1
Oct. 10th Friday
Mr Marsh with the servants arrived soon after
nine this evening, bringing little news from Turin. American papers seem
generally disposed to sustain the President in his new proclamation, at
which I am delighted.
Oct. Saturday 11th
We went to the Cathedral this morning, enjoy
-ed Luini's pictures especially though there are many other things of in-
-terest about this grand old pile and its decorations. I confess these old
world churches do give me immense pleasure, and I hope the taste
of Protestants generally may more and more incline them to
beautify their places of worship. Much as I have liked Luini
before the Adoration of the Magi, in this cathedral, gave charmed
me more than anything of his I have ever seen. It is very unlike
most of his other works, even where it is not superior to them.
The church of San Fedele, portions of which are very old and
curious, contains no picture of interest except some frescoes
by Gaudenzio Ferrari in a very faded condition. One only gives
something like an idea of the genius of the master. Mr Marsh
then paid the Prefet (Lorenzo Valerio) a visit and we then
drove out to the Villa d'Este. The road takes us near many
fine villas among them that of the Marquis Raimondi, the The
unhappy father of the false woman who played so shameless a
part toward the great Garibaldi in '59 or '60. The Villa d'E[ste]
about half an hour from Como with a southern exposure was
the residence of the wife of George IV and the hotel still goes
by the name of the "Reine d'Angleterre". It is a beautiful spot &
the vegetation around it is almost tropical. The most luxuriant
laurels and other trees that bear little frost, large japonicas which
are left out all winter etc. I wish it was a little nearer Turin
and we should certainly then make it our head-quarters till
Spring.
Sunday 12th
We were told this morning that an English cler-
-gyman was spending sunday here and would have morning service
for such as wished to attend. We were only too much pleased at
this message and at eleven a little company of eight were gathered
in a small room adjourning the dining-room of the hotel. The clergyman's
pretty, young wife accompanied the singing with the piano, and
after a very good sermon we separated to meet again at seven in
the evening. After the evening service we made a little acquaintance
with each other, the clergyman was Mr Galbraith on his rea
return to Bombay where he has already spent several years as a
missionary. I infer from the very youthful appearance of his wife
that they are just married, and that she is going for the first time.
There is something very impressive in this meeting of a company of stran-
-gers to offer their homage to heaven together - strangers who have
never met before, who will probably never meet again in this world.
And then we part so like old friends - a link of a peculiar character
seems formed between us. We were much interested in Mr Galbraith
and his lady-like young wife, and when we parted for the night Mr
2
Galbraith gave me Dr Bonar's hymns to look over in the
morning.
Monday 13th
Not being able to leave my bed this morn-
-ing I missed a goodbye from our new missionary friends who
are to proceed on their way today. It was quite touching to see this
girl-like young creature set off for a strange land with her husband
for her only friend and companion, and when the two stepped into
the little boat that was to take them to the steamer something like
a foreboding sorrow mingled with the God-speed I gave them.
Mr Marsh took a long walk - the only circumstance that varied
the monotony of our day, the rest of it being spent in letter writing.
Tuesday Oct. 14.th
As I still continue invalided and in bed
and Mr Marsh brought out old blisters again by his walk, we all
stayed at home though the weather was most tempting outside.
Papers and letters from home, and the alternations of fear and
hope as to the ultimate recovery of Garibaldi gave us matter
enough to think about and talk about. The agitating subjects
that occupy us form a strong contrast with the extreme quiet of
our situation. We scarcely hear a sound from morning until
night except the gentle ripple - and even this is sometimes
inaudible for hours - of the lake against the foundation walls
of the Villa. A road passes by the back side of the Hotel
but the sound of a carriage is a very rare thing at this sea-
-son when the guests here are so few, and we are too far from
the centre of the lake to here [hear] even the steamer when they
pass.
pass. Wednesday Oct. 15
I gathered up my little strength and
we went out for a short row about three oclock. We intended
to pay a visit to the spring described by Pliny, now in the
grounds of a villa belonging to the princess Belgioso, but our
boatmen insisted there was not time to go so far before eve-
-ning, so we contented ourselves with skirting the eastern shore
of the lake for an hour, passing the villa of Madame Pasta,
with extensive and fine grounds, Taglione's villa, the fa-
-mous villa Taverna, and then recrossing to the side oppo-
-site the Taverna we returned to the Villa d'Este passing
that of the Englishman Courrier, and the Villa Pizzo, for-
-merly belonging to the Arch-duke Raniero, but now for
sale. The temperature was delicious, and the scenery charming.
But unhappily for us we had lived on the Bosphorus too long
and knew it too well, not to be continually contrasting this
lake with it, and greatly to the disadvantage of poor Como.
The greater sinuosity of the shores of the Bosphorus, the
slope of the hills so much better calculated for terracing and
for plantations of every kind, the terraces themselves so much
loftier and grander in their mode of construction, the building
is much more picturesque, the more sombre green of the cypresses,
the majestic umbrella-pines - a tree scarcely seen in lake Como -
and the thousand gilded caiques which make the Bosphorus
always look as if it were some special holyday - but I should
never have done with recalling the marvellous beauty of that
3
dear old home of ours.
We came home at five and found
the Prefet waiting for us. He could not give any special infor-
-mation about Garibaldi, but says a friend of his has just gone
to him and will bring him direct and positive news soon.
We were surprised to learn from him that he, was (the Prefet)
was editor of a paper so early as 1836, that he spent some mon
months then in Florence when so many of Italy's greatest and
best used to assemble at Vieusseux's. The prefet is not quite
contented in his present position and talks of returning to Parliament.
Thursday 16
Again our day was almost consumed by papers
and letters, and the writing consequent upon them, and we did
not go out at all. At five we went down to the table d'hôte, -
a thing we seldom do - and were joined by eight or ten other
guests. An English gentleman with a German wife and sis-
-ter, very nice people, were our neighbors on one hand, on the other
three Italian women, well dressed but very ill-bred. The mam-
-ma who sat between her two daughters gave her orders to the garçon
very much in the tone in which a midshipman addresses a
revolutionary sailor, and when an English gentleman who came very
late took his seat at the table both mamma and daughters broke
out into a giggle, then into loud and long-continued laughter, their
mouths being at the sme time filled with bread etc. What was
our surprise to learn afterwards that [image] these persons actually
claimed to be ladies, that they arrived in their own carriage
with coachman in livery etc., that Madame calls herself la comtesse
and is no less a person than the wife of Franzini the president
of the court of Appeals at Turin. When my maid stated these
facts on the authority of the masters of the Hotel, I expressed my sur-
-prise to which she in turn expressed hers that I should be
surprised. "If," says she, "Madam could see the Marchesa Doria
as I have seen her, she would not be surprised that ladies
so much her inferiors in rank should conduct themselves as
Madame Franzini and her daughters did
this
[illegible] night. Had they
known that any person was at table likely to know anything
about them they would have appeared very differently." I
should be sorry to believe that many of my gentle refined ac-
-quaintances of last winter are capable of such demonstrations
or [as] I witnessed last tonight.
Friday Oct 17th
We have today another of those calm
sweet days when all nature seems in perfect rest, - such a day
as one never sees except in the old age of the year. We enjoyed
it, however, only from our balcony none of us feeling quite well.
Towards evening Carrie took a stroll through the grounds with
Giachino. Our dinner company, some fifteen, was d nearly all
English - among them the clergyman, a prepossessing man, who
is to hold service at Bellaggio Sunday.
Saturday Oct 18th
Catabene, the brother of the officer con-
-cerned in the affair of the Tyrrol last summer, came down
with a friend by the first train this morning, sent by Garibaldi
to see Mr Marsh. They propose to raise and arm two thousand
4
men for the service of our Government, and Mr Marsh is
to forward this proposition as made by them in writing to
Washington. Accounts from Garibaldi both by Catabene
and the bulletin are far from favorable. The latter admits
there is serious cause for anxiety about the wound, and the
former is firmly convinced that the ball is still in the foot.
Catabene says he stood within four feet of Garibaldi when
he received the two wounds, that he himself drew the boot
from the General's foot - the boot being still in his possession -
and that both he and Garibaldi believed from the appearance
of the wound at that moment that the ball still remained in
it. Garibaldi assured the timid young surgeon who hap-
-pened to be near him, that this was the fact, and begged him
to cut it out at once. The young man, who trembled violently,
examined it in the most shrinking manner and dared not
make an incision. By the time that more experienced surgeons
were called to it, the inflamation and swelling were so great
that they could not judge so correctly as to the probable presence
of the ball. Garibaldi told his friends at once that the wound
was a serious one, and thought the foot should be taken off rather
than the wound left in such uncertainty. It is distressing to think
of this great man lying dangerously wounded by the hands
of his own countrymen whose political saviour he has been.
As to our cause, I am afraid it will never have the honor
of his name as its champion, nor the strength of his arm for
its defense - and yet it seems as if the world could not do with
-out him now. The despatches from Berlin look equally. It is said
some barricades have already been thrown up, and that there
are other demonstrations of forcible resistance to the royal will.
But in these days one does not expect much politically from the German
race. The Italian papers are thoroughly depressed in tone. The res-
-ignation of Thouvenel and other hints from Paris have satisfied
them that the magnanimous Napoleon III does not intend to
make them a present of Rome just now. If there are new conspir-
-acies the French emperor at least ought not to be surprised.
Sunday Oct 19th
Our telegrams from America contain such a
confusion of names, numbers and localities, that in spite of our
anxieties, and even our distress sometimes, they make us laugh.
For instance a terrible battle of two days duration is said to
have taken place near Corinth, Tenn. 40 000 men in the Confederate
side etc. The rebels are stated to have been defeated with very
heavy loss, 300 prisoners having been taken, and that the routed
army has fallen back on Richmond, Virginia! A long fall back
this, truly. We were surprised this morning by a visit
from Mr and Miss Barretta, Greek acquaintances
of ours
in
Athens and Constantinople. How well I remember this
young lady when she was at school with Mrs Hill, - a most
beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen. She is beautiful still -
very beautiful, but I doubt much whether I should have
recognized the gay rosy child of 1852 in the tall, pale,
graceful, woman dressed in the deepest black as she presented
herself this morning. She has just lost her only brother and
5
her mother, and is now all that remains for her father to
live for. Both seemed much depressed. We dined with them
at the table d'hôte and there had more opportunity of seeing
how far the education of the young lady had been carried, and
what resources, moral and intellectual, she now had to fall back
upon in her loneliness. Poor child! She evidently hopes that time
will bring back her former enjoyment of balls and soirées, but she
has no idea of finding consolation in any other way. It really
made my heart ache to think how dark the remainder of her
life would probably be. Now twenty five or six years old, her bloom
fast passing away, her old father not likely to live very many years,
her large fortune though it may secure her from want will only expose
her in some respects to greater risks. How melancholy that she
has not the intellectual culture and the high aims and aspirations
that would enable her to make a noble use of it. They left immedi-
-ately after dinner for Milan on their way to their present home in
Corfù. In the evening the Prefet came to our room and
passed a couple of hours with us. He is much discouraged
by the late course of the emperor though he tries to believe it is only
a delay. He is certainly no partisan of the emperor, nor of Rattazzi.
Still he seems to fear a decidedly reactionary cabinet in case
Rattazzi retires. If La Marmora heads it there can be little
doubt as to its general character. I said, 'What will you do next?
Try to cure Garibaldi, I suppose!' "Oui, oui, certainement! mais c'est
bien dommage qu'on l'a rendu malade!" The Prefet told us
many pleasant things of Garibaldi from his own personal
knowledge. He was once (in '59) going with him from one
town to another on foot. After a walk of many hours,
Garibaldi said to him "You are hungry, perhaps?" "I certainly
am" was the reply. "Well then we'll stop at the first inn."
They did so, and Garibaldi ordered some bread, cheese, and a
caraff of water. Valerio looked at the repast and exclaimed:
"Mon Dieu! mon Général est-ce-que cela peut sous suffire!
Pour moi, non." and he added a dish of cold meat and a
bottle of wine for his own benefit. We asked him if Garibaldi
never took wine. His answer was: "Une petite goulte quelques
fois, mais rarement." On another occasion they passed through
a field of Indian-corn on their march. Garibaldi examined the ears
and seeing that they were just in condition for roasting stopped
at the next house, enquired if the corn belonged to the family
and asked as a favour that they would send and break some ears
for his dinner. The corn was brought, the General roasted it him-
-self, and sharing it with Valerio they dined on it, Garibaldi
himself tasting nothing else whatever. Once when visiting him
in his quarters, the general said to him very confidentially and
quite in a whisper "Ti piacciono fichi?" (Do you like figs?) Being
answered in the affirmative Garibaldi took him to a small closet in
his own room and showed him some dozens of figs placed one [illegible]
by
one
on a board which he had taken from under his mattress. By way of
explanation the Prefet told us that Garibaldi was constantly receiving
presents of fruits and flowers, (the only presents he would accept) of
which he was very fond, but that his officers always got the lion's
share and it was only now and then as in the present instance
6
that he kept the least thing for himself. The simple-
-hearted hero gave the Prefet a handful of his figs with as
much satisfaction and
as
a generous boy would share his plumb-
cake with a favorite companion, and was no doubt as well
pleased with himself as if he had given him a splendid
banquet. Valerio brought the good news that his own phys-
-ician had just returned from Garibaldi and thought him doing
well. We were struck by the Prefet's speaking of his friend
as the Joan d'Arc of the age, which seems particularly happy.
Monday 20th Oct.
Mr Marsh went to Turin this morning,
We had the promise of fine weather when he left, but the want
of a boat at the best hour in the day, and the prospect of rain later
deprived us of a row on the lake which we had planned. We
had to content ourselves with letter writing and such books as we
have with us, and at six we went down to the dinner table ex-
-pecting to be quite alone. We found two gentlemen at the table
both speaking Italian, one evidently a native, the other doubtful.
