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE DUOMO OF MILAN — ST. AMBROSE — THE CORSO IN 1844 AND 
 IN 1851 — HATRED OF THE PEOPLE TO THE AT7STRLANS TREAT- 
 MENT OF THE SOLDIERS BY THE CIVILIANS — POLITENESS OF THE 
 ITALIANS — LEAVE FOR BOLOGNA- — THE LOMBARDS — EXCESSIVE 
 
 HEAT — LODI — PARMESAN CHEESE — PASSPORTS CROSS THE PO 
 
 — PIACENZA — FRONTIER OF MODENA — REGGIO CAPITAL OF THE 
 
 DUCHY — BSCORT OF DRAGOONS — THE LEGATIONS — INSECURFTY 
 OF TRAVELLING — THE QUARTERLY REVIEW — BOLOGNA — ITS 
 STREETS AND LEANING TOWER — ASCENT OF THE APENNINES — 
 BEGGARS — SCENERY ON THE SUMMIT — TUSCAN CUSTOM-HOUSE — 
 VIEW OF FLORENCE — GERMAN MILITARY GOVERNMENT — APPEAR- 
 ANCE, BUILDINGS, AND HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS OF THE 
 ETRURIAN ATHENS. 
 
 In a former work I have recorded my impressions 
 of Milan, the scene of the Viscontis' cruelties, 
 the city of Ambrose, the stem disciplinarian of 
 
r 
 
 12 
 
 THE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 MILAN CATHEDRAL. 
 
 13 
 
 kings, and of Angilbertus, who in the ninth 
 century maintained a steady opposition to the 
 corruptions of Kome.* We had stopped on this 
 occasion in our journey towards the south, merely 
 to spend a day or two in admiring that unrivalled 
 cathedral, which Willis, in his Pencillings by the 
 Way, characterises as " too delicate and beautiful 
 for the open air." When we entered the spacious 
 aisles on the morning of the succeeding day, the 
 Archbishop had just concluded the ceremony of bap- 
 tizing three children, the performance of which an- 
 nually some time-sanctioned custom has enjoined. 
 But the roof of the Duomo is the place to enjoy the 
 elaborate carving, the thousand statues, the grace- 
 ful minarets, the light buttresses and massive 
 slabs— all of pure white marble — which render 
 this edifice so deservedly celebrated among the 
 Churches of Europe. To Napoleon we are in- 
 debted for much that now delights the eye ; for 
 although begun in 1386, the building progressed 
 but slowly until he applied to its advancement the 
 resources of his unconquerable will. Even now 
 many spires and statues are wanting to complete 
 
 * See " Milner's Church History," Century IX. chap. iii. 
 
 the original design ; but the edifice does not look 
 unfinished, for each minaret has a figure on its 
 summit, and statues, the work of famous artists, 
 fill the niches in these aerial tow^ers. 
 
 In the centre a lofty pyramid supports a gilt 
 representation of the Virgin, around which cluster 
 pinnacles of exquisite proportions, like a miniature 
 city of spires. None of the great European 
 Churches to my mind at all equal, in point of 
 exterior elegance, the Cathedral of Milan. When 
 the evening sun shines on its fairy-like architecture, 
 it appears like the temple of the Celestial City, 
 fashioned by angelic intelligences ; or, to use the 
 words of Mrs. Hemans, — 
 
 " A mountain of white marble, steep'd 
 In light, like floating gold." 
 
 In clear weather the traveller may enjoy from the 
 top a view of no common splendour, comprising 
 the city, wuth its churches, convents, barracks, 
 arches, and palaces, the rich plain of Lombardy, 
 the Apennines, and every peak of the higher Alps, 
 from the snow-white Orteles in the Tyrol to 
 Mont Blanc, Monta Rosa rising at no great 
 
14 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 FEELINGS TOWARDS AUSTRIA. 
 
 15 
 
 distance from your point of observation— the 
 monarch of the scene. The oftener I returned to 
 gaze on this wonderful creation, the more my mind 
 was filled with admiration, both of its design and 
 of its execution. Elaborate ornament seldom in- 
 deed succeeds in producing an effect so majestic 
 and sublime. Again and again I sauntered round 
 it, and finally went away quite convinced that no 
 such temple has yet been erected for the worship 
 of God. 
 
 The sights of Milan I had seen previously; 
 our only other visit, therefore, was to the old 
 Church of St. Ambrose, said to be the same into 
 which that intrepid man refused to admit the 
 Emperor Theodosius. With all his faults of 
 temper, it has ever appeared to me that Ambrose 
 wavS a great and good man. He lived in an age 
 when religious toleration was unknown, when men 
 oftentimes mistook their own impulses for heavenly 
 light ; but although stem, he was *' in labours 
 abundant;" though superstitious, he fervently 
 sought guidance from on high ; though unmerciful 
 to Arians, he devoted his estate to the poor. 
 While alive he manfully struggled for " the faith 
 
 
 once delivered to the saints," in opposition to the 
 dignities of the empire ; and he died esteemed and 
 regretted by every well-wisher of that Church, 
 which heresy threatened to destroy. 
 
 In the year 1844, the Corso, or Boulevard which 
 surrounds the city of Milan, presented on fine 
 summer evenings an animated spectacle of carriages 
 and equestrians, rich liveries, and gaily-dressed 
 fashionables : it was pleasant then to sit under the 
 elms, and look, on the one hand, towards the 
 Alpine summits tinged by the setting sun ; on the 
 other, at the glittering pageant which these plea- 
 sure-seekers displayed. Now all is changed. On 
 the evening of a festival, I sauntered along this 
 spacious drive, and found it forsaken, desolate, 
 lonely. Here and there a grim Austrian soldier 
 guarded a cannon, or a tradesman and his wife 
 jogged along in a rickety gig; but the nobles, 
 the equipages, the prancing steeds, had all dis- 
 appeared, — gone to Turin, to Paris, to London, — 
 to any place where the hated uniforms of Hapsburg 
 are not seen. Those who remain have sold their 
 studs, appear seldom in public, and, living retired 
 and obscure, wait the good time coming, when 
 
16 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 # 
 
 !:! 
 
 Hungary shall sound the loud tocsin, and Austria, 
 paralysed, behold the political emancipation of 
 Italy. 
 
 I had observed, during my previous visit to 
 Lombardy, the dislike felt by all classes towards 
 their German masters. Xo one even then could 
 spend a few days in Verona, Padua, and especially 
 Venice, without observing it ; but that dislike was 
 love, in comparison with the unconcealed hatred, 
 the ungovernable detestation, expressed in 1851, 
 by man, woman, and child, when sj>eaking of 
 " i Tedeschi." We travelled always in the public 
 conveyances, and conversed with a great many 
 people in every walk of life ; but we only met one 
 man (and he was a Tuscan officer) who did not 
 openly avow himself an advocate of national in- 
 dependence, a sworn enemy of the bayonets of the 
 north. In Bologna, in Florence, in Rome, in 
 Leghorn, in Pisa, but most of all in Milan, did 
 this dislike manifest itself. In none of these cities, 
 nor on any of the roads in the country, did we see 
 a single German officer or soldier speaking to an 
 Italian. The military rulers have been every- 
 where sent to Coventry ; and when new commo- 
 
 FEELINGS TOWARDS AUSTRIA. 
 
 17 
 
 K' 
 
 tions take place across the Alps, they will be sent 
 somewhere else with very little ceremony. 
 
 I looked for any mark of intercourse between 
 the people and the troops in the streets, in the 
 churches, in the carriages, and at the balconies of 
 the capital of Lombardy, but in vain. There are 
 two principal cafes, occupying diffiirent sides of the 
 Piazzo del Duomo. The Cafe Mazza wks always 
 full of Austrian officers, not a single Italian ever 
 entering it; while the Milanese gentlemen and 
 ladies crowded the caf^ opposite ; and if a German 
 dared to intrude there, every citizen instantly rose 
 and departed. Tobacco is, as many know, a 
 Government monopoly. To injure the revenue 
 of their detested rulers, the Lombards have given 
 up using it ; not a man was to be seen smoking in 
 the streets ; and scarcely had I entered that, as well 
 as other cities, when I was warned not to put a cigar 
 into ray mouth, and thereby break the rules of the 
 *' Invisible Government." " If you smoke. Sir, 
 you will be knocked down," was repeatedly re- 
 marked to me ; and who would not respect the 
 feelings of a people, kept in check by the armed 
 soldiery of a power which Kossuth has well called 
 
18 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LEAVE MILAN. 
 
 19 
 
 the mere ^' satellite " of Russia, yet scorning to 
 associate in any degree with their oppressors ? 
 One of the national poets has mournfully ex- 
 claimed, — 
 
 " Italia ! in te acetata e diaimita ;" 
 
 but although, to enslave that unfortunate country, 
 the despots of the north have combined, and her 
 sons, torn by intestine quarrels, not true to them- 
 selves, have as yet been unsuccessful in coun- 
 teracting their oppressors' plots, let us not forget 
 that wise saying of Ovid's, — 
 
 " Neque enim lex aequior ulla 
 Quam necis artifices arte perire sua." 
 
 How much more polite than their transalpine 
 neighbours are the people of sunny Italy ! We 
 had scarcely spent one day in Milan before this 
 fact forced itself upon our observation. In the 
 streets, in public places, everywhere room was 
 made for us ; and no one jostled our elbows, stared 
 rudely at us, or puffed tobacco into our ejea, 
 
 Sunday was the feast of Pentecost. We went 
 to the cathedral just in time to see the curtain 
 of the grand door drawn up, and the archbishop, a 
 
 fine-looking man, enter, superbly dressed, with a 
 mitre glittering with jewels, and attended by 
 priests, nuns, and footmen in splendid liveries. 
 A dense crowd assembled at mass ; and after the 
 reading of the gospel, the prelate himself preached 
 in Italian, which he does only three times a-year. 
 He read his discourse out of a book : I was not 
 near enough to see whether in manuscript or 
 printed; Init my next neighbour remarked that 
 he could do that himself, if that were all the 
 ability required in a minister. I was somewhat 
 surprised to observe so many men at the con- 
 fessionals,— a very unusual sight in the present 
 
 age. 
 
 We left Milan on Monday, the ninth of June, 
 in the intSrieur of the diligence for Bologna; 
 and, driving out of the southern gate, had a fine 
 view beyond the green mulberry-trees of the far 
 distant .Orteles in the Tyrol, its dome of spotless 
 snow rising above the plain of Lombardy, the 
 delicious valley which Shakspeare calls "the 
 pleasant garden of great Italy." In the forty- 
 second chapter of Gibbon's *' Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire," there occurs a striking pas- 
 
 il 
 
20 
 
 THE TAUUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 sage regarding the origin and manners of that 
 strange people who, from the banks of the Elbe 
 and the Oder, crossed the Alps, and finally settled 
 on the Po. Whoever wishes to know the history 
 of a nation now trodden under foot, must read this 
 graphic account ; and perhaps, on rising from its 
 perusal, a thought may cross his mind that the 
 descendants of those Langobards whom Alboin led 
 to the very gates of Ravenna, may yet, if the sig- 
 nal be given, re-enact the fearful scenes which took 
 place on the Danube when the Gcpidae were de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 Travellers in Central Australia tell us of heat so 
 excessive that the leaves fell off the trees, and the 
 mercury burst the bulb of the thermometer. How 
 they survived withering blasts which silenced 
 birds, prostrated horses, and ignited matches,* 
 must remain for ever a mystery to me, for the 
 power of the sun which shone upon us during our 
 journey to Bologna seemed enough to paralyse any 
 ordinary man. The leaves hung motionless on the 
 trees, a quivering heat trembled among the ears of 
 corn, and clouds of dust shrouded our vehicle. 
 
 • See Captain Sturt's " Expedition into Central Australia." 
 
 LODI. 
 
 21 
 
 i 
 
 Melegnano is pleasantly situated on the river 
 Lambro, in the midst of a country remarkable for 
 its fertility, irrigated on the most scientific prin- 
 ciples by means of canals, watercourses, sluices, 
 and aqueducts, and producing great quantities of 
 grain. Formerly this part of Lombardy w^as a forest, 
 but the Muzza canal, with its various branches, 
 has transformed it into a garden, whose agricultural 
 resources excite the envy of less favoured pro- 
 vinces. I observed very fine fields of maize, clover, 
 rye, and other plants, separated from each other by 
 somewhat tiresome rows of melancholy willow- 
 trees. The rice-plantations were all under water. 
 
 The second place at which we stopped — Lodi — 
 recals the memories of other days ; for that bridge 
 over the Adda two gallant armies struggled in ter- 
 rific combat, and there Napoleon's soldiers rushed 
 on the artillerymen of Austria, shouting Vive la 
 RSpuhlique! In the district around this place is 
 made the famous Parmesan cheese, so called because 
 it was first exported from Parma. They likewise 
 cultivate flax to a considerable extent. Beyond 
 Castarepusterlengo, where hundreds of people in 
 holiday costume had assembled to celebrate a 
 
22 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 festival, we passed a great number of clover-fields, 
 covered with water from the canals, in default of 
 rain. 
 
 We now came in sight of the peaks of the 
 Apennines, and after journeying for a mile or two 
 on the top of the embankment raised to protect the 
 country from the inundations of the Po, stopped 
 for an unreasonably long time at the frontier of 
 Lombardy to have our passports viseed. Between 
 Milan and Bologna I had to show that document 
 no fewer than fourteen times to the authorities, and 
 to submit to three custom-house examinations of 
 luggage. Several people had been stopped on 
 account of trivial informalities ; and one Sardinian 
 gentleman, in whose company I afterwards crossed 
 the Apennines, informed me that the authorities at 
 Cas^elfranco, a miserable village on the frontier of 
 tlie States of tlie Church, detained him there for 
 three days, because the signature of one Papal 
 delegate instead of another was attached to his 
 passport. So much for the freedom of travelling 
 in this part of Italy ! 
 
 We crossed the broad and rapid Po by a tempo- 
 rary and somewhat insecure bridge of boats, lead- 
 
 \ 
 
 
 i 
 
 FRONTIER OF MODENA. 
 
 23 
 
 ing to the ancient town of Piacenza, which occupies 
 an imposing situation on the right bank of the 
 river. Its principal square is considered, justly I 
 think, one of the finest in the peninsula. As if 
 determined to incur the ridicule of every rational 
 being, the government of this petty state, a mere 
 second-rate satellite of Austria, are at present 
 engaged in throwing away money on new fortifi- 
 cations. A Parisian who travelled with us in the 
 diligence, with propriety remarked, that it seemed 
 to him a return to barbarism. 
 
 An uninteresting road, the same formerly called 
 the Via Emilia, having been made by Emilius 
 Lepidus in the sixth century, conducts from Pia- 
 cenza to Parma, the capital of the duchy, which 
 was a cit}? of some note long before the Christian 
 era, but has now a gloomy, deserted look, many of 
 the large mansions being untenanted. 
 
 At the frontier of the duchy of Modena we were 
 detained fifty minutes, whilst the "active" officials 
 examined two trunks and sealed five boxes of mer- 
 chandise ; and at Keggio, a flourishing town, 
 chiefly remarkable as the birthplace of Correggio 
 and Ariosto, the diligence remained an hour with- 
 
24 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 out any reason at all. On leaving it we passed 
 througii a pretty country, and crossed the dry beds 
 of several mountain-torrents, the channels which 
 cany off the melted snows of the neighbouring 
 Apennines, whose white peaks we saw towering 
 above the mulbeny-trees. The vines, hung in 
 festoons from tree to tree, add materially to the 
 beauty of the landscape ; but the liouses are poor, 
 dirty, and uncomfortable, and the district swarms 
 with beggars. We stopped for some time at Mo- 
 dena, capital of the duchy of the same name, a 
 curious old place of thirty thousand inhabitants, 
 which has long been governed by the Este family, 
 and where they have a library of ten thousand 
 volumes. Its lofty cathedral-spire rises very con- 
 spicuously in the flat plain. 
 
 For several miles after passing the Pope's fron- 
 tier, we had an escort of dragoons, this part of 
 Italy being, perhaps, the most robber-infested 
 district in Europe. Some weeks afterwards I ob- 
 served in the Journal des Dehats that the diligence 
 had been attacked here by banditti, who murdered 
 several soldiers before taking to flight. In the 
 Legations especially, one cannot travel with any 
 
 ! 
 
 \ 
 
 \\ 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ 
 
 c^/ 
 
 QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 25 
 
 degree of security ; for the people hate their rulers, 
 both Papal and Austrian, who, unassisted by the 
 peasantry, have been utterly unable to exterminate 
 the predatory bands whose outrages every now and 
 then fill Italy with dread. 
 
 A writer in the Quarterly Review has attempted 
 to turn into ridicule the statement which I made in 
 a former volume, that Lombardy was beautifully 
 cultivated, while its peasanty live in hovels, and 
 are clothed in rags. Great is the astonishment 
 aflected by this critic that a country could look 
 like a garden, and at the same time its population 
 be miserable. Apparently profoundly ignorant oi 
 the system of middlemen and absenteeism, of rack- 
 renting and extortion, by which tlie real cultivators 
 of the soil in the valley of the Po have been 
 reduced to the level of the lower classes in Tippe- 
 rary, my Mentor treats the remarks which appear 
 to him contradictory, as the result of visual ob- 
 liquity, and dismisses them with a compassionating 
 smile. 
 
 The ancient and well-known city of Bologna 
 stands in a ])lain carpeted with the beautiful hemp 
 plant, at the base of the first spur of the Apennines. 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
26 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SCENERY OF THE APENNINES. 
 
 27 
 
 Its narrow streets, archways, piazzas, and spires, 
 recal to one's mind the days of Italy's republics, 
 when civil warfare desolated the peninsula. The 
 tower of Asinelli, three hundred and twenty-seven 
 feet high, becomes visible long before you see the 
 houses of the town. Within a few feet of it stands 
 a mis-shaped tower, built in 1100, one hundred 
 and forty-five feet in height, which leans eight feet 
 out of the perpendicular. The two together have 
 a strange appearance. 
 
 In the chief square is the ugly church dedicated 
 to St. Petronius, where Charles V. was crowned 
 by Clement YII. Hallam tells us that "if it 
 were necessary to construe the word umversity in 
 the strict sense of a legal incorporation, Bologna 
 might lay claim to a higher antiquity than either 
 Paris or Oxford." * 
 
 As a school of Roman jurisprudence it acquired 
 great celebrity, and Tiraboschi says that in the 
 beginning of the thirteenth century there were ten 
 thousand young men there pursuing their studies. 
 In the year 1580, according to the state papers 
 relating to the province, and addressed to the 
 
 * History of the Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 481. 
 
 / 
 
 Legate, "Fa da 130m. anime la citttt 70m. die 
 avanti le carestie 90m. Ha 400 fra carozze e cocchi. 
 Vengono nella citta ogiii anno da 600m. libre de 
 foUicelli da quali si fa la seta, e se ne mette opera 
 per uso della citt^ 100m. libre I'anno." Like other 
 cities in the Papal States, it has rather declined 
 than increased in prosperity, and now when tra- 
 vellers cross the Alps, and Pyrenees, and Car- 
 pathians with pei-fect safety, banditti prowl on every 
 road near Bologna. 
 
 It was yet only four o'clock in the morning, 
 when, seated in the interior of the diligence, we 
 left this city for Florence. For two hours our 
 route lay up a cheerful valley, the ground being 
 very uneven. Then commenced a steep ascent, 
 which lasted, with some intermissions, for six 
 hours, and several times oxen assisted our horses 
 to drag the vehicle. Here, too, the vines hung in 
 beautiful festoons from the branches. 
 
 As we mounted higher and higher on the Apen- 
 nines, a most extensive prospect revealed itself of 
 the plain of Lombardy, with the deep ravines, 
 great limestone cliffs, bold peaks, green hill-sides, 
 and stony valleys of the mountains which we 
 
 b2 
 
28 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 VAL D ARNO. 
 
 29 
 
 traversed. The excellent road, without rut or 
 stone, wound round their unequal and fantastically- 
 shaped shoulders, and at every steep ascent old 
 women, mothers with children, boys, and girls ran 
 after us to beg. " Buona signora, una cosa, una 
 cosina," rang for hours in our ears. These heights 
 are frequently exposed, even in summer, to violent 
 gales ; it in fact blew hard when we crossed them. 
 The picturesque situations occupied by the villages 
 reminded me more than once of Uv. :Macaulay's 
 animated lines, in which he alludes to them as— 
 
 " Eitgle's nesta 
 Perch' d on the crests 
 Of purple Apennine." 
 
 At the poor hamlet of La Cas we passed the Pope's 
 frontier, and soon afterw-ards stopped at Filigari, 
 where our passports were viseed and our luggage 
 examined by the officers of the Duke of Tuscany. 
 In the miserable inn two small lean chickens and 
 vermicelli water, professing to be soup, were pre- 
 sented to seven hungry travellers as their mid-day 
 meal ; while the " vino bianco " and the '' vino 
 ' rosso " were equally undrinkable. Chestnut-trees 
 cn-ow in oreat abundance on the hills around these 
 
 \ 
 
 villages ; but dreary mountains, reminding me 
 strongly of Spain, had to be crossed after leaving 
 them. Heavy falls of snow frequently render this 
 part of the road impassable in winter. 
 
 Descending from these desolate heights into 
 a valley with well-tilled fields, and, what are very 
 unusual abroad, a few country seats, we followed 
 the banks of a little stream, up a narrow highland 
 glen to Fontebuona, the last changing-place, 
 where I got out of the diligence and walked up 
 a steep hill, from the top of which a view burst 
 upon my senses, which language fails to describe. 
 It was a cloudless warm evening, the sun shining 
 brilliantly, and a pleasant breeze playing among 
 the foliage of the gardens around ; there lay the 
 Val d'Arno, with its woods and winding stream ; 
 while, as it were beneath my feet, glittering in 
 Italian sunshine, rose the domes and towers of 
 Florence ; on the left, crowning a lofty hill, was 
 YirgiVs Fiesole, and far as the eye could reach 
 white houses sparkled like jewels on the purple 
 Apennines. A delicious fragrance from the vine- 
 yards filled the air, — peasants returning to their 
 homes dashed past me in their light vehicles, 
 
30 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 31 
 
 and music, rising and falling with the gentle wind, 
 broke upon my ear. Lost in admiration, I sat 
 down on a hank, where the wild thyme grew, and 
 meditated on the scene heforc me. 
 
 " Talia Fesuleo lentus meditabar in antro 
 Rure sub urbano Medicum, qua mons sacer urbeiii 
 Meeoniam, lougique volvunina despicit Arui." • 
 
 As we approached nearer " the fair wliito walls 
 of the Etrurian Athens," the view became, if pos- 
 sible, more striking; but at lengtli we reached 
 the arch of Francis I., and entered the city, the 
 first men we saw within the gates being Austrian 
 soldiers, a race whom the Florentines hold in utter 
 aversi<^ii. As in Milan and Bologna, we observed 
 that no communication of any kind passed between 
 the citizens and the military ; they dwell together 
 in anything but amity, and take little pains to 
 conceal their mutual antipathy. " Non durer^," 
 
 * The reader will, perhaps, remember the opening of chapter 
 ii. in the sixth book of that splendid historical romance, "Rienzi, 
 the Laat of the Tribunes :"— " It was a bright, oppressive, sultry 
 morning, when a solitary horseman was seen winding that un- 
 equalled road from whose height, amidst fig-trees, vines, and 
 olives, the traveller beholds gradually break upon his gaze the 
 enchanting valley of the Amo and the spires and domes of 
 Florence." 
 
 
 exclaimed an Italian to me, with a vehemence 
 quite startling, " perche, perch^ signor, abbiamo 
 in cielo un Dio giusto." 
 
 Few educated Englishmen require to be told 
 the situation of Florence, " girt by her theatre 
 of hills" and divided into two portions by the 
 silvery Arno. Its walls, seven miles in circum- 
 ference, enclose a population of about one hmidred 
 thousand; and in its narrow and bustling, but 
 admirably paved streets, the noble mansions of 
 the ancient nobility, with their extensive gardens, 
 may be seen side by side with dwellings of the 
 meanest kind. The massive blocks of hewn stone, 
 each standing out into relief iu its separate grandeur, 
 and all combining to form palaces lit for royalty, 
 tell of former days, when the Bardi and the 
 Peruzzi farmed the customs of England and 
 Sicily, and the Medici brought both merchandise 
 and manuscripts from the furthest regions of the 
 East; when Cosmo devoted his wealth to the 
 restoration of learning, and Lorenzo sat between 
 RafFaelle d'Urbino and Michael Angelo Buonarotti 
 iu the PLatonic academy.* 
 
 » See Vaaari's " Vite dei PittorL" 
 
32 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBEH. 
 
 To the little Florentine republic the literature 
 and arts of Europe owe more than to all those 
 powerful nations combined, which by turns over- 
 ran Tur^cany with their armies. There Dante 
 Alighieri, the Milton of Italy, the parent of its 
 poetry, first saw the light, and there one hundred 
 years afterwards Boccaccio, at the command of the 
 civic rulers, read lectures on the Divine Comedy, 
 not excepting that famous philippic against an 
 ungrateful country in the sixteenth canto del 
 Paradiso, beginning ^' O poca nostra nobiltil di 
 sangue." A citizen too of this Athens, retiring on 
 account of political ditTercnces to Arezzo, became 
 the father of Petrarch, the poet of love and 
 friendship, of religion and glory, whose Laura has 
 been celebrated with all the music of his native 
 tongue. And then Florence was the home of the 
 improvisatori, the extempore verse-makers, who, 
 from village to village, at every festa and rural 
 dance, expressed, in recitative eclogues, the charms 
 of Italian beauty. Nor can we forget the revo- 
 lutions, the alarms, the massacres, the proscriptions, 
 the political changes which took place during even 
 the palmy days of Tuscan greatness, the quarrels 
 
 
 II 
 
 FLORENCE. 
 
 33 
 
 between the nobles and the populace, or that 
 enactment, unique of its kind, by which the 
 latter, then triumphant, excepted, from the edict 
 banishing the higher classes, five hundred persons, 
 whom they declared IIAISED from being patricians 
 to the ranks of the commoners. 
 
 Even in pure democracies at the present time, 
 wealth or official rank creates a sort of nobility ; 
 but the gi'cat families of Florence strove for the 
 j>ricil€ge of being esteemed plebeian ; proud and 
 domineering when " la ruota di fortuna " revolved 
 in their favour, many of them in adverse circum- 
 stances swam with the tide, while others retired 
 to their strongholds on the crests of the Apen- 
 nines, watching, like keen-eyed vultures, their*, 
 time to pounce on the prey. Driven from their 
 palaces on account of their licence and tyranny, 
 these Fuorusciti plotted, now with the Guelfs, 
 then with the Ghibellines, to subvert the dominant 
 faction and restore themselves to power.* 
 
 • " Vecchia fama nel mondo li chiama orbi, 
 Gente avara, invidiosa, e superba 
 Da' lor costumi fa che tu ti forbi." 
 
 Dante's " Inferno" canto 15. 
 
 b3 
 
 #? > 
 
1 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE ENGUSH IN FLORENCE — THE PITTI PALACE — ITS GALLERY OP 
 
 PAINTINGS — GUIDO S 
 
 (( 
 
 « 
 
 CLEOPATRA — RAFFAELLE 8 " LEO THB 
 
 ,'a «• 
 
 TENTH" AND "madonna DELLA SEGIOLA — CANOVA 8 " VENUS' 
 — THE BOBOLI GARDENS — GALILEO's CHAMBER — THE CHURCH 
 OF SANTA CROCE — THE CASINE — AUSTRIAN HORSEMANSHIP — 
 CAMPANILE OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE — THE GONFALONIERE OF 
 FLORENCE — THE I^VURENTIAN UBRARY — THE LOGGIA — TOWER 
 OF THE DUCxVL PALACE — THE GALLERY — THE VENUS DE MEDRI 
 — AMERICANS AT THE TABLE d'HOTE — MANNERS OF OUR TRANS- 
 ATLANTIC BRETHREN. 
 
 One cannot spend half a day in Florence without 
 observing, with surprise, the numerous evidences 
 of English residence. Such sign-boards as tlie 
 following indicate the degree to which the inha- 
 bitants are indebted to foreign capital : — " Joseph 
 Gamgeau, veterinary surgeon." *^ George Graff, 
 coachmaker in all its branches." "Excellent 
 riding horses on hire." " Rafael Betti Cook sends 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ENGLISH IN FLORENCE. 
 
 35 
 
 out dinners." " James Huband's livery stables." 
 " English apothecary." " Thomas Price's Olympic 
 Circus." "Furnishing shop." "Rose & Co., 
 Tailors." " Abemethy biscuits sold here." " Good- 
 ban, printseller." You meet fellow-countrymen 
 in every street ; and many of the carriages which 
 drive past appear to have been importations from 
 London. A stranger would feel a difficulty in 
 deciding whether " Inglesi " or friars most abound 
 in the Tuscan metropolis : he sees both every- 
 where, — the latter as dirty and disagreeable looking 
 as the former are clean and of pleasing counte- 
 nance. The citizens have a curious custom of 
 wheeling about prints and other cotton goods in 
 barrows for sale, instead of erecting attractive 
 shops to allure customers. Their manners struck 
 me as deferential and friendly ; without grimace, 
 or theatrical compliments, they treat visitors with 
 a politeness exceedingly gratifying. 
 
 The name of the Pitti Palace, now the resi- 
 dence of the Grand Duke, is quite familiar to 
 northern ears. Those who have studied the actions 
 of Lorenzo de Medici, will recollect that this mag- 
 
 1 1 
 
36 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 nificent edifice was planned by the conspirator 
 Liica Pitti, and that when his intrigues met with 
 their merited punishment, the progress of the 
 works was stopped ; but not until as much liad 
 been built as immortalized the name of the envious 
 noble. Speaking of the various erections ordered 
 by this Florentine, Macchiavelli says, — " Ma 
 quello nella Citta al tutto maggiore die alcon altro 
 che da privato cittadino fino a quel giomo fusse 
 stato edificato." It stands on an elevation on the 
 left bank of the Arno, and is connected with the 
 ancient ducal palace, in the principal square of the 
 city, by a covered bridge, which crosses both the 
 houses and the river. The Boboli gardens rise 
 immediately behind it, occupying the slope and 
 summit of a gentle eminence. The view from the 
 tower on the highest point, though not so extensive 
 as that from the neighbouring mountains, })erhaps 
 exceeds it in mellowed beauty. Emerging from 
 avenues of noble trees and groves of lemons, which 
 fountains cool and statues adorn, you suddenly 
 behold sti etched out, as in a panorama, the domes 
 and palaces, the hanging gardens and villas em- 
 
 THE IMTTI PALACE. 
 
 37 
 
 / 
 
 bosomed in wood, which justify Rogers in ex- 
 claiming, — 
 
 " Of all the cities on the earth, 
 There's none so fair as Florence." 
 
 But returning to the main entrance, let us ascend 
 to the second story, and visit those fifteen saloons, 
 where the traveller, in the glowing words of Byron, 
 becomes " dazzled and drunk with beauty." Fres- 
 coes by celebrated masters adorn the ceilings of 
 these apartments; and on their walls hang the 
 treasures of art which, if they charm the eye, 
 mock the descriptive powers of every author. The 
 collections at Munich, Dresden, and Madrid, may 
 be much more extensive; but the Pitti Palace 
 contains few, if any works by second-rate artists : 
 it is a mine of the pm'cst gold, and baser metal 
 has been excluded. In the same space, a like 
 exhibition of masterpieces nowhere exists. There 
 you find that famous portrait of Leo X., by 
 Rafael, before which Cardinal Pescia knelt and 
 presented bulls for signature. Three centuries have 
 passed away since this painting was executed, yet 
 even now I could imagine a similar mistake to be 
 committed ; for the vigorous colouring, the proud 
 
38 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIIJER. 
 
 attitude, the bold relief In whieli the figure stands 
 out, even tlie minute details of dress and ornament, 
 conspire to cause an illusion almost irresistible 
 Then you have Guido's Bacchus, and Murlllo's 
 Madonna ; but it were folly to enumerate. I only 
 mention two more, chiefly because they appeared 
 to me unspeakably superior to all the others, and 
 because whilst I write, copies of them, very cleverly 
 executed by my friend, Slgnor Petrini of Florence, 
 
 hang before me. 
 
 To those who can appreciate the inexpressible 
 charm possessed by Guido's pictures, it is no small 
 praise to say that some connoisseurs consider the 
 gi-andest of all his works to be '' The Cleopatra " 
 in this collection. With a countenance turned to- 
 wards heaven, and expressive of a deep yet con- 
 trolled agony, she applies the asp to her bosom ; 
 while on a table beside her is the basket of figs, in 
 which the reptile had been conveyed. In her face 
 you read the memorable history of Egypt's en- 
 chanting queen. Sick of a world whose changes 
 vex her, wearied of a life devoted to degrading 
 sin, doubtful ot the future whither her spirit must 
 soon take its flight, she casts her glassy eyes 
 
 RAFFAELLE S MADONNA. 
 
 39 
 
 Upwards to the seat of Deity, and communi- 
 cates the poison to her veins. Stranger, behold 
 her look of anguish, the awful emotions of that 
 perturbed spirit, on which the world has in vain 
 lavished its pleasures, and know what it is to be 
 " chained to the chariot of triumphal Art." 
 
 Close to one of those sensual, vulgar groups, 
 which Peter Paul Rubens calls Holy Families, 
 hangs the most celebrated of the Virgins of 
 llaft'aellc, the lovely Madonna della Segiola, repe- 
 titions of which abound in every comitry under 
 the sun. Mary, seated on a couch, tenderly em- 
 braces the infant Jesus, and leans her head so as 
 almost to touch Ills noble brow ; wliile the young 
 St. John, with his hands in the attitude of adora- 
 tion, worships the Babe whose name is Wonderful. 
 What a heavenly group ! It speaks of a better 
 world, where saints repose with confidence in the 
 bosom of their Lord. A tender mother, yet a 
 humble believer, happy but serious, the Virgin 
 folds in her arms the Child in whose countenance 
 one can read Divinity. There is no familiarity, 
 no unlikely prostration; you see a pious parent 
 musing on the mysterious ways of Providence, 
 
40 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CAXOVA S VEXUS. 
 
 41 
 
 while the glance of the Infant's eye seems to 
 peneti-atc the heart of the observer, and to whisper, 
 in angelic accents, '' I am He." The softness of 
 touch, the ease of attitude, the gracefulness of 
 conception, the natural colouring, all attest this 
 splendid picture to be the work of him who 
 ''pingere posse animam atquc oculis piieberc vi- 
 dendum ; " par excellence, the painter of ex- 
 pression, the delineator of the soul. 
 
 InEaffaelle's masterpieces, art exists in its highest 
 possible manifestations, without being seen ; every- 
 thing is regular, yet not constrained ; and richness 
 never degenerates into pomposity. lie frerpicntly, 
 by a series of happy touches, represents the pro- 
 gress of a scene and the rapidly-changing emotions 
 of the actors. Yasari narrates that a Bolognese 
 artist, who had long wished to see a work by the 
 great master, on opening the case which contained 
 one, was so overpowered with conflictinfc feelin^'-s 
 that he sickened and died. Where movement and 
 passion had to be represented, no one could equal 
 him. The Virgin, to whom he especially devoted 
 his powers, appears in some of his works the 
 simple Mary of Bethlehem, the guileless peasant 
 
 '1 
 
 of Judea ; in others, the majestic queen of angels, 
 enthroned in clouds, and attended by the seraphs 
 who proclaimed her Son. So famous did he 
 become in Rome, " ut quasi coeleste demissum 
 numen, ad a^ternam urbem in pristinam majestatem 
 reparandam, omnes homines suspiciant." 
 
 In the centre of a small anteroom stands the 
 celebrated Venus by Canova. Perhaps some 
 people may consider it exceedingly bad taste, on 
 my part, to say that this statue disappointed me 
 more than any other work of art in Italy ; yet 
 I cannot help remarking, that the visitors to the 
 American department of the Great Exhibition 
 have seen, in my opinion, a far nobler piece of 
 sculpture, viz. Iliram Power's Greek Slave. Mr. 
 Ruskin remarks, in his " Stones of Venice," — 
 " The admiration of Canova I hold to be one of 
 the deadliest symptoms of the civilization of 
 the upper classes in the present century." This 
 statement requires to be qualified and explained, 
 for some of the tombs executed by that artist have 
 obtained for him a position from which he can- 
 not be dislodged by a mere sentence ; but certainly 
 the raptures affected by some people on beholding 
 
42 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TriiER. 
 
 tlie Venus must remain to me incomprehensible. 
 It possesses no distinctive feature enabling you at 
 once to characterise it as the queen of love and 
 beauty, the mother of Cupid and mistress of the 
 Graces. The statue wants that elegant ease and 
 evident symmetry of parts which compel instan- 
 taneous homage on the part of him who looks on 
 the Venus de Medici. 
 
 If the traveller has any love for the horrible, 
 lie will visit the Museum of Natural History, 
 where, besides an excellent collection of minerals, 
 stuffed birds, and anatomical preparations in wax, 
 he will find the celebrated representations of the 
 Plague, by the Sicilian Abbate Zumbo. They 
 form, indeed, a ghastly exhibition. In the same 
 building, a room has been fitted up in honour of 
 Galileo, with statues of him and other famous 
 men, and frescoes illustrative of his discoveries. 
 One cannot help thinking, in such a place, of that 
 sad chapter in Italian history which narrates the 
 sufferings of the great philosopher, whom priestly 
 ignorance buried in a loathsome gaol, because he 
 discovered one of the grand truths of nature. 
 In a back street of Florence still stands the 
 
 CHUIiCH OF SANTA CROCE. 
 
 43 
 
 Buonarotti palace, owned by the descendant of 
 the great sculptor, and in the sacristy of the 
 Church of St. Lorenzo are several statues by that 
 master of the art. Adjoining this apartment, you 
 see the Chapel of the Medici, an octagon, encrusted 
 with valuable marbles and siliceous stones, the 
 splendid mausoleum of Tuscany's most celebrated 
 princes. 
 
 We spent one evening in the Church of Santa 
 Croce, the Pantheon where lie the ashes of so many 
 mighty dead ; 
 
 " dust which is 
 
 Even in itself an immortality." 
 
 Externally this place of worship possesses every 
 characteristic of ugliness ; but close to the entrance 
 on the right, your attention becomes fixed on the 
 tomb of Michael Angelo, a sarcophagus, over which 
 Painting, Architecture and Sculpture mourn their 
 loss, with a bust of the great Tuscan, executed by 
 his own hand. Next it a far nobler monument 
 has been erected to the memory of Dante, who 
 sits in a meditative attitude above, while Italy and 
 Poesy weep for the departed, and the former points 
 to an inscription, " Quorate I'Altissima Poeta." 
 
44 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Then you come to CaiKjva's lainoiis work in 
 honour of Altieri, opposite to which a Innnhle 
 marhle marks the spot where Galileo's ashes wait 
 the sound of the trumpet w^hich shall wake the 
 slumberers of the tomb. 
 
 The Casine, or Ilyde-park of the Tuscan capital, 
 is a long, narrow plantation of tall trees on the 
 banks of the Arno, below the city. Here, on a 
 summer evening, the fashionables assemble to drive 
 their curricles, and listen to the Austrian reiri- 
 mental bands. Pony chaises appeared " the rage" 
 during our stay ; and I was surprised to see the 
 Florentine noblemen imitating the fast men of 
 England, Avho build private stage-coaches and 
 drive four-in-hand. 
 
 The avenue on the Arno looked like the road to 
 Epsom, with this exception, that I did not observe 
 one rider who could sit his horse. The etpiestrian 
 exhibitions which w^e witnessed on the part of the 
 Austrian officers, both at ^lilan and Florence, were 
 really ridiculous. In the former town, we one even- 
 ing passed a crowd busily engaged in jeering two 
 young Germans, one of whom had fallen off his 
 charger, w^iile the other, attempting to assist his 
 
 AUSTRIAN HORSEMANSHIP. 
 
 45 
 
 comrade, seemed unable to move without inflictin^r 
 on his horse such punishment w4th his spurs as no 
 animal could bear. By-and-by, his military cap 
 fell off; a bystander picked it up; in bending 
 forward to receive it, he again w^ounded the steed ; 
 but by this time the discomfited man had re- 
 mounted, and away went both cavaliers down the 
 Corso Orientale, looking like two John Gilpins, 
 whose career would speedily end, the mob mean- 
 Avhile raising a shout of derisive laughter at the 
 expense of " i Tedeschi." If the Austrians suc- 
 ceed in retaining Hungary, it is to be hoped that 
 the ]\Iagyars, who, like the English, love their 
 horses and equestrian exercise, w^ll teach them 
 how to ride. 
 
 The first evening on which we drove in the 
 Casine was one of those lovely ones which can only 
 he enjoyed in a southern clime : a refreshing breeze 
 rustled the foliage overhead, a flood of light had 
 fallen on the wooded hills on each side of the Arno, 
 and the setting sun gilded with a radiance almost 
 tropical the lofty Campanile of Florence. 
 
