After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 Part 17

This lady is, it seems, a great proficient in painting.

Here too are the moulds of the different statues made by Canova, the statues themselves having been finished long ago and disposed of; viz., of the Empress Maria Louisa of France; of the mother of Napoleon (_Madame Mere_ as she is always called) in the costume and att.i.tude of Agrippina; of a colossal statue of Napoleon (the statue itself is, I believe, in the possession of Wellington.[92]) Here too is the bust of Canova by Canova himself, besides a great variety of bas-reliefs and busts of individuals, models of monuments, etc.

And now, my friend, I have given you a _precis_ not of all that I have seen, but of what has most interested me and made on my mind impressions that can never be effaced. I trust entirely to my memory, for I made no notes on the spot. Many of the things I have seen too much in a hurry to form accurate ideas and judgment thereon; most of what we see here is shewn to us like the figures in a _lanterna magica_, for in the various _palazzi_ and villas the servants who exhibit them hurry you from room to room, impatient to receive your fee and to get rid of you. I am about to depart for Naples. On my return to Rome I shall not think of revisiting the greater number of the _palazzi_, villas and churches; but there are some things I shall very frequently revisit and these are the two Museums of the Vatican and of the Capitol, St Peter's, the Coliseum and antiquities in its neighbourhood, the Pantheon, and last but not least the atelier of the incomparable Canova.

You may perhaps be unwilling to let me depart from Rome without some information as to theatricals. With regard to these, Rome must hang down her head, for the pettiest town in all the rest of Italy or France is better provided with this sort of amus.e.m.e.nt than Rome. There is a theatre called _Teatro della Valle_, where there is a very indifferent set of actors, and this is the only theatre which is open throughout the year.

Comedies only and farces are given. The theatres Aliberti and Argentino are open during the Carnaval only. Operas are given at the Argentino, and masquerades at the Aliberti. But in fact the lovers of Operas and of the Drama must not come to Rome for gratification. It is not considered conformable to the dignity and sanct.i.ty of an ecclesiastical government to patronize them; and it is not the custom or etiquette for the Pope, Cardinals or higher Clergy ever to visit them. The consequence is that no performer of any consideration or talent is engaged to sing at Rome, except one or two by chance at the time of the Carnaval. In amends for this you have a good deal of music at the houses of individuals who hold _conversazioni_ or a.s.semblies; in which society would flag very much but for the music, which prevents many a yawn, and which is useful and indispensable in Italy to make the evening pa.s.s, as cards are in England.

I intend to stop several days here on my return from Naples, for which place I shall start the day after to-morrow having engaged a place in a _vettura_ for two and half _louis d'or_ and to be _spesato_. I am not to be deterred from my journey by the many stories of robberies and a.s.sa.s.sinations which are said to occur so frequently on that road.

By the bye, talking of robberies and murders, a man was executed the day before yesterday on the _Piazza del Popolo_ for a triple murder. I saw the guillotine, which is now the usual mode of punishment, fixed on the centre of the _Piazza_ and the criminal escorted there by a body of troops; but I did not stop to witness the decapitation, having no taste for that sort of _pleasuring_. This man richly deserved his punishment.

[84] These lines are from Voltaire's _Henriade_, a poem which no Frenchman reads nowadays, but that Major Frye could quote from memory. The correct reading of the first verse is: _Des pretres fortunes_, etc.

(_Henriade_, canto iv. ed. Kehl, vol. x, p. 97.)--ED.

[85] Horace, _Sat_., 1, 9, 4.--ED.

[86] Lady Elizabeth Hervey, second wife of William, fifth Duke of Devons.h.i.+re (1809); died March, 1824.--ED.

[87] A singular slip of the pen; Frye must have known that the equestrian statue is a Roman work--ED.

[88] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, x.x.xiii, 2, 4.--ED.

[89] See Lucian, _Imag._, iv; _Amores_, xv, xvi.--ED.

[90] Major Frye's description is incorrect in many particulars, on which it seemed unnecessary to draw attention.--ED.

[91] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, XI, 67, 6.

[92] That colossal marble statue was given to the Duke of Wellington by Louis XVIII, and is still to be seen in London, at Apsley House.--ED.

