of English, Lord H. Spencer,[20] Mr. Robt. Markham, Mr. Elliot,[21]
English Minister, Ct. Stopford, and afterwards Lds. Boringdon and
Granville Leveson-Gower. Ld. Henry was there on his way to Vienna,
whither he was to carry the compliment upon the accession of the
Emperor. He was then Secretary at the Hague under Ld. Auckland. His
abilities were spoken highly of; at Eton he was known as a poet in the
_Microcosm_.[22] His shyness embarrassed him, and rendered his
manner awkward. He was very witty, and possessed a superabundant stock
of irony. In short, he became ardently in love with me, and he was the
first man who had ever produced the slightest emotion in my heart.
I was received at Dresden with a degree of distinction that was highly
flattering. I would not go to Court; the Princesses sent a civil,
reproachful message, and begged me to see them _en particulier_ at
one of their villas. I went, and an embarrassing circumstance occurred.
The Prince Antony, by some mistake, took me for Ld. Henry’s wife,
complimented him upon my beauty, _agréments_, etc., and concluded
by saying, ‘I see by your admiration and love for her you are worthy
to possess her.’ This said before ten people was too painful to bear.
Had I been very accessible to vanity on the score of person, I could
not have resisted the flattery I everywhere met with: dinners, fêtes,
etc., given to me; invitations sent to people on purpose to meet ‘La
charmante Miladi’; my dress copied, my manner studied.
_The 2nd of August, 1792._--Very pleasant supper at the French
Minister’s, Baron de Montesquieu. The Duke of Brunswick’s Manifesto
filled everybody with astonishment and alarm for the lives and
liberties of the Royal family.[23] This rash and violent diatribe
against the Parisians was a precursor of an invasion of France.
Seventeen thousand of the Provincial troops were to be assembled on
ye 14th July at Paris, and it was said that if the Prussians, etc.,
advanced into the country, that the King would be conveyed to Blois;
then troops are supposed to be already destined to that service, and
the Parisians are already jealous of them.
In England, the Association of the Friends of the People alarm
the steady, and the example of France terrifies even the moderate
innovators.[24] The Association was formed without the participation
of Mr. Fox;[25] he never was consulted about it. On the contrary the
Association seemed determined against all advice, but most particularly
against his. Thinking people apprehend more from the superabundant
loyalty of the country than from its Democracy. There are to be
Addresses from all parts of the Kingdom, thanking the King for his
Proclamation and professing attachment to his Person and Governt.
Extremes are dangerous.
[Sidenote: THE FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE]
Left Dresden in September; went by Prague to Vienna. I was much pleased
with my residence there; I was fêted enough to gratify the most
unbounded vanity. I went to Court; a separate private introduction to
the Emperor and Empress. Sir Robert Keith was the English Minister. The
Countess Thuron was the lady who went about with me. Made an excursion
to Presburg, the capital of Hungary. Ld. Henry was there. We parted on
September the 25th or 26th, not later.
From Vienna we went to Venice by the road of Gratz, thro’ Styria and
Carinthia. On our arrival at Venice Mr. Ellis was dangerously ill of
a putrid fever. He recovered by the care of a Jew doctor. We stayed a
short time after his recovery; went by way of Mantua to Parma. From
thence to Bologna and Florence. Mr. Ellis left us at Florence to return
to England. We went on by the road of Radicofani to Rome (where we
staid only two nights), then to Naples, which we reached about the 2nd
week in October.
As soon as I was a little rested after my journey I began to see
the wonderful environs, both of natural and artificial curiosities.
The English society was composed of many of my friends; the
Palmerstons,[26] Miss Carter, Sr. Charles Blagden, Dss. of Ancaster,
Ly. Plymouth with whom I became intimate. Soon came the Bessboroughs
(the old Father died), Ly. Spencer, Dss. of Devonshire, Ly. E. Foster,
Mr. Pelham. In January the French fleet came and menaced Naples with a
bombardment.[27] They were moored in front of my house on the Chiaia.
I was brought to bed of my son Henry, on ye 10th Feb., 1793. I made
my _grossesse_ a pretext for staying at home in the evening. I
went out every morning to see the objects most worthy of notice, and
the evening I always passed with friends who came to see me, Drew,
Mr. Pelham, and Italinski,[28] a Russian who grew much attached to my
society.
