be acknowledged, that the marbles, statues, and paintings that generally adorn the spacious apartments, oftentimes compensate the caprice that deforms the exterior of these edifices. In fine, with regard to buildings, we may generalize and apply to Italy the observation which was originally made on Rome, that no country presents so many specimens both of good and of bad architecture.

;

Of museums, galleries of paintings and statues, public libraries, &c. I need only say that they exist in almost every town in Italy, and open an ample field to the exercise of observation and curiosity. And here let me recemmend to the traveller, with due attention to his health and fortune, to spare neither pains nor expense, in order to acquire every previous information and to explore, when travelling, every recess and visit every object, without relying too much on the representations of others: as the common guides are lazy and interested, Cicerones are often ignorant, and writers as often wrong, through want of opportunity, of knowledge, or of exertion, and not unfrequently from too great an attachment to their own systems.

CONCLUSION.

But one final observation, I wish to impress strongly on the mind of the youthful traveller, as its object is intimately connected with his present repose and with his future happiness. Moral improvement is or ought to be, the end of all our pursuits and of all our exertions. Knowledge, without it, is the amusement of an idle moment, and the great and splendid exhibitions which nature and genius present to our contemplation are merely the shifting scenery of an evening drama-delightful but momentary. Let him therefore look continually to this most important attainment, and while he endeavors every day to increase his store of knowledge, let him exert himself with still greater assiduity to add to the number of his virtues.

Nations, like individuals, have their characteristic qualities, and present to the eye of a candid observer, each in its turn, much to be imitated, and something to be avoided. These qualities of the mind, like the features of the face, are more prominent and conspicu ous in southern countries, and in these countries perhaps the traveller may stand in more need of vigilance and circumspection to guard him against the treachery of his own passions, and the snares of external seduction. Miserable indeed will he be, if he shall use the liberty of a traveller as the means of vicious indulgence, abandon himself to the delicious immorality (for so it has been termed) of some luxurious Capital, and forgetful of what he owes to himself, to his friends, and to his country, drop one by one as he advances, the virtues of his education and of his native land, and pick up in their stead the follies and vices of every climate which he may traverse. When such a wanderer has left his innocence and perhaps his health at Naples: when he has resigned his faith and his principles at Paris; he will find the loss of such inestimable blessings poorly repaid, by the languages which he may have learned, the antiques which he may have purchased, and the accomplishments which he may have acquired in his journey. Such acquirements may furnish a pleasing pastime; they may fill the vacant intervals of an useful life; they may even set off to advantage nobler endowments and higher qualifications: but they can never give the credit and the confidence that accompany sound principles, nor can they bestow, or replace

"The mind's calm sunshine and the heartfelt joy,"

at once the effect and the reward of virtue. These are the real, the permanent, I might almost add, the only blessings of life. He who possesses them can want but little more, and he who has forfeited them, whatever his fortune may be, is "poor indeed."

A CLASSICAL

TOUR THROUGH ITALY.

CHAP. I.

Departure from Vienna-Munich-Saltzburg-Salt Mines-Defile of the Alps-Inspruck-Ascent of the Brenner-Summit of the Alps-Descent-Brixen-Bolsano-Trent.

SOME travellers, having set out from England during the summer of 1801, met at Vienna the following autumn; and finding that their views and tastes coincided, agreed to make the tour of Italy together. Although eager to commence their journey, and reach its confines, they were detained by the charms of the Austrian Ca pital, which, since the manners of Paris have been bar. barized by the Revolution, has become the seat of politeness, and the school of refinement. An account of the state of society, as well as a description of the city itself, would be both entertaining and instructive; but, as Italy is the grand object of these volumes, the rea der will probably be as impatient as the travellers themselves, and dispense with details, which, however amusing elsewhere, would here only retard him in his pro gress. We shall, therefore, reserve the description of this city, as well as that of Munich and the intermediate

country, for our German tour, and only inform the reader, that on Thursday, January the twenty-eighth, 1802, we withdrew from the attractions of Vienna, and commenced our journey, which we continued through deep snow, with little interruption, till we reached Munich, where we arrived late at night on the following Monday. We devoted four days to the inspection of this Capital, and the usual ceremonies of presentation at court; and in justice to the Elector I must add, that by his affability and condescension, he converted this formality in general dull and tiresome, into a very pleasing interview.

On Friday the fifth of February, we set out from Munich at eleven o'clock at night. At break of day the Alps, just reddened by the beams of the morning, and mingling with the clouds, presented to our eyes a new and interesting object, and continued to attract our attention during the day, by shifting their situation with the windings of the road, and changing their tints with every shadow that flitted over them. We entered Saltzburg late in the evening.

We are now at the foot of the Alps; and considering ourselves as treading classical ground, we may be allowed to expatiate more at large on the surrounding scenery. The mountains, now rising immediately before us, were represented by the ancients as an insuperable rampart raised by nature to separate Italy from the less favoured regions of the north, and to protect her beauties and her treasures from the assault of barbarian invaders.* Though this natural barrier has long ceased to answer that end, because one or other of the petty powers possessing the defiles has usually been in the interests of the common enemies, yet it is well calculated for such a purpose; and may, in times more favourable to Italy, be rendered a frontier far more impenetrable than the triple range of fortresses, which guarded the northern boundaries of France, and on a late occasion saved that country from invasion and ruin.

* Herodian, II. 39, viii. 2.

These defiles, according to the same authors, were opened with incredible labor by the early inhabitants of Italy, and may be regarded as so many avenues leading to the garden of Europe.

Saltzburg, a subalpine city, is placed, as if to guard the entrance into the grand defile, which traverses the Rhetian Alps; and it may be considered, for that reason, as forming one of the outposts of Italy. The cathedral is built of fine stone, and has two towers in front. It is said to be one of the earliest specimens of Italian architecture in Germany, and is fashioned internally on the Roman model; that is, with the choir behind the altar, and a canopy over the latter, supported by four marble pillars, an exact copy, as our guide pretended, of a similar ornament in St. Peter's; yet, with all these supposed advantages, this church is neither large nor beautiful, and has little to boast of besides its solidity.

There are two palaces belonging to the Prince Bishop. In one there are several very fine rooms, in the other a spacious and most magnificent gallery. But the most striking object that Saltzburg presents, is a very noble gateway cut through the solid rock, which rises perpendicularly to a considerable elevation, is crowned with tall and spreading elms, and forms a natural rampart equally strong and beautiful. Through this mass of stone a passage has been opened, three hundred feet in length, thirty in height, and twenty-four in breadth. The inscription, in honor of the bishop who executed this noble work, is neat and appropriate -Te saxa loquuntur. This grotto opens on a little square, the principal ornament of which is an equestrian statue of St. Sigismund, in dress, attitude, and form, extremely elegant.

The situation of this city is, however, its principal beauty and advantage; in a valley watered by the Salza, open only to the north, and enclosed on the other sides by hills and mountains of various forms and magnitude. Upon one of these hills immediately contiguous to the town, stands the citadel, an edifice large and 7

VOL. I.