CHAPTER XI

From Rome to Naples--Albano--Velletri--The Marshes--Terracina--Mola di Gaeta--Capua--The streets of Naples--Monuments and Museums--Visit to Pompeii and ascent to Vesuvius--Dangerous ventures--Puzzuoli and Baiae--Theatres at Naples--Pulcinello--Return to Rome--Tivoli.

I started from Rome on the 26th September; in the same _vettura_ I found an intelligent young Frenchman of the name of R---- D----, a magistrate in Corsica, who was travelling in Italy for his amus.e.m.e.nt. There were besides a Roman lawyer and not a very bright one by the bye; and a fat woman who was going to Naples to visit her lover, a Captain in the Austrian service, a large body of Austrian troops being still at Naples. We issued from Rome by the _Porta Latina_ and reached Albano (the ancient Alba) sixteen miles distant at twelve o'clock. We reposed there two hours which gave me an opportunity of visiting the _Villa Doria_ where there are magnificent gardens. These gardens form the promenade of the families who come to Albano to pa.s.s the heat of the summer and to avoid the effect of the exhalations of the marshy country about Rome.

As Albano is situated on an eminence, you have a fine view of the whole plain of Latium and Rome in perspective. The country of Latium however is flat, dreary and monotonous; it affords pasture to an immense quant.i.ty of black cattle, such as buffaloes, etc.

Just outside of Albano, on the route to Naples, is a curious ancient monument called _Il sepolcro degli Orazj e Curiazj._ It is built of brick, is extremely solid, of singular appearance, from its being a square monument, flanked at each angle by a tower in the shape of a cone. It is of an uncouth rustic appearance and must certainly have been built before

_Grecia capia ferum victorem cepit et artes Intulit agresti Latio....._[93]

and I see no reason against its being the sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii, particularly as it stands so near Alba where the battle was fought; but be this as it may there is nothing like faith in matters of antiquity; the sceptic can have little pleasure.

The country on leaving Albano becomes diversified, woody and picturesque.

Near Gensano is the beautiful lake of Nemi, and it is the spot feigned by the poets as the scene of the amours of Mars and Rhea Silvia. Near Gensano also is the country residence of the Sovereign Pontiffs called Castel Gandolfo. La Riccia, the next place we pa.s.sed thro', is the ancient Aricia, mentioned in Horace's journey to Brundusium. We arrived in the evening at Velletri.

Velletri is a large town or rather city situated on a mountain, to which you ascend by a winding road skirting a beautiful forest. From the terrace of one of the _Palazzi_ here, you have a superb view of all the plain below as far as the rock of Circe, comprehending the Pontine marshes. There are several very fine buildings at Velletri, and it is remarkable as being the birthplace of Augustus Caesar. There is a s.p.a.cious _Piazza_ too on which stands a bronze statue of Pope Urban VIII. Velletri is twenty-eight miles from Rome.

The next morning, the 27th, we started early so as to arrive by six o'clock in the evening at Terracina. At Cisterna is a post-house and at Torre tre Ponti is a convent, a beautiful building, but now delapidated and neglected. Near it is a wretched inn, where however you are always sure to find plenty of game to eat. Here begin the Pontine marshes and the famous Appian road which runs in a right line for twenty-five miles across the marshes. It was repaired and perfectly reconstructed by Pius VI, and from him it bears its present appellation of _Linea Pia_. This convent and church were also constructed by Pius VI with a view to facilitate the draining and cultivating of the marshes by affording shelter to the workmen. The _Linea Pia_ is a very fine _chaussee_ considerably raised above the level of the marsh, well paved, lined with trees and a ca.n.a.l sunk on one side to carry off the waters. The Pontine marshes extend all the way from Torre tre Ponti to Terracina. On the left hand side, on travelling from Rome to Naples, you have two miles or thereabouts of plain bounded by lofty mountains; on the right a vast marshy plain bounded by the sea at a distance of seven or eight miles. Nothing can be more monotonous than this strait road twenty-five miles in length, and the same landscape the whole way. The air is extremely damp, aguish and unhealthy. Those who travel late in the evening or early in the morning are recommended not to let down the gla.s.ses of the carriage, in order to avoid inhaling the pestilential miasma from the marshes, which even the ca.n.a.l has not been able to drain sufficiently.