 This belfry, a quadrangular edifice, 260 feet 
 high, cased with marbles of different colours, and 
 
46 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 certainly the most exquisite building of the kind 
 in Italy, stands close to the cathedral of Santa 
 Maria del Fiore, in the centre of the city. The 
 church itself is a vast building, presenting a sin- 
 gular appearance on account of the variegated 
 marbles with which its outward walls are faced. 
 Behind the high altar is Michael Angelo's last and 
 unfinished work, Christ taken down from the 
 Cross, with a suitable inscription by Cosmo III. 
 Whilst we were in the cathedral one day, the 
 municipality, guarded by soldiers and preceded by 
 the Tuscan colours, entered to attend mass. ^' Wlio 
 is that marching in front?" I asked. " That," an- 
 swered my neighbour, " is the Gonfaloniere." 
 The Gonfaloniere of Florence ! AVliat memories 
 does that word recal, what glorious chapters in 
 the history 
 
 " Delia bella Italia, ov' h la sede 
 Del valor vero e della vera fede." 
 
 The church of Sta. ^laria del Fiore once wit- 
 nessed another scene. On the twenty-sixth day 
 of April, 1478, the brothers de ^Icdici invited the 
 dignitaries of the place to meet in that holy edifice 
 Cardinal Riario, apostolic legate, charged with 
 
 r 
 
 /< 
 
 /. 
 
 f 
 
 STA. MARIA DEL FIORE. 
 
 47 
 
 important communications from the Holy See. 
 Scarcely had the officiating priest elevated the 
 consecrated wafer when Francesco de Pazzi, the 
 rival of the ruling family, rushed on Guiliano de 
 Medici, and, assisted by a hired assassin, stabbed 
 him in several places with his dagger: while 
 Lorenzo was only saved from a like horrible death 
 by the interposition of a friend. During this 
 frightful scene, the Archbishop of Pisa was at- 
 tempting to overpower the magistrates in the 
 palace ; but the resolute Gonfaloniere Cesari Pe- 
 trucci was not a man to be awed by priestly vil- 
 lany: he seized the plotter, and soon afterwards 
 hung him, in his prelatical robes, out of the 
 windows of the mansion. Scarcely had the news 
 of this dastardly revolt reached the citizens of 
 Florence when they flew to arms in favour of 
 Lorenzo de Medici, and insisted upon the imme- 
 diate execution of the ruffians who had threatened 
 him and killed his brother. 
 
 Thus ended one of the foulest conspiracies re- 
 corded in history, a conspiracy which, though aided 
 by the Pazzi, was planned by no less a personage 
 tlian Sixtus IV. Pope of Rome, who employed as 
 
I 
 
 48 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE LOGGIA. 
 
 49 
 
 his principal agents liis neplicw Riario, and Sal- 
 viati, the iVrchbishop of Pisa, and, as their sub- 
 ordinates, a strong body of ecclesiastics, devoted to 
 the interests of the papacy. In this instance, at 
 least, if not in others, he whom misguided men 
 believe to be the Vicar of God on earth, the perfect 
 representative of Deity, was, in plain terms, a 
 murderer. And yet scholars of the present age 
 tell us that through this wicked man, as well as 
 through Alexander the adulterer and Leo the 
 infidel, the virtue of a true succession lias descended 
 from the apostles of our Lord. Well may Cliil- 
 lingAVorth, while writing about this extraordinary 
 delusion, call it a belief " cousin-german to the 
 
 impossible.'* 
 
 One of the most interesting objects in Florence 
 is the Laurentian library, begun by Lorenzo de 
 Medici, and enriched by his various successors, till 
 at length, in 1532, Leo X. issued a bull directing 
 ]\Iichael Angelo to design an edifice suitable to 
 contain so splendid a collection of nuinuscripts. 
 A very polite custodier showed me, in this cele- 
 brated room, a copy of Virgil which has descended 
 from the remotest times; one of the Koran, also 
 
 I 
 
 
 '( 
 
 of ancient date ; and, amongst others, beautifully 
 illustrated editions of Juvenal, Cicero, Homer, 
 Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, executed in the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 The churches in Florence, not even excepting 
 that of Santa Maria Novella, which Buonarotti 
 called his " sposa," are unfinished, their facades 
 being almost invariably of rough unhewn stones, 
 having a most repulsive appearance. Report 
 ascribes this peculiarity to the pecuniary caution 
 of the citizens, who wish to save to their exche- 
 quer the customary sum which the Pope expects to 
 receive on the completion of every place of worship. 
 The admirers of Salvator Rosa and M. Angelo 
 Caravaggio will find some very fine works by 
 those great masters in the palace of the Corsini 
 family oyerlooking the Arno. 
 
 The principal square in the Tuscan capital is 
 one of the handsomest in Italy. The Post-office 
 occupies one side, and the Loggia, or open gallery 
 of sculpture, another ; the latter adorned by Juditli 
 and Holofemes in bronze by Donnatello, Cellini's 
 beautiful representation of Perseus carrying Me- 
 dusa's head, the Rape of the Sabines, and other 
 
 VOL. II. C 
 
50 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 works of art. Crossing a lateral street, you enter 
 the old Ducal Palace by a gate, on either side of 
 which are Eossi's Hercules and that colossal 
 statue of David which M. Angelo in his early 
 years carved out of a large piece of marble spoiled 
 by a preceding artist. The great hall of the 
 building contains large frescoes, representing the 
 most famous actions of the Florentine republic ; 
 and above the square rises that beautiful tower 
 erected by Amofo, which you see in every en- 
 graving of the Tuscan capital, and which certainly 
 must be considered one of the most graceful of the 
 architectural ornaments of Italy. 
 
 Adjoining this ancient seat of democratic dignity 
 an immense gallery, designed by Vasari in the 
 sixteenth century, extends to the Arno, occupying 
 the upper story of the houses on both sides of a 
 street, which a bridge connects at the end next 
 the river. It contains the invaluable collection of 
 sculpture, paintings, bronzes, monuments, and 
 gems, presented by the late Archduke Leopold to 
 the nation. Statues, chiefly Grecian, fill the cor- 
 ridors, among which a wild boar, evidently a very 
 ancient relic, particularly attracted my attention. 
 
 \ 
 
 THE GALLERY. 
 
 51 
 
 J 
 
 Two large rooms are devoted to portraits of paint- 
 ers, chiefly their own handiwork ; others display 
 a vast variety of specimens of the Venetian, French, 
 Flemish, Dutch, and Tuscan schools ; and at the 
 end of the third lobby has been placed Bandinelli's 
 copy of the Laocoon. 
 
 I might fill pages with descriptions of the pic- 
 tures of Guido, Guercino, Vandyke, &c., well 
 known to artists as forming the attractions of this 
 collection ; but let me close these brief allusions 
 to the 
 
 ** Matchless gems of Ai-t's exhaustless mines," 
 
 which are treasured up in the *' Athens of Italy," 
 by mentioning the room called the " Tribuna," 
 which contains the pearls of great price. On pe- 
 destals in the centre of this little apartment stand 
 the Grinder, the Wrestlers, the Apollo, those noble 
 remains of ancient Greece ; and, last of all, the 
 inimitable Venus de ^ledici, which throws Canova's 
 '' magnum opus" quite into the shade. Byron has 
 summed up the excellencies of this statue when he 
 says,— 
 
 " The goddess loves in stone, and fills 
 The air around with beauty." 
 
 c2 
 
52 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 Hanking with the Laocoon and the Apollo Belvi- 
 dcre, both in the Vatican, it has as yet never been 
 equalled by modem art; nor has Thorwaldsen 
 himself succeeded in copying that spirit which 
 lives and breathes in every Athenian statue. 
 
 Whoever desires to enrich his home with works 
 of Italian art, should visit my friend Signor Pe- 
 trini, Borgo Ognissante, and the studios of the 
 other painters and sculptors, whose copies of cele- 
 brated masterpieces will give pleasure to their 
 possessors in after years. 
 
 For the first few days of our stay in Florence, 
 the taUe d'hote had been but poorly attended. 
 One afternoon, however, on descending to the 
 saUe h manger, I found covers laid for a large party. 
 Turning to a waiter, I asked the reason of the 
 altered appearance of the table; with difficulty able 
 to restrain his laughter, he replied, " Why, this 
 morning. Sir, we received a whole colony of Ameri- 
 cans, fourteen travelling in one party, and several 
 smaller ones." The words were scarcely out of 
 his mouth when the door opened, and in marched 
 an army of men, all upwards of six feet high, 
 dressed in suits of black, and conversing about the 
 
 TRAVELLING AMERICANS. 
 
 53 
 
 *' lions " of the city with the nasal twang so pe- 
 culiar to people of a certain rank of life in their 
 country. We met them afterwards in various 
 public places, and with all their peculiarities, for 
 none of them belonged to the aristocracy of the 
 Great Republic, they were agreeable intelligent 
 men. Among the shopkeepers of the United States, 
 there is quite a mania for seeing Europe; every 
 man wdio can scrape together five-hundred dollars, 
 goes off to visit the cradle of the arts, spends his 
 all on his tour, and returns to make more. 
 
 This class of people, and the numerous com- 
 mercial travellers sent by American merchants to 
 aiTange mercantile affairs both in Britain and on 
 the Continent, living as they do always in the best 
 hotels, and travelling in the most expensive man- 
 ner, produce an unfavourable impression respecting 
 the manners of their countrymen on the minds of 
 Englishmen, who, totally ignorant of the state of 
 society across the Atlantic, set dowTi every man 
 from the United States whom they may chance to 
 meet, as a specimen of the upper classes. This is 
 not only unjust, but excessively foolish. No per- 
 son who has mixed even for a few days in the best 
 
54 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THUNDER-STORM. 
 
 55 
 
 society of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
 more and Charleston, does not know that an 
 American gentleman is as much a gentleman as 
 any squire in England, and that the ladies will 
 advantageously compare at least with a gi'eat ma- 
 jority of their sisters in the fatherland. It is the 
 imiversal diffusion of education which has covered 
 the older countries of Europe with American tra- 
 vellers in the lower walks of life, and those country- 
 men of ours who dislike their manners should not 
 forget that the same class in England scarcely 
 know where Italy is, and if they were carried 
 tliither, like Orlando, on winged chargers, would 
 behave with a good deal more vulgarity than their 
 Transatlantic neighbours. I have heard American 
 tradesmen criticising works of art, and alluding 
 to historical incidents during visits to various 
 European countries, in a manner that would make 
 some even of the squirearchy of England hide their 
 diminished heads. 
 
 On the evening of the last day we spent in 
 Florence, a thunder-storm passed over the city, 
 attended by heavy rain, hail, and the fall of large 
 pieces of ice, which, besides driving beneath cover 
 
 the coquetting flower-girls and importunate cab- 
 men, threatened to break the windows of our 
 dwelling. It lasted, however, but a short time; 
 the heavy cloud soon passed away to swell the 
 streams among the Apennines ; the streets resumed 
 their active bustling appearance, and the blue sky 
 of Italy reappeared, giving promise of sunsliine on 
 the morrow. 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FEAST OF ST. RANIERI AT PISA — CROWD ON THE RAILWAY — AGRI- 
 CULTURE OF TUSCANY — SIENNA — OUR FELLOW - TRAVELLER — 
 THE DESPOTISMS OF EUROPE WEAKENING ROMAN CATHOLICISM 
 — PASS OF RADICOFANI — VOLSINIUM — MONTEFIASCONE — VITERBO 
 — LAKE OF VICO — SOLEMN FEELINGS ON APPROACHING ROME — 
 DREARINESS OF THE VICINITY — FIRST VIEW OF THE ETERNAL 
 CITY — DIFFERENT POINTS FROM WHICH TO ENJOY THE PROSPECT 
 OF ROME — BUSTLING STREETS — ENGLISH HANDBILLS — PORTA DEL 
 POPOLO — THE PINCIAN HILL — THE JANICULUM — FOUNTAINS — 
 SUMMIT OF ST. PETERS — BACK STREETS OF THE MODERN TOWN^ — 
 DRAINAGE — FORT ST. ANGELO — TEMPLE OF VESTA — RUINS AND 
 GARDENS ON THE AVENTINE, PALATINE AND CCELIAN HILLS — 
 BELT OF PLEASURE-GROUNDS ROUND THE CITY — THE CAMPAGNA, 
 ITS UTTER DESOLATION. 
 
 Once every three years, a grand illumination and 
 festival take place at Pisa, in honour of St.Ranieri, 
 patron of the city. On this occasion strangers 
 from all parts of Tuscany, and even from the ad- 
 joining states, flock thither to spend a night in 
 merriment and masquerading. The occurrences 
 
 CROWD ON THE RAILWAY. 
 
 57 
 
 I 
 
 whicli happened at the celebration of 1851, — the 
 projected plot against the Austrian government, 
 the arrest of two gentlemen professing to be sons of 
 an English peer, and the consequent excitement, 
 are familiar to every reader of the newspapers. 
 
 I left Florence by railroad on this well-known 
 holiday, not however for Pisa, because such plea- 
 sure-seeking crowds accord not with my taste, but 
 for the Eternal City, to witness the processions of 
 Corpus Domini. We had started from the quay 
 Lungho d'Anio in the diligence which proceeds to 
 Rome, taking advantage of the Strada Ferrata as 
 far as Sienna. On reaching the handsome station 
 near the Casine, the conductor showed us into a 
 second-class carriage, built in the shape of a long 
 car, precisely like those in the United States, and 
 having accommodation for fifty people. Tlie crowd 
 on the platform was excessive, and not a little 
 quarrelling ensued between guards and passengers 
 respecting places. Already some forty-five gaily 
 attired citizens had seated themselves in our car- 
 riage, when a Frenchman looked in and asked if 
 there were room. A unanimous shout answered 
 " No;" but he, a true son of the " polite " nation, 
 
 c3 
 
58 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SIENNA. 
 
 59 
 
 stepped boldly in, and pushing aside a lady, forced 
 himself into a place. This rude conduct, of course, 
 provoked the Italians present, and a violent alter- 
 cation was the immediate result. However, *' mon- 
 sieur " retained his position, casting around him 
 glances of scornful defiance, and squeezing the 
 alarmed female beside him to make himself more 
 comfortable. It was a lovely morning, the sun 
 shining brightly on the valley of the Arno, and at 
 every station we picked up a group of peasants 
 attired in their best costume and bound for the 
 grand " festa." I was exceedingly amused with 
 an elderly burgher of Florence who sat opposite to 
 me, and who seemed to be travelling on a railway 
 for the first time in his life, for the motion, the 
 bridges and embankments filled him with asto- 
 nishment not unmixed with fear. The country, 
 especially after the line crosses the river, is very 
 pretty. On the hill-sides they were busy reaping 
 the rye. 
 
 At Empoli, a place of some size, we left the 
 crowded train of noisy merrymakers, and entering 
 a carriage on a branch railroad, traversed flourishing 
 vineyards and fields of maize as far as the finely 
 
 situated town of Castelfiorentino. Beyond this, 
 the soil being poorer, the crops appeared very 
 light; much of the land too is underwood, peeping 
 out of which every now and then you see pictur- 
 esque villages, perched on the tops of eminences 
 and surrounded by ancient walls. This railroad, 
 with its long cars, and winding course up a wooded 
 valley, the smell of the wood burnt by the loco- 
 motive, and the narrowness of the line, vividly 
 recalled to my mind the scenery between Baltimore 
 and Cumberland, on the route over the Alleghanies. 
 Passing through a long tunnel we reached 
 Sienna, a strongly fortified place of twenty thou- 
 sand inhabitants, built, it is supposed, on the crater 
 of an extinct volcano, and celebrated for the purity 
 with which its citizens speak the mellifluous lan- 
 guage of Italy. A diligence was waiting for us at 
 the station, in which we drove to the hotel, where 
 travellers must dine, if they do not wish to be 
 starved, for no further stoppage occurs until you 
 reach Viterbo, fifty miles from Rome. For a long 
 distance, after leaving this town, we passed over 
 an uneven country with a sterile and badly tilled 
 soil. Four horses, having a postilion to each pair, 
 
60 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 drew our vehicle, assisted by oxen at the steepest 
 hills. Near Torrenieri, the bleak eminences re- 
 minded me of Spain, and San Pietro stands amid 
 a plantation of olive-trees, exactly like those to be 
 seen on the banks of the upper Guadalquiver. 
 
 The cold stiff soil around this place must have 
 been the same referred to by the younger Pliny, 
 when he remarks tliat some parts of Tuscany re- 
 quired nine ploughings, before the seed could be 
 sown. We had hitherto occupied the coupd alone, 
 but here we were joined by a Milanese gentleman, 
 resident at Sienna, who had left his native city 
 out of hatred to the Austrians. With him I had 
 a great deal of conversation during the remainder 
 of the journey, respecting the unfortunate state of 
 Italy, and found him no republican, but willing to 
 join with men of any principles, whose object was- 
 to expel the Austrians. He confirmed my impres- 
 sions regarding the universal dislike felt by the 
 people of Lombardy towards that military power, 
 which, backed by the Czar, checks their enterprise, 
 represses their mental activity, and attempts in 
 every possible manner to reduce them to worse 
 than Spartan slavery; but he, like his brethren. 
 
 OUR FELLOW-TRAVELLER. 
 
 61 
 
 looked for the good time coming; and when I ex- 
 pressed it as my opinion that the bayonets of 
 Hapsburg could not for ever crush the nations 
 between Hamburg and Sienna, between Mayence 
 and Belgrave, with vehemence he exclaimed, 
 ''No, signor, i Tedeschi medesimi sanno che 
 questa tirannia non pub durare; adesso siamo in 
 gran confusione, disjiunti e vinti, ma il tempo 
 per la vendetta verra." This gentleman had tra- 
 velled in various parts of Europe, and spoke with 
 reverence of the constitution of England, but the 
 French character he despised. Their invasion of 
 Rome, he remarked, was quite consistent with the 
 former actions of a people whose fickleness and 
 want of principle had passed into a proverb. After 
 conversing for some time regarding the diplomacy 
 of the present age, and especially the manly con- 
 duct of Lord Palmerston in refusing to become, 
 like his predecessor, an Austrian policeman, or to 
 prop up governments which have rendered them- 
 selves despicable by their crimes, we adverted 
 to the peculiar position of the Romish Churcli, 
 whose weak vacillating head could not remain in 
 the Eternal City, unless surrounded by foreign 
 
62 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 bayonets. I was struck by the effect which political 
 grievances had produced upon the mind of this 
 patriotic man. " I am a Roman Catholic," he 
 said, " but when I see the Pope leading the van- 
 guard of despotism, indebted for his safety to the 
 bayonets of France, intriguing to garrison Rome 
 with Austrians, shedding the blood of his people, 
 and encouraging that treacherous Nero, the King 
 of Naples ; when I look around and find Protestant 
 countries enterprising, happy and free, while Papal 
 countries are deserts like Spain, and trampled on 
 like my poor Italy ; can you wonder, Sir, that I 
 begin to doubt the Div-ine origin of the faith of my 
 fathers?" 
 
 Nothing can be more natural than this process 
 of reasoning; there are thousands in Italy, like my 
 eloquent friend Gavazzi, whose eyes late events 
 have opened; and I firmly believe that every 
 Grerman detachment in that peninsula, every act 
 of persecution on the part of Neapolitan terrorists, 
 every tyrannical proclamation issued by Pio Nono, 
 every instance of martial law being inflicted in 
 Lombardy, add to the feeling which is rapidly 
 being diffused throughout Italy against the mon- 
 
 PASS OF RADICOFANI. 
 
 63 
 
 strous abuses of Romanism. When the dawn of 
 freedom first tinges the tops of the Apennines, woe 
 to the institutions of priestcraft ! when the Croatian 
 dragoons cross the Tagliamento, a cry of " Down 
 with the Papacy!" will awaken the echoes of the 
 Quirinal Hill. Mazzini may be active, and his 
 party numerous; but the most efficient propa- 
 gandists of Protestantism and liberal principles are 
 the troops of Radetzky and the judges of Naples. 
 
 As we approached the higher hills, the country 
 became more desolate, but the moon rose in a 
 cloudless sky to light our way over the dreary 
 pass of Radicofani, 2,470 feet above the sea, and 
 bearing evident marks of volcanic action. A 
 wolf skulked across our path, as we descended 
 to the Pope's frontier at Pontecentino, where the 
 officers behaved much more handsomely than the 
 Austrians at Sesto Calende. 
 
 From Bolsena, the ancient Volsinium, once so 
 opulent that the Romans removed from it two 
 thousand statues, now a lonely deserted village, 
 we had a fine view of the lake, thirty-five miles 
 in circumference, which Pliny describes, and which 
 witnessed the triumphs of Roman arms two 
 
64 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LAKE OF VICO. 
 
 65 
 
 hundred and seventy years before Christ. Every 
 traveller in Italy is familiar with the name of the 
 next town through which we passed, also situ- 
 ated on the banks of the " Lacus Volsiniensis," 
 Montefiascone, celebrated for its wine. Whilst 
 toiling along the stony ill-kept road leading across 
 the plain between this place and the Voltumnian 
 hills, the conductor discovered, to his no small 
 consternation, that an iron bar, supporting the 
 drag, had got loose, and, twisting itself round the 
 axle, had driven a large hole into the " int^rieur " 
 of the vehicle, besides cutting half through every 
 spoke of the wheel. But the Italians, unlike the 
 Spanish, soon effect the repairs necessary to enable 
 a disabled diligence to reach the nearest town, and 
 before nine in the morning we entered the ancient 
 town of Yiterbo, pleasantly situated at the base 
 of Mons Ciminus, and surrounded by turreted 
 walls. We passed through its chief square just 
 as the municipal authorities, attended by French 
 soldiers, were marching in procession to mass 
 in honour of the Pope's birthday. 
 
 Having breakfasted on very poor fare, we began 
 to ascend the mountain, first between vineyards 
 
 I 
 
 and gardens, and then through a forest of brush- 
 wood. This hill might easily be cultivated. 
 The same soil in Scotland would have been 
 yielding heavy crops ; but an indolent people and 
 a wretched government have conspired to arrest 
 all agricultural improvement in central Italy. 
 From the top we enjoyed an extensive view. 
 At our feet, surrounded by wooded eminences, 
 and said to have been the crater of an extinct 
 volcano, lay the Lake of Vico, whose waters, 
 tradition affirms, engulfed the city of Succinium; 
 on our right, beyond the desolate Campagna di 
 Roma, we saw the Mediterranean ; and on our left 
 rose a few snowy peaks towering above the 
 
 Apennines. 
 
 Descending into an uninteresting valley, poorly 
 cultivated by peasants living in exceedingly dirty 
 villages, we crossed another elevation near Bac- 
 cand, and looked down on some parts of the 
 valley through which the Tiber flows. What 
 can that be which appears like a monument on 
 the shoulder of a hill some distance before us? 
 1 asked myself the question without consideration, 
 but the next moment it flashed upon my mind 
 
66 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 FIRST VIEW OF ROME. 
 
 67 
 
 that the object to which my ejes were directed 
 was none other but the cross which surmounts 
 the stupendous dome of St. Peter's. We were 
 travelling along the Cassian Way, the ancient 
 high-road to Etniria, and at La Storta a postilion 
 took charge of our diligence, who urged the horses 
 into a gallop. 
 
 The sun was about to set beyond the eminences 
 towards the west ; its parting rays cast a flood of 
 light on the houseless Campagna ; far away on 
 the slopes of the Apennines two while spots 
 marked the sites of Tivoli and Preneste ; a death- 
 like stillness prevailed around us ; not a tree 
 waved over the road, not a bird sung in the fields ; 
 on one hand an ancient tomb threw a shadow 
 across the highway to Veii, on the other the eye 
 wandered helplessly over the deserted plain in 
 search of a green object or a dwelling : all was 
 desolate and lonely ; but a feeling of breathless 
 expectation silenced remark. We travelled rapidly, 
 but uttered not a word; it seemed as if we 
 approached the temple where the Goddess of 
 Kuin dwelt, and trembled lest a word should 
 conjure up the ghastly form of the divinity. 
 
 Before us was the Milvian Bridge, where Con- 
 stantine saw in the heavens the vision of a cross, 
 the emblem of truth, the antepast of victory ; and 
 a sweep of the road revealed a scene so different 
 from the gloomy Campagna, that involuntarily 
 I started, confounded by the sight, like the sailor 
 who, dreaming of lowering clouds and heaving 
 seas, awakens to behold the banana groves of the 
 tropics. Recollections crowded into my mind. 
 Thought succeeded thought too quickly to find 
 expression ; a host of the mighty dead seemed to 
 pass across the stage, and the songs of triumphal 
 warriors to die away on my ear, as at length 
 alive to the reality of the scene before me, yet 
 still awed by the deserted grandeur, the solemn 
 royalty of Rome, I thought of earth's vicissitudes 
 and of her whose glory has departed. 
 
 (( 
 
 The Niobe of Nations ! there she stands, 
 Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe.' 
 
 There are several commanding eminences, from 
 which the stranger may obtain a bird's-eye view, 
 both of the ancient monuments and of the modern 
 edifices of imperial Rome, — the former peeping 
 
 « 
 
ll 
 
 68 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE PORTA DEL POPOLO. 
 
 G9 
 
 out amidst the gardens on the Esquiline, Palatine, 
 and Aventine Hills, the latter occupying the level 
 plain at a Lend of the Tiber, called in former ages 
 the Campus Martins. He lives perhaps in one 
 of the numerous hotels or boarding-houses in 
 and around the Piazza Spagna, a handsome square 
 situated at the base of the Quirinal. As soon 
 after his arrival as possible, let him walk down the 
 Via Condotti, wdiere cameos, columns, and Etruscan 
 vases fill every shop-window, until he reach the 
 Corso, a long bustling street which forms the great 
 artery of the present city. " Can this be the ' lone 
 mother of dead empires ?' this the decaying capital 
 of the Caesars ?" he exclaims, as he passes cafes 
 crowded with French officers, walls on which 
 placards, both in Italian and in English, announce 
 the departure of steamers from Civita Yecchia, 
 the publication of new guide-books, or the per- 
 formance of a recent comedy at the theatre, the 
 stylish equipages of British aristocracy, and the 
 more lumbering coaches of the cardinals. 
 
 Surprised at the stirring appearance presented 
 by a place which most people expect to find only 
 venerable in its ruin, he turns to the left, and 
 
 I 
 
 glancing at the Parisian-looking shops as he walks 
 along, arrives at the Piazza del Popolo, an elegant 
 open space, designed by Michael Angelo. An 
 Egyptian obelisk, brought by Augustus from 
 Hierapolis, with fountains and statues, adorns the 
 centre of this square. The Via del Corso ends in 
 two churches exactly similar in architecture, one 
 on each side of the street, and opposite to them is 
 the Porta del Popolo, so celebrated during the late 
 republican struggle. Immediately overlooking 
 this quarter of the city, and laid out as a 
 fashionable promenade-gi'ound, is the Pincian 
 
 Hill. 
 
 Let us follow the carriage-road, which has been 
 carried in curves to the top, for from no other 
 point do the domes of the churches, and especially 
 St. Peter's, appear so majestic. At the foot of this 
 elevation, outside the walls, stood the Villa 
 Borghese, embowered in beautiful foliage ; but 
 French cannon have rendered its site nearly as 
 desolate as the Campagna beyond. The gardens 
 of Sallust look down from the other slope of this 
 eminence on the Campus Sceleratas, where the 
 unfaithful vestals were buried alive. 
 
 < 
 
70 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 VIEW FROM THE JANICULUM. 
 
 71 
 
 Let us contemplate the scene from a different 
 situation. We have found our way along the nar- 
 row intricate streets, crossed the river hy the Fabri- 
 cian Bridge and the island of the Tiber, formed, 
 tradition says, by the wheat of Tarquin which the 
 people threw into the stream further up, and which 
 was here impeded in its progress ; and, leaving the 
 town by the Porta Portese, near which the stranger 
 will be surprised to see a few little steamers, 
 have driven along the walls as far as the Gate of 
 Pancrazio, where blackened remains of villas, shat- 
 tered mason-work, and injured plantations, bear 
 witness to the conflict which raged so fiercely in 
 that vicinity, between the French and the Roman 
 patriots. Close to the bastion before us was the 
 breach at which Oudinot entered, and at the top 
 of the gardens attached to the Corsini Palace, 
 within the ramparts, stands the house which Gari- 
 baldi occupied during the siege, and wliich was 
 built on the site of Martial's villa. Scaffolding 
 supports the half-ruined archway through which 
 we pass to climb to the summit of the Janiculum, 
 and the Church of St. Pietro in Montorio, the scene 
 of St. Peter's crucifixion, once containing famous 
 
 n 
 
 works of art, now almost destroyed by Gallic 
 artillery. From this lofty elevation we can see 
 distinctly the seven hills on which stood the ancient 
 mistress of the world ; notwithstanding the rub- 
 bish which has accumulated to a considerable depth 
 in the interjacent valleys, and rendered the outlines 
 of the eminences less marked than formerly. Very 
 near this church, a noble fountain pours forth its 
 liquid treasures into a basin so large, that boys use 
 it for a bathing-place. Paul V. brought this stream 
 from a distance of thirty-five miles. Refreshed by 
 the coolness which it diffuses around, listening to 
 the music of the falling waters, let us meditate on 
 the changed fortunes of the city stretched out as 
 in a panorama to our view. 
 
 We stand on the spot where Porsenna mustered 
 his forces, and cast our eyes first towards the gar- 
 dens amidst which the Coliseum rises like a feudal 
 tower, then to the domes of Santa Maria della 
 Maggiore and St. John Lateran, between us and 
 the more distant Apennines, and lastly, towards 
 the proud cupola which St. Peter's rears into the 
 deep blue sky. Few cities in the world can com- 
 pare with Rome in respect to the plenty and quality 
 
72 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE SUMMIT OF ST. PETER S. 
 
 73 
 
 of the water conveyed to it. The Fonta Aqua 
 Felice, built by Sixtus Y., cools the air on the 
 Monte Cavallo; the Fountain of Trevi, an immense 
 basin with statues and artilicial rocks, affords a 
 plentiful supply to those who dwell near the college 
 of the Propagande Fide, at the base of the Quirinal ; 
 and the Aqua Paolina at the top of the Janiculum, 
 one of the most conspicuous objects in every view 
 of the seven hills, descends to enrich the fountains 
 of the Piazza San Pietro, and crosses the Sistine 
 Bridge to benefit the city. 
 
 But to enjoy the prospect in all its grandeur, 
 we shall ascend to the summit of St. Peter's, to the 
 gilt ball which sparkles in the sunshine, four hun- 
 dred and twenty-four feet above the pavement. 
 The rays of heat have not yet acquired their me- 
 ridian power; else wt could with difficulty bear 
 tlieir intensity; but a flood of liglit nevertheless 
 illumines the peaceful city. So far are we exalted, 
 that the men and horses on the Piazza appear like 
 Gulliver's Lilliputians, and the Tiber like a silver 
 bow, whose string is the Via del Popolo. Our 
 right hand rests on the Janiculum ; our left reposes 
 on the endless mason-work of the Vatican, and we 
 
 look down on a maze of lofty houses, apparently 
 w^ithout a plan, in the midst of which a break 
 shows the site of the Piazza Navona, the market- 
 place of Rome, where stands a beautiful obelisk 
 found in the circus of Caracalla, and dedicated to 
 Domitian. They sometimes lay this square under 
 water by means of the gushing fountains in its 
 midst; above it rises the cupola of St. Agnes. 
 Could our eyes penetrate into the narrow streets of 
 this quarter, we should see the cooks busily em- 
 ployed before their doors, undisturbed by passing 
 carriages or cavaliers, and priests whose name is 
 legion, hurrying to and fro, or gossiping with the 
 citizens. 
 
 The inhabitants of Rome, especially the women, 
 struck me, as a particularly fine-looking race ; they 
 dress too with taste and elegance, notwithstanding 
 the inferiority of the shops; but beggars swarm, 
 especially at the church doors. Nothing can exceed 
 the filthy state of the suburbs; well may they be 
 called " sentina gentium," the sink of nations. 
 Yet the ancient city had a thorough system of 
 drainage; travellers yet visit the remains of the 
 Cloaca Maxima, or great sewer, begun by Tarquinius 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
47 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Priscus, and completed by his son Superbus, 
 which carried into the Tiber the waters of the 
 Velabrum marsh, at the foot of the Palatine; and 
 Agrippa, history tells us, performed a voyage in a 
 boat through the drains, in order to superintend 
 their repair; so complete, indeed, was the system 
 adopted for the purification of the streets, that 
 Pliny called Rome " the hanging city." But the 
 Popes have not the public spirit even of the Tar- 
 quins ; the Italians of the present day seem insen- 
 sible to odours which would have filled with 
 consternation the polite court of Augustus; the 
 days of great undertakings have passed away, and 
 perhaps the descendants of the she-wolf which 
 nursed Rome's founder may yet find a den amid 
 the ruins of the Capitol. One of the most imposing 
 objects in the view from the cupola of St. Peter's, 
 is Fort St.Angelo, "the Mole which Hadrian reared 
 on high " for a place of sepulchre, deriving its 
 modem name from a statue which surmounts it, 
 representing the arcliangel Michael with his drawn 
 sword. It was once faced with Parian marble; 
 but not a slab of that covering now remains. Every 
 reader of English poetry will recollect Byron's 
 
 FORT ST. ANGELO. 
 
 75 
 
 vigorous denunciation of this structure, in which 
 he rates the imperial builder as a " colossal copy- 
 ist of deformity." The effect produced by it 
 certainly excited different emotions in my mind, 
 and I am yet at a loss to know for what reason the 
 Castle of St. Angelo has not been regarded as one 
 of the most picturesque edifices in modern Rome. 
 As you pass between the gigantic statues on the 
 parapet of the Elian Bridge, which crosses the 
 Tiber at its gate, the seraph seems to brandish his 
 weapon over your head, and announce that he has 
 been sent from heaven to protect the Eternal City 
 against the infidel. 
 
 Looking beyond this isolated tomb, your eye 
 rests on the Pope's Palace, occupying the summit 
 of the Quirinal, now called Monte Cavallo, from 
 two colossal groups of men and horses, evidently 
 of Grecian workmanship, which surround the obe- 
 lisk and fountain in the adjoining square. Here 
 the Cardinals meet in conclave to elect a successor 
 to St. Peter, whom, when chosen, they proclaim 
 from a window overlooking the Piazza. More 
 distant still, the two towers of Santa Maria Mag- 
 
 d2 
 
76 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 giore may be seen, and quite across the city, at the 
 furthest wall, you distinguish the Basilic of St. 
 John Lateran. Turning slightly towards the south, 
 wandering for a minute over gardens and vineyards, 
 your glance soon settles on the Coliseum, " a ruin, 
 yet what a ruin ! " the quarry to which palaces and 
 churches owe their stones; near it, the hoary wreck 
 of Csesar's Palace crowns the Palatine; while to 
 the right, the pyramid of Caius Cestius marks the 
 spot where our countrymen lie buried. Perhaps 
 you may be able to discover the roof of the Temple 
 of Vesta, whose nineteen marble columns built by 
 Numa Pompilius still stand, attesting the excellence 
 of ancient Koman masonry, and forming one of the 
 most interesting monuments of distant ages which 
 time has not destroyed ; or within a few yards of 
 this venerable relic, you may, if quick-sighted, re- 
 mark the Ponte Kotto, the remains of a bridge, 
 the building of which Michael Angelo's rivals 
 succeeded in entrusting to another architect, al- 
 though the great master had been promised the 
 work. Five years after its erection, according to 
 the prediction of the disappointed candidate for the 
 
 i 
 
 CYPRESS AND POMEGRANATE GROVES. 77 
 
 honour of constructing it, a flood carried away the 
 insufficient arches, and but a wreck remains. 
 
 The greater part of the ground covered by the 
 city in former times has now few inhabitants. 
 There you wander among noble ruins enclosed in 
 gardens and vineyards, whose manifold beauties 
 delight the eye ; days might you meditate on the 
 Aventine, Coelian and Palatine Mounts, among the 
 groves of cypress and pomegranates, shaded from 
 the fierce rays by o'erspreading fig-trees, and inhal- 
 ing the perfume of a thousand flowers. The air of 
 these solitudes is always laden with odours ; the ivy 
 twines on fallen columns ; clusters of ricli grapes 
 hang from imperial archways, and bowers of roses 
 seem placed there to invite meditation on the fate 
 of empires, to cast a veil over the prostrate glories 
 of a kingly race, and by the brilliance of their 
 varied tints 
 
 " To gild Destruction with a smile, 
 And beautify Decay." 
 
 With what delight does your eye wander over 
 the beautiful belt of pleasure-ground which with 
 
 \ 
 
78 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE CAMPAGNA. 
 
 79 
 
 ill 
 
 its villas and wide -spreading foliage shuts out from 
 modern Rome the desolate treeless Campagna ! 
 From the summit of St. Peter's dome you can trace 
 this girdle of gardens, beginning at the Pincian 
 Hill, and extending round the dwellings, till at 
 the Vatican it meets the shrubberies of the Pontiff. 
 Far in the distance you see the Apennines, with 
 Tivoli and Frascati, like white spots, on their 
 slopes ; and the roads to these retreats you can 
 distinctly trace across the arid plain. What a 
 majestic prospect is that, whose different features 
 I have lightly traced ; one could contemplate it for 
 hours, his mind wandering to far distant times, 
 w^hen triumphal processions, on their way to the 
 temple of presiding Jove, carried the spoils of 
 eastern capitals, — when monarchs from the banks 
 of the Euphrates and the Danube laid their 
 crowns at the feet of conquering Csesar; then 
 the proud eagle waved from the towers of that 
 palace on the Palatine, where the night-owl now 
 lurks in the ivy, and the falcon pursues its 
 quivering prey. 
 
 But we have not seen all ; let us turn to the 
 
 other side of the stupendous dome, and look over 
 the Campagna to the dark blue sea. That 
 beautiful region, celebrated in the classics for the 
 fertility of its soil, has become a howling wilder- 
 ness, where man has no dwelling, and malaria 
 forbids repose. Once the possession of an indus- 
 trious peasantry, who covered its valleys with 
 com, its hills with vineyards, and its slopes with 
 useful woods, spared by Alaric, respected by the 
 Vandals, it became a spoil to the rapacious nobles 
 who strove for mastery in the Eternal City ; now 
 the Colonna set fire to its forests,— again the 
 Orsini retaliated on the farms of their Ghibelline 
 foes, till the husbandman deserted the smouldering 
 ruins of his home, left his fields to the rank 
 vegetation of a southern clime, and his water- 
 courses, impeded in their flow, to become deadly 
 morasses, the nurseries of plague. The sun shmes 
 beneficently upon you as you traverse this dreary 
 solitude ; but not a tree remains of those forests 
 which afforded a grateful shade to the thirsty soil ; 
 ruined aqueducts speak of happier days, and long 
 matted grass obscures the sacred spots, where 
 
80 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ITS UTTER DESOLATION. 
 
 81 
 
 II 
 
 sleep, in forgotten sepulchres, ten thousand heroes 
 who bore the arms of Rome. 
 
 The mischief commenced by the nobles, and 
 continued by the banditti, who prowled from 
 watchtower to watchtower in medieval times in 
 searcli of plunder, in hopes of meeting some whose 
 ransom would delight their souls, has been 
 consummated, confirmed, legalised by avaricious 
 priests, under whose government the Papal States 
 seem rapidly hastening to iiTctrievable ruin. 
 Some attempt to account for this sad change from 
 physical causes ; but man is the culprit, and 
 nature only carries on the work which his neglect 
 and violence began. You walk out now on these 
 steppes, and a sense of loneliness soon creeps over 
 you ; for there is neither tree nor shrub to relieve 
 the eye, only do^Tis and plaited grass and horrible 
 morasses : you sit down on a stone to muse on 
 mankind's folly, when a troop of horses gallop 
 past, starting at the apparition of a human form. 
 Perchance you may hear the tinkling of the goat- 
 bells, or the whistling of the plovers calling to 
 their mates ; but a house, or branch, or field 
 
 of waving corn, you need not hope for there; 
 the sun burns the blade of grass, the night winds 
 howl amid the rocks, and the few wretched 
 inhabitants, who inhale the miasma of the swamps, 
 look, not like living breathing beings, but like 
 spectres walking in their shrouds. 
 
 d3 
 
I 
 
 INUNDATIONS OF THE TIBER. 
 
 83 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NOTES ON THE RUINS OF ROME. 
 
 INUNDATIONS OF THE TIBER — WHO DESTROYED THE MONUMENTS 
 OF ANCIENT ROME ? — RIENZI, LAST OF THE TRIBUNES — THE CITY 
 IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY — CLIMATE OF CENTRAL ITALY — 
 THE PANTHEON — COLUMNS OF MARCUS AURELIUS AND TRAJAN — 
 BATHS OF TITUS, OF DIOCLETIAN, AND OF CARACALLA — THE 
 APPIAN WAY — VALLEY OF EGERIA — TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA — 
 THE CATACOMBS — ROAD TO TIVOLI — MONS SACER — THE CAPITOL 
 AND TARPEIAN ROCK — THE FORUM ROMANUM — TEMPLE OF 
 JUPITER TONANS — ARCH OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS — THE MAMMER- 
 TINE PRISON — THE COLISEUM — ARCHES OF TITUS AND CONSTAN- 
 TtNE — THE PALATINE MOUNT, ITS RUINS AND GARDENS. 
 
