Gymnasium, baths, temples, a school of philosophers, tanks, a
theatre, &c. The greatest part of these buildings are choaked up and
covered with earth, since it is by excavation alone that what does appear
was brought to light. It was by excavation that a man discovered a large
hall wherein he found the nine beautiful statues of the Muses, which now
adorn the Museum of the Vatican; and no doubt if the Roman government would
recommence the excavations many more valuables might be found. Hadrian's
villa has already furnished many a statue, column and pilaster to the
Museums, churches and Palaces of Rome.
I was much more gratified in beholding the remains of this Villa than in
visiting Tivoli and I remained here several hours. At four o'clock in the
afternoon I started on my return to Rome; it was imprudent not to have
started sooner, as it is always dangerous to be outside the walls of Rome
after dark, in consequence of the brigands who infest the environs and
sometimes come close to the walls of the city.
I reached my hotel in Rome at nine o'clock, one hour and half after dark,
but had the good fortune to meet nobody. The Roman peasantry generally go
armed and those who feed cattle in the fields of the Campagna or have any
labour to perform there never sleep there on account of the mal'aria.
[93] Horace, Epist., II, 1, 156. - ED.
[94] Horace, Sat., i, 5, 26. - ED.
[95] A carlino is of the value of half a franc or five pence English. The
accounts in Naples are kept in ducati, carlini and grani. Ten
carlini make a ducat and ten grani (a copper coin) make a carlino.
A grano is a sou French in value. The ducato is an imaginary coin.
The soudo Napoletano, a handsome silver coin of the size of an ecu
de six francs, is equal to twelve carlini.
[96] Not one of these vases was found at Pompeii. - ED.
[97] Horace, Carm., II, 1, 7. - ED.
[98] Virgil, Aen., VI, 264. - ED.
[99] Virgil, Aen., VI, 129. - ED.
CHAPTER XII
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1816
From Rome to Florence - Sismondi the historian - Reminiscences of
India - Lucca - Princess Elisa Baciocchi - Pisa - The Campo Santo - Leghorn -
Hebrews in Leghorn - Lord Dillon - The story of a lost glove - From Florence
to Lausanne by Milan, Turin and across Mont Cenis - Lombardy in winter - The
Hospice of Mont Cenis.
FLORENCE, Novr. 20th.
I bade adieu to Rome on the 28th October and returned here by the same road
I went, viz., by Radicofani and Sienna. I arrived here after a journey of
six days, having been detained one day at Aquapendente on account of the
swelling of the waters. The day after my arrival here I despatched a letter
to Pescia to Mr Sismondi de' Sismondi, the celebrated author of the history
of the Italian Republics, to inform him of my intended visit to him, and I
forwarded to him at the same time two letters of introduction, one from
Colonel Wardle and the other from Mr Piton, banker at Geneva, who mentioned
me in his letter to Sismondi as having des idees parfaitement analogues
aux siennes. I received a most friendly answer inviting me to come to
Pescia and to pass a few days with him at his villa. Pescia is thirty miles
distant from Florence and the same from Leghorn. I was delighted with the
opportunity of seeing a man whom I esteemed so much as an author and as a
citizen, and of visiting at the same time the different cities of Tuscany,
particularly Lucca and Pisa. I accordingly hired a cabriolet and on the
morning of the 6th Novr drove to Prato, a good-sized handsome town, solidly
built, ten miles distant from Florence. The country on each side of the
road appears highly cultivated, and the road is lined with villas and farm
houses with gardens nearly the whole way. Changing horses at Prato, I
proceeded ten miles further to Pistoia, a large elegant and well-built town
on the banks of the Ombrone.
The streets in Pistoia are broad and well paved and the Palazzo pubblico
is a striking building; so is the Seminario or College. Here I changed
horses again and proceeded to Pescia, where I alighted at the villa of M.
Sismondi. The distance between Pistoia and Pescia is about ten or eleven
miles.
Pescia is a beautiful little town, very clean and solidly built, lying in a
valley surrounded nearly on all sides by mountains. Its situation is
extremely romantic and picturesque, and there are several handsome villas
on the slopes and summits of these mountains. On market days Pescia is
crowded with the country people who flock hither from all parts, and one is
astonished to see such a number of beautiful and well dressed country
girls. Industry and comfort are prevalent here, as is the case indeed all
over Tuscany; I mean agricultural industry, for commerce is just now at a
stand.
I passed three most delightful days and which will live for ever in my
recollection, with Mr Sismondi, in whom I found an inexhaustible fund of
talent and information, combined with such an unassuming simplicity of
character and manner that he appeared to me by far the most agreeable
litterary man that I ever met with. His mother, who is a lady of great
talent and perfectly conversant in English litterature, resides with him.
His sister also is settled at Pescia, being married to a Tuscan gentleman
of the name of Forti. The sister has a full share of the talents and
amiable qualities of her mother and brother. With a family of such
resources as this, you may suppose our conversation did not flag for a
moment, nor do I recollect in the course of my whole life having passed
such a pleasant time; and I only wished that the three days could be
prolonged to three years.
