The Old World and the New (Volume 2); Or, a Journal of Reflections and Observations Made on a Tour in Europe (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1836. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXII. Journey to Naples--Posting in Italy--Bay of Naples--Royal Museum--Pozzuoli and Baiae--Vesuvius--Herculaneum--Pompeii--Tomb of Virgil--Churches in Naples--Carnival--Leghorn--Pisa--Genoa--Gulio Romano's Martyrdom of St. Stephen--Political State of Italy--Italy the Land of the Fine Arts--Cultivation and Patronage of the Fine Arts in America. Naples, January 22. I travelled post from Rome to Naples in thirty hours, not stopping except for the detentions and vexations occasioned by passports and customhouses. We left Frascati, the ancient Tusculum, on the left, and passed through Mola di Gaeta; at both which places Cicero had villas. With these localities to bring him to mind--travelling on, or near roads which had so often resounded to his chariot wheels--travelling, too, over the Pontine marshes, in the vicinity of which he was put to death, it may be easily believed that it was his image that possessed my mind--his shade that seemed to flit before me, amidst the waning twilight and the bright moonbeams of the silent night. I saw him a proud and joyous traveller from the excitements, the studious toils, and the loud applauses of Rome, down to his country seats. Then I fancied him in these luxurious retreats, surrounded by friends, and engaged in high discourse. But a change came, and again I saw him--borne upon his litter with the steps of fear and flight. The assassins approach--(I looked, perhaps, upon the very field--a monument marks the spot, said to be the place of his death)--he commands the litter to be set down; he submits with calm, with Roman dignity to his fate; with word and with action more sublime, perhaps, than he ever used before, he bids them do their office. So, at least, would I think that a. great man dies. For I cannot think that ...