 All students of ancient Roman history will 
 recollect how frequently the Tiber, swollen by 
 heavy rains, or melting snows in the Apennines, 
 overflowed its banks and carried away the build- 
 ings situated on the Campus Martins.* Augustus 
 
 * The following lines of Horace will, perhaps, revive the 
 memories of school-days : — 
 
 " Vidimus 
 
 
 spent an enormous sum of money in clearing and 
 widening its bed ; indeed, few of the emperors 
 were not forced to devote much of their attention 
 to projects for preventing the periodical destruction 
 caused by these inundations. The inhabitants 
 of the modem city have however no occasion to 
 dread the recuiTcnce of such a catastrophe, for the 
 rubbish and soil washed down from the adjacent 
 hills, and the foundations of houses now destroyed, 
 have raised the level of the plain about fifteen feet. 
 Above-ground we yet behold some noble monu- 
 ments of the days when every known region 
 of Europe and half of Asia obeyed the mandates 
 of the Caesars ; but under-ground there exists 
 a vast quarry, the excavation of which may yet 
 fill the antiquarian with joy. But who thus 
 mutilated, shattered, and overthrew the edifices 
 of the imperial city ? Oh, the Goths and Vandals, 
 you reply ; like flights of locusts they issued from 
 the forests of the north, crossed the Julian Alps, 
 and busied themselves in applying the besom 
 
 " Vidimus flavum Tiberim, retortis 
 Littore Etrusco violenter undis, 
 Ire dejectum monumenta Regis 
 Templaque Vestae." 
 
84 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 of destruction to the architectural triumphs of Italy. 
 The answer may be plausible ; but it is not true. 
 Spoilers of a different kind had the greatest share 
 in the work of demolition. 
 
 "The Eoman nobility," says Mr. Hallam* 
 " not content with their ovm. fortified palaces, 
 turned the sacred monuments of antiquity into 
 strongholds, and consummated the destruction 
 of time and conquest. At no period has the city 
 endured such irreparable injuries ; nor was the 
 downfall of the Western empire so fatal to its 
 capital as the contemptible feuds of the Orsini and 
 Colonna families." 
 
 Kings too had a share in the devastation. 
 We are told that Charlemagne decorated his 
 palace at Aix la Chapelle with marbles from 
 Rome ; and many centuries afterwards Robert 
 of Sicily employed vessels in transporting to his 
 dominions the slabs and pillars of temples found 
 on the seven hills. " Itaque nunc, heu dolor!" 
 Petrarch indignantly exclaims, *' heu scelus in- 
 dignum ! de vestris marmoreis columnis, de limi- 
 nibus templorum (ad qu£e nuper ex orbe toto 
 
 • History of the Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 279. 
 
 RELICS OF OLD ROME. 
 
 85 
 
 concursus devotissimus fiebat), de imaginibus 
 sepulchrorum sub quibus patrum vestrorum 
 venerabilis civis erat, ut reliquas sileam, desidiosa 
 Neapolis adornatur. Sic paullatim ruinai ipsae 
 deficiimt." In another passage of his works the 
 laureate remarks that " the citizens have done w^ith 
 the battering ram, what the Punic hero could not 
 accomplish with his sword." 
 
 The example thus set by nobles and princes 
 was closely follow^ed by several Pontiffs of the 
 Church. Pope Gregory I. waged war with the 
 temples and statues found within the walls, he 
 burnt the library on the Palatine, and anathematized 
 all who dared to admire the vestiges of former 
 greatness. That rude Franciscan, Sixtus V., 
 adopted a similar course of procedure. *' Clear 
 away these ugly antiquities," he replied to the 
 remonstrances of a more enlightened Cardinal ; 
 he totally destroyed the Septizonium of Severus, 
 and threatened to blow up the Capitol if the 
 Grecian statues were not taken away. Had death 
 not happily removed the barbarian from the scene 
 of his havoc, the tomb of Cecilia Metella would 
 
86 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE TRIBUNES. 
 
 87 
 
 have been reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins ; 
 and as it is, he pulled down some of the noblest 
 relics of the Augustan age to build the tasteless 
 palace of the Lateran. 
 
 In those days every one regarded the ruins only 
 as so many quarries, from which the nobles might 
 erect their watch-towers, the peasants their farm 
 offices, and the priests their sacred domes. The 
 theatre of Marcellus was a stronghold, fortified by 
 the Savelli ; even the remains of the numerous 
 temples which formerly covered the Aventine, 
 have now disappeared, and columns, which once 
 adorned the habitation of Capitoline Jove, now 
 contribute to the great Church of St. Peter's. Even 
 the shrines of Venus were desecrated to afford 
 materials for the erection of Christian temples. 
 
 Near the ruins of the Palatine Bridge, ad- 
 joining that beautiful building whicli Servius 
 Sullius dedicated to Fortuna Virilis, the stranger 
 Avill find the house where dwelt Cola di Rienzi, 
 last of the Koman tribunes. Byron calls him 
 " The friend of Petrarch— hope of Italy," and he 
 won the heart of the patriotic jwet, by his stem 
 
 denunciation of those arlstocratical and priestly 
 spoliators who rioted among the prostrate monu- 
 ments of a greater age. There are few characters 
 in history so romantic as that of him who revived 
 for a little time the free institutions of a people 
 whose virtue had been corrupted and whose spirit 
 was gone. For a time *' the fire of old Rome" 
 seemed to have returned ; but it blazed only for a 
 moment, to expire in deeper gloom. ^ 
 
 In the fifteenth century Rome was the abode 
 of herdsmen ; the elevations had been forsaken, 
 and a few dwellings, huddled together along 
 the river, alone indicated the site of the world's 
 capital ; morasses occupied the low ground, 
 wild cattle fed on the eminences ; the seat of 
 Jupiter Tonans had become " the hill of the 
 goats," and the Forum Romanum '' the cows' 
 field." 
 
 In the year 1443, Pope Eugenius IV. returned 
 from Avignon to restore the glories of the 
 " Eternal City," which his predecessors had de- 
 serted ; but a considerable time after that happy 
 event, Poggius thus moralises from his station on 
 the Capitoline Hill ; '* Ut nunc omni decore 
 
\ 
 
 88 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 11 
 
 nudata, prostrata jacet, instar gigantei cadaveris 
 corrupt! atque undique exesi. Conscdimus in 
 ipsis Tarpeiae arcis minis, pone ingens porta? 
 cujusdam, iit puto, terapli, marmoreuni limcn, 
 plurimasque passim confractas columnas, unde 
 magna ex parte prospectus urbis patet, Capitolium 
 adeo immutatum ut vinea? in senatorum subsellia 
 successerint, stercorum ac purgamentorum recep- 
 taculum factum. Respice ad Palatinum montem — 
 vasta rudera — cateros colics perlustra, omnia vacua 
 sediiiciis, minis vineisque oppleta conspicies."* 
 
 While wandering amidst the mins of ancient 
 Rome, and meditating on those causes which con- 
 tributed to make desolate the sites of buildino-s 
 famed in a classic age, I found myself constantly 
 repeating the expressive lines in Crabbe's ballad 
 of Sir Eustace Grey, — 
 
 " Vast ruins in the midst were spread, 
 Pillars and pediments sublime, 
 Where the grey moss had form'd a bed, 
 And clothed the crumbling spoils of Time." 
 
 There is a brilliance in tlie climate of Central 
 
 * De Varietate Fortunae. 
 
 DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE. 
 
 89 
 
 Italy, which cheers even these solitudes. The 
 gloom of a northern atmosphere would fill them 
 with phantoms, the spectres of a vanished race, 
 risen to avenge the desecration of their tombs ; 
 but in the rosy light of morn, or the more chas- 
 tened rays of evening, you can admire the lux- 
 uriance of nature, amid the ruins of art, or the 
 remains of fallen fanes and prostrate columns. 
 You may breathe the fragrance of wall-flower, 
 and gather the rich clusters of the vine, while the 
 fig-tree shelters your bower, and the bright flowers 
 of the pomegranate wave in a breeze, which 
 seems, as if lulled by the loveliness of these 
 gardens, to die away among the foliage. 
 
 I sometimes thought, while walking in the \4ne- 
 yards of the Aventine, that the scene might once 
 more inspire the muse of Virgil, could he revisit 
 the groves where Maecenas patronised his rustic 
 songs. 
 
 The first visit I paid in Rome was to the 
 Pantheon. There is something sublime in a build- 
 ing which has stood 1878 years, and formed a 
 temple for the worship of Jesus, as well as of the 
 
 jHI I 
 
90 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 divinities of a heathen age. Akenside, in one of 
 his odes, graphically describes it as standing 
 
 " Amid the toys of idle state, 
 How simply, how severely great." 
 
 No excessive ornament detracts from the erect 
 grandeur of this venerable dome ; it seems old 
 and frail, but shows no signs of dissolution. Like 
 an aged patriarch, who has lived contented and 
 frugally, it bears the marks of time, but preserves 
 the vigour of youth. Centuries have rolled away 
 since its noble portico first received the worshippers 
 of the gods ; but these columns bid fair even yet 
 to survive the fall of modern monuments. In the 
 neighbouring Piazza Colonna stands the column of 
 Marcus Aurelius, raised by the senate to com- 
 memorate his German victories. It is one hundred 
 and twenty-eight feet high, — only four feet lower 
 than the still more beautiful pillar in the Forum 
 of Trajan, which celebrates that emperor's victories 
 over the Dacians. The bas-reliefs on these co- 
 lumns have serv^ed as models to sculptors in all 
 ages ; those on the latter represent 2,500 male 
 
 THERMAE. 
 
 91 
 
 fio-ures, besides animals, chariots, &c. The splen- 
 dour of the workmanship has not yet been equalled 
 by modem art, but remains in the presence of in- 
 credulous men, to attest the high civilization of 
 
 the empire. 
 
 The thermae of Home were originally designed 
 for baths ; but in process of time had gardens, 
 theatres, museums, and libraries added to them, 
 —in fact, became public lounges. Titus erected 
 those bearing his name above the palace of 
 Nero, the rooms of which are now subterranean. 
 An old guide conducts the stranger through these 
 spacious chambers, and, exalting a torch on a 
 pole, shows him the remains of fresco paintings, 
 whose colours have defied the efforts of time. So 
 beautiful are they, that Raffaelle copied from them 
 several of his designs for the Loggie of the 
 Vatican. On the summit of the Esquiline, now 
 used as magazines for hay and barracks for French 
 soldiers, are the enormous therms of Diocletian, 
 covering an enclosure upwards of 4,000 feet m 
 circuit ; they afforded room for 3,200 bathers. But 
 by far the grandest ruins are those of the Baths 
 of Caracalla, situated among beautiful vineyards 
 
92 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 VALLEY OF EGERIA. 
 
 93 
 
 !' 
 
 in the Appian Way. Several of the Mosaic pave- 
 ments have been well preserved, and the arches 
 stmck me as of extraordinary span. The guide 
 conducted us, in due form, to the apartments where 
 were the hot, cold, and vapour baths, the swim- 
 ming-halls, the library, robing-room, theatre, and 
 many other chambers of vast size, still majestic 
 in their decay, though huge fragments have fallen 
 from the roof, and lie on the marble floors. Many 
 of the finest statues were found when they cleared 
 away the rubbish from this enormous edifice. 
 The gigantic walls, the extent of the rooms, and 
 the height of the porticoes, impress one witli 
 respect for the grandeur of conception displayed 
 by the Romans, even during the declining days 
 of the empire. 
 
 Between the Flaminian Way and the Tiber, 
 completely blocked up by, and indeed forming the 
 support of houses, you will experience great dif- 
 ficulty in finding the Mausoleum of Augustus, a 
 lofty circular building, exactly similar to the 
 Castle of St. Angelo. A considerable portion of 
 it still remains, but so hidden by the dwellings of 
 one of the most densely-peopled parts of the city, 
 
 that you may pass close to it frequently without 
 observing its moss-covered walls. 
 
 Of all the drives around Rome, none pleased 
 me so much as that along the Appian Way. For 
 a mile or two we passed between gardens shaded 
 by the leaves of the fig-tree, adorned by the scarlet 
 flowers of the pomegranate, and watered by little 
 courses which the aqueducts supply. In the cool- 
 ness of evening, when a mellowed light tinges 
 the Apennines, and a gentle breeze refreshes the 
 heated air, how delicious slowly to pursue one's 
 way between the imposing ruins of Caracalla's 
 Baths and the more modest tombs of the Scipios, 
 passing through the Arch of Drusus to survey the 
 remains of the aqueduct which Claudius formed to 
 supply this part of the ancient city ; and then, 
 leaving the walls by the Gate of St. Sebastian, to 
 meditate, during eventide, in the fields of that 
 very Valley of Egeria where Numa Pompilius 
 received from the goddess all his laws respect- 
 ing the arts of peace and the worship of the 
 divinities ! Let us descend from our carriage 
 to the vineyards which now cover that sacred 
 spot, and return to wonder at the vast Circus of 
 
 I 
 
94 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Romulus, 1,700 feet long, by 260 broad, over- 
 looked by 
 
 " A Btem round tower of other days," — 
 
 the lofty tomb which contains the ashes of Cecilia 
 Metella, and forms one of the most interesting 
 remnants of antiquity within the territories of the 
 Papal See. On the other side of the Appian Way 
 from this ivy-covered monument, you observe a 
 small unpretending church, almost hidden by 
 foliage. It belongs to the indigent monks of 
 St. Francis d'Assisi, and constitutes one of the 
 seven basilics of Rome ; for under it are the Cata- 
 combs, the subterranean galleries in the rock 
 where the persecuted Christians worshipped, and 
 buried their dead. Tradition tells us, that fourteen 
 popes and 170,000 Nazarenes there lie interred. 
 We entered the open door of the place of worship, 
 and pulled a bell communicating wnth the adjacent 
 monastery. By-and-by a careworn, miserable 
 man appeared, dressed in the scanty garments of 
 the brotherhood ; and, handing candles to each of 
 us, led the way down to the gloomy corridors, 
 where Peter is said to have declared the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ. 
 
 MONS SACER. 
 
 95 
 
 Will the reader follow me now in another di- 
 rection? Ascending the Monte Cavallo, we pass 
 between the gardens of Sallust and the Esquiline, 
 and, driving through the Porta Salaria, the same 
 by which Alaric entered in triumph, visit the 
 Villa Albani, to see Rafael Mengs' beautiful fresco 
 of Apollo and Mnemosyne on Parnassus with the 
 Muses. Then we turn to the left, and join the 
 road wliich leads from the Porta Pia, by the Villa 
 Torlonia and church of St. Agnes, across the Cam- 
 pagna to Tivoli. Gradually ^we leave behind us the 
 vineyards and gardens which form a belt round the 
 city, and enter the desolate downs on the banks of 
 the Anio, where, in a little rounded eminence, soli- 
 tary as the ocean, we recognise Mons Sacer, famous 
 for the secessions of the Roman plebeians, the scene 
 of Menenius Agrippa's fabulous exhortations. But 
 we are now a long way from the Piazza Spagna ; 
 the sun has set behind St. Peter's ; and in these 
 southern regions we must bear in mind that no 
 twilight befriends the wanderer, but, soon as the 
 orb of day has declined in the western horizon, 
 " the shadows fall," the stars rush out, and " at 
 one stride comes the dark." 
 
96 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 COLUMN OF PHOCAS. 
 
 97 
 
 But we have yet by far the most interesting 
 part of the ruins to survey. We shall, for this 
 purpose, ascend to the top of the Capitol, and stand 
 on the brink of the celebrated Tarpeian Rock, " the 
 promontory whence the Traitor's-leap cured all am- 
 bition." Its height has been much lessened by rub- 
 bish accumulated below; but still no one would 
 exactly choose to cast himself from its summit 
 into the gardens beneath it. We look down upon 
 the ancient Forum, known to every schoolboy 
 from his earliest years. It occupies the low 
 ground between the Capitoline and Palatine Hills, 
 and around it stood the Senate-house, the Comi- 
 tium, and other buildings famous in the classics. 
 
 Immediately at the foot of the rock on which 
 we have taken our position, are three splendid 
 isolated Corinthian columns, supporting a sculp- 
 tured frieze of beautiful workmanship. This con- 
 stitutes all that remains of the temple of Jupiter 
 Tonans. Close to it eight Ionic pillars of Egyptian 
 granite, forty feet high, and all of different dia- 
 meter, indicate the site of the Temple of Fortune ; 
 while a little to the left the arch of Septimius 
 Severus, raised by the " senatus populusque," com- 
 
 memorates the victories gained by that emperor in 
 the East. This highly decorated monument is in 
 excellent preservation. Within a few yards of its 
 archway, a narrow stair descends into the sub- 
 terranean cavern, formerly called the Mamertine 
 prison, built by Ancus Martius, and rendered more 
 famous, in after times, by the tradition that the 
 apostles Peter and Paul were there confined, under 
 Nero.* Here we put our hands into the cavity 
 in the rock, said to have been caused by St. 
 Peter's head, (!) and drank of the stream of 
 water used at the baptism of Processus and Mar- 
 tinian, the keepers of the dungeon, whom their 
 prisoners converted from heathen error to the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 The single column of Phocas stands by itself, 
 at the side of the Via Sacra, so called from the 
 sacrifices which accompanied the peace between 
 Romulus and Tatius. It commences at the Coli- 
 seum, passes the temples of Romulus and Remus, 
 the splendid remains of the temple of Sesostris, 
 
 • The classical scholar will recollect that Jugurtha, Zenobia, 
 the confederates of Catiline, and other illustrious prisoners, 
 were likewise confined in this dungeon. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 £ 
 
 ) 
 
98 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE COLISEUM. 
 
 99 
 
 the nine columns of tlie temple of Antoninus and 
 Faustina, tlie Curia Hostilia, the Basilic of 
 Constantine, and the beautiful arch of Titus, and 
 enters at the Fabian gate the Roman Forum. 
 Hiis cluster of noble niins has been often de- 
 scribed, and as often represented in engravings. 
 There was the heart of the ancient city, and from 
 thence emanated laws which were obeyed from 
 the Euphrates to the Pillars of Hercules, from the 
 Danube to the Mountains of Mauritania, and 
 the Cataracts of the Nile. The moderns have 
 deserted this splendid site, to build on the plain 
 below ; and if Poggius could resume his musings 
 on the Palatine, he would still see only desolation, 
 and mourn over decay. 
 
 Let us now, holding our breath— for the mag- 
 nitude of the building oppresses our feelings— enter 
 the great amphitheatre of Titus, the wonderful 
 Coliseum,—" an edifice," says Gibbon,* " which, 
 had it been left to time and nature, might perhaps 
 have claimed an eternal duration." 
 
 Every one knows the history and uses of this 
 famous structure. Having been converted into a 
 
 * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. viii. p. 456. 
 
 fortress by the Frangipani and Anibaldi during 
 the days of aristocratic feuds, it suffered much 
 from the hands of violence; but still it stands 
 unequalled in the wide world as a relic of the past. 
 It had a triple row of arcades, raised one above 
 another, and each consisting of eighty arches. 
 The form is oval, the height 157 feet, the cir- 
 cumference more than one-third of a mile ; on its 
 benches 87,000 people could be accommodated, 
 wliile 20,000 more stood on the terrace above. 
 These figures give some idea of its vastness ; but 
 the bird's-eye view from the highest tier exceeds 
 all description ; and when the moonbeams shine 
 through the ruined gateways, the effect mocks the 
 power of language. To the well-known stanzas 
 in the fourth canto of " Childe Harold" the 
 reader must refer for by far the most graphic 
 wi'itten account of this stupendous edifice, and 
 the feelings which it produces in a susceptible 
 mind. 
 
 You sit on a crumbling bench of stone, and 
 listen to the moaning of the wind as it passes 
 through the arches : can this be the suppressed 
 roar of the African lion, or is it the last exclama- 
 
 e2 
 
100 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 tion of the gladiator who has been carried out to 
 (liey_the sigh, perhaps, of some holy martyr to 
 the faith once delivered to the saints, who has 
 been sacrificed to gratify the brutal passions of a 
 people thirsting for that sort of excitement which 
 calls loudly for blood. You cast a hurried glance 
 down to the arena, almost expecting to see the 
 wild beast seize his victim ; or up to the regal 
 box, where Caligula smiled as the tigers tore out 
 the hearts of his fellow-men ;— you feel mentally 
 transported to those rude days, and can scarcely 
 realize the pleasant fact, that now no one appears 
 on that once cruel stage but the Christian stranger, 
 who execrates the sports of Eome. 
 
 Between the Ccelian and the Palatine hills 
 stands the Arch of Constantine, consisting of 
 three arcades, eight Corinthian columns, and 
 several bas-reliefs in excellent preservation. To 
 adorn this edifice, the subservient senate, after the 
 defeat of Maxentius, stripped many of the figures 
 oft^ the Pillar of Trajan, thus mutilating an old 
 monument to disfigure a new; for what can be 
 more out of place than Parthian captives at the 
 feet of an emperor who never encountered that 
 
 THE PALATIKE. 
 
 101 
 
 nation, and the head of Trajan placed on the 
 body of one of Constantine's enemies? This 
 trophy remains a monument of senatorial syco- 
 phancy and artistic decay. 
 
 I conclude this brief sketch of a few of those 
 venerable ruins which have attracted strangers of 
 all nations to Eome, by asking my reader to return 
 with me once more to the Appian Way, and enter- 
 ing a vineyard by a little door, climb to the sum- 
 mit of the Palatine, to enjoy the splendid prospect 
 of the seven hills, which presents itself from the 
 Palace of the Caesars. Three thousand columns 
 once adorned an edifice whose crumbling walls 
 now form lurking-places for the birds of night — 
 in whose saloons the gardener cultivates his vege- 
 tables — and whose towers are crowned with ever- 
 green oaks, and cased by entwining ivy. Here 
 Nero held his bacchanalian orgies — hitlier Augus- 
 tus invited learned men — within these halls Cali- 
 gula devised new schemes of bloodshed. How 
 splendid wxre the apartments in these days of 
 Roman power ! and they are beautiful still ; true, 
 the gold and purple have vanished, the menials 
 
«)^£«^^!l«*»^g«^^;^#^gf-^"--' 
 
 102 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 have ceased to attend in the vestibule ; the 
 pageantry of the court is no more ; but perhaps 
 few spots in Europe can compare, in point of 
 romantic loveliness, with the groves of oak, the 
 cypress thickets, and the bowers of jessamine, 
 which mingle with the ruins on the Palatine. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHURCHES OF ROME — BASILICS OF ST. PAUL, SANTA CROCE, AND 
 SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE— PIAZZA ST. PIETRO — FIRST IMPRESSIONS 
 
 OF ST. Peter's— ITS colossal dome — statuary in the interior 
 — canova'b monument to clement xiil— feast of corpus 
 
 DOMINI — procession OF ECCLESIASTICS — THE MONKS, PRELATES, 
 AND CARDINAI^— PIO NONO— GENERAL GEMEAU— THE POPE's 
 BENEDICTION FROM THE HIGH ALTAR OF ST. PETER'S — ENGLISH 
 SPECTATORS — FEELINGS PRODUCED BY THE CEREMONY— PRO- 
 CESSION OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT IN THE SQUARE OP THE 
 LATERAN — THE SCALA SANTA — FESTIVAL OF ST. JOHN THE BAP- 
 TIST IN THE LATERAN CHURCH — ARRIVAL OF THE POPE— THK 
 SWISS GUARDS — PIO NONO ON HIS PONTIFICAL THRONE — HOMAGE 
 OF THE CARDINALS — THE CISTINE CHAPEL — MICHAEL ANGELO's 
 
 " LAST judgment" — THE VATICAN PALACE- 
 
 -RAFFAELLE'S " LOG- 
 GIE" — GENIUS OF THAT PAINTER— POMPEY's STATUE IN THK 
 8PADA PALACE— ST. PIETRO IN VINCOLI— MICHAEL ANGELO's 
 " MOSES "—GALLERY ON THE CAPITOL— DOMENICHINO'S "CUM.^AN 
 sybil" — "THE BRONZE WOLF" — "THE DYING GLADIATOR"— 
 STATUARY IN THE VATICAN— THE "LAOCOON" AND " APOLLO 
 BELVIDERE" — QUERCINO'S PICTURES— THE THREE " ECCE HOMOS" 
 IN THE CORSINI PALACE — " THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. SEBASTIAN" — 
 GUIDO'S "BEATRICE CENCi" — HIS FRESCO OF " AURORA" IN THE 
 PAVILION OF THE ROSPIGLIOSI PALACE — PAINTINGS IN THE 
 VATICAN — DOMENICHINO'S "ST. JEROME " — RAFFAELLE'S "CORO- 
 NATION OF THE virgin" AND "MADONNA DE FOLIGNO"— THK 
 "transfiguration" — NOTES ON RAPFAELLE's PICTURES — 
 PEELINGS ON LEAVING ROME. 
 
 Two or three miles down the Tiber stands the 
 Basilic of St. Paul, originally erected by Constan- 
 
104 
 
 THE TAGtS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 tine over the cemetery where, according to tradi- 
 tion, the Apostle of the Gentiles was buried. A 
 fire in 1823 consumed the greater part of this 
 edifice, which is now being rebuilt in a style of 
 splendour perhaps unequalled in Europe. Eighty- 
 eight columns of the finest Carrara marble support 
 a roof resplendent with gold, and the walls will, 
 wlien finished, be faced with the same material. 
 The cost of the undertaking— an extravagant one, 
 considering the financial condition of the country 
 — has yet to be ascertained, but it must be 
 enormous. 
 
 Near the Porta Maggiore, built by the Emperor 
 Claudius to carry his noble aqueduct over the 
 roads to Labicum and Preneste, the stranger will 
 find the Basilic of Santa Croce, which contains a 
 large portion of the holy cross found by St. Helena 
 in Jerusalem, some of our Saviour's thorns, and 
 other relics, to doubt the authenticity of which, 
 would be considered the direst heresy. Prostrate 
 before the case enclosing these trumpery fabrica- 
 tions, may generally be seen some deluded votaries, 
 whose uplifted hands, and rapt expressions, testify 
 how firmly they believe in the sanctity of the place 
 dedicated to the accursed tree. 
 
 ST. PETER^S. 
 
 105 
 
 The Basilic of Santa Maria Maggiore, the chief 
 church in Christendom over which the Virgin pre- 
 sides, stands on the top of the Esquiline hill, and 
 appears conspicuously in most views of the city. 
 The chapels of the Holy Sacrament and the Bor- 
 ghese family are rich with gilding and jewels, but 
 few men of taste will admire either the external 
 architecture, or the internal decoration, of this 
 structure. 
 
 We arrived in Rome shortly before the feast of 
 Corpus Domini, and first entered St. Peter's, to 
 hear the chanting at vespers on the preceding 
 evening. Most people are familiar with the 
 general appearance and situation of that august 
 temple, which took 150 years to complete, and is 
 perhaps the most wonderful display of architec- 
 tural vastness in Christendom. It stands on the 
 slope of the Vatican hill, looking over the Tiber 
 and the houses of the modern city towards the 
 Quirinal. The way to it leads through narrow 
 streets, inhabited by an indigent population. Sud- 
 denly emerging from them, we found ourselves in 
 the Piazza St. Pietro, a spacious ellipsis, upwards 
 of 1,000 feet in length, having on each side four 
 
 E 3 
 
106 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 rows of columns, which support a balustrade form- 
 ing the pedestal of 192 statues. In the centre 
 stands an Egyptian obelisk, brought from Ileli- 
 opolis, and two handsome fountains. 
 
 In common with many othere, I must confess 
 my disappointment with the first view of St. 
 Peter's. It affords a remarkable instance of how 
 much the effect of vastness of dimension may be 
 lessened by variety of architecture ; you cannot^ 
 realize the sublimity of the whole, for the j^cirts 
 divert your attention, whether you will or not. 
 Is this the church, you say, which excels all 
 others in magnitude, on which Michael Angelo, 
 Kaffaelle, Bramante, and Bernini, exercised their 
 powers? But when you begin to compare the 
 statues, or pillars, witli the stature of living men, 
 — when you have time, one by one, to study the 
 details of the building,— its colossal proportions 
 stand out, as it were, in greater relief, the littleness 
 of surrounding objects becomes more \dsible ; and 
 as your eye wanders from the flight of steps lead- 
 ing to the great door, to the figures above the 
 facade, and from thence upwards to the summit 
 of the stupendous dome, you feel growing upon 
 
 ST. Peter's. 
 
 107 
 
 your mind that impression of the gigantic which 
 the stranger generally bears with him to his dis- 
 tant home. 
 
 To the architecture of the front few will become 
 reconciled ; I never looked at it without lamenting 
 that Bramante did not live to carry out that plan 
 which St. Gallo and Mademi have so barbarously 
 altered; but the dome appears more and more 
 sublime on every successive visit. Gazing on the 
 gilded ball which surmounts the giant cupola, 
 your mind seems to dilate, till, forgetting the in- 
 significance of earthly things, you rise to the full 
 understanding of the shrine before you ; the pro- 
 portions of the edifice expand as you carefully con- 
 template them ; gradually feelings too rare for 
 ordinary expression banish every sense of disap- 
 pointment, and a reverential awe creeps over you, 
 produced by immensity, and similar to that expe- 
 rienced by the visitor to Chamouni, when, three 
 hours after the sun has set behind the hill of For- 
 claz, he beholds it illuminating the snows on the 
 summit of Mont Blanc. 
 
 Some writers estimate that St. Peter's cost twelve 
 millions sterhng. With what important conse- 
 
108 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 quences was this outlay fraught to tlie nations of 
 the world ! Little did Bramante and Michael An- 
 gelo think, when they projected this vast work, that 
 the sale of indulgences to defray its expenses would 
 bring about a mighty reformation of the Romish 
 Church. The Pope reared a monument which 
 forms the wonder of succeeding ages ; Imt in doing 
 so, he gave tlic signal to ^lartin Luther to begin 
 that war which ended in the triumph of Protest- 
 antism among tlie most energetic nations of Europe. 
 This unexpected result may prove to us, that a 
 greater than Rome's Pontiff is the Head of the 
 Christian Church ; that the worldly wisdom of 
 Leo was purposely turned into folly by Ilim 
 who sitteth on the circle of the Heavens, and con- 
 founds the designs of the proud. 
 
 The thirteen gigantic statues above the facade 
 of St. Peter's, represent our Saviour and his twelve 
 apostles; you can Avalk on the flat roof beside 
 tliem, and survey the proportions of that dome 
 which rises four hundred and twenty-four feet 
 above the pavement. The interior, which forms a 
 Latin cross, is divided by Corinthian pillars into 
 three naves : under the high altar you descend a 
 
 ST. PETER S. 
 
 109 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 few steps to the tomb of St. Peter, and Canova's 
 celebrated statue of Pius VI; looking upwards 
 from which you behold the top of the cupola, 
 with the inscription in large letters on its frieze : 
 " Tu es Petrus, et super banc Petram sedificabo 
 ecclesiam meam, et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum." 
 Who has not heard of the tombs which decorate 
 the principal church of Christendom? A pyramid 
 of white marble in relief, near the entrance door, 
 the work of Canova, marks the final resting-place 
 pf the last three of the Stuarts ; and Thorwaldsen 
 has a noble monument to Pius VII. ; but the piece 
 of sculpture which pleased me most, was Canova's 
 beautiful tribute to the memory of Clement XIII. 
 Above the Pope appears praying, at one side Re- 
 ligion holds the cross, and at the other you see the 
 Genius of Death; while two bas-relief lions, sym- 
 bolic of the Pontiff's strength of character, recline 
 with Charity and Fortitude below. During vespers 
 on the eve of Cor^ms Christi, for half-an-hour I 
 laboured under the delusion that one of these figures 
 was alive. To describe in detail the architectural 
 ornaments, or the internal decorations of the church, 
 would be out of place in a work like the present; 
 
no 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CORPUS DOMINI. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the curious will find them minutely examined in 
 the books of abler travellers, whose pens can do 
 justice to their merits. 
 
 Let me invite the attention of my readers to tlie 
 scene which I witnessed in the Piazza, and at the 
 altar of St. Peter's, on the great feast of Corpus 
 Domini. The day broke cloudless and serene, and 
 the sun of Italy rose in all its splendour, to illumi- 
 nate the procession of dignitaries. Early in tlie 
 morning I joined the vast crowd, which flowed like 
 a resistless river towards the Vatican. The broad 
 way between the rows of pillars on the Piazza, 
 was strewn with box-wood leaves and fine yellow 
 sand, and along this path, shortly after our anival, 
 the ecclesiastics began to march in order towards 
 the cathedral. A very courteous officer in charge 
 having provided us with front seats along the line, 
 we saw the spectacle to great advantage. The 
 French soldiers had scarcely taken their positions 
 to keep back the multitude, when the students for 
 the ministry appeared, forming the vanguard of 
 the various orders of monks, whose coarse garments, 
 rope girdles, and sandals, strikingly contrasted wdth 
 the rich dresses of the ladies around us. Behind 
 
 y 
 
 \ 
 
 them walked the priests and singing boys, two 
 abreast, each man carrying a lighted candle, the 
 wax from which dropped plentifully on the sand. 
 I never saw in any country such an array of dirty, 
 vulgar, ignorant looking men; the regulars, especi- 
 ally, had a most repulsive aspect. At intervals 
 amongst tlie clergy, porters with tattered robes 
 can'ied gilt crucifixes, and the standards of the 
 several saints, f»^^ lowed by the bishops, the arch- 
 bishops, and the bearded patriarchs of the Greek 
 and Armenian churches in communion with Rome. 
 After them came the cardinals, headed by Antonelli, 
 the famous prime-minister of the Holy See — gene- 
 rally speaking, handsome elderly men, with intel- 
 lectual countenances. They preceded a sort of 
 throne, covered by a canopy, and borne on men's 
 shoulders, on which, his head and shoulders only 
 being visible above the robes of state, reclined 
 Pope Pius IX. He looked downwards, and as 
 he passed very slowly, I had time to remark his 
 careworn countenance, and the anxious glances 
 which he cast from side to side, as if somewhat 
 suspicious of his faithful Romans. He has grizzly 
 hair, an expression by no means intellectual, and a 
 
'^ir^'fu^ievsfs^um'^-if,-^^-'!^ .vs 
 
 112 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LEVITY OF THE FRENCH TROOPS. 
 
 113 
 
 face not nearly so venerable as those of the more 
 aged cardinals. 
 
 Immediately behind Pio Nono, rode General 
 Gemeau and his staff, taking precedence of the 
 Roman nobles, led by II Principe Altieri, a body 
 of very handsome, elegantly dressed men, who con- 
 stitute the Pope's guard of honour. How humili- 
 ating to them to see their place usurped by Gallic 
 officers, to whom their Pontiff owes his restoration 
 and his safe residence in the Eternal City! The 
 heavy Norman cavalr}- followed, and the other 
 horse regiments of France brought up the rear of 
 the procession. As soon as they passed, we has- 
 tened to the sacristy door, and entered St. Peter's 
 a few minutes before the Pope from the High 
 Altar gave his benediction to a prostrate people. 
 It was a solemn moment. The old man havinsr 
 descended from his throne, mounted the steps, and 
 turning towards the assembled thousands, raised 
 his hands. Immediately the vast multitude fell on 
 their knees; looking over the forest of heads, I 
 could see no upright figures but those of a few 
 Inglesi and Amcricani, the nations who enjoy 
 great liberty of a certain kind in Rome. 
 
 \*i 
 
 I have been in churches abroad where no such 
 profanation would be allowed, where the Protestant 
 must bow the knee or be punished ; but the attitude 
 of the strangers in St. Peter's, even on that sacred 
 occasion, seemed to excite no attention whatever ; 
 every man did what was right in his own eyes. 
 Exemption from conforming to the rites of popery 
 has been purchased in the Eternal City by English 
 gold. It is NOT necessary in Rome to follow the 
 customs of the Romans. The bearing of the people 
 during the ceremony was respectful, but scarcely 
 devout; they seemed to favour the religion, but to 
 bear no good-will towards its ministers. As for 
 the French soldiers, they behaved with gi*eat 
 levity; when a particularly fat monk passed, one 
 man touched another with his musket, and an 
 audible titter along the ranks stopped the pater- 
 noster of the unfortunate padre, who gazed mourn- 
 fully on the scoffers. 
 
 We remained for some time in the Piazza, when 
 the crowd had begun to disperse, in order to see 
 the equipages of the cardinals, the heavy coaches 
 with gilt ornaments, red wheels, and black horses, 
 which are so numerous in Rome. Three footmen 
 
.-,.j«^ "-"Vft'ttiiS^'' 
 
 114 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BASILIC OF ST. JOHN. 
 
 115 
 
 generally stand behind, while a stout coachman in 
 a gorgeous livery sits on the hammer-cloth. The 
 splendour of the vestments worn by the ecclesiastics 
 did not come up to my expectations ; the standards, 
 too, bore marks of age, and many of the clergy 
 seemed sadly to want soap and water. It was a 
 childish procession, the offspring of " Night's 
 daughter. Ignorance;" the vain effort of minds 
 darkened by superstition, to honour that "God who 
 is a Spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and 
 in truth." If religion consist in prostrations, hold- 
 ing wax-candles, and what Dr. Chalmers calls " a 
 gurgle of syllables," then Kome is its capital; if 
 men be rational beings, and their God accept only 
 the offerings of the heart, then the mystery of 
 iniquity works on the seven hills, and Home is the 
 Babylon of prophecy. 
 
 On the evening of the following Sunday half 
 the people of the city flocked to the Piazza of the 
 Lateran Church, to witness the procession of the 
 Holy Sacrament. The Basilic of St. John's 
 stands on elevated ground, close to the southern 
 walls. A splendid obelisk, brought by Con- 
 stantine from Thebes, adorns the adjoining square, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 and near it is a small chapel, with a portico 
 covering the staircase, belonging to Pontius 
 Pilate's palace at Jerusalem, up which Our Saviour 
 walked to meet the governor. 
 
 All readers of history know tlie Scala Santa, 
 which the f^iithful ascend on their knees. Whilst 
 watching the deluded beings sp engaged, I thought 
 of Luther's \4sit to the place, and the flash of light 
 which there revealed to him the mummeries of 
 Antichrist. We found the vast open space in 
 front of the church filled with citizens, soldiers, 
 and carriages. The procession left the Basilic by 
 a side door, made a circuit to pass through an 
 hospital, and entered again by the great door 
 of the eastern front. Several hundred priests and 
 singers, the various orders of monks, the students 
 of divinity, men carrying crucifixes, flags, and the 
 emblems of different saints, preceded the cardinals, 
 and behind marched a company or two of French 
 infantry. There is something of a deeply 
 melancholy character in this frivolity. No man, 
 who has read his Bible, can gaze with indifference 
 upon a multitude of immortal beings, whose 
 religion of bodily exercises pleases the eye, but 
 
116 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE rOPE S BEXEDICTIOX. 
 
 117 
 
 does not affect the lieart. Methought I heard a 
 voice from heaven, addressing these devotees of 
 crucifixes and gilt images in the solemn words 
 with which Isaiah, at the bidding of the Lord 
 of Hosts, warned the rulers of Sodom and the 
 people of Gomorrah.* 
 
 Two days after this we again mixed with a 
 crowd of sightseers in the Piazza of the Lateran, 
 to celebrate the festival of St. John the Baptist. 
 I stood for an hour at the porch, watching the 
 carnages of the princes and cardinals as they 
 drove up to the entrance ; and shortly before the 
 appointed time a body of dragoons at full gallop 
 announced the approach of Pio Nono, who fol- 
 lowed them in a carriage, drawn by six horses. 
 He sat at the window, bowing graciously to the 
 people, and looking much more cheerful than he 
 had done during the procession of Corpus Domini. 
 Then entering the church, being dressed in black, 
 I was admitted within the space railed off for the 
 higher ecclesiastics and the officers of the French 
 Republic. The fantastically dressed Swiss guards 
 kept order, while the Pope, elevated on a chair, 
 
 • Isaiah i. 10—17. 
 
 
 was borne on men's shoulders to his throne. 
 He was attired in his most gorgeous robes, wore 
 a tiara glittering with jewels, and ever and anon 
 stretched out his hand to bless the kneeling 
 multitude. His countenance struck me as that 
 of a man without much talent, but easy-minded 
 and benevolent, apt to be misled by evil coun- 
 sellors, but naturally disposed to gentleness. 
 When he had taken his place on the pontifical 
 throne, the cardinals one by one ascended the 
 steps, bowed to him and kissed his hand — some 
 of them with great apparent reverence, others as 
 if they were performing an unpleasant duty. 
 
