Letters from the Bye-ways of Italy

Front matter

B A. C N I DI LUCCA BYE-WAYS OF ITALY. ENGLISH CHAPEL AT THE BATHS OF LUCCA. LETTERS FROM THE BYE -WAYS OF ITALY Bi MRS. HENRY STISTED. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, BI COLONEL STISTED. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 1845. TO THE DOWAGEB LADY KNOW LES, IN MEMORY OF OUR LONG FRIENDSHIP, AND AS A TOKEN OF GRATEFUL AFFECTION, THESE LETTERS ARE INSCRIBED, BT HER FAITHFUL AND ATTACHED CLOTILDA ELIZABETH STISTED. HEB MAJESTY THE QUEEN DOWAGEK, THE LOBD BISHOP OF GIBBALTAB, (6 Copies.) Lady Marian Alford The Very Rev. Dean of Ardagh Rev. John Armstrong Rev. T. F. Alieyne Rev. Dr. Austin Hon. Mrs. Austin Mrs. H. Allen Miss Allen Miss M. Arnould, Wallingford Misses Alexander, Grosvenor-pl. Miss Adderley C. B. Adderley, Esq. M.P. Sir T. Acland, Bart. M.P. Earl of Bandon, (2 Copies) Countess of Bandon, (2 Copies) Viscount and Viscountess Bernard, (2 Copies) Hon. Henry Bernard Lady Georgina Bailley Lady Bisshopp, Plymouth Count Ranghiasci Brancaleone Count Boratynski Hon. & Rev. Lowther Barrington Sir William Betham Lady Betham Hon. Mrs. Pleydell Bouverie Hon. Miss Bingham Ven.

Archdeacon Berners Rev. Dr. Bull. Christ Church Rev. Auriol Barker, Rectory Rev. R. W. Bacon, Cambridge Rev. Walter Bury Mrs. Richard Bury, (2 Copies) Rev. W. Bricknell, Oxford Mrs. Bland Mrs. Colonel Browne Rev. Brodrick Colonel Bayley , Malta, (6 Copies) Capt. Brook, Word Hall, Suffolk Mrs. Buckner Mrs Bouverie Mrs. Batsoii Mrs. Braddell Mrs. Burton Mrs. Brooks Mrs F. Blood Mrs. Bennet Mrs. Boissier, Malvern Madame Brentano, Trieste Miss Bloomfield Edward Bacon, Esq. George Bacon, Esq. John Bocket, Esq. Clapham Butler, Esq. J. Brodrick, Esq. Reading Eev. Broderick J. Broster, Esq. Ivy Cottage, East COW69 J. Baldwin, Esq. J. Ball.Esq. Stephen's-gr.

Dublin W. Beally, M.D. H. Bynner, Esq. B. V. Con. at Trieste F Bland, Esq. Dr. Emile Braun of Gotha Paul Bushe, Esq. Madame Bunsen Mrs. Batson, (2 Copies) Rev. John Blackburne Lieut. -Gen. Sir John Browne Lady Bethuom Mrs. Lambert Blair Miss Broomfield Countess Dowager Clanearty Lord Chichester, Dean of Raplioe Lady Edward Chichester The Dowager Lady Clanmorres Lady Cockburn VI Lady Carteret Rev. G. Caldwell Rev. Clough, Malta Mrs. Eardley Childers Mrs. Charles Cookes Mrs. Carver Mrs. W. R. Crotch Mrs. Crosthwaite Mrs. Cleghorn, Edinburgh Mrs. W. D. Crewdson Mrs. Harry Lee Carter Mrs. M'Clelland The Misses Conolly Miss Maclean Clephane Miss Corry Miss Collard F. Close, Esq.B.Con. atCharante Charles Cottrall, Esq. Naples F. C. Carey, Esq. George Cartwright, Esq. James Cusack, Esq. J. C. Cobbold, Esq. Richard Corbett, Esq. A. G. Carmichael,Esq. Castlecraig Rev. W. Cleaver, Delgany W. B. Callenden, Esq. Lord and Lady Dinorben, (2 Copies) Admiral Duff Major-General Daubeney Mrs. Dennistown Mrs. J. Dewar, (3 Copies) S. Dickens, Esq. T. Disney, Esq. T. Docker, Esq. S. M. Davis, Esq. Bryan Donkin, Esq. F.R.S. Bryan Donkin, Esq. Jun.

