sometimes called. It contains a deaf and dumb school, not confined to
those in the poor-house, but receiving other pupils labouring under
these deficiencies. The number is about forty. Others perhaps could, but
only one lad did actually speak to me. The instruction seems to be good,
but perhaps a little metaphysical. Thus, in order to show that _spongia_
and _gialla_ form but one idea, the pupil is directed at times to mix
the letters, writing them _s g p i o a n_, _l g l i a a_. The
Lancasterian school here is not good: the master scolds and threatens.
The monitors beat the negligent pupils with a bat, on the hand, and they
seemed to do it with thorough good will, the master paying no sort of
attention to their proceedings. The same bat is also frequently applied
to their posteriors. The number of the school is 360, but the actual
attendance falls short of 300, although all the pupils reside in the
house. It is a great disadvantage, that as soon as a boy has made some
progress, he is transferred to a superior school, of which there are
four within the house. In the second school (which, on the usual plan of
the Italian schools is in reality a single class), one lad was called
out to me, who read very well a portion of sacred history, but he did
not know to what nation Samson belonged, and it seems that they are
never questioned at all as to the meaning of what they read. One pupil,
who was I suppose, at least eighteen, understood the rule of three and
fellowship, but he was shown me as something wonderful, and was sensible
of the extraordinary proficiency he had made. Another lad of about the
same age was sent here by his father as incorrigible at home. Neither
master nor pupil seemed to think much of this, till some observations of
mine made the latter ashamed of himself. After all he was a quiet,
modest looking lad, and the accusation against him was of impertinence,
so that I cannot help suspecting his father might be as much in fault as
himself. In the third school there was a similar offender of perhaps
twenty years of age, who told me that it was only a _colpa di gioventù_,
and that he was not at all ashamed of it. Formerly there were other
schools “_fin alla filosofia_,” but the upper branches are now lopped
off. One for drawing is still retained, and there is a theatre in the
establishment.
From the Lancasterian schools, I will proceed to those of the _Frati
Cristiani_, which is, I believe, an order similar to that which has been
denominated in France _Frères Ignorantins_. I am told that there is a
very good school of this sort at Orvieto, but I did not call upon the
master at a time proper to see it in action. The school of this nature
of which I have seen the most, and the one also which appears to have
attained the highest reputation, is that at San Salvadore in Lauro, at
Rome. On my first visit, the superior received me rather kindly than
politely, and seemed pleased with the interest I took in the
establishment. There are four schools, or classes, each in a separate
room; the lowest contains about one hundred and twenty boys under one
master; they were all occupied in reading the same thing in succession,
the master frequently interrupting the regular order, in order to keep
alive the attention; just as in the class of a good Bell’s school.
Nothing but reading is here taught, and the children must at least know
their letters before they come. There are about eighty pupils in the
second school, who are learning reading, writing, and the four first
rules in arithmetic, in their simple forms. I saw only the writing,
which is good. The pupils of the third class are about eighty or ninety.
The subjects of instruction are the same, with the addition of the
compound forms of these rules. In the fourth class there are about
eighty lads of from fourteen to eighteen. Arithmetic is carried farther,
and some idea given of geometry. The writing is far better than any
thing I saw at Florence. There is also a school of architecture, or at
least a room for that purpose, but it is not in operation. In all these
schools the boys are divided into two parties in order to excite
emulation. This practice is almost universal in Italy, and emperors,
consuls, and dictators, are appointed among the leading boys, and in
this school there are also decurions, whose business it is to correct
the errors of the others. The two parties are here called Romans and
Carthaginians; and the master did me the favour to fix a day on which I
might be present at a contest between them. It was merely in reading;
indeed the practice here does not seem to be extended to other branches
of instruction. The conditions at first were easy, and gradually became
more strict, when the omission or insertion of a stop, or the repetition
of a word was fatal, the culprit being considered as a dead man. On the
whole I was much pleased, but rather surprised to see lads of eighteen
or nineteen at a school of this sort. It appears that this institution
has a high reputation for teaching writing and arithmetic; and boys
frequently come here for a year on that account, after they have
received the rest of their education elsewhere. The dictator too, I
suspect to have been one who had left the school, and that the master
engaged him to come in order to make a better exhibition.