No one can find amus.e.m.e.nt in this desolate region but the sportsman; and he may live in continual enjoyment, and slay wild ducks and snipes in abundance; a number of buffaloes are to be seen grazing on the marshes.

They are not to be met with to the North of Rome. They resemble entirely the buffaloes of Egypt and India, being black, and they are very terrific looking animals to the northern traveller, who beholds them here for the first time.

These marshes supply Rome abundantly with waterfowl and other game of all kinds. Every _vetturino_ who is returning to Rome, on pa.s.sing by, buys a quant.i.ty, for a mere trifle, from the peasantry, who employ themselves much _a la cha.s.se_, and he is certain to sell them again at Rome for three or four times the price he paid, and even then it appears marvellous cheap to an Englishman, accustomed as he is to pay a high price for game in his own country.

We arrived a little before six at Terracina, which is on the banks of the Mediterranean and may be distinguished at a great distance by its white buildings. The chain of mountains on the left of our road hither form a sort of arch to the chord of the _linea Pia_ and terminates one end of the arch by meeting the _linea Pia_ at Terracina, which forms what the sailors call a bluff point. Terracina stands on the situation of the ancient Anxur and the description of it by Horace in his Brundusian journey;

Impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur[94]

is perfectly applicable even now. It is a handsome looking city and is the last town in the Pope's territory: part of it is situated on the mountain and part on the plain at its foot close to the sea.

The fine white buildings on the heights, the temple of Jupiter Anxurus (of which the facade and many columns remain entire) towering above them, the orange trees and the sea, afford a view doubly pleasing and grateful to the traveller after the dreary landscape of the Pontine Marshes. There is but one inn at Terracina but that is a very large one; there is, however, but very indifferent fare and bad attendance. The innkeeper is a sad over-reaching rascal, who fleeces in the most unmerciful manner the traveller who is not _spesato_. He is obliged to furnish those who are _spesati_ with supper and lodging at the _vetturino's_ price; but he always grumbles at it, gives the worst supper he can and bestows it as if he were giving alms. As the road between Terracina and Fondi (the first Neapolitan town) is said to be at times infested by robbers, few travellers care to start till broad daylight. We did so accordingly the following morning. On arriving at a place called the _Epitafio_, from there being an ancient tomb there, we took leave of the last Roman post. At one mile and half beyond the _Epitafio_ is the first Neapolitan post at a place called _Torre de'

Confini_, where we were detained half an hour to have our pa.s.sports examined and our portmanteaus searched. Three miles beyond this post is the miserable and dirty town of Fondi, wherein our baggage again underwent a strict search. On leaving Terracina the road strikes inland and has mountains covered with wood to the right and to the left, nor do we behold the sea again till just before we arrive at Mola di Gaeta, which is an exceeding long straggling town on its banks; several fis.h.i.+ng vessels lie here and it is here that part of the Bay of Naples begins to open. The country from Terracina to Fondi is uncultivated and very mountainous; between Fondi and Mola di Gaeta it is pretty well cultivated; Itri, thro'

which we pa.s.sed, is a long, dirty, wretched looking village.

The next day at twelve o'clock we arrived and stopped to dine at St Agatha, a miserable village, with a very bad tho' s.p.a.cious inn the half of which is unroofed. We arrived at Capua the same evening having pa.s.sed the rivers Garigliano and Volturno, and leaving the Falernian Hills on our left during part of the road. The landscape is very varied on this route, sometimes mountainous, sometimes thro' a rich plain in full cultivation.

