After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 Part 21

At Mr. J[omini] there were, besides his daughter, his son and his son's wife. All the _ministres_ (for such is the word in use to designate Protestant clergymen and you would give great offence were you to call them _pretres_) have a fixed salary of 100 sterling per annum, with a house and ground attached to the cure; so that by farming a little they can maintain then? families creditably. M. Jomini lost his wife some time ago, and still remains a widower.

I left Payerne on the fifth of July and walked to the _campagne_ of M. de T[reytorre]us,[107] situated on the banks of the lake Morat. It is a very pretty country house, s.p.a.cious and roomy, and I was received with the utmost cordiality by M. de T[reytorrens] and his amiable family. He is a very opulent proprietor in this part of the country, and has spent part of his life in England. He is a dignified looking man, a little too much perhaps of the old school and no friend to the innovations and changes arising from the French Revolution. Having lived much among the Tory n.o.bility of England, he has imbibed their ideas and views of things. His son is now employed in one of the public offices in London. His wife and three daughters, one of whom is married to a _ministre_, dwell with him.

With this family I pa.s.sed three days in the most agreeable manner. I find the style and manner of living of the _n.o.blesse_ (or country gentlemen, as we should style them) of Switzerland very comfortable, in every sense of the word. I wish my friends the French would take more to a country life, it would essentially benefit the nation. The way of living in M. de T[reytorre]us family is as follows. A breakfast of coffee and bread and b.u.t.ter is served up to each person separately in their own room, or in the _Salle a manger_, Before dinner every one follows his own avocation or amus.e.m.e.nt. At one, the family a.s.semble to dinner which generally consist of soup, _bouilli, entrees_ of fish, flesh and fowl, _entremets_ of vegetables, a _roti_ of butcher's meat, fowl or game, pastry and desert.

The wine of the country is drunk at dinner as a table wine, and _old_ wines of the country or wines of foreign growth are handed round to each guest during the desert. After dinner coffee and liqueurs are served. After an hour's conversation or repose, promenades are proposed which occupy the time till dusk. Music, cards or reading plays fill up the rest of the evening, till supper is announced at nine o'clock, which is generally as substantial as the dinner.

On taking leave of Mr. de T[reytorre]ns' family I walked to the banks of the lake Neufchatel, having a stout fellow with me to carry my _sac-de nuit_. On arrival at the lake I crossed over in a boat to Neufchatel, which lies on the other side. I remained there the whole of the day. It is a very pretty neat little city, in a romantic position. Its government is a complete anomaly. Neufchatel forms a component part of the Helvetic confederacy, and yet the inhabitants are va.s.sals of the King of Prussia, and the aristocracy are proud of this badge of servitude. The King of Prussia however does not at all interfere with its internal government, and his supremacy is in no other respects useful to him than in giving him a slight revenue. French is the language spoken in the canton. There is a marked distinction of rank all over Switzerland, except in Geneva, Vaud and the small democratic cantons such as Zug and Schwytz, where it is merely nominal. In short, tranquillity is the order of the day. Each rank respects the privileges of the other and the peasant, however rich, is not at all disposed to vary from his usual mode of life or to ape the n.o.ble; and hence, tho' sumptuary laws are no longer in force, they continue so virtually and the peasantry in all the German cantons adhere strictly to the national costume.

BERN, 14 July.