On another occasion the master directed the repetition of certain pieces
which the pupils had learnt by rote. Those who were prepared with any
such, were requested to hold up their hands, and many were immediately
raised. The pieces were short, and after each, the number of candidates
seemed to increase. The subjects were various; history, natural history,
wonders, morals; no poetry. In general the repetition was too quick, but
in other respects very fair.
There are three Scuole Pie at Rome, _i. e._ not three separate
establishments, but three large classes, each having its own room and
its own master, but forming altogether what we should consider as one
school. It is required that every child should be able to read and write
before he comes. In the first class they are improved in reading, and
taught the first rudiments of Latin grammar. In the second, Latin
grammar to the end of the accidence. In the third, syntax, and
construing in writing, Cicero’s letters. The instruction at this
establishment used to be carried to a greater extent, but the French
appropriated the site and the means, and these have not been restored to
them, nor are, I suppose, likely to be, as the Jesuits grasp at
everything relating to education, and those who desire further
instruction are referred to the Collegio Romano, which is under the
direction of that society. The master in each school, having no other
assistance, does sometimes avail himself in a small degree of that of
the elder boys, but the separation into distinct schools renders it
impossible to make this very effective. The pupils are also sometimes
set to question one another, but these are book questions and book
answers. The whole number of pupils falls short of two hundred.
The Scuole Pie at Florence form a much more important establishment. The
number of pupils is between eight and nine hundred. There are six
schools of “lettere,” that is, of Latin and Italian grammar and
composition; one of writing; two of arithmetic; besides which there are
lectures or lessons (something between the two) on geometry, natural
philosophy, the higher branches of mathematics, and their application to
mechanics and to astronomy; and also on rhetoric and the belles lettres,
the text book for which is our Blair. One cannot see such an
establishment at a glance, nor can one very well, at least without
forming a decided intimacy with some of the professors, poke one’s nose
into every corner, and examine all the good and bad details and results
of the system. As it was, I thought while I was cross-questioning the
Padre Rettore and four professors, on various points of instruction and
discipline, what some of the _Dons_ of our own great schools would have
replied to similar interrogations. Here is sometimes a professor of
theology, but they had lost one some time ago, and had not yet supplied
his place. These professors have lodging, food, and clothing, as monks,
but they are not paid for teaching. On the contrary, Padre Georgi,
professor of natural philosophy, applied some time ago for an allowance
for the expenses of his course, and the purchase of instruments, &c.,
and an annual sum of ten pounds was assigned him, while his expenses are
forty or fifty. Inghirami, the mathematical professor, is considered as
one of the first mathematicians in Italy. I will not however, enter into
the detail, even of the comparatively small part of the establishment
which I personally examined, but give you an account, on the authority
of the Padre Rettore, of a practice in use here, which with some
modifications, seems to be very general in Italy, and at which I have
already hinted. The scholastic year begins in November; the pupils then,
poor things, come into the school, as they did into the world, naked and
without honours or dignities. During the first month they gain
_diligenze_, for saying their lessons well, which are noted in a book,
and a boy who has obtained any of these, may immediately begin to play
with them, betting as many _diligenze_ as he pleases with another boy,
that he will perform a task or a lesson better or in less time than the
other; and of this the master is the judge. On the 1st of December, he
who has most _diligenze_ becomes emperor of the Romans; the second is
emperor of the Greeks; the third Roman consul; the fourth Greek consul,
and so on through the names of many other offices. After this the
individual bettings still continue in some degree, but the great contest
is between the two parties. On one occasion the poor Greeks lost all
their _diligenze_; they then staked their titles, and were reduced to
the condition of privates; the last resource was their seats in the
school; and losing these, they were obliged to perform all their lessons
standing. They were however so much excited, that they soon acquired new
_diligenze_ by their lessons, and renewing the contest, regained in
about two months all they had lost. The first thing that strikes one
here is, that it must form a set of gamblers; but by fixing the result
of each contest to the loss and gain of a small number of _diligenze_,
or in a struggle of parties, to the loss or gain of a fixed number of
_diligenze_ to every member of each party, this would I think be
obviated; and perhaps if not for a permanency, yet it might in a degree
be occasionally imitated with advantage. A young lad from the Conte
Bardi’s school, whom I had engaged to copy some writing for me, had
previously been in a school where these parties were called Romans and
Carthaginians. He had been _principe Romano_, and his imagination was
evidently much excited. He preferred this school to the Lancasterian,
and thought he learnt more rapidly. The merit of this plan seems to me
to consist in this, that it interests the elder boys in the improvement
of the younger.