Letter I

Object of correspondence — Bagni Di Lucca — Worth and honesty of the Mountaineers — Salubrity of the Valley— Inundations — Village carried away — Eesignation of the poor people — The Serchio — Destruction of part of the high road — Complaints of the young Ladies — Game of La Forma — School — Distribution of Prizes — Eector of the Parish — His anxiety for education — " Guida dell' Educatore." Page 1. LETTEB II. Princess Eliza Baciocchi — Her reign at Lucca, and improvements — Eustic Games— Her Visit to the Village Theatre— Prince Baciocchi and Paganini— Puns on his Name — Lord William Bentinck's order for the Princess to fly— Her Farewell to the Court. Page 21.

Letter III

Pliny's description of the climate at his Tuscan Villa suitable to this Valley — Nightingales — A lovely character— Traits of her presence of Mind. Page 31.

Letter IV

Antiquity of Lucca— Julius Cæsar Pro-Consul— The Longobards elect the first Duke of Lucca— Countess Matilda—Marriage of her Father Bonifazio— Sumptuous Entertainments— His gorgeous Presents to Henry III The Emperor's stratagems to arrest Mm— Matilda's devotedness to the Popes— Marries the Duke of Lorraine— He dies— Gregory VII. Visits her fortress— She refuses the hand of Robert of Normandy— Marries the Duke of Bavaria to please Urban II.— War with the Emperor— She excites his son Conrad to Rebellion, and liberates the Empress CONTENTS OF LETTEBS. from Prison — Matilda's antipathy to congugal ties — Her lovo of power — Gains the savour of Henry V Her Death — Dante's supposed allusion to her portrait, and that of the Duko Bonifazio. Page 38. LETTEB V. Castruccio Castracani — The Guelphs exile his parents — His visit to England — Obliged to fly — Joins the exiles at Pisa — Death of tho Emperor Henry VII The Pisans sue for peace with Lucea — The Envoy's insulting refusal — Uguccione della Faggiola elected Lord of Pisa — Conspiracy of the Ghibelines at Lucca — Sack and conflagration — Plunder of Clement VI.

Treasury — Battle of Monte Catini — Castruccio's valour — Uguccione's jealousy — Pisa and Lucca revolt — Castruccio proclaimed Lord of Lucca. Page 50. LETTEB VI. Castruccio at Fuceechio — Battle of Altopascio — Triumphal entry into Lucca — Duke of Calabria appointed Signor of Florence — Castruccio excommunicated — The Ghibelines invite Louis of Bavaria to assist them — He creates Castruccio Duke of Lucea, and takes him to Borne — the Emperor crowned at the Vatican— Pistoja taken by the Florentines — Becaptured — Castruccio's Death— Character— Machiavelli's Eomance. Page 59.

LETTER VII.

Dante's Exile— Is received at Arezzo by the Ghibelines— Can' Grande della Scala's splendour and liberality— Playful artifice to draw forth Dante's power of repartee — Dante's Letter to Can' Grande— Opening of the "Inferno" — Various opinions respecting the Veltro— Anecdotes of Uguccione and Dante. Page 79.

LETTER VIII.

Paolo Guinigi— Reformation— Pietro Martiri— Celio Curio— His providential escape— Flight of many Lucchese families— Duchess of Ferrara— Her protection of the refugees— Her beauty and trials She retires to Montargis— Establishes a reformed church — Spirited reply to the Duke of Guise — Her portrait in the Sciarra Colonna Gallery— Germans carry off the cannon of Lucca. Page 89.

LETTER IX.

Memoir of the Queen of Etruria — Duke of Lucca, &c. Page 99. CONTENTS OF LETTERS. XV

LETTER X.

Viareggio — Population — Commerce — Town improved by the Queen of Etruria — the Mole — Duke and Duchess of Lucca — Theodore Dohler — Stiava and Conca — Anecdote of Camajore — The Duke's Wit. Page 150.