The former, and extraordinary thing for an Italian, was very glum
and his companion after many persevering efforts gave him over,
and tried his neighbors of the other sex, first having waited to see
of what manner of speech we were. An animated conversation
in English was the reward of his amiable exertions; I have
seldom been more amused. Our new acquaintance made it his
first object to impress us with the extent of his travels, and I
might add, of his knowledge as well. To encourage him I threw in
wherever I could an experience of my own. When he talked of the
Bosphorus, I spoke of the situation of our own residence there.
When he talked of the charms of Southern Italy, I preferred Sicily.
When he spoke of Malta I insisted that Corfù was far more
attractive. When he told me that it was a custom in Mexico
to slit the nostrils of the donkeys, I told him that the Arabs
between Mount Sinai and Petra treated their camels in the
same way. Alas, for me, he was not to be beaten out so. With-
-out waiting for me to throw in anything more he told me of
his ascent of Popocatipetl, of his researches in India, of what
he had seen at Cape Good-Hope - in short in annihilated me.
From foreign travel we passes to facts; from facts to prin-
-ciples; and it was amusing to see
that
the narrow dogmatism
of the English character had in this instance not only survived
but even attained an extraordinary growth, notwithstanding
all this wide experience. As a general rule, the Englishman
who has lived some years out of England loses some of his most
offensive prejudices. Our chatty convive had carefully pre-
-served everything national except shyness.
Tuesday 21st
We took a small boat at three this afternoon
with the intention of giving Carrie an opportunity to try her hand at
rowing. There had been some wind in the earlier morning, but the water
was now very smooth in the little bay on which our villa stands, but no
sooner had we passed out side the first point north of us - a point
included in the grounds of the Villa Pizzo, - than we found ourselves
in quite a sea. Our boat was so very small and so low in the water
that I hesitated for a moment to go further, remembering Mr Marsh's
7
great horror of such an embarcation when white-caps are
abroad; but Carrie and Giachino looked imploringly. The boatman
smiled, and we went on dancing up and down in quite an exciting
way. At every new wave that came towards us we expected a shower-
-bath, and I am afraid some of us were silently praying for one.
However we came home without accident, and but not altogether
without a touch of sea-sickness on my part. At dinner we had
our Englishman of the preceeding night, and a handsome young Milanese.
The Inglese opened a strong fire upon the Italian by overwhelming
him, or trying to overwhelm him, by the extent of his travels in Russia
The young man listened respectfully, and when at last it came
his turn, he surprised his more venerable neighbor by showing
that he was not less familiar with Russia, and that his travels
there had not been less extensive. The conversation was partly in English
and partly in Italian, and the Milanese soon convinced the English-
-man that England was not less familiar to him than was Italy
to this 'estimable Islander.' On the whole the tone of the latter
was decidedly less instructive than last night, and this change did
not make him less agreeable. The Franzinis, whose ill-breeding
disturbed us so much, had a table to themselves in the dining
saloon - I do no know whether because they did not like us, or because
their host had discovered that we did not like them.
Wednesday 22
The water was very smooth at 3 and we again
took a little boat to give Carrie a chance to experiment on the
oar. She and Giachino rowed nearly all the way to Como and back
again - the boatman using his oars most of the time, but rather for
show than utility. As we passed a villa on the eastern shore
of the lake, I noticed two monuments at opposite extremities of
the grounds, one in the form of a Greek temple, the other a
pyramid, The boatman told us that the little circular temple was
erected over an urn containing the arm of a young lady of the
family; that the pyramid was in honor of a favorite dog.
After a delightful row we reached the Villa d'Este a few min-
-utes before Mr Marsh and Alexander arrived from Turin, They came
by carriage from Arona and Mr Marsh was much delighted with
the views he got of Monte Rosa, the Mischabel-hörner etc.
He was quite charmed with Varese, too, with its beautiful country-
-seats and gardens. He was much disturbed however, by the
mode in which the threshing is done there. In some instances
he says the turf was removed from an acre or two of ground, then
the earth beaten and rolled as hard as could well be done, &
after this all the people of the neighborhood bring there various
grains to be threshed. The work is done by hand with flails much
like ours, or by the treading of oxen. Immense heaps of wheat, rice,
etc are piled up in different parts of this roomy threshing floor &
after it
the grain
is taken home it must all be washed in order to free it
from the sand which in this mode of threshing must necessarily get mixed
with it. A few American threshing machines would in one day do the
work which occupies so many of these poor people for weeks and weeks.
Nothing of especial interest from Turin. There seems no chance of a
house for us there, such as our salary will permit us to take, and even
the hotels are so filled that we are not likely to be able to get
apartments in any of them for the winter
Thursday 23rd October. 1862 Villa d'Este
Papers and letters from America took up our
morning till nearly twelve. With some things to encourage
at home there is much to depress. Oh, if we had a Government
now in power worthy of directing the heroic energy which the people
everywhere show we should soon put an end to this most dis-
-graceful of rebellions. But what can we hope for with such
feebleness at Washington and such men as Halleck and McClellan
to command our armies! We tried to calm our indignation on
learning that the Prince de Joinville - and he probably knows -
declares that the President and Cabinet never intended to do any
thing more than blockade and hem in the South - a policy
which common sense would have shown them could only re-
-sult in an immense sacrifice of life and material to the
North with no such damage to the south as would lead to
submission - we tried to calm our indignation, I say, by
turning to Old-World matters. Mr Marsh read to me from that
most curious of books, Le Neveu de Rameau, by Diderot. It
seems difficult to devine what the author intended by this
book - whether he means it as a sketch of individual character
such as was to be found in his own time, or whether there
is a deeper thought under it, namely, a bitter satire on the results
of the philosophical teachings of himself and his contemporaries.
It certainly has very much the air of a recantation, but this
is a point not likely to be settled. At any rate if this is human
nature, or rather, if this is man as he was before the French Revolution,
its horrors should cease to surprise us. We were alone
at the table d'hôte with the exception of our travelled Englishman
He was very full of amusing anecdotes - robberies by land and
shipwrecks by sea, - all well told and without apparent exaggeration
The
His
account of the accident to the Great Eastern last year was
very interesting. He says that the American engineer was entitled
to the credit of the contrivance by which the vessel was finally
steered - that though the captain insisted that it was some little
gim-crack of his own that guided her course, every man with his
eyes in his head must have been satisfied that this last was not
of the least use, having no effect whatever in directing the ship.
This singular acquaintance grows more and more of a puzzle to me
He seems not only to speak many languages fluently, but to have studied
them carefully, and yet he is no scholar. He declares he never had a
headache in his life, that he never had five minutes of low
spirits in his life - in short that he is exempt from all the
ordinary ills of mortality. He is sixty two years old, dresses with
the elegance of a Brummel, never wears an overcoat, walks with
the elasticity of a man of twenty-five, sleeps out doors in the rain,
without the least inconvenience when a shelter is not at hand, and
is fully persuaded that every man, woman and child might do
just as he does if they would, and be the better for it too.
Mr Gough - my maid says this is his name - told us the
history of a week spent among the robbers in the Abruzzi.
It seems he was told there was fine shooting there, and a
friend offered to give him a letter to a priest of that region with
the assurance that he would be perfectly safe if under the pro-
-tection of that good man. Accordingly he went, taking with
him an abundant supply of provisions, cooking utensils etc. &
a valet skilled in the mysteries of the kitchen. He stayed at
the house of the priest who became his guest, the shooting
proved very fine, the robbers very courteous, and when host and
guest parted the tender-hearted priest fell on the neck of his
friend, and with tears, expressed his gratitude to him, but more
especially to his valet from whom he said he had learned more
than he had ever learned in his life before - "cioè," he added
by way of explanation, "cioè delle cose utile."
Friday 24th
A severe sick headache which woke me before
daylight kept me very miserable through the day. I loose [lose] so
many days in bed, or what is the same thing, that I wonder the
loss does not cease to grieve me, still I find it does not.
Carrie and Giachino went out for a row, for though the weather
looked dark we hardly expected rain. But the rain came in
less than an hour after they went out, and they didn't come.
We felt no anxiety for the first two hours, but after that, the
rain continuing to fall very heavily, we remembered that they went
with only a single boatman, and though the lake was as smooth
as glass and an accident seemed impossible, still it seemed
equally impossible to account for their non-appearance except
from accident. We should have sent for them, but had not the
least idea in what direction to send. No one in the house had
seen them leave. Mr Marsh walked the balcony, glass in
hand, for more than an hour - it began to grow dark and
our state of mind was not enviable when Mademoiselle made
her appearance followed by the maid. The explanation was:
they went on shore at Como for some silk, while they were
under the arcades it began to rain, they didn't like to get
wet, so walked about under the arcades and ate bonbons till
the 'bus came and brought them home without damage. I was
obliged to accept the excuse as sufficient, but really should myself
have preferred the wetting to the fright. Mr Marsh and
Carrie had no companion at the table d'hôte except Signor
Ponte of Milan. This young man has travelled extensively
but nothing that he has seen seems to have impressed him
so much as English domestic life. He says it is with shame
that he contrasts it with that of his own country, and he told
Mr Marsh, as he said, with deep mortification, that the intimate
of the family formerly known as Cicesbeo was scarcely less common
in Milan
today
than it was fifty years ago
Saturday 25th
Kept indoors all day by bad weather.
Sunday 26th
Still dark and disagreeable in the morning, but
towards evening the weather improved so much that we ventured
down to Como where Mr Marsh was to pay a visit to the Prefet.
Monday 27th
We set off about ten for a climb up Monte Bisbino,
although the sky was not altogether promising. The temperature was
soft as June and for the first hour it was really too warm for walking with
comfort. My poor brute of a donkey which had set off with pretty good
heart lost his courage after before he had performed a third of his task, and
it was only by the most energetic efforts of father and son - the latter pulling
lustily at the halter, and the former kicking violently from behind - that
the unhappy creature could be induced to proceed. As it was the motion
was dreadfully spasmodic and not at all fitted for a delicate spine. Alexander,
fortunately had insisted upon getting the half-starved beast some grain before
we started, though the owner had prophecied that he would not eat it as it
had never been offered it before. But he wasn't so big a donkey as his master
took him for - he ate the grain with the utmost greediness - luckily for me
I am sure, for without this unusual stimulant I should never have seen the
top of Monte Bisbino. We did get up at last, and safely too, and well were
we repaid for the labour it had cost us. There stood Monte Rosa with all
her eight spitzen, a most magnificent mountain-mass, and beside her
the Matterhorn, and beyong the Michable-hörner, then the Jungfrau, the Weiss-
-horn, the Finster-aar-horn, & &c. Most of these mountains we had seen
under more favorable circumstances before, but we have seldom had a
grander view of Monte Rosa. Glorious as the mountains were, however,
beautiful as were the lakes at our feet, - Como, Maggiore, Varese, etc. -
we could not help turning from these to gaze on the wonderful
cloud-phenomena which presented themselves around and below us.
We stood in bright sunlight about four thousand feet above Como, and
while below us rolled an ever-shifting sea of cumulous clouds, now en-
-tirely cutting off the lakes and the plains and the cities, now opening
in wide gulfs down which the rays of the noon-day sun dropped in dazzling
splendour, now sailing off with majestic motion to the very verge of the
horizon, where they formed a new and loftier mountain-chain, leaving
the prospect below us quite unobscured - then fresh exhalations rose
as
it were
in a moment, at first only a soft grey mist, then growing brighter as they
grew dense till our eyes could no longer bear to look upon their sun-like glory.
For two or three hours we watched, now the mighty chain of the Alps
based on their everlasting foundations, and now the ever-shifting
clouds that sometimes seemed a phantom-ocean heaving and surging
below us, sometimes pillars of fire rising to a height that dwarfed
the loftiest summit of the true mountains. At last we were
warned to descend if we would reach the villa before dark. It was
hard to turn away, knowing that from that point there would soon
a sunset view of extraordinary character, but we had no choice.
Half an hour after sunset we were safe in our Hotel, though
I found myself dreadfully shaken by my palfrey. The boy
goaded or kicked the poor animal almost incessantly and
my remonstrances produced little effect. At last I said, "why
do you kick and beat the donkey so? I have already told
you many times that I did not wish to go so fast, that it hurts
me when you make him start so violently." "O Signora"
said the father, bisogna farlo, bisogna farlo per farghi [farsi]
coraggio"! - and it was only by showing myself angry that I
put a stop to the thumping.
Tuesday 28th
We took the steamer at one P. M. for Cadanabbia, went to see the
Sommariva villa - now Villa Carlotto and then crossed over to Bellagio.
The grounds about this Villa are not extensive but in excellent order and the magnolias
the laurels, the cypresses, are superb. The glory of the Villa, however, is the famous
frieze by Thorvaldsen - the triumph of Alexander. It is a grand work and more
than answers the expectation excited by drawings. Here are also some of Canovas best
works. This Villa was sold after the death of Count Sommariva for a smaller sum than
he had paid for the magnificent works of art it contains. It was a bright Autumn sun-
-set as we were crossing over to Bellagio, and we were quite enchanted with the beauty
of the lake in this neighborhood.
Wednesday 29th
We had scarcely left the dinner-table last night when we were
startled by a very ominous sound below the windows of our salon. "We're in for it," said
Mr Marsh with a groan that could not be called a suppressed one. Sure enough, there they
were the whole Bellagio band twenty seven stalwart men, not to name three small boys
whose shrill pipes were not inaudible in the melody. And they were in their grandest uni-
-form, befeathered and besilvered in the most extravagant way, and all to do honour to Sua
Eccellenza il Ministro. What was to be done! We hesitated for a half hour, faintly hoping
they might retire. Not they! We went out upon the balcony, bowed our thanks, had the
Garibaldi hymn the second time, sent them fifty francs, and hoped this with the abun-
-dance of wine they were drinking would silence the, But it didn't. They persevered
heroically, and at last the leader and his first Lieutenant came up and were introduced
and made their complimenti, etc to the great discomfiture of Mr Marsh who has an in-
-stinctive horror of all such glorifications. Our host, by the way, justified himself for
getting up the performance by saying that they had done as much for the French Minister
and less should not be done for the American. We learned afterwards that
immediately after our arrival a man was sent through the village with a
huge brass-drum to call together the musicians, and they must have hustled on
their uniforms with a despatch worthy of a New York fireman.
