The Escape, or, Loiterings amid the Scenes of Story and Song

Front matter

sCl ENT lOMB. THE ESCAPE, OK LOITERItfGS AMID THE SCENES OF STORY AND SONG. BY ANDREW McFARLAND, M. D. Physician and Superintendent of the N. H, Asylum for the Insane. " I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Eeersheba, and cry, 'Tis all barren ; — and so it is ; and so is all the world to T_tt. -^ho will not cultivate the fruits it offers." STERNE. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. MUSSEY & CO. 1851. m'fAIJLAKD & JENKS, PRINTERS. TO MY SISTER SUSAN, THIS VOLUME, (WOULD IT WERE WORTHIER!) IS AFFECTIONATERY INSCRIBED.

Preface

. It may appear presumption to add to the number of books of European travel which have within a few years issued from the American press, especially when those al ready published have been marked with such signal ability. Yet, as all literary experience proves that the merits of a book of this nature depend no less on the force with which, from circumstances generally .accidental, impressions are made, than upon the learnings o'r. even opportunities of the author, heed has more readily been'- gi tien to the suggestions of those who have affected to think the_3 letters worthy the press. The escape from a kind of confinement especially depress ing to the spirits, the invigorating influences of returning health, and, above all, a taste not altogether buried in the grave of too deep learning, strewed the scenes amid which the author wrote, with a couleur du rose, which, he is not without hope, may have suitably tinged the pages of his de scription, while it has not impaired their general accuracy.

These influences were only fully felt after crossing the Alps, and breathing the atmosphere of Italy. The most elastic delineation can only fitly describe a country illustri ous in classic history, familiar to the scholar through the 1*

PREFACE.

. works of poetic genius, precious to the world for its wealth of natural and artistic beauty, and interesting to humanity from its late ineffectual struggle for political emancipation. The chief source of regret in presenting these pages to the public, is, that the materials for a concluding chapter on the late political disturbances and the present political condition of that interesting country, must be withheld for want of sufficient time for their compilation. Concord, N. H., June 1, 1S31. CONTENTS. LETTER No. I. Lancashire Lunatic Asylum — English Lunatics — Lake Windermere — Christopher North, Mrs. Hemans, Hartley Coleridge, Harriet Martineau, Page 13. LETTER No. II. Grasmere— Dumfries — Tomb of Burns — Ayr— Alloway Kirk and Tain O'Shanter— Glasgow— Scotch Church Service, . . 20. LETTER No. III.

Dumbarton Castle — Levin Water— Loch Lomond— Fine Lake Scenery— Rob Roy's Pass — Loch Katrine— Lady of the Lake— Stilling— Scotch People— Perth and Dundee, 30. LETTER No. IV. Edinburgh — Holy rood Palace and the Castle — Mary, Queen of Scots — Prince Charles Edward — His reflections in Holyrood Palace — Highland Regiment— Regalia of .Scotland— Abbots ford and Dryburgh Abbey — Folly of Scott, 41. LETTER No. V. Nottingham— Relationship of Poetry and Physic— Newstead Abbey— Lord Byron, his peculiarities, his ancestry, his education, &_.— Hucknall Church and Byron's Tomb— American Byronomania— Mary Chaworth and her fate, 54. LETTER No. VI. York and York Minster— Leamington— An English Watering Place— Warwick Castle— Kenilworth, 63. LETTER No. VII. The Rhine — Germans — Ehrenbreitstein— German politeness — Cities of the Rhine— Heidelburg— Frankfort— Rothschilds' Cattle — Strasburg and its Cathedral, . . 75.

LETTER No. VIII. Berne — the Alps— Swiss Peasantry and their ingenuity — Lake of Geneva— Gibbon, Voltaire and Rosseau — The Rhone and the Arve — Vale of Chamouni — Mont Blanc— the Glaciers, 83. COOTENTS. IV LETTER No. IX. Scenery and associations of Lake Geneva— Villeneuve and Chillon, 92. LETTER No. X. Baths of Leuk— An Alpine Pass— Singular mode of bathing— Rules of the Baths- Roads over the Alps— Simplon Road, its beauties and its terrors— First impressions of Italy, 97- LETTER No. XL Travelling companions and travelling adventures — Yankee ubiquity — Italian Hotel— A Sunday in an Italian Village— Lago Maggiore and Isola Bella — Milan, . . 104. LETTER No. XII. Cathedral of Milan— Catholic edifices— St. Charles Borromeo — The Brera — Leonardo Da Vinci — " The Last Supper" — Leonardo Da Vinci and Ludovigo Sforza, . . 117.

LETTER No. XIII. Venice, its beauty and its history — Picturesque View — St. Mark's Place— Horses of St. Mark — A pleasing acquaintance — Doge's Palace — Its Paintings — Tribunal of State— The Prison and " Bridge of Sighs"— Gondolas — The Rialto and Shylock— Manfrini Palace — Wealth of Italian art — Arsenal and National Jealousy — Convent of St. Lazarus — Italian charitable institutions — Characteristics of the People — Adieu to Venice, 124. LETTER No. XIV. Padua and its University — Anatomical Theatre and the ancient occupants of its chairs — Shrine of St. Anthony — Its devotees — St. Anthony's Discourse to the Fishes— Giotto's Chapel and the Town Hall, 137. LETTER No. XV. Style of departure from Padua — Italian knavery— The Englishman resident and the Englishman migratory— The Vetturino, his horses and carriage — Obizzi Castle— Arqua and Petrarch— Expressions of national admiration — The Po, the Adige, and their inundations — Rovigo and its impressions— Ferrara— Tasso, his prison and his times— Professional discourse upon Tasso— Aspect of Ferrara — Library, and relics of Tasso and Ariosto— Scenes in the public square— Homer in the nineteenth century — Castle — Ugo and Parisina, X45.