LETTER XL

Princess Borghese — Her Attachment to Napoleon — Her beautiful foot— Pacini— His musical institution— Countess Lipona, the ex- Queen of Naples — Sketch of her life — Her affability — A happy day with her — Evil-Eye— Tarantella — Bite of a viper — Dinner at Madam Lipona's— Belies of Murat— Her palace at Florence — Beautiful carpet — Her gracious reception by the Boyal Family of France — Murat's Sword — Her Death — Prince Napoleon Buonaparte and Princes Charlotte — Bomance by Achille Murat. Page 163. LETTEB XII. Colonel Papi — Sketch of his Life — Enters the English Service in India — Appointed Preceptor to the Hereditary Prince of Lucca — His Works— Papi, a friend of General Macauley — The late William Taylor Money, Consul-General of Venice — His life of usefulness — English service in his House — Happy evenings at the Consulate — Mathematics, poetry, and small plays — Dinner at the Armenian Convent — Mr. Money's interview with the Emperor of Austria. Page 184.

LETTER XIIL

Mountain Excursion — Iron- Works — Prato-Fiorito — Villages — Romance of Lucchio. Page 198.

LETTER XIV.

Teresa Bandettini Improvvisatrice — Hailed as the tenth muse — Received diploma from the Arcadia as Amarilla Etrusca — Crowned at the Capitol— Distinguished by Napoleon— Visit to her in Lucca Signor Michele— Pigeons of St. Mark — Madame Banzoni— Madame Albrizzi. Page 218.

LETTER XV.

Carnivals— Improved morals of the Italian aristocracy— Beautiful trait of a Eussian Lady. Page 232.

LETTER XVI.

Signor Pieri minister of Lucca— The Priore Bartelone_His English translations— His admiration of Bishop Heber, and love of Handel— Curious adventure with a monk at Venice. Page 242. CONTENTS OF LETTERS. XVI

LETTER XVII.

Visit to Marlia — Description of the road to Lucca — Devil's Bridge — Popular tradition — Marlia and the ramparts of Lucca. Page 253. LETTEB XVIII. Amphitheatre and cathedral of Lucca — Visit to the Marchese di Negro — His Villetta at Genoa — Inauguration of bust of Gagliuffi — Marchese Pallavicini — His son's talents — The Marchesa's Soirees — Exhibition at Lucca — Manufacturers. Page 262. LETTEB XIX. Statistics of the Duchy — Emigration during winter — English sportsmen in Corsica — Adventure with the banditti — Gentleman taken prisoner by them. Page 272. LETTEB XX. Sketch of Etruscan History — Position of Etruria — Noah in Italy — Ancient appellations of Italy — Origin of the Etruscans — Tyrrhene — Tarchon — Tages — Etruscan diary of thunder. Page 285. LETTEB XXI. Vases — Florence museum — Anecdote of a Scotch lady Etruscan League — Laws — Costume— Etruscan Kings — Demaratus Tanaquil and Tarquinius Priscus — Professor Orioli's discoveries Anti- Salic Law — Sir William Betham's Discoveries respecting the ancient Etruscan language — Extracts from his Letters Sir Walter Scott's description of the Bean-Shee— Bishop of Gubbio— Bronze tables.

Page 309. LETTEB XXII. Journey to Volterra — Picturesque Country— Kindness of the peasants — Ponsacco— Hints to travellers — Village innkeepers Dreary country— Volterra's antiquity. Page 325. LETTEB XXIII. Volterra, a city of the Etruscan League— Visit from the commandant of the fortress— Alabaster Works— Canonico Topis churlishness—Etruscan Museum—Sarcophagi and urns— Bas-reliefs- Lares- Asses—Lacrimatories— Irish funeral and weepers—Porta all' Arco — Walls— Fortress— Mastio— Remarkable prisoners- Splendid view from the battlements. Page 336.

LETTER XXIV.

Excursion to the Fumachi— Suspension bridge— Storm—Boiling Lakes-Ancient superstitions of the peasantry-Process of obtaining sal-borax-Fearful journey back-Goodhumoured vetturino Page 359. CONTENTS OF LETTERS. XVII

LETTER XXV.

Volterra — Baptistry and ancient temple— Holy oil — Prisoner singing Tasso, unlike the Venetian gondoliers — Duke of Athens His reign of terror, and expulsion from Florence — Relics — Interesting incident — Saracen's gate Salt-works — Pomerance — Catastrophe — Noble trait of Italian liberality. Page 371.