I put myself in the diligence that plies between Neufchatel and Bern at nine p.m., on the 12 July, and the following morning put up at the _Crown Inn_ in the city of Bern, in the _Pays Allemand_, whereas the French cantons are termed the _Pays Romand_. Bern is a remarkably elegant city as much so as any in Italy, and much cleaner withal. The streets are broad, and in most of them are _trottoirs_ under arcades. There are a great number of book-sellers here, and the best editions of the German authors are to be procured very cheap. Bern is situated on an eminence forming almost an island as it were in the middle of the river Aar; steep ravines are on all sides of it; and there is a bridge over the Aar to keep up the communication; and as the borders of the island, on which the city stands, are very steep, a zig-zag road, winding along the ravines, brings you to the city gates. These gates are very superb. On each side of the gates are two enormous white stone bears, the emblems of the tutelary genius of this city. The houses are very lofty and solidly built. The promenades in the environs of Bern are the finest I have seen anywhere, and the grounds allotted to this purpose are very tastefully laid out. These promenades are paved with gravel and cut thro' the forests, that lie on the _coteaux_ and ravines on the other side of the Aar. There are several neat villas in the neighbourhood of these promenades, and there are _cafes_ and _restaurants_ for those who chuse to refresh themselves. Such is the beauty of these walks, that one feels inclined to pa.s.s the whole day among them. They are laid out in such variety, and are so multiplied, that you often lose your way; you are sure however to be brought up by a _point de vue_ at one or other of the angles of the zig-zag; and this serves as a guide _pour vous orienter_, as the French say. Another favorite promenade is a garden, in the town itself, that environs the whole city from which and from the superb terrace of the Cathedral you have a magnificent view of the glaciers that tower above the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunn. The immense forests that are in the neighbourhood of Bern form a striking contrast with the cornfields in the vallies and on the _coteaw._ There are but few vineyards in the neighbourhood of Bern.

BERN, 16 July.

The Diet is held this year in Bern and it is now sitting. I have met with the two Deputies of the Canton de Vaud, MM. P----- and M-----. I am glad to hear from them that the animosity existing between the two cantons of Bern and Vaud is beginning to subside. M. P------ has made a most able and conciliating speech at the Diet. Still there is a good deal of jealousy rankling in the breast of the Bern _n.o.blesse_ and the _avulsumimperium_ is a very sore subject with them. I recollect once at Lausanne meeting with a young man of one of the princ.i.p.al families of Bern, who had been hi the English service. The conversation happened to turn on the emanc.i.p.ation of the Canton de Vaud from the domination of Bern, when the young man became perfectly furious and insisted that the Vaudois had no right whatever to their liberty, for that the Canton of Bern had purchased the province of Vaud from the Dukes of Savoy. _"En un mot" (said he), "ils sont nos esclaves, nos ilotes et ils sont aussi clairement notre propriete que les negres de la Jamaque le sont de leurs maitres"_

A very harsh measure has lately been pa.s.sed in the Diet, evidently suggested by the aristocracy of Bern, which tended to fine and punish those Swiss officers who remained in Prance to serve under Napoleon after his return from Elba, and who did not obey the order of the Diet which recalled them. A very able objection has been made to this measure in a _brochure,_ wherein it is stated that many of these officers had no means of living out of France and that, on a former occasion, when a number of Swiss officers were serving the English Government and were employed in America in the war against the United States in 1812 and 1818, the Diet, then under Napoleon's influence, issued a decree recalling them and commanding them to quit the English service forthwith. This they refused to do and continued to serve. No notice whatever was taken of this act of disobedience, when they returned to their native country on being disbanded in 1814, and they were very favourably received. Why then, says the author of this pamphlet, is a similar act of disobedience to pa.s.s unnoticed in one instance and to be so severely punished in another? Or do you wish to prove that your vengeance is directed only against those who remained in France, to fight for its liberties, when invaded by a foreign foe, while those who remained in America to fight against the liberties and existence of the American Republic you have received with applause and congratulation? Is such conduct worthy of Republicans? O, fie!

Such an argument is in my opinion convincing for all the world except for an English Tory, a French _Ultra_ or a Bern Oligarch.

The a.r.s.enal here is well worth seeing; here is a superb collection of ancient armour, much of which were the spoils of the Austrian and Burgundian chivalry, who fell in their attempts to crush Helvetic liberty.

By way of shewing how fond the Bernois are of old inst.i.tutions and customs, they have been at the trouble to catch three or four bears and keep them in a walled pit in the city, where they are well fed and taken care of. The popular superst.i.tion is that the bears entertained in this manner contribute to the safety of the commonwealth; and this establishment continued ever in full force, until the dissolution of the old Confederacy took place and the establishment in its place of the Helvetic Republic under the influence of the French directorial government. The custom, then, appearing absurd and useless, was abolished, and the bears were sold. But since the peace of 1814 other bears have been caught and are nourishd, as the former ones were, at the expence of the state.

Bern derives its name from _Buren_, the German word for _Bears_ (plural number). Only the French spell _Berne_, with an _e_ at the end of it.

There are no theatrical amus.e.m.e.nts going forward here. Cards and now and then a little music form the evening recreations.

