Note 94, page 58, col. 1. Came out into the meadows. Once, on a bright November morning, I set out and traced them, as I conceived, step by step; beginning and ending in the Church of Santa Maria Novella. It was a walk delightful in itself, and in its associations. Note 95, page 58, col. 1. Round the bill they went. I have here followed Baldelli. It has been said that Boccaccio drew from his imagination. But is it likely, when he and his readers were living within a mile or two of the spot? Truth or fiction, it furnishes a pleasant picture of the manners and amusements of the Florentines in that day. Note 96, page 58, col. 1. The morning-banquet by the fountain-side. Three hours after sun-rise. Note 97, page 58, col. 1. The Friar pour'd out his catalogue of treasures. See the Decameron, vi. 10. Note 98, page 58, col. 1. -his lowly roof and scanty farm. Now belonging by inheritance to the Rangoni, a Modenese family. Note 99, page 58, col. 1. "Tis his own sketch-he drew it from himself. See a very interesting letter from Machiavel to Francesco Vettori, dated the 10th of December, 1513. Note 100, page 58, col. 2. For its green wine -sung of old The Amidei washed away the affront with his blood, attacking him, says Villani, at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio; and hence the wars of the Guelphs La Verdea. It is celebrated by Rinuccini, Redi, and the Ghibellines. and most of the Tuscan Poets. Milton went to Italy in 1638. "There it was," says he," that I found and visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the Inquisition." "Old and blind," he might have said. Galileo, by his own account, became blind in December, 1637. Milton, as we learn from the date of Sir Henry Wotton's letter to him, had not left England on the 18th of April following. See TIRABOSCHI, and WOTTON's Remains. Note 104, page 58, col. 2. O Buondelmonte, quanto mal fuggisti Le nozze sue, per gli altrui conforti! Note 112, page 59, col. 2. Dante. It had been well, hadst thou slept on, Imelda. The story is Bolognese, and is told by Cherubino Ghiradacci in his history of Bologna. Her lover was of the Guelphic party, her brothers of the Ghibelline; and no sooner was this act of violence made known, than an enmity, hitherto but half-suppressed, broke out into open war. The Great Place was a scene of battle and bloodshed for forty successive days; nor was a reconciliation accomplished till six years afterwards, when the families and their adherents met there once again, and exchanged the kiss of peace before the Cardinal Legate; as the rival families of Florence had already done in the Place of S. Maria Novella. Every house on the occasion was hung with tapestry and garlands of flowers. Note 113, page 59, col. 2. Sucking the poison. genius have been produced in times of tumult; when Note 115, page 59, col. 2. Note 116, page 59, col. 2. A Sicilian, the inventress of many poisons; the most celebrated of which, from its transparency, was called Acquetta, or Acqua Tophana. Note 117, page 60, col. 1. Gave signs infallible of coming ill. The Cardinal, Ferdinand de' Medici, is said to have been preserved in this manner by a ring which he wore on his finger; as also Andrea, the husband of Giovanna, Queen of Naples. Note 118, page 60, col. 1. One in the floor-now left, alas, unbolted. Note 119, page 60, col. 1. There, at Caïano. Poggio-Caïano, the favorite villa of Lorenzo; where he often took the diversion of hawking. Pulci sometimes went out with him; though, it seems, with little ardor. See La Caccia col Falcone, where he is A sign in our country as old as Shakspeare, and described as missing; and as gone into a wood, to still used in Italy. "Une branche d'arbre, attachée à rhyme there. Note 120, page 60, col. 1. With his wild lay The Morgante Maggiore. He used to recite it at the table of Lorenzo, in the manner of the ancient Rhapsodists. Note 121, page 60, col. 1. une maison rustique, nous annonce les moyens de nous rafraîchir. Nous y trouvons du lait et des œufs frais; nous voilà contens."