[Sidenote: ROAD TO PAESTUM]
_March 22nd._--We set off for Paestum. Our party consisted of
the Palmerstons, Miss Carter, a Mr. Poor (a very eccentric man), and
Mr. Pelham. About two miles from Pompeia the country begins to be
pretty, and we got more amongst the Apennines. The road is excellent,
it being made by ye King to go to a _chasse_ of his at Eboli. La
Cava and Vietri are charmingly situated in their different styles;
the first has all the beauties of social life, small neat cottages
interspersed amongst vineyards, olives, and myrtles, upon the side of
a hill inclining towards a small torrent. The whiteness of the houses
contrasted with the verdure of spring vegetation in the foreground,
and the boldness of the scraggy rocks behind make a lovely picture and
fill the mind with pleasing sensations at the sight of comfort and
tranquillity, a lot that rarely befalls the peasantry of France and
England. There is an aqueduct traditionally called Abelard’s bridge;
why, the learned must determine, for I never knew that victim to love
left his native France. Vietri is situated upon a rock above the sea,
into which it abruptly ends; it commands a noble view of the bay of
Salerno. With a glass from hence one may discern the temples of Paestum
on the opposite coast. Salerno is a pretty little town upon the edge of
the sea; the detail of the country is charming. On the right side of
the bay is Amalfi, remarkable for being the spot where the Justinian
Code was discovered. The Cathedral at Salerno is curious; in it are
many sarcophagi brought by Robert Guiscard from Paestum, and various
columns of fine marble and granite, which are placed to form a corridor
in the court of the Cathedral, but being of different sizes the whole
has an awkward appearance. From Salerno ye country is less interesting;
excepting a few Baronial castles perched upon the tops of scraggy,
isolated rocks there is little worthy of notice.
At Eboli we were obliged to change our carriages for smaller ones on
account of the roads, which to Paestum were called abominable. We
crossed ye Sele in a ferry; it is a torrent frequently impassable. Here
the wretched inhabitants by their emaciated and squalid looks indicated
the beginning of the malaria. Their habitations were such that one
could easier imagine oneself in Siberia than in delightful Italy!
Delicious country! as their homes, if they deserve such an epithet,
were an exact counterpart of a Tartar hut. Circular mud walls raised
about three feet from the ground, thatched with reeds forming a conical
summit; the only aperture a door, which answered ye double purpose of
admitting the wretched owners and letting out the smoke, which was very
abundant from a fire lighted in the centre of the hut. But even in this
disconsolate dwelling there was an attempt to drive away the melancholy
which disease and penury must naturally inspire, for on one of the
poles which supported the roof and came across the interior of the
dwelling there hung a guitar. I persuaded one of the peasants to strike
it: I immediately perceived an illumination of joy upon the haggard
countenances of his auditors. Happy instrument! to suspend for a moment
the sensation of misery, and banish by its tones the anguish of want
from the breasts of the forlorn inmates. As we approached Paestum
the dreariness of the country quite oppressive; plains filled with
buffaloes, the most hideous of animals, stagnant ditches, and stinted
myrtles, were all the objects that met the eye.
[Sidenote: PAESTUM]
Paestum itself is situated in a plain about a mile from the sea,
dedicated to Neptune and built by ye Phoenicians about 250 years after
the foundation of Rome; 500 years before Christ. Near the amphitheatre
(which is much ruined) is the remains of a building with fluted columns
nearly as large as those of the temples, more upright marks still
existing of their bases; the capitals much worked in extraordinary
designs. Parts of the frieze lying about; figures of men from 24 to 30
inches high worked on the frieze between the triglyphs. The stone of
this building is more of the colour of grey limestone, and appears less
porous than that of which the temples are built, _that_ is a stone
formed by incrustation of water. Paestum formerly was famous for roses,
the sweetness of which is celebrated by several of the Latin poets;
now alas! brambles and malaria have extinguished the fragrance of ye
rose.
Our accommodation was but indifferent: I slept upon a table, the
repelling points of which rather annoyed my limbs and would have
convinced Boscovitch,[29] had he been in my place, of the existence of
hard matter. However, I tried to sleep, tho’ its ancient inhabitants,
ye Sybarites, would not have rested, if the story is true that one
of them complained that a curled rose leaf destroyed their rest. The
first view I had of ye temples was in ye dusk of ye evening; their
appearance was majestic, but precisely what I had conceived them to be
from the drawings I had seen. They are the only remains in Italy of
early Grecian architecture. The Doric, to my taste, is too uneven. The
columns are _squat_ and clumsy. The inhabitants are savage and
ignorant.