In the inn at Bern I became acquainted with a most delightful Milanese lady and her son. Her name is L------; she is the widow of an opulent banker at Milan and has a large family of children. She was about thirty-eight years of age and is still a remarkably handsome woman. Time has made very little impression on her and she unites very pleasing manners with a great taste for litterature. She is greatly proficient in the English language and litterature, which she understands thoroughly, tho' she speaks it with difficulty. She is an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare, Milton and Byron. She had been to Zurich for her son, who was employed in a commercial house there, in order to take him back with her into Italy. She spoke French as well as Italian, and her son had a very good knowledge of German.

She offered me a seat in her carriage, on the understanding that I was going to Lausanne, where she intended to stop a day or two. An offer of the kind made by so elegant and fascinating a woman you may be a.s.sured I did not scruple to accept, and I was in hopes of improving on this acquaintance and renewing it at Milan. Indeed, did not business oblige me to remain some weeks at Lausanne, I should certainly offer my services to escort her all the way to Milan. She had letters of introduction for Lausanne, and during her stay there I acted as her _cicerone_, to point out the most interesting objects and points of view, which the place affords.

[104] Louis Charles Joseph Gravier, vicomte de Vergennes d'Alonne, was the son of the Comte de Vergennes, who was minister under the reign of Louisi XVI. Born at Constantinople in 1766, he took service at the early age of thirteen, was promoted captain in 1782 and colonel in 1788. Having emigrated in 1791, he served in Conde's army, then took service in England from 1795 to 1797. On the 3rd March, 1815, he re-entered the army as "marechal de camp," and, on the 2nd November of that same year, was promoted general commander of the department of Puy de Dome. He retired on the 8th March, 1817, and seems to have been much regretted at Clermont. Died 1821.--ED.

[105] Jean Francois Wlnkens, born at Aix-la-Chapelle In 1790, is mentioned in the records of the French War Office as having served in the 25th Regiment at Waterloo. His family may have belonged to Stra.s.sburg.--ED.

[106] Pierre Jacques Jomini, Protestant minister at Avenches from 1808 to 1819.--ED.

[107] The Treytorrens family, of old n.o.bility and fame, now extinct, possessed a large estate at Guevaux, on the borders of the lake of Morat.--ED.

CHAPTER XIV

SEPTEMBER 1817-APRIL 1818

Journey from Lausanne to Milan, Florence, Rome and Naples--Residence at Naples--The theatre of San Carlo--Rossini's operas--Gaming in Naples--The _Lazzaroni_--Public writers--Carbonarism--Return to Rome--Christmas eve at Santa Maria Maggiore--Mme Dionigi--Theatricals--Society in Rome--The papal government--Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino--Louis Napoleon, ex-King of Holland--Pope Pius VII--Thorwaldsen--Granet--The Holy Week in Rome--The d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire--From Rome to Florence by the Perugia road.

I started from Lausanne with a party of two ladies in a Milanese _vettura_ on the morning of the 20th September. We arrived at Milan on the 25th late in the evening. On pa.s.sing the Simplon we met with three or four men who had the appearance of soldiers, and asked for alms something in the style of the old Spanish soldier who accosted Gil Blas on his first journey. Our ladies were a little alarmed. On travelling over the plains of Lombardy, one of these ladies, who had never before been out of her country (Switzerland) and was consequently accustomed to see the horizon bounded at a very short distance by immense mountains on all sides, was much alarmed, on arrival at the plain, at seeing no bounds to the horizon; she was apprehensive of _falling down_ and _rolling over_. Her remark reminded me of one of the objections made to the project of Columbus's voyage in discovery of a western pa.s.sage to India; it was said that in consequence of the rotundity of the earth they would roll down and never be able to get up again. The sensation experienced by my fellow traveller, however, may be well accounted for and explained by any one who from a plain surface situated on a great height looks down without a railing or balcony.