Capua is a fortified town situated in a flat country and marshy withal. It is a gloomy, dirty looking city and whatever may have been its splendour and allurements in ancient times, it at present offers nothing inviting or remarkable. The lower cla.s.ses of the people of this town are such thieves that our _vetturino_ recommended us to remove every thing from the carriage into our bed rooms, so that we had the trouble of repacking every thing next morning. Capua is the only place on the whole route where it is necessary to take the trunks from the carriage. From Capua to Naples is twenty miles; a little beyond Capua are the remains of a large Amphitheatre and this is all that exists to attest the splendour of ancient Capua. The road between Capua and Naples presents on each side one of the richest and most fruitful countries I ever beheld. It is a perfect garden the whole way. The _chaussee_ is lined with fruit trees. Halfway is the town or _borgo_ of Aversa which is large, well-built, opulent and populous. We entered Naples at one o'clock, drove thro' the _strada di Toledo_ and from thence to the _largo di Medina_ where we put up at the inn called the _Aquila nera_. A cordon of Austrian troops lines the whole high road from Fondi to the gates of Naples; and there are double sentries at a distance of one mile from each other the whole way.

NAPLES, Octr. 5th.

In Naples the squares or _Piazze_ are called _Larghi_; they are exceedingly irregular as to shape; a trapezium would be the most appropriate denomination for them. The _Largo di Medina_ is situated close to the Mole and light house and is not far from the _Largo del Palazzo_ where the Royal Palace stands, nor from the _Strada di Toledo_, which is the most bustling part of the town. On the Mole and sometimes in the _Largo di Medini_ Pulcinello holds forth all day long, quacks scream out the efficacy of their nostrums and _improvisatori_ recite battles of Paladins. Here and in the _Strada di Toledo_ the noise made by the vendors of vegetables, fruit, lemonade, iced water and water-melons, who on holding out their wares to view, scream out "_O che bella cosa_!"--the noise and bustle of the cooks'

shops in the open air and the cries of "_Lavora_!" made by the drivers of _calessini_ (sort of carriage) makes such a deafening _tintamarre_ that you can scarcely hear the voice of your companion who walks by your side. In the _Largo del Palazzo_ there is always a large a.s.sembly of officers and others, besides a tolerable quant.i.ty of _ruffiani_, who fasten upon strangers in order to recommend to them their female acquaintances. A little further is the Quai of St Lucia, where the fish market is held, and here the cries increase. The quant.i.ty of fish of all sorts caught in the bay and exposed for sale in the market is immense and so much more than can be sold, that the rest is generally given away to the _Lazzaroni_. Here are delicious mullets, oysters, whitings, soles, prawns, etc. There is on the Quai of St Lucia a _restaurant_ where naught but fish is served, but that is so well dressed and in such variety that amateurs frequently come to dine here on _maigre_ days; for two _carlini_[95] you may eat fish of all sorts and bread at discretion. The wine is paid for extra. On the Quai of St Lucia is a fountain of mineral water which possesses the most admirable qualities for opening the _primae viae_ and purifying the blood. It is an excellent drink for bilious people or for those afflicted with abdominal obstructions and diseases of the liver. It has a slight sulfurous mixed with a ferruginous taste, and is impregnated with a good deal of fixed air, which makes it a pleasant beverage. It should be taken every morning fasting. The presidency over this fountain is generally monopolized by a piscatory nymph who expects a _grano_ for the trouble of filling you a gla.s.s or two. In reaching it to you she never fails to exclaim _"Buono per le natiche,"_ and it certainly has a very rapid effect; I look upon it as more efficacious than the Cheltenham waters and it is certainly much more agreeable in taste. At the end of the Quai of St Lucia is the _Castello dell 'Uovo,_ a Gothic fortress, before the inner gate of which hangs an immense stuffed crocodile. This crocodile is said to have been found alive in the _fosse_ of the castle, but how he came there has never been explained; there is an old woman's story that he came every day to the dungeon where prisoners were confined, and took out one for his dinner. The _Castello dell 'Uovo_ stands on the extremity of a tongue of land which runs into the sea. After pa.s.sing the _Castello dell 'Uovo_ I came to the _Chiaia_ or Quai properly so called, which is the most agreeable part of Naples and the favorite promenade of the _beau-monde._ The finest buildings and _Palazzi_ line the _Chiaia_ on the land side and above them all tower the Castle of St Elmo and the _Chartreuse_ with several villas intervening.