Fix’d like a plant on his peculiar spot,
To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot,
seems exactly their state. The _cicerone_ assured us that in one of the
temples there was a prodigious treasure inaccessible to men, as the
Devil kept guard over it.
We saw the temples again in the morning, and then proceeded to Salerno,
where we slept. I walked upon the terrace before my window and enjoyed
the beauty of the night; the moon shone bright, which added to the
lulling sound of the waves filled me with every pleasing and melancholy
recollection. Tho’ separated by land and sea from some objects too
dearly cherished, yet I was tranquil. Prudence satisfied me that
all was for the best. I could not help casting an anxious thought
towards my dear father stretched upon a bed of sickness, perhaps to
rise no more, but the reflection of never having done anything that
could disturb his peace, or render his last moments painful from my
misconduct, was a relief that God grant my children may feel when they
think of me in a similar situation.
Delicious as Salerno is, yet like all the goods of this life it is
counterbalanced by a portion of evil, as half the year it is untenable
on account of the malaria. We dined in the Temple of Isis at Pompeia,
on which day I completed my 22nd year; so old and yet so silly.
On ye 1st of April, 1793, we set off for Beneventum, Lady Plymouth,[30]
Italinski, Mr. Pelham, and Mr. Swinburne. Aversa is the first town
of any consequence. The polichinello of the Neapolitan stage, which
resembles the harlequin of the Italian, derives its origin from this
town, and the dialect of this place belongs to him, as the Bergamesque
does to the harlequin--which harlequin is, bye the bye, a burlesque
on Charles Quint. Arienzo is the next town, only remarkable for the
strange costume of the women, their dress being only two aprons tied
behind and before, which leaves a considerable aperture on each side
equally unpleasant and indecent. The country is a dead flat to within
three miles of Arpaia.
[Sidenote: AN ITALIAN MÉNAGE]
Between Arienzo and Arpaia is the valley which is supposed to have
been the scene of the disgrace of the Romans, when they were compelled
by the Samnites to pass under ye yoke. The weather towards evening
grew bad, and we could not get out and examine the defiles with
the attention and accuracy Italinski required. The Marchese Pacca,
to whom we were recommended, received us with that hearty kind of
hospitality, which unfortunately for the good fellowship of society is
totally banished from our _would be_ refined country. His time,
himself, and all he possessed, were at our disposal. The interior of
an Italian _ménage_ I only knew from buffa opera; it is worth
seeing. Himself, his old palace, his antiquated _volantes_, his
equipages, his stubborn mules, all were sights. The old Marchesa was
also delightful, not to the eye, for she was hideous, nor to the ear,
for she squalled, nor to the nose, for she was an Italian; yet, from
her unbounded desire of pleasing, the _tout ensemble_ created more
agreeable sensations than many more accomplished could have inspired,
as there is something infinitely gratifying to our predominant
sentiment of self-love to see another solicitous to please, even
tho’ the attempt should prove unsuccessful. Fruitless as it was, the
goodwill supplied the failure.
In consequence of the birth of a son to the Empress there was a
brilliant _appartamente_ at the Queen’s.[31] I went with joy.
_1st May._--The whole proceeding was conducted with the utmost
magnificence.
The post of ye 2nd brought the melancholy news of the death of one of
my warmest friends, poor Ly. Sheffield! She loved me most tenderly,
nor did the great disparity of years prevent me from returning with
cordiality her affection.
On ye fourth of May I went to see the celebrated miracle of the
liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius.[32] The Duc de Sangro,
in whose house we saw the miracle, gave us afterward a ball. The
composition of the material puzzles the chemists. The miracle, such as
it is, requires the vigour and warmth of a young hand to reduce it from
its concrete state to fluidity.
_Sunday, 5th May._--Prince Esterhazy, the Imperial Ambassador,
gave a splendid fête in honour of the young Archduke. The King, Queen,
and Prince Royal were present: the Queen came and sat by me the greater
part of the evening. She is lively and entertaining in conversation.
It was whispered about the room that the atrocious Marseillais were
marching upon Paris to destroy the Queen.