 This ceremony being over, the Archbishop 
 proceeded to the altar to celebrate mass ; but I did 
 not remain, being sick at heart of such pomp and 
 parading — in honour too of one who was among 
 the lowliest of Christ's followers. How corrupted 
 and changed is the church, how much has it 
 departed from the example of Him, whose advent 
 was announced by a voice, crying in the wilderness, 
 *' Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" 
 
 Within the Vatican is a little chapel, well known 
 to all strangers, especially to those who have spent 
 
118 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 the Christmas holidays in Rome. It contains 
 Michael Angelo's celebrated fresco of the Last 
 Judgment, on which the great master worked 
 for about eight years. Many of the figures in 
 this wonderful undertaking illustrate most forcibly 
 the grandness of outline and the boldness of 
 conception, for which he was so famous ; but the 
 painting as a whole is not a pleasing one; it 
 justifies, in my opinion, 8alvator Rosa's satire, 
 
 " Michel Angielo mio, no parlo in gioco 
 Questo che dipingete b un gran Giudizio', 
 Ma, del giudizio voi n'avete poco." 
 
 A man's head, with ass's ears, in this fresco, was 
 meant for a portrait of the Pope's master of 
 ceremonies, who had ventured to decry the work 
 as unsuitable to the Cistine Chapel. The repre- 
 sentation of the Deluge on the roof is interesting, 
 on account of being the first which M. Angelo 
 painted on plaster. In the other decorations of 
 this place of worship he only spent twenty months, 
 — an incredibly short time when we consider the 
 number of compositions, chiefly illustrative of 
 scriptural subjects, executed by his unaided hand. 
 When Julius II. wanted him to ornament them 
 
 
 
 THE VATICAN. 
 
 119 
 
 with gold, in order to give splendour to the chapel, 
 he replied, " In those days gold was not worn, 
 and the characters I have painted were neither 
 rich nor desirous of wealth, but holy men, with 
 whom gold was an object of contempt." * 
 
 The appearance of the Vatican itself, — that 
 immense palace which Guide-books say has 
 eleven thousand rooms, — reminded me of Rasselas* 
 dwelling in the Happy Valley. " This house," 
 says Dr. Johnson, " which was so large as to be 
 fully known to none but some ancient officers, 
 who successively inherited the secrets of the place, 
 was built as if Suspicion itself had dictated the 
 plan." t It adjoins St. Peter's, and is connected 
 with Fort St. Angelo by a covered passage above 
 the houses. Having been added to and altered 
 to suit the tastes of various pontiffs, its architecture 
 is a piece of patchwork, which rather disfigures the 
 locality, and detracts from the majestic appearance 
 of the neighbouring dome. 
 
 Every stranger must visit with great pleasure 
 the beautiful galleries, so well known to admirers 
 
 • Vasari's " Vite dei Pittori." 
 t Rasselas, p. 4. 
 
 i 
 
120 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TUE TUJEH. 
 
 of RafFaelle's genius. On the ceiling of the Loggie, 
 under Leo X., he painted fifty-two scenes from 
 scriptural history, called on tliat account his 
 *' Bible." To the worthies of the Old Testament 
 times, he in these inestimable frescoes has given, 
 to borrow an expression from Coleridge, 
 
 " Such seeming subatance, that they almost live." 
 
 The picture of Joseph interpreting Pliaraoh's dream 
 would be sufficient of itself to exalt EafFaelle to the 
 first place among painters ; then tliere are Moses 
 saved from the Nile, the Judgment of Solomon, 
 the Nativity, the Baptism of Christ, and the Last 
 Supper, where the moment has been chosen when 
 Jesus announces to the disciples " One of you shall 
 betray me." 
 
 I might fill several pages in briefly noticing this 
 wonderful monument of artistic genius, the store- 
 house from which students have, for three hundred 
 years, been acquiring knowdedge. Raffaelle de- 
 scended to the subterranean chambers of Nero's 
 palace to study the remains of ancient Rome ; 
 alone he remained, torch in hand, breathing the 
 damp air of vaults iminhabited by man ; but 
 
 
 WORKS OF ART. 
 
 121 
 
 there, perchance, the mantle of inspiration fell on 
 his shoulders, he had recovered the manner of the 
 ancients, the tastes which monks had bui'ied under 
 the ruins of learning ; he could now connect the 
 antique with the natural, the eternal and the true ; 
 and ascending to open day he painted his 
 Parnassus, Apollo on Helicon w^th the Muses, 
 to prove tlie resurrection of the arts. 
 
 To describe those glorious w^orks of art, which 
 attract so many strangers to the capital of 
 Christendom, w^ould be a pleasant task, but one 
 which the reader w^ill not expect of me. Before 
 concluding these observations I wisli, however, 
 to notice a verj- few of those which cannot be 
 mentioned without enthusiasm. A brief account 
 of the treasures to be seen in the public as well 
 as the numerous private galleries, fills many pages 
 in every Guide-book ; we paid considerably more 
 than a hundred visits ourselves in Rome ; but 1 
 would not venture to record my impressions of them 
 here. Let me confine my remarks to six statues, 
 and the chief works of four great painters hitherto 
 not mentioned in the com*se of these remarks. 
 
 In the Spada palace, at the foot of the 
 
 VOL. II. F 
 
122 
 
 THE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Janiculum, those who, like myself, place Guercino 
 in the first rank of painters, will find three works 
 by him which leave a lasting impression on the 
 mind — the Death of Dido, Mary Magdalene, and 
 David with Goliath's head; but to see them you 
 must pass througli an ante-room, in which stands 
 that very statue of Pompey, at the feet of which, 
 fell Caesar pierced with wounds. A glance at 
 this venerable relic answers the doubts which some 
 have expressed regarding its authenticity. That 
 stem face bears no resemblance to the handsome 
 countenance of Augustus, or the boyish features 
 of Alexander the Great ; it tells its own tale to 
 every reader of Roman history, and verifies the 
 precious tradition. The presence of Pompey's 
 majestic form fills the mind with sensations not 
 easy to describe. 
 
 The church of St. Pietro in Yincoli, so called 
 because built by Eudoxia, the wife of Valentinian, 
 for the purpose of preserving the chains with which 
 Herod bound St. Peter, contains Michael Angelo's 
 celebrated statue, executed to embellish the tomb 
 of Pope Julius II., and representing Moses with 
 the two tables of the law. Of all the works which 
 
 THE CAPITOLTNE HILL. 
 
 123 
 
 have immortalized this great sculptor, this example 
 of creative genius impressed me most with admira- 
 tion of his powers. You have there in marble the 
 history and character of the Jewish lawgiver ; you 
 almost expect to see him dash in pieces the records 
 written by Deity, and call aloud for tlie Levites to 
 range themselves under the banner of the Lord. 
 
 Compared with the Quirinal, the Palatine, or 
 the Janiculum, the Capitoline Hill is by no means 
 a conspicuous object in most views of Rome. On 
 the spot formerly occupied by the Temple ot 
 Jupiter — the summit of the rock — stands the 
 Church of Santa Maria d'Aracoeli ; the equestrian 
 stetue of Marcus Aurelius, found near the Lateran, 
 has been placed in the centre of the square, and 
 the balustrades of the stair leading to the top of 
 the hill are flanked with the various buildings of 
 the Senatorial Palace, designed by Michael An- 
 gelo, which contains very celebrated collections of 
 pictures, inscriptions, busts, and statues. The 
 greatest ornament of tlie gallery is Domenichino's 
 Cumaean Sybil, one of the best paintings which 
 that master has left as a legacy to posterity. In 
 the halls of the Conservatori the curious will find 
 
 f2 
 
124 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE LAOCOON. 
 
 125 
 
 a representation, in bronze, found at the base of 
 the Palatine, of the she-wolf which nursed Romulus 
 and Remus ; the same described by Virgil in the 
 lines — 
 
 " Geminos huic ubera circum 
 Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere niatrem 
 Impavidos." * • 
 
 But, to my taste, the most wonderful work there 
 preserved is the Dying Gladiator, a Grecian sculp- 
 ture, which bears triumphant witness that, in one 
 respect at least, modem must yield to ancient art. 
 The attitude and expression of that inanimate 
 marble can scarcely be imagined, even by those 
 who have studied the master-pieces of a recent age. 
 
 Although I have inspected many collections of 
 statuary in the various countries of Europe, I freely 
 confess my ignorance of what could really be done 
 by the chisel, until I saw that splendid range of 
 apartments, filled with Grecian sculpture, which 
 astonishes every visitor to the Vatican. 
 
 To mention by name the chief treasures of 
 these halls would be tedious. Surely, Mr. Ruskin 
 himself must allow that Perseus, with Medusa's 
 
 * -^Eneid, viii. 631. 
 
 head, and the Boxers, contained in the first 
 cabinet of the court, have immortalized the talents 
 of Canova ; but let me not tarry to admire even 
 these; for the third circular room demands my 
 notice — the room in which Leo X. placed the 
 famous Laocoon, discovered in 1508 amid the ruins 
 of the Baths of Titus, occupying the position which 
 Pliny lias assigned to it, and described by the Ve- 
 netian ambassadors in the time of Pope Adrian 
 the Sixth, in the expressive words, "Non gli 
 manca che lo spirito," — nothing is wanting to it 
 but life. Two venomous serpents have entwined 
 themselves around an old man and his two sons, 
 one of whom endeavours, with his little arm, to 
 withdraw his leg from the tormentor ; but, finding 
 himself unable to save the limb, he turns weeping 
 towards his father ; the other young man seems 
 more resigned — every hope of safety has fled — the 
 intensity of the sufiering has paralysed him. The 
 agony and despairing resolution blended in the 
 parent's face, divert your attention from the extra- 
 ordinary muscular exertion displayed by his limbs, 
 as he summons a last mighty effort to escape the 
 fangs of the reptiles. But all will be in vain. As 
 
 ii 
 
IW 
 
 THE TAGUS AJfD THE TIBER. 
 
 you gaze on the features of the afflicted men, you 
 expec:t every moment to see their strength fail, and 
 their bodies, falling prostrate on the earth, become 
 a prey to the devourer. 
 
 ''Laocoon,'" say5 Winckelmann, in his " History 
 of Art among the iVncients," *' nous offi-e k spec- 
 tacle de la nature humaine dans le plus grand 
 douleur dont elk soit susceptible, sous i'image 
 dun homme qui taehe de rassembler contre elle 
 toute'la force de Teflpxit. Tandis que I'excbs de 
 la souffranoe enfle ks muscles, et tire violemment 
 les nerfs, le courage se montre Bur k front gonfl^ ; 
 la poitrine s*<^l^ve avec peine par k necessity de la 
 respiration, qui est ^galement contraint^ par le 
 silence que la fc«?ee de rione impose h la douleur 
 qu'elk voudrait ^touffer." 
 
 The same peculiarity has been remarked by 
 Alison in one of his essays. As the agonies of 
 his body increase, his mind seems to rise with the 
 occasion, aaid no indication of defeat passes across 
 his unconquerable brow. Truly has Byion illus- 
 trated the leading characteristic of this noble work, 
 when he speaks of " Laocoon's torture dignifying 
 l^ain." The spirit triumphs over its woes ; Nature 
 
 GUERCINO. 
 
 127 
 
 fesserts, even in that horrible hour, the pre- 
 eminence of man. The contemplation of this match- 
 less monument of Grecian sculpture strikes the 
 beholder mute with astonishment ; its presence 
 awes the frivolous, silences the prattler, and fills 
 with unspeakable admiration one who can justly 
 appreciate the majesty of art. No existent statue 
 can be named in the same breath with this, except- 
 ing perhaps that which the next chamber contains — 
 the Apollo Belvedere, discovered at Antium, and 
 pronounced by some judges to be the finest in the 
 world. ** The god of life, and poesy, and light," 
 erect, triumphant, and radiant with joy, stretches 
 forth his hand, as it were, to proclaim his mission, 
 while his attitude sets off the symmetry of his 
 form, and his look compels the homage which 
 mortals owe to Deity — the Deity which, amid the 
 groves of Delphi, established his awfvl oracle. 
 
 I have only mentioned Guercino. His admirers 
 must visit the spacious palace of the Colonna 
 family to see his Guardian Angel and his Moses 
 with the Tables of the Law ; nor must they forget 
 Among the various attractions of the Palazzo Doria, 
 to observe the Prodigal Son, the St. Peter, the St. 
 
4 
 
 I 
 
 128 
 
 THE TAfiUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 DOMENICHINO'S " ST. JEROME. 
 
 •)■> 
 
 129 
 
 Agnes, the Magdalene, and the Endymion, which 
 his genius has added to the possessions of one of 
 the noblest Roman families. The mansion of the 
 Corsini, at the foot of the Janiciilum, contains 
 three Ecce Homos, placed in juxtaposition, that 
 visitors may compare their merits. In Guido's, 
 resignation seems to predominate over every other 
 feeling ; suffering is written on Carlo Dolci's ; but 
 agony of the intensest kind cries in that of Guer- 
 cino, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
 me ? " 
 
 In the Church of Santa Maria dcG:li A'ngeli, 
 jonce the Pinacotheca of Diocletian's Batlis, now 
 belonging to the monks of St. Bernard, the stranger 
 will find Domenichino's master])iece, " The Mar- 
 tyrdom of St. Sebastian," where that painter 
 proves himself a true disciple of the Caracci, 
 though greater than his lord. 
 
 All the world have heard of Guido's Beatrice 
 Cenci — the saddest of sad remembrances — which 
 adorns the Barberini Palace on the Quirinal liill ; 
 but the lovers of true colouring w411 not object to 
 follow me also to the mansion of the llospigliosi, 
 adjoining the Pope's residence on the same emi^- 
 
 h 
 
 nence, where, in a pavilion of the garden, they 
 will unexpectedly find the finest fresco which the 
 world has ever seen— the celebrated Aurora, by 
 that great master of Italian art. Apollo, seated 
 in a car, drawn by four horses abreast, and sur- 
 rounded by seven nymphs, representing the houi's, 
 is starting from a lofty promontory overlooking 
 the sea, while the dawTi of day illumines the land- 
 scape, and diffuses over the waters a rosy joyful 
 light, to gladden the heart of the mariner dream- 
 ing of darkness among the breakers. 
 
 Let me conclude this imperfect sketch of the 
 Eternal City by noticing one room in the picture 
 gallery of the Vatican. Entering by the Loggie, 
 and a narrow crooked passage, you arrive at a 
 small apartment, which contains only five paint- 
 ings, but these five merit more than a casual re- 
 mark. On the same wall as the entrance, hangs 
 Domenichino's St. Jerome, where, carrying out the 
 ideal of Agostino Caracci, he has produced a mas- 
 tei-piece which, in point both of grouping and of 
 expression, excels every attempt of his teacher. 
 St. Ephraim administers the sacrament to the 
 
 f3 
 
■I ■W"-*^.. -*<* '^ 
 
 i 
 
 180 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE TRANSFIGURATIOK. 
 
 131 
 
 dying man, whose ann St. Paolina bathes with 
 tears ; while a deacon holds the chalice, and an 
 inferior officer kneeling presents the book. 
 
 Next this picture is the Coronation of the 
 Virgin, executed by Raffaelle when a youth, bearing, 
 especially in the countenances of the figiires repre- 
 sented, the evident marks of genius, altliough the 
 grouping strikes you as stiflf and hard. Alongside 
 of it hangs another on the same subject by his 
 disciples. This appears so inferior in the presence 
 of works done by the master himsehf, that you 
 quickly turn away from it to admire the colouring of 
 the Madonna de Foligno, one of Raffaelle's greatest 
 artistic triumphs. Mary, with the Holy Infant 
 in her arms, sits in the clouds; on the ground 
 beneath her a cherub holds up a scroll ; on the 
 right stand John the Baptist and St. Francis; 
 while on the left, the secretary of Julius II., 
 with St. Jerome's hand placed on his head, kneels 
 
 in adoration. 
 
 Need I tell the enlightened reader wliat picture 
 occupies the fifth and last place in this celebrated 
 apartment? Nearly four hundred years have 
 
 passed away since the small town of Urbino gave 
 birth to Raffaelle ; but no work of art has since 
 appeared to challenge comparison with the Trans- 
 figuration. 
 
 The scene represented does not exactly tally 
 with the scriptural account ; for Christ appears 
 raised in the air, with Moses and Elias on each side, 
 while the nine disciples at the foot, not of a 
 mountain, but a mere knoll, listen to the father 
 and sister of the demoniac boy, who chide them 
 for their inability to effect a cure. In the midst 
 of this group, you see St. Andrew pointing to the 
 hill whither the All-powerful Healer has gone, and 
 beneath a tree on the left Lorenzo and Giuliano 
 de Medici on their knees adore the transfigured 
 Christ. The last of his works — the noblest fruit 
 of that industrious genius which electrified Italy, 
 the most elaborate of those well-studied master- 
 pieces which impart to his name a dignity 
 unrivalled — this magnificent painting displays the 
 highest excellency of sketching, of colouring, and 
 of conception combined. Rubens would have 
 made our Saviour the sun, from whose person 
 
, I 
 
 '} I 
 
 I '■ 
 
 132 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 dazzling light streamed upon the beholders; but 
 Raffaelle illustrates the brightness of the glory, not 
 by any such vulgar device, but by its effects on 
 the three astonished disciples ; one has cast him- 
 self on the ground, another staggers as he 
 endeavours to withdraw his head, while the third 
 covers with his hands those eyes which cannot 
 look on Deity. The confusion of the Apostles 
 when they find themselves unable t<^ heal the 
 demoniac child— the endeavour of Andrew to pacify 
 the relations by a reference to the power of Jesus— 
 the father, whose face displays the fury of a man 
 victimised by impostors— and the calm heavenly re- 
 pose depicted on the countenance of Him who sits on 
 the clouds on the top of Tabor, fill your mind with 
 sensations— themselves amply rewarding a journey 
 to Rome. Behold the culminating point of those 
 precocious talents, which had delighted old Pietro 
 Perugino in his assistant boy ! From Perugia he 
 removed to Florence; from Florence Julius II. 
 called him to Rome, and there, undazzled by the 
 splendid patronage of pontiffs and admiring kings, 
 he pursued a course of steadfast industry ; cartoons. 
 
 I 
 
 CAMPAGNA ROMAGKA. 
 
 133 
 
 drawings, frescoes, oil pictures, the result of patient 
 study, astonished the artists of Europe, and when, 
 to crown his triumphant progress, the Trans- 
 figuration appeared, it seemed as if the confines 
 of perfection had been reached ; Raffaelle gathered 
 himself to his fathers, and Rome, says Castiglione, 
 seemed joyful no more. 
 
 What a change from the bustling Via del Corso 
 to the stillness of the Campagna Romagna, a few 
 paces beyond the Cavalleggieri gate ! Five 
 minutes after leaving the walls, on our way to 
 Civita Vecchia, we had entered the region of 
 desolation, where stacks of meadow hay atone 
 for the absence of houses, and troops of young 
 horses trample on the graves of the dead. I had 
 never spent a happier time than the days devoted 
 to visiting the antiquities, the galleries, and the 
 shrines of Rome. St. Peter's seemed grander each 
 time I beheld it, and new beauties became visible 
 in the works of Guido and Raffaelle on every 
 successive visit ; but the monuments of ancient 
 splendour gave me the greatest pleasure ; and many 
 a time I resolved, should health and leisure be 
 
134 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 granted me, to bend mj steps once more towards 
 these glorious ruins, to wander amidst the fallen 
 fragments of Caracalla's baths, to sit musing on 
 the benches of the Colosseum, and to trace the 
 windings of the Tiber from tlie moss-covered 
 battlements on the Palatine. 
 
 /;' % 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PAPAL TERRITORIES — MISERABLE STATE OF 
 THE COUNTRY — ITS PROBABLE FATE — TWO THEORIES ON THIS 
 SUBJECT — CIVITA VECCHIA — TRAVELLERS AND THEIR COURIERS 
 — ARRIVAL AT LEGHORN — PROCESSION OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT 
 
 — RAILROAD TO PISA AND LUCCA — AN AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE 
 
 THE SARDINL/iN MALLEPOSTE — PICTURESQUE SITUATION OP MASSA 
 
 THE MARBLE QUARRIES AT CARRARA — EXCELLENCE OF THE 
 
 AGRICULTURE, AND GARDEN-LIKE APPEARANCE OF THE PROVINCE 
 — GULP OF 8PEZZIA — INDUSTRY OF THE PEOPLE — ARRIVAL AT 
 GENOA — BEAUTIFUL SCENERY ON THE COAST — SAVONA — ST. REMO 
 — TERRIBLE PRECIPICES — GRANDEUR OF THE CLIFFS ABOVE 
 MONACA — VIEW OF NICE — MARSEILLES — PLEASURES OF TRA- 
 VELLING IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 That unhappy portion of Italy, which yields 
 temporal obedience to the Roman See, remains 
 very much in the same state as that to which 
 corrupt rulers reduced it during what Isaac 
 Taylor calls "the dog-days of spiritual despotism."* 
 The gift which Pepin granted for the remission 
 of his sins, and Constantine declared a perpetual 
 
 • Spiritual DeBpotiam, p. 191. 
 
 (« 
 
136 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 137 
 
 sovereignty — whose possession Arnold of Brescia 
 denounced as incompatible with the character of 
 Christian ministers, even before superstition 
 had settled into the thickest gloom, has been 
 shamefully abused by the successors of St. Peter. 
 " The maxims and effects of their temporal 
 goveniment," says Gibbon, " may be collected from 
 the positive and comparative view of the arts and 
 philosophy, the agriculture and trade, the wealth 
 and population of the ecclesiastical state." * 
 What measure of general benefit did the Popes 
 ever confer on their subjects ? Expensive churches, 
 ostentatious buildings, they now and then erected, 
 when their coffers were full, or money could be 
 raised by the sale of pardons ; but few even of 
 enlightened Catholics will now deny that their 
 states are worse governed than any part of Europe, 
 Sometimes a pontiff, more benevolent and Avell- 
 meaning than his predecessors, by a rare chance 
 was elevated to the throne ; but corruption had 
 so eaten into the vitals of official morality that he 
 seldom could effect any reform ; he found the 
 ecclesiastics thoroughly vicious, and, therefore, 
 
 * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. viii. p. 436. 
 
 
 abandoned every hope of staying the progress 
 of that disease, which has increased in virulence 
 until the present time. 
 
 At about the close of the seventeenth century 
 the Venetians sent an envoy extraordinary to the 
 Holy See, and he sums up his account of the 
 province in these emphatic words — " Desolated 
 of her children, ruined in her agriculture, over- 
 whelmed by extortions, and destitute of industry." 
 In a similar strain writes a visitor some thirty 
 years before : he laments the burdens with which 
 the proprietors are borne down and driven from 
 the country, the miserable condition of the 
 peasantry, the absence of manufactm'cs, and the 
 illegal exactions of priestly harpies. 
 
 It is both curious and profitable to study the 
 records of these ages, and read the pathetic 
 lamentations over the state of the Papal dominions, 
 which the language of Italy renders so tenderly 
 expressive. " Oppressions, most holy father," 
 exclaimed Cardinal Sacchetti to Alexander VII., 
 "exceeding those inflicted on the Israelites in 
 Egypt ! People, not conquered by the sword, 
 but subjected to the Holy See, either by their free 
 
138 
 
 THE TAOUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 accord or the donations of princes, are more 
 inhumanly treated than the slaves in Syria and 
 Africa."* To produce this lamentable result, 
 ignorance had joined rapacity. Gregory XIII., 
 desirous of growing more com, cut down the 
 forests, near Ostia, which preserved the salubrity 
 of the air, and raised the port-dues of Ancona, 
 in the vain hope of making the foreigner contribute 
 more largely to his revenue, while in reality he 
 drove him to other better governed lands. When 
 first Urbino and then Ferrara were added to the 
 territories of the church, Europe expected that 
 prosperity might revisit its shores, and the popes 
 recover from their financial difficulties ; but these 
 newly-acquired provinces only shared in the 
 general adversity of the unfortunate lands, over 
 which Innocent III., by fraud and robbery, first 
 established the supremacy of the Roman See. 
 
 It would be needless to multiply testimonies 
 regarding the deplorable condition, physical, moral, 
 and religious, of those people, who have so long 
 
 • Dante Bays of the Popes in the 19th canto of the Inferno — 
 " I' userei parole ancor pih gravi ; 
 Chk la vostra avarizia il mondo attrista, 
 Calcando i buoni e sollevando i pravi." 
 
 STATE or THE COUNTRY. 
 
 139 
 
 been misgoverned by ignorant and rapacious eccles- 
 iastical dignitaries.* Every educated English- 
 man knows it ; every traveller in Italy mourns the 
 spectacle of wretchedness, which spoils his enjoy- 
 ment of scenery and sky ; all acknowledge the 
 misery, although some may dispute its cause. 
 But must this desolation always be ? '' Time was, 
 wh^n to be a simple Eoman was to be nobler than 
 a northern king." Can the spell not then be 
 broken ? caji the land where valour dwelt with 
 wisdom not be disenchanted once more ? 
 
 Two theories on this solemn subject occur to the 
 mind. The Ege of ignorance has gone by, — 
 feudalism no longer cramps tlie energies of nations, 
 — intercourse, the press, and national commotions 
 have quickened the activity of the mental powers 
 even in countries oppressed by ecclesiastical and 
 political despotism. Knowledge is fast dissemi- 
 nating itself throughout Italy, and, if it be true 
 that endurance has a limit, that armies can never 
 effectually triumph over exasperated men, and that 
 
 • " niustrissimi et Reverendissimi Cardinali," exclaimed 
 Bishop Bartholomew, the primate of Hungary, before the 
 Council of Trent, " indigent illustrissima et reverendissima 
 reformatione." 
 
140 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 alliance with foreigners has shaken the confidence 
 of many in the inftillibility of the Pope, then will 
 tlie Romans rise, and rise in arms, with irresistible 
 united strength, not to fall amid the ruins of the 
 Forum, but to destroy for ever the temporal power 
 of the Papacy. 
 
 Such is the hope of Italian patriotism. It lies 
 nearest to the hearts of thousands now quiescent, 
 but biding their time ; men who fondly cherish the 
 belief, that a senate will yet make laws in the 
 Capitol: but a vague, indeterminate, yet fixed 
 sentiment of a far different kind seems to fill the 
 minds of a less numerous class, visitors to rather 
 than natives of the peninsula. They dream not of 
 revolutions or republican triumphs, but of earth- 
 quakes, blasting, and mildew; wandering along 
 the Campagna they hear subterranean wailings, 
 low murmuring sounds, symptoms of volcanic 
 agency, the foretaste, as they think, of those 
 terrible convulsions of the gi-ound which, as 
 Vesuvius indicates, and the fate of Melfi proclaims, 
 will overthrow the works of ages, and announce 
 that the time has arrived when Rome, like Baby- 
 lon, '' swept by the besom of destruction/' must 
 
 CIVITA VECCHIA. 
 
 141 
 
 become " a possession for the bittern, and pools of 
 
 water. 
 
 n 
 
 Perhaps there does not exist in the wide world a 
 more disagreeable place than Civita Vecchia ; the 
 country around reminds one of Arabia rather than 
 of Italy, and its narrow, dirty lanes emit a stream 
 of odours altogether indescribable. I had spent a 
 wearisome day there formerly, on my way from 
 Naples,* just before the French bombardment of 
 Rome, and now again necessity compelled me to 
 remain for a few hours, waiting the departure of 
 the Sardinian steamer bound for Leghorn. 
 
 Having endured a night of jolting on the 
 execrable road between the Eternal City and its 
 principal port, and assisted to extricate our dili- 
 gence from deep sand, in which the wheels had 
 become so firmly imbedded, that no efforts of the 
 horses could move it, I was glad, on our arrival at 
 Orlandi's ill-managed hotel, to enjoy a morning's 
 rest. The forenoon proved insupportably hot, 
 but towards afternoon a thunder-cloud from the 
 
 • For an account of Naples, see " Impressions of Central and 
 Southern Europe." London : Longman & Co. 1850. 
 
142 
 
 THE TAGUS AlH) THE TIBER. 
 
 Mediterranean broke in torrents of rain over the 
 landing-place. 
 
 One meets every now and then, when travelling 
 on the continent, parties who think themselves 
 fortunate in the possession of a carriage and a 
 courier. " They are so convenient," say their 
 owners ; "we never have to complain of dirty 
 diligences, or to take any trouble about passports, 
 money, hotels, or modes of conveyance ; wherever 
 we go, post-horses can be procured, and Fran<joi9 
 does everything for us." 
 
 An American merchant, whom we found on the 
 deck of the packet at Civita Vecchia, described to 
 me in words like these his comfortable manner of 
 seeing Europe. " But," said I, '* may I ask how 
 much it costs you?" Withi all the naivetS of an 
 inexperienced traveller, he frankly named a sum 
 for each of his party per diem exactly three times 
 more than I was paying. We had lived at the 
 same hotels, visited the same places, and enjoyed 
 the same luxuries ; but he had scarcely come into 
 contact with a single native, he knew nothing of 
 the political state of the country, and Joseph, his 
 
 TRAVELLERS AND THEIR COURIERS. 
 
 143 
 
 " faithful " keeper, besides pilfering to an extent 
 almost incredible, intjisted upon his charge following 
 the routes which he thought preferable. 
 
 Having myself crossed the Alps seven times by 
 as many different passes, I gave this gentleman 
 some hints regarding the best course to take on 
 leaving Italy; *'0h yes, I see you are quite 
 right," he replied; "that scheme has many ad- 
 vantages over the one adopted by my courier, but 
 then he must have his own way ; there is no good 
 thwarting him." Certainly tastes differ ; for what 
 my friend considered travelling on pleasure, and a 
 legitimate outlay of money, I should consider 
 downright slavery and wasteful extravagance. 
 
 The case of this American must not be consi- 
 dered a solitary one ; every summer many English- 
 men thus commit themselves to the tender mercies 
 of couriers, who rob them without scruple, and 
 carry them just where they please. I once met 
 abroad a person who engaged at Ostend or 
 Antwerp an interpreter and servant, to assist him 
 in making his way as far as Basle, along a route 
 where every waiter, conductor, and steward speaks- 
 the language of our countrymen ! 
 
a 
 
 » 
 
 144 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 If a man does not take charge of his own affairs, 
 he loses half the delight of travelling; in the 
 public conveyances you meet people of all nations, 
 whose conversation instructs and amuses ; and 
 while arranging the matters incidental to your 
 progress, you get information beyond the reach of 
 those who recline in Long Acre carriages, and 
 trust to the management of couriers. Some of 
 these men do act honourably ; but tlie great 
 majority are quite unworthy of confidence, — in 
 league with second-class hotel-keepers, pledged 
 to bring custom to friends, always on the alert to 
 find excuses for an unnecessary outhay, and sure 
 to make tourists feel as did Sir John Falstaff when 
 he indignantly exclaimed, 
 
 " Shall I not take mine ease in mine inn ?" 
 
 Freedom of commerce has rendered Leghorn the 
 first port in the Mediterranean ; mercantile men and 
 captains of ships crowd its street-;, and the canals 
 which intersect it are filled with barges conveying 
 goods to and fro between the vessels and the 
 warehouses. 
 
 On the evening of the second day which we 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 PROCESSION OF THE SACRAMENT. 145 
 
 spent there on this occasion, the procession of the 
 Holy Sacrament took place in the gi-eat square 
 adjoining the Cathedral. Just before the ap- 
 pointed hour arrived the multitude sliowed symp- 
 toms of excitement: some rushed to the churcli, 
 and witliout any ostensible cause considerable con- 
 fusion occurred ; but in a few minutes a troop of 
 Croatian cavalry galloped into the Piazza with 
 drawn sabres, and in no very ceremonious manner 
 drove the people back on every hand. Then 
 commenced the march of singers, priests, and 
 military, holding candles, and repeating prayers ; 
 the Austrian band occupied the post of honour, 
 immediately behind the aged bishop who carried 
 the host ; the German flag, too, floated from the go- 
 vernor's house, that black and yellow banner which 
 every Italian abhors, and which one day his nation 
 will trample in the dust. Leghorn remains in a 
 state of siege ! And periiaps no city south of the 
 Alps more heartily execrates the Austrian name. 
 By quartering so many Croats there, the Duke of 
 Tuscany, some of the merchants assured me, has 
 for ever lost the respect of the inhabitants. 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
 i1 
 
146 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 I have previously recorded my impressions "both 
 of this place and Pisa, distant by railroad about 
 three quarters of an hour. Having spent some time 
 in the beautiful Campo Santo of that city, ad- 
 miring the Gothic arches, sarcophagi, and ancient 
 frescoes which it contains, we drove out of the 
 walls to a small wooden shed, purporting to be the 
 station of the Strada Ferrata to Lucca. Much 
 consultation took place among the clerks in regard 
 to half a napoleon which I tendered as payment of 
 our tickets ; gold seemed to be quite a rarity to 
 
 them. 
 
 Taking our seats in a long car with one fellow- 
 passenger, who was reading an Italian translation 
 of Quentin Durward, we were whirled along a 
 plain well cultivated, densely peopled, and of great 
 natural beauty. What a contrast to tlie Cam- 
 pagna of Rome ! * Rows of willow-trees, on which 
 the vines hung in graceful festoons, separated from 
 
 * Some of my readers may recollect with what pleasure 
 Addison, during his Italian tour, observed the prosperous con- 
 dition of the people in the small republic of San Marino; while 
 the rich plain around Rome, the capital of civil and spiritual 
 despotism, was desolate as newly-discovered wilds. 
 
 LUCCA. 
 
 147 
 
 each other the fields of maize, beans, hemp, barley, 
 and rye. The peasants were busy in some farms 
 cutting down the barley in a peculiar manner, 
 chopping off the ears separately, and afterwards 
 removing the straw. In other fields the ripe and 
 reaped corn was piled up under the trees, whilst 
 oxen were preparing the ground for a second crop. 
 The walled town of Lucca stands in the centre 
 of a pretty valley, suiTOunded by an amphitheatre 
 of hills. Over the gate by which we sauntered 
 into the streets, as if to mock a suffering country, 
 appeared the word " Libertas," Austrian drummers 
 meanwhile practising on the ramparts above! 
 When passing along an unfrequented lane, I ob- 
 served a picture placed on the walls, with three or 
 four lamps before it, and a small altai with 
 the following inscription, illustrative of that suj)er- 
 stition which degrades the southern mind, — " In- 
 dulgenza di 40 giomi a clie recitera 3 Ave 
 Marias, by order of Monsignor Scab, Bishop of 
 the diocese, and Legate of the Holy See." Such 
 miserable chicanery scarcely requires remark ; no 
 wonder that licence prevails in Italy. The 
 view from the ramparts and public drive of Lucca 
 
 g2 
 
us 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 reminded me of that from the willows which weep 
 over the ruins of Pompeii. 
 
 The locomotive which drew us back to Pisa, 
 had on it a brass plate, inscribed, " W. Moms & 
 Co, Philadelphia, U.8.'' What a commentary on 
 the changes which a fewyears have brought about in 
 the circumstances of nations! Time was when Chris- 
 topher Colon wandered along the shores of the 
 Gulf of Genoa, an energetic lad, full of the idea 
 that a new world existed beyond the western 
 waters, and that Providence had selected him to 
 carry thither the civilizing arts ; now Italy groans 
 under two kinds of despotism, her manufactures 
 have declined, her people have scarcely a place 
 among the European powers; while a mighty 
 republic from the banks of the Susquehanna and 
 the Delaware sends works of industry to astonish 
 her degenerate sons. Predominant among the 
 flags in the harbour of Livomo, the stranger 
 always finds the star-spangled banner : generally 
 speaking, a large proportion of those who buy 
 . pictures and live in the best hotels hail from the 
 ' Atlantic slope of America; and the eagles of Rome 
 have deserted the Capitol on the Tiber, to inspire 
 
 MASSA. 
 
 149 
 
 the Capitol on the Potomac with an energy whicli 
 promises great things for the civilization of the 
 
 world. 
 
 At the untimely hour of one o'clock in the 
 morning we left Pisa by diligence to meet tlie 
 Sardinian courier, — or malleposte, — at Pietra 
 Santa, the frontier town of Tuscany. An avenue 
 of chestnut-trees conducted us from this place to 
 the douane station of the duchy of Massa and 
 Carrara, a dependency belonging to Modena. A 
 paul administered timeously to the officers of tlie 
 " white eagle," saved us from a custom-house 
 visitation here, as it had formerly done in the 
 Eternal City. When on our arrival in Rome I 
 opened my portmanteau to a handsomely dressed 
 gentleman, whose fingers sparkled with jewels, he 
 squeezed my arm significantly, and at the same 
 time showed me clandestinely an open palm. The 
 liint could not be misunderstood ; I dropt a small 
 silver coin into his hand, and my baggage was 
 immediately declared exempt from the usnal 
 examination. 
 
 Under steep wooded hills, and commanding a 
 fine view of the Mediterranean, stands the town of 
 
150 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Massa, whose eight thousand inhabitants are sup- 
 ported by the exportation of marble from the 
 neighbouring quan'ies. The castle, a most pic- 
 turesque object, occupies the top of a lofty rock, 
 clothed with olive-trees ; and when we passed the 
 ducal palace in the chief square, the people were 
 preparing to receive the ex-empress of Austria. 
 Crossing a romantic dell by a bridge of white 
 marble, we ascended the hills which separate the 
 plains around the embouchure of the Amo from 
 the valley of chestnut-trees, descending to which 
 by a succession of zigzags, you reach the town of 
 Carrara. Behind it rise three or four lofty moun- 
 tains, picturesquely-shaped, but quite destitute 
 of w^ood. They consist entirely of marble, the 
 (|uarries of which may be seen a long way off. 
 More than twelve hundred men work constantly in 
 them, and the supply seems inexhaustible, for from 
 these mountains they have never ceased to export 
 marble since Romans there collected the materials 
 to build the Pantheon. 
 
 The beauty of the iields all the way from Pietra 
 Santa to Spezzia must delight every traveller ; 
 they are carefully tilled, irrigated on the most 
 
 SARZANA. 
 
 151 
 
 
 scientific principles, and yield rich crops of maize, 
 wheat, barley, rye, hemp, and beans, which the 
 foliage of orange, lemon, fig, walnut, chestnut, and 
 mulberry-trees, protect from the excessive heat of 
 the sim. From stem to stem hang the festooned 
 vines, their clusters almost meeting the heads of the 
 Indian corn. As we passed they were busy cutting 
 down the yellow grain, and ploughing the soil in 
 preparation for the succeeding crop of vegetables. 
 
 In no part of Europe have 1 seen a district 
 which had the appearance of more fertility, indus- 
 try, plenty, and comfort, or which could with such 
 propriety be taken as an illustration of the loveli- 
 ness of that garden where our first parents dwelt 
 before the fall. The smooth excellent road w^inds 
 under the shade of trees forming arches overhead ; 
 you hear only the loud chirping of grasshoppers, 
 and the ploughman's voice encouraging his team 
 of oxen ; agreeable odours rise from eveiy field, 
 and squalid poverty seems scarcely known. 
 
 Passing out of the little duchy into the territory 
 of Sardinia, we stopped to lunch at Sarzana, an 
 old city, which the Duke of Tuscany ceded to the 
 Genoese in exchange for the then insignificant 
 
152 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 Livomo. The road, on leaving it, crosses the Magra 
 river, which after floods devastates the entire plain. 
 We forded the first branch, and were transported 
 on a raft across the deeper channel ; then we drove 
 for several miles up its right bank, and turning to 
 the left crossed a rising ground, from the top of 
 which we beheld the bright blue waters of the 
 Gulf of Spezzia, a calm lagoon among the hills, 
 overlooked by the houses of a pretty town. Tlie 
 white lateen sails of the small craft lying in this, 
 the best roadstead on the Italian coast, liad a beau- 
 tiful effect, when seen peeping through the foliage 
 of the fig and the mulbeny on the slopes of the 
 mountains. 
 
 A very steep ascent, presenting extensive views 
 of tlie picturesque coast, occurs immediately on 
 leaving this place ; the road afterwards traces for 
 many miles the course of the river Vara, until at 
 Borghetto it turns sharply to tlie south, and crosses 
 two spurs of the Apennines — the first covered witli 
 chestnuts, among which a few pretty villages are 
 embowered — the second becoming near its summit 
 rocky and bare, like the mountains between ^Malaga 
 and Granada in Spain. The people here seem 
 
 ROAD TO GENOA. 
 
 153 
 
 
 remarkably industrious; wherever soil can be 
 found they cultivate it carefully, so that you see 
 barley, rye, vines, and even wheat growing in 
 spots which a Spaniard would have abandoned to 
 red-legged partridges and stones. 
 
 We reached the top of the pass, and looked 
 down from a giddy height on the sea, just as 
 darkness began to brood over nature ; and as we 
 descended to Bracco, 
 
 " The fire-flies, swarming in the woodland shade, 
 Sprung up like sparks, and twinkled round their way." * 
 
 When I roused myself next morning we had 
 passed Cape Porto Fino, and were within a few 
 miles of " Genova la Superba," and my former 
 quarters at the Hotel des Quatre Nations. W^hile 
 referring to the political state of Sardinia, I may 
 have occasion to mention the remarkable change 
 which even two years of good government and 
 active commerce have produced in the appearance 
 of this city ; meantime, let me pass on to notice 
 the country between it and Nice. 
 
 Again seated in the coiqji of the mallepostf, we 
 
 • Southey's " Roderick, Last of the Goths." 
 
 g3 
 

 154 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 traversed the long suburbs as far as the lighthouse, 
 passing an incredible number of carts and wagons. 
 For several miles beyond the rocky promontory, 
 shutting out the view of the city on the west, 
 indeed as far as tlie town of Sestri di Ponente, the 
 road passes between a succession of villas, inns, 
 shops, and rows of houses, forming, in fact, a 
 faubourg to Genoa. Let not the stranger forget, 
 when passing along the excessively narrow street 
 of Cogoleto, that there Christopher Columbus first 
 saw the light. 
 
 No description can convey an adequate idea 
 of the beauties of this road to the mind of 
 one who has never seen the cloudless sky, 
 the luxuriant foliage, and the blue seas of Italy. 
 Sometimes the way lies between gardens of figs 
 and oranges, surrounding the villas, whose brightly 
 painted walls peer out amid the foliage ; sometimes 
 you ascend a hill covered with chestnut-trees, wild 
 myrtles, and olives, gaining from the top a noble 
 view of the city of palaces, and the cliffs of Cape 
 Porto Fino beyond ; while below you the fishermen 
 on the Mediterranean mend their nets, or impel 
 their skiffs over the sapphire waves ; at others you 
 
 SAVONA — ST. REMO. 
 
 155 
 
 enter a large village surrounded with fertile fields, 
 and supporting in comfort a thriving population. 
 
 A narrow cutting between rocks brought us to 
 the picturesque town of Savona, where no fewer 
 than three Roman Pontiffs were born. As dark- 
 ness came on, the scenery was shrouded from our 
 view ; but myriads of fire-flies glistened around us, 
 and ever and anon the revolving Pharos of Genoa 
 poured a stream of brilliant light far over the 
 Mediterranean. St. Remo, where we breakfasted 
 on ripe figs, is one of the prettiest places on this 
 romantic coast. It contains ten thousand inhabit- 
 ants, who dwell in houses of great height, and, like 
 the towns in the Grecian archipelago, has been 
 built up the hill-side, instead of along the beach. 
 The perfume of its orange groves is delicious ; and 
 even palms flourish in the neighbouring gardens. 
 
 Between Ventimiglia and Mentone, the road 
 passes along the brink of frightful precipices, 
 several hundred feet above the sea. To these 
 succeeds another garden of oranges, and then a 
 long ascent up a mountain, the summit of which 
 presents a bold front of rock, while trees and vine- 
 yards clothe its slopes. Just under the naked 
 
156 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 TRAVEL IN SOUTHERN EUROPE. 
 
 157 
 
 rocks, elevated some fifteen hundred or two thou- 
 sand feet from the waters, and destitute of any 
 parapet, winds the road, and from it, so perpen- 
 dicular is the declivity, you fancy you could leap 
 in one bound upon the deck of the steamer below. 
 I am not easily frightened, especially by the dan- 
 gers of travelling, but stronger nerves than mine 
 would be required without a shudder to look over 
 that terrible precipice, as the heavy lumbering 
 diligence swings round the shar|i turns of the road. 
 There are no descents on any of the Alpine passes, 
 not even on the Splugen, the Simplon, or the St. 
 Gothard, so difficult steadily and without tremor 
 to behold, as that above the little town of ^lonaca, 
 on this remarkable road. 
 
 One of the finest prospects in P^urope bursts 
 upon the traveller on tiirning the shoukler of the 
 hill overlooking the ravine of the Paglion. At his 
 feet lies Nice, with its lofty houses, castle, and 
 shipping, backed by a plain where mansions pec]) 
 out from an ocean of foliage ; beyond, the promon- 
 tory of Antibes stretches far into the Mediterranean, 
 and to the right rise, one above another, the frown- 
 ing mountains of Provence. 
 
 \ 
 
 I shall not weary my readers with an account 
 of this miniature Hastings — of the English villas 
 near Cannes, or of that dirty seaport yclept 
 Marseilles, which, although a Parisian assured 
 me it required four days to see, we were glad to 
 escape from in twenty-four hours. A large fleet, 
 both of sailing vessels and steamers, fills its present 
 harbour, which government has long ago found 
 of too contracted dimensions for the wants of the 
 shipping. A new port on the shore towards the 
 west has been in process of construction for fifteen 
 years ; but fifteen years more at least will be 
 required to finish it. 
 
 Actt lahores sunt jucundi is a somewhat trite 
 saying ; but it applies with great aptness to the 
 pleasures of travelling. To a mind well-stored 
 with information and acquainted with the various 
 incidents of European history, nothing can be 
 more interesting than to visit the monuments 
 of the Forum and the " blood-red fields of Spain ;" 
 among the Alps, the Apennines and the Pyrenees, 
 the lover of scenery will find Nature in all her 
 grandeur arrayed ; and those who know how 
 delicious is the climate of the south will not wonder 
 
I 
 
 158 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 that Orientals imagine our countrymen under some 
 potent spell, whicli, in the words of *' Eothen," 
 " drives them from their home like victims of the 
 old Grecian furies, and forces them to travel over 
 countries far and strange." But the delights of 
 reminiscence must not be forgotten ; memory im- 
 parts even to the fairest landscape lovelier hues, 
 while it softens the sterner features of what at the 
 time displeased ; and you return from cLissic 
 scenes to an island home, not indeed to erect a 
 Parnassus, like that which Horace Walpole so 
 wittily describes, but to wander, in recollection, 
 again and again over those lovely regions, which 
 the Mediterranean washes with its tideless waves. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 NOTES UN THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF ITALY. 
 
 EFFECTS OF CLIMATE — THE NATIONAL CHARACTER — INFLUENCE OF 
 DF^POTISM AND OP THE FINE ARTS — PICTURES AND CIVILIZATION 
 — THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT — ITS FINANCES AND SOLDIERY — 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF LOMBARDY, VENICE, 
 TUSCANY, THE PAPAL TERRITORY, AND NAPLES — MR. GLADSTONE'S 
 PAMPHLET — THE LAST OF THE BOURBONS — PIEDMONT AND SAR- 
 DINIA — PROPHECY OF SIR E. BULWER LYTTON— PROSPERITY OF 
 THAT KINGDOM — THE HOPES OF ITALY CENTRED IN TURIN — 
 
 POLITICAL OPINIONS OF THE ITALIANS THEIR CHOICE BETWEEN 
 
 MILITARY TYRANNY AND REPUBLICANISM — INSTABILITY OF THE 
 GOVERNMENTS NOW IN EXISTENCE — FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE 
 TOWARDS THE KING OF NAPLES — SPREAD OF DISAFFECTION TO 
 THE PAPACY — PROSPECTS OF PROTESTANTISM. 
 
 " Italia, Italia ! tu cui die la sorte 
 Dono infelice di bellezza, ond' hai 
 Funesta dote d' infiniti guai 
 Ch' en fronte scritte per gran doglia porte ; 
 Deh, fossi tu men bella, o almen piu forte." 
 
 The motto from Filicaja, prefixed to this chapter, 
 explains one of tlie numerous and complicated 
 causes which have contributed to the degTadation 
 of a land, well described by Cooper, the American 
 
160 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 novelist, as " mighty in its recollections, but 
 impotent in its actual condition." Tasso speaks 
 of its delicious air, serene sky, beautiful trees and 
 meadows, and charming waters ; * no doubt these 
 natural attractions afford gratification to the tra- 
 veller whose home is nearer the frozen sea, for 
 to Italy flows a constant stream of valetudinarians, 
 who seek a more genial climate, of persons 
 interested in the relics of olden times, and of 
 tourists, who wish to see with their own eyes the 
 present state of a country, so favoured by nature 
 and so celebrated in European history. But the 
 advantages of situation, geological structure and 
 soil, conferred with such profusion by Providence 
 on this peninsula, have their drawbacks. The 
 Neapolitan, whose olive-tree flourishes alike in the 
 fertile valley or the rocky ridge, — in whose garden 
 the Indian com, watered by the streams from the 
 Apennines, springs up with musliroom speed to 
 fill his barns for months after harvest, has no 
 stimulus to exertion, like that which rouses all the 
 
 • " V'e I'aura molle, e il ciel sereno, e lieti 
 Gli alberi ed i prati, e pure e dolci 1' onde." 
 
 Gcrusalemme Lilerata. 
 
 EFFECTS OF CLIMATE. 
 
 161 
 
 r 
 
 energies of a German or a Briton ; * Dolce far niente 
 is the maxim for him ; he bakes his polenta, basks 
 in the sun, and lives the life of a vegetable. 
 
 Climate, south of the Alps, in some respects 
 does the work which the farmer of the north does 
 for liimself; whilst in towns labourers may 
 acquire, by a few weeks of active exertion, 
 sufficient to fill their bellies during the remainder 
 of the year. Warm clothing they can dispense 
 with where frost and snow are unknown, and, 
 except amongst the highest mountains, a frail 
 covering of timber answers all the purj)oses of a 
 house. An indolent temperament of body, every- 
 one knows, generally produces a coiTCsponding 
 inertness of mind fatal to tlie best interests of a 
 people. If an energetic patriot arise, he finds men 
 affected by a languor which paralyses all his 
 efforts to bring about a social or political refor- 
 mation : the senses must be gratified, but the 
 mind remain a blank ; the theatre, the gaming- 
 table, and the lounge, usurp that place which wise 
 
 • Seneca, de Ira, lib. ii. says : " Fere itaque imperia penes eos 
 fuere populos, qui mitiore coelo utuntur : in frigora septentri- 
 onemque vergentibua immansueta ingenia sunt, ut ait poeta, 
 suoque simillinia cosh." 
 
162 
 
 THE TAGUS AND TUE TIBER. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF DESPOTISM. 
 
 163 
 
 men allot to the literary society, the workshop, 
 and the schoolroom ; education becomes univer- 
 sally neglected, because a livelihood can be earned 
 without it ; and philanthropic projects fall to the 
 ground for want of men who will take the trouble 
 to put them in execution. Had Italy enjoyed 
 fewer of nature's bounties, j^erhaps her people 
 would have at this moment occupied a very 
 different position among the powers of the earth. 
 
 The national character presents a singuhar blend- 
 ing of somewhat incongruous materials. Quick 
 in acquiring knowledge, excelled by none in dis- 
 cernment, eloquent from their birth, skilful in 
 intrigue, and devoted to the beautiful they are 
 slaves to extremes of passion, though docile when 
 not incensed by injury ; eager to render their 
 country the abode of empire, yet never able to 
 devise well-ordered plans for its liberation ; at one 
 time you think you have found a clue to their 
 inmost feelings, the next moment you find yourself 
 deceived ; like the tints of an autumnal sky, when 
 clouds at sunset rest on the horizon, they present 
 all the colours of the rainbow to the perplexed 
 observer. A more philosophical review of past 
 
 
 •> 
 
 times might have performed miracles on behalf 
 of the Italian people ; but they have not learned 
 aright the salutary lessons of adversity ; blaming 
 fate for what resulted very much from their own 
 errors, they acknowledge neither the justice of the 
 punishment, nor the wisdom of Him, who, when 
 offended, showed Himself severe ; they proclaim 
 themselves entirely the victims of circumstances, 
 forgetting those maxims of self-examination, 
 which may be found in the writings of Plato, 
 as well as in the oracles of God. If true to 
 themselves, aware of their short-comings, and 
 ready to profit by experience, they might even 
 now have been triumphing over the oppressor. 
 
 But let us not be unjust, and, while assigning 
 to the inhabitants of the Peninsula that portion of 
 censure which they deserve, keep out of view the fact 
 so justly stated by Mr. Whiteside,* that " the 
 absolutism of the governments degrades the people, 
 and tends to unfit them for political business." 
 " It seems the height of injustice," says that 
 accomplished writer, " to accuse men of ignorance 
 and incompetence, when they are not suffered 
 
 * Italy iu the Nineteenth Century. 
 
164 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 to exercise their understandings, or show their 
 ability for public life." The reasonableness of 
 this remark will approve itself at once to every 
 impartial mind, who knows how long a training 
 men require before they can with safety be 
 permitted to govern themselves. Even English 
 jurisprudence has not been the birtli oi' a day. 
 Europe admires our senate house and coui'ts of 
 law, our freedom of speech and love of order; 
 but these things have been the growth of time, 
 the fruits of trial and error, the harvest of tliat 
 seed sown by the barons on Runnymede, and 
 watered by the Declaration of Rights. 
 
 No great work can be perfected w^ithout years 
 of experience and development ; and if a race 
 are to be pronounced incapable of self-government, 
 the verdict must be founded on the failure of a 
 lengthened apprenticeship, not hastily given after 
 centuries of oppression. If " domestic fury and 
 fierce civil strife cumber all the parts of Italy,''* the 
 blame does not wholly lie with the natives, but witli 
 those w^ho have deprived them of the riglits of citi- 
 zenship, and of every privilege which ennobles man. 
 
 • Julius Cacsai*. 
 
 INFLUEN'CE OF DESPOTISM. 
 
 165 
 
 Historians tell us of the Mogul Emperor Timour, 
 who, after ravaging Asia by fire and sword, left 
 pyramids of human heads, as so many holocausts 
 on the altar of social order. Different, it may be, 
 in degree, but similar in kind, are the measures 
 which Gennan princes have taken to overawe the 
 injured inhabitants of the south; military law 
 carries terror into the hearts of the Lombards, and 
 Tuscany has become a barrack for Croats. 
 
 " Italia ! thou art but a gi-ave 
 Where flowers luxuriate o'er the brave ; 
 And Nature gives her treasures birth 
 O'er all that had been great on earth." 
 
 But a resistance deriving its source from the 
 deepest springs of the human heart has never 
 ceased to oppose this wanton exercise of power ; 
 sedition may for a time have been quiet, and 
 tranquillity have appeared on the surface of the 
 land; let it not be imagined, however, that 
 bayonets have chained the mind,—" lo mormorito ' 
 quetamente suo7ia,'' and if Petrarch could arise 
 from the dead to sing of Italian liberty, he 
 would find the Venetian still gazing on the 
 spoils of Constantinople, the Florentine on his 
 
166 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 knees within the holy precincts of Santa Croce, 
 and the Roman musing among the edifices of tlie 
 Forum. As hidden fires slumber heneatli the 
 volcanic rocks of the Apennines, so the armies of 
 des]iotism cmsh tlie uprisings of a people cherisli- 
 ing an unquenchable desire to be free. 
 
 No one who has perused the foregoing pages 
 will accuse me of contemning the fine arts ; but 
 there is a great difference between admiring the 
 works of Raffaelle and Canova, and attaching to 
 these works an influence highly beneficial to civi- 
 lization. How many display a just sense of the 
 beautifid, without feeling the want of what we in 
 England now consider the necessaries of life! 
 Not only does the workshop require much more 
 mind and industry than the studio, but its benefits 
 multiply themselves, and proportionably add to 
 the material prosperity of a nation. 
 
 Hundreds of men in Italy are employed in 
 providing "Madonnas" for the cottages of the 
 peasants, little daubs of the Virgin Mary, the 
 2yenates of a superstitious race; would it not 
 conduce in a greater degree to the progress of the 
 country, if they abandoned a pursuit so unrepro- 
 
 THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 167 
 
 
 ductive, for the silk factory or the flax mill? 
 Vast fields of lint and hemp may be seen in most 
 parts of the Peninsula ; but the labourers who for 
 ages ought to have been busy converting their 
 produce into garments, rope, and sail-cloth, have 
 been building palaces, cutting marble, and studying 
 paints ; every one possesses a bad picture, but an 
 ill-furnished house, — a head of Dante, but scarcely 
 sufficient clothing to appear in open day ; whilst 
 our middle classes enjoy the luxuries which repro- 
 ductive industry places within their reach, the 
 admirer of aesthetic excellence south of the Alps 
 knows nothing of the comforts of home. 
 
 During the day he may lounge in the galleries 
 where Guido delights the eye, but in the evening 
 he returns to a dreary room in some old palazzo, 
 where, by the light of a glimmering candle, he 
 gropes his way to a tottering table and a crazy 
 bed; he may be able critically to examine the 
 masterpieces of Titian, but as a man of business 
 he is on a par with the Chippeway ; an English 
 schoolboy has more acquaintance with real life, 
 and the backwoodsman on the Missouri can better 
 appreciate the useful arts. Manufactures, litera- 
 
168 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ture, and politics, are excluded from the thoughts 
 of a people tlius unnaturally engrossed with the 
 beauties of design ; and when any unforeseen occur- 
 rence disarranges the outward haniiony of things, 
 they rush to extremes, behave like irrational 
 creatures, and rivet their chains. 
 
 The civilization of painting, statuary, architec- 
 ture, and music has not reared the fabric of 
 English greatness, nor raised in the western world 
 one of the mightiest nations of the earth ; we must 
 look for its effects to Bavaria or Italy, where 
 pictures employ thousands, and every villa has its 
 rows of statues. In these as well as other countries 
 government encourages, by every means in its 
 power, a taste for the fine arts, knowing that those 
 who devote themselves to this pursuit fomi the 
 most obedient of unintelligent slaves. Whilst the 
 inhabitants of Naples and Munich live more poorly 
 than did the Saxons of the Heptarchy, the trades- 
 men of Liverpool and New York sit down in their 
 well -furnished parlours, with their wives and 
 children, to a meal consisting of articles known 
 only to the noblesse of Italy. An English 
 operative who reads Chambers's Journal and the 
 
 THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 169 
 
 Mechanics' Magazine, is surely, notwithstanding 
 his ignorance of artistic merit, a much more 
 civilized being than the workman of Florence; 
 however incapable of pronouncing on the beautiful, 
 he is a more enlightened, a -w^ser, a more useful 
 man. 
 
 It would be well for all countries whose people 
 have been trained on the aesthetic principle, to 
 devote a greater degree of attention to the ordi- 
 nary arts of life, to reproductive industry, and the 
 cultivation of a taste for what will benefit, leaving 
 those who have leisure and money to discuss the 
 humanising influences of music and statuary-. 
 Had we been producing frescoes instead of calicos, 
 Glasgow might have been as Venice, and a 
 foreigner occupying the throne of the Plantagenets. 
 As long as human nature remains unchanged, the 
 fine arts will have a prominent place among men ; 
 but to talk of their civilizing effects, shows an 
 acquaintance neither with history, nor with the 
 actual condition of Europe. It is no new idea 
 that they have tended greatly to retard the civi- 
 lization of Italy; and in every view of Italian 
 VOL, II, H 
 

 170 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 affairs their influence, past and present, must not 
 be lost sight of. 
 
 Let me now, however, direct the reader's atten- 
 tion more particularly to the political state of that 
 Peninsula, the destinies of which seem at present 
 entirely to depend upon the future history of 
 Austria. Dr. Johnson somewhere remarks, that 
 '* the more contracted power is, the more easily it 
 is destroyed, — a country governed by a despot is 
 an inverted cone.^' No truer saying ever escaped 
 the lips of a moralist ; and it applies with double 
 force to the bm-eaucracy of Vienna. Every one 
 whom you meet in England fears " sad work on 
 the continent soon;" notwithstanding all the pre- 
 cautions of tyranny, and the unfortunate effects of 
 revolution, confidence has not been restored. And 
 whither do we look for the outburst, or at least for 
 the cabinet and dynasty which is least able to resist 
 popular wrath ? Assuredly to the banks of the Po 
 and Danube, where Hungarians and Lombards 
 writhe in their chains. In 1848, Mettemich 
 thought himself secure at Schonbrunn; and he 
 was really so, compared with the present counsel- 
 
 ' 
 
 
 POLITICAL TROUBLES. 
 
 171 
 
 lors of the Archduchess Sophia, the virtual ruler 
 of those various nations which the Congress of 
 1815 consigned to the tender mercies of the house 
 of Ilapsburg. 
 
 But whether political troubles arise or not, the 
 storm has begun to gather in another quarter, a 
 quarter from which it came before. " Nations," 
 said Burke half a century ago, " are wading deeper 
 and deeper into an ocean of boundless debt. Public 
 debts, which at first were a security to government, 
 by interesting many in the public tranquillity, are 
 likely in their excess to become the means of their 
 subversion. If governments provide for these 
 debts by heavy impositions, they perish by be- 
 coming odious to the people. If they do not 
 pro\dde for them, they will be undone by the 
 efforts of the most dangerous of all parties ; I mean, 
 an extensive, discontented monied interest, injured 
 and not destroyed."* On this subject I appeal, 
 not to Mr. Cobden, the advocates of peace, or the 
 denouncers of foreign loans, but to every man who 
 has studied the fluctuations of the Bourse at 
 
 * French Revolution, p. 219. 
 H 2 
 
172 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Vienna, or the efforts made by the cabinet to obtain 
 money since the Hungarian war.* 
 
 If these obvious proofs of extreme need have 
 not been noticed, let the candid mind weigh the 
 sentiments expressed ten years ago by the most 
 philosophical traveller who has yet described the 
 dominions of Hapsburg beyond the Danube. 
 " The Austrian exchequer," says Mr. Paget,t '* it is 
 well known, is and has been for centuries in a mise- 
 rably low state ; and there are no arts, except those 
 of enlightened and honest administration, which 
 
 have not been put in practice to improve it 
 
 The end of this government has been two national 
 bankruptcies, the destruction of all commerce from 
 w^ithout, and of all energy and enterprise within.'' 
 
 This account of things is sufficient to alarm 
 every cautious capitalist; but how mucli have 
 matters altered for the worse since 1842? A 
 bloody, expensive war has occurred in Hungary ; 
 
 * " It is indeed," says Sir "Walter Scott, " on the subject of 
 finance and taxation, that almost all revolutions among civilized 
 nations have been found to hinge." — Life of Napoleon, chap. 83. 
 
 t " Himgary and Transylvania." By J. Paget, Esq. Vol. i. 
 p. 409 ; vol. ii. p. 539. 
 
 THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 173 
 
 an equally costly struggle has agitated Lombardy ; 
 and at the present moment Austrian troops have to 
 be clothed, fed, and paid, to garrison both Holstein 
 and Tuscany. What sum it annually requires to 
 maintain this gigantic military establishment, tlie 
 war minister only knows ; but every one may 
 safely put it down as something enormous. 
 
 Now, if it be true that armies are vast masses 
 of men, who ought to be engaged in productive 
 labour, grievously misemployed ; if large suras of 
 money must be forthcoming to prevent mutiny ; 
 and if pecuniary embarrassment stares Francis 
 Joseph in the face ; what is to become of a dynasty 
 whicli, again to quote from Edmund Bm'ke, '* de- 
 pends entirely upon tlie army," and has " indus- 
 tiHOusly destroyed all the opinions and prejudices, 
 and, as far as in it lay, all the instincts which 
 support government?" In Transylvania, every 
 official is sent to Coventry by the nobility; in 
 Hungary, wide-spread dissatisfaction prevails ; the 
 Viennese sympathise with freedom ; Russia tam- 
 pers with the Sclavonic races ; and in Lombardy 
 you see only gaping cannon, ready at a moment's 
 notice to sweep the streets. It would require a 
 
174 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 much more stable government than that of Austria 
 to retain permanent possession of the valley of the 
 Po. Its inhabitants have shown a restless, dis- 
 satisfied spirit during many ages : in the eleventh 
 century they burned Pavia to the ground ; in the 
 twelfth they formed the league of Cremona against 
 Frederic Barbarossa, unawed by the capture and 
 destruction of ^Milan ; and before that period closed 
 they had taught that haughty conqueror a lesson 
 which his successors would do well to keep in mind. 
 " By a certain class of statesmen,'* says Ilallam, 
 " and by all men of harsh and violent disposition, 
 measures of conciliation, adlierence to the spirit of 
 treaties, regard to ancient privileges or to those 
 rules of moral justice which are paramount to all 
 positive right, are always treated with derision. 
 Terror is their only specific, and the physical in- 
 ability to rebel their only security for allegiance."* 
 These measures Barbarossa tried against the cities 
 • of Lombardy ; but he tried them in vain : at Leg- 
 nano they routed his formidable forces, and com- 
 pelled him to conclude an armistice, which ended 
 in the peace of Constance and the liberties of Italy. 
 
 * Middle Ages, vol. i. p. 239. 
 
 THE AUrSTPJAN GOVERNMENT. 
 
 175 
 
 By their disunion, the inhabitants did not pre- 
 serve the prize thus nobly won ; jealousy, faction, 
 and civil hate, conspired again to open the Alpine 
 passes to the Germans, and Milan became the 
 possession of a foreign power. Thus Heaven 
 punishes those who, wasteful of its gifts, blast by 
 internal strife the prospects of their native land. 
 But the spirit of the people has not yet been 
 broken ; they obey the myrmidons of bureaucracy, 
 but they obey them with ill-dissembled reluctance ; 
 the uniform of Austria is an eyesore in town and 
 country ; they would rather trust the uncertain 
 revolutions of the wheel of fortune than submit to 
 the constant annoyances to which esjr>ionnage and 
 martial law expose them ; and whatever political 
 events may happen in Europe, they will be ready 
 to unfurl the standard of revolt. No one but the 
 Eternal knows in what manner punishment will 
 fall on the aggressor; but every consideration 
 leads us to the conclusion, that a more precarious 
 tenure does not exist than that by which a German 
 army governs the north of Italy. 
 
 One of the most remarkable incidents in the late 
 
176 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 war was tlie heroic defence of Venice. It reminded 
 ns of her better days, when Dandolo, with his five 
 hundred ships, sailed to attack Byzantium ; or 
 when John Palseologus passed under the Rialto to 
 visit the republic " strong in the sea.'* We north- 
 ems had the impression that every spark of Ve- 
 netian bravery had been extinguished by the 
 tyranny of strangers and the influence of sloth ; 
 but Manin opened our eyes to the gratifying fact, 
 that a love of freedom still prevails in the Queen 
 of the Adriatic ; and that, if not destined to restore 
 her doge, she may yet occupy a prominent position 
 on the theatre of Italian politics. 
 
 Passing over Tuscany, which now, being gar- 
 risoned by Austrian soldiers, may be considered 
 part of Lombardy, we come to the Papal States, 
 the present political position of which must be 
 familiar to every educated Englishman. Sir Ed- 
 ward Bulwer Lytton has well said, that " a reform- 
 ing Pope is a lucky accident; and dull indeed 
 must be the brain which believes in the possibility 
 of a long succession of reforming Popes, or which 
 can regard as other than precarious and unstable 
 
 THE PAPAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 177 
 
 the discordant combination of a coiistitutional 
 government with an infallible head."* Most of 
 the pontiffs have been raised to the chair when 
 advanced in years ; and, however benevolent in 
 their disposition, have found themselves unable to 
 resist the claims of relatives or the miworthy 
 measures of official corruption. 
 
 It is not in the nature of things that the papal 
 court should be othenvise than corrupt ; in all ages 
 the government lias been nearly intolerable ; and 
 now, when other countries have made such giant 
 strides, it remains more barbarous than ever. Agri- 
 culture is neglected, trade languishes, mui'ders 
 prevail, and robbers roam the mountains unawed 
 by officer or priest. " Chi considera bene la legge 
 evangelica," wrote Vettori in the sixteenth century, 
 "vedr^ i pontefici, ancora che tenghino il nome 
 di vicario di Christo, haver indutto una nova reli- 
 gione, che non ve n'^ altro di Christo che il nome ; 
 il qual comanda la povertii e loro vogliono la 
 richezza, comanda la humilta e laro vogliono la 
 superbia, comanda la obedientia e loro vogliono 
 coraandar a ciascuno." 
 
 * Rienzi, preface, p. ix. 
 
 h3 
 
178 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEIT. 
 
 The occupation of Rome by the French, in 
 order to keep out the Austrians, who already gar- 
 rison Bologna, the second city in the states, can be 
 more suitably discussed by the correspondents of 
 newspapers than in these pages ; its history is 
 recent, and every one knows the circumstances. 
 But the cardinals do not like their masters ; and 
 by all means in their power they are trying to 
 disgust the government at Paris, in order to bring 
 about the recal of those troops which stand in the 
 way of German regiments. Devoted to Austrian 
 interests, the priests hire niffians to assault and 
 murder General Gemeau's soldiers ; and several 
 of the latter expressed themselves to me heartily 
 disgusted with their quarters. The [)eople despise 
 them, and the papal officers plot to annoy them ; 
 no wonder that both officers and men would rather 
 serve their country in Algiers. 
 
 Let us turn from these distracted provinces to 
 consider the state of matters at Naples, — that un- 
 happy kingdom whose inhabitants owe Mr. Glad- 
 stone such a debt of gratitude for his manly expose 
 of an iniquitous government. To quote from his 
 pamphlet would be unnecessary, for every one inte- 
 
 CTATE OF NAPLES. 
 
 179 
 
 rested in the suppression of cmelty will read it, 
 however few think of wasting time in perusing 
 that reply, which, to our shame be it said, Ferdinand 
 has found an Englishman unworthy enough to 
 publish. Twenty thousand human beings in prison 
 for political offiinces ! A majority of the late 
 Chamber of Deputies either exiled or in fetters ! 
 Tlie executive power deliberately employing as 
 spies the very dregs of society ! Acquitted pri- 
 soners still in dungeons ! Judges approving per- 
 jury, and browbeating witnesses ! Poerio doomed 
 to a death worse than beheading ! Can we wonder 
 that Mr. Gladstone calls such things *^ gigantic 
 horrors, which prepare the way for a violent revo- 
 lution'' against a government, " itself the grand 
 law-breaker and malefactor, the first in rank among 
 oppressors, the deadly enemy of freedom and intel- 
 ligence, the active fomenter and instigator of the 
 \'ilest comiptions among the people ?" 
 
 Further comment on this system of iniquity is 
 scarcely necessary. The ruler who seeks to build 
 his hopes of permanent power on the corruption of 
 his people, who transgresses the limits of that 
 ** moral competence" inherent in the supreme 
 
 
180 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 STATE OF NAPLES. 
 
 181 
 
 authority, and thus makes rebellion no crime, is 
 like a sailor walking the deck of his vessel, while 
 combustion chars the bulkhead of the powder- 
 magazine below. As soon as Paris or Vienna gives 
 the signal, there will be nothing for the last of the 
 Bourbons but exile or death. 
 
 There was another Ferdinand, who in the 
 fifteenth century pursued at Naples a similar course 
 — perfidious to his nobles, cruel to the middle class, 
 calamity at length overtook him, and his posterity 
 ceased to reign. But his modem namesake will 
 not take warning, a judicial blindness seems to 
 cover his eyes, and he continues a career of reck- 
 less tyranny, reminding me of that eloquent passage 
 in Sheridan's invective against another branch of 
 the same miserable race : " What but a superior 
 abhorrence of that accursed system of despotic 
 government which had so deformed and corrupted 
 human natm'e as to make its subjects capable of 
 such acts ; a government that sets at nought the 
 property, the liberty, and lives of the subjects ; a 
 government that deals in extortion, dungeons, and 
 tortures ; sets an example of depravity to the 
 slaves it rules over: — and if a day of power comes 
 
 It 
 
 to the wretched populace, 'tis not to be wondered 
 at, however it is to be regretted, that they act 
 without those feelings of justice and humanity of 
 which the principles and the practice of their 
 governors have stripped them." How applicable 
 this description of the French Bourbons to their 
 cousins at Naples ! 
 
 As long as corruption, cruelty, and despotism 
 desolate this unhappy country, we cannot expect 
 that Calabria will emerge from that barbarism 
 which for centuries has diverted from it the stream 
 of travellers, or renounce those superstitious prac- 
 tices which have never been uprooted among the 
 mountains since idolatry was destroyed. No one 
 requires to be told that Sicily has for many years 
 been ripe for rebellion ; the massacre at Catania 
 and the bombardment of Messina sufficiently attest 
 that: but the traveller who has conversed wdth the 
 people on the mainland knows that they too show 
 as undoubted symptoms of a bloody outbreak, as 
 Vesmdus does of a near eruption, when smoke in 
 the form of a pine-tree fills with terror the in- 
 habitants of the plain. 
 
 My remarks have hitherto been directed to the 
 
 v 
 
182 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SARDINIA. 
 
 183 
 
 dark side of the picture ; but amidst this gloom 
 there is hope, for freedom has not yet entirely 
 deserted even Italy ; one bright spot in the land- 
 scape relieves the wearied eye, and encourages 
 expectations of a better future. 
 
 If the gift of prophecy has descended to modern 
 times, in one instance at least it may be claimed 
 by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. Many years ago, 
 when Europe wore a very different aspect, he 
 penned this remarkable sentence: — "The time 
 must come when Sardinia will lead the van of 
 Italian civilization, and take a proud place among 
 the greater nations of Europe." That time has 
 come — a people once toni asunder by intestine 
 contentions, have united to follow the footsteps of 
 England, by establishing and supporting a consti- 
 tutional government, under which agriculture, 
 manufactures, and the useful arts promise to 
 flourish, as they have never yet done south of the 
 Alpine ranges. Once Piedmont was the persecutor 
 of the Waldenses, the incarnation of bigoted 
 cruelty; now she has established liberty of worship, 
 and a Protestant chapel is being erected at Turin : 
 formerly her ministers approved of that prohibitory 
 
 >.^ 
 
 fiscal system from which commerce has suffered so 
 much in the Mediterranean ; but during the past 
 year they have concluded a free-trade treaty with 
 England, and prosperity has returned to Genoa to 
 an extent even beyond the expectations of the 
 most sanguine mind. What a change has this 
 liberal policy produced within the last few years ! 
 
 Not long ago the city of the Dorias seemed 
 rapidly hastening, like Venice,- to a prematin-e 
 decay; but of late that retrograde movement has 
 l)een stopped; in 1849 I observed manifest symp- 
 toms of improvement, and in 1851 the appearance 
 of the Porto Franco, or quarter of bonded ware- 
 houses, quite surprised me. One could scarcely 
 move for the crowd of merchants, clerks, ware- 
 housemen, and porters, busily engaged among 
 bale-goods and produce ; the quays resembled 
 those of Liverpool or New York, more than the 
 deserted whan^es of a declining land ; and the 
 business there transacted has so outgrown the 
 capabilities of the harbour, that it is said govern- 
 ment have determined to abandon the arsenal and 
 dockyards to commercial pui-poses, and remove their 
 establishment to La Spezzia. 
 
184 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Factories are likewise greatly increasing in 
 number, especially along the Mediterranean coast ; 
 a railroad will soon connect Turin with its sea- 
 port ; another has been fixed upon to the frontiers 
 of Lombardy, and perhaps ere long we shall hear 
 of Mr. Stephenson surveying the line of the Alps, 
 with a view of tunnelling the mountains between 
 the Khone and the Val d'Aosta, or between Susa 
 and the valley of the Isere. 
 
 It is really heart-cheering now to stand on the 
 pier of Genoa, and contemplate the forest of masts 
 within the mole, — to mix w^ith the commercial men 
 on the Bourse, or at the Porto Franco, and to see 
 the vast amount of traffic on the road toward the 
 lighthouse. I had heard of the rapid strides being 
 made by Piedmont, but the reality surprised me* 
 From Pietra Santa to Nice, from Spezzia to Ge- 
 neva, marks of industry, energy, and progress on 
 every side appear— admirable roads — well-culti- 
 vated fields — silk works— canvas manufactories—- 
 ship-building— railways— new villas ; all bear Avit- 
 ness to a rising people,— a people who must inliUlibly 
 lead the civilization of Italy. They have no ruins 
 amongst which to meditate, unless they be the 
 
 POLITICAL OPINIONS. 
 
 185 
 
 venerable walls of Genoese palaces; but the mantle 
 of England has fallen upon them, and when a 
 period of freedom has brought forth its proper 
 fruit, we may expect to see all that is good and 
 ffreat in the Peninsula rallying round the throne of 
 Turin. How mysterious are the ways of that (jod 
 who has so ordered it that a country once the high- 
 place of ignorance, has hecome the very stronghold 
 and refuge of Italian patriotism! Watch well, 
 ye enemies of tyranny over the independence of 
 Sardinia, and the Uberties of the Peninsula are 
 
 safe. 
 
 Unfortunately for Central and Southern Italy, 
 her people have no choice between despotism and 
 democracy. " What can we do ?" asked some of them 
 whom I met while travelling, " we have no native 
 princes to lead us ; the Grand Duke of Tuscany is 
 an Austrian ; the Pope has made a league with our 
 oppressors ; the King of Naples is a tyrant of the 
 worst possible kind— one portion of the nobility 
 frowns on liberal principles— the other possesses 
 neither energy nor talent ; we must trust to the 
 chapter of accidents, and, although no republicans 
 in theory, Mazzini is our man." I mourn this 
 
186 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 lamentable want of royal leaders ; but the fact 
 no one can dispute. 
 
 In the fourteenth century Rienzi cherished a 
 noble idea of uniting Italy in a great federal 
 republic, of which Rome should be the head, and 
 all the principal cities members. His messengers, 
 bearing in their hands the white rods of embassy, 
 traversed the Peninsula to explain this at that 
 time visionary scheme, and every^vhere the people 
 on their knees asked Heaven to bless the under- 
 taking. Italy for the Italians — union against the 
 north — local administration, but mutual dependence 
 — were the watch-words which more than three 
 hundred years ago kindled a holy ardour in the 
 breast of the last of the Tribunes. 
 
 Let us not too hastily decide that, after so many 
 ages of a government under whicli municipal 
 institutions have been nearly destroyed, republi- 
 canism cannot be adopted in the Peninsula, for 
 history affords notable examples to render a 
 contrary conclusion probable. No provinces en- 
 joyed less liberty, or suffered more grievously from 
 the bureaucratic principle than the Spanish colonies 
 of America ; yet every one of them has become a 
 
 REPUBLICANISM. 
 
 187 
 
 republic. Such has always been the tendency of 
 tlie human mind— to rush from one extreme to 
 another — when released from a despot's bonds to 
 take refuge in the arms of democracy. But the 
 evils of factious uncertainty will in every age be 
 preferred to a degrading slavery ; and wise men 
 will consider it mere sophistry to oppose the cause 
 of freedom, on account of "patriotism," as 
 Dr. Johnson says, being "the last refuge of a 
 scoundrel." Politicians of impracticable and 
 visionary views will be found in every climate. 
 It is a necessary evil attending popular movements, 
 that those whose mouths never cease to sound the 
 praises of liberty and charity may often be found 
 at heart the most bitter tyrants ; but none of these 
 things affect the great principle involved; and 
 where freedom has degenerated into licence, the 
 careful student of history will find, that to the 
 intolerant rulei*s must be ascribed the blame. 
 My impression is, that republicanism, in one form 
 or another, will establish itself on the ruins of 
 despotic government in Italy. 
 
 We hear a great deal in certain quarters^ about 
 the military strength of foreign powers, and the 
 
188 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 INSTABILITY OF GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 189 
 
 impossibility of disturbing that arrangement of 
 states made by the Congress at Vienna ; and had 
 governments acted with wisdom, had they '' arrested 
 the advances of arrogance within the limits of 
 safety,"* perhaps their position would have been 
 secure : but it has not been so ; they have trampled 
 on the rights of men, broken promises, annulled 
 constitutions, bombarded towTis, shot innocent 
 victims, and given to their subjects a secret poison, 
 which, intended to deaden their sensibilities, will 
 first impart to them a delirious strength, and 
 enable them to burst their bonds. I fear that 
 before many years we shall see, what 3Iacaulay 
 justly denominates, "the most frightful of all 
 spectacles—the strength of civilization without its 
 mercy." t When oppression becomes intolerable, 
 the fear of defeat no longer acts as a check on 
 rebellious projects ; but despair begets an unnatural 
 courage, the fiery cross flits from tribe to tribe, 
 beacons blaze on the mountains, and the despot 
 trembles on his throne. 
 
 It would be well if the three governments, 
 
 • Isaac Taylor's "Spiritual Despotiam," p. 326. 
 t Essay on Warren Hastings, p. 9. 
 
 which now keep down Italy by armies, would take 
 warning from the terrible though latent discontent 
 of the people. Alfieri spoke to them a word in 
 season when he exclaimed — 
 
 " Schiavi siam, ma schiavi ognor frementi;" 
 
 and there is not a man of education throughout 
 the country, who, if he dared, would not tell a 
 similar tale. Perhaps they trust to the want of 
 leaders among the nobles, and the absence of 
 patriotism among the national princes; but this 
 affords no true ground of confidence, as in 
 England, when Major Bridgenorth so propheti- 
 cally addressed Peveril of the Peak—" The times 
 demand righters and avengers, and there will be no 
 want of them." * 
 
 John of Procida was a humble man, an insigni- 
 ficant, though devoted adherent of Manfred in his 
 contest with Charles of Anjou for the Neapolitan 
 sceptre; but when that struggle terminated disad- 
 vantageously, and his property reverted to the 
 crown, he crossed over to Sicily ; travelling from 
 town to town, spread disaffection against the 
 
 • Peveril of the Peak, vol. i. p. 180. 
 