As my object has rather been the schools of the poor than the rich, I
have not paid much attention to those of a more finished character. In
the Collegio Romano, the two parties are called Romans and
Carthaginians; and my informant (for I did not visit it) had been
emperor of the latter. There is an examination every month, generally
depending on the translation of some Latin author. The first boy is
_princeps principum_; the second, _princeps senatûs_; the third,
_princeps juventutis_. Then come five or six _principes designati_; as
many _principes majorum gentium_; then _principes minorum gentium_. The
_studentes primæ notæ_, _classis prima_ follow, the same _classis
secunda_ and _classis tertia_; and in like manner those _secundæ notæ_
and _tertiæ notæ_. At last come the pupils _nullius notæ_, which is a
great disgrace, and a distinct seat in the school is assigned them, as
being unworthy to mix with the rest. Any boy may challenge any other of
the class immediately above him, and a _princeps designatus_ may
challenge any one of the three superior _principes_, and these
challenges are frequent, and keep up a strong emulation in the school.
After a lad has occupied for a certain time the situation of one of the
superior _principes_, he becomes a _dictator_, in order to leave an
opening for the younger students. A dictator may be challenged, but does
not lose his rank till he has been twice defeated.
A society of young men, who themselves undertake the various branches of
instruction, have lately formed a new institution at Florence, for the
purpose of education. The object is perhaps partly to provide for
themselves, but partly also from a sincere desire to introduce a more
perfect method. The director questioned a little boy eight years old on
the metaphysics of grammar, and he answered in a manner which I should
not have thought possible in such a child. The replies were doubtless
from memory, for it was impossible he should understand so abstruse a
subject; but the questions were very much varied, and his answers were
not by rote, or in a set form of words, but the subjects of the lessons
he had heard, must have been combined by the boy himself.
Notwithstanding this successful display, I thought the mode of
instruction too abstract and metaphysical. Natural history and natural
philosophy were at first included in the course, but these have since
been abandoned, because the Florentine mothers were alarmed at the idea
of their children becoming materialists. I will not trouble you with the
details, but I rather mention this establishment as one which
exemplifies the present Italian, or rather Tuscan, system of education.
It fixes a high standard of excellence, and in part attains it. It loves
to see the tree flourish in a good soil, to grow large and strong; but
it must not take its natural form, but that which man gives it. The
Italian teacher is eager to adopt and explain the improvements in every
science and every art; but even in so doing he is not without perhaps an
unconscious tendency towards his own power and consequence. He would
enlarge the premises in order to diminish the desire of rambling; he
would lengthen the chain, that the impatience of his pupils may never
break it; but still there must be a chain or a boundary. He guides the
thoughts in every direction towards which they shew a decided tendency,
in order that the pupil may never trust to his own sagacity, or find out
the way for himself. I multiply my comparisons, because I feel that I do
not yet fully explain myself. Nor is it very easy to make myself
understood on the subject. If I were to state this to an Italian, he
would plead that young people are taught to reflect and to think for
themselves; and I in return should say that this is the very thing of
which I complain. They are _taught_ to think, in order that their
thoughts may never wander from the beaten track. Yet I must confess that
at the age of ten or twelve, we are all so much creatures of imitation
and instruction, that it is difficult to determine any deficiency on
this head, and still more difficult to prove it; and one cannot examine
the older pupils so freely, even if the professor permitted it, and the
order of the schools were such as to give us an opportunity. Is this at
all intelligible to you? and does it seem in any degree to account for
the want of originality in the present Italian character?