We were disappointed this morning to find the lake rough and foaming and the
sky threatening rain, after such a lovely sunset. We started however, for the Villa
Serbalone, or rather for the grounds of the Villa which occupy all the heights of the
point of Bellagio. We were not less than an hour and a half in winding up the zig-zag
paths, and under the long grottoes, & through the beautiful avenues to the top of the hill.
Nothing can be imagined more picturesquely beautiful than the views obtained at various
points from these grounds. The main body of the lake, the two arms of Como and Lecco,
the mountains, here covered with snow, there glowing in autumn colors, the irreg-
-ular shores, the numerous villages, the countless villas - one must see to believe in
anything so beautiful. Descending from these grounds we went into the Villa Franzini,
a very expensive building not yet finished, but extremely showy, with rooms nu-
-merous and grand enough for a court. The person who showed us through the villa
said that la Signora - the wife of the owner - had taken a prejudice against the place
and was determined not to live in it on any consideration, than in consequence il Signore
had resolved to see it - a million of francs being the price. It is a beautiful villa cer-
-tainly, finely situated and very grand at first view, but closer inspection shows a
good many of the marble columns to be only very excellent stucco, and the rich woods
used for the pannelling are after all but very skillfully painted imitations. There are
however some very superb pictures here that any one would be proud to possess. A
Leonardo da Vinci, or a copy too good for me to distinguish from an original -
a most exquisite portrait by Titian - and half a dozen others by distinguished
authors and of great merit. Leaving the Villa we took a boat, and though it was
raining a little, went around the point and down the Lecco arm of the lake
a mile perhaps below the villa Giulia which belong to the King of Belgium.
The weather was so threatening that we were obliged to turn back here,
and content ourselves with having seen so much of this most fairy like
scenery. At three we took the steamer for Villa d'Este being dismissed by
our enterprising host with a salute that waked many a wonderful echo among
the wild hills. The hotel is certainly one of the most comfortable that can
be imagined, and reasonable too, which is saying a good deal for European hotels
now-a-days.
Oct. Thursday 30. Villa d'Este
We arrived here last night, the rain having goodnaturedly
stopped long enough for us to pass from the steamer to the villa in a
small boat, slept, and were off this morning between 9 and 10 for
Milan - weather still bad - which we reached at 1, P.M., installed ourselves
with old papa Bruschetti and got off to the Cathedral as soon as possible.
Here we had a glorious two hours, and having tired ourselves out with better
things we took Carrie into the treasury, and afterwards down into the Chapel of
San Carlo to see his mummy and the boundless wealth lavished upon it. Poor
man! if he could speak he would tell them better. From the Cathedral we
drove around the ramparts and out to the Arch erected by Napoleon to
commemorate the completion of the Simplon. We were glad to see that
the lying inscription of the emperor of Austria had been erased from the beautiful
Arch. It was quite dark before we could make up our minds to go back to
our hotel.
Friday 31
We set out for Turin in a pouring rain at one o'clock
having spent the morning delightfully at the Brera, brushing up
fading memories of former pleasant visits here. We reached Turin
after dark, and the confusion and crowd at the Station were worthy
of New York - bating the impudence of the Irish there. Our old
rooms at the Grande Britagne were ready for us, and we should have
felt very comfortable but for the thought of the case chaos where our
traps are stored, and the direful necessity of plunging into it.
Saturday November 1st
Friends begin to run in notwithstanding
the rain. Giachino and Carrie went down to the Legation to
explore boxes. Mr Clay tells me a second brother of his has turned
traitor. Truly it seems if there were not Lots enough left to
save our Sodom. The Tottenhams give an amusing account
of the intrigues going on around poor Garibaldi - quarrels of doctors,
quarrels of nurses, quarrels among visitors. Poor Mrs Stanley it seems
has come to an open rupture with her dear ten thousand fashionable
friends here, on the subject of the hero at Spezzia. Last winter
the codini were not bold enough to quarrel with her for her
undisguised admiration of this man of his age, but now things
look brighter for the reactionists, the benighted Aristocracy holds
up its head again, and Mrs Stanley has been taunted with her
romantic friendship till the proud spirit of the English-woman
has been thoroughly roused, and she declares she will have no
more to do with them. Mr Marsh found here a copy of
the recall of the Austrian consul Canisius who undertook to
re-enact, in a less justifiable manner, the performance of one
Quiggle, and Cordee, his wife.,
Sunday Nov. 2nd
I went to Church this morning - I am
ashamed to say for the first time in Turin. Some chairs have been brought
into the little room where the English Church assembles and it will now be
possible for me to go frequently, I hope. Mr Clay and Mr Artoni dined
with us.
Monday
3rd
Mr Marsh came home from an attempt to extract some of
his books from the dark deep in which they are buried, quite hopeless, and
almost ill at having no prospect of anything like a home this winter.
Tuesday 4th
We were delighted by the appearance of Mr Botta this morn-
-ing fresh from New York via Paris. He looks so well, and seems in very
good spirits. I hope he may do something towards advancing public opinion
here a little in the right direction. We secured him at dinner and had plenty
to talk about. The proprietor of the improved piano with attachment, gave
us a musical treat this afternoon. The young Neapolitan performer really did
miracles, and when he played the Garibaldi hymn he really
verily
seemed inspired.
The de Bunsens encourage us in the Pegli project. They think Turin will be
well nigh intolerable this winter for anybody obliged to take part in its so-called
gaieties.
Wednesday 5th
The Blatchfords arrived this morning on
their way to Rome. Mrs Blatchford I rank among the first of my country-
-women, and if we must have a Ministress of Rome I rejoice that we
have one with brains enough to save her from the danger of being be-
blarnied by the priests of that unhappy city. Still even she may be caught,
for the charmer charms wisely - or at least cunningly. A visit from
the young Kossuths reminded me of our experience for the last two
nights. Unearthly sounds, very, had proceeded from the room next to us through
all the early part of Monday night. On enquiry we found the occupant was a
certain prince who claims to be the true heir to the crown of Hungary.
Mr Marsh says he intends to ask Mr Pulszky about him, and to
enquire of him if he has been here to knock head to King Arpad - also he
proposed to enquire for
Queen
Libusse. Last night being roused from my
first sleep by a repetition of the awful sounds of the night before I said:
'That must be a genuine king, he is not of our race.' "Yes, yes," answered
Mr Marsh, "he is a real 'un, that's certain. He must be man by day and horse
by night! Now I understand where Swift got his name of Hounyhms
- it comes from Hun -. Now I understand too, what Lamb means by a
horse-belching fellow." Mr Botta and Dr Demarquis Demarchi made
us a visit, then came Mrs Solvyns, from whom I learned rather an amu-
-sing piece of poetical justice. The Countess Ghirardi who in a most un-
-lady-like way broke her engagement with us about her house in the expec-
-tation that we would accede to her demand for increased rent, allowed the
princess de Saulmses [Solms] to take possession after we left on promise of
paying 2000 frs. for fifty days. The fifty days having expired Mme.
la princesse refuses to pay, and what is worse, refuses to vacate. The
house, Mrs S. says, is in the most complete disorder, and the Countess
Ghirardi is desperate. Is it wicked, I wonder, to rejoice over such mis-
-fortunes?
Thursday Nov. 6th
At five 5.40 P.M. we were steaming by rail towards
Genoa, but we did not arrive there till 10.30, an hour later than
we had expected. Our rooms at the Hôtel de l'Italie are very pleasant.
A charming terrace on which our windows open would give a fine view
of the sea were it not for the line of arcades extending the length of
the street, and directly in front of the terrace. The air is soft and
balmy as the poets' May, and as I sit before the windows thrown wide
open the butterflies are hovering gaily round the flowering shrubs that
give no indication of approaching winter. Mr and Mrs Valerio came
in about eleven and Madame stayed a couple of hours after her husband
left. She complains bitterly of loneliness and does not give one a very favour-
-able idea of Genoese society generally. She pleases me upon the whole
very much though I fancy there is more of the impulsiveness of the artist
than the self-control of the philosopher about her. She is not more sanguine
as to home-prospects than we are. Our little friend Consul Wheeler dropped
in just as we were sitting down to dinner, and accepted our invitation
to be Carrie's vis-à-vis during that ceremony. He seems quite happy, and
I think is very grateful to us for not letting him run home last
winter in a fit of home-sickness. We were broken up by the announce-
-ment of the carriage to take us to Pegli. It was about five when
we set out - a magnificent sunset was going on - one of those marvel
-ous exhibitions of crimson sky, dark clouds with golden hems and li-
-nings of flame waving out among the trailing folds - such as one
seldom sees except by the sea-side with mountains not far off. While
Mr Marsh and I were lost in admiration of the western sky Carrie,
whose face was turned to the east, uttered an exclamation. We looked
back. There stood the full moon, just above the promontory on which the
light-house stands, two black bars of cloud across its silver face, and a
half
halo of the fleeciest clouds that looked like sea-foam arched above it. The
sea was so still that we saw no motion on its surface, and heard
no dash against the shore. Our road took us sometimes into a
little open tract, sometimes through suberbs of the city as closely
built as the city itself., Sometimes we crossed the railroad, sometimes
we passed under it, sometimes we drove beside it for a mile, and two or
three times the fiery hissing demon of a locomotive with its interminable
train went thundering by us, or over us, and contrasted most strangely
with the exquisite quiet of sky and sea and mountain. Soon after
six we were looking from the windows of what will probably be our
home for the next three months. There was a slight swell just audible
and the surface of the water was just broken enough to give a little
of that moonlight sparkle which always makes the deep less awful. Our
first impressions of the house are pleasant.
Friday Nov. 7th
The sunrise this morning - I am ashamed to
say I did not see it - Mr Marsh says was gorgeous beyond description.
We are vexed to find a huge great shabby palace diagonally across the
way from us which cuts off quite a slice of our prospect eastward.
Husband threatens to order it to be pulled down and put in the bill.
On the west, too, we are somewhat cut off, and do not see as much of the
Riviera as I hoped. Still the view is very grand and beautiful,
and I went to sleep last night to the soft delicious music of the surf
with a feeling of peace quite indescribable. This morning it is perfect
summer. We have our windows all open, and the ladies who pass us
through the corridor are in lawns. This afternoon we went to the
Pallavicini gardens, the chief wonder of the neighborhood. They are very
beautiful certainly. For the most part they occupy a hill of considerable ex-
-tent and elevation, luxuriantly planted, and provided with walks, seats,
rustic cabins, thatched sheds, marble temples, arches, imitations of old
castles, Turkish kiosks, specimens of Greek, Egyptian, Chinese and Persian
architecture, water falls, precipices, bridges - in short everything that wealth
and fancy can contrive. Perhaps the most remarkable thing to be seen
here is an artificial grotto of great extent. The stalactites and stalag-
-mites of which it is almost entirely composed were brought from Sicily and
other still more remote coasts. They are put together very skillfully &
nature of already helping to perfect this fraud upon herself, for she is forming
new genuine stalactites everywhere, hanging them down from the roof &
building up the little stalagmites below them. Through several of the
galleries of this grotto one must pass in a boat, and the custode wished
us a buon viaggio with well assumed gravity, as we were rowed off
into the river, down which we were lighted by small torches, not to degrade
them with the name of rush-lights. We came out at last upon quite
a little lake with a temple of Diana in the center, which contained a
fine statue of the godess herself. Four sea-gods also in fine white marble
rose above the water, some blowing in shells, others holding them, etc. We
were told that if we would wait a little these sea-deities would play
off certain antics for us - such as dashing water at each other, and at us, too,
perhaps, but we were obliged to hurry on. We passed down through avenues
of orange trees, literally loaded with the fruit just beginning to turn yellow.
And [illegible] beyond this avenue, and nearer the village was another of young ilex.
We were puzzled to know why the trunks of these young trees were carefully
wound from the roots to the branches with a thick rope. Mr Marsh asked
the custode, and was told that these trees had been planted only a year
or two, and that to prevent the sun from drying them up, this rope
was kept constantly wet, through the summer months. In this way
there was no danger that the tree would die. At the table d'hôte
we found a very pleasant English family, from whom we were happy to
learn that a good Italian teacher was to be had here.
Saturday Nov. 8th
I was richly compensated for being obliged to keep
my bed today, by the most magnificent sunset I remember ever to have
seen. It would be worse then idle to attempt to describe it. A flame-like
bank of red rested on the sea and the promontory to the west, and above
it stretched several long slender bars of cloud of inky blackness. This red
was shaded off, almost imperceptible passing from one colour to another, till
all was terminated in a rich golden green that extended almost to the
zenith. The sea itself looked almost black on its horizon - then came
the rich wine-colour which the old Greeks speak of but the force
of which epithet I never felt before. The rest were at dinner and
missed the glorious sight.
Sunday Nov. 9th
We were expecting the Wheelers from Genoa all
day, but they did not come, and we had a quiet day all to ourselves.
The weather is still as fine as possible. Last night we heard
the sound of chanting in the principal passage, and the little bell
which told the presence of the host. We were a good deal surprised,
for though we knew that the son of Don Luigi Gonzaga was ill
in the house yet, as he was at the table d'hôte only two or three days ago
we had no idea of his being so llow This morning I learned that the
poor young man died at two. His father, who for some time pasted has
been spending his days with his dying wife at Genoa, and his nights
with his son here, returned at six last evening having closed the
mother's eyes at four, to close those of her child so few hours after.