190 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 government of France; and so well did the people 
 conceal his projects, that no one, unacquainted with 
 the secret, knew of the impending blow till tlie 
 memorable eve of the Sicilian Vesjyers, when eight 
 thousand Gallic soldiers fell victims to popular 
 fury.* The history of that awful night should be 
 carefully pondered by Ferdinand and Filangreri ; 
 they now repose under shadow of Austrian pro- 
 tection, not heeding the murmurs of an oppressed 
 people, or the universal truth of Shakspeare's re- 
 mark, " that the whirligig of time brings in its 
 revenges;" f but to me their conduct appears quite 
 inexplicable, unless on the principle, "Quem Deus 
 vidt perdere, prius dementat." 
 
 There exists in Italy a feeling against the King 
 of Naples which makes one shudder ; " the per- 
 jured," "the perfidious," "the assassin," sucharethe 
 ternis used towards him even by those who talk of 
 the Grand Duke Leopold as a good-natured elderly 
 gentleman, unfit for his situation, and of Pio Nono 
 as the tool of more designing men ; the latter they 
 would banish from the scene of their mis-govem- 
 
 * See Gibbon, vol. viii. Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. i. 
 t Twelfth Night, Act v. Scene 1. 
 
 I 
 
 CHANGE IN RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT. 
 
 191 
 
 ment, the former they reserve to endure the punish- 
 ment due to crime. It is a sad prospect for that 
 lovely country; but who does not see the hand- 
 writing on the wall? I do not expect again to 
 cross the Simplon until another Rienzi has 
 awakened the echoes of the Forum, and the last of 
 the Bourbons has shared the exile of his race. 
 
 Tlie revolutionary troubles and the oppressions 
 of the absolutist party, have combined to produce 
 a most remarkable change in the sentiments of the 
 Italian people regarding the Romish faith. In 
 Lombardy, Tuscany, and especially in Rome itself, 
 the established religion has received a shake which 
 may well excite the alarm of its adherents ; men 
 cease to look up to the priests as oracles of wisdom, 
 they cannot believe that God would commit to 
 hand.^ stained with the blood of their countrymen 
 the sole keeping of his mysteries ; finding church 
 penalties so frequently used as a means of civil 
 government, they have begun to treat them as of 
 dubious authority ; though still unacquainted with 
 the Gospel, a few years more of despotism will, if 
 we can trust present appearances, make them ripe 
 for the reception of Protestant truth. In very few 
 
192 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 cases, it is true, do we see men actuated by opinions 
 really evangelical ; but let us not forget that similar 
 beginnings ushered in the Reformation in Ger- 
 many, and if south of the Alps another Luther 
 should arise, who can foretell the consequences ? 
 
 Since reaching home I find that other travellers 
 in Italy, during the past summer, observed, like 
 myself, the little interest apparently felt by the 
 population in the holy festivals ; few, in comparison 
 with the multitudes of former years, joined the 
 processions; the higher classes studiously absented 
 themselves, the citizens gazed with indifference, 
 many of them not even lifting their hats to the 
 host ; ladies exchanged jokes at the expense of 
 burly fathers, and young men frowned on the pomp 
 as a mere artifice of priestcraft. A small band of 
 officers followed the monks and singing boys, 
 while the soldiers bent their knees at the word of 
 command, and thus the ceremony ended ; the 
 sacerdotal and military rulers retired to concert 
 new measures of oppression, the people to meditate 
 on the connexion between political t}Tanny and 
 the religion of Rome. " I dare say," remarks a 
 periodical writer, with reference to this state of 
 
 CHURCH REFORM. 
 
 193 
 
 things, " that a nation that shows so little respect 
 for the holy services of their Church, is preparing, 
 if not to leave, at least to reform her." 
 
 It is likewise well known to those acquainted 
 with the country, that a considerable number of 
 the parish priests, — men uninfluenced by the views 
 of the hierarchy, sympathise both with national 
 emancipation and ecclesiastical change; the demand 
 for the Bible has filled the rulers, especially those 
 of Tuscany, with alarm ; scarcely a single Roman 
 does not avow his leaning towards religious 
 liberty; and in Sardinia a network of Protestant 
 churches seems likely at no distant period to cover 
 the land. 
 
 VOL. ir. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NOTES ON THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF ROMAN 
 
 CATHOLICISM. 
 
 THE LATITUDINARIAN PARTY IN ENGLAND — THEIR ALLIANCE WITH 
 THE ULTRAMONTANE ROMAN CATHOLICS — DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 
 THE AGENTS OF THE PAPACY IN BRITAIN AND THOSE ON THE 
 CONTINENT — AGGRESSIONS OF THE POPE IN THE SIXTEENTH CEN- 
 TURY — EFFECTS OF THE CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION ACT — PRO- 
 PHETIC WORDS OF SIR ROBERT PEEL — EXAMINATION OF THE 
 QUESTION REGARDING THE RIGHT OF THE ROMAN PONTIFF TO 
 APPOINT BISHOPS, TO CONTROL THE AFFAIRS OF NATIONAL 
 CHURCHES, AND TO EXERCISE TEMPORAL AUTHORITY — REAL 
 OBJECT OF THOSE REPRESENTED BY CARDINAL WISEMAN — INFLU- 
 ENCE OF POPERY ON MORALS AND LEARNING. 
 
 Recent events in the history of our country have 
 introduced into the arena of political and eccle- 
 siastical discussion a party, small in point of num- 
 bers, but mfluential inasmuch as they have in their 
 ])ossession a portion of the public press, to whom, 
 without any breach of courtesy, may be applied 
 tlie epithet latitudinarian. Under the guise of mode- 
 ration they hide a laxity of sentiment, which ren- 
 
 
 LATITUDINARIANISM IN ENGLAND. 
 
 195 
 
 ders them dangerous counsellors in civil things, 
 and apt to regard religious matters with a cold, 
 sceptical indifference; their favourite saying is. 
 Why attach so much stress to doctrinal varieties? 
 let humanity, kindliness of disposition, and com- 
 mon sense be the tests of character: all their 
 writings have as a motto that confused and ambi- 
 guous couplet — 
 
 *' For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight ;— 
 His can't be wrong whose life is in the right." 
 
 Two very different meanings may be gathered 
 from these lines ; but those who now-a-days con- 
 tinually quote them are at no pains to deny that, 
 according to their opinion, a man may be a Chris- 
 tian, a Mahommedan, or a Buddhist, and yet a 
 most respectable member of society. The differ- 
 ence between various sects wdio believe in the 
 Bible, they consider as of no consequence what- 
 ever; the Roman Catholic and the Protestant — th-a 
 Calvinist and the Universalist, — they look upon 
 with equally favourable eyes ; their superficial 
 acquaintance with religious matters leads them, in 
 tlie full assurance that oracular wisdom alone pro- 
 ceeds from their mouths, to pronounce evangcHcal 
 
 i2 
 
196 
 
 THE TAGUS A*ND THE TIBER. 
 
 truth as a mere party symbol, ^vithout significance 
 or reality; and all sorts of opinions in regard to 
 the interpretation of Scripture appear to them alike 
 influential to promote individual virtue and social 
 happiness. Such people by their statements con- 
 tradict the remark of Cicero, that the true religion 
 could be but one, and that all others must be false; 
 they remind me of a sect which arose in Alex- 
 andria in the second century, who called themselve 
 Eclectics, because they adhered to no system in 
 particular, but chose a code for themselves, recog- 
 nising the Jew, the Pagan, the Grecian philosopher 
 and the Christian, as the same in the sight of 
 Deity. Loud in their professions of candour and 
 moderation, they were the most self-sufficient 
 theorists of the age; regardnig Plato and Jesus 
 as virtually agreed, they understood neither the 
 philosophy of the one, nor the precepts of the 
 ther; believing themselves free from prevalent 
 superstitions, they added a new kind of fanaticism 
 to the other corruptions of their time. Like them, 
 our modem latitudinarians affect the greatest zeal 
 for truth, while they take every opportunity to 
 attack its supporters ; they ask credit for impar- 
 
 
 LATITUDINARIANISM IN ENGLAND. 
 
 197 
 
 tiality, while straining every nerve, not to expose 
 the errors of all systems, but to hold evangelical 
 principles up to public reprobation; they proclaim 
 a cmsade against bigotry in general, but confine 
 their efforts solely to the bigotry of zealous Pro- 
 testant teachers ; — liberality is their watchword, but 
 the Gospel the real object of their dislike.* 
 
 The description which Burke gives of the school 
 which had in his time risen into notice at Paris, 
 applies with equal force to the indifferentism of the 
 present day. " We hear these new teachers," 
 says he, " continually boasting of their spirit of 
 toleration. That those persons should tolerate 
 all opinions who think none to be of estimation, is 
 a matter of small merit. Equal neglect is not im- 
 partial kindness. The species of benevolence which 
 arises from contempt is no true charity." f I have 
 made these remarks on the conduct of a party 
 whom every serious mind must look upon as the 
 most dangerous enemies of Christianity, as a kind 
 
 * " The pillars of revelation are shaken by those men who 
 preserve the name without the substance of rehgion, who in- 
 dulge the licence without the temper of philosophy." — Gibbon's 
 " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. 1. 
 
 f French Revolution, p. 213. 
 
198 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 of introduction to a brief notice of the present 
 position occupied by that venerable system of 
 superstition, which seems, at least for the moment, 
 to be the special object of their sympathy. It is a 
 most singular circumstance, that the very men who 
 arrogate to themselves the title of the only real 
 advocates of civil and religious liberty, should be 
 engaged heart and soul in defending the most 
 grievous system of ecclesiastical tyranny which tlie 
 world has ever seen. What a spectacle! The 
 denouncers of intolerance forming a league <^f 
 brotherhood witli the legates of Rome! Behold 
 the philosophers who devote their energies to ex- 
 posing the priestly arts of Presbyterian pastors, 
 eloquently describing the virtues of the Jesuits ! 
 The leading articles of certain organs of the so- 
 called liberal party, during the late discussion on 
 the measure introduced by Lord John Russell 
 regarding Papal Aggression, were truly curiosities 
 in literature, worthy of being preserved to illustrate 
 the inconsistencies of the human mind. "This 
 faction," wrote Isaac Taylor, several years ago, 
 " now actually spread their shield over the enor- 
 mities and follies of Romanism; and with sur- 
 
 
 LATITUDINARIANISM IN ENGLAND. 
 
 199 
 
 prising eagerness step in to defend the good old 
 superstition against any new assailant. Thus the 
 very same Popery that was furiously run upon by 
 the sceptics of the last age, is as zealously be- 
 friended by the sceptics of this." ..." The summer 
 season of philosophic impiety is just at that time 
 when some degrading and gorgeous superstition 
 overawes the vulgar, decorates the frivolous hypo- 
 crisy of the opulent, and thickly shades from all 
 eyes the serious verities of religion." ..." English 
 unbelievers know better than to use any efforts for 
 demolishing the popular folly; on the contrary, 
 they give it the aid of their talents, and the mock 
 homage of their external reverence." * 
 
 No apology need be offered to the reader for 
 here introducing this remarkable passage; it de- 
 scribes the phenomenon, and assigns its cause. If 
 any real adherent to Protestantism continues, in 
 neglect of the warning here given, to seek the al- 
 liance of a party, indifferent to scriptural truth, 
 and pledged to defend a monstrous system of op- 
 pression, he deserves to suffer the penalties which, 
 sooner or later, Ultramontane Romanism hopes 
 
 * Spiritual Despotism, pp. 16, 18. 
 
200 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 to inflict on its dupes. Shunning the bugbear of 
 intolerance amongst those of his own creed, he will 
 assuredly find that none can persecute so bitterly 
 as the Jesuit and the infidel. 
 
 One of the most successful of the artifices, by 
 means of which this " Holy Alliance " have been 
 lately attempting to deceive the British public, is 
 to enlarge upon the intelligence, worth, and zeal of 
 the Roman Catholics in our own land ; while they 
 keep in the background the state of those continental 
 countries where Popery preva Is. The Italian hides 
 his indifference under a mantle of ceremony, the 
 Frenchman trifles with the rites of the Church as 
 with a legionary decoration or a pole of liberty ; 
 the earnest Anglo-Saxon alone gives dignity even 
 to the abuses of priestcraft. This the agents of 
 Rome well know, and they seem to have imparted 
 their knowledge most assiduously to their quondam 
 allies ; but to judge of the system from its manifest- 
 ations in England would lead us to a most fallacious 
 conclusion ; we do not want to know the appear- 
 ance of Popery surrounded by and battling with 
 Protestantism, but its appearance in countries 
 where its development has not been checked by 
 
 ULTRAMONTANE ROMANISM. 
 
 201 
 
 counteracting causes ; we want to see it exposed 
 to open day, not wearing a mask, which hides 
 every hateful feature from the inquiring gaze. 
 
 Those who have been in Madrid, Lisbon, Munich, 
 Naples, Lima and Rio de Janeiro, can testify how 
 different the ignorant licentious priests of these 
 cities are from the English emissaries of Rome. 
 The men who, in London, profess extraordinary 
 liberality, who in Dublin welcome with open arms 
 a Protestant ally, who in Edinburgh deplore the 
 bigotry of Presbyterianism, are the same men who 
 in Florence imprison readers of the Bible, who in 
 Rome deny Britons liberty to worship, who in 
 Spain refuse Protestants Christian burial, who in 
 Lombardy prohibit the circulation of the word of 
 God, who in Naples reward the supporters of re- 
 ligious freedom with the rack or the dungeon. And 
 these are the parties whom we Britons are inrse- 
 cuting because we refuse to sanction the establish- 
 ment of an imperium in imperio ; because we seek 
 to protect the more loyal of our Roman Catholic 
 countrymen from the operation of an iniquitous 
 canon law ; because we check at the beginning the 
 aggressions of a power which has already absolved 
 
 l3 
 
202 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 subjects from their allegiance, and may do so again. 
 This is not the first encroachment of Koman 
 tyranny on the liberties of England. 
 
 When swarms of Jesuits an-ived on our shores 
 during the reign of Elizabeth, her officers demanded 
 an explicit answer to the question : — '' Do you con- 
 sider the anathema of Pius V. against your Queen 
 lawful and binding?" but no reply could be ex- 
 torted from these crafty men, more satisfactory 
 than that they wished to " render unto Caesar the 
 things that were Caesar's, and unto God the things 
 that were God's;" this subterfuge the judges inter- 
 preted as a confession of guilt, and they treated the 
 emissaries as rebels, sent by a haughty Pontiff to 
 plot against the crown. Again, in the sixteenth 
 century, William Allen, leading the Ultramontane 
 party in England, solemnly declared : — " Si reges 
 Deo et Dei populo fidem datam fregerint, \4cissim 
 populo non solum permittitur, sed etiam ab eo pas- 
 tore, ipse quoque fidem datam tali principi non 
 servet!" This revolutionary doctrine. Cardinal 
 Bellamiine, in a well-digested work,* not only 
 sanctioned, but defended at great length ; at that 
 
 • De Concilionim Auctoritate. 
 
 POPISH AGGRESSIONS. 
 
 203 
 
 time no one looked upon it as unusual; it was 
 recognised as natural to Popery, and dealt with 
 accordingly. Fifty years later, Urban VIII. de- 
 manded that Roman Catholic churches should be 
 built at the public expense in every English 
 county ; * but there were then neither Aberdeens 
 nor Grahams, so the proposal was received, as it 
 ought to have been, with indignation and contempt. 
 W^ere it renewed in 1852, we might see it warmly 
 applauded by a few statesmen coquetting with Ire- 
 land, and a literary phalanx, w^ho wage bitter war 
 against evangelical truth. These parties seem un- 
 able to distinguish between liberality and latitudi- 
 narianism, betw^een giving men their civil rights 
 and picking the pockets of others to pay for their 
 ceremonies; they would not only bestow upon 
 Roman Catholics the franchise, but patronise, 
 cherish, and pamper them by every means in their 
 power. Against this most fatal policy, it appears 
 to me that all Protestants and patriots should cor- 
 dially unite; for, if persevered in, itw^U assuredly 
 subvert the liberties of our land. 
 
 Dr. Chalmers in his later years, spoke of Catholic 
 
 • Ranke's " History of the Popes," vol. ii. p. 269. 
 
204 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 Emancipation as a " historical blunder," not tliat 
 he regretted the passing of that righteous measure, 
 or doubted its political justice ; but that he, in 
 common Avith many other great and good men 
 amongst its advocates, felt that the hopes founded 
 on it respecting the feelings of the Irish masses, ^ 
 had not been realized. It was to restore harmony 
 to our empire, to heal the wounds inflicted by party 
 strife, to destroy the influence of unprincipled 
 agitators, to remove the cause of discontent, to 
 make Connemara a garden of roses, and Tipperary 
 the abode of peace. How have these expectations 
 been disappointed! Does not history and experience 
 warn us, after ]X)litical rights liave been granted, to 
 make no covenant with Rome? To attempt by 
 favours and bribery to make loyal subjects of men 
 ruled by the Vatican, is a task too herculean even 
 for the statesmen of England. Far be it from me 
 to include in this condemnation of dupHcity and 
 ingratitude all the Catholics of our country ; my 
 remarks refer only to the party led in Ireland by 
 John of Tuam, and across the Channel by tlie 
 Bishop of Melipotamus, legate of the Holy See. 
 This faction must be ruled with firmness, not coaxed 
 
 SIR ROBERT PEEL. 
 
 205 
 
 to behave ; watched as subjects of a foreign power, 
 not salaried as officers of the British crown ; they 
 have got justice, now they desire domination ; 
 they sit in Parliament, now they wish to bend 
 cabinets to their ambitious ends ; and if before 
 them we Protestants quail, we may expect to see 
 the Privy Council of England the catspaw of 
 Austria and creature of the Pope. 
 
 It is now more than twenty years ago since Sir 
 Robert, then Mr. Peel, whose loss we so much 
 deplore, when introducing the Catholic Emanci- 
 pation Bill into the House of Commons, used these 
 remarkable, almost prophetic words :— '' 1 trust by 
 the means now proposed, that the moral storm may 
 be lulled into calm, that the waters of strife may 
 subside, and the elements of discord be stilled and 
 composed. But if these expectations he disappointed, 
 if, unhappily, civil strife and contentions shall still 
 take place, if the differences which exist between us 
 do not arise out of artificial distinctions and unequal 
 privileges, but if there be something in the character 
 of the Roman Catholic religion, a something not to 
 he contented with a participation of equal privileges, 
 or anything short of superiority, still I shall be 
 
206 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 POWER OF THE POPE. 
 
 207 
 
 content to make the trial." The great statesman 
 seemed even then to fear in the midst of hope, and 
 to see, through the mists of party warfare, the 
 shadows of events which were to come ; if Provi- 
 dence had spared him to witness the renewal of 
 the storm, we cannot doubt on which side his 
 powerful voice would have been heard. 
 
 During the recent discussions in England re- 
 garding the papal bull, it has been fretiuently 
 asserted, and as frequently denied, that tlie ap- 
 pointment of bishops and organization of dioceses 
 by the Pope were necessary for the due government 
 of the Church ; that the proclamation decreeing 
 them was no foreign encroachment, but an eccle- 
 siastical act, recognised as regular by every tnu' 
 son of the Romish faith. 
 
 Let us go back to history, and examine this 
 knotty question with care ; for upon the answer to 
 it depends in some measure the solution of the whole 
 matter at issue. If the Pope has the sole right 
 of nominathig dignitaries and managing Church 
 temporalities throughout the Catholic world, then 
 his acts, in those respects, must be considered as 
 incidental to the system ; if not, then it becomes 
 
 the duty of civil governments to protect their 
 subjects against his attacks, looking upon him as 
 a foreign potentate rather than as an ecclesiastical 
 ruler, as the high-priest of despotism rather than as 
 the head of the Church. Because the majority of 
 a nation are Protestant, it does not follow that the 
 government are not bound to see that no one inter- 
 feres with the ecclesiastical liberties of the Roman 
 Catholic portion of the community; if priestly 
 influence persuade many of the latter to give up 
 their rights, that is no reason why the remainder 
 should be compelled to conform. But if, on the 
 contrary, no aggression has been attempted; if 
 nothing unusual or inconsistent with ecclesiastical 
 practice has been proclaimed, it becomes a religious 
 question, interesting only to members of a particular 
 Church, with which we as citizens have nothing 
 whatever to do.* 
 
 The careful student, who wishes to understand 
 the history and extent of the power of the popes, 
 will find that, about the end of the eighth century, 
 
 ♦ On this subject the reader will find important information 
 in Antonio de Dominis' work, "De Republica Christiana ;" in 
 which he demonstrates the inadmissibility of the Pope's claim to 
 destroy the independence of Christian bishops. 
 
208 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 there appeared a collection of canons, purporting to 
 be rescripts or decrees of the early bishops of Rome, 
 in which power was given to the Pontiff to forbid 
 national councils, to appoint, correct, and remove 
 bishops, to erect new sees, and to translate digni- 
 taries from one see to another * These decretals, 
 which every one regarded as a palpable imposture, 
 and the Gallican Church from the beginning 
 treated with scorn, were acted upon by Alexander 
 II., whom we all know was the mere tool of Hilde- 
 brand; and Gregory VII. boldly announced his 
 determination not to recognise national synods, by 
 citing all the provincial bishops to Rome.f But 
 even he, the great champion of papal rights, did 
 not dare to claim the nomination of ecclesiastical 
 dignitaries in Germany ; he referred the choice to 
 the chapters, and merely insisted upon his right to 
 confirm the validity of the election, if 
 
 When, in the twelfth century, the popes procured 
 from the emperors a renunciation of their rights of 
 investiture, these rights devolved not on the Roman 
 
 * Hallam's "Middle Ages," vol. i. p. 524. 
 
 t Ibid. vol. i. p. 548. 
 
 t Ranke's "History of the Popes," vol. i. p. 21. 
 
 POWER OF THE POPE. 
 
 209 
 
 see, but on the chapters of cathedral churches.* 
 The same compromise was then effected in Eng- 
 land ; but in Spain t the monarch retained that 
 power which his fellow-sovereigns had been forced 
 to yield up to ecclesiastics. But not long after- 
 wards, first as a favour, then as a right, the pontiffs 
 gradually began to fill up vacant benefices with 
 their own nominees; and in 1266, Clement IV. 
 published a bull, asserting it to be the absolute 
 prerogative of the successors of St. Peter to dispose 
 of all preferments.^: 
 
 Only thirty years previously, however, the 
 famous Grosseteste had been elected to the see of 
 Lincoln by the dean and chapter, § and from that 
 time to his death he ceased not to denounce the 
 ambition of Rome. " He would often with indig- 
 nation," says the historian, '^ cast the papal bulls 
 out of his hands, and absolutely refuse to comply 
 with them." Innocent peremptorily ordered him 
 to admit an Italian to a rich benefice : Grosseteste 
 
 * Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. i. p. 546. 
 
 t In that country, Julianus, now a canonized saint, freely 
 censured Pope Benedict II. for interfering with the action of the 
 national synods.— See Schlegel's Note to Mosheim, Cent. VII. 
 
 * Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. ii. p. 13. 
 
 § Milner's " Church HistorjV' Century XIII. chap. vii. 
 
210 
 
 THE TAGUS x\ND THE TIBER. 
 
 POWER OF THE POPE. 
 
 211 
 
 firmly refused to obey, and was suspended ; but tlie 
 suspension was not recognised as lawful, and he 
 continued to perform every function of his office in 
 defiance of the papal mandates. 
 
 In the year 1281 a council was held in Lambeth, 
 to regidate the affairs of the Church ; and so far 
 from looking upon as necessary those acts which 
 in 1851 some people tell us have from time imme- 
 morial been regarded as undoubtedly belonging to 
 the Holy See, the ecclesiastics there assembled 
 gave the cup to the laity, and introduced other 
 reforms without any sanction from Rome. Early 
 in the next century Edward III. secured the rights 
 of patrons of livings against papal usuq^ation, and 
 outlawed those w^ho dared to appeal to Rome.* 
 
 In 1414 w^as held the celebrated Council of Con- 
 stance, which declared the Pope subject to councils, 
 thereby establishing the liberties of the Gallican 
 Church, and setting bounds to the claims of the 
 pontiffs.f Martin V., in 1448, restored episcopal 
 elections to the chapters; and Charles VII. of 
 France soon afterwards, by the Pragmatic Sanction 
 of Bourges — the Magna Charta of the French 
 
 * Milner'a " Church History," Century XIV. chap. i. 
 t Hallam's "Middle Ages," vol. ii. p. 43. 
 
 Church— deprived the Holy See of its usurped 
 privileges.* Under Leo X. several princes of 
 Germany obtained a restitution of the rights of 
 investiture ;t and with him Francis I. concluded a 
 concordat, " wherein," says the historian, " the 
 principle for which Gregory VII. had moved the 
 whole world was with little difficulty resigned." 
 
 When we come down to later times, we find still 
 constant protests against the usurpations of Rome. 
 On the 17th of April, 1606, Paul V. pronounced 
 sentence of excommunication on the doge, senate, 
 and government of Venice, and interdicted the 
 clergy of the territory from performing their sacred 
 duties, under pain of rigorous punishments from 
 God and man. The offence had been a resistance 
 of claims founded on the very decretals mentioned 
 at the beginning of this statement ; but instead of 
 overa^\dng the republicans, this strong measure 
 caused a schism in the Church. The Pope w^as 
 amazed, and at length compelled to w^thdraw^ his 
 awful edict. \ 
 
 Fifty years afterwards, the estates of the German 
 
 • Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. ii. pp. 51, 52. 
 t Ranke's "Popes," vol. i. p. 29. 
 
 * Ibid. vol. ii. pp.110, 130. 
 
f 
 
 212 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CLAIMS OF THE POPE. 
 
 213 
 
 empire remonstrated against Roman interference ' 
 with ecclesiastical elections;* and in 1682, the 
 Gallican bishops passed three most important reso- 
 lutions, the first excluding Komc from interfering 
 with the temporal concerns of kings, the second 
 acknowledging a general council to be superior to 
 the pope, the third asserting the rights of the 
 national Church, the fourth denying the infalli- 
 bility of papal decisions, unless confirmed by a 
 counciLf 
 
 Thus we see that what certain parties now de- 
 clare essential to the due government of the 
 Romish Church has been regarded in ail ages and 
 in all countries as an encroachment of the Papal 
 See on national liberties ; that general councils 
 have declared it an innovation ; and that against it 
 France, England, \ and Germany have not ceased 
 to protest and complain. Sometimes the pontiff 
 contrived to exercise the disputed power; but it 
 never remained long in his hands, and more than 
 once he has been obliged to renounce his right to 
 
 • Ranke's "Popes," vol. ii. p. 412. 
 t MUner'a " Church History," Century XVII. chap. ii. 
 X On the practice of the Catholic Church in England, see 
 Murdock's Notes on Mosheim, Century II. parti, chap. 1. 
 
 I 
 
 possess it. This power Pius IX. now claims, 
 through Cardinal Wiseman, supported by the 
 majority of the Irish dignitaries. A few bold 
 English Catholics are yet found to renew the 
 protests of Grosseteste against Papal usurpation ; 
 but when we attempt to protect their rights and 
 money, a small political party, and a more 
 numerous latitudinarian faction, step forward to 
 accuse us of breaking the great principles of re- 
 ligious liberty. The Pope, the Puseyites, and the 
 sceptical press, unite to defend ecclesiastical free- 
 dom, to fight the battles of Hildebrand in the 
 Parliament of England. What a strange con- 
 federacy ! Could Gregory YII. arise from his 
 tomb, what would he think of his new associates ? 
 But the heart of the British people is yet sound, 
 and every unbiassed observer of past events knows 
 well that the bull brought by Cardinal Wiseman 
 was a political, not a religious measure, the act of 
 an Austrian camarilla, not of the head of the 
 
 Church. 
 
 The great object of the continental despots, 
 both civil and ecclesiastical, is to create dissension 
 in England, and thereby to weaken England's 
 
214 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 power, to provide difficulties for her statesmen in 
 Ireland, in order to prevent them attending to the 
 affairs of countries robbed by priestcraft and com- 
 manded by cannon. The combination appears at 
 present strong ; but defeat infallibly awaits it, for 
 energies too powerful now oppose the ambition of a 
 hierarchy ; the strongest sympathies of the human 
 soul rise against its domination ; and those who 
 knew the Eome of the Gregories will pity the puny 
 efforts of Pio Xono, kept prisoner on his pontifical 
 tlirone by the bayonets of France. 
 
 It is consoling for us to know, that amongst our 
 Roman Catholic fellow-subjects there are men like 
 the nobles of Bohemia, who, though opponents 
 of John Huss, joined the banner of a national 
 army, raised to oppose the forces sent by the Pope 
 to destroy the Reformers. By adopting firm 
 measures, we shall no doubt have, at least for 
 a time, to expect a determined opposition on behalf 
 of the Irish Catholics ; but as the Glover said, 
 in the "Fair Maid of Perth,"* " Never was there an 
 extremity so pinching, but what a wise man might 
 find counsel, if he was daring enough to act upon 
 
 • Vol.ii. p. 152. 
 
 HIS CLAIMS TO BE RESISTED. 
 
 215 
 
 it. This has never been the land or the people 
 over whom priests could rule in the name of Rome, 
 without their usurpation being controlled." 
 
 It will be readily admitted, that the people of 
 this country have no right to interfere with purely 
 ecclesiastical affairs pertaining to the government 
 of the Roman Catholic Church ; at the same 
 time the careful student of history will not 
 fail to observe, that there are matters in re- 
 lation to the policy of that system, which so 
 momentously affect the best interests of civil 
 society, that no wise legislature should overlook 
 them. Even the excesses of other sects may 
 occasionally require state interference ; if the 
 practices of fanatical Mormons were in Britain, as 
 in America, to outrage the customs of the nation, 
 and violate universally acknowledged moral laws, 
 the magistrate would be called upon to suppress 
 them ; much more, then, must we be on our guard 
 against the political projects of a Church which 
 has excommunicated kings, absolved subjects from 
 their allegiance, sanctioned the Institutes of 
 Ignatius Loyola, and openly avowed itself pos- 
 sessed of temporal authority. 
 
! 
 
 216 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 In all ages there have been two distinct parties 
 in the society which acknowledges the Roman 
 Pontiff as its spiritual head, — a national party, 
 believing the doctrines but resisting the aggressions 
 of the Papacy, — an Ultramontane party, thirsting 
 for boundless power, and making little or no differ- 
 ence between ecclesiastical and civil things : the 
 former, however dangerous, even politically, not 
 to say in a religious point of view, their doctrines 
 may be, have always conducted themselves as good 
 citizens ; the latter must be watched as foreign 
 spies, who may have a dispensation to depart 
 from truth, and, while apparently the most zealous 
 friends of order, to attempt the subversion of a 
 nation's liberties. 
 
 It is likewise very necessary in this liberal age 
 to keep our eyes open to the effects which Popery 
 has, in nearly every instance, produced abroad : 
 as patriots we have a right, not only to study, 
 but to legislate with reference to them, though 
 debarred from any interference in ecclesiastical 
 matters. If we observe that immorality and crime 
 have ever kept pace with the advances of a re- 
 ligious system ; if we see the population of those 
 
 INFLUENCE OF POPERY. 
 
 217 
 
 countries, where its influence is predominant and 
 its rites most rigorously observed, more debauched 
 and polluted than their neighbours, surely guided 
 by an instinct of self-preservation, we cannot be 
 found fault with for adopting precautionary 
 measures. However modified to suit different 
 states of society, or diverse mental constitutions, 
 there are some of the Roman Catholic doctrines 
 which, per se, must be deemed inconsistent with 
 freedom of conscience and rational liberty. Their 
 effect on learning and the arts need not for a 
 moment be doubted; a vast majority of great 
 scholars, profound mathematicians, acute meta- 
 physicians, and clever mechanists, have been found 
 in the ranks of Protestantism ; and what is more 
 striking still, few, if any, among the Roman 
 Catholic literati of the last two or three centuries, 
 have really believed the doctrines which they 
 professed. To borrow the expressions of an 
 annalist,* himself devoted to the Papacy, the tenth 
 century, when Popery had reached its zenith, 
 " was an iron- age, barren of all goodness ; a leaden 
 
 * Baronius. 
 VOL. II. K 
 
218 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 EFFECTS OF POPERY. 
 
 219 
 
 age, abounding in all wickedness; and a dark 
 age, remarkable above all others for the scarcity 
 of writers and men of learning." In fact, the 
 influence of Roman Catholicism has been sensibly 
 declining ever since the revival of letters in Europe : 
 and though the system may change its hues like 
 the chameleon to meet new emergencies, every such 
 alteration betrays weakness and a departure from 
 fundamental laws. If the Papacy is to recover its 
 lost vigour, we must bid farewell to political liberty, 
 to the cheap printing-press, to the steam-engine, 
 the telegi-aph, and power-loom ; we must ignore 
 all modem inventions, and return contented to 
 mediaeval night. 
 
 Having already, while treating of Spain, 
 adverted to the remarkable difference between 
 Protestant and Roman Catholic countries, I need 
 not again invite the reader's attention to this most 
 instructive subject;* but conclude these remarks 
 on the effects of Popery, by quoting the eloquent 
 words of Mr. :Macaulay, in his review of Ranke's 
 History of the Popes : *' The experie*ice of twelve 
 
 • See Macaulay'H " History of England," vol. i. p. 49. 
 
 hundred eventful years, the ingenuity and patient 
 care of forty generations of statesmen, have im- 
 proved that polity to such perfection, that amongst 
 the contrivances which have been devised for 
 deceiving and oppressing mankind it occupies the 
 highest place." 
 
 K 2 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NOTES ON THE POLITICAL INFLUENCE OF ROMAN 
 
 CATHOLICISM — (continuea), 
 
 PROFESSED LIBERALITY OF PAPAL AGENTS — BEARINGS OF THEIR 
 LEADING DOCTRINES ON CIVIL SOCIETY — THE CRUSADES — ASCE- 
 TICISM — MARIOLATRY — PILGRIMAGES — PRETENDED MIRACLES — 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE HISTORY AND INFLUENCE OF AURICULAR 
 CONFESSION — SOME EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE CELIBACY OF 
 THE CLERGY — MONASTERIES AND CONVENTS IN ENGLAND — 
 " PERSECUTION A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF THE ROMISH CHURCH 
 theory" — THE INQUISITION— THE CONFLICTS IN FRANCE — THE 
 HUGUONOTS — CLOSING REMARKS, 
 
 It has become fashionable of late in certain circles, 
 to talk of Roman Catholicism as changed, and to 
 laugh at the fears of those who think, that, how- 
 ever it may have adapted itself to altered circum- 
 stances, the system has undergone no real improve- 
 ment since Hildebrand issued his mandates, and 
 Ignatius filled the dungeons of the Inquisition. 
 
 PROFESSIONS OF LIBERALITY. 
 
 221 
 
 The Latitudinarian party tell us that we Protes- 
 tants are much more bigoted than the Romanists, 
 who in England appear under the guise of extra- 
 ordinary liberality ; but let us raise the mask, and 
 attentively consider the lessons of history, and we 
 shall find that Popery has in all ages set up an 
 Acesian ladder, by which its own adherents, and 
 they alone, should ascend to heaven. To argue 
 this point is really wasting words ; every schoolboy 
 knows that exclusiveness has characterised, and 
 must characterise, the Papacy wherever found; and 
 as if to throw ridicule on the statements of the 
 Holy Alliance, Pio Nono declared in his Ency- 
 clical Letter, published in 1848, " Unionem cum 
 catholica ecclesia, extra quam nulla est salus." 
 
 It will be profitable here briefly to consider some 
 of those matters connected with Roman Catholicism 
 which have an evident bearing on civil society, and 
 therefore are legitimate subjects for legislative 
 enactment. The doctrine of justification by works 
 and the belief in miracles, both inherent in Popery, 
 have produced various kinds of striking fanaticism, 
 and these epidemical phrensies have done infinite 
 injury to the finest countries in Europe. I need 
 
222 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBEK. 
 
 not in illustration of this statement refer to tlie 
 Crnsades, or attempt to describe the cruelty, licen- 
 tiousness, and ignorance of those soldiers who waged 
 war for the Holy Sepulchre with the Saracens, 
 wliose rapine became so fearful, that even Christians 
 tied in terror before them ; * nor would it be de- 
 sirable at any length to examine the history of 
 that asceticism which tilled with half-savage men 
 tlie Syrian and Libyan deserts. The incidents of 
 the former are familiar to us as houseliold words : 
 and most men of education will recollect tiie 
 account which has been handed down of the naked 
 hermits or ^6(tkoi, who gi'azed like cattle on the 
 tieldsof Mesopotamia, and dwelt with wild animals 
 in the caves of Thebais ; nor will Simeon Stylites 
 be forgotten, the young Syrian who resisted the 
 heat of thirty summers on the top of a column apart 
 from the habitations of men. Even those who read 
 only novels know something of this strange species 
 of enthusiasm, for never was ascetic described in 
 language so magnificent as that used by Sir Walter 
 Scott in the '' Talisman." " I am Theodorick of 
 
 • See -Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' 
 vol. vii. p. 355. 
 
 ASCETICISM. 
 
 223 
 
 \ 
 
 Engaddi ; I am the torch-brand of the desert ; I 
 am the flail of the infidels! The lion and the 
 leopard shall be my comrades, and draw nigh to 
 my cell for shelter ; neither shall the goat be afraid 
 of their fangs : 1 am the torch and the lantern. 
 Kyrie Eleison." * 
 
 Let the story of Jesuitism be traced from its 
 rudiments to the present time ; from Loyola, on the 
 steps of the Church of St. Dominic beholding the 
 Trinity in Unity, to his disciples, propagating by 
 means altogether unworthy the creed of Catho- 
 licism to the ends of the earth. But for examples of 
 fanaticism, we do not require to search the records 
 of mediaeval times ; in the nineteenth century it 
 still prevails under the wings of the Papacy. Mr. 
 Curzon, in his delightful work,* tells us, that " at 
 the exhibition of the sacred fire in the church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre at Jemsalem, the dead were 
 lying in heaps, even upon the stone of unction; and 
 that he saw four hundred wretched people, dead and 
 living, heaped promiscuously one upon another, in 
 some places above five feet high." 
 
 * Talisman, p. 58. 
 
 t Visit to the Monasteries of the Levant, p. 205. 
 
224 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 In how many countries, likewise, has the religion 
 of Jesus degenerated into a mere enthusiastic adora- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary ! This kind of worship 
 has been patronised of late to a greater extent than 
 ever by the priests of Italy ; and the stranger who 
 visits Milan, will find in one of the churches there 
 an altar-piece, representing two ladders reaching 
 from earth to heaven, with Christ at the top of one, 
 and Mary at the head of the other : by the former, 
 no one succeeds in ascending ; by the latter, all are 
 joyfully climbing to Paradise. No wonder that 
 Nestorius protested against the title of ^Mother of 
 God, and that when the Portuguese presented the 
 image of the Virgin to the disciples of St. Thomas 
 in India, they indignantly exclaimed, " We are 
 Christians, not idolaters." * Mariolatry is a species 
 of fanaticism, subversive of true religion, and most 
 inimical to the progress of society; and it, as well 
 as the other evils just mentioned, must be closely 
 watched by an enlightened government. There is 
 one practice encouraged, and even commanded by 
 the Roman Catholic Church, productive of so much 
 
 * See Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," 
 vol. vi p. 72. 
 
 RELIGIOUS PILGRIMAGES 
 
 225 
 
 I 
 
 misery and suffering, that no Protestant countiy 
 could tolerate it. It may be doubted if any super- 
 stition prevalent amongst the heathen has caused 
 such destruction of human life as the pilgrimages 
 of peaceable nations. Some writers calculate that 
 more people have fallen victims to this delusion on ' 
 their journeys to Benares, Mecca and Loretto, than 
 have been killed by the sword and famine during 
 the wars of 1,800 years. Religious pilgrimages 
 have in all ages proved the most fatal; no path 
 shows so many graves as that which leads to a holy 
 sepulchre. Those who follow it do not take pre- 
 cautions, they provide not means to ensure their 
 safety ; but, impelled by a phrensy which sees no 
 dangers, they rush with headlong enthusiasm into 
 the very jaws of death. And then what manifold 
 evils of another kind have attended these journeys! 
 Their history reveals crimes of the deepest dye, 
 the most unblushing licentiousness, the very per- 
 fection of rapine and cruelty. Wliile Christianity 
 scatters mankind over the world, to enjoy in all 
 places the presence of God, superstition attracts 
 towards some desert spot a crowd of ignorant im- 
 moral men, who spread desolation around their 
 
 k3 
 
22G 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 path, and leave their bones to whiten by an an- 
 choret's tomb. The Turks have a maxim, which 
 carries with it " the sting of truth : " '* If your 
 friend has made the pilgrimage once, distrust him ; 
 if he has made the pilgrimage twice, cut him 
 dead."* This then appears to me a fit subject for 
 legislation, though connected with the doctrines of 
 a particular church. 
 
