Travels Through France And Italy, Tobias Smollett [love novels in english .TXT] 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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Reign Of Augustus; And The Xysta, Which Were Shady Walks Between
Two Porticos, Where The Men Exercised Themselves In The Winter. I
Am Disgusted By The Modern Taste Of Architecture, Though I Am No
Judge Of The Art. The Churches And Palaces Of These Days Are
Crowded With Pretty Ornaments, Which Distract The Eye, And By
Breaking The Design Into A Variety Of Little Parts, Destroy The
Effect Of The Whole. Every Door And Window Has Its Separate
Ornaments, Its Moulding, Frize, Cornice. And Tympanum; Then There
Is Such An Assemblage Of Useless Festoons, Pillars, Pilasters,
With Their Architraves, Entablatures, And I Know Not What, That
Nothing Great Or Uniform Remains To Fill The View; And We In Vain
Look For That Simplicity Of Grandeur, Those Large Masses Of Light
And Shadow, And The Inexpressible Eusuinopton, Which Characterise
The Edifices Of The Antients. A Great Edifice, To Have Its Full
Effect, Ought To Be Isole, Or Detached From All Others, With A
Large Space Around It: But The Palaces Of Rome, And Indeed Of All
The Other Cities Of Italy, Which I Have Seen, Are So Engaged
Among Other Mean Houses, That Their Beauty And Magnificence Are
In A Great Measure Concealed. Even Those Which Face Open Streets
And Piazzas Are Only Clear In Front. The Other Apartments Are
Darkened By The Vicinity Of Ordinary Houses; And Their Views Are
Confined By Dirty And Disagreeable Objects. Within The Court
There Is Generally A Noble Colonnade All Round, And An Open
Corridore Above, But The Stairs Are Usually Narrow, Steep, And
High, The Want Of Sash-Windows, The Dullness Of Their Small Glass
Lozenges, The Dusty Brick Floors, And The Crimson Hangings Laced
With Gold, Contribute To Give A Gloomy Air To Their Apartments; I
Might Add To These Causes, A Number Of Pictures Executed On
Melancholy Subjects, Antique Mutilated Statues, Busts, Basso
Relieves, Urns, And Sepulchral Stones, With Which Their Rooms Are
Adorned. It Must Be Owned, However, There Are Some Exceptions To
This General Rule. The Villa Of Cardinal Alexander Albani
Is Light, Gay, And Airy; Yet The Rooms Are Too Small, And
Too Much Decorated With Carving And Gilding, Which Is A Kind Of
Gingerbread Work. The Apartments Of One Of The Princes Borghese
Are Furnished In The English Taste; And In The Palazzo Di Colonna
Connestabile, There Is A Saloon, Or Gallery, Which, For The
Proportions, Lights, Furniture, And Ornaments, Is The Most Noble,
Elegant, And Agreeable Apartment I Ever Saw.