Both mother and son died of consumption. An older brother went
in the same way a few months ago, and the half-dozen children remaining
are said to be threatened with the same dreadful malady. They are from
Milan or its vicinity where the climate in winter is scarcely better than
in our own North.
Monday 10th
We tried to begin work in earnest today though
I was still confined to my bed. A card from the Duchesse de la Force
asking when she could see me proves that even in Pegli one is not out of
the world. Mr Marsh did his first day's work on his new book - twelve
pages.
Tuesday 11th
We had no interruptions today, and managed to get on a
little in laying out plans of study particularly for Carrie. I was able to go
down to dinner which I was glad of as we have made friends with a nice
English family - Mr & Mrs Tebbs and daughter - who are always at the table.
Yesterday the Rev. Mr. Strettle
Strettell
and wife, from Genoa - (he is the English clergyman
there) - dined here, and Mr Marsh liked them very much. I missed them
from not being able to go down.
Wednesday 12. Nov.
Mr Marsh lost a part of his morning from interrup
interruptions. A bright-eyed lively little carpenter brought home a bookcase
which had been ordered the other day, and a capital peice [piece] of work it was.
The poor fellow was very proud of his handy-craft and well might be.
The inhabitants of Pegli are most industrious, and the only case of beggary
we have seen here was - a single instance - a poor blind boy. The fish-
-ermen do out in the night when the sea is so rough that it makes one tremble to
look after them. The sound of the carpenters hammer often wakes us before four
in the morning. Just on the short before our windows there is a busy scene. The
fishermen are mending and spreading out their nets, the ship-carpenters are
repairing old smacks and making new ones, and the little children too
young for school, or just let out for play, are frolicking on the beach and
allowing the surf to break over them with shouts of delight. Mr Marsh
and Carrie have had and opportunity to watch the process of fishing, to see them
pull out the fish entangled in the nets, sometimes taking the head of the fish
in their mouths while they used both hand to extricate it from the net. The
larger ones they spear. Last night we saw the boats going out just after a
violent thunderstorm in a very high sea. This morning we learned that a man
lying in an unfinished boat at Sestri was killed by the lightning, an a com-
-panion by his side so injured as not to be expected to recover. The boat was
shattered to splinters, and the iron bolts used in its frame-work were melted
like wax. The storm was very violent though short, and there was no interval
between the blinding flash and the crashing peal. This evening Signor
Fessali
Campazzi,
- one of Garibaldi's ex-priests, but without ex-nun attached - came
in to make arrangement for giving Carrie lessons. He is intelligent and earnest
and we consider him a decided catch in Pegli where we hardly looked for a
master. The Tebbses came in later, and we had quite a lively little party.
Mrs Tebbs had been much amused by some Italian ladies who passed
some weeks here. They were without their husbands as Italian ladies generally
are, and after observing for several days that Mr & Mrs Tebbs sat down to
the table regularly together, walked together, went out in the boat together etc.
they said very naïvely: "Do you always stay with your husband?" Mrs Tebbs
replied that she had been married thirty two years, and that of course during
that long period separations had sometimes been unavoidable, but they had
been rare, and were always very painful both to herself and husband when
they became a necessity. The Marchese received this statement with an
astonishment that would have been overwhelming had it not been
relieved by a little scepticism as to its truth.
Thursday 13th
The weather continues dark and windy with occasional
showers, but the thermometer does not go below 66 Fahr., though the dis-
-tant mountain tops on our right are thickly sprinkled with snow which
is also said to have fallen in the plain about Alessandria. The sea is an
unfailing source of interest to us, not less in these days of cloud and
wind than it is in calm sunshine. The lights and shadows, the camelian [chameleon]
-like colours are infinite, and perpetually changing. Sometimes a change
in the wind drives the waters out of the bay, seeming to scoop out deep
basins, or piling up long ridges till the whole surface of the sea looks like a
rolling prairie. We watched the fading light this evening almost
till we could see no longer, and every instant there was a change to
wake fresh interest. It seems to me one could never feel lonely by the
sea-side. Our table companions told us at dinner many nice
little anecdotes of persons whom we know by reputation, and they
personally - such as Miss Marsh &c -
Friday Nov. 14th
The day did not tempt any of us out though
the rain seems to be over, and we worked busily all day. In the
evening Signor Campazzi came to give Carrie a lesson, and stayed
with us till ten. He is a good talker and promises well as a teacher.
He excited Mr Marsh's curiosity a good deal about the mountain which
is now sliding down from time to time a little beyond Voltri. To-
-day the frana, or slide, has cut off the road for the second time within
a month. We shall drive out to look at it soon - Mr Tebbs, who
came in alone for a few minutes, brought some most exquisite painting,
of flowers done from nature by Mrs Tebbs. I have never seen any thing
of the kind more perfect both in drawing and colour, and what surprised
us most is that Mrs Tebbs had not painted a flower for more than
thirty years until this summer -
Saturday Nov. 15th
Mr Marsh went back to Turin this
morning and Carrie and I worked hard at Italian the rest of the
day. The weather was charming, but the sunset less splendid than
usual here.
Sunday Nov 16th
I sent Carrie to church, Mr & Mrs Tebbs
having kindly offered to take her with them to Genoa., and I had
five hours quite alone by myself, which I enjoyed with that keen
relish which we sometimes have for entire solitude. After her return
she read to me Robertson's sermon - The Irreparable Past. - a sermon
I knew well before, but which, like all his sermons, always sug-
-gests some fresh vein of thought. Just as we went down to
dinner the sound of a band announced the approach of a
procession which we had been told was to come off today in honor
of San Martino, who, it seems, has particular affection for Pegli. I
was not disposed to rise from the dinner-table to look at the
show, having found these processions generally as like to each
other 'as my fingers is to my fingers,' but was glad afterwards
that I was persuaded to do so. There was an immense crowd
in the street as far as we could see towards the village of Pegli
and towards Voltri. They opened for the procession which was
headed from
by
a band from Genoa. Immediately after came San Martino
in the person of the son of Michel the innkeeper, - riding a white
horse and carrying a very terrible looking sword which he lifted
from time to time as he harangued the gaping crowd. Then
followed banners and a great company of fishermen with white
cloth folded about the head, white drapery thrown entirely over
them, to which was added a rich cape of crimson velvet embroidered
with gold, or what was to look like it. Then came the car containing
the image of San Martino also on horseback and sword in hand
while a huge angel winged and gilded, seemed floating just
behind and above him, and half a dozen cherubs or more were
grouped around the saintly warrior. The wind was too strong
for the wax lights to burn well, but the crowd were delighted with
with the show, and evidently very proud to have strangers witness
it. The car was followed by another long line of fishermen
dressed as before, and interspersed with huge crosses and
crucifixes, & lanterns carried on poles wreathed with flowers, &c&c.
It was said, I do not know with what truth, that there was
not a priest in the procession, and a poor French maid who is
staying here, and who went without her dinner in order to get to
the church in time for the benediction returned greatly disappointed
having missed the blessing she expected because there was no priest
there to bestow it. I fancy there must be some mistake about
this, as it would be a strange thing if there were actually a dearth of
priests on such an occasion. The good people here tell us that
this festa used to be celebrated every year, but it was so expensive
that it was finally settled to have it only once in twenty five
years which is now the rule. As I watched the bearers of the
crosses and the crucifixes staggering under their load, and was
expressing my pity for them, a resident said to me: "Every one
of those men pays several francs for the privilege of bearing
that burden." The whole procession stopped a long time before
the windows of the Duchess de la Force, the band playing all
the while in compliment to her for having contributed 40 frs. to
the festa. She sent them wine etc. and when they went back
from the Church they repeated the flattering attention. In fact
her ladyship was scarcely less the hero of the occasion than San
Martino himself. As I sat down again to the dinner-table I
could not help contrasting this poor attempt to make a gorgeous
display with the glory of the sunset which I had been watching
with awe a half hour before. After dinner Mr Tebbs sent
in to me a very interesting letter from Father Felix - alias Rev.
Mr Varnier, who has been for eight years a missionary of the
Church of England in India. He wishes most earnestly to be per-
-mitted by the Society to come to Italy and devote himself to
enlightening
the
priests and the laity of his native country. I hope
they will be wise enough to accede to his request. Whatever
is done for the Italians in the way of giving them religious
truth will be best done by Italians themselves.
Monday Nov. 17th
One of the most delightful Autumn days con-
-ceivable. The thermometer stood all day at nearly 70 in our draw-
-ing room without fire and with the sun half excluded on account
of the overpowering light. Books and battledore filled up the day
for us, Giachino performing my part at the latter - Signor
Compazzi gave Carrie a two hours and a half lesson which he
enlivened with many a benissimo, and when she left the
room he told me confidentially that the Signorina had a
memoria di ferro. The good man retains much of the sing-song
of the priestly chant, and I could hardly keep my countenance
when he read portions of the lesson in that way.
Tuesday Nov. 18th -
Mr Marsh returned soon after three P.M. but, before
I had time to really welcome him, the Duchess de la Force came
in, and did not leave me for an hour. She looked
much better in her hat & morning-dress, than when
I saw her last winter in full dress at a ball. The
impression she made on me was, that she is a very [illegible]
amiable, vain woman, fond of fashion, most ready to serve
others even the humblest, devoted to gaiety and yet happy
alone - a combination not reconcilable with an
over-strong head. On the whole I liked her much
better than I expected & I dare say we shall get
on well as neighbors. Great allowance ought to be
made for a woman married before she was sixteen,
left a widow with 2 sons before she was nineteen,
afterwards married to a French Duke with whom she
lived 15 years in Paris, & was then left again a widow
with an immense fortune which she must spend
somehow - she thinks. Mr Marsh saw many persons
in Turin, and on the whole has the impression that the Ministry
will be overthrown, though great efforts will be made to save it.
He was much pleased be a very graceful act on the part of the
government towards the United States. They request that the
unlucky consul at Vienna who wrote such an improper note
to Garibaldi, and whom Mr Seward recalled at once, should be
restored to his place. They say it was no doubt a thoughtless
act not intended to give offense to, or to injure, the kingdom
of Italy, and therefore would be gratified to have the President
overlook it. There seems as little chance as ever of getting a
house in Turin. Everything is filled up, and the crush will be
greater as the season advances. The weather was very cold there
Mr Marsh finding a fire necessary throughout the whole day.
Mr Marsh saw both Kossuth and Pulszky. The
former full of theories as ever, very interesting, but not
very likely to realize any of his own projects; the latter
cheerful and unconcerned, laughing at his late arrest,
receiving indirect apologies from the Ministry, and equally
indifferent to their favour or disfavour. Kossuth seems
to have recovered himself somewhat from his affliction
for the loss of his daughter, and from the anxiety he
has suffered on account of his wife who has lately under-
-gone a severe surgical operation from which she is
getting up again -
Here, on the contrary, we have the thermometer from 66 to 72.
and a glorious sun instead of the torrents of rain now
falling in Piedmont and Lombardy - It begins to look as if
last winter was indeed an exceptional season as we were
so often told. Poor Mrs Stanley came to see Mr Marsh
and poured out her grievances at the hands of the Turinese
codini, and a good many other curious gossipings about
Garibaldi. She thinks there are regular spies about him - one
in the person of a woman who has ingraciated herself into
the good will of Vecchi, and who in this way gets constant
access to the General, gets him to sign papers under a false im-
-pression as to their contents, betrays every thing she hears and
in fact is very mischievous. Mrs Stanley is herself half inclined
to go to Pisa and make an effort to oust this dame, but
I hope she will not. There are already elements of discord en
enough about the great invalid and it would take a steadier
head and a juster insight than our friend in Turin possesses,
to mend matters. The de Limas are recalled, for which personally
we are very sorry. They are amiable warm-hearted people, very agreeable
socially, but their political sentiments are so very reactionary that they
are looked upon with a suspicion by all friends of progress, and it
is even hinted that they have been recalled at the suggestion of the Italian
government, though I greatly doubt if this has any foundation. Our
friend Botta met with a much more cordial reception from his
old acquaintances than we anticipated for him, or he for himself. He
has a scheme for getting up a liberal university at Florence, and
has already recve
received
much encouragement from very influential
quarters. A priest of high position has furnished him with a
list of the liberals in his own profession, who would be glad to be
useful to him, and on this list is the name of one of the leading
Franciscans of Piedmont and three of his brethren. The stir
among the Italian clergy is certainly extraordinary, and Father
Passaglia's ten thousand signatures may ultimately prove as
important a step on the road to Rome as the Emperor's late
conduct has seemed a discouragement.
Nov. Wednesday 19th
Captain Thatcher came in to Genoa yesterday
with the Constellation, and he will probably pass most of the
winter there. Mr Marsh was interrupted this morning by a
visit from Agresti the Sicilian who claims redress, as an American
citizen, for having been arrested during the late troubles, and
released only on condition of leaving the island. I had heard
nothing of his case; and as Mr Marsh treated him with some
impatience, and he himself never for a moment forgot to be per-
-fectly respectful and retained his self-possession to admiration,
I could not help feeling a good deal of sympathy for him. His
quiet and deferential manner forced Mr Marsh to soften his refu-
-sal to interfere by saying that he would send a statement of his case
to the State Department for instructions. After he left I said I
could not help being sorry for the poor fellow. Mr Marsh smiled:
'My dear child, he is a most notorious scoundrel. He fled to
America because he had committed a murder in Sicily, stayed there
long enough to be naturalized, has now returned and expects im-
-punity for all fresh rascalities on the ground that he is an American
citizen.' Then I smiled too, and said: 'Well, he disarmed you
by his self control and his civility.' - 'Yes, I could not treat the
fellow as he deserved when he was behaving so much like a
gentleman - besides he fought bravely in the Mexican war, and I
have no wish to deprive him of the right of citizenship, though if
he were twice an American the Italian government would be
justified in punishing him for offenses against itself.'