 It is strange that men of education should see 
 anything to admire in the ceremonies of the Pa- 
 pacy ; they have always struck me as most humi- 
 liating to rational beings; audit need scarcely form 
 a matter of surprise, that a people accustomed to 
 reverence them should be left far behind in the 
 march of civilization. Even in the fourth and fifth 
 centuries, the rites of Christianity had been so 
 much altered, that had Tertullian beheld the in- 
 cense, the flowers, the waxen tapers, the images, 
 and fictitious relics, he would not have recognised 
 the religion which he preached with so much power 
 in the public places of Carthage. When, too, we 
 read of emperors presenting to emperors portions of 
 the true cross, the baby-linen of the Son of God, 
 
 • See"Eothen," p. 166. 
 
 
 AURICULAR CONFESSION. 
 
 227 
 
 the lance, the sponge, and the chain of his passion, 
 the rod of Moses, and part of the skull of John the 
 Baptist,* we scarcely know whether the authors of 
 the imposture most deserve punishment, or their 
 victims pity. 
 
 " If the Christian Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, 
 could," says Gibbon, " return to the Vatican, they 
 might possibly inquire the name of the Deity who 
 is worshipped with such mysterious rites in that 
 magnificent temple." Some minds are so consti- 
 tuted that no superstition appears to them too 
 absurd or incredible ; such people may be conscien- 
 tious believers in priestly fabrications, and yet 
 loyal subjects ; but it will become a well-ordered 
 state closely to watch the crafty deceivers : men 
 who depart from truth in religion will not hesitate 
 also to be unscrupulous in politics. 
 
 There are two practices distinguishing the 
 Roman Catholic Church which, in my opinion, of 
 themselves justify interference on the part of Go- 
 vernment, — not to prevent their adoption, but to 
 restrain their excesses ; viz. aimcular confession, 
 and the celibacy of the clergy. These may be 
 
 • Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. vii 
 p. 534. 
 
228 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 AURICULAR CONFESSION. 
 
 229 
 
 ecclesiastical ordinances, but they are also political 
 engines ; the Pope may decree their establishment, 
 but the magistrate must control them. In popish 
 countries they produce unmixed and unchecked 
 evils. If we cannot, consistently with religious 
 liberty, destroy the corrupting influence, we can 
 and ought to punish those who, for wicked ends, 
 exercise their ghostly power. The priest who at 
 the confessional advises an Irishman to shoot the 
 bailiff, is to all intents and purposes a mmderer, 
 and ought, without mercy, to suffer the penalty of 
 his crimes. If some of those who from the altar 
 denounced particular individuals had been sum- 
 marily led to punishment, we should have seen life 
 and property safer in counties whose state reflects 
 the deepest disgrace on men professing to be 
 Christians.* 
 
 To trace the history and effects of auricular 
 confession would be an interesting though painful 
 task ;t we first hear of it in Upper Egypt, from 
 whence the Greeks introduced it as a condition of 
 admission into the mysteries of Eleusis. The 
 
 • See Major Edwardes' "Year on the Puujaub Frontier," 
 ■vol. i. p. 247, for an eloquent passage on this subject. 
 t See Count de Laateyrie's " History of Auricular Confession." 
 
 
 Talmud enjoins it ; the Siamese practised it before 
 the introduction of Christianity; the Buddhists 
 regard it as a sacred institution ; Zoroaster ha- 
 rangued his disciples in its defence ; and when 
 Pizarro crossed the Andes, he found it among the 
 Indians of Peru. From these heathen nations the 
 first corrupters of Divine truth learned it ; and it 
 has since become an ordinance of the Eastern as 
 well as the Western Church. The Greeks, however, 
 forbid the priests to question the penitent; and 
 the latter is not bound to reveal everything, but 
 merely such offences as require ministerial advice. 
 
 Bishop Fenelon tells us that he sought diligently 
 throughout the biography of the orthodox fathers, 
 examined the minutest details of their lives and 
 religious practices, and found not one single word 
 about this practice ; many historians have done the 
 same, and with like success ; we may therefore 
 conclude that it funned no part of Christianity in 
 the primitive ages, but was a corruption derived 
 by crafty men from a heathen source. 
 
 It is related of Cardinal Ximenes, that when he 
 retreated from the theatre of public affairs to enjoy 
 the quiet of a Franciscan monk, he found himself 
 
230 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 AURICULAR CONFESSION. 
 
 231 
 
 absorbed in a vortex of worldly passions and 
 interests, because obliged to listen to the confes- 
 sions of the multitudes whom his fame attracted to 
 the monastery.* This is but a small part of the 
 evil caused by the narration of various sins to the 
 priestly adviser. The penitent may be in no 
 respect improved by the unblushing recital of dis- 
 honourable faults ; but what must be the effect on 
 the mind of the confessor, the receptacle of all the 
 licentious tales which erring men and women have 
 to tell him ? 
 
 The Church enjoins not only a GENERAL account 
 of every sin, but a detailed and circumstantial 
 narration of it in all its particulars. '* Colligitur 
 pra3terea,'' says the Council of Trent, "etiam eas 
 circumstantias in confessione explicandas esse, qua? 
 speciem peccati mutant." It is frightful to con- 
 template the impurity wliich day by day passes 
 through the minds of Romish priests ; and after 
 reading the disclosures made by some of them in 
 books revealing the secrets of the confessional, we 
 can scarcely wonder at the general immorality 
 
 ♦ See Preacott'a " Hiatory of Ferdinand and Isabella," vol. ii. 
 p. 349. 
 
 
 where Popery exercises a predominant influence. 
 Placed in a position which Providence never de- 
 signed that men should occupy, it is not surprising 
 that the priests of the Romish faith should in many 
 countries have thrown off all restraints of discipline 
 and moral law. 
 
 Those conversant with the history of tlie Reforma- 
 tion will remember a little book written by Luther 
 in the castle of Wartburg, concerning the abuses 
 of private confessions, wherein he gi-aphically de- 
 scribes the sinful practices of the monks— insinu- 
 ating^ themselves into the houses of the opulent, to 
 gain an influence over their minds; threatening 
 them, on their death-beds, with the direst penalties, 
 if they did not give the Church a prominent 
 position in their wills ; and destroying the peace of 
 families by corrupting the minds of the yoimg. 
 How many estates in Christendom have been 
 wrested from the rightful heirs by means of monk- 
 ish absolutions Ik arttcuJo mortis! How seared 
 must have been the consciences of those ecclesi- 
 astics who in the Council of the Lateran sanctioned 
 
 this crying evil ! 
 
 When we tuni from the seductions and robberies 
 
/ 
 
 232 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 233 
 
 resulting from auricular confession, to its political 
 effects,* we can well understand the remark of 
 Voltaire, that priestly advisers have been the 
 source of most of the violent measures pursued by 
 princes of the Catholic faith. Instances of this 
 will readily occur to the minds of all conversant 
 with European history. In the course of several 
 journeys in various parts of Europe, I have met 
 zealous Roman Catholics who regarded this insti- 
 tution with such horror, that they had absolutely 
 prohibited their wives and daughters from sanction- 
 ing it by their presence : and no wonder, for at 
 this veiy moment there live in Italy women who, 
 under priestly direction, denounced their husbands 
 to the Holy Office ; and, to gratify monkish pas- 
 sions, sacrificed the dearest sympathies of life. 
 
 In the annals of heathen idolatry there are no 
 crimes more horrible than those which may, without 
 difficulty, be traced in a direct line to the hateful 
 practice of auricular confession. It makes hypo- 
 crites and profligates of religious teachers, gives 
 
 ♦ When the premises of the Inquisition were broken open in 
 Rome in 1848, documents were found showing that Government 
 had systematically made use of sacramental confession as a 
 political engine. 
 
 one class an undue influence over society, sows 
 dissension in families, corrupts pure minds, diverts 
 inheritances from the natural channel, encourages 
 intrigue, and paves the way for the political priest 
 to propagate revolutionary principles. The law 
 cannot prevent its secret practice, but it can visit 
 upon those who have been convicted of applying it 
 to improper' purposes the severest penalties on the 
 statute-book. A few such instances of well-merited 
 punishment would, more effectually than bribes and 
 royal gifts, check the usurpations of Rome. 
 
 The grievous effects produced by the celibacy 
 of the clergy show themselves less frequently in 
 civil affairs ; yet they deserve a brief consideration 
 here. This ordinance was established by the 
 Council of Placentia in 1095,* but in all ages 
 Roman Catholics have been found to condemn it ; 
 and even Pius II. before he became Pope pleaded 
 earnestly for its reversal, f " Certainly," remarks 
 Lord Bacon, " a wife and children are a kind of 
 discipline to humanity." There is much truth 
 in this saying. Every one has observed the more 
 
 • Milner's " Church History," Century XI. chap. i. 
 t Mosheim's " Church History," Century X. 
 
234 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 obvious evils connected with the celibacy of the 
 priesthood, the profligacy, licentiousness, and 
 infidelity which it has caused ; but a more atten- 
 tive examination of mental history will show us 
 disadvantages of another kind. Shut out from the 
 happier influences to which laymen are accessible, 
 the priest becomes an unnatural being ; he indulges 
 excited feelings, opinions* not fomided on fact, 
 but formed by a morbid brain ; fanaticism gradu- 
 ally acquires dominion over him, and he, perhaps 
 a humane man before his initiation, wields with 
 no light hand the sword of persecution. No wife 
 generates feelings of tenderness in his mind, no 
 children relieve the ruggedness of life ; he mopes 
 in solitude, a gloomy ascetic — rushes into dissi- 
 pation, to supply a want which nature dictates — or 
 presides in the Inquisition, to gratify a fanatical 
 excitement, the disease of minds uninfluenced by 
 means which God has appointed for the due 
 government of man. 
 
 It has often been remarked in connexion with 
 the lunatic asylums of Italy, that there are more 
 insane priests there confined than madmen of any 
 other profession ; and if you go into the country, 
 
 CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 235 
 
 you will find a great number of cures, who, though 
 not maniacs, manifest a premature dotage, if not 
 more evident symptoms of idiotcy.* 
 
 On this subject likewise we have the testimony 
 of Luther. In his address to the princes of Ger- 
 many, respecting the imperial edict of 1523, he 
 thus expresses himself: "I must entreat you to 
 mitigate in some respects the severity of your 
 decree against the marriage of the clergy. 
 Consider the revealed will of God, and consider 
 the snares to which the pitiable weaknesses of men 
 are exposed by a compulsion of this sort. I am 
 sure that many, who are at present angiy with me 
 for not supporting the Romish system of celibacy, 
 did they but know what I do of the interior 
 practices of the monasteries, would instantly join 
 with me in wishing those hiding places to be 
 levelled with the ground, rather than that they 
 should afl'ord occasion to the commission of such 
 dreadful impieties." t 
 
 This leads me to notice that strange anomaly 
 
 • For the results of clerical celibacy in Central and Western 
 Asia, see Erman's " Travels in Siberia," vol. ii. p. 282 ; and 
 Fletcher's "Notes on Nineveh," vol. i. p. 316. 
 
 t See *' Historv' of the Reformation." 
 
236 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 in our law, that the freest country on earth should 
 not have provided any safeguard against persons 
 being carried off to religious houses, and tliere 
 forcibly detained against their will. It is mon- 
 strous to think that Englishmen, with the warn- 
 ings of history before them, should not long ago 
 have decreed that every monastery and convent, 
 if such establishments are to be tolerated, should 
 be periodically inspected by, and its inmates con- 
 fronted with, the civil magistrate. If most Boman 
 Catholic nations have abolished these institutions 
 as public nuisances, corrupting to morals and 
 encouraging idleness, the least that we Protestants 
 can do is to protect the liberty of the subject 
 against the contrivances of their cunning heads. 
 If recent cases of unwilling incarceration do not 
 open the eyes of Parliament, the country must 
 adopt summary measures to obtain redress ; for 
 that establishments should exist in our land, 
 governed by foreign priests and inaccessible to the 
 officers of justice, is a fact that Avould scarcely be 
 credited even by a Tyrolese or a Spaniard. 
 
 In this age of advancement and progress, when 
 most men recognise the great principles of civil 
 
 INFLUENCE OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM. 237 
 
 and religious liberty ; in this free country, where 
 difference of creed no longer deprives a man of 
 the rights of citizenship, it is important to study 
 the influence of Roman Catholicism on the freedom 
 of the mind. According to some, the doctrine of 
 persecution for conscience sake does not, in these 
 more enlightened times, obtain a place in tlie 
 councils of the Papacy ; according to others, the 
 sentiments and designs of the dominant party in 
 that Church are both unchanged and unchangeable. 
 If the former supposition be correct, we have 
 politically little to fear from the extension of 
 priestly advices ; if the latter opinion be the true 
 one, then every wise Government, founded on 
 liberal principles, must look with -keen suspicion 
 On the agents of Popery. Could we ascertain 
 that, under the disguise of reformers willing 
 to grant equal privileges to all mankind, the 
 pioneers of the Holy See really wished to establish 
 in England that ecclesiastical tyranny which 
 prevails in Austria, Italy, and Spain ; to deny 
 Protestants liberty to worship, to deprive them of 
 the Scriptures, and to proclaim, under pains and 
 penalties, an uniformity of religious profession, 
 
238 
 
 THE TAG US AND THE TIBER. 
 
 then we must lay aside all generous scruples, and 
 treat those plotters, not as erring theorists, but as 
 enemies to the constitution, and guilty of an offence 
 against civil law. 
 
 One of the most original thinkers of the present 
 day has remarked : " The duty of using extreme 
 means for the preservation of tnith, or, in common 
 Protestant parlance, the practice of persecution, is, 
 by the most direct and absolute connexion of 
 principles, a necessary element of the Komish 
 Church tlieory." * His sentiment appears to my 
 mind stamped with the natural impress of verity. 
 However successful in obtaining adherents during 
 ages of ignorance, and in countries where despotism 
 represses the mental powers, Popery is alien to the 
 aspirations of humanity, hostile to the real feelings 
 even of its victims, and not congenial to the 
 European mind. It knows this inherent animosity, 
 and, assuming an attitude of defiance, trusts to the 
 dungeon, the scaffold, and the brand ; like a hated 
 despot, who, conscious that no one loves him, 
 seeks to goveni by the sword alone, it sees no 
 prospect of retaining power, unless by over-awing 
 
 * *' Spiritual Despotism," by lijaac Taylor, p. 314. 
 
 \ 
 
 POPISH PERSECUTION. 
 
 239 
 
 its adversaries by a politic display of unyielding 
 jealousy and implacable revenge. 
 
 There are two doctrines peculiar to Roman 
 Catholicism, which, in my opinion, tend infallibly 
 to sanction persecution for conscience sake — the 
 belief that no man can be saved beyond the pale 
 of the Church, and the recognition of the Roman 
 bishop as God's vicegerent on earth. Noncon- 
 formists of every kind must be regarded by the 
 true Papist in the light of rebels against Divine 
 authority, and as such deserving of the direst 
 punishment ; they are commanded to recant, or 
 suffer ; to submit to the laws of Heaven, or endure 
 Heaven's righteous indignation towards the im- 
 penitent. Religious liberty and toleration may 
 for certain pui*poses be approved of, or even en- 
 joined by Popery; but they will appear to the 
 rigid inquirer at variance with the very essence 
 of its ecclesiastical system. 
 
 Let us not forget, moreover, that not only does 
 Rome preside over a tyranny contrary to natm-al 
 laws, but it opposes itself to those patriotic princi- 
 ples which Providence has implanted in the human 
 breast. The Pontiff is in many respects a foreign 
 
240 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 power, and, like all foreign powers, he must govern 
 by force, or lose his subjects. Many skilful men 
 have made the attempt, but none have yet been 
 able to draw the line between his political and 
 ecclesiastical authority ; every country' of Europe 
 has, on more than one occasion, felt that he is a 
 potentate as well as a priest. If too, as has been 
 already observed, the celibacy of the clergy favours 
 fanaticism, so does it naturally make persecutors 
 of those who profess it. That there are as liberal 
 and humane men in the Eoman Catholic Church 
 as in any Christian denomination, far be it from 
 me to deny ; but if we attentively consider the 
 doctrines, institutions, and government of that 
 Church, I think it may fairly be questioned, whether 
 those who in this age have imbibed the true spirit 
 of the Papacy differ in any respect from those 
 who approved the policy of burning heretics at 
 the stake. If persecution be not inherent in 
 Roman Catholicism, how came it to pass that 
 human beings of like passions with ourselves, men 
 refined by education and not insensible to softer 
 feelings, devoted their best energies, their time, 
 money, and eloquence, to hunt their fellow- 
 
 THE IXQUISITIOX. 
 
 241 
 
 creatures as partridges on the mountains, and bind 
 w^omen and cliildrcn to be swallowed up by 
 devouring flames. 
 
 The priests of this religion have exceeded even 
 heathen nations in devising schemes of cruelty ; 
 the various modes of torture which tliey have 
 invented fill tlie mind with horror, and the Coli- 
 seum with all its bloody scenes loses half its terrors 
 when compared with the Inquisitorial dungeons.* 
 Never did the lions and panthers, brought by 
 Caligula from Numidian deserts, so mangle the 
 bodies of the good as did the followers of Loyola 
 
 * " The Church of Rome defended by violence the empire 
 which she had acquired by fraud ; a system of peace and benevo- 
 lence was soon disgraced by proscriptions, wars, massacres, and 
 the institution of the Holy Office. And as the reformers were 
 animated by the love of civU as well as of religious freedom, the 
 Catholic princes connected their own interest with that of the 
 clergj',aud enforced hj fire and the sword the tenors of spiritual 
 censures. In the Netheriauds alone, more than one hundred 
 thousand of the subjects of Charles Y. are said to have suffered 
 by the hands of the executioner. If we submit our belief to the 
 authority of Grotius, it must be allowed that the number of 
 Protestants who were executed in a single province and a single 
 reign far exceeded that of the primitive martyrs ii; the space of 
 three centuries and of the Ru:aan empire."— Gibboii's "Decline 
 and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xvi. 
 
 Vol. II. L 
 
242 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 in the palmy clays of Home. Nero has left on 
 record no such example of savage punishment as 
 that which Cochlanis, himself a Papist, nan-ates as 
 having been inflicted in the 16th century on the 
 erson of Michael Sellarius, an apostate monk, 
 whom the Church condemned to have his tongue 
 cut out by the executioner, to be tied to a cuiTicle, 
 to have two pieces of flesh torn from his body in 
 the market-place by red-hot pincers, then to be 
 torn after^vards by the same pincers five times on 
 tlie road to the burning pile. 
 
 Tlie history of the world gives an account of 
 but one Inquisition; no such colossus of cruelty was 
 ever invented by heathen or Moslem fanaticism : 
 while the rites of Hindoo idolatry have slain their 
 thousands, tens of thousands have fallen victims to 
 this demon of blood. Caraifa was more terrible in 
 Europe than Tamerlane in Asia ; even those who 
 watched with interest St. Paul grappling with wild 
 beasts at Ephesus, would have been filled with dis- 
 may had they witnessed the auto-da-fe formally 
 held at certain intervals by command of the Papacy, 
 before the Church of Santa :Maria alia Minerva, in 
 
 
 THE ALBIGENSES. 
 
 243 
 
 Rome. Nor can we forget that dreadful persecu- 
 tion, w^hich in the thirteenth century, under Inno- 
 cent III., laid waste the smiling fields of Lan- 
 guedoc. "It was prosecuted," says Hallam, 
 " with every atrocious barbarity wliich superstition, 
 the mother of crimes, could inspire."* Cities 
 Avere razed, women and cliildren massacred, 
 families extirpated, and the papal emissaries did 
 not cease their work of havoc till the bleeding 
 remnant of the Albigenses found concealment from 
 their swords. " And this," remarks the same can- 
 did historian, '' was to punish a fanaticism ten 
 thousand times more innocent than their own, and 
 errors which, according to tlie worst imputations, 
 left the laws of humanity and the peace of social 
 life unimpaired." 
 
 Whoever wishes to know the real sentiments of 
 the Papal institution in regard to religious con- 
 formity, has only to read the history of Protestant- 
 ism in France, and to think of that dreadful moment f 
 
 * Hallam's " Middle Ages," vol. i. p. 25 
 t On this subject see Voltaii-e'.s lutroductiun to the 
 " Heuriade." 
 
244 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE INQUISITION. 
 
 245 
 
 when the tocsin of the Palace of Justice began to 
 sound, and Paris raised to heaven a bitter cry of 
 •' Down, down with the Huguenots !" If Roman- 
 ism wishes to be absolved from the persecuting 
 charge, that chapter which contains an account of 
 the massacre on St. Bartholomew's day must be 
 blotted out of the European records.* 
 
 I need not do more than refer to the persecutions 
 in Poland, in Saxony, and in Bohemia ; or to the 
 blazing faggots lighted by the Council of Con- 
 stance to consume the sainted bodies of Jerome 
 
 * " Imagine," says the author of the " Histoire des Cinq Rois," 
 " a vast city, in which 60,000 men, armed ^vith pistols, stakes, 
 cutlasses, poniards, knives, and other bloody weapons, are running 
 about on all sides, blaspheming and abusing the sacred name 
 of God, rushing along the streets, breaking into the houses, and 
 cruelly murdering all they meet. The pavements were covered 
 with bodies ; the doors, gates, and entrances of the palaces and 
 private houses steeped in blood ; a horrible tempest of yells and 
 murderous cries filled the air, mmgled with the reports of pistols 
 and arquebuses, and the piteous shrieks of the slaughtered ; the 
 dead were falling from the windows upon the causeways, or 
 dragged through the mire with strange whistlings and bowlings ; 
 doors and windows were crashing with hatchets or stones ; 
 houses were sacked or pillaged ; cari;s passing, filled ^^'ith muti- 
 lated corpses, which were afterwards thrown into the Seine, the 
 river being crimson with the blood which was running in tor- 
 rents through the town." 
 
 . 
 
 and John IIuss ; these sad histories are familiar to 
 the English ear, and they solemnly warn us, as we 
 value religious freedom, to make no covenant with 
 Rome. 
 
 Mr. Prescott computes that dm-ing the eighteeen 
 years of Torquemada's ministry in Spain, 10,220 
 persons were burnt, 6,860 condemned and burnt 
 in effigy, as absent or dead, and 97,321 re- 
 conciled by torture to the Church. "The In- 
 quisition," says that eloquent historian, "has 
 probably contributed more than any other cause to 
 depress the lofty character of the ancient Spaniard, 
 and has thrown tlie gloom of fanaticism over those 
 lovely regions which seem to be the natural abode 
 of festivity and pleasure."* Let us also keep 
 continually in mind, that Rome can choose 
 amongst her victims, — that while Protestants 
 have been from time immemorial the objects of 
 her fiercest persecution, infidels not only escaped 
 the emissaries of the Holy Office, but reached 
 the highest eminences of joriestly power. The 
 Waldenses were slaughtered like wolves on the 
 
 * Historj' of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. i. p. 301. 
 
246 
 
 TFIE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 OUR REMEDY. 
 
 247 
 
 Cottian mountains, because tliey adhered to tlie 
 religion of their fathers; but sceptics obtained 
 cardinals' hats, and we know that at least one 
 unbeliever in revelation sat on the throne of St. 
 
 Peter. 
 
 These remarks have been made, not in any un- 
 kindly spirit towards a portion of my fellow-sub- 
 jects, but to illustrate the political tendencies of 
 tliat Church "whose turrets gleam with such 
 crystalline light, but whose dungeons are so deep, 
 and dark, and terrible." * Had Roman Catholicism 
 possessed only an ecclesiastical influence, the Bible 
 and the schoolroom might have been left single- 
 handed to oppose it ; but connected as it is so 
 intimately with civil affairs, our legislators woukl 
 be swerving from the path of duty were they not 
 to watch its aggressive movements. What mea- 
 sures may be necessary to check priestly encroach- 
 ments it is not for me to specify ; I merely suggest 
 the presence of danger, and leave wiser heads to 
 discover the remedy ; but whatever enactments the 
 course of events points out to our statesmen as 
 
 ♦ Lougfellow's " Kavanagh." 
 
 \ 
 
 requisite to preserve the liberties of this great 
 nation, most men will agree that they should be 
 carried into effect with firmness, and framed so as 
 to discriminate between the loyal Catholics ot 
 England, and the agents of the Austrian camarilla 
 at Rome. 
 
DIVISION OF ESTATES. 
 
 249 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 NOTES ON THE LAND QUESTION AT HOME AND 
 
 ABROAD. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THIS SUBJECT — ENGLISH AGRICULTURE — LEASES 
 
 — APPEARANCE OP HOLLAND — SCOTCH FARMING THE PEASANT 
 
 PROPERTIES IN FRANCE, FLANDERS, SWITZERLAND AND TUSCANY 
 — OBSERVATIONS ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL IN NORMANDY, 
 THE CANTON BERNE, AND THE VALLEY OF THE LOIRE — COM- 
 FORTABLE ASPECT OF THE LANDHOLDERS IN THE LOWLAND PARTS 
 OF SWITZERLAND — SISMONDl's OPINION — AGRICULTURAL IM- 
 PROVEMENTS AMONGST THE MOUNTAINS — REMARKS ON THE 
 FIELDS OF STYRIA, CARINTHIA, THE TYROL, AND PIEDMONT — 
 COLLEGES ABROAD FOR THE EDUCATION OF FARMERS — CONSER- 
 VATIVE INFLUENCE OF PEASANT PROPERTIES — THE FREEHOLD 
 LAND SOCIETIES — TENDENCY OF THE ENGLISH FEUDAL LAWS TO 
 PREVENT THE NATURAL DIVISION OF THE SOIL — DISADVANTAGES 
 OF SMALL ESTATES — INDEBTEDNESS OF THESE PROPERTIES IN 
 FRANCE AND CANADA — THEY PREVENT THE FREE INTERCHANGE 
 OF INDUSTRY — INCREASE THE NUMBER OF IDLERS IN LARGE 
 TOWNS — AND AFFORD NO RESERVE AGAINST AN EVIL DAY — DAN- 
 GERS THRExVTENING BRITAIN. 
 
 It is not my intention in this chapter to discuss at 
 any length the effects which have resulted from the 
 
 ] 
 
 division of tlie great feudal estates, on the Continent, 
 into a vast number of small properties cultivated 
 by their owners. All interested in this most im- 
 portant subject, will carefully read the volumes of 
 those philosophic men whose attention has been 
 turned for many years to the distribution of the 
 land in Europe.* In some countries, such as 
 Flanders, Switzerland and Tuscany, the soil has 
 been possessed by the peasantry for centuries ; in 
 others, such as France and Prussia, the breaking 
 up of the old baronial holdings has been of com- 
 paratively recent date, so recent indeed, that the 
 consequences can scarcely yet be ascertamed with 
 any degree of accuracy. Tlie FrencJi Eevolution 
 has left no result more likely to prove permanently 
 important than that which concerns the change in 
 the occupancy of land. 
 
 The solution of this most difficult question must 
 be of paramount interest to the statesmen of Eng- 
 land, and to all who contemplate with a calm 
 intellectual eye the future of our sea-girt isle. 
 
 * See John Stuart Mill's " Principles of Political Economy ;" 
 Samuel Laing's " Notes of a Traveller," and " Observations on 
 Europe ;" and Kay's " Social Condition of the People." 
 
 l3 
 
250 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 
 
 251 
 
 While we have been aggregating small properties 
 into large, economising labour on farms, and 
 strengthening the institutions of a former age, 
 other nations have been distributing the land 
 amongst working proprietors, encouraging spade 
 husbandry, and introducing a new social era, likely 
 to be attended with results eminently instructive. 
 The consideration of this experiment appears to 
 me so momentous, that I cannot refrain from 
 making on it a few brief remarks, more with a 
 view of introducing it to the reader's notice, and 
 suggesting to him the propriety of studying it, 
 than of stating any opinions of my own. On a 
 subject of such transcemlent national importance, it 
 is not the province of a miter to dogmatise, or 
 defend a theory ; let him bring the matter in some 
 of its bearings before the public, and leave every 
 one to consider it attentively for himself. 
 
 Now that the Corn Laws have been repealed, 
 and the agriculturists left to triLst to their Own re- 
 sources, it will be admitted on all hands that much 
 greater enterprise must be shown by the cultivators 
 of the soil. If the art of husbandry in Britain do 
 not keep pace with the times, both farmers and 
 
 
 
 
 landlords will be injuriously affected; if remarkable 
 improvements be not at once introduced by the 
 agriculturists, they will find themselves unable to 
 meet the pressure of adverse circumstances, and 
 universal disaster will follow. Even in Scotland, 
 whose farming has become celebrated throughout 
 the civilized world, there is abundant room for 
 scientific men to increase the produce of the land ; 
 few acquainted with the grain-growing districts 
 north of the Forth, will deny that they might yield 
 fifty-fold more, if all the cultivators knew their 
 business ; while in England, the ignorance of the 
 tillers of the soil has passed into a proverb. A 
 German or Frenchman who has heard a great deal 
 concerning the industrial energy of our countrymen, 
 would be surprised were he to visit the midland 
 and southern counties of this island, and see with 
 his own eyes the miserable cultivation, the un- 
 drained fields, the useless hedge-rows, the anti- 
 quated instruments and the waste of labour, which 
 Com Laws and class legislation have fostered. 
 The corn grows only on the top of the ridges, the 
 lower parts of the enclosures being so saturated 
 with water, that the seed rots in the ground : 
 
252 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 ohemical manures, however useful, are unknown ; 
 three horses drag, and two men drive a plough, 
 which in Scotland requires only one horse and one 
 man ; no attention is paid to preserve the liquid 
 treasures of the farm-yard ; a dozen fences are 
 allowed to remain where a fourth part of the num- 
 ber would suffice, and every operation is conducted 
 exactly as it used to be in the days of the occupant's 
 great-great-great-grandfather. So little indeed is 
 the cultivation of the land understood in England, 
 that rents vary from ten shillings to two pounds 
 per acre, of soils which, across the Borders, bring 
 without difficulty two pounds ten shillings to four 
 pounds. As long as landlords refuse to give leases, 
 this state of things will continue ; for it is the 
 farmer who must improve a property, and he can- 
 not be expected to do so, if, by giving a hostile 
 political vote, he may incur the owner's dis])lea3ure, 
 and receive notice to quit his occupancy at the 
 next term. One can indeed scarcely credit the 
 fact, that a system enforced by the Institutes of 
 Justinian* in the sixth century, and adopted since 
 
 • See Gibbon's ** Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," 
 vol. V. p. 414. 
 
 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 
 
 253 
 
 by every civilized nation under the sun, should 
 not even at this late time of day be in operation 
 throughout enlightened England. 
 
 In several parts of the Continent I have 
 obser\^ed inferior farming; as, for example, in 
 the Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, be- 
 tween Frankfort and Heidelberg, on the Rhenish 
 plain, bounded by the mountains of the Black 
 Forest, near Freyburg in Baden, the favourite 
 haunt of the sacred storks, and along the valley of 
 the Rhone, from Avignon to Vienne ; but it would 
 be difficult to mention any districts in Europe, out 
 of Russia, Turkey, Greece and Spain, cultivated 
 with so little agricultural skill as some fertile soils 
 on the banks of the Thames, the Wiltshire Avon 
 and the Severn. I might extend these notes almost 
 ad Uhitnm, by more detailed references to the back- 
 ward state of English agriculture ; by describing 
 somewhat minutely the system of farming which, 
 though pursued in Dorsetshire and Gloucester, a 
 Scotch occupant would scarcely credit; but the 
 deficiency is so obvious and remarkable, that no 
 one but an untravelled yeoman has not again and 
 again remarked it. Even in Holland, where green 
 
254 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 255 
 
 pasture fields, enclosed by water courses, constitute, 
 except in the province of Utrecht, the alpha and 
 omega of the scenery, the stranger feels that more 
 science has been expended on husbandry than in 
 the southern provinces of England. I thought 
 while journeying through that singular country, 
 and remarking the care taken to protect the cattle 
 from damp, the windmills employed in keeping 
 the country dry, and the extensive vegetable gar- 
 dens, that some of our stout farmers might have 
 received a lesson from the sensible Dutch. 
 
 Before going abroad, 1 was under the impression 
 that no land in the world was so well tilled as that 
 of Scotland, especially of the Lothians ; newspapers, 
 journals, and books teemed with references to the 
 improvements introduced by my countrymen ; and 
 in every-day conversation, people talked of Had- 
 dington and the Carse of Gowrie, as farmed in a 
 style unknown in any other part of Europe. This 
 excellence was universally attributed to the fact of 
 the farms being large, and their owners men of 
 capital ; that mere peasants could have produced 
 results equally favourable, those from whom my 
 ideas were derived would have strenuously denied. 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Conceive then of my surprise, when, before I had 
 been a week in the north of France, travelling 
 leisurely over the country between Calais, St. Omer 
 and Lille, all my preconceived notions were proved 
 to be radically unsound. I have since at various 
 times been in most of the European countries, and, 
 wherever the peasants owned the soil, I have found 
 cultivation as far superior even to that of the 
 Lothians, as that of the Lothians is to the hus- 
 bandry^ on the Dorsetshire coast. 
 
 Belgium is so well known to Englishmen as a 
 garden abounding with the fruits of the earth, a 
 very agricultural Eden, that no one will deny the 
 validity of an argument founded upon its appear- 
 ance ; but let us take districts less known, to illus- 
 trate the question at issue. A crowd of instances 
 occur to my mind bearing upon this subject. Did 
 the reader ever travel in the diligence from Utrecht 
 to Antwerp through North Brabant, and passing 
 the Waal at Gorcum in a sailing-boat, remark the 
 state of agriculture between Breda and the estuary 
 of the Scheldt ? Has he, while whirling along in 
 the railroad near Brussels, on the way to the French 
 frontier, noticed the beautiful tillage on the small 
 estates bordering on the line? Or did he ever 
 
256 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 257 
 
 .1 
 
 travel through Normandy, to observe the general 
 richness of the country, and especially that un- 
 equalled view of corn-fields and peasants' houses 
 which presents itself from the prefecture at Av- 
 ranches? Perchance he may have wandered too 
 by the banks of the murmuring Loire, under the 
 shadow of the castle of Blois, or among the groves 
 of the Chateau de Chaumont? Tf so, will he soon 
 forget the farm-cottages, models of neatness, the 
 vineyards sloping down to tlie stream, the church- 
 spires peeping out of the trees, thv well-ordered 
 fences, and fertile fields, which indicate an indus- 
 trious race of liusbandmen, and make it a pleasure 
 to travel from Orleans to Tours ? * Or will he 
 accompany me in a trip across the lowland cantons 
 of Switzerland, to see what progress agi'iculture lias 
 made in that republican land ? 
 
 Scarcely has the diligence left Basle, when his 
 attention will be called to the prosperous looking 
 chalets and well-tilled fields in the jj:lens of the 
 mountains ; and if, as is often the case, he passes 
 through a village on a market-day, he will witness 
 
 * " The agriculture of France had been extremely improved 
 since the breaking up of the great estates into smaller por- 
 tions." — Sir W. Scott's " Life of Napoleon," chap, xxxviii. 
 
 a scene of rural comfort and enjoyment, which 
 might gladden the most desponding heart. De- 
 scending into the plain beyond Soleure, he will 
 find the country improve in beauty and fertility ; 
 and when he has arrived on the banks of the lakes 
 of Murten and Neufchatel, no pressing will be 
 required to make him confess that the farming, 
 even of the Lothians, cannot be compared with 
 that of the canton Berne. He will observe the 
 peasants driving home in their substantial wa- 
 gons, to be met by a happy family at the door of a 
 house, equal in size to that of a small proprietor in 
 England; while every field appears better tilled 
 than many of our gardens, and no useless hedge- 
 rows diminish the quantity of available soil. 
 
 In Switzerland there are no lordly mansions ; 
 but neither are there any hovels ; the richest do 
 not live in palaces, but neither do the poorest dwell 
 in pigsties; every one enjoys the necessaries of 
 life, and has an air of independence and comfort, 
 refreshing to those acquainted with the squalid 
 poverty of Britain. Near each house you see 
 invariably an immense store of firewood, cut int 
 pieces, and ready for use, but quite unprotected, 
 
258 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SlSMONDl'S OPINION. 
 
 259 
 
 
 li 
 
 for robbers do not thrive in the most democratic, 
 and most cheaply governed country in Europe. 
 One sign of opulence on the part of the meanest 
 peasants has several times attracted my notice. 
 At the door of every chalet, no matter how small, 
 may generally be found a little coach for the 
 youngsters" of the family ! How would our agri- 
 cultural labourers stare if asked whether or not 
 they possessed such a luxury! Then no one 
 will fail to observe the heaps of manure, carefully 
 tended and trenched around, the well-irrigated 
 meadows, the nicely pruned fruit-trees, and the 
 many other signs of an entei-prising peasantry, 
 which please every intelligent tourist in Swit- 
 zerland. 
 
 The same remarks apply in a greater or less 
 degree to Saxony, most parts of Prussia, and, in- 
 deed, nearly all the German principalities. Does 
 the reader recollect that beautiful road up the 
 banks of the Neckar, from Heidelberg to Heil- 
 broun, and thence through the kingdom of Wir- 
 temberg ? Has he forgotten with what admiration 
 he beheld the plains of Lombardy, and the still 
 more beautiful fields of Lucca and Tuscany? or did 
 
 he ever drive beneath the festoons of vines which 
 shade the plantations of maize and barley on the 
 coast of the Gulf of Genoa? If he has travelled 
 in all or any of the regions just mentioned, with 
 an observant eye, I am sure he will be at no loss 
 to understand Sismondi's remark,* that " when 
 one journeys through the whole of Switzerland, 
 and through several parts of France, Italy, and 
 Germany, it is not necessary to inquire, when 
 looking at a piece of land, whether it belongs to a 
 peasant proprietor, or to a farmer holding it under 
 a landlord. The land of the former is marked by 
 the care bestowed on it, by the growth of the 
 vegetables and fruits useful to his family, and by 
 the neatness and perfection of the cultivation." 
 
 In the provinces alluded to above, the English 
 traveller will observe the most perfect farming to be 
 seen in Europe. Nothing has been left undone to 
 render the soil as productive as possible ; every foot 
 of ground yields a return ; unnecessary fences do 
 not exist ; 'stones have been picked off the land ; a 
 weed is rarely to be seen ; the manure from the 
 farm-yard, the farmer s house, and the offices, has 
 
 • Nouveaux Priucipes d'Economie Politique, lib. iii. chap. 3. 
 
 
260 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 
 
 261 
 
 been carefully preserved, and scientifically prepared 
 for use ; the cattle are kept clean and healthy ; the 
 owTier has made it a study to understand the 
 nature and wants of various soils ; injurious grasses 
 have been plucked out of the meadows, and the 
 whole estate appears like a carpet dyed of different 
 colours by the different crops. 
 
 Now these properties differ in no respect from 
 the great feudal holdings in England, excepting in 
 their size, and the tenure of their occupants ; the 
 soil is not superior, the climate, in most of the 
 instances cited, is the same ; but he would be a 
 bold man, even among the lowland farmers of 
 Scotland, who would maintain that his land pro- 
 duced as much per acre, was as free from weeds, and 
 looked so like a garden, as that of the working pea- 
 sant proprietor in Belgium, Saxony, Switzerland, 
 northern Italy, and certain districts of France. 
 
 Until I had visited the forest cantons on the 
 Alps, the hilly districts of Styria, Carinthia, and 
 the Tyrol, the slopes of the Apennines in Pied- 
 mont and Tuscany, and the retired corners of the 
 Juras, I had no idea how mountains might be cul- 
 tivated. With all our boasted industry, capital. 
 
 and skill, we have no such agriculture in Scot- 
 land. Sometimes a man may be seen holding a 
 plough on a hillside, while his daughter, further up 
 the declivity, by means of a rope attached to the 
 implement, prevents it from rolling down to a less 
 exalted situation ; waving crops of rye often appear 
 where the stranger expects to find only the chamois 
 or the hunter ; and in early spring, after the melt- 
 ing of the snow, I have repeatedly observed 
 crowds of women carrying on their heads baskets 
 filled with earth, which the rain had washed down 
 into the valleys, and which they were busy re- 
 placing on tlie terraces above. 
 
 ]Mr. :Mill, when reasoning in regard to Flemish 
 husbandry, says,* '' The people who laboiu' thus 
 intensely, because labouring for themselves, have 
 practised for centuries those principles of rotation 
 of crops, and economy of manures, which in Eng- 
 land are counted among modern discoveries ; and 
 even now, the superiority of their agriculture, as a 
 whole, to that of England, is admitted by com- 
 petent j udges. ' ' — (- 
 
 That the cultivators of the soil in some conti- 
 
 ♦ Principles of Political Economy, vol.i. 
 