-Mém. de GOLDONI. There is, or was very lately, in Florence a small wine-house with this inscription over the door, Al buon vino non bisogna frasca. Good wine needs no bush. It was much frequented by Salvator Rosa, who drew a portrait of his hostess. Note 127, page 61, col. 2. Of that old den far up among the hills. Caffaggiolo, the favorite retreat of Cosmo, "the father of his country." Eleonora di Toledo was stabbed A narrow glade unfolded, such as Spring. there on the 11th of July, 1576, by her husband, This upper region, a country of dews and dewy Pietro de' Medici; and on the 16th of the same lights, as described by Virgil and Pliny, and still, I month, Isabella de' Medici was strangled by hers, believe, called La Rosa, is full of beautiful scenery. Paolo Giordano Orsini, at his villa of Cerreto. They Who does not wish to follow the footsteps of Cicero were at Florence, when they were sent for, each in there, to visit the Reatine Tempe and the Seven her turn, Isabella under the pretext of a huntingWaters? party; and each in her turn went to die. Isabella was one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of the age. In the Latin, French, and Spanish languages, she spoke not only with fluency, but elegance; and in her own she excelled as an Improvisatrice, accompanying herself on the lute. On her arrival at dusk, Paolo presented her with two beautiful greyhounds, that she might make a trial of Note 128, page 61, col. 2. a sumpter-mule. Many of these circumstances are introduced into a landscape of Annibal Carracci, now in the Louvre. Note 129, page 62, col. 1. Filling the land with splendor Perhaps the most beautiful villa of that day was the Villa Madama. It is now a ruin; but enough re 1 The Augustan Age, as it is called, what was it but a dying mains of the plan and the grotesque-work to justify blaze of the Commonwealth? When Augustus began to reign, Cicero and Lucretius were dead, Catullus had written his sat ires against Cæsar, and Horace and Virgil were no longer in their first youth. Horace had served under Brutus; and Virgil had been pronounced to be Magnæ spes altera Roma Vasari's account of it. The Pastor Fido, if not the Aminta, used to be often represented there; and a theatre, such as is here described, was to be seen in the gardens very lately. . Note 130, page 62, col. 1. Fair forms appear'd, murmuring melodious verse. Note 141, page 64, col. 2. Have none appear'd as tillers of the ground. The Author of the Letter to Julia has written ad A fashion for ever reviving in such a climate. In the year 1783, the Nina of Paesiello was performed mirably on this subject. in a small wood near Caserta. Note 131, page 62, col. 1. -the Appian. All sad, all silent! O'er the ear Not less admirably has he described a Roman such as "weaves her spells beyond the The street of the tombs in Pompeii may serve to give us some idea of the Via Appia, that Regina Beauty; Viarum, in its splendor. It is perhaps the most striking vestige of Antiquity that remains to us. Note 132, page 62, col. 2. Horace himself And Augustus in his litter, coming at a still slower rate. He was borne along by slaves; and the gentle motion allowed him to read, write, and employ himself as in his cabinet. Though Tivoli is only sixteen miles from the City, he was always two nights on the road.-SUETONIUS. Note 133, page 62, col. 2. Where his voice falter'd. Tiber." Methinks the Furies with their snakes, Or Venus with her zone, might gird her; Of fiend and goddess she partakes, And looks at once both Love and Murder. Note 142, page 64, col. 2. From this Seat. Mons Albanus, now called Monte Cavo. On the summit stood for many centuries the temple of Jupiter Latiaris. "Tuque ex tuo edito monte Latiaris, sancte Jupiter," etc.-CICERO. Note 143, page 65, col. 1. Two were so soon to wander and be slain. Nisus and Eurialus. La scène des six derniers At the words "Tu Marcellus eris." The story is livres de Virgile ne comprend, qu'une lieue de terso beautiful, that every reader must wish it to be rain."-BONSTETTEN. true. Note 134, page 62, col. 2. -the centre of their Universe. From the golden pillar in the Forum the ways ran to the gates, and from the gates to the extremities of the Empire. Note 135, page 62, col. 2. To the twelve tables. The laws of the twelve tables were inscribed on pillars of brass, and placed in the most conspicuous part of the Forum.-DION. HAL. Note 136, page 62, col. 2. And to the shepherd on the Alban mount. Amplitudo tanta est, ut conspiciatur à Latiario Jove C. PLIN. xxxiv, 7. Note 137, page 62, col. 2. A thousand torches, turning night to day. An allusion to Caesar in his Gallic triumph. "Adscendit Capitolium ad lumina," etc. SUETONIUS. cording to Dion. Cassius, he went up on his knees. Note 138, page 63, col. 1. Note 144, page 65, col. 1. How many realms, pastoral and warlike, lay. Note 145, page 65, col. 1. "Quæ prata Quintia vocantur."