NICE, April 2, 1765.
DEAR SIR,--I have nothing to communicate touching the library of the
Vatican, which, with respect to the apartments and their ornaments, is
undoubtedly magnificent. The number of books it contains does not
exceed forty thousand volumes, which are all concealed from the view,
and locked up in presses: as for the manuscripts, I saw none but such
as are commonly presented to strangers of our nation; some very old
copies of Virgil and Terence; two or three Missals, curiously
illuminated; the book De Septem Sacramentis, written in Latin by Henry
VIII. against Luther; and some of that prince's love letters to Anne
Boleyn. I likewise visited the Libreria Casanatense, belonging to the
convent of the church called S. Maria Sopra Minerva. I had a
recommendation to the principal librarian, a Dominican friar, who
received me very politely, and regaled me with a sight of several
curious MSS. of the classics.
Having satisfied my curiosity at Rome, I prepared for my departure, and
as the road between Radicofani and Montefiascone is very stony and
disagreeable, I asked the banker Barazzi, if there was not a better way
of returning to Florence, expressing a desire at the same time to see
the cascade of Terni. He assured me that the road by Terni was forty
miles shorter than the other, much more safe and easy, and accommodated
with exceeding good auberges. Had I taken the trouble to cast my eyes
upon the map, I must have seen, that the road by Terni, instead of
being forty miles shorter, was much longer than the other: but this was
not the only mistake of Signiore Barazzi. Great part of this way lies
over steep mountains, or along the side of precipices, which render
travelling in a carriage exceeding tedious, dreadful, and dangerous;
and as for the public houses, they are in all respects the most
execrable that ever I entered. I will venture to say that a common
prisoner in the Marshalsea or King's-Bench is more cleanly and
commodiously lodged than we were in many places on this road. The
houses are abominably nasty, and generally destitute of provision: when
eatables were found, we were almost poisoned by their cookery: their
beds were without curtains or bedstead, and their windows without
glass; and for this sort of entertainment we payed as much as if we had
been genteelly lodged, and sumptuously treated. I repeat it again; of
all the people I ever knew, the Italians are the most villainously
rapacious. The first day, having passed Civita Castellana, a small town
standing on the top of a hill, we put up at what was called an
excellent inn, where cardinals, prelates, and princes, often lodged.
Being meagre day, there was nothing but bread, eggs, and anchovies, in
the house. I went to bed without supper, and lay in a pallet, where I
was half devoured by vermin. Next day, our road, in some places, lay
along precipices, which over-hang the Nera or Nar, celebrated in
antiquity for its white foam, and the sulphureous quality of its waters.
Sulfurea nar albus aqua, fontesque velini.
Sulphureous nar, and the Velinian streams.
It is a small, but rapid stream, which runs not far from hence, into
the Tyber. Passing Utricoli, near the ruins of the ancient Ocriculum,
and the romantic town of Narni, situated on the top of a mountain, in
the neighbourhood of which is still seen standing one arch of the
stupendous bridge built by Augustus Caesar, we arrived at Terni, and
hiring a couple of chaises before dinner, went to see the famous
Cascata delle Marmore, which is at the distance of three miles. We
ascended a steep mountain by a narrow road formed for a considerable
way along the brink of a precipice, at the bottom of which brawls the
furious river Nera, after having received the Velino. This last is the
stream which, running from the Lago delle Marmore, forms the cascade by
falling over a precipice about one hundred and sixty feet high. Such a
body of water rushing down the mountain; the smoak, vapour, and thick
white mist which it raises; the double rainbow which these particles
continually exhibit while the sun shines; the deafening sound of the
cataract; the vicinity of a great number of other stupendous rocks and
precipices, with the dashing, boiling, and foaming of the two rivers
below, produce altogether an object of tremendous sublimity: yet great
part of its effect is lost, for want of a proper point of view, from
which it might be contemplated. The cascade would appear much more
astonishing, were it not in some measure eclipsed by the superior
height of the neighbouring mountains. You have not a front perspective;
but are obliged to view it obliquely on one side, standing upon the