_6th May._--Rode out as usual; a very pretty retired ride towards
the Camaldoli.
_7th._--Infamously bad weather, which made us delay our project of
passing the day at Baia. We therefore confined ourselves within hail
(?) of land, and dined at Pollio’s villa upon Posilippo. We rowed by
the side of the charming Colline. The whole detail of the country is
delightful; the bright green of the vine contrasted with the brilliant
yellow of the tufa produces the most pleasing effect. Pollio’s villa is
on the East side of the Colline, from whence it commanded a fine view
of the chain of Apennines with the high point of St. Angelo lowering
above, the towns of Pompeia, Stabia, the promontory of Minerva, and
the whole of the bay including an oblique view of Capri. We attempted
to row round Nisida, but a threatening storm prevented us. We rowed to
the Porto Pavone, a lovely little harbour formed like a peacock’s tail,
which figure gave rise to the name. We dined at Pollio’s villa during
a violent thunderstorm. I conquered my fears and behaved with great
intrepidity.
[Sidenote: BAIA]
The next day we embarked at Pozzuoli for Baia. At Pozzuoli, a tolerable
statue of Tiberius, ornamented with bas-reliefs representing 14 cities
destroyed by an earthquake and restored by him; monster as he was
he could sometimes be betrayed into a good action. We passed Mons
Gaurus, on which grew the Falernian wine so much praised by Horace, who
either did not know what good wine was or the quality of the grape has
changed, as the wine it now yields has no claim to encomium. The next
summit is Monte Nuovo, raised by a terrible earthquake and eruption
out of the Lucrine Lake within the space of 24 hours; its elevation
destroyed a small town situated on its banks. The crater of Monte Nuovo
gives one a very good notion of a volcano: the hill composed of light
volcanic ashes which will soon become compact enough to be called tufa.
We passed by Nero’s baths and villa.
On landing at Baia, the first object is the Temple of Venus, an octagon
building; above it is a circular building dedicated to Mercury and
another to Diana, of which only half remains, like the section of a
building in architectural drawing. In the centre it had a cupola not
unlike the form of the Pantheon. The present castle of Baia is upon
the spot where Julius Caesar had a villa. Every atom of this once
favoured spot was either highly decorated with fine gardens, fountains,
porches, and terraces, or adorned with luxurious villas. Marius was
reproached in the Senate for living in a spot so much the seat of
pleasure. Sylla, Cicero, Lucullus, Pompey, Caesar, Hortensius, all had
villas. The baths of Nero are between Baia and the Lucrine Lakes; the
heat of the water is so great that an egg is boiled in two minutes. The
sand under the sea is so heated that one could not with convenience
hold it for any time. This all proves the vicinity of that powerful
agent so destructive to this beautiful country: hourly may one expect
some dreadful explosion that may perhaps lay the very spot I am now
on many hundreds of feet below its present level, or raise it to the
height of Vesuvius. The sea was rough, and the periodical storm came
on an hour later than the preceding day. It is singular the degree of
accuracy with which the people foretell the approach of bad weather,
and even the duration of it. We returned by land. We passed the ruins
of Cicero’s academic villa. How grand it must have been in its days
of splendour. Atticus procured from Greece the pictures and statues;
that they must have been excellent one cannot doubt, both from his fine
taste and the facility with which he could obtain the finest subjects.
We went next day from Pozzuoli to Misenum: Lady Spencer declined going
from a reason which I did not know till afterwards, or it doubtless
would have operated in retaining me, viz., the length of the sea
excursion, and the probability of a storm. The sea was very rough, and
I, of course, was very nervous. We passed through pieces of what are
called Caligula’s Bridge, but more likely to have been a mole beyond
which he carried a bridge of boats over which he rode to fulfil a
prophecy, which was, “That it was as unlikely that he should come to
the Empire, as that he should ride across the Bay of Baia on horseback.”