-LIVY. Note 147, page 65, col. 2. Music and painting, sculpture, rhetoric. Music; and from the loftiest strain to the lowliest, from a Miserere in the Holy Week to the shepherd's humble offering in Advent; the last, if we may judge from its effects, not the least subduing, perhaps the most so. Once, as we were approaching Frescati in the sunAc-shine of a cloudless December morning, we observed a rustic group by the road-side, before an image of the Virgin, that claimed the devotions of the passenger from a niche in a vineyard wall. Two young men from the mountains of the Abruzzi, in their long brown cloaks, were playing a Christmas-carol. Their instruments were a hautboy and a bagpipe; and the air, wild and simple as it was, was such as she might accept with pleasure. The ingenuous and smiling countenances of these rude minstrels, who seemed so sure that she heard them, and the unaffected delight of their little audience, all younger than themselves, On those so young, well-pleased with all they see. In the triumph of Æmilius, nothing affected the Roman people like the children of Perseus. Many wept; nor could anything else attract notice, till they were gone by. PLUTARCH. Note 139, page 63, col. 1. and she who said, Taking the fatal cup between her hands. The story of the marriage and the poison is well all standing uncovered, and moving their lips in known to every reader. Note 149, page 64, col. 1. His last great work. The trans guration; "la quale opera, nel vedere il corpo morto, e quella viva, faceva scoppiare l'anima prayer, would have arrested the most careless traveller. Note 148, page 65, col. 2. And architectural pomp, such as none else; Whoever has entered the Church of St. Peter's or di dolore à ogni uno, che quivi guardava."-VASARI. the Pauline Chapel, during the Exposition of the Holy Sacrament there, will not soon forget the blaze of the side of the rock, and hanging over that torrent, the altar, or the dark circle of worshippers kneeling are little ruins which they show you for Horace's in silence before it. house, a curious situation to observe the Note 149, page 65, col. 2. Ere they came. An allusion to the Prophecies concerning Antichrist. See the interpretations of Mede, Newton, Clarke, etc.; not to mention those of Dante and Petrarch. Note 150, page 66, col 1. And from the latticed gallery came a chant Of psalms, most saint-like, most angelical. Præceps Anio, et Tiburni lucus, et uda Mobilibus pomaria rivis. Note 159, page 68, col. 2. Gray's Letters. Like one awaking in a distant time. The place here described is near Mola di Gaëta, in the kingdom of Naples. Note 160, page 68, col. 2. When they that robb'd, were men of better faith. Alluding to Alfonso Piccolomini. "Stupiva cias There was said to be in the choir, among others cuno che, mentre un bandito osservava rigorosamente of the Sisterhood, a daughter of Cimarosa. Note 158, page 67, col. 1. (So some aver, and who would not believe?) la sua parola, il Papa non avesse ribrezzo di mancare alla propria."-GALLUZZI. ii, 364. He was hanged at Florence, March 16, 1591. When along the shore. Tasso was returning from Naples to Rome, and had arrived at Mola di Gaëta, when he received this tribute of respect. The captain of the troop was Marco di Sciarra. See MANSO. Vita del Tasso. Ariosto had a similar adventure with Filippo Pachione. See BARUFFALDI. Note 162, page 69, col. 1. As by a spell they start up in array. "Cette race de bandits a ses racines dans la population même du pays. La police ne sait ou les trouver." Lettres de CHATEAUVIEUX. Note 163, page 69, col. 2. Three days they lay in ambush at my gate. This story was written in the year 1820, and is founded on the many narratives which at that time were circulating in Rome and Naples. Note 164, page 71, col. 2. And in the track of him who went to die. The Elder Pliny. See the letters in which his nephew relates to Tacitus the circumstances of his death. Note 165, page 74, col. 1. The fishing-town, Amalfi. "Amalfi fell, after three hundred years of prosperity; but the poverty of one thousand fishermen is yet dignified by the remains of an arsenal, a cathedral, and the palaces of royal merchants."