brink of a precipice, which cannot be approached without horror. This
station might be rendered much more accessible, and altogether secure,
for the expence of four or five zequines; and a small tax might be
levied for the purpose from travellers by the aubergiste at Terni, who
lets his calasses for half a zequine a piece to those that are curious
to see this phaenomenon. Besides the two postilions whom I payed for
this excursion, at the rate of one stage in posting, there was a fellow
who posted himself behind one of the chaises, by way of going to point
out the different views of the cascade; and his demand amounted to four
or five pauls. To give you an idea of the extortion of those villainous
publicans, I must tell you that for a dinner and supper, which even
hunger could not tempt us to eat, and a night's lodging in three
truckle beds, I paid eighty pauls, amounting to forty shillings
sterling. You ask me why I submitted to such imposition? I will tell
you--I have more than once in my travels made a formal complaint of the
exorbitancy of a publican, to the magistrate of the place; but I never
received any satisfaction, and have lost abundance of time. Had I
proceeded to manual correction, I should have alarmed and terrified the
women: had I peremptorily refused to pay the sum total, the landlord,
who was the post-master, would not have supplied me with horses to
proceed on my journey. I tried the experiment at Muy in France, where I
put myself into a violent passion, had abundance of trouble, was
detained till it was almost night, and after all found myself obliged
to submit, furnishing at the same time matter of infinite triumph to
the mob, which had surrounded the coach, and interested themselves
warmly in favour of their townsman. If some young patriot, in good
health and spirits, would take the trouble as often as he is imposed
upon by the road in travelling, to have recourse to the fountain-head,
and prefer a regular complaint to the comptroller of the posts, either
in France or Italy, he would have ample satisfaction, and do great
service to the community. Terni is an agreeable town, pretty well
built, and situated in a pleasant valley, between two branches of the
river Nera, whence it was called by the antients, Interamna. Here is an
agreeable piazza, where stands a church that was of old a heathen
temple. There are some valuable paintings in the church. The people are
said to be very civil, and provisions to be extremely cheap. It was the
birthplace of the emperor Tacitus, as well as of the historian of the
same name. In our journey from hence to Spoleto, we passed over a high
mountain, (called, from its height, Somma) where it was necessary to
have two additional horses to the carriage, and the road winds along a
precipice. which is equally dangerous and dreadful. We passed through
part of Spoleto, the capital of Umbria, which is a pretty large city.
Of this, however, I give no other account from my own observation, but
that I saw at a distance the famous Gothic aqueduct of brick: this is
mentioned by Addison as a structure, which, for the height of its
arches, is not equalled by any thing in Europe. The road from hence to
Foligno, where we lay, is kept in good order, and lies through a
delightful plain, laid out into beautiful inclosures, abounding with
wine, oil, corn, and cattle, and watered by the pastoral streams of the
famous river Clitumnus, which takes its rise in three or four separate
rivulets issuing from a rock near the highway. On the right-hand, we
saw several towns situated on rising grounds, and among the rest, that
of Assissio, famous for the birth of St. Francis, whose body, being
here deposited, occasions a concourse of pilgrims. We met a Roman
princess going thither with a grand retinue, in consequence of a vow
she had made for the re-establishment of her health. Foligno, the
Fulginium of the antients, is a small town, not unpleasant, lying in
the midst of mulberry plantations, vineyards, and corn-fields, and
built on both sides of the little river Topino. In choosing our beds at
the inn, I perceived one chamber locked, and desired it might be
opened; upon which the cameriere declared with some reluctance,
"Besogna dire a su' eccellenza; poco fa, che una bestia e morta in
questa camera, e non e ancora lustrata," "Your Excellency must know
that a filthy Beast died lately in that Chamber, and it is not yet
purified and put in order." When I enquired what beast it was, he
replied, "Un'eretico Inglese," "An English heretic." I suppose he would
not have made so free with our country and religion, if he had not
taken us for German catholics, as we afterwards learned from Mr. R--i.