Carrie took a long walk with the Tebbses and Signor Campazzi,
but tempting as was the soft beautiful sunshine I could not
get Mr Marsh out. The Italian lesson went off nicely in the evening.
Thursday Nov. 20th
A day so like yesterday within and without
as hardly to admit a distinction. The intervals of rest from work were
filled up with lamentations over the late Democratic victories at
home, the death of Gen. Mitchell and all the other discouraging
facts that come to us from America. The "general contempt" shown
for the President by these elections is certainly justified by the history
of the last two years - , but I wish it could have been shown in some
other way. The Strettells made us a visit this morning - then the
walkers walked. We dined, and the Tebbses - good saints that they are -
spent a part of the evening with us. -
Friday Nov. 21st
This morning my maid told me that while
we were all in Turin at the Grande Bretagne about the 1st of November
two English ladies with an English maid were there at the
same time. The maid was very friendly to her, (Giachino) and one
day asked her if Alexander was not a courier, and if he would
not be willing to go with her ladies to Naples - they were very anxious
to go by land to without passing through Rome. Alexander declined
going of course, but directed them as well as he could by way of
Ancona. It turns out that these ladies were Mrs Bishop the unhappy
mother of the young man lately so justly condemned in Naples to ten
years imprisonment, and Mrs Cramp, a friend of hers. Mrs Bishop
was very desirous of getting an audience of with the King, but, as every-
-body knew the king would immediately pardon the young man
who had already been treated with far too great leniency, it was
managed to prevent it. I am sorry for the poor father and mother,
but so atrocious a case as a young Englishman's carrying comfort and
supplies to a gang of brigands, and having still broader schemes
with him for overturning the government ought not to be passed
over without punishment. It is said the answer Mrs Bishop
received was that the King would pardon her son as soon as he was
seated in his capital, Rome. Whether this was from the King or one of
the ministry is disputed. We are still in doubt as to the fate
of the Rattazzi g Cabinet, but it is generally thought it will go down.
Nov. Saturday 22nd
We expected Mrs Valerio all day, but the
evening brought a note to say she could not come till Wed-
-nesday. The thermometer has fallen to 64, but Miss Tebbs
brought us in from her walk several bits of myrtle shrub
with charming buds and flowers, looking very summer-like.
Mr Marsh worked as usual at his book, then took a
long walk, Carrie and I drudged away at Italian by
way of preparing for Signor Campazzi, after which she
tried a solo at battledoor. We were very dull in the eve-
-ning - I fancy in consequence of a dreadfully dull lesson fron
from our Professore who staid so late last evening that I
quite lost my patience. I
Sunday 23rd November 1862 -
Carrie was to have gone to church with
Mr & Mrs Tebbs but had headache, so we all stayed at
home together, read an hour or two in Monod's "Adieux - etc.",
then a little in old Wicliffe, and then watched the
great waves as they rolled up and broke upon the beach.
The clouds in the morning were very magnificent. Huge
masses of cumuli such as one rarely sees at that hour,
were gorgeously lighted up by the morning sun, and the sea,
too, was singularly variegated in colour. What an endless
source of enjoyable beauty the sea offers when seen from the
shore. It is company, too, when one is lonely - it [?] is soothing
when one is disturbed - it is elevating when one is in danger of
becoming trivial - it is inspiring when one feels dull, and
cold, and indifferent. - Just before going to dinner the
telegram was brought in that the ball, discovered to be in the
wound by Nélaton's ingenious invention of the porcelain probe
roughened on one side, had been extracted today from Garibaldi's
ankle by Zanetti, the operation occupying only one minute.
How we rejoice at this news! If the [illegible] rumored removal
of McClellan turns out to be true the two pieces of good
news will be quite enough to get up a special Thanksgiving-
day for.
Monday Nov. 24
The sea, which last evening began to shew some
signs of perturbalion, discoursed grand music all night. At early
day-light we heard anxious voices on the beach, and on going to our
window, we saw a number of men and one woman working away
with desperate energy at a pile of brick which the angry surf was fast
undermining. We had watched the wearisome unloading of this brick
from a sloop yesterday. There being nothing like a wharf here, a
long
board
was placed, one end on the shipsside, the other in the water, - on the
lower end of this, and at [illegible]
a
right-angle to it, was placed another board
which reached quite to the shore. One man piled the brick into a
basket which he handed to a second standing at the ship's side,
the second passed it to a third standing on the first board, the
third to a fourth at the angle where the two boards met, the
fourth to a fifth who piled up the contents quite high on
the beach. Hour after hour they toiled on in this way, and the
result of their labour was three huge heaps of brick at different levels,
but all apparently quite out of the reach of the water. This proved to
be a mistake, - the lowest heap was now in great danger of being
swept away, and our sympathy for the poor creatures who were trying
to save it diminished the pleasure we should otherwise have felt from
the scene before us. Wave after wave was rolling in with great volume and
velocity, sharpening in form as they approached the shore, till their crests,
thinned out to a transparent green, broke off partly in clouds of spray, partly
in sheets of leaping, curling foam that was climbing higher and higher up
the beach. Sometimes the long billows followed each other so close that
they seemed to rise one above another like the seats of a gigantic amphitheatre,
then, all at once, they would break as it were together, spreading
out a sea of foam that boiled far up the beach, and played around the
knees of the poor brick-savers, snatching the bricks from under their very
hands. We watched the work with lively interest for a long time, and
when called to breakfast, had the satisfaction of seeing nearly all
the lower heap safe, and
no
probability of any danger to the two others,
the lowest of which,
even,
we thought there would be no occasion to
remove. Before we rose from the table, however, the roar of the surf
seemed to redouble, the shouts of the fishermen increased, and on going
to the window, we were not a little astonished to see the second pile
of brick over-washed by every great wave, while as many as could get
round it were boldly disputing the prey with the sea. Of the contending
parties it was hard to believe the one was not as conscious as the other.
Now a huge billow would come up directly abreast and topple off
several layers from the heap, the next would curl round and make
a channel for itself, so quite surrounding it, a third would carry
away a portion of earth from beneath it, and so tumble hundreds of the
brick into the sea, to be picked up again, if possible, by some bold, strong
boy, who watched for a moment of partial respite and then dashed
into the surf. At last a master-wave came booming on, rolled in full
volume over the pile, snatched the full baskets from the hands of the carriers,
swallowed up their contents and then floated off the baskets themselves far
beyond the reached of even the most daring. At first I feared some of the boys
had been swept off too, but fortunately it was not so. In the mean-
while another scene of activity, no less animated, was going on,
Several hundred persons - men women and boys - were
engaged in dragging up out of the reach of the furious surge
the twenty or thirty fishing smacks that had been left last
night quite out of danger as was supposed. The sea however was
now foaming around them and even breaking over some of the smaller
ones, and there was evidently no safety for them except in drawing
them quite across the road. Some were pulling at the hawsers, some
were pushing at the stern, themselves half buried in the waves, others
were trying to save the oars and light spars that were every now
and then snatched unexpectedly from a point that had hitherto
seemed out of the reach of the enemy. A sloop of considerable size,
which, on account of the threatening appearance of the weather
last night, had been drawn up the beach much higher than her
usual mark, was now completely surrounded every time the surf
rolled in, and the most energetic efforts were making to drag
her up still higher. A dozen men were at work at a capstan
placed in the middle of the street, others were laying down slapers
on which she might slide, others were watching eagerly to
recover these timbers as one or more would be carried off by every
great wave that broke against the ship, and now and then
a poor fellow threw up his arms with a cry of pain when he
was some precious oar or spar or paddle carried off quite beyond
his reach. Our attention had been diverted from the brick by
this new excitement, but was soon recalled to it by a fresh alarm.
A mighty wave came thundering in, and, at a single bound,
leaped over the third pile, and though it carried away none of
the brick the poor labourers saw that it must be instantly removed
'lest a worse thing should come upon it.' Again they set to
work, and with many a recruit, too. But the case seemed a
desperate one, almost every wave that rolled in either surrounded or
overflowed the heap, and the men could scarcely stand up against the
shock of the foaming surf. We longed to go down and help them -
in fact the
our
excitement was greater than one could imagine to be
caused where there was so little at stake. Mr Marsh said he would
willingly pay for the brick if the poor fellows would give up the
fight - but this would not have satisfied them, they were deter-
-mined to be conquerers. Two boats were now placed so as to act
as a break-water, and, partially protected in this way, the men
worked to more advantage, and in an hour nearly all the brick
were lying safe above the road. The sloop was brought up so
high as to be safe
secure
from thumping, and the fishing smacks were
nearly all drawn across the road, and most of the men and women
went home - I hope to comfort themselves with dry clothes and a
breakfast. Now came the time for the younger boys, and glorious
sport they had. Some little fellows of five or six sat down in the
stern of the boats nearest the water, and looked out upon the roaring
foaming sea with the gravity of old philosophers. I longed to
know their thought. Others drew hasty lines with a stick on the
beach where the water had fallen back for a moment, and after
the next surge ran down to see if the mark had disappeared. Here
one would plant a stout branch in the sand, calling to his fellow
to bring a stone to fix it more firmly, and then watch to see if the
next wave would carry it off. Sometimes they seemed to find a shell - a
rarity on this coast - and this was pocketed with no small triumph.
At other times the little fellows would wait, low down
on
the beach, to
receive the shock of the in-coming surf, and I trembled with the expec-
tation of seeing them overthrown and swept away. They however were
experienced enough not to risk too much, and always beat a rapid retreat at
the sight of the largest waves. I found the window so attractive
that I could not leave it during the whole day. Wrapt in my shawl
and pillowed up in a high chair I sat all day watching, now the
great waves as they rolled up the beach just before the house, now the
still longer ones at the right
left
hand in front of the village, now those
that broke against the old castle-wall to the right, and the still wilder
foaming and leaping and dancing of those that struck the rocks a little
farther on in the direction of Voltri. There was another feature in the
scene that gave me scarcely less pleasure than the majestic roll and roar
and dash of the [illegible] sea - the exquisite and every varying colour
of the
its
surface. Sometimes the horizon-line, - now very irregular by reason
of the great troubling of the deep - was of a dark wine-colour, and
within, of a more bluish purple, then a pale pure green, then a band
of faintest rose. Sometimes these colours were so shaded, or rather
graduated, the one into the other that the eye could not distinguish
where the one began, and the other ended - at other times the
line that divided them was as distinct as sudden contrast could make it
The arrangement and intensity of these colours depended upon the position
of the sun, the greater or less density of the clouds, and the force of
the wind, and they were, of course, perpetually changing. When the
increasing twilight prevented me from seeing longer, I left my window
saying to myself: 'who could ever feel lovely beside the great and
living sea'!
Tuesday 25th
Little change in the weather, - which kept
us at the window half the day, to the great detriment of work -
till towards evening. Then the wind rose and the waves
came in with renewed fury. The fishermen came out now
and then to see that all was snug, but the human interest
of the scene was less than yesterday. By ten P.M. the roar
of the sea was really terrific, and we expected to see the
whole road overflowed in the morning.
Nov. Wednesday 26.
Things were quieter this morning, and
on looking out to see what mischief had been done in the
night we were surprised to find that the sea had thrown up
in its violence a high rampart of pebbles and large stones,
so as completely to protect the road against its own assaults.
Around the old castle and to the west of it the waves
rolled up as high as ever, but just before our house they
could no longer climb above the rampart of their own
erection. One philosophical observation I have made
during this storm. The genus puer as seen in Pegli cor-
-responds precisely with that found in the State of Massachusetts
where I was born. The proofs of this were numberless, but
the one which struck me most was the performance of
two or three youngsters, one of whom - ten years old perhaps -
having provided himself with an old carpenter's-hatchet
watched his opportunity when he was unobserved by the 'old
folks' to dig vigorously under the bank which the sea was
already fast undermining. His companions in mischief stood on
the bank above, and by energetic stamping broke off great
masses of earth thus underminded. In this way they managed
to hurry the work of destruction very considerably, and one poor
fisherman was obliged to make another move with his boat,
the little promontory
of earth
on which it rested being completely
melted away by the help of these little rascals. - We had
a grand lesson from Signor Campazzi last night - among other
things learned to play Mora.
Thursday Nov. 27th
About half past six this morning Mr M__ called me
saying there was a remarkable sunrise in prospect. In a moment
I was wrapped, and leaning from my window, turned my face
'right against the eastern gate.' Were any painter able to
paint paint faithfully what we saw there, he would be
pronounced most false to nature. A heavy mass of
the blackest looking clouds seemed so near us as to lie this
side Genoa, and below this, a broad band of fiery red which we
now thought water and now sky. [illegible] Mr M. said that when he
first saw
it
he thought it was the reflection of some vessel on fire
near Genoa - that such a color just there could be nothing else, but
a tonger longer look showed him it was only the banner of the sun.
It was still so early that the morning star was shining above
the black, billowy-looking clouds with a calm br white brilliancy
that contrasted wonderfully with them and the blood-red
field still lower. But every moment brought a change.
The star grew paler on a soft green ground, the great cloud
veil was rent and showed patches of the same crimson
behind it, clear white rays shot from beneath the upper
edge of the black vapour like the [illegible] tail of some
giant comet - the red became a saffron then gold and
at last the dazzling rim of the great luminary itself
flashed out, and, heaving up as it were by pulses, in a
moment more the full flaming orb seemed to stand
on the promontory just the other side of the queenly city.
Before this consummation however, the clouds had passed
through a thousand transformations of form & color
and the sea exhibited phenomena no less interesting.
We sat down to breakfast praising in full chorus the climate
and the sunsets and sunrises of Pegli. - At one P.M.
