William Edward Frye

“ The city itself, from the massiveness and solidity of the edifices, has more of a solemn than a lively appearance; but there is a delightful walk on the ramparts which are lined with trees. The streets are well paved. The extreme antiquity of the city and style of its edifices make it appear less riani than the other cities in Tuscany. The Cathedral is Gothic and there are in it the statues of the four Evangelists. This and the Palazzo Pubblico are the most conspicuous edifices. Tho' the Republic is annihilated, the word Libertas still remains on an escutcheon on the gates of the city. ”

“ Music and singing goes forward in these casinos, and the ear is often charmed with the sound of those delightful Venetian airs, whose simple melody ravishes the soul. The Venetian dialect is very pleasing, and scarcely yields in harmony to the Tuscan. It contains a great many Sclavonic words. It is the only dialect of Italy that is at all pleasing to my ear, for I do not at all relish the nasal twang and truncated terminations of the Piedmontese and Lombard dialects, nor the semi-barbarous jargon of the Genoese and the Neapolitan and, least of all, the execrable cacophony of the Bolognese. ”

“ The country between Baccano and Rome is as unpleasing and even worse than that between the former place and Ronciglione. It is hilly, but not a tree, nor a house, nor a sign of cultivation to be seen except the two or three wretched hovels at La Storta. There is nothing at all that announces the approach to a capital city; and in addition to the dismal landscape there is a sight still more dismal that salutes the eye of the traveller at intervals of two or three miles and which does not tend to inspire pleasing ideas ”

“ Still it pleases me less than St Cloud, for I prefer the taste of the present day in gardening and the arrangement of ground, to the ponderous and tawdry taste of the time of Louis XIV, and I prefer St Cloud to Versailles, just as I should prefer a Grecian Nymph in the simple costume of Arcadia to a fine court lady rouged and dressed out with hoops, diamonds, and headdress of the tune of Queen Anne. Napoleon must have had an exquisite taste. ”

“ If the French and Prussians could understand one another, and knew their own interests, or if the French had a liberal national Government, I mean, one more identified with the interests of the people than the present one is, what advantage might not rise therefrom? They are natural allies, and united they might be able effectually to humble the overbearing insolence and political coxcombry of the Czar, shake to its centre the systematic despotism and light-fearing leader of Austria, and keep in check the commercial greediness, monopolizing spirit and Tory arrogance of England. ”

“ Smoking is so prevalent here and in all parts of Germany that if you wish to denote one of the male sex, smoker would be quite a synonymous word. Such is the passion for this enjoyment that even at the balls the young men, the moment they have finished the waltz, quit the hands of their partners and rush into another room in order to smoke; nor would the beauty of Venus nor the wit of Minerva be powerful enough to restrain the young German from giving way to his darling practise. ”

“ After breakfast we began the ascent of Mont Cenis, and I made the whole way from Lans-le-Bourg to the Hospice of Mont Cenis, that is, the whole ascent, a distance of twenty-five Italian miles, on foot. This chaussée is another wonderful piece of work of Napoleon; a broad carriage road, wide enough for three carriages to go abreast, and cut zig-zag with so gentle a slope as to allow a heavy French diligence to pass, with the utmost ease, across a mountain where it was formerly thought impossible a wheel could ever run. ”

“ A beautiful city, a noble bay, a vast commerce, provisions of the best sort, abundant and cheap, a pleasant society, a delicious climate, music, Operas, Balli, Libraries, Museums of Painting and Sculpture; in its neighbourhood two subterraneous cities, a volcano in full play, and every spot of ground conveying the most interesting souvenirs and immortalized in prose and verse. Add thereto the vapour baths of sulphur for stringing anew the nerves of those debilitated by a too ardent pursuit of pleasure, and the Fountain of St Lucia for those suffering from a redundancy of bile. ”

“ A German writer of some eminence at the time of the French Revolution, when the aristocrats and alarmists of all countries were crying out against it, and proposing harsh measures to arrest its progress, said: "Sovereigns of Europe, do you wish to set bounds to the progress of French principles? Nothing can be more simple; you have only to govern your people like Maximilian of Bavaria and Frederick of Saxony, and your subjects will never desire a change." ”

“ The fine white buildings on the heights, the temple of Jupiter Anxurus (of which the façade 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. ”

“ When one wanders thro' the streets of this singularly interesting city, one is tempted to think that the inhabitants have just walked out. What a dreadful lingering death must have befallen these inhabitants who could not escape from Pompeii at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius which covered it with ashes. The air could only be exhausted by degrees, so that a prolonged suffocation or a death by hunger must have been their lot. ”