LETTER LXI.
LUCCA—GENEVA.
_Geneva, 3rd July, 1818._
I LEFT Pisa for Lucca on the 19th of May. The road is very good, and I
may add very pleasant, entering the plain of Lucca through the pass by
which the Serchio quits it. The valley of Lucca is very flat, looking
like a lake which has been filled up; and in fact, if the Serchio breaks
its banks, great part of it is overflowed. There are in the city, some
vestiges of a Roman amphitheatre, which has determined the direction of
some of the present streets; but the principal architectural objects are
the churches. Many of these are very curious buildings. All of them more
or less imitations of the cathedral of Pisa; smaller indeed in size, but
some among them are decidedly superior in the proportions and
disposition of the parts. The architects are supposed to have been
disciples of Busketus, and we must fix their dates in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. To begin with the Cathedral dedicated to St. Martin;
the body of which is said to have been built in the eleventh century
(_Trenta, Guida del Forestiere per la città e il contado di Lucca_),
while the portico was added in 1204 and 1233, and the choir completed
between 1308 and 1320. There are two inscriptions on the front, one in
the portico ‘_Hoc opus cepit fieri ab Elenato et Aldibrando operariis_,
A. D. MCCXXXIII; and one among the ornaments of the part above the
portico, ‘_Condidit electi tam pulcras dextra Guidecti_, MCCIV.; from
which you may conclude if you please, that the upper part was erected
before the lower. I give the honour of the design to Guidectus, and
suppose the _operarii_ to have been employed on the sculpture and
ornament, some of which was executed by Nicola da Pisa. In front, there
is a porch of three large, semicircular arches resting on piers, which
are adorned with small shafts. Within this porch, against the wall of
the church, is a range of smaller arches, three of which are occupied by
as many doorways. Each doorway has an enormous architrave enriched with
figures, and a cornice. Over the three large arches of the porch are
three ranges of smaller arches resting on little columns variously
ornamented; the upper range extending only as far as the front of the
clerestory. It was probably intended to add a gable ornamented in the
same manner with columns and arches; but this has not been executed, and
the building at present terminates abruptly. Perhaps on the whole, if
completed, it would have formed the finest example of any in which this
style of architecture was fully displayed. There is a great deal of
carving, and of inlaying of black and white marble over the whole. On
the inside, pilasters grouped together, make a bundled pier. Some
obtusely pointed arches are introduced; but in general, the arches are
semicircular. Each arch of the nave supports two well proportioned
arches above, forming a very lofty triforium; these arches are now
filled in with tracery, but this is an addition: there was no tracery in
the original design. The windows of the aisles are very small; they are
narrow and pointed. In the clerestory, a small, circular window occurs
over each pair of the arches of the triforium. This sparing introduction
of light I have noticed to you on various occasions, both in Italy and
the South of France. The transept is badly managed, the upper part being
separated from the nave, as in the cathedral at Pisa. This perhaps may
be considered as a proof of antiquity, yet in other places we find the
transept fully displayed in the twelfth, and perhaps in the eleventh
century. An inscription at the back of the choir gives us the dates of
1308 and 1320, but this can only apply to some alterations and repairs,
which may be distinguished without difficulty; for the whole of the
outside is otherwise of the style of the front, but more simple.
The next church in consequence is that of St. Michael; or perhaps I
should say the first, for it makes the greatest display. It is said to
have existed in 778, and I will not gainsay it. The front however, is
probably not much earlier than that of the cathedral. It is very lofty,
and exhibits seven arches in the lowest range, fourteen in each of the
two next; and six in each of those apparently belonging to the
clerestory; the whole is finished by a colossal, gilt, winged figure of
the archangel Michael, whose quill feathers, as is reported, are made to
turn in their sockets, in order to offer less resistance to the wind.
Though the raking lines admitted in this façade are evidently intended
to give the idea of the sloping roofs of the centre and side aisles, yet
in fact the upper part is a mere screen, rising very far above the roof,
and the flank only presents a range of arches, corresponding with the
larger arches of the front, with one story of small arches above them.
Internally, the nave is formed of arches resting on columns, and above
these there is a high wall with small windows; this extent of unadorned,
plain surface forms a singular contrast with the richness of the
external appearance, where marble and columns are so profusely lavished.
[Illustration:
J. Hawksworth Sculp.
S^T. MICHAEL AT LUCCA.
_London, Published by J. & A. Arch. Cornhill March 1^{st}. 1828._ ]
Another curious old church, earlier in its construction than either of
these, is that of San Frediano. The first mention of it is in a record
of the year 685, and another in 686 again notices it. We learn from
these, that Faulone, majordomo to Cunipert, king of the Lombards,
restored and enriched the monastery. Frequent notices occur both of the
monastery and church in the succeeding centuries, but nothing to
indicate that the latter has ever been rebuilt or materially altered.
The central part of the front is brought solidly down to the ground. The
lower division is nearly square and perfectly plain, except at the door,
which has very wide pilasters and an ornamented architrave, and there is
a low arched opening immediately above it. A range of little, Ionic half
columns supporting an architrave, occurs over this plain surface. Two
very small windows are observed in this division. The third contains one
high, narrow, and pointed window, and on each side of it a row of
figures on a gold, mosaic ground. The fourth story, which rises into a
gable, is also ornamented with a mosaic, of which the ground is gold. It
represents the Saviour in the middle, and an angel on each side
worshipping him. This front has been attributed to an Abbot Rosone, who
lived in the twelfth century, but the style of the lower part is so
similar to that of the body of the edifice, that I am inclined to
believe it coeval with the rest, and to limit the abbot’s praise to the
erection of the upper part, with the pointed window and the mosaics. The
use of these little columns as ornaments, dates at least as early as the
time of Dioclesian. The side aisles being double, form very wide wings,
each having a door of the same style as that in the centre, and two
circular windows unequal in size and situation, but alike in the two
wings. Internally, arches upon columns of granite and cipollino support
a lofty, plain wall with small windows. The great height of this flat
surface is perhaps always the defect of this style of building, but the
light so obtained is very pleasant. There is no transept, but a
semicircular recess or apsis, for the ancient choir exists in this and
in each of the other churches.
Another church, more exactly in the Pisan mode of architecture than the
preceding, is dedicated to Santa Maria foris portam. The front is
composed of seven arches, resting on half columns and pilasters, with
three square doorways, and a low arched recess over each. Above this
there are two ranges of arches on detached columns, and a circular
window in the gable, which however is of brickwork, and unfinished.
I must mention another church of this sort, on account of the ponderous
magnificence of its three doorways. Over each is a very thick
architrave, but that of the central opening alone, is enriched with
carving, and the arch over the door, including a semicircular window,
rests upon two animals. The lower part, including the slope in front of
the roof of the aisles, is without columns; in the clerestory are two
ranges of columns, each supporting arches, those of the upper tier
rising into the gable. I suspect the lower part here, to be more ancient
than the upper, as I do in the church of San Cristoforo.
The last-mentioned church exhibits perhaps one of the best proportioned
of these fronts. It is striped horizontally with gray and white marble.
There are five arches below, and none above, excepting some small,
ornamental ones under the raking cornices, which resemble those of
Lombardy, and a rose window in the clerestory.