These ladies were quite delighted with the splendour and bustle of Milan and particularly when I took them to the _Scala_ theatre, where a very splendid _Ballo_ was given, int.i.tled _Sammi Re d'Egitto_. The scenery and decorations were magnificent, being taken from Denon's drawings of Egyptian views, and the costume was exceedingly appropriate. My fellow travellers were much struck at the appearance of the horses on the stage and the grotesque dancing. The last scene was the most magnificent. It represented the great Pyramids, on the angles of which stood a line of soldiers from the _base_ to the _apex_ holding lighted torches. The _coup d'oeil_ was enchanting. I took the ladies to see my old friend Girolamo and in fine was their _cicerone_ every where. We remained only four days at Milan and then proceeded to Florence, where we arrived on the 7th October. We employed six days for our journey and one day we halted at Bologna. After remaining four days at Florence and taking the Radicofani road we arrived at Rome the 18th October.

At Rome I met my friend P.G. and his wife who were travelling towards Naples and I likewise made two very pleasant acquaintances, the one a Portuguese, the other a Milanese. The Milanese is a cousin of the Neapolitan minister Di M------; and the Portuguese (M. de N------) had been employed by his Government in a diplomatic capacity at Vienna. At Rome I engaged appartments from the 20th of December for three months and then started for Naples, with the intention of pa.s.sing two months there, and returning to Rome, to be in time to witness the fete at Christmas Eve. At Velletri I met with a Jamaica family, Mr and Mrs O------, with their daughter and daughter-in-law; and we were strongly advised to take an escort as far as _Torre tre ponti_, being obliged to start very early from Velletri in order to reach Terracina before night-fall. Nothing however occurred and we arrived at Terracina without accident. The rascally innkeeper there made Mr O------ pay forty franks for each miserable room that he occupied, and fifteen franks a head for his supper; he was very insolent with all. I was rejoiced to find that in one instance he failed in his hopes of extortion. As he is obliged by law to furnish supper and beds at a fixed price to those who travel with _vetturini_ and are _spesati_, he, whenever a _vetturino_ arrives locks up all his decent chambers and says that they are engaged, in order to keep them for those travellers who may arrive in their own carriages and whom he can fleece _ad libitum_. A friend of mine and his lady, who were travelling in their own carriage, had, in order to avoid this extortion, engaged with a _vetturino_ to conduct them from Naples to Rome with _his horses_, but their own carriage, and, had stipulated to be _spesati_. Mine host of Terracina, seeing a smart carriage drive up, ordered one of his best rooms to be got ready, ushered them in himself and returnd in half an hour to ask what they would have for supper; when to his great astonishment and mortification, they referred him for the arrangement of the supper to the _vetturino_, saying that they were _spesati_. He then began to curse and swear, said that they should not have that room, and wanted to turn them out of it forcibly; but my friend Major G---- took up one of his pistols, which were lying on the table, and told the innkeeper that if he did not cease to molest them and instantly quit the room, he would blow out his brains. This threat had the desired effect, and he withdrew. It appears that this fellow has in the end outwitted himself, for most people now, who travel on this road in their own carriage, chuse to travel with a _vetturino_ and his horses and are _spesati_, solely in order to avoid the extortion practised upon them.

We arrived at Naples on the 29th October without accident. A _buona grazia_ of a _scudo_ at the frontier obviated the delay which would otherwise have occurred in examining our baggage by the _douaniers_. I put up at No 1 _Largo St Anna di Palazzo_, near the _Strada di Toledo_, at the house of one Berlier, who had been a domestic of poor Murat's. The Austrian troops being now withdrawn, the military cordon of sentinels from the frontier to Naples is kept up by the Neapolitan troops; but what a contrast between the vigilance of the Austrian sentinels, and the negligence of the Neapolitans!

The last time I travelled on this road, I never failed, after dusk, to hear the shout of _Wer da?_ of the Austrian sentries, long before I came up to them, and I always found them alert. Now that the cordon was Neapolitan, I always found the sentries either asleep, or playing at cards with their companion (the sentries being double), both having left their arms at the place where they were posted. At night I have no doubt they all fall asleep, so that three or four active _banditti_ might come and cut the throats of the whole chain of sentries in detail.

30th October, 1818.

I have begun my course of water drinking at the fountain of Sta Lucia.