Mr M. & Alex started for Turin, leaving Carrie & me
with Giachino to care for us till saturday. We could
hardly do any thing but play,
after they left
the soft air and bright sun-
shine were so tempting. The evening Mr & Mrs Tebbs spent
with us. They are saints - real saints, and I was almost ashamed
to tell such kindly generous souls so many unpalatable things about
England as I did. Still it is now no moment for an American to
hesitate to speak plainly, and I cannot lose the opportunity of
enlightening, as far as is in my poor power, a thoroughly honest
truth loving reader of the Times as to the
true
character of state-
ments he has been in the habit of accepting as the best of
human gospel.
Friday 28th,
We had ten hours - between a most magnificent
sunrise and an equally fine sunset - of summer temperature in our
drawing room. We had only to allow the sun to come in and there
was no necessity for fire. Carrie and I worked and played alternately,
as wise children should, and the hours flew very fast. In the
evening the Italian lesson came off. 'The Professor' forgot to be on his
good behaviour - the Tebbses having given him a hint that English
and American ladies didn't like 'Dio Mio,' etc and exclaimed sev-
-eral times over the examples in his grammar "Che diavolo! che
diavolo!" I was not so shocked, but that the exclamation and
the gesticulation that accompanied it diverted me extremely.
Saturday 29th
Mr Marsh and Alex. came back from Turin
at half past three, bringing a new supply of shuttle-cocks and
a quantity of grissini, not to speak of weightier matters. We
had read the Discussion between the Ministry and the Opposition
which has been going on for some days, with great interest,
and I was anxious to know if I should be borne out in my
estimate of the pityable feebleness of Rattazzi's defense of
himself and collegues. I find this is the universal judg-
-ment, and everybody says the Ministry will go down un-
-less sustained by the throne in the face of the will of the
nation. Ratazzi has private business as well as public, on
hand just now. He has taken the notorious Madame Saulmes [Solms]
- self-styled Princess - under his protection, goes to the
Casa d'Angennes twice a day to look after her, and
interposes his powerful arm between her and the lawyers
of the poor Countess Ghirardi, who has sued her ladyship
for rent, and would fain forcibly eject her. In the mean-
-time Alex. says the beautiful staircase which we took so
much pride last winter in keeping spotless, both carpet and
marble, and in ornamenting with rare plants, now looks
like the entrance to a gaming-house, and the handsome
court is literally turned into a stable. The Ghirardi
is frantic, and I really begin to be heartily sorry for her not-
-withstanding all the inconvenience and real injury which
her greedniness for an unreasonable rent, has caused us. To
have her lose her rent would be such a beautiful piece
of justice in kind, that I could not help being pleased at it,
but I dont want the poor thing to have her house and furniture
abused in this way. - There is a charming caricature out
representing Rattazzi with Madame de Saulmes on his arm, and
the pact Prati - fallen very low, alas! - trotting after them
with a foot-warmer for the lady. This was got up on occasion
of the late celebration at Asti in honour of Alfieri - Rattazzi
had the baseness to place that woman by his side on such
a national occasion. If the King stands this, I think he
need not have been so much disturbed when Mr Daniel
brought her uninvited to his ball. This remarkable woman,
still handsome, but very deaf, and, in many respects, very vulgar
in her manners, appeared the other day in the diplomatic Box
in the Chambers, introduced of course by His Exc'y, the President
of the Council. The Diplomats were some of them so foolish
as not to be willing to have her publicly seated by the side of
them and their wives. They talked the matter over, and Baron
Hochschild wrote a note to Sir James Hudson requesting him
as doyen to remonstrate, putting it expressly on the ground
of the infamous character of the woman. This M. Solvyns
thinks indiscrete - that it would have been better to
have objected simply to outsiders, there being so little room,
etc. I can't agree with Mr Solvyns and think Baron Hoch-
schild's course honest and honourable. The result was a
general order restricting the Box to the use of the Diplomats
solely.
Nov. Sunday 30th
Mr and Mrs Wheeler and the Valerioes came
out to dine with us, but so late that we had little time to
talk over the many things to be talked about - the French inter-
-vention, the Greek election, Gen. McCelellan [McClellan], Rattazzi, etc etc.
As there was no great difference of opinion however among us we
summed up very amicably. Mrs Valerio is bright and intelligent,
but from certain opinions expressed with regard to some eminences
of her own sex in New York, I fancy she bears 'no rival near
the throne'. Mrs Wheeler was too silent for me to comment
upon till I know her better. Valerio was lively and witty,
Wheeler grave and witty, - the latter quality I have never
detected in him before. We had a nice evening with the
Tebbses after they left. We set Miss Tebbs to guess out the
real name of Mr Valerio from the pet form used by his wife
- Pinotto, and she was much amused when we took Giuseppe,
and followed on from Beppo, Beppino, Beppinotto to Pi-
-notto. Mr Marsh told her one might go on indefinitely from
Pinotto - to Pinottino, Mottino,
Tino
Tinetto, Tinello etc,
which brought up Washington Irving's famous etymology of Mango
from Jeremiah [illegible] King.
Monday December 1st
For this cold sunless day we have not
the compensation of a headlong surf. The wind blows off shore, and
though the sea is rough enough in the distance, our little bay is smooth
as glass. It is a good day for work and by the help of the battledoor
and shuttlecock once in an hour or two Mr Marsh and Carrie contrived
to keep warm without a fire. Darkness came very early but Signor
Campazzi helped us off with the long evening -
Tuesday 2nd Dec.
No improvement in the weather which is
grim enough. All the mountains in our sight are covered with snow
and the outdoor temperature even here is 47 Fahr. We had a
fire made for the Tebbses this evening, as we thought 59
rather low for Mr Tebbs - We were warmed up a little
ourselves by the confirmation of the report of Rattazzi's
resignation. It is doubtful whether a more liberal Ministry
will follow, but we may at least hope for one less sub-
-servient to Napoleon. There seemed to be a general impression
that the King might be induced to sustain Rattazzi in the
face of his people by proroguing the Parliament, or some other
method not less unpalatable, but Victor Emmanuel still
prefers to be the Re Galant'uomo that he has ever shown
himself. It is still doubtful whether Cassinis or Pasolini
will either of them dare to assume the responsibility of forming
a new Ministry.
Wednesday Dec. 3rd
A brilliant day of sunshine which brought
our thermometer up to 65 again,
and
made us forget the sourness of
the two last days. Mr Botta came out at 4, and dined here
with Signor Campazzi - I was not well enough to leave my
room, and a boil on my face prevented me from even seeing
Mr Botta, but I hope for a longer visit from him when he
returns from f Florence and Naples. Mr Botta complains that
the progress in Italy is less that he had hoped, and he says that
he told Rattazzi that an importation of twenty thousand
yankees here would do more for them than in one year than
the next ten were likely to do.
Thursday Dec. 4th
We had no sun today, and the thermometer
not being quite up to 58 we concluded to try a fire. We
had complained of the first basket of wood for which we paid 4
francs, as being poor both in quality and quantity, it having consisted
chiefly of little bunches of brush, and the whole contents of the bashed [basket] would
not have made one good Vermont fire. This time the boy came up
staggering and panting under his load. The little basket was set down,
the brush-wood for kindling, was piled on
it
afterwards, and
then
the fire was
lighted. We then proceeded to examine what was left in the box
basket.
In-
-stead of the brush as before, were a quantity of roots, half dry
and as solid as iron-wood. In the meantime we gathered around
the fire looking into it with painful anxiety. It was smouldering
away, almost without a blaze, and absolutely without warmth.
Again we had recourse to the basket - the brush would burn, the rest would
not. At last I said: 'if our Vermont friends - or indeed any other
American friends, could look in upon us now their first exclamation would
be - "is that all you can do on twelve thousand a year!"' This idea seemed
to rouse the pride of the Minister, who made a fresh and still more
vigourous assault upon the wood-basked. In another half-hour it blazed,
and rubbing his hands with satisfaction, he exclaimed - "Now that
is quite a fire!" - "Up to your position, eh?" - and looking at the
thermometer I found the exertions of an hour and a half hadn't
raised it a degree. "That thermometer is unfavourably placed," was
the answer, and accordingly we set it on the table, where, if the
fire blazed again, it couldn't fail to shine on it. In this way,
before bedtime we got it up to 59. If it is to cost us four francs
a degree all winter I think we shall have to contrive to get a
special allowance for fire-wood.
Nov Friday 5th December -
Once more we have sunshine, and the able-bodied
among our little household set off with Mr Campazzi for the Santuario back of Sestri.
The walk proved a four hours one, and they returned only in time to dress for dinner.
We find no inconvenience from the cold when we have sunshine.
Saturday 6th
The sunshine kept us warm again today.
Mr Marsh worked at his book without interruption all
the morning, and took a long walk towards evening going
some distance beyond Voltri. My lot - as it has been nearly
every day this week - was to be in bed nearly all day.
Sunday 7th
I was "struck all of a heap" as our
elegant English
women
neighbors would say, this morning by a
note from one of our Turinese fashionables, proposing to come
down here, and put herself under our wing for the winter -
being tired, as she says, of visits &c-. In this respect
I think we know her better than she knows herself. She
has had some social vexations, and she now fancies she
could be happy in a retirement like this - But she would
soon be miserable herself, and make us miserable by con-
-suming our time which we came here to try to save. I
I got up hoping to join the Tebbses at the dinner-table,
but this unlucky letter, or something else quite knocked
me up, and I was soon obliged to be put into my
bed again. In the evening amends was made for
the bad news of the morning by an apparently well-
authenticated report that Massimo d'Azeglio was
in treaty for rooms here as he wished to pass the
next too two months at Pegli. If this should turn
out to be true we should be delighted.
Monday December 8th
Mr Marsh set off for Turin at 4,
leaving me still in bed. The Strettells dined here,
also Signor Campazzi, and I was very sorry that both
Mr Marsh and I should have been absent from table.
Mrs Tebbs came in after dinner, partly to keep Carrie company
during her lesson, and I asked her to come in and sit with me a few
minutes. She is a dear good soul - osci!
Tuesday December 9th -
There was nothing new in the routine of
our life today. We were kept warm by the great bright sun,
and Giachino, who has to do my play as well as my work,
tossed the shuttlecock with Carrie when she was tired
of study or writing -
Wednesday 10th
Carrie went to Genoa with the Tebbses
- all to make some purchases
in a bazaar
for the benifit of a foreign
hospital - and they all returned together with Mr Marsh
at half past three - Mr Marsh tells me the new Ministry
gives general satisfaction. They are strong men, and all
the kingdom is represented - Of course it is idle to talk of
Rome at present, but they may make progress in other directions.
Nothing else new in Turin. Our home news is unim-
-portant, except signs of defiance in case of any impertinent
interference on the part of European governments.
Thursday 11th
After a good morning's work Mr Marsh
and Carrie took a stroll in the red sunshine of the hillsides,
and brought home a quantity of pretty wild-flowers, looking more
like spring than winter. I went down to the dinner-table
for the first time for ten days, and was glad to meet our
nice English family once more. We have had many a
good hearty laugh by ourselves over good Mr Tebbs's ingenu-
-ity in bringing in an anecdote of some Bishop a propos
of every thing that may happen to be the subject of conversation.
Today we were speaking of the beaver story, with the drawing,
in the London News, and from the beaver had passed
to the otter. Mrs Tebbs inquired if the otter was found
in England. "Oh, yes, yes," replied the husband, with much
vivacity, "and I can tell you how
I know.
Some years ago I was
requested by good Bishop Otter to pay a visit of remon-
-strance to a very unworthy clergyman of his diocese, whose
fox-hunting and profanity had made him the scandal of the
country. The shameless man
who had powerful family connections
replied that if his lordship
persisted in interfering with his fox-hunting, he should certainly
take to otter hunting!" I could scarcely keep my countenance
till we left the table, and as soon as we reached our room
a simultaneous laugh broke from us all. - In the evening
our excellent friends came to us again, and though Mr Tebbs
still talked chiefly of Bishops yet his conversation is always
lively and instructive, and deeply characterized by Christian
feeling. He gave us tonight an interesting account of the
circumstances of the translation of the Bible into the spoken
language of Abysinia, and of his own share in the work of
copying from the original manuscript for the printer em-
-ployed by the Bible society.
Friday, December 12th
This morning my maid brought me
the Opinione containing the horrible story of the murder of
Signora Statella by Marie Sophie, ex-queen of Naples.
The dreadful tragedy has long been whispered about, but the
solemn denials of its truth so often made officially at Rome,
had nearly silenced the terrible scandal - when lo, it comes up
again in a more authentic form than ever. I confess myself greatly
shocked, for I had admired the spirit and pitied the fate
of this young queen, and did not believe in the wild tales
of crime and violence told to her disadvantage. Is it then
possible that the infamous vices and crimes which we shudder
to read about in History are still exemplified in the lives of
kings and courts of
at
this very day?
Saturday 13th
Letters and papers from home occupied us for
some time this Lett morning, and later Mrs Valerio came
out from Genoa. We had to compare notes as to the intelligence
and the general impression of hone [home] affairs as conveyed by our private
correspondence, but we could not manage to get much consolation
out of it in any way. Mrs Valerio says that her brother Lorenzo,
just made Senatore del Regno, is pleased with the new
Ministry, and hopes Italian matters may go on better.
Sunday Dec. 14th
This morning we finished the Adieux
of Adolph Monod - the latter part of the book evidently
written out with more care, and in other respects, too,
it pleased us better. It is an interesting, touching relic,
but I can't imagine how any one could ever think of it in
connection with the Confessions of St Augustine. A violent
headache made the day long to me - Carrie brought home
a nice pleasant sermon of Mr Vennibles', Mr Tebbs son-in-
law, of which we enjoyed the reading.
