The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-12-29 00:00:00

the golden days of old !
and tears,

ost, the lov'd, the tree,

lie our ct

our youthful years I

;e golden hours are sped,

And many an eye that on as then
The light of calm affection shed,

Will Dever beam again

Since those who lov'd are gone,
And Ihose we love grow cold,

Let music
An echo o
Of th,

'oice awake a tone
le memories flown

olden days of old I

SKETCHES OF A. TRIP TO THE CONTINENT,
ITALY, ANID EGYPT.
BY EDWIN KEEP, ESQ.
No. V.

(Written for the Liverpool Standard.)

One great mistake, too generally adopted by the Eng-
lish people, is, that vast trouble, danger, fatigue, as well
as enormous expense, inevitably attend travelling on the
Co.itinant. Now this bugbear is quite as great a fallacy
as the one, that you are continually in danger of assassin-
ation from brigands, bandits, and bravos ! There were but
two cases of murder the five months I was at Rome. I
have gone from the theatres, concert, ball, and conver-
sazione at 11, 12, 1,2, & 3 o'clock at night without any
interruption, through dark streets, to my distant lodg-
ings near the Quirinal Palace, in the ill lighted, dismally
lamped, dark streets. I have occasionally seen in a cor-
ner the cloaked, muffled up, fiery eyed Italian, standing
in gloomy dark repose, waiting his time for the assigna-
tions of love or revenge ; but I was never molested, never
interrupted by any but the military guard. and to his de-
mand of " Who are you," and the shouldering of his
musquet, the reply of " A friend," in a loud voice, pro-
cures you a free passage and his protection. There was
one sad case of stabbing by a woman who was taunted and
called an ill-name by a boy in the Corso. She snatched a
knife from her stall, and mortally wounded the insolent
youth; but the other, as told by Chevalier Vetati, is too
interesting to be omitted. " Passing my way Fome down
the Strada d'Espagna," says the narrator, "just beyond
my lodgings, I saw a dark object lying in the middle of
the carriage road; on approaching it I heard mournful
groans, and saw the unfortunate young man prostrate in a
pool of blood. I asked him who did the deed, and lifted
him gently out of the horse road, but could get no reply.
Presently, he ejaculated in a low voice, Oh Lord receive
my soul," and, as I thought, fainted. Anxious not to be
seen with the dying man, I retired to my apartments,
which overlooked the street, watching from thence the
night guard going their rounds ; they lilted the victim up,
and he appeared to be quite dead. But these instances of
revenge are rare, and never scarcely happen to strangers
who have any provident care, and do not interfere with
the politics or religion of the Papal government; but if
you act the demagogue or revolutionist, be assured a spy
will be about your path, and you will be sent or put out of
the way very speedily. It is the law of Rome that if you
are, however humanely, assisting any' one dying by vio-
lence, that you must be shut up in close and almost so-
litary confinement for three days and nights, and the
most strict investigation and questions of the person thus
last seen with the victim takes place. A knowledge of
this prevents the frequent exercises of humanity, and poor
wretches die unheeded. During the two years and a half
1 was abroad, I only heard of four murders, the two fore-
going, one of a soldier at Venice, shooting his serjeant,
and the dreadful torture for many days, and murder by
the indescribable cruelty of a priest upon the body of his
nephew, a youth from Genoa. When Pope Gregory
heard the recital of the priest's heartless inhumanity, he
threw down his gold snuff box in rage, and indignantly
cried out, " Let him be punished for his unpardonable
atrocity." But he was left two years for repentance, and
often exclaimed, " Why don't they behead me at the front
of St. Peter's ?" Upon the other point next to personal
safety, your property and expenditure, I scruple not to
say, that any temperate careful person, with a slight
knowledge of French or Italian, might travel and live
better iq Italy upon one, two, or three hundred pounds
a-year, than they could live settled and seeing nothing
but the every day dull routine of life in England ; but this
must be observed, that if you wish to see the manners,
customs, arts, buildings, galleries, libraries, churches, and
ceremonies of a country, you must not gallop from one
town nor from one hotel to another. A young friend of
mine left London for Florence, and stayed a week at
Paris, and two dais at Genoa, and his expenses did not
exceed twelve pounds! but he was an economist. An-
other more dashing youth, ignorant of the money, care-
less of the exchange from notes to francs, from sovereigns
to scudi ; and these again down to the Italian grazim paula
and hajocchi ; such an one would have spent forty pounds
instead of less than twelve.

Mr. K., of Plymouth, told me he was deligh'ed with
Venice, but could not stay longer, it was so very expen-
sive. Himself, lady, son, and daughter were charged
ens pound pegs di... -foe sk.4 •p•.tm•..t• " W 6aSe
inquired he. " Let me see, for my snug