Next day, we crossed the Tyber, over a handsome bridge, and in mounting
the steep hill upon which the city of Perugia stands, our horses being
exhausted, were dragged backwards by the weight of the carriage to the
very edge of a precipice, where, happily for us, a man passing that
way, placed a large stone behind one of the wheels, which stopped their
motion, otherwise we should have been all dashed in pieces. We had
another ugly hill to ascend within the city, which was more difficult
and dangerous than the other: but the postilions, and the other beasts
made such efforts, that we mounted without the least stop, to the
summit, where we found ourselves in a large piazza, where the horses
are always changed. There being no relays at the post, we were obliged
to stay the whole day and night at Perugia, which is a considerable
city, built upon the acclivity of a hill, adorned with some elegant
fountains, and several handsome churches, containing some valuable
pictures by Guido, Raphael, and his master Pietro Perugino, who was a
native of this place. The next stage is on the banks of the lake, which
was the Thrasimene of the antients, a beautiful piece of water, above
thirty miles in circumference, having three islands, abounding with
excellent fish: upon a peninsula of it, there is a town and castle. It
was in this neighbourhood where the consul Flaminius was totally
defeated with great slaughter by Hannibal. From Perugia to Florence,
the posts are all double, and the road is so bad that we never could
travel above eight and twenty miles a day. We were often obliged to
quit the carriage, and walk up steep mountains; and the way in general
was so unequal and stony, that we were jolted even to the danger of our
lives. I never felt any sort of exercise or fatigue so intolerable; and
I did not fail to bestow an hundred benedictions per diem upon the
banker Barazzi, by whose advice we had taken this road; yet there was
no remedy but patience. If the coach had not been incredibly strong, it
must have been shattered to pieces. The fifth night we passed at a
place called Camoccia, a miserable cabaret, where we were fain to cook
our own supper, and lay in a musty chamber, which had never known a
fire, and indeed had no fire-place, and where we ran the risque of
being devoured by rats. Next day one of the irons of the coach gave way
at Arezzo, where we were detained two hours before it could be
accommodated. I might have taken this opportunity to view the remains
of the antient Etruscan amphitheatre, and the temple of Hercules,
described by the cavalier Lorenzo Guazzesi, as standing in the
neighbourhood of this place: but the blacksmith assured me his work
would be finished in a few minutes; and as I had nothing so much at
heart as the speedy accomplishment of this disagreeable journey, I
chose to suppress my curiosity, rather than be the occasion of a
moment's delay. But all the nights we had hitherto passed were
comfortable in comparison to this, which we suffered at a small
village, the name of which I do not remember. The house was dismal and
dirty beyond all description; the bed-cloaths filthy enough to turn the
stomach of a muleteer; and the victuals cooked in such a manner, that
even a Hottentot could not have beheld them without loathing. We had
sheets of our own, which were spread upon a mattrass, and here I took
my repose wrapped in a greatcoat, if that could be called repose which
was interrupted by the innumerable stings of vermin. In the morning, I
was seized with a dangerous fit of hooping-cough, which terrified my
wife, alarmed my people, and brought the whole community into the
house. I had undergone just such another at Paris, about a year before.