Monday 15th
This is the third cloudless day we
have had in succession, and the thermometer stands
at 60 in the morning, 65 at mid-day. Mr Marsh
and Carrie really complain of the heat when they take the
least exercise. Mrs Tebbs brought me a handful of the
loveliest roses
just
gathered in the open air. So far we find the
climate all we could desire. Mrs Tebbs in her walk found
hay-making going on, not on a large scale, to be sure,
but in the lawns belonging to the villa's. Our family
letters were more consoling than usual this morning, still
political affairs were are not what we could wish.
Tuesday December 16th
Mr Marsh and Carrie took a long walk
up the Val Varenna, and came home loaded with
wild-flowers, heaths, and winter-berries, black and red, so
that we were able to make up a gay bouquet. It is such an
advantage to be where one can take such walks, especially
for Mr Marsh who writes so many hours steadily. I try to persuade
him not to work as hard, but Adam-like he answers that the
fault is all mine - that he should never have made books but
for me - and that no man ever had so hard a mistress
since the time of the late Mrs Durer.
Wednesday 17th
We had an amusing instance this
morning of Italian ingenuity, as well as a proof of Italian
patriotism. I thought we had seen the red, green, and
white, produced in every possible comf combination and
in every material, and in every article that Italian fancy
could contrive, but this morning we had something new -
a tri-color salade - composed of beets, potatoes and olives,
disposed with an unmistakable eye to the flag. I
wonder if the Stars and Stripes are petted to this extent in
America even now. At one Mr and Mrs Valerio came
down to spend the day with us - We could not have asked
for a finer sky and temperature for them, and Mrs Valerio
found our room almost too warm without a fire - far
warmer, she says, than her own in Genoa where she keeps
a constant fire.
Thursday Dec. 18th
Again the day has come around that takes
Mr Marsh to Turin. He left soon after one, having done
a full day's work first. I hope he may get an answer of
peace from our Government in reference to the generous
offer of Garibaldi and his heroic little band, though I have
little hope that it will be accepted. A day or two since
Mr Marsh received a most prudent, as well as most
hearty note from the General himself ~.
Friday - 19th
We were scarcely ready to sit down quietly this
morning when I received Commodore Thatcher's card.
He came up, and though we had never met before, we
found so many things to talk about at this distance from our
country and in this critical moment of her national life,
that four hours flew away like an ordinary morning visit.
We did not agree in everything certainly, but the Commodore
loves his country, and would die for it, and that is enough
to make me like him.
Saturday 20th Dec.
My admiration for the climate here grows stronger every
day. This morning we have been sitting with the drawing-room
-windows open all the morning, the temperature is perfect -
the sea rolls in magnificently, and the smell of the salt-
water is most refreshing. The orange harvest is just
beginning - how can we go to back to Turin now ?
Mr Marsh returned at nine this evening bringing nothing
of importance from Turin. The Casa d'Angennes is still in
possession of the self-styled princess. The countess has
seized the horses of the grande dame, and her baker,
butcher, grocer etc., having refused further supplies without
some signs of pay, Rattazzi has come to the rescue, and
furnishes Madame's table daily. The ex-Minister, in
thus publicly protecting a woman as infamous shows a
want of self-respect that one would hardly have expected
even from him. Her age, her deafness, and her ill-breeding,
- to say nothing of other things, would probably have out-
-balanced any personal charms she may still possess,
if it were not for that very slender thread which con-
-nects her with the Bonapartes.
Sunday 21st Dec -
We had no visitors from Genoa today
and had a quiet pleasant Sunday to ourselves
Monday 22nd
Carrie went to Genoa to look up Christmas
presents. Mr Marsh worked hard at his book all the
morning. We get little time to read together now except
Sundays. We have on hand through Mare Monnier's "La
Camorra", and Michelet's "Sorcière". The former
is very curious, the latter, though in some respects
false in principle, is full of interest. He speaks of a
friend of his as being the last survivor of the Middle
Ages. I fancy this might be said with more truth
of Ricasoli than of any man now living, though in
some essentials the stout-hearted Baron is a man of
this Age. Mr Marsh had the distinguished Marchese
Pare to Pareto
for a travelling companion from Turin saturday
and found him most intelligent on all scientific subjects, es-
pecially on geographical & geological matters. In fact
I think he stands very high as a geologist. Signor Campazzi
says the Marchese is considered as a liberal with a hue strong-
-ly inclining to red. -
Tuesday 23rd
Mr Lowe and Mr Wallace, officers from
the Constellation, came down to Pegli this morning. They are
both gentlemen, and hearty patriots, though Mr Wallace is
from Tennesee. They both want the rebellion put down,
and are ready, I have no doubt, to die in the cause, but
curious enough, even Lowe, a Massachusetts man, evidently
thinks that Slavery is the last thing that ought to be
meddled with. Oh, the infatuation with which this most
subtle of poisons has filled us! These gentlemen both are very
hopeful, even confident of an early restoration of the Union, and the
account they give from personal knowledge of the state of feeling
among the middle and lower classes in Florida and Alabama at
the outbreak of the rebellion is most interesting. They confirm
the often-repeated statement that the majority of the people in those
states were then in favor of the Union, and if they could have
had protection and arms, they were ready to fight for it.
Carrie and Miss Tebbs strolled for several hours of the hills
in search of Christmas evergreens, and returned loaded with
treasures, among which was the beautiful English holly,
a novelty to us.
Wednesday 24th -
Carrie and I were obliged to give our
morning to 'baby-things' for a Christmas-tree which the
Tebbses are getting up for the little Strettells. I sometimes
ask myself what is to be the end of all this unbounded
devotion to children. One of these little Strettells already
possesses twentyseven dolls, and other playthings in propor-
-tion. These toys are now heaped upon children in advance
of the age at which they could possibly enjoy them, and in
this way they are deprived of every real pleasure in them. They
are made selfish while they are little, and are blasés before
they are grown. I could not give an hour to this worse than
folly if it were not for the fear of wounding our friends
the Tebbses. It is not
to
the tree, but to its extravagant fruits that I
object.
Thursday - Dec. 25 - 1862
Nothing could be quieter than our Christmas which
was a great comfort to me, as my heart is this year in no
mood for gaieties. The illness of Mr and Mrs Tebbs in the morning
kept them from church - the tree frolic was postponed to
New Years, and we had no interruptions of any kind through
the day. In the evening we were all well enough to
gather at the dinner-table, and the three new guests
who have been with us two days, helped us make quite a
table-full. After dinner our friends came in to us and we
had a pleasant chat of an hour. Among the subjects discussed
was the famous Letter, or rather Letters, of Mr Wordsworth, trans-
-lated into Italian, and signed 'Un Ecclesiastico.' I told
Mrs Tebbs that I did not like the idea of a clergyman
belonging to the English Church writing a Letter to the
Italians on Church questions, in a form and with signa-
-ture intended to make them believe that it came from
a priest of their own Romish Church - that however good it
might be in itself it was not honourable to try to insinuate
even truth under false colours - and I asked her if this was
not exactly what we complained of in the morality, or rather
immorality of the Jesuits. She answered as I should
have expected from so single-minded a person - said
that she had already told Mr Strettell that she did not like
the principle of the proceeding, and furthermore that Signor
Campazzi (straight-forward truth-loving soul that he is) had
told her that he was much pained by the want of frankness
shown in the form and signature of these Letters - that
they would do no good in Italy, for the circumstances
facts
would
certainly be known, and would give a great shock to
Italian faith in English truthfullness. Mrs Tebbs then
asked me if Mr Marsh had not spoken to Mr Strettell or Mr
Tottenham on the subject. I said no, because he thought
they would set it down as a foolish Puritan prejudice on
his part - that
and
I then said, I shall certainly do so myself
[illegible] as soon as I have an opportunity. Mrs Tebbs also added
that when they were first told that the Letters were by Mr
Wordsworth, but that this fact must be kept secret, both
she an Mr Tebbs were quite at a loss to understand the object
of the secrecy, and it was only when explained by Mr Cam-
-pazzi, that they fully understood it. She is resolved as
soon as she sees Mr Strettell to ask him how he would
like to have a Romish priest succeed in giving circulation through
-out the English Church to one of his Letters, the impression
of that Church being that this Letter was written by one
of its own dignitaries.
Friday Dec. 26th
Our friend Campazzi passed a part
of the evening with us, and gave us much curious information
about prominent events and persons during the last fifteen
years. He has evidently been on very intimate terms with
Massimo d'Azeglio, especially in '47 at Rome. He tells
us that the fancied moral superiority of the Prince of Syracuse
over the rest of the Neapolitan Bourbons is a mistake. He
says he was himself living in Palermo while the Prince
was in Sicily, and that the general belief there was that
the professed liberality of the Prince was assumed
only that he might act the part of delator more success-
-fully. Also when in Rome d'Azeglio's account of him corresponds
entirely with his own observation and the opinion of the Sicilians.
Among other anecdotes of some interest as bringing out little
points in the characters of great men, he gave the history of a
temporary coldness between Gioberti and d'Azeglio. The latter
dedicated his book written in Rome to Cesare Balbo, as the
first Italian who had dared to write and speak freely on the
subject of Italian liberty. Gioberti was hurt by this dedication
as he had himself published his Primato more than a year
before Balbo had written on the subject, and, indeed, what
Balbo had written was little else than commentaries on
Gioberti. So far Gioberti seemed to have some cause for
feeling that justice had not been done him. D'Azeglio was
told that his friend was wounded, and thereupon gave this
explanation: "Gioberti did write his Primato before Balbo
published the work to which I alluded, - but where did
he publish it? Not like Balbo, in Turin, in the face of
the most despotic government, but in Brussels. All
I meant to say was that Balbo was the first who had
dared under the very eye of despotism itself, to write and speak
without restraint, and I am sure Gioberti will be as ready
as I am to recognize this merit." This explanation perfectly
satisfied Gioberti, and the friendship between the two was
as warm as ever.
Saturday Dec 27th.
I should have grudged the day consumed
in doll-dressing etc. still more than I do, had it not been
necessarily spent in bed, and in a state of body not fitted
for more serious employment.
Sunday Dec. 28th
Mr Marsh beguiled the long hours of a day of illness,
by reading to me, and in spite of much pain I should call
it a pleasant day but for the sad news that closed it in -
Burnside defeated, and forced to repass the Rappahannock!
Comment here, I leave to History. Providence certainly
seems against us. Dreadful as it is the loss of life and
the depressing moral effect of this repulse, I dread more
than all lest it should put McClellan once more at the
head of the Army - the very man whose stupid or treacherous
delays made it necessary for Burnside to fight this
battle in the rains and mud of a Virginia winter.
Monday Dec 29th.
After a night of unrest Mr Marsh rose this
morning too heavy-hearted, he said, to collect his thoughts
for book-making, and severely as I have suffered physically
all day I am rather glad of an excuse for not meeting
our fellow-guests at the table. When I took up the idea of
keeping something like a journal during our stay in Italy,
I intended only to note down facts and circumstances
that might have a general interest hereafter, and that
I might refer to with confidence when my memory
would not otherwise help me out, and I had no intention of
making it in any way personal. By degrees, however, though
I have abstained from recording severe family afflictions
and losses that have come upon us since we left our country,
matters more personal have crept in, until I am afraid
when I come to look over the record - if I should ever live
to do so - I shall find little in it of any value for the object
I at first purposed to myself. The condition of our Country
has been such that we have had little dispositon to seek
the society of those persons in whom we felt the strongest
interest before we came to Italy, and to whose political
position or literary eminence made it an object to know them.
The hope we then entertained of being useful to Italy by
pointing to our own successful experiment in civil and
religious freedom has grown fainter and fainter, and we
prefer retirement to the condolence of friends, or the
polite sarcasms of the lovers of tyranny. For these reasons
I have had less to record concerning persons likely ever
to be in any way historical.
Tuesday Dec. 30th
Mr Marsh set out for Turin at four cloudy as
the weather, and having me in bed. My entertainment
after he left were the additional items of the last telegram
taken from the London Times. The intimations as to
what Lincoln would probably do, would be less stinging
did not the feebleness of the Administration thus far
warranted the fear that the prophecy might prove
to be true.
Wednesday Dec. 31st
A day not worth making a note upon
except for the reason that, if I allow one day to pass at without
at least marking its date, I fear I shall soon grow careless
about writing at all - excusing myself from day to day on the ground
that, out of our own inner life, nothing has occurred about us
worth recording. The little energy left me from pain & weakness
to-day, was devoted to superintending the dressing of a doll in the Turk-
ish costume of Constantinople - for the New-years' tree.
Thursday Jan. 1st, 1863
I dragged myself into the drawing room just in time
to receive Mr & Mrs Valerio. The latter & I fought a little, as we
always do when we meet, - this time over Fanny Kemble Butler. After
a half hour's lively chat & a cup of chocolate, they left me to go
and dine with the Sadas in Sestri. The little Strettell girls
then came in to see me - the youngest, little Alma, eight years
old, brought with her associations that almost overcame me, but
I was able to recover myself. Mrs Strettell herself came later
& was very kind & sympathising, and Mr Strettell spent an hour with me
later. I found him well acquainted with American literature, a great
admirer of Lowell, Holmes etc. As to the latter, when I remarked
that I never read his prose without being painfully impressed with the
conviction of the deep unrest of the soul from which it came, Mr
S. said that precisely the same impression was made on him, that
the very bitterness with which he,
Dr H,
assaulted certain creeds distasteful
to him was tremulous with his own uncertainties. No one, certainly,
can esteem Dr Holmes less for being a seeker after truth. Such
doubting as his is better a thousand times
than
that utter want of all thoughts
tha which so often passes for faith. But it would certain surely
be more graceful & more modest on his part to abstain
from attacking so virulently the beliefs of other until he has
himself made sure of some shining truth to give in place of
what he would take. - In the evening we all gathered
round the tree which was gay with flags & dolls & sugar plums
and fairies. Mr Strettell, after the distribution of the treasures, showed
the children the magic lantern, then followed charades, snap-
dragon & the usual Christmas games. Young Mr Strettell
however was very anxious to talk over American affairs &
we too soon forgot games and every thing else in our
zeal in our subject. He wished to know 'why we complad
complained
of England' and I told him. As, fortunately, I was able to sup-
port my statements by English admissions, the young
gentleman was soon hard pushed, the Baroness Gautier - a
most intelligent and lovely woman - turned from the
plays to listen, and I soon found myself the orator of the
evening, with a most attentive audience. Indignation and the
deepest feeling on
the
subject supplied
me
with words even in a foreign language
and when, at twelve o'clock, I sat down before my own dressing
glass and saw my crimson cheeks and eyes in which the fire was
still burning, I could not help smiling - half in shame at my
warth warmth, half in pride at the truths I had brave
enough to utter whole & unvarnished.