The garden of the _Chiaia_ contains gravel walks, gra.s.s plots, alleys of trees, fountains, plantations of orange, myrtle and laurel trees which give a delightful fragrance to the air; and besides several other statues, it boasts of one of the finest groups in Europe, called the _Toro Farnese._ It is a magnificent piece of sculpture and represents three men endeavouring to hold a ferocious bull. It is a pity, however, that so valuable a piece of sculpture should be exposed to the vicissitudes of the season in the open air. The marble has evidently suffered much by it. Why is such a valuable piece of sculpture not preserved in the Museum?

On the _Chiaia_ are _restaurants_ and _cafes_. 'Tis here also that the n.o.bility display their carriages and horses, it being the fas.h.i.+onable drive in the afternoon: and certainly, except in London, I have never seen such a brilliant display of carriages as at Naples.

The princ.i.p.al street at Naples is the _Strada di Toledo_. It resembles the _Rue St Honore_ and can boast of as much wealth in its shops. The houses are good, solid and extremely lofty, and the streets are paved with lava.

There are two excellent _restaurants_ at Naples, one in the _Largo del Palazzo_, nearly opposite the Royal Palace, called the _Villa di Napoli_; the other not far from it in the _Strada di Toledo_, called _La Corona di Ferro_. Naples is renowned for the excellency of its ices. You have them in the shape of all kinds of fruit and wonderfully cheap. Many of the ice houses and _caffes_ remain open day and night; as do some of the gaming tables, which are much frequented by the upper cla.s.ses. The theatre of St Carlo, which was consumed last year by fire, is rising rapidly from its ashes and will soon be finished. In the mean time Operas are performed at the _Teatro Fondi_, a moderate sized theatre. I here saw performed the opera of _Don Giovanni_ of Mozart, with the _ballo_ of _La pazza per amore_. Mme Colbran, a Spanish lady, is the _Prima Donna_ and an excellent singer.

In all the private societies at Naples a great deal of gaming goes on, and at some houses those visitors, who do not play, are coolly received. The following may be considered as a very fair specimen of the life of a young man of rank and fas.h.i.+on at Naples. He rises about two p.m., takes his chocolate, saunters about in the _Strada di Toledo_ or in the _Largo del Palazzo_ for an hour or two, then takes a _promenade a cheval_ on the _Chiaia_; dines between six and seven; goes to the Opera where he remains till eleven or half-past eleven; he then saunters about in the different Cafes for an hour or two; and then repairs to the gaming table at the _Ridotto_, which he does not quit till broad daylight. The ladies find a great resource in going to church, which serves to pa.s.s away the time that is not spent in bed, or at the Opera, or at the _promenade en voiture_. The ladies seldom take exercise on foot at Naples. There being very little taste for litterature in this vast metropolis, the most pleasant society is among the foreign families who inhabit Naples or at the houses of the _Corps diplomatique_. There is, however, a good _cabinet litteraire_ and library in the _Strada di San Giacomo_, where various French and Italian newspapers may be read. The Austrians occupy the greater part of the military posts at Naples; at the Royal Palace however the Sicilian guards do duty; they are clothed in scarlet and _a anglaise_.

NAPLES, 8th Octr.

One day I went to visit the Museum or _Studii_, as it is called, which is situated at the extremity of the _Strada di Toledo_ on the land side. Here is a superb collection of sculpture and painting; and this building contains likewise the national library, and a choice and unique collection of Etruscan vases. A large hall contains these vases, which were found at Pompeii[96]; they are much admired for their beauty and simplicity; each vase has a mythological or historical painting on it. In this Museum I was shewn the rolls of papyrus found in Pompeii and Herculaneum and the method of unrolling them. The work to unroll which they are now employed at this Museum is a Greek treatise on philosophy by Epicurus. It is a most delicate operation to unroll these leaves, and with the utmost possible care it is impossible to avoid effacing many of the letters, and even sentences, in the act of unrolling. It must require also considerable learning and skill in the Greek language, combined with a good deal of practise, to supply the deficiency of the words effaced. When these ma.n.u.scripts are put in print, the letters that remain on the papyrus are put in black type, and the words guessed at are supplied in red; so that you see at one glance what letters have been preserved, and what are supplied to replace those effaced by the operation of unrolling; and in this manner are all the papyrus ma.n.u.scripts'

printed.

_Visit to Pompeii and Ascent of Vesuvius_.

_11th Oct_.