LETTER No. XVI. Bologna— Leaning Towers— Academy of Paintings— St. Cecelia— Raphael's Vision— Florence by night, 1<ji_ CONTENTS. V LETTER No. XVII. Florence, its architecture and its inhabitants— Catholic Priesthood and Religious Confraternities — La Miseracordia — Begging — Impressiveness of the ecclesiastical architecture of Italy — A Florentine festival — Italian bells — Fiesole— A homily on Temperance — Santa Croce — Tombs of distinguished men — Affecting monument — The sweets of travel, 166. LETTER No. XVIII. Influence of models of taste upon national character— Immensity of the Galleries of Art in Florence — Venus de Medici — Comparison with the " Greek Slave" — Pitti Palace — Florentine Mosaics — Hall of Gems — A day among the American Artists, Powers, Greenough, Rogers and Hart, ■. 175.

LETTER No. XIX. Progress of individual genius— an example of perseverance— Ramblings— Ponte Di Trinita — Corsini Palace — Museum of Natural History — Wax Imitations — Dante's Portrait— Santa Croce— House of Michael Angelo— Countess of Albany and Alfieri — Ferdinand D'Medici — Murray's Hand-Book — Cafe Doney — Cathedral and Baptistry — Church of St, Lorenzo and the Medecian Chapel — Michael Angelo's Master-pieces — Lorenzo D'Medici — Florentine gaiety — Banditti — Raphael's La Fornarina— Anecdote of an American painter — Camera Lachrymosa — Fiesole, and a discourse on "Leopold the Reformer"— Tuscan agriculture— Ancient Fæsolæ— Sunset in the Val d'Arno, 185. LETTER No. XX. Ludicrous exit from Florence— Pisa— Leaning Tower— Reflections at Pisa— Cathedral and Baptistry— Leghorn, its agreeables and disagreeables— Civita Vecchia and its annoyances— Night across the Campagna— Distant view of St. Peter's, . . 206.

LETTER No. XXI. Ramblings in Rome— Sight-seeing at double pressure— Italian climate— Indolence of the people— Costume and habits— Language— Guido's " Aurora" in the Rospigliosa Palace, 214. LETTER No. XXIL Bird's-eye View of Old Rome— Capitol, Palatine Hill, Forum, Coliseum, Tarpeian Rock, Trajan's Column, &c— Pantheon— Mausoleums of Hadrian and Augustus- Obelisks and Fountains— Cloacus Maximus, and its durability— Triumphal Arches—Ruins of the Baths, 222. LETTER No. XXIII. The Church and the Priesthood— Multitude of ecclesiastics— College of Cardinals- Effect ofthe system on national prosperity— Example of adherence to an obsolete idea— Magnificence and folly conjoined— The Pacha's Gift— Churches of Rome— VI CONTENTS. Splendor of St. Paul's— Relics— Taxes upon credulity— Monks— Cemetery of the Convent of the Capuchins — Jesuits and their churches, 230.

LETTER No. XXIV. The Vatican and its Statuary— The Minerva Medica— The Laocoon— Apollo Belvidere— Sarcophagi— " The Transfiguration"—" The Last Judgment"— The suitable accompaniments of great pictures, 241. LETTER No. XXV. A pageant at St. Peter's— The Pope— Splendor of the Ceremonials— Thoughts on the Pope — Ascent of St Peter's — Prospect from the balustrade — Descent to the crypts — Walk without the City — Church of St. Sebastian and the Catacombs — Tomb of Cecelia Metella — Fountain of Egeria— Italian sunset, 248. LETTER No. XXVI. Tracings of Ancient Rome — Survey of the Forum — Palatine Hill — " Villa Mills" — Desolation of the Forum — A glimpse of the past — The Forum restored — Aurelian's triumph — Sad realities of the present, 258, LETTER No. XXVII. Transition from Old Rome to New — Unsatisfactory state of Roman antiquities St. Peter's — The difficulty of its description — A chapter of admiration — Tomb of Clement XIII. — Tomb of the " Last of the Stuarts" — Fountains — Obelisk — Dome, 268.

LETTER No. XXVIIL Agreeables and disagreeables — Fascinations of Rome — Fountains — Monte Cavallo Quirinal Palace and election of Popes — Forum and Column of Trajan Santa Maria Maggiore— Pauline Bonaparte— Apostolic painter— St. John Lateran— Scala Sancta— De vout penances— Santa Maria Dell'Angeli — A chapter on relics . . . 278 LETTER No. XXIX Comforts and discomforts— Rambles at random—" Uncle Beppo"— Saint Trinita O'Monti, and a peep behind the curtain— Pincian Hill— Piazza Del'Populo and its decorations— Ponte Molle and its historical interest— A walk into the Campagna— Discourse on its insalubrity— Protestant worship in Rome— Palaces— Pompey's Statue— auirinal Palace and its tenant— Barbarini Palace— Beatrice Cenci 296 LETTER No. XXX. Tombs of Tasso, Shelley and Keats— The Protestant Cemetery— Funerals in the Papal dominions— Intolerance of the government-John Bell, the anatomist— Pro scribed books— The Bambino, an evidence of modem superstition, .... 317 FRAGMENTS AND NOTES.

Roman Villas and the Studio of Mosaics— Roman Churches— Pasquin and Marforio— The Coliseum— An Acquaintance— Genoa, and the Countess Guiccoli, . . 326.