Since I was here the last time, the theatre of St Carlo has been finished and I went to visit it the second night after my arrival. It is a n.o.ble theatre and of immense size, larger it is said than the _Scala_ at Milan, tho' it does not appear so. The profusion of ornament and gilding serves to diminish the appearance of its magnitude. It is probably now the most magnificent theatre in Europe. The performance was _Il Babiere di Siviglia_ by Rossini, and afterwards a superb _Ballo_ taken closely from Coleman's _Blue-Beard_ and arranged as a _Ballo_ by Vestris. The only difference lies in the costume and the scenery; for here the _Barbe Bleue,_ instead of being a Turkish Pacha, as in Coleman's piece, is a Chinese Mandarin, and the decorations are all Chinese. A great deal of Scotch music is introduced in this _Ballo,_ and seems to give great satisfaction. At the little theatre of San Carlino I witnessed the representation of Rossini's _Cenerentola,_ a most delightful piece. The young actress who did the part of Cenerentola acted it to perfection and sung so sweetly and correctly, that it would seem as if the _role_ were composed on purpose for her. The part of Don Magnifico was extremely well played, and those of the sisters very fairly and appropriately. The three actresses who did the part of Cenerentola and her sisters, were all handsome, but she who did Cenerentola surpa.s.sed them all; she was a perfect beauty and a grace. I think the music of this opera would please the public taste in England. Rossini seems to have banished every other musical composer from the stage.

I have seen, at the Theatre of San Carlo, the _Don Giovanni_ of Mozart; but certainly, after being accustomed to the extreme vivacity of Rossini's style, the music, even of the divine Mozart, appears to go off heavily.

There is too much of what the French call _musique de fanfares_ in the opera of _Don Giovanni_ and I believe most of the Italians are of my way of thinking.

We have just heard of the death of the poor Princess Charlotte. I am no great admirer of Kings and Queens; and yet I must own, I could not help feeling regret for the death of this princess. I had formed a very high opinion of her, from many traits in her character; and I fancied and hoped that she was destined to redeem England from the degradation and bad odour into which she had been plunged by the borough-mongers and bureaucrats, engendered by the Pitt system. She had liberal ideas and an independent spirit. I really almost caught myself shedding tears at this event, and had she been buried here, I should have gone to scatter flowers upon her tomb:

His saltem acc.u.mulem donis, et fungar inani Munere.[108]

Has no royalist or ministerial poet been found to do hommage to her _manes_? Had she lived to be Queen of England she would have found a thousand venal pens to give her every virtue under heaven.

There is a professor of natural philosophy now at Naples, of the name of Amici, from Modena, who has invented a microscope of immense power. The circulation of the blood in the thigh of a frog (the coldest animal in nature), when viewed thro' this microscope, appears to take place with the rapidity of a Swiss torrent.

Since I have been here, I have once more ascended Vesuvius; there was no eruption at all this time, but I witnessed the sight of a stream of red-hot liquid lava flowing slowly down the flank of the mountain. It was about two and a half feet broad.

In my letters from Naples, the last time I was there, I gave you some idea of the state of society. Among the upper cla.s.ses gaming is reduced to a science and is almost exclusively the order of the day. There is little or no taste for litterature among any part of the native society. The upper cla.s.ses are sensualists; the middling ignorant and superst.i.tious. With regard to the _Lazzaroni_, I do not think that they at all deserve the ill name that has been given to them. They always seem good humoured and willing to work, when employment is given to them; and they do not appear at all disposed to disturb the public peace, which, from their being so numerous and formidable a body, they could easily do. The Neapolitan dialect has a far greater affinity to the Spanish than to the Tuscan, and there are likewise, a great many Greek words in it. When one takes into consideration the extreme ignorance that prevails among the Neapolitans in general, one is astonished that such a prodigy of genius as Filangieri could have sprung up among them. What talent, application, deep research and judgment were united in that ill.u.s.trious man! And yet there are many Neapolitans of rank who have never heard of him. Would you believe that on my asking one of the princ.i.p.al booksellers in Naples for Filangieri's work on legislation (an immortal work which has called forth the admiration and eulogy of the greatest geniuses of the age, of which Benjamin Franklin and Sir Wm Jones spoke in the most unqualified terms of approbation; a work which has been translated into all the languages of Europe), I was told by the bookseller that he had never heard either of the author or of his work.