-GIBBON. Note 166, page 74, col. 2. A Hospital, that, night and day, received It was dedicated to Saint John. Note 167, page 74, col. 2. -relics of ancient Grecce. Among other things the Pandects of Justinian were found there in 1137. By the Pisans they were taken from Amalfi, by the Florentines from Pisa; and they are now preserved with religious care in the Laurentian Library. Note 168, page 74, col. 2. Grain from the golden vales of Sicily. There is at this day in Syracuse a street called "I did not tell you that just below the first fall, on La Strada degli Amalfitani. Note 169, page 74, col. 2. Not thus did they return, The tyrant slain. third novel of Franco Sacchetty we read, that a stranger, suddenly entering Giotto's study, threw down a shield and departed, saying, "Paint me my It was in the year 839. See Muratori. Art. Chronici arms in that shield ;" and that Giotto, looking after Amalphitani Fragmenta. Note 170, page 74, col. 2. Serve for their monument. By degrees, says Giannone, they made themselves famous through the world. The Tarini Amalfitani were a coin familiar to all nations; and their maritime code regulated everywhere the commerce of the sea. Many churches in the East were by them built and endowed: by them was first founded in Palestine that most renowned military Order of St. John of Jerusalem; and who does not know that the Mariner's Compass was invented by a citizen of Amalfi ? Note 171, page 75, col. 1. The air is sweet with violets, running wild. Note 172, page 75, col. 1. Those thoughts so precious and so lately lost. Note 173, page 75, col. 2. -and Posidonia rose. him, exclaimed, "Who is he? What is he? He says, Paint me my arms, as if he was one of the Bardi! What arms does he bear?" Note 178, page 77, col. 1. Paganino Doria, Nicolo Pisani; those great seamen, who balanced for so many years the fortunes of Genoa and Venice. Note 179, page 77, col. 1. Ruffling with many an oar the crystalline sea. The Feluca is a large boat for rowing and sailing, much used in the Mediterranean. Note 180, page 77, col. 1. How oft where now we rode. Every reader of Spanish poetry is acquainted with that affecting romance of Gongora, Amarrado al duro banco, etc. Lord Holland has translated it in his Life of Lope Vega. Note 181, page 77, col. 2. Here he lived. The Piazza Doria, or, as it is now called, the Piazza di San Matteo, insignificant as it may be thought, is to me the most interesting place in Genoa. It was there that Doria assembled the people, when he gave them their liberty (Sigonii Vita Doriæ); and on one side of it is the church he lies buried in, on the other Originally a Greek City under that name, and afterwards a Roman City, under the name of Paestum. See Mitford's Hist. of Greece, chap. x, sec. 2. It was surprised and destroyed by the Saracens at the be-a house, originally of very small dimensions, with ginning of the tenth century. Note 174, page 76, col. 1. "What hangs behind that curtain ?” This story, if a story it can be called, is fictitious; and I have done little more than give it as I received it. It has already appeared in prose; but with many alterations and additional circumstances. The abbey of Monte Cassino is the most ancient and venerable house of the Benedictine Order. It is situated within fifteen leagues of Naples, on the inland road to Rome; and no house is more hospitable. Note 175, page 76, col. 1. For life is surely there, and visible change. There are many miraculous pictures in Italy; but none, I believe, were ever before described as malignant in their influence. Note 176, page 76, col. 2. Within a crazed and tatter'd vehicle. Then degraded, and belonging to a Vetturino. Note 177, page 76, col. 2. A shield as splendid as the Bardi wear. this inscription: S. C. Andreæ de Auria Patriæ Liberatori Munus Publicum. The streets of old Genoa, like those of Venice, were constructed only for foot-passengers. Note 182, page 77, col. 2. Held many a pleasant, many a grave discourse. Note 183, page 77, col. 2. A house of trade. When I saw it in 1822, a basket-maker lived on the ground-floor, and over him a seller of chocolate. Note 184, page 78, col. 1. Before the ocean-wave thy wealth reflected. Alluding to the Palace which he built afterwards, and in which he twice entertained the Emperor Charles the Fifth. It is the most magnificent edifice on the bay of Genoa. Note 185, page 78, col. 1. The ambitious man, that in a perilous hour Fiesco. See Robertson's History of the Empero A Florentine family of great antiquity. In the sixty-Charles the Fifth. 97 |