[Sidenote: PLINY’S DEATH]
We landed at Bacoli, a place which receives its name from the oxen
brought by Hercules from Geryon, King of Spain. Bacoli in Greek (if I
spell it right) signifies _ox stall_. Remains are shewn of a tomb
of Agrippina, Nero’s mother, but antiquaries say it has a stronger
resemblance to a theatre than to a sepulchre. We wandered amidst the
Elysian fields, but saw no blessed souls. All my gloomy cogitations at
the prospect of futurity, brought to my mind by the fiction of poets,
vanished at the sight of present danger, and the lowering black clouds
menaced a fierce storm. Nor was the threat in vain, for shortly it was
followed by the severest thunder, lightning, rain, and hail I had ever
witnessed. We crossed the Stygian Lake in the height of it, and Charon
might have expected some passengers for his infernal wherry. We landed
and dined upon the ruins of Misenum close to the port. It was from
this spot Pliny the elder beheld the burst of smoke from the mountain,
and even felt the cinders. What a magnificent but dreadful sight it
must have been. Unfortunately curiosity impelled him to approach
the yawning volcano; he endeavoured to land at Herculaneum, but was
prevented by the smoke and ashes, he tried Pompeia, and from thence
went to his friend Pomponius at Stabia, near which he was overwhelmed
and suffocated by the cinders. Near Misenum Tiberius breathed out his
gloomy soul.
The next day we made an excursion into the country on horseback to
see the Convent of the Camaldoli. Unfortunately the late hours of
Devonshire House are transferred to the Chiaia, so we did not begin our
expedition till six o’clock; when just as we arrived at the Convent
the last fiery rays sank behind the promontory of Circe. What a view
lay stretched at our feet! Objects that would rouse torpor itself, and
call forth the energy of the poet, philosopher, painter, historian. The
Campania Felix backed by the bold ridge of Apennines, with the Lake of
Patria, Linternum, etc., the distant islands of Ponza and Ventotene,
the nearer ones of Ischia and Procida, Baia, Misenum, Capri, and Cape
Minerva. I cannot enumerate all the grand and pleasing objects. We
exhausted the patience of two planets; the sun first shunned us, and
then palefaced Cynthia left us, before we got home.
I never in my life experienced the degree of happiness enjoyed: it was
the gratification of mind and sense. The weather was delicious, truly
Italian, the night serene, with just enough air to waft the fragrance
of the orange flower, then in blossom. Through the leaves of the trees
we caught glimpses of the trembling moonbeams on the glassy surface of
the bay; all objects conspired to soothe my mind and the sensations I
felt were those of ecstatic rapture. I was so happy that when I reached
my bedroom, I dismissed my maid, and sat up the whole night looking
from my window upon the sea.
This frolick was unusually absurd, as I was to go early with ye D. of
Devonshire, etc. to dine at Belvedere[33] with the King. I was ready at
seven, but ill and faint, and obliged to eat _diavoloni_ to keep
alive. We arrived too late: the King waited _an hour_. The King
was very pleasant and conversable; he shewed us the whole manufactory,
the mechanical part I did not much comprehend. He was so gallant to
me that they joked and said I should be sent to Calabria, the common
way the Queen takes to remove her rivals, tho’ she allows him to
_people_ his own colony of manufacturers. Before we quitted him he
insisted on our promising to dine at Carditello, and the Sunday after
at St. Leucio to see the wedding. From the Belvedere we went to the
English garden, which is very beautiful from being in many respects
unlike one. There is one of the prettiest thoughts for an ornament I
ever saw; a large building representing ancient baths, supposed to have
been dug out from a stratum of tufa which covered them. It is done with
the best taste and judgment possible, and is as complete a thing as can
be. I returned home at night more dead than alive from fatigue.
[Sidenote: 1793 VESUVIUS]
The next day after, we went to the mountain. I invited poor Italinski.
I would not go higher than the Cross, that is, I would go no further
than my mule could carry me; the others went to the running lava. We
all wrote our names at the Hermitage, a retreat inhabited by a man
clothed in a holy garb,[34] but whom report says is not sanctified in
his deeds; many rendezvous are kept in his neat, trim cell, and but for
his paying he would be expelled from his nominal solitude.
Saturday was the last morning I passed in Naples. I quitted those
scenes of tranquil pleasure and harmless gratification with unfeigned
regret. But ah me! what can please or cheer one who has no hope of
happiness in life. Solitude and amusement from external objects is all
I hope for: home is the abyss of misery! I am but as a zero in society,
attached to none, belonging to none I esteem. We passed the evening
at Caserta with the Hamiltons; their house was not large enough to
hold us all, and I lodged in Hackhert’s[35] house. _Mullady_ sang
_Nina_, Paisiello’s music; her vile discordant screaming took off
the whole effect of his simple melody.