A very curious thing at Naples is the number of public writers; who compose letters and memorials in booths, fitted up in the streets. As the great majority of the people are so ignorant as to be unable to read or write, it follows that when they receive letters, they must find somebody to read them for them and to write the answers required. They accordingly, on the receipt of a letter, bring it to one of these public scribes, ask him to read it for them and to write an answer, for which trouble he receives a fixed pay. These writers are thus let into the secrets of family affairs of more than half of the city; and as some-of them are in the pay of the Government for communicating intelligence, you may guess how formidable they may become to liberty and how dangerous an engine in the hands of a despotic Government.

It appears that the theatre of San Carlo is princ.i.p.ally kept up by gaming; that is to say, the managers and proprietors would not undertake the direction of it without the Gaming Bank being annexed to it; for otherwise they would lose money, the expence of the Opera on account of the magnificent decorations of the Ballets being very great, which the receipts of the theatre are insufficient to meet; but the profits of the Casino cover all and amply reimburse the proprietors.

With regard to political opinions here there is a great stagnation. It costs the Neapolitans too much trouble to think and reflect. M-----, the princ.i.p.al minister, is however no favourite; neither is N-----, who has quitted the Austrian service, and is nominated Captain-General of the Neapolitan army.[109]

There is a great talk about the increase of Carbonarism. You will probably ask me what Carbonarism means. I am not initiated in the secret of the Carbonari; but as far as I can understand, this sect or secret society has its mysteries like modern Free-masonry or like the Orphics of old, and several progressive degrees of initiation are required. Its secret object is said to be the emanc.i.p.ation of Italy from a foreign despotism and the forming of a government purely national. This is the reason why this sect is regarded with as much jealousy by the different governments of Italy as the early Christians used to be by the Pagan Emperors. Great proofs of courage, constancy and self denial are required from the initiated; and very many fail, or do not rise beyond the lower degrees of initiation, for it is very difficult for an Italian to withstand sensuality. But the leaders of this sect are perfectly in the right to require such proofs, for no man is fit to be trusted with any political design whatever, who has not obtained the greatest mastery over his pa.s.sions. The word _Carbonari_, I need not tell you, means _Coalmen_; the Italian history presents many examples of secret societies taking their appellation from some mechanical profession.

I have now been nearly two months in Naples, and the _zampogne_ or bag-pipes, which play about the streets at night, announce the speedy approach of Christmas, so that I shall soon take my departure for Rome.

I left Naples on the 18th of December and arrived at Rome on the 22d. I am settled in my old lodgings, No. 29 _Piazza di Spagna_. Nothing worth mentioning occurred during the journey.

The fete, of the birth of Christ held at Santa Maria Maggiore on the evening of the 24th December is of the most splendid description, and attended by an immense crowd of women. Guns are fired on the moment that the birth of the Saviour is announced, and this event occurs precisely at midnight. The Romans seem to rejoice as much at the anniversary of this event, as if it happened for the first time, and as if immediate temporal advantage were to be derived from it.

I have mixed a good deal in society in Rome since my return from Naples.

Among other acquaintance I must particularly distinguish Mme Dionigi, a very celebrated lady, possessing universality of talent.[110] She is well known all over Italy, for the extent of her litterary attainments, but more particularly for her proficiency in the fine arts, above all in painting, of which she is an adept. She also possesses the most amiable qualities of the heart, and is universally beloved and respected for the worth of her private character, and for her generous disposition. She has all the vivacity of intellect belonging to youth, tho' now nearly eighty-six years of age,[111] and of a very delicate physical const.i.tution; in short she affords, and I often tell her so, the most striking proof of the immortality of the soul. There is a _conversazione_ at her house twice a week, where you meet with foreign as well as Italian _litterati_, and persons of distinction of all nations, tongues and languages. Her eldest daughter, Mme D'Orfei, is an excellent _improvisatrice_, and has frequently given us very favourable specimens of the inspiration which breathes itself in her soul. I have likewise witnessed the talent of two very extraordinary _improvisatori_, the one a young girl of eighteen years of age, by name Rosa Taddei. She is the daughter of the proprietor of the _Teatro della Valle_ at Rome, and sometimes performs herself in dramatic pieces; yet, strange to say, tho' she is an admirable _improvisatrice_ and possesses a thorough cla.s.sic and historical knowledge, she is but an indifferent actress.