 I 
 
262 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 nental countries not only work hard, but under- 
 stand the ART of farming, is proved by the 
 number of agricultural colleges in France, Ger- 
 many, and Switzerland, where the young peasants 
 undergo as complete a course of training as do our 
 medicll men and lawyers at Edinburgh or Oxford. 
 No subject connected with the cultivation of land 
 is there neglected, and as the people show their 
 estimation of the institutions by sending their sons 
 to enjoy the tuition for as long a period as possible, 
 we cannot be surprised that men thus thoroughly 
 educated should prove much better tarmers than 
 the yeomanry of England. 
 
 Our statesmen would do well to consider how 
 iar this general distribution of the soil amongst the 
 peasantr>^ tends to promote social order and 
 national peace. Each proprietor, who has ac- 
 quired a right of ownership, respects the estate of 
 his neighbour, encourages loyal feelings amongst 
 his acquaintanceship, and exerts himself to main- 
 tain the tranquillity as well as the liberties of his 
 country : he feels that he possesses a stake in the 
 maintenance of lawful authority, and however 
 inclined naturally to theorise, his estate binds him 
 
 LEGAL OaSTACLES. 
 
 26.S 
 
 indissolubly to the party of order. M. Michelet, 
 referring to the troubles which have from time to 
 time agitated Paris, remarks that " the whole of 
 the country districts of France, with their millions 
 of peasant proprietors, formed, so to speak, the 
 Mount Ararat of the Eevolution." 
 
 It may reasonably be doubted whether we are 
 right in refusing at least to remove tlie legal 
 obstacles which prevent this system being to some 
 extent tried in England. Perhaps it will yet be 
 found desirable to give an interest in the land to 
 a large body of our labouring classes, that they, 
 themselves proprietors, may feel it incumbent upon 
 them to defend the rights of their neighbours, and 
 promote peace and security within the borders of 
 their native country. 
 
 In several ways the artisans of Britain have 
 lately manifested their desire to acquire this 
 description of property. Is it not a natural and 
 laudable desire, showing their excellent sense, and 
 deserving of legislative attention? If men pro- 
 fessing the most extreme opinions exist among us, 
 men who set at nought all established rights, and 
 propagate the vicious principles of Socialism in 
 
264 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 STATE OF THE LAW. 
 
 265 
 
 1 
 
 every corner of the country, should ^vc not endea- 
 voui- to raise up a phalanx of landed proprietors, 
 ^vho, although possessing hut a few acres, will 
 prove themselves as much interested in the preser- 
 vation of order, as much opposed to levellmg 
 theories, as the Duke of Sutherland or the Queen 
 upon the throne? Perhaps, if this opinion he 
 founded on truth, the Freehold Land Societies, 
 recently established in the manufacturing districts, 
 apart altogether from their immediate political 
 purposes, may be found the most conservative 
 inventions of the present age. 
 
 What does it signify whether a man be a tory, 
 a whig, a radical, or a chartist, if he owns his 
 little property and acquires a stake in the country 
 of his birth ? Though a republican formeriy, will 
 he not, when mobs threaten his heritage, be ready 
 to girt on his sword for constitutional monarchy 
 and the supremacy of law ? 
 
 It will indeed be a remarkable instance of an 
 oven-uling Providence, if measures, adopted prima- 
 rily to unseat particular members for particular 
 eounties, prove, in a secondary point of view, one 
 of the happiest means for preserving English 
 
 society that ever entered into the mind of man. 
 Posterity will not care one straw whether Sir John 
 or Mr. John represent this and that Midland shire ; 
 but remotest ages may have cause to bless the 
 founders of those Societies intended to give the 
 working-classes an interest in the land. * 
 
 Few people not versed in legal forms know how 
 difficult a matter it is at present for the small 
 tradesman, the farmer, or the artisan, to purchase 
 land in England. Most of our laws, relating to 
 the tenure of the soil, derive their origin from 
 feudalism, and have been wonderfully little modi- 
 fied by the altered circumstances of the times. 
 Xot only is their name legion ; but their terms, 
 
 * " As the result of this inquiry into the direct operation, and 
 indirect influences, of peasant properties, I conceive it to be 
 established that there is no necessary connexion between this 
 form of landed property and an imperfect state of the arts of 
 production ; that it is favourable in quite as many respects as 
 it is unfavourable to the most effective use of the powers of the 
 soil ; that no other existing state of agricultural economy has so 
 beneficial effect on the industry, the intelligence, the frugality, 
 and prudence of the population, nor tends, on the whole, so 
 much to discourage an improvident increase of their numbers ; 
 and that no other, therefore, is, on the whole, so favourable, in 
 the present state of their education, both to their moral and 
 their physical welfare." — "Principles of Political Economy," by 
 J. S. Mill, vol. i. p. 346. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 M 
 
266 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 however well understood in the middle ages, 
 require explanation in the nineteenth century; 
 they were framed with the express purpose of 
 encouraging large estates, and of preventing that 
 distribution amongst the people, to facilitate which 
 a simpler code is absolutely necessary. 
 
 If the reader will take the trouble of investi- 
 gating these regulations, he will be as much 
 astonished as I was, with their remarkable intri- 
 cacy, and their tendency directly to prevent small 
 proprietors from becoming an important national 
 interest. As long as an owner of land can legally 
 provide against the possibility of his domain being 
 sold either by himself, his creditors, or his imme- 
 diate successors, insuperable obstacles stand in the 
 way of a subdivision. However desirable it may 
 be for all concerned that the estate be disposed of, 
 it cannot probably be brought to the hammer for 
 fifty or even a hundred years, and as to the fancifid 
 dispositions which possessors may make, every 
 kwyer knows that there is no end to them. Then 
 we have the law of primogeniture, prescribing 
 that if a man owning any property in fee simple 
 should die intestate, his land descends undivided 
 
 STATE OF THE LAW. 
 
 267 
 
 to his nearest relative; he may have a large 
 family, and be a young person who did not 
 anticipate the approach of death ; but if a sudden 
 stroke cut him off, his younger children become 
 beggars, that the eldest son may inherit the 
 " honours '' of liis ancestors. Our legal code in 
 fact prevents, except in exceptional instances, the 
 natural di\ision of the land ; it deprives all classes, 
 except a privileged one, from aspiring to be owners 
 of the soil ; it defrauds creditors of their just claims ; 
 it enables a large body of indebted, ignorant, and 
 sometimes profligate men, to maintain positions in 
 society which they could not hold in any conti- 
 nental country ; it offers a direct encouragement 
 to extravagant living, bad fanning, and dishonest 
 dealing ; it ruins a large proportion of eldest sons 
 and drives their younger brethren to improper 
 courses. 
 
 This system of land-holding also necessitat 
 deeds which, in point of length and obscurity, 
 would astonish the proprietors of France and 
 Germany ; every sort of contingency must be 
 provided against ; and clauses of an explanatory 
 nature require to be inserted in such number, as to 
 
 M 2 
 
268 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 perplex even lawyers themselves. Then who can 
 tell how many deeds affect estates, or how many 
 parties possess them ? You may buy a property 
 in perfect good faith one year, and find the next 
 that some person at a distance holds a mortgage 
 over it, which adds one hundred per cent, to the 
 cost of the purchase. No doubt a good system of 
 registration might, to some extent, obviate tliis last 
 evil ; but the general desire now felt by the people 
 of this country to possess portions of the soil can 
 never be gratified until the legislature turns its 
 attention in earnest to the task of reforming, 
 simplifying, and codifying our intricate, if not 
 incomprehensible feudal laws. 
 
 I have made these remarks merely to show, that 
 difficulties of no common order stand in the way 
 of the working and middle classes obtaining a 
 highly desirable end. Would it not materially 
 conduce to the prosperity of Great Britain, to the 
 maintenance of peace and order, to the removal of 
 discontent and revolutionary tendencies, were these 
 legal obstacles finally and effectually removed? 
 Many of my readers are of course aware that the 
 French code renders the subdivision of inheritances 
 
 THE FRENCH LAW. 
 
 269 
 
 imperative ; a man cannot distinguish between his 
 children ; but is required to leave them equal por- 
 tions at his death. It will not be for a moment 
 supposed that the foregoing observations have been 
 made with a view of recommending the adoption 
 of such a system in England ; if British law make 
 unnatural provision for preventing the distribution 
 of the land, the regulations of France make as un- 
 natural provision for preventing its accumulation. 
 Ought not matters be allowed to take the course 
 which nature points out as suitable under particular 
 circumstances ? 
 
 We have seen that the system of peasant pro- 
 prietors abroad improves the cultivation of the 
 soil, that it fosters a respect for property, that it 
 removes many causes of abject poverty, that it 
 raises the social condition of the masses, that it 
 promotes conservative principles, and adds to the 
 comforts of the labouring poor. But it cannot be 
 concealed, that disadvantages attend the adoption 
 of this plan ; and it now only remains for me to 
 suggest a few of them, that those who peruse these 
 pages may judge of their logical cogency. 
 
 First of all, the traveller on the continent will 
 
270 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 learn that a vast majority of the small proprietors 
 are deeply in debt. I was informed in the country 
 districts of Normandy, that most of the lando\vners 
 in that province had to apply at least half of their 
 receipts towards the payment of interest on money 
 borrowed frequently at eight to nine per cent, per 
 annum. French economists generally estimate that 
 the peasants have not more than three-eighths of 
 the produce of the soil left to supply the wants of 
 their families ; and as one generation after another 
 passes away, the burdens become more and more 
 severe, so that society does not advance, but suffers 
 a retrograde movement. In Canada the same 
 injurious effect has resulted from the excessive sub- 
 division of the land.* While travelling along the 
 banks of the St. Lawrence in 1846, T heard this 
 evil universally complained of; and both at Quebec 
 and at Montreal, several intelligent persons told 
 me that it constituted one of the great difficulties 
 in the way of improving the social condition of the 
 people in the lower province. It is however a 
 matter for consideration, how ftir this drawback of 
 
 * See Professor Johnston's " Notes on North America," vol. i. 
 p. 347. 
 
 DEBTS OF SMALL ESTATES. 
 
 271 
 
 indebtedness applies only to SMALL estates. Many 
 years have rolled over our heads since the Spectator 
 thus ^vrote in Sir Roger de Coverley. " To pay 
 for, personate, and keep in a man's hands, a greater 
 estate than he really has, is of all others the most 
 unpardonable vanity, and must in the end reduce 
 the man who is guilty of it to dishonour. Yet if 
 we look round us in any county of Great Britain, 
 we shall see many in this fatal error ; if that may 
 be called by so soft a name, which proceeds from a 
 false shame of appearing what they really are, 
 when the contrary behaviour would in a short time 
 advance them to the condition which they pretend 
 to." Few who know England of the present day, 
 will say that this picture has altered, at least for 
 the better. The operation of the law of entail, the 
 wish to do the honours of the family, Horace's 
 " paupertatis pudor etfuga,'' the shame of appear- 
 ing poor, and many other causes, have combined 
 to overwhelm a great proportion of our landed pro- 
 prietors with pecuniary burdens, which they never 
 can repay. When I look around me in Scotland, 
 I lind the same state of things. In the county of 
 Forfarshire, a majority of the landlords are in an 
 
272 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 LAND IN RESERVE. 
 
 273 
 
 insolvent condition, and yet legal difficulties enough 
 to alarm a prudent man oppose themselves to the 
 immediate sale of the properties. 
 
 The distribution of the soil abroad is attended 
 also with disadvantages, inasmuch as it prevents 
 the free interchange of industry ; every peasant 
 grows his own com, cultivates his own vegetables, 
 kills his own cattle, and produces his own flax and 
 liemp ; he is an isolated being, uninfluenced by the 
 advances of his fellows ; he does not keep pace 
 with the progress of the age, but continues to 
 labour as in the good old time, celebrated by Oliver 
 Goldsmith in the Deserted Village, " when every 
 rood of ground maintained its man." It becomes 
 a question whether such a state of society accords 
 with the beneficent designs of God for the im- 
 provement and civilization of the race. 
 
 The eflect too of this proprietary independence 
 is, to cause a want of employment in the various 
 trades, and to turn loose upon a country a body of 
 men not required in the cultivation of the soil, and 
 ready to erect barricades in the nearest city. It is 
 astonishing what a preponderance of this idle class 
 may be found among the " blouses," who have so 
 
 I 
 
 often deluged Paris with the blood of its best in- 
 habitants. If the subdivision of the land makes 
 the owner himself a conservative, does it not also 
 make his sons and brothers the very apostles of 
 revolution ? 
 
 Then, again, we cannot shut our eyes to tlie fact, 
 that while we in England have a great portion of 
 our land reserved to meet future wants,* on the 
 continent, at least in most districts, it is all yielding 
 food or clothing for man. Should any unforeseen 
 calamity occur abroad, — such as a succession of bad 
 harvests, or a continuance of desolating wars, the 
 consequences might be of the most frightful nature. 
 Since Napoleon's conquests, great changes have 
 taken place in the cultivation of the soil, both of 
 France and Germany ; and those campaigns which 
 fomierly impoverished large proprietors, might now 
 reduce a land-owning peasantry to a situation that 
 beggars description ; the rapine which drove the 
 feudal nobleman to economise in other lands, might 
 drive the holder of a dozen acres to commit suicide, 
 or begin life as a robber. Whence come the young 
 
 * In Scotland, of 11 J millions of acres capable of being culti- 
 vated, 6 millions remain waste. 
 
 m3 
 
274 
 
 THE TAGL'S ASD THE TIBER. 
 
 THREATENING DANGERS. 
 
 275 
 
 men who shout for a red-repuUic in the streets of 
 Berlin, Frankfort, Dresden and Paris, hut from the 
 self-dependent properties on the garden-like soil ? 
 
 A more equal distribution of temporal good is 
 what English philanthropists desire to effect in 
 this enlightened age. Whether or not the laws 
 relating to land prevent the realization of their 
 hopes, it is for our statesmen to decide ; but the 
 object commends itself at once as worthy of being 
 pursued with unabated energy. Silently but surely 
 every effort of the benevolent tends to this con- 
 summation ; and no farseeing politician does not 
 feel that the safety of our country lies in equalising 
 in a greater degree than at present the condition 
 of the various classes in the state. Great Britain 
 has acquired enormous wealth ; yet wretchedness 
 in equivalent proportion threatens to swallow it up; 
 our vessel, not, it is true, driven by a tempest, 
 without rudder or masts, but in a calm sea, and 
 manned by a skilful crew, drifts towards that rock 
 on which Genoa and Venice struck and went to 
 pieces, in the palmy days of their power. Should 
 not we timeously take warning, and before the 
 watery deluge over^vhclm us, consult the chart. 
 
 i 
 
 and change our bearings ? Our wealth and splen- 
 dour now glitter before an admiring world, but 
 danger lurks beneath the surface; we have a moral 
 volcano in the midst of us, and it will require 
 sagacity and foresight on the part of our rulers, 
 to avert the hand of the avenger lifted up to 
 destroy.* 
 
 * " Servants, labourers, and workmen of different kinds make 
 up the far greater part of every great political eociety. But 
 what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never 
 be regarded as any inconvenience to the whole. No society can 
 surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of 
 the members are poor and miserable." — Adam Smith's " Wealth 
 Nations," book i. chap. 8, 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 NOTES ON THE EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE AT 
 HOME AND ABROAD. 
 
 IGNORANCE YET PREVALENT IN ENGLANI>— THE COMMON SCHOOLS 
 IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA— STATISTICS OF EDUCATIONAL 
 INSTITUTIONS IN PRUSSIA, SAXONY, BAVARIA, BADEN, DENMARK, 
 HOLLAND AND FRANCE— MR. JOSEPH KAY's WORK ON THIS SUB- 
 JECT—THE EVILS OP CENTRALIZATION— FUNCTIONARIES IN 
 GERMANY— MR. LAINg's TESTIMONY— OBSERVATIONS ON MR. KAYS 
 PRAISE OP THE LANDWEHR SYSTEM, AND OF THE AMUSEMENTS 
 POPULAR ON THE CONTINENT— EFFECTS OF THE NATIONAL IN- 
 STRUCTION IN BADEN— OBJECTIONS TO THE PLAN OF EDUCATION 
 ADOPTED ABROAD— THE SCHOLARS TAUGHT RATHER TO BE GOOD 
 SUBJECTS THAN USEFUL MEN— MR, KAY's PECULIAR SENTIMENTS 
 REGARDING RELIGIOUS TRAINING— THE FR^RF^ CHRETIENS— THE 
 COMMON SCHOOLS OF AUSTRIA— OPINION OP MR. PAGET~UN- 
 SUITABLENESS OF THE GERMAN SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION TO THE 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OP ENGLAND. 
 
 It will be admitted by men of the most discordant 
 sentiments, that no political question of the present 
 day is more important than that which concerns 
 the education of the British people. None of the 
 various combatants who so strenuously advocate 
 their own peculiar views as to the means to be used 
 
 EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 277 
 
 for the instruction of the masses, deny that, both in 
 the rural districts and in the manufacturing towns, 
 there prevails an amount of ignorance discreditable 
 to us as a nation, and likely to be followed at an 
 after period by consequences dangerous to the best 
 institutions of our country. Some wish to esta- 
 blish a centralized system of secular education, 
 some to combine religious teaching with secular, 
 in schools supported by government, some to in- 
 troduce the American plan of local committees 
 and district assessments, some to leave the matter 
 in the hands of the different Christian denomi- 
 nations, and supplement their efforts by grants 
 from the Treasury, and others to trust to voluntary 
 exertions entirely in the instruction of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 It would be out of place for me to adduce 
 arguments in support of any of these schemes ; 
 they have their respective advocates in all parts of 
 the country, and whoever takes an interest in the 
 welfare of society, will make it his business to 
 examine their merits. But in the midst of this 
 conflict, may not the object itself be lost sight of; 
 while discussing the diverse methods proposed, are 
 
278 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 EDUCATION ON THE CONTINENT. 
 
 279 
 
 we not in danger of providing no antidote at all 
 against the crying and admitted evil ? 
 
 Whatever value may be attached to the statistics 
 either of Mr. Richson or of Mr. Baines ; whether 
 it be true or not that eight millions of people in 
 the kingdom can neither read nor write, — few 
 acquainted with the social condition of other 
 countries, will doubt the correctness of the state- 
 ment, that education is much less widely diffused 
 in England than in Switzerland, Denmark, Hol- 
 land, Germany, or France. 
 
 It would very much accord with my own incli- 
 nation were I here to lay before the reader a few of 
 the wonderful effects produced by the common 
 school system in the United States of America, 
 which came under my observation in the course of 
 several visits paid to these institutions, and of a 
 careful perusal of the reports which have since 
 appeared in official documents, as well as in the 
 books of English travellers ;* but such a disqui- 
 sition would occupy too many pages of this volume. 
 
 * I recommend every one interested in the Great Republic to 
 read Mackay's " Western "VV^orld," the best work ever published 
 on America. See also Sir Charles Lyell's valuable voliunes, 
 and Professor Johnston's " Notes." 
 
 I 
 
 It is sufficient for my present puq)ose to remark, 
 that most intelligent Britons who have travelled in 
 the Union now admit that the schoolhouses of New 
 England, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, are 
 the safety-valves of society, the main-springs of 
 the national greatness, the most illustrious monu- 
 ments of political sagacity and foresight which the 
 last century has left behind. Americans who visit 
 Manchester, Glasgow, and the rural counties of 
 England, express themselves appalled by the 
 ignorance which prevails, — ignorance which would 
 be discreditable even to Greece or Spain ; but 
 which one would scarcely expect to meet in the 
 freest, richest, most powerful monarchy in the 
 world. 
 
 Whilst we have been allowing our masses to 
 grow up in ignorance even of the ABC, what 
 has been doing by our neighbours on the Continent? 
 In Prussia there are now 23,646 schools, attended in 
 1844 by 2,328,146 children, and taught by 29,639 
 well-instructed masters ; in Saxony 2,925 teachers 
 instruct the youth in the public academies; Ba- 
 varia, with a population of little more than four 
 millions, has 7,353 schools, and 556,239 scholars ; 
 

 280 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 in Baden there are 1,971 primary schools to 
 1,400,000 inhabitants ; Hanover has 3,428 schools; 
 Denmark 4,600; Holland 2,832; and France 
 59,838 ; while in Switzerland, like New England, 
 such ignorance as prevails in Britain may be said 
 to be unknown.* 
 
 It must be acknowledged by every one that some 
 steps must be taken immediately by us to meet 
 this sad deficiency in the means of education ; 
 statesmen of all parties now see the evil, and it 
 will not be to our honour, if, sinking minor differ- 
 ences, we do not unite to remove it. Few sessions 
 will, in all probability, pass away before Govern- 
 ment finds it absolutely necessary to lay this sub- 
 ject seriously before parliament ; for every year 
 increases tlte difficulty of legislating, and renders 
 the future prospects of England more pregnant 
 with political dangers ; the unprincipled demagogues 
 who now harangue the masses, can only be de- 
 prived of their pernicious inflii ncc by a general 
 diffusion of knowledge ; had the schoolmaster 
 been abroad, they never would have collected 
 
 * " Of the whole population, including even Laplanders, the 
 proportion of grown-up persons in Sweden unable to read is less 
 than 1 in 1,000."— Laing's "Tour in Sweden." 
 
 THE PRUSSIAN SYSTEM. 
 
 281 
 
 audiences ; and when he once more attains his 
 proper position, they will sink into the obscurity of 
 men devoted to vulgar intrigues, and living on the 
 simplicity of their fellows. A well-organized 
 system of national instruction is the great deside- 
 ratum in England. 
 
 My object in the following brief remarks, is to 
 warn those whose attention must be turned to sup- 
 plying this great want against some of the evils 
 which result from the bureaucratic, centralized 
 plans of education in operation abroad. None 
 conversant with the state of society on the conti- 
 nent will deny, that in some respects they have 
 been attended with benefit ; but at the same time 
 their disadvantages ought with candour and truth- 
 fulness to be laid before the British public. Two 
 years ago, Mr. Joseph Kay published a laborious 
 and able work on " The Social Condition and 
 Education of the People in England and Europe," 
 in which he defends the Prussian system of educa- 
 tion against all objectors, and recommends it for 
 immediate adoption in our country. With many 
 of his views I cheerfully coincide ; but with others 
 I must beg leave to disagree in toto ccdo, for they 
 
282 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 appear to me subversive of national liberty. No 
 plan of instruction on the principle of centralization 
 seems likely to meet with approval on the part of 
 the English people ; they have from time imme- 
 morial been governed on the local and municipal 
 system, and will never, in my opinion, submit to 
 any important undertaking of universal interest 
 being committed to the superintendence of a 
 cabinet-minister and a Government bm*eau. 
 
 Delegated power best suits the disposition of 
 Britons; they have seen its beneficial results in 
 their own country and the United States of Ame- 
 rica, and they wish now to diminish rather than 
 increase the duties of the central executive. The 
 Anglo-Saxon quality of self-reliance is the glory 
 of Englishmen, and they will not be easily per- 
 suaded to forego its advantages ; no cause of 
 national weakness has manifested itself more clearly 
 in recent times than the swallowing up of all local 
 endeavours, by an authority at the capital. Neither 
 Socialist theories nor Eepublican plots have con- 
 tributed so much to the convulsions of Germany, 
 as the functionary system, having its head-quarters 
 at Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Stuttgard and Carls- 
 
 il]i — ■ i« III 
 
 A GERMAN FUNCTIONARY. 
 
 283 
 
 ruhe, and its ramifications throughout every part 
 of the country. " A half military education of all 
 the youth," says Mr. Laing, " a submission of all 
 self-action and social duty to functionary manage- 
 ment, a subversion of all hereditary religion among 
 the Protestant population, and of all domestic, re- 
 ligious and moral training, by the system of 
 Government schools, independent of the parents, 
 have reared up a young generation amongst the 
 German people, bound by none of the ties which 
 hold society together."* 
 
 Sir Walter Scott describes Monsieur Le Cheva- 
 lier Saint Priest de Beaujeu, as a man whose 
 " pretensions to quality were supported by a 
 feathered hat, a long rapier, and a suit of em- 
 broidered taffeta, not much the worse for the wear, 
 in the extreme fashion of the Parisian com*t, and 
 fluttering like a ^laypole with many knots of 
 ribbon, of which it was computed he bore at least 
 five hundred yards about his person." f This is 
 the sort of individual who presides over every de- 
 
 * " Observations on Europe," p. 486. See also the admirable 
 chapter on the Prussian Educational System, in Mr. Laing's 
 " Notes of a Traveller." 
 
 t " Fortunes of Nigel," vol. i. p. 241. 
 
284 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 partmeut of Government in Prussia, who enters 
 the houses of the inhabitants, lays down rules for 
 the regulation of families, fixes what books are to 
 be read, what newspapers tolerated, and what 
 churches ought to receive the support of the nation. 
 In a former volume I have pointed out some of 
 the evils of this pernicious system, and after their 
 elaborate exposure by Mr. Laing and other WTiters, 
 thoroughly acquainted with the state of Germany, 
 it surprised me to find Mr. Kay passing them by 
 with scarcely a single word of notice. Not only 
 does he look upon the educational institutions as 
 perfect ; but he goes out of his way to praise that 
 Landwehr system, which a far more philosopliical 
 traveller declares to be '' the incubus on the pro- 
 sperity, liberty and morality of the German people." 
 According to Mr. Kay, '' it does not breed any 
 discontent, nor does it at all unfit a young man for 
 the duties of his after life ; but it returns him to 
 his parish and his home, a manly, orderly, gentle- 
 manly and hard working citizen."* 
 
 How any man acquainted with the social con- 
 dition of Prussia and other countries abroad can 
 
 • Vol. i. p. 30. 
 
 GERMAN SOCIAL HABITS. 
 
 285 
 
 bring himself to believe a statement so manifestly 
 erroneous as this, passes my comprehension. The 
 English public may well be excused, if unable to 
 see any economy in taking away the youth of the 
 land, for the best three years of their life, to be 
 drilled as soldiers ; in keeping on foot during peace 
 a military organization necessary only in cases of 
 invasion ; in supporting, for a considerable period, 
 thousands of young men who ought to be learning 
 trades ; and in encouraging amongst a nation, 
 whose safety lies in cultivating the arts of peace, a 
 love for the idleness of the barrack and the pa- 
 geantry of war. 
 
 Mr. Kay, too, has fallen in love with the amuse- 
 ments of the people abroad ; " the tea-gardens " 
 and " coffee-houses" appear to him the 7i€ i^hs 
 ultra of civilization. " I learned there," {i.e, in 
 the pleasure gardens ! !) says he, " how high a 
 civilization the poorer classes of a nation are 
 capable of attaining imder a well-arranged system 
 of those laws which affect the social condition of 
 the people."* Does it not strike the British 
 reader, acquainted with Germany, that this mode 
 
 • Vol. i. p. 240. 
 
286 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 DUCHY OF BADEN. 
 
 287 
 
 r 
 
 of living in public, spending evening after evening 
 in seeking amusement, is a lamentable waste of 
 time, and quite unsuited to the Anglo-Saxon cha- 
 racter ? It reminds me of the large top formerly 
 kept in our villages, to be whipped in frosty 
 weather, that the peasants might be kept warm by 
 exercise, and out of mischief while they could not 
 work. When men are not allowed to interest 
 themselves in the government of their country — 
 when everything is done for them, not by them — 
 they become mere babies, amused by trifles, and 
 unconscious of the value of time. 
 
 But these subjects would require much more 
 elaborate illustration ; I only allude to them here 
 in connexion with Mr. Kay's views on the educa- 
 tion of the people in Germany. In pages 241 and 
 307 of his second volume the reader will find these 
 sentences : — '' Baden has even outstripped Prussia 
 in the high character of the intelligence of her 
 people. And let it be remembered, the peasants 
 are more contwted, more orderly, and more peace- 
 ful in their habits, more moral, and, in a word, 
 more civilized, than those of any country in the 
 world." " Since 1830, the school buildings and 
 
 apparatus of the Duchy of Baden have been very 
 much improved. At present there is, perhaps, no 
 country in Germany where the material of educa- 
 cation is so perfect." 
 
 Those who have travelled on the Continent since 
 the troubles of 1848, even readers of the English 
 newspapers, do not require to be told the result of 
 this " perfect material of education,'* viz. that 
 Baden is the hot-bed of the most visionary, anar- 
 chical, unprincipled, senseless schemes, both in 
 politics and religion, that Europe has ever heard 
 promulgated. The red republicans of France were 
 out-Heroded by the frantic demagogues of this 
 duchy ; and pantheism, in its wildest forms, exists 
 in every corner of the country. 
 
 Surely ^Ir. Kay has been shut out from the 
 world for tliree or four years past, else he never 
 would have committed an error so glaring as to 
 designate the peasants of Baden " contented, or- 
 derly, and peaceful in their habits." The mobs of 
 Mannheim, the barricades in Carlsruhe, the siege 
 of Rastadt, the frightful commotions in the rural 
 districts, testify that a more discontented, unruly, 
 and restlessly revolutionaiy people does not exist 
 
288 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 in Europe. They may liave the *' material of 
 education," but they want its reality ; they require 
 a body of schoolmasters to teach them the plainest 
 dictates of common sense. 
 
 Again, Mr. Kay remarks, * " Every government 
 in Germany has acted as if public order and public 
 morality depended entirely on the people being 
 able to think.'' "Each teacher in his village is 
 labouring among the poor, not so much to teach 
 them their ABC and mere school-room learning, 
 as to enable them to think; to show them the 
 present, as well as the future advantages of manly 
 virtue, and to explain to them how much their own 
 prosperity in life depends upon their own exertions. 
 This is education !" . . . "The character of the in- 
 struction given in all the German schools is sug- 
 gestive ; the teachers labour to teach the children 
 to educate themselves." Now it may be con- 
 sidered presumptuous in me to doubt the correct- 
 ness of these statements ; but it does not appear 
 from what we have seen of late in Germany, that 
 the people either " think," in the British acceptation 
 of the term, or " depend upon their own exertions." 
 
 * Vol. ii. pp. 76, 130, 212. 
 
 EDUCATION IN GERMANY. 
 
 289 
 
 All sorts of extravagant political and religious 
 ideas exist amongst them ; they fly from one 
 extreme to the other — one day indulge in all the 
 license of anarchy, the next quietly resign them- 
 selves to the tender mercies of despotism ; now 
 embrace the tenets of material or rationalistic 
 philosophy — again set off in thousands to fall 
 down in adoration before the Holy Coat at Treves. 
 When excited there is no species of theological 
 fanaticism too absurd for them ; when subdued, 
 they permit the King of Prussia to unite hy edict 
 the Protestant Churches, professing different tenets, 
 into one great institution of government. " They 
 indulge," says Longfellow,* " in many speculations 
 in literature, philosophy, and religion, which, 
 though pleasant to walk in, and lying under the 
 shadow of great names, yet lead to no important 
 result. They resemble rather those roads in the* 
 Western forests of my native land, which, though 
 broad and pleasant at first, and lying beneath the 
 shadow of great branches, finally dwindle into a 
 squiiTcl-track, and run up a tree." 
 
 Mr. Kay himself remarks, f " In Bohemia the 
 
 • Hyperion, p. 87. + Vol. i. p. 12. 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
290 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 instruction is planned so as to make the people 
 good subjects." This is true, but it applies just as 
 forcibly to the schools in Bavaria, Prussia, and 
 Saxony, as to those in Bohemia ; it has been 
 fashioned with the express purpose of strengthen- 
 ing that system of government, which reminds me 
 of Sir Anthony Absolute's " simple process with 
 his children." * " In their younger days^" said that 
 worthy person, " 'twas, * Jack, do this,' — if he 
 demurred, I knocked him down ; and, if he 
 grumbled at that, I always sent him out of the 
 room." If the teachers abroad had really devoted 
 themselves to instructing the children in the art of 
 " educating themselves," we should have seen a 
 very different state of things in France and 
 Germany at the present time. 
 
 It is related of Sir Walter Scott, t that in the 
 training of his owti family " he attached little 
 importance to anything else, so he could perceive 
 that the young curiosity was excited — the intellect, 
 by whatever springs of interest, set in motion. 
 He detested and despised the whole generation of 
 
 • The Rivals, Act L Scene 2. 
 
 t See Life, by Lockliart, chap. xviL 
 
 GERMAN EDUCATION. 
 
 291 
 
 modern children's books, in which the attempt is 
 made to convey accurate notions of scientific 
 minutiae." 
 
 This is precisely the part of education which has 
 no place in the common schools of Germany ; the 
 youth are trained to be accomplished functionaries, 
 excellent policemen, and conversable frequenters 
 of " tea gardens ;" but they have none of that self- 
 reliance, that manly independence, that dislike to 
 mere theories, that practical wisdom, and that calm 
 determination, which distinguish even the illiterate 
 masses in England. It may fairly be questioned, 
 wliethcr the British artisan, scarcely able to read 
 his Bible, is not more capable of possessing 
 political privileges, than the youth, who has gone 
 through the full curriculum in a Prussian public 
 school. There are twice as many printing-presses 
 and booksellers' shops in our large cities of equal 
 size, as in Berlin, the head-quarters of learning 
 abroad, and these disseminate knowledge of a far 
 more practical and useful kind. " Germany," 
 Mr. Laing truly says, " never can be a free country, 
 till education is free." * 
 
 * Observations on Europe, p. 217. 
 
292 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSONS. 
 
 293 
 
 I scarcely know what to think of some of 
 Mr. Kay's statements regarding religious in- 
 struction abroad. In one place * he tells us, that 
 *'in Wirtemberg and Baden, where the people 
 have been fitted for the reception of a higher 
 species of Protestantism, there is hardly anything 
 analogous to the religious extravagances of the 
 Mormonites and Ranters." " Mormonites and 
 Ranters," indeed! These are orthodox sects, 
 compared with the wild dreamers, who have spread 
 their principles far and wide over the very 
 countries now named. "A higher species of 
 Protestantism!" It may be so; but it is a 
 protesting against everything that is great and 
 good in the religion of Jesus,— a negation of the 
 cardinal points of scriptural theology, of the very 
 essentials of Christianity. If Baden be a religious 
 country, alas for the remainder of the human 
 
 race! 
 
 f 
 
 In another part of his work f Mr. Kay favours 
 us with a table, showing the lessons of the Dresden 
 Sunday Schools ; my readers will judge of their 
 suitableness, when I mention that they include 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 • VoL ii. p. 510. 
 
 t Vol. ii. p. 259. 
 
 arithmetic, geometry, extraction of the square root, 
 fractions, rules of proportion, and their application 
 to mechanics ; geography, history, use of the 
 globes, drawing in lead, chalk, pen and ink and 
 colours, orthogi-aphy, etymology, dictation exer- 
 cises," et hoc genus omnel Such a list requires no 
 commentary. 
 
 Mr. Kay commences his second volume by an 
 attempt to prove that our religious difficulties, in 
 the way of establishing a system of national 
 education, are not greater than those in Prussia, 
 Theoretically this may be true, practically it is 
 very far from being so. No doubt there exists in 
 Prussia as great diversity of opinion on theological 
 subjects as in England ; but how do the advisers 
 of Government treat them ? Will our author tell 
 us that ? Do they ask the opinion of the various 
 sects ? Do they consult their wishes ? Do they 
 defer to their conscientious objections, and en- 
 deavour to meet their respective views? If this 
 policy has been pursued, and yet a great educational 
 measure carried through, let us by all means take 
 a lesson. But far otherwise did Frederick William 
 act when passing national laws. With him, these 
 
 N 3 
 
<,W.teiliKli-»1«t>i 
 
 294 
 
 THE TAGU3 AND THE TIBER. 
 
 THE " FRERES CHRJ^TIENS." 
 
 295 
 
 denominations are not recognised at all ; so far 
 from respecting religious scruples, he by ukase 
 several years ago compelled the Lutheran and 
 Reformed Churches to unite, and form the Protes- 
 tant Church of Prussia! How does Mr. Kay 
 think that a proclamation like this would suit 
 the tastes of the British people? Could Queen 
 Victoria, the most deservedly popular sovereign 
 that ever sat on the throne of these realms, venture 
 to propose such an act of uniformity? If the 
 English have not so many common schools as the 
 Germans, they have sufficient common sense to 
 receive such a proposal with scorn. Is not the 
 dame's class room better than universities, which 
 teach the people to obey ordinances so humiliating, 
 and a system so degrading to the dignity of 
 
 man? 
 
 I shall only trouble the reader with one more 
 extract from Mr. Kay's volumes.* " The Fr^res 
 Chre'tiens at Paris are a society of men who have 
 taken the vow of celibacy, renounced all the plea- 
 sures of society and relationship, and entered into 
 a brotherhood, retaining only two objects in life— 
 
 • Vol. ii. p. 428. 
 
 their own spiritual advancement, and the education 
 of the children of the poor. The young men are 
 denied all the ordinary pleasures of life, accustomed 
 to servile occupations, required to perfomi the most 
 humble household duties, and separated from the 
 world and their friends." ..." By these means," 
 he remarks, "is formed a character admirably 
 titted for the important office of teacher.'* 
 
 That may be his opinion. I am quite sure that 
 it is not the opinion of a great majority of the 
 people of this country. If our youth are to be 
 universally educated, as I hope they soon will be, 
 save us from preceptors trained in such a manner 
 as Mr. Kay's " Fr^res Chretiens ! " 
 
 The system of instruction pursued in Prussia, 
 and the small German principalities, has been to 
 some extent also adopted in Austria. Let us 
 attend to what Mr. Paget says in regard to its 
 fruits.* " Education may be made the means of 
 training to ignorance as well as to knowledge; and 
 I know of no better exemplication of this fact, than 
 the system of instruction pursued by Austria." . . . 
 
 * Hungary and Transylvania, vol. ii. pp. 458, 460. 
 
296 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 " I allow, we are as badly off for education as a 
 people can well be, but yet it is a thousand times 
 better to remain as we are than to have a half- 
 priest, half-police directed system, which would 
 impose such chains on our understandings, that 
 through our whole lives we should never be able 
 to break loose from them. The advocates of the 
 Austrian system forget that there are other sources 
 of knowledge beside books, other teachers amongst 
 us than our pedagogues, and stronger stimulants to 
 knowledge than even their well-soaked birch. It 
 is scarcely possible to live in a populous country 
 like England and remain very ignorant. Our 
 ears, our eyes, and every sense convey knowledge 
 to the mind at every moment, from every object 
 by which we are surrounded. Reading and writ- 
 ing are very useful as keys to the doors of know- 
 led "-e but if we are not allowed to use them when 
 we have acquired them, we might really be as well 
 without them. Now something of this Austrian 
 system has been introduced into the schools of 
 Hungary, particularly among the Catholics. The 
 press, too, is stifled by an Austrian censorship; 
 
 GERMAN SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION. 297 
 
 and when to this is united the political condition in 
 which the peasantry live, we shall scarcely be 
 astonished, that though they all go to school, and 
 that though many of them can read and write in 
 two or three languages, they are yet much more 
 ignorant than tlie English peasant, who cannot 
 often read or write his own name." 
 
 These observations have been made, not with 
 a view of supporting any particular theory, for it 
 would be altogether out of place for me to dogma- 
 tize on so important a subject, but solely to warn 
 those interested in the cause of national education, 
 who may have happened to read partial works like 
 Mr. Kay's, that there are two sides of the question 
 concerning the desirableness of the German systems 
 of instruction. If any remarks of mine induce 
 further research on the part of those who, ignorant 
 of the objections to the centralized Prussian plan, 
 have been accustomed to regard it as suitable for 
 adoption by the English people, my object will be 
 fully attained. No doubt many advantages attend 
 the common schools on the continent, and whoever 
 writes with the intention of discussing the matter 
 
298 
 
 THE TAGUS AND THE TIBER. 
 
 in all its bearings, will conscientiously lay them 
 before his readers, at the same time that he states 
 the evils which have come under his notice. 
 
 Duly to reflect upon these considerations is the 
 province of the statesmen, the politicians, and the 
 public of our country ; so that when the time for 
 legislative enactment arrives, they may not tind 
 themselves acquainted with only one set of argu- 
 ments. 
 
 Much has of late been written in favour of the 
 Prussian plan of education, by travellers who seem 
 quite unconscious of its obvious disadvantages ; and 
 I cannot help thinking that if their sentiments be 
 adopted without investigation, by an influential 
 party in Britain, very serious consequences may 
 follow. Educate the people by all means, lay aside 
 minor diff'erences to obtain an end so desirable ; let 
 the Churchman and Dissenter abate to some extent 
 their rigid claims, and theorists of every class 
 waive their peculiarities, but beware of interfering 
 with the liberty of the subject ; recollect that the 
 Englishman's house is his castle, his children his 
 own ; and whatever be done, let it be by the people, 
 
 i 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 299 
 
 for the people, and subject to the people's local 
 control ; else functionaries and central bureaus will 
 soon endanger that municipal principle which 
 forms the basis of national freedom, the Magna 
 Charta of our land. 
 
 Gladly would many enlightened men on the 
 continent exchange the shallow learning of their 
 schools for the self-reliance, the practical wisdom, 
 and the independence of mind exhibited by the 
 English workman, even in the days of Queen 
 Anne. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 R. «;LAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
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