It Is Diverting To Hear All Italian Expatiate Upon The Greatness
Of Modern Rome. He Will Tell You There Are Above Three Hundred
Palaces In The City; That There Is Scarce A Roman Prince, Whose
Revenue Does Not Exceed Two Hundred Thousand Crowns; And That
Rome Produces Not Only The Most Learned Men, But Also The Most
Refined Politicians In The Universe. To One Of Them Talking In
This Strain, I Replied, That Instead Of Three Hundred Palaces,
Part 7 Letter 30 ( Nice, February 28, 1765.) Pg 249The Number Did Not Exceed Fourscore; That I Had Been Informed, On
Good Authority, There Were Not Six Individuals In Rome Who Had So
Much As Forty Thousand Crowns A Year, About Ten Thousand Pounds
Sterling; And That To Say Their Princes Were So Rich, And Their
Politicians So Refined, Was, In Effect, A Severe Satire Upon
Them, For Not Employing Their Wealth And Their Talents For The
Advantage Of Their Country. I Asked Why Their Cardinals And
Princes Did Not Invite And Encourage Industrious People To Settle
And Cultivate The Campania Of Rome, Which Is A Desert? Why They
Did Not Raise A Subscription To Drain The Marshes In The
Neighbourhood Of The City, And Thus Meliorate The Air, Which Is
Rendered Extremely Unwholsome In The Summer, By Putrid
Exhalations From Those Morasses? I Demanded Of Him, Why They Did
Not Contribute Their Wealth, And Exert Their Political
Refinements, In Augmenting Their Forces By Sea And Land, For The
Defence Of Their Country, Introducing Commerce And Manufactures,
And In Giving Some Consequence To Their State, Which Was No More
Than A Mite In The Political Scale Of Europe? I Expressed A
Desire To Know What Became Of All Those Sums Of Money, Inasmuch
As There Was Hardly Any Circulation Of Gold And Silver In Rome,
And The Very Bankers, On Whom Strangers Have Their Credit, Make
Interest To Pay Their Tradesmen's Bills With Paper Notes Of The
Bank Of Spirito Santo? And Now I Am Upon This Subject, It May Not
Be Amiss To Observe That I Was Strangely Misled By All The Books
Consulted About The Current Coin Of Italy. In Tuscany, And The
Ecclesiastical State, One Sees Nothing But Zequines In Gold, And
Pieces Of Two Paoli, One Paolo, And Half A Paolo, In Silver.
Besides These, There Is A Copper Coin At Rome, Called Bajocco And
Mezzo Bajocco. Ten Bajocchi Make A Paolo: Ten Paoli Make A Scudo,
Which Is An Imaginary Piece: Two Scudi Make A Zequine; And A
French Loui'dore Is Worth Two Zequines And Two Paoli.
Rome Has Nothing To Fear From The Catholic Powers, Who Respect It
With A Superstitious Veneration As The Metropolitan Seat Of Their
Religion: But The Popes Will Do Well To Avoid Misunderstandings
With The Maritime Protestant States, Especially The English, Who
Being Masters Of The Mediterranean, And In Possession Of Minorca,
Have It In Their Power At All Times, To Land A Body Of Troops
Within Four Leagues Of Rome, And To Take The City, Without
Opposition. Rome Is Surrounded With An Old Wall, But Altogether
Incapable Of Defence. Or If It Was, The Circuit Of The Walls Is
So Extensive, That It Would Require A Garrison Of Twenty Thousand
Men. The Only Appearance Of A Fortification In This City, Is The
Castle Of St. Angelo, Situated On The Further Bank Of The Tyber,
To Which There Is Access By A Handsome Bridge: But This Castle,
Which Was Formerly The Moles Adriani, Could Not Hold Out Half A
Day Against A Battery Of Ten Pieces Of Cannon Properly Directed.
It Was An Expedient Left To The Invention Of The Modern Romans,
To Convert An Ancient Tomb Into A Citadel. It Could Only Serve As
A Temporary Retreat For The Pope In Times Of Popular Commotion,
And On Other Sudden Emergencies; As It Happened In The Case Of
Pope Clement Vii. When The Troops Of The Emperor Took The City By
Part 7 Letter 30 ( Nice, February 28, 1765.) Pg 250Assault; And This Only, While He Resided At The Vatican, From
Whence There Is A Covered Gallery Continued To The Castle: It Can
Never Serve This Purpose Again, While The Pontiff Lives On Monte
Cavallo, Which Is At The Other End Of The City. The Castle Of St.
Angelo, Howsoever Ridiculous As A Fortress, Appears Respectable
As A Noble Monument Of Antiquity, And Though Standing In A Low
Situation, Is One Of The First Objects That Strike The Eye Of A
Stranger Approaching Rome. On The Opposite Side Of The River, Are
The Wretched Remains Of The Mausoleum Augusti, Which Was Still
More Magnificent. Part Of The Walls Is Standing, And The Terraces
Are Converted Into Garden-Ground. In Viewing These Ruins, I
Remembered Virgil's Pathetic Description Of Marcellus, Who Was
Here Intombed.