LETTER XXVI.

Departure from Volterra — Asses' looking-glass— Colle paper-mills Manufactures — Cathedral— The tower of Arnolfo di Lassi The Bianchi and Neri — Guelphs and Ghibelines — Manna Lapia— Story of a blind carrier — Arrival at Certaldo on a visit to the Marchesa Lenzoni Medici — Her hospitable reception — Her soirees at Florence — Italian villas. Page 387. LETTEB XXVII. A morning passed in Boccaccio's house — Conversation with a priest — Sketch of the poet's life— The '-Decamerone" and his other works — The fairy mound — Boccaccio's monument The Pretorian palace. Page 402.

LETTER XXVIII.

Excursion to St. Gemignano— Difficulty of finding an inhabitant awake — Vision of its history — The collegiate church — Convent of St. Augustine — Journey back — Lucca della Robbia The Socini— The whimsical Razzi. Page 417.

LETTER XXIX.

Illustrious men of St. Gemignano — Niccolo Pesciolini — Curzio Picchena — Tamagni — Poccetti — Ignazio Malenotti — Marchese Ridolfi 's visit to this Christian pastor— Peasants — Cottages — The milk-white steers. — Napoleon's coronation at Milan— Baron Denon. Page 437. LETTEB XXX. Departure from St. Gemignano — Poggibonsi— Seige of, raised — Capponi — Savonarola — Piero de Medici — Savonarola a Beformer before Luther — Preached against Pope Alexander VI. and his sons the Borgia— Dominico disciple of Savonarola— Francis of Apulia — Savonarola tried, tortured, and burned — His memory venerated — Fra Bartolemeo — Fra Angelica — Fra Benedetto Page 455. CONTENTS OF LETTEBS. XVIII

LETTER XXXI.

Correspondence interrupted by death — No Chaplain at Lucca in 1834 — Government of Lucca grant permission to erect a Protestant Chapel — Rev. Dr. Deaker — Expense of building Chapel — Called the English house — Under patronage of the Bishop of Gibraltar — Hadfield family — Singular murder of children by superstitious laundress Brigida — Maria Cosway— Miss Combe— Bev. Mr. Burgess — Bev. Mr. Hutchison — Moral conduct of English closely observed in Italy. Page 469. LETTEB XXXII. Visit from Theodore Dbhler — English cemetery at the baths of Lucca — Dijhler's talents contrasted with those of List's — A beautiful portrait— Signor Bosini. Page 487. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Title — Vignette — View of the Chapel and Residentiary at the Baths of Lucca Letter. Page Ducal Palace at the Baths of Lucca ... ...

I. ... 1 Portrait of Contessa Matilda ... ... IV. ... 40 Portrait of Duca Bonifazio ... ... IV. ... 40 Portrait of Castruccio Antimenelli ... ... V. ... 50 Portrait of Uguccione ... ... ... V. ... 54 View of the Castello di Lucchio ... ... XII. ... 198 Ponte alia Maddelena, or Devil's Bridge ... XVI. ... 243 Sarcophagus at Volterra ... ... ... XXII. ... 340 View ofthe Porta all' Arco' at Volterra ... XXII. ... 354 Interior View of the Porta all' Arco... ... XXII. ... 354 View of the Porta Saracena, called Porte Felice XXD. ... 347 View of Boccaccio's House, Certaldo ...XXVII. ... 403 Interior View of Boccaccio's House ... ... XXVII. ... 404 View of the San Gemignano delle belle Torre XXVIII. ... 41(5 Portrait of Savonarola ... .,. ... XXX. 45G -->.>^J i MIL I1 s i .-.

Letter I

Villa Brodrick, Bagni di Lucca. I have, within the last hour, eceived your wel come commission, my dear friend. I shall do your bidding joyfully, and write to you of Italy, and our adventures abroad, till you cry " hold — enough." We love this fairest of lands, and would gladly pour out a tribute to the clime, where we have found comparative health, and enjoyed incomparable happiness during the last twelve years. To know that our industry may possibly prove useful in the education of your young group, will be a new stimulant to seek information, and verify all we have already acquired. You tell me to urge your children to study Italian — to lure them to love its poetry — to introduce them to the arts and antiquities of the South — and, above all, to interest them in the B BYE- WAYS OF ITALY. 2 eventful history and marvellous literature of Italy.