Jan 2nd. Friday
A sleepless night, or almost so, the natural consequence
of my little strength and great zeal last evening, leaves me
dull to-day, and half ill - Mr Marsh returned at
9 P.M. from Turin. His interview with the king was
highly satisfactory, and the terms in which His Majesty
expressed his deep sympathy with our Government and his
regard for Mr Marsh personally were most gratifying.
[illegible] What a shame that everything should be published
in such a way from our State Dep. that no minister dares
write even his Despatches with full freedom. Great regret
& indignation is felt at Turin at the recall of the Prussian
Minister Count Brasier de St Simon, who has been a staunch
friend to Italy for eleven years. - The new Ministry is
popular and strong. Minghetti takes strong ground for
the cause of the North in our quarrel. the others friendly
but less demonstrative.
Saturday - Jan. 3d. The settlement of monthly bills
and a visit from the Consul used up the day for
me. I hoped that by this retreat into the country we
might reduce our expenses a little, but travelling back
& forth from Turin, charities, & churches and Christmas & N. Years
gifts & taxes have consumed every penny of our salary for
the month just finished - if we can only live here what
we shall do in Turin this year is a mystery.
Sunday Jan 4th
Mr Tebbs before going to church sent us in the
three sermons of Arthur Perrhyn [Penrhyn] Stanley on the inspiration
of the Scriptures, and we read the two first with great interest,
and I have no doubt we shall find the third equal to the others.
Whatever may be said of the darkness of the signs of these latter
days, one thing at least it is pleasant to see; that Christians
occupying the most prominent positions are becoming more char-
itable in their views, are taking broader and higher grounds, and
are aiming at a nobler, a purer, and a more active Chris-
-tian life. This fact ought to afford us some consolation for
the terrible war which is ravishing one hemisphere and threat-
-ening the other. Mr & Mrs Tebbs with their daughter
Signori Campazzi and Cochetti spent the evening with
us. Poor Mr Tebbs has suddenly become so deaf that it is
almost impossible to converse with him. I hope it is
only temporary; he is really too much of a saint to need af-
-flictions of any kind.
Monday Jan. 5th
Our bright sunshine, which left us about a
week ago does not come back. It is not cold enough to really
to
require a fire, but the dampness makes very warm clothing most
comfortable.
Tuesday, Jan 6th
A rainy scirocco shuts us all up still, but the
graces & the volante furnish amusement & exercise for those who require
them, and it is a grand thing for those who wish to work - this exclusion
of outsiders.
Wednesday Jan. 7th
Windows and doors were rattling, and shutters
flapping all night in something very like a gale. The scirocco
drove the rain against the windows with such force that we were
threatened with an inundation indoors. Our Milanese fellow guests,
who are not very familiar with the sea, were not a little frightened
to see it come roaring up to the very road, and seriously proposed
migrating from the second to the third story of the Stabilimento
for fear the Mediterrenean would really pour in at their windows.
For a novice the idea was not so strange, for it really
actually
seemed
sometimes as if the whole ocean was rolling in with the force
of a cataract. The water is yellow with the wash from the
torrents for a mile or more beyond the shore. Early in the
morning we had heavy thunder but it lasted only a
little while. Mr Marsh went out in the midst of
the storm to examine the swollen torrents which are
pouring down through the valleys - Altogether it is a
grand sight outside, but we cannot sit near enough
to the windows to enjoy it, for though by no means cold
the dampness of the wind, and the spray it drives in, make
it too chilly to do so. We have no fire, though I confess I
should not object to one were it not that the natives assure
us that we are better off without it, that it would soon become
indispensable, that we should then lose the benefit of a fine
climate etc.
Thursday Jan 8th
We have this morning American papers to the 23rd.
Burnside assumes the whole responsibility of the Fredricks-
-burg attack. The manly statement he makes, the heroic
assumption to himself of the blame, if blame there is, are
in glowing contrast with the dark hints of the shirkings
and the shrinkings of his predecessor in command. It seems
certain (though he does not say so himself) that if Burnside had
received his pontoons when he had a right to expect them his
success would have been complete. With such an officer we may
look for a different campaign another spring even if no more
can be done this winter. The Cabinet Crisis has ended in
smoke, and perhaps it is at [as] well. It may be that a change
at this moment would not have been wise, but it is to be
hoped that History will be discriminating enough to point out
the man or men who are really responsible for the half-
-way measures that have cost us so much blood and treasure
and inflicted such suffering upon other countries as well as
our own.
Friday Jan 9th
Carrie went to Genoa to-day to make the Valerios a
visit, Mr Delaplaine of N.Y. brought a letter of introduc-
tion
from our good friend Lippitt of Vienna. Mr Delaplaine, if I don't mis-
judge him, is a young man of fashion & fortune, of fair abilities, but of
no higher ambition than that of frequenting brilliant drawing-rooms.
If our now acquaintance had allowed his easy and agreeable
manner to testify as to his habitual associations he would
have made a far more favorable impression than he
did. But a certain nervous eagerness to sieze every occasion
to speak of his intimacy with Mr Motley's family at Vienna,
of his free access to all the Dip. corps at that court - in
short of his great acquaintances every where - gave him
a snobbish air that greatly detracted from his otherwise
gentlemanly bearing. - A lovely spring-like day - quite too warm
for fire.
Saturday, January 10th
Rainy & chilly again - snow not far
off on the hills I fancy. Prospect darkens as to a house
in Turin - lowest offer yet being 15000 frcs per annum
without any deduction in case of recall, change of seat
of government etc.
Sunday Jan 11th
Carrie came back from Genoa at 1/2. 12 with Alex__.
the Valerios did not come on account of the rain.
We read Dr Stanley's third Sermon on the Inspiration of
the scriptures - in the main admirable. In the evening
the Tebbses were with us - saintly souls that they are.
Monday, Jan 12
Mr Marsh left for Turin at 4 P.M. Mr Strettell
having made us a short visit first. An article in the
London Times this morning on the very subject on which
Mr Marsh is now preparing a book has made him a little
nervous lest he might be anticipated. This would be rather
hard when he has been studying the subject for so many years,
and only
being
prevented by adverse circumstances from giving his thoughts
upon it to the world long before. In this day however if a man
has anything to say he must say it at once, or he is certain
to be anticipated. This coincidence of thought for which
our age is so remarkable reminds one constantly of the
theory that ideas are floating about and strike on the
mental vision in a sort of random way - affecting now
this brain now that. One advantage will come of it, at
least - our thinkers will be the more modest for it.
The glory of the sunshine to-day atones for all the rain
of the last week. Our thermometer is once more at
65 F. and we are full of the praises of Pegli.
Tuesday Jan 13
Miss Tebbs & Carrie go to the Strettells to-day as they are
to have a Charade party there to-night. I am glad to have
C. join in these games which are no mean part of an education.
Wednesday Jan 14th
Mr. M. & Alex__ came back between 11&12 P.M. They
had been to see Count Brasiers castle at Piobesi on
the rail-way to Pignerolo, and think we may manage to
be comfortable there through the summer at least. Mr M. proposes
to take it from the first of March. The affairs of our country
now look so gloomy that we have little courage to make
arrangements for more than six months ahead. De Brasier
went with Mr M. to show his castle, and on the way told
some curious circumstances connected with the Greek Revolution
which drove out the Bavarians & gave obtained the Constitution
from the king. He attributes the movement & the execution
of it to our old friend Kallurgi [Kallergis] and really makes out
the general a thorough hero. - The Casa d'Angennes has
just been the theatre of a new comic-tragedy. The
man whom Mme de Saulmes has honored with the title
of husband was taken very ill there and actually died.
The bereaved widow - evil-speakers say
acting
in concert with
Rattazzi - thought this a favorable moment to escape
unnoticed, and accordingly, leaving the dead to bury their dead,
she made her [illegible] plans to have a carriage ready at
what she supposed a safe hour, and was just stepping
into it when a policeman came up and told her she could
not go. Then followed a scene - threats, persuasion, tears -
All wouldn't do. The Countess Gherardi's agent was inexo-
rable. Rattazza was sent for, but was equally unsuccess-
ful in his efforts to compromise, At last he promised
to be responsible for the rent due, but even this
was not accepted till he
gave
a pledge in writing.
Count de Brasier says the king himself told him that
'Rattazzi was so infatuated by that woman that he was
good for nothing.' Mr M. had no talk this time with
any one connected with the ministry except Spaventa
a round, grave little man who does not look much
as if he had lived so long in a Neapolitan prison.
Thursday Jan 15 -
This morning we decided to
take
the castle of the Count and
are to take possession the first of March. Carrie, who came
back from Genoa at three P.M., is delighted with the idea of
living in a castle which has an old Roman tower attached
to it - and had, besides, cloisters & a chapel. The fact that most
of the present inhabitable part is modern does not greatly
calm her imagination which revels in the prospect of haunted
corridors, hid treasures etc. By the way, the Count says that
when the present structure was built eighty thousand
lire in gold were actually found buried in vessels of
old Venetian glass.
Friday 16 Jan.
We were rejoiced last night by the news that the Pres.
had actually issued his Proclamation on the first of Jan. as
he had promised, though many feared without the courage
to perform. May this be the omen of better days for the Republic.
This is again the third day of rain - we get on without
fire, though I confess it would be more agreeable with
it. The sky looks better however & I look for sunshine
to-morrrow. Sat. 17 Jan -
Alas for my reputation as a seer.
Last evening I promised to be responsible for a fine day
to-day - and lo! an east wind, the sky covered thickly and
the rain falling fast! I sit in garments of humiliation -
but I can't help believing that if I had given the elements
on which I based my calculation to any one of my
craft he would have come to the same conclusion
that I did. After a three days rain from the east &
south, the wind changed to west and Northwest, the
clouds were soon swept away, and at 1/2 past 10 we
went to bed, a northwest wind blowing briskly, the stars
shining gloriously. At seven this morning the wind
was in the east again, and we are now apparently
at the beginning of another three days spell.
Sunday Jan 18th
The weather is so bad that even our church-going friends,
the Tebbs, could not get to Genoa for services. The reports
from the St Gotthard are most distressing - whole villages
buried by avalanches In one instance near Aivrola
more than thirty lives have been lost, and only seven of the
bodies have been found. Many other persons have perished
in the vicinity, and the destruction of cattle is very serious
At Locarno, on L. Maggiore, a church-roof was crushed
in, last sunday, by the [illegible] weight of the snow
and forty seven persons killed - all women & girls with
the exception of one old man. Even in Turin there
has been a great alarm about roofs. One house roof
has fallen in, the beautiful new wine market has been
crushed, and more accidents are feared. The workmen
employed to clear the roofs & streets have had a strike
declaring they would no longer do this severe & dangerous
work for a franc - 20cts. a day - when the proprietors
of the houses had tripp tripled their rents and when
the cost of living was so greatly increased for the poor man
as well as for the rich. It is a comfort to see these
poor down-trodden creatures beginning to understand their
rights and getting to assert them.
Monday Jan 19th
It seems to me I have never seen a lovlier day.
After so long a rain we looked for a cold north wind to bring a
clear sky - this morning was without a cloud, but so still
that not a leaf moved. And now at 3 P.M. our room is like
summer & the invalids are all sunning themselves out-doors on
the beach or in the gardens. Carrie has been with Mrs
Tebbs to pay the Baroness Gautier a visit at the Villa
Doria & has come back full of enthusiasm about the
charming Baroness and her charming apartment and the
wonderful garden with its oranges its camellias etc.
By the way we are glad to know the the Gautiers
have a
summer
villa near our castle at Piòbesi, - what a
name! It must have been bestowed by some old Hun
or Vandal before he was had been [illegible] converted
to Christianity.
Tuesday Jan. 20th
Mr Field & Mr Vincent from the U.S. came here
this morning, both clergymen I think - the latter I am sure is.
He is in the worst of health. Poor man - he had been obliged to
pass some weeks in England & Scotland lately, and he is as full
of indignation as a Christian can be at the spirit generally manifested
towards our country in this her day of darkness. If it
is
true that ad-
versity teaches us who our reall real friends are we need be at no loss
how to class Great Brittain after this. Mr Field is from Illinois
an instructor, and, I fancy, preacher besides, at any rate he is ear-
nest & intelligent. He says he amused himself and his English
fellow guests at the hotel sunday eve by reading to them Mrs Stowes
late letter to the women of England. Mr F. is on his way to
Palestine. - The Opinione to-day gives an account
of another fearful avalanche which the other day buried
a whole village not far from Domodossala. More
than eighty persons perished. Our visitors who left Turin
saturday says that there was at least 2 feet of snow in
the neighbourhood - that at La Tour it was much deeper
and Dr Malan told them that the valley was full of
anxious hearts dreading every moment the thunder and
the crash of the avalanche. They also say that when they
entered the tunnel a few miles north of Genoa the whole
face of the country was thickly covered with snow
and wore in all respects the aspect of a severe winter.
7 minutes after, they emerged from the tunnel, - an almost
tropical landscape was spead [spread] out before them, bathed
in a soft scirocco and golden with ripe oranges. -
They looked at
the
roses and narcissuses which Alex. had just
brought me from the garden with evident wonder.