This forenoon, one of our coach wheels flew off in the neighbourhood of
Ancisa, a small town, where we were detained above two hours by this
accident; a delay which was productive of much disappointment, danger,
vexation, and fatigue. There being no horses at the last post, we were
obliged to wait until those which brought us thither were sufficiently
refreshed to proceed. Understanding that all the gates of Florence are
shut at six, except two that are kept open for the accommodation of
travellers; and that to reach the nearest of these gates, it was
necessary to pass the river Arno in a ferry-boat, which could not
transport the carriage; I determined to send my servant before with a
light chaise to enter the nearest gate before it was shut, and provide
a coach to come and take us up at the side of the river, where we
should be obliged to pass in the boat: for I could not bear the
thoughts of lying another night in a common cabaret. Here, however,
another difficulty occurred. There was but one chaise, and a dragoon
officer, in the imperial troops, insisted upon his having bespoke it
for himself and his servant. A long dispute ensued, which had like to
have produced a quarrel: but at length I accommodated matters, by
telling the officer that he should have a place in it gratis, and his
servant might ride a-horse-back. He accepted the offer without
hesitation; but, in the mean time, we set out in the coach before them,
and having proceeded about a couple of miles, the road was so deep from
a heavy rain, and the beasts were so fatigued, that they could not
proceed. The postilions scourging the poor animals with great
barbarity, they made an effort, and pulled the coach to the brink of a
precipice, or rather a kind of hollow-way, which might be about seven
or eight feet lower than the road. Here my wife and I leaped out, and
stood under the rain up to the ancles in mud; while the postilions
still exercising their whips, one of the fore-horses fairly tumbled
down the descent, arid hung by the neck, so that he was almost
strangled before he could be disengaged from the traces, by the
assistance of some foot travellers that happened to pass. While we
remained in this dilemma, the chaise, with the officer and my servant,
coming up, we exchanged places; my wife and I proceeded in the chaise,
and left them with Miss C-- and Mr. R--, to follow in the coach. The
road from hence to Florence is nothing but a succession of steep
mountains, paved and conducted in such a manner, that one would imagine
the design had been to render it impracticable by any sort of
wheel-carriage. Notwithstanding all our endeavours, I found it would be
impossible to enter Florence before the gates were shut. I flattered
and threatened the driver by turns: but the fellow, who had been
remarkably civil at first, grew sullen and impertinent. He told me I
must not think of reaching Florence: that the boat would not take the
carriage on board; and that from the other side, I must walk five miles
before I should reach the gate that was open: but he would carry me to
an excellent osteria, where I should be entertained and lodged like a
prince. I was now convinced that he had lingered on purpose to serve
this inn-keeper; and I took it for granted that what he told me of the
distance between the ferry and the gate was a lie. It was eight o'clock
when we arrived at his inn. I alighted with my wife to view the
chambers, desiring he would not put up his horses. Finding it was a
villainous house, we came forth, and, by this time, the horses were put
up. I asked the fellow how he durst presume to contradict my orders,
and commanded him to put them to the chaise. He asked in his turn if I
was mad? If I thought I and the lady had strength and courage enough to
walk five miles in the dark, through a road which we did not know, and
which was broke up by a continued rain of two days? I told him he was
an impertinent rascal, and as he still hesitated, I collared him with
one hand, and shook my cane over his head with the other. It was the
only weapon I had, either offensive or defensive; for I had left my
sword, and musquetoon in the coach. At length the fellow obeyed, though
with great reluctance, cracking many severe jokes upon us in the mean
time, and being joined in his raillery by the inn-keeper, who had all
the external marks of a ruffian. The house stood in a solitary
situation, and not a soul appeared but these two miscreants, so that
they might have murdered us without fear of detection. "You do not like
the apartments? (said one) to be sure they were not fitted up for
persons of your rank and quality!" "You will be glad of a worse
chamber, (continued the other) before you get to bed." "If you walk to
Florence tonight, you will sleep so sound, that the fleas will not
disturb you." "Take care you do not take up your night's lodging in the
middle of the road, or in the ditch of the city-wall." I fired inwardly
at these sarcasms, to which, however, I made no reply; and my wife was
almost dead with fear. In the road from hence to the boat, we met with