All this is daily achieved by intimate acquaintance with a country where Erasmus has truly said, "the very walls are more eloquent than the men of other states ;" and I must to the utmost transcribe the speaking records of this classic land for you. I cannot, dare not, enter the lists with learned tourists and able compilers, in attempting to describe the greater cities of the South. Florence, Rome, and Naples, although inexhaustible mines in themselves, require en gines of more power than mine, to open new galleries, and bring to light their gems of art. I shall rather confine myself to exploring Italy's bye-ways, and gathering the flowers which hasty travellers have passed unheeded on the high roads. I would also impart to you the sympathy and love which long acquaintance has impressed upon our hearts for a mourning people.

When it is remembered what Italy was in the days of her power ; when she twice sat a queen amongst nations ; and again at the revival in the middle ages, when her commerce, literature, and arts, started into life, under the auspices of her flourishing republics — it is impossible not to sympathize in her present humiliation. But brighter days are dawning, and the Great Ruler of this world's destinies will, I trust, again vouch safe to raise her up, and dry the patriot's tear. Of the past, suffice it to say, that, after the stormy convulsions of the war in which her sons had nobly acquitted themselves, Italy was thrown like a shattered bark on the lovely shores of her own tideless sea ; stunned and dispirited she lay, but not supine ; again and again she struggled to right herself, but the unassisted effort left her more disabled than before, and bereft of her ablest hands.

It was then, when all seemed lost, that " hope, the charmer, lingered still behind," and she awoke to a full sense of her true interest ! Italy is now intellectually aroused ! The sceptre of political preponderance has long departed ; but there is still much to glory in, and noble work for her princes and patriots to achieve, in the moral regeneration of their country. A strong impetus is already given to education in every class, and a thousand pens are working for her advance ment in all that is worthiest — best. Science flourishes under the auspices of her sovereigns, who invite the genius and talent of all countries to come and discuss every discovery and invention which can benefit humanity, and the profes sors are welcomed to their states with all the honours due to the noblest guests.

Commerce too revives, and her beautiful daughters the arts, have raised their drooping heads, to smile again on the land of their birth-right. Above all, morals are purifying, and much good of every kind is in progress, which it will be my happiness to detail in the course of our corres pondence. Your commands have come opportunely, for we have several excursions in view, and are meditating tours through Tuscany, Romagna, and as much of ancient Etruria, as such a vale tudinarian, as I am, can explore. I must now give you some account of the smiling valley which we have made our happy home for many summers, and where we occasionally steal a winter, to commune with ourselves and with our books in luxurious seclusion. One of the greatest difficulties sojourners in Italy have to surmount, is the choice of a permanent residence.

Few places are equally healthful and agreeable in summer and winter ; and many which suit some constitutions, are baneful to others. It is a source of thankfulness to us to have found a pied de terre, which we can enjoy at all seasons. We are indebted for our mountain home to the energy and good taste of the Honourable Mrs. Brodrick, who erected this small, but well arranged and picturesque villa,* for her autumn, winter, and spring residence ; deserting it in summer, because unable to bear the excitement of a large society : she survived its completion but a few years, and the poor had to lament the loss of a kind benefac tress. The house possesses many English com forts, and a treasure for us in the well-selected Brodrick library. The temptations to settle here, were — the remarkable salubrity of the valley, and the moral worth of its humble inhabi tants, who, I rejoice to say, are not yet con taminated by the world's intercourse, though crowds from all countries resort here every summer.

This concourse often affords us the pleasure of meeting old friends, and sometimes the satisfaction, amongst those who bring us letters of introduction, of making valuable new ones ; but with every wish to be generally kind and useful, I fear we often appear churlish and inhospitable, for the society has now become so * The villa now belongs to Signor Alessandro Lena, a young Lucchese, whom Mrs. Brodrick adopted in his infancy, and educated in Switzerland. He is a high-principled, spirited jTouth, and in the English service, where by good conduct he has been some time since appointed Deputy, or Sub-Deputy, Harbour Master of Hong Kong. It is curious, that a scion from the baths of Lucca should be already transplanted to our new possessions in China. large, that we are obliged, in some degree, to live retired, otherwise time, health, and comfort, would become the inevitable sacrifice.

At all seasons our worthy neighbours of the native population prove a source of interest ; they are ever ready to be useful to us, and grateful for any little kindness we can render, without encroaching on our time ; and I gladly bear testimony of all that has been said and written in their praise. After so many years residence, we can scarcely name a disreputable character around us, nor have we a single theft to complain of, though the villa has ten doors opening on the lawn, and the porticos are often left littered with books, pictures, and furniture, even during the night.* The three villages around us contain a population of 1,246 souls. The mortality varies from one and a half to two per cent annually, and half of those who die are infants. The ex ceeding healthfulness of the air in so narrow a * Once on a holiday, a flock of fine white ducks of ours, while swimming about the shallows of the river, were chased by some idle boys, and assailed with a shower of stones.

Two were killed in the fray. A great outcry was raised against the perpetrators ; the little culprits came next morning, requesting to see the Signora, and laid a couple of fine live ducks at my feet, praying me to accept them in assurance of my forgiveness. valley, is doubtless produced by the purifying influence of a rapid mountain river. It is to the torrent, which roars and dashes over its rocky bed at the foot of our lawn, that I attribute our being able to live uninjured, though embosomed in bays, laurels, and cypresses, with flowers growing in at every window. In general, Italian villas have no shade, from the opinion that trees produce bad air around a house. The Lima, a tributary stream of the Serchio, however salubrious and picturesque, is a notorious offender, and has twice since our residence here, been swelled by the first autumnal rains to so frightful a flood, that mills, bridges, and lastly, a whole village, were swept away by its impetuosity.

On hearing of the latter catastrophy, we sent our niece, accompanied by our young friend, Miss Sturt, and a careful attendant, up the river, to inquire for the poor sufferers. After scrambling for three miles over a road, rendered nearly im passable by rocks and trees, which the storm had carried down the mountain, they reached the site of the former hamlet, and found it the bed of a torrent, without a vestige of human habitation left, to mark where it had stood. The houseless villagers were in the adjoining wood, where they had passed the night under the chesnut trees. They were forty-three in number, men, women, and children. No murmur of complaint was to be heard, nor did any one of them beg, or exag gerate their losses ; on the contrary, each had mercies to record, in having their lives spared, and some article of property to show, which they had saved.

Their gratitude was unbounded on receiving a few scudi for present subsistence, with the promise of future aid. A subscription was soon made for them by the exertions of our valued friend, the Rev. Frederick Rieketts,* who had gratuitously performed the duties of Chaplain for us that summer, and enough was raised to relieve all, and leave 200 scudi towards rebuild ing their habitations. The inundation of the foregoing year afforded a very different scene. That old insurgent, the Serchio, which flows through a wide valley, running nearly at right angles with ours, after carrying away three bridges, leading towards Modena, and receiving the accumulated waters * With heartfelt grief we are now mourning the loss of this estimable man, who, when the above was written, adorned all the relitious of life.

The faithful and zealous Minister of his Divine Master— the friend and benefactor of the poor—the accomplished scholar and elegants gentleman— the charm of every social circle, and the pride and delight of his now bereaved family. of its fellow culprit, the Lima, dashed on with such force and fury towards Lucca, that it swept away nearly half a-mile of the high road which runs along the mountain side, and, in that part, forty feet above the usual height of the stream, leaving a bare cliff down to the water's edge. The terrible fact that we were all prisoners, was soon generally known amongst the English, of whom above twenty families had been induced, by a fine Autumn, to prolong their stay to the beginning of October. To torrents of rain, and the most fearful storm which had darkened the atmosphere like an eclipse, and bent every tree nearly to the ground, succeeded a fine bright sunshine and warm genial day.

Soon every one was out on horse-back — in open sedan-chairs — and various vehicles, to judge for themselves of our predicament. The waters were still high, and after two miles we found the road too much choked up with sand to proceed, but the bare cliff was before us, and the Serchio, reckless of its mischief, had formed for itself a new bed, exactly where every evening before we had enjoyed our drive. The reconnoiterers brought to a stand, torrents of complaints poured forth on all sides, under the belief that there was no probable means of escape from the baths, and that less than six month's labour could not possibly cut down the high cliff to form another road. The thought of passing a winter amongst the mountains, was an idea too horrible for several young damsels, who already speculated on the pleasures and conquests of the Petti Balls and Cascine rides at Florence.

" I'll scramble over the mountain at any risk," said one. " I'll ford the river," cried another. " Papa will surely construct wooden bridges rather than keep us here," said a third. I cannot remember all the various expedients of escape which so highly amused us, who, the winter before, had found the Bagni a providential retreat from cholera, and fully enjoyed the happy valley, with its sub lime wintery aspect, and the conversation of their humble, but intelligent neighbours. However, these murmurers were soon put to shame by the admirable spirit of the Lucchese government. A hundred men were next morning at work, to construct a temporary road across the mountain, part of a very old one having been discovered through the Chesnut Forest, com posed of great masses of stone, which were soon rooted up and broken ; a wooden bridge was thrown over a ravine, and the inequalities of the pass so smoothed down, that the fourth day a travelling carriage was supported over it ; in fact, in one week the road was quite passable for the frightened fair ones, who left the valley at their leisure, without fording, or swimming, or scaling, or any effort more marvellous than going up and down a steep hill.

This path was the only exit for eleven months, while the mountain was cuttingdown and an embankment of masonry building. It is a remarkable circumstance, that the very day the new road was opened for carriages, the 30th of August, came the second inundation ; the swelling of the little stream through the ravine before alluded to, swept away the temporary bridge, and enough of the old road to render it quite impassable, and we were very near being made prisoners again ! The poor people said " The floods were a judgment from heaven ! — they had never ex perienced such calamities till gambling had been licensed at the baths." " I remember reading in a book of the middle ages, that the noble old chesnuts, which so beautifully clothe the surrounding mountains, were originally brought from Spain, and planted here by a philanthropist, whose name has escaped my memory.

The tree, however, existed in other parts of Italy in the time of the Romans. Virgil thus alludes to them in his 2nd Eclogue : — Myself will search our planted grounds at home, For downy peaches and the glossy plum : And thrash the chesnuts in the neighbouring grove, Such as my Amaryllis used to love. In the fourteenth century, Vaulo Guinigi, of Lucca, gave premiums to the people for extending and planting them wherever a tree could grow. Each family possesses or purchases what they call a patch of forest ;* the price is estimated according to the average quantity of chesnuts annually produced. The fruit is gathered in October and November, immediately smoke-dried on mats made of cane, with a fire beneath — shelled bv being beaten in sacks — ground in a mill to a fine flour, which, wet with water, and stirred to a paste, is spread on round hot stones, between dried chesnut leaves, and a cake is produced resembling our crumpet or Scottish scone, and called necci, or netchy, according to our pro nunciation.

This substantial food costs a third less and often only half the price of wheaten flour,t and goes farther in sustaining the hungry * " Un pezzo di Selva." f The chestnut harvest was so abundant last year that the flour sold for one soldo the pound of twelve ounces, which quantity is suspeasantry ; but too much rain, or too little, or the least frost, ruins their harvest. The poorer classes are permitted to glean after a certain day, and all chesnuts that fall on the high road are public property. I once asked an old man, past eighty, with seven in famliy, if he had gathered enough ? " Yes," he said, " sufficient to sustain us till Christmas, after that God will provide ;" and such is the general spirit of faith and resig nation amongst these poor people, whom we find always grateful and contented.

In the winter the villagers amuse themselves with an athletic game called La Forma, played with cheese, wound round with a broad tape, and thrown forwards along the ground ; he whose cheese rolls the farthest wins, and the cheese is the prize ; it is made of sheep's milk, and costs a paul the pound ; the flavour is improved by rolling, and above ten thousand pounds of cheese are, I am assured, played away in this manner every winter. Some grotesque ceremonies at tend the closing of the playing season, which is supposed to end with the carnival, but often ficient to sustain a labouring man a whole day. A Lucchese soldo is the 15th part of a paul, which latter is about five pence halfpenny of our currency. Steals on through half the Lent. A large wooden key, which is whimsically intended to indicate locking up the game, is consigned, with the sling, the leather wrist-band, &c, to the custody of him who lost the last game, which is always prolonged to the latest ray of the setting sun.