Quantos Ille Virum, Magnum Mavortis Ad Urbem.
Campus Aget Gemitus, Vel Que Tyberine, Videbis
Funera, Cum Tumulum, Preter Labere Recentem.
Along His Banks What Groans Shall Tyber Hear,
When The Fresh Tomb And Funeral Pomp Appear!
The Beautiful Poem Of Ovid De Consolatione Ad Liviam, Written
After The Ashes Of Augustus And His Nephew Marcellus, Of
Germanicus, Agrippa, And Drusus, Were Deposited In This
Mausoleum, Concludes With These Lines, Which Are Extremely
Tender:
Claudite Jam Parcae Nimium Reserata Sepulchra;
Claudite, Plus Justo, Jam Domus Ista Patet!
Ah! Shut These Yawning Tombs, Ye Sister Fates!
Too Long Unclos'd Have Stood Those Dreary Gates!
What The Author Said Of The Monument, You Will Be Tempted To Say
Of This Letter, Which I Shall Therefore Close In The Old Stile,
Assuring You That I Ever Am,--Yours Most Affectionately
Part 7 Letter 31 ( Nice, March 5, 1765) Pg 251
Dear Sir,--In My Last I Gave You My Opinion Freely Of The Modern
Palaces Of Italy. I Shall Now Hazard My Thoughts Upon The Gardens
Of This Country, Which The Inhabitants Extol With All The
Hyperboles Of Admiration And Applause. I Must Acknowledge
However, I Have Not Seen The Famous Villas At Frascati And
Tivoli, Which Are Celebrated For Their Gardens And Waterworks. I
Intended To Visit These Places; But Was Prevented By An
Unexpected Change Of Weather, Which Deterred Me From Going To The
Country. On The Last Day Of September The Mountains Of Palestrina
Were Covered With Snow; And The Air Became So Cold At Rome, That
I Was Forced To Put On My Winter Cloaths. This Objection
Continued, Till I Found It Necessary To Set Out On My Return To
Florence. But I Have Seen The Gardens Of The Poggio Imperiale,
And The Palazzo De Pitti At Florence, And Those Of The Vatican,
Of The Pope's Palace On Monte Cavallo, Of The Villa Ludovisia,
Medicea, And Pinciana, At Rome; So That I Think I Have Some Right
To Judge Of The Italian Taste In Gardening. Among Those I Have
Mentioned, That Of The Villa Pinciana, Is The Most Remarkable,
And The Most Extensive, Including A Space Of Three Miles In
Circuit, Hard By The Walls Of Rome, Containing A Variety Of
Situations High And Low, Which Favour All The Natural
Embellishments One Would Expect To Meet With In A Garden, And
Exhibit A Diversity Of Noble Views Of The City And Adjacent
Country.
In A Fine Extensive Garden Or Park, An Englishman Expects To See
A Number Of Groves And Glades, Intermixed With An Agreeable
Negligence, Which Seems To Be The Effect Of Nature And Accident.
He Looks For Shady Walks Encrusted With Gravel; For Open Lawns
Covered With Verdure As Smooth As Velvet, But Much More Lively
And Agreeable; For Ponds, Canals, Basins, Cascades, And Running
Streams Of Water; For Clumps Of Trees, Woods, And Wildernesses,
Cut Into Delightful Alleys, Perfumed With Honeysuckle And Sweet-
Briar, And Resounding With The Mingled Melody Of All The Singing
Birds Of Heaven: He Looks For Plats Of Flowers In Different Parts
To Refresh The Sense, And Please The Fancy; For Arbours, Grottos,
Hermitages, Temples, And Alcoves, To Shelter Him From The Sun,
And Afford Him Means Of Contemplation And Repose; And He Expects
To Find The Hedges, Groves, And Walks, And Lawns Kept With The
Utmost Order And Propriety. He Who Loves The Beauties Of Simple
Nature, And The Charms Of Neatness Will Seek
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