“ Nothing can be more sublime and magnificent than the scenery; at every turn of the river you would suppose its course blocked up by rocks, perceiving no visible outlet. Remains of Gothic castles are to be seen on their summits at a short distance from each other, and where the banks are not abrupt and escarpés there are coteaux covered with vines down to the water's edge. The tolling of the bells at the different villages on the banks gives a most aweful solemn religious sound, and the reverberation is prolonged by the high rocks, which seem to shut you out from the rest of the world. ”

“ The Prater, then, is an immense park, laid out on an island of considerable extent on the Danube. The nearest faubourg to it is the Leopoldstadt, which is also the most fashionable one, and a bridge conducts you from that faubourg direct into the Prater. The Prater presents a mixture of garden, meadow, upland and forest; the lofty trees arranged in avenues or in clumps give a delightful protecting shade. On the road destined for the carriages there is every afternoon a most brilliant display of carriages. ”

“ Berlin has a splendid and cheerful appearance, with fine broad streets, superb white buildings and Palaces, for the most part in the Grecian taste; it has quite the appearance in short of an Italian city. Nearly all the streets are at right angles; they are kept very clean and the shops make a brilliant display. I felt so much pain in my legs, from the effect of my pedestrian journey, that I was obliged to remain in my chamber one entire day. There is a very good table d'hôte at my bin for twelve Groschen. ”

“ It is a vast building and unites the conveniences both of the ancient and modern theatres. It has a roof like a modern theatre, and the seats in the parterre are arranged like the seats in an ancient Greek theatre. Above this are what we should call boxes, and above them again what we usually term a gallery. A vast and deep arena lies between the parterre and the orchestra and fills up the space between the audience and the proscenium. It is admirably adapted both for spectators and hearers; when a tragedy, comedy or opera is acted, a scaffolding is erected and seats placed in the arena. ”

“ The double yoke of priestcraft and military despotism presses hard upon the unhappy Savoyard and wrings from him his hard-earned pittance, while no people are better off than the Vaudois; yet the Savoyards are to the full as deserving of liberty as the Swiss. The Savoyard possesses honesty, fidelity and industry in a superior degree, and these qualities he seldom or ever loses, even when exposed to the temptations of a great metropolis like Paris, to which they are compelled to emigrate, as their own country is too poor to furnish the means of subsistence to all its population. ”

“ Let me add one word more to obviate any misrepresentation of my sentiments from some malignant Pharisee, that tho' I am no friend to King-craft and Priest-craft, and cannot endure that religion should ever be blended with politics, yet I am a great admirer of the beautiful and consoling philosophy or theosophy of Jesus Christ which inculcates the equality of Mankind, and represents the Creator of the universe, the Author of all being, as the universal Father of the human race. ”

“ The greater part of the road between Rapallo and Genoa is on the sea-coast, but cut along the mountains which here form a bluff with the sea. Villas, gardens and vineyards line the whole of this route and nothing can be more beautiful. The neatness of the villas and the abundance of the population form a striking contrast to the wild solitudes between Sarzana and Sesto, where (except at Borghetto) there is not a house to be seen and scarce a human creature to be met, and where the eagle seems to reign alone the uncontrolled lord of the creation. ”

“ On the other side of the Arno, a little beyond the Cabinet Physique and Museum of Natural History stands the Palazzo Pitti, the residence of the Grand Duke. It is a vast building and has a large and choice collection of pictures; but its finest ornament in my opinion is the statue of Venus by Canova, which to me at least appears to equal the Medicean Venus in beauty and in grace. The magnificent and spacious garden belonging to the Palace is called the garden of Boboli. These gardens form the grand promenade of the Florentines on Sundays and holidays. ”

“ Indeed I wonder that the study of the German language is not more attended to in England, France, and Italy; but to the English, methinks, it is indispensable. All the customs and manners of Europe are taken from the German; all modern Europe bears the Teutonic stamp. We are all the descendants of the Teutonic hordes who subjugated the Roman Empire and changed the face of Europe; 'tis they who have given and laid down the grand and distinguishing feature between modern Europe and ancient Europe and Asia: I mean the respect paid to women. ”

“ Mountain and valley, winter and summer, on the same territory. Descending, the city of Geneva opens gradually; you behold the lake Leman and the Rhône issuing from it. We entered the city, which is fortified, and after crossing the double bridge across the Rhône, we arrived at the Hôtel de l'Eau de Genève at 12 o'clock. The most striking thing in the city of Geneva to the traveller's eye as he enters it, is the view of the arcades on each side of the street, excellent for pedestrians and for protection against sun and rain, but which give a heavy and gloomy appearance to the city. ”