an ill-looking fellow, who offered his service to conduct us into the
city, and such was our situation, that I was fain to accept his
proposal, especially as we had two small boxes in the chaise by
accident, containing some caps and laces belonging to my wife, I still
hoped the postilion had exaggerated in the distance between the boat
and the city gate, and was confirmed in this opinion by the ferryman,
who said we had not above half a league to walk. Behold us then in this
expedition; myself wrapped up in a very heavy greatcoat, and my cane in
my hand. I did not imagine I could have walked a couple of miles in
this equipage, had my life been depending; my wife a delicate creature,
who had scarce ever walked a mile in her life; and the ragamuffin
before us with our boxes under his arm. The night was dark and wet; the
road slippery and dirty; not a soul was seen, nor a sound was heard:
all was silent, dreary, and horrible. I laid my account with a violent
fit of illness from the cold I should infallibly catch, if I escaped
assassination, the fears of which were the more troublesome as I had no
weapon to defend our lives. While I laboured under the weight of my
greatcoat which made the streams of sweat flow down my face and
shoulders, I was plunging in the mud, up to the mid-leg at every step;
and at the same time obliged to support my wife, who wept in silence,
half dead with terror and fatigue. To crown our vexation, our conductor
walked so fast, that he was often out of sight, and I imagined he had
run away with the boxes. All I could do on these occasions, was to
hollow as loud as I could, and swear horribly that I would blow his
brains out. I did not know but these oaths and menaces might keep other
rogues in awe. In this manner did we travel three long miles, making
almost an intire circuit of the city-wall, without seeing the face of a
human creature, and at length reached the gate, where we were examined
by the guard, and allowed to pass, after they had told us it was a long
mile from thence to the house of Vanini, where we proposed to lodge. No
matter, being now fairly within the city, I plucked up my spirits, and
performed the rest of the journey with such ease, that I am persuaded,
I could have walked at the same pace all night long, without being very
much fatigued. It was near ten at night, when we entered the auberge in
such a draggled and miserable condition, that Mrs. Vanini almost
fainted at sight of us, on the supposition that we had met with some
terrible disaster, and that the rest of the company were killed. My
wife and I were immediately accommodated with dry stockings and shoes,
a warm apartment, and a good supper, which I ate with great
satisfaction, arising not only from our having happily survived the
adventure, but also from a conviction that my strength and constitution
were wonderfully repaired: not but that I still expected a severe cold,
attended with a terrible fit of the asthma: but in this I was luckily
disappointed. I now for the first time drank to the health of my
physician Barazzi, fully persuaded that the hardships and violent
exercise I underwent by following his advice, had greatly contributed
to the re-establishment of my health. In this particular, I imitate the
gratitude of Tavernier, who was radically cured of the gout by a
Turkish aga in Aegypt, who gave him the bastinado, because he would not
look at the head of the bashaw of Cairo, which the aga had in a bag, to
be presented to the grand signior at Constantinople.
I did not expect to see the rest of our company that night, as I never
doubted but they would stay with the coach at the inn on the other side
of the Arno: but at mid-night we were joined by Miss C-- and Mr. R--,
who had left the carriage at the inn, under the auspices of the captain
and my servant, and followed our foot-steps by walking from the
ferry-boat to Florence, conducted by one of the boatmen. Mr. R-- seemed
to be much ruffled and chagrined; but, as he did not think proper to
explain the cause, he had no right to expect that I should give him
satisfaction for some insult he had received from my servant. They had
been exposed to a variety of disagreeable adventures from the
impracticability of the road. The coach had been several times in the
most imminent hazard of being lost with all our baggage; and at one
place, it was necessary to hire a dozen of oxen, and as many men, to
disengage it from the holes into which it had run. It was in the
confusion of these adventures, that the captain and his valet, Mr. R--
and my servant, had like to have gone all by the ears together. The
peace was with difficulty preserved by the interposition of Miss C--,
who suffered incredibly from cold and wet, terror, vexation, and
fatigue: yet happily no bad consequence ensued. The coach and baggage
were brought safely into Florence next morning, when all of us found
ourselves well refreshed, and in good spirits. I am afraid this is not
the case with you, who must by this time be quite jaded with this long
epistle, which shall therefore be closed without further ceremony
by,--Yours always.