The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-11-10 00:00:00

Greek's, Dutch,

ut3 on 'Chang

fancy ball

by mountains to the north and east, and it lies open to
the south principally, which makes it pleasant even in
h uses, and esra-
to many of tbe,e

winter. The Q
blishment generally—is
infection-guarding prison-houses

ran tine

garde!

ry superi

There is a noble

prospect from the 'Castle of Notre Dame, without the
walls; and the public gardens, established by Napoleon,
are tasteful, and form a pleasant promenade for the Mar-
seilloise. Like most seaport towns, Marseilles exhibits
vice in its most coarse and revolting forms, and meretri-

cious creatures
catch and suck t

it, like spiders,
e life-blood of g

ver on the watch to

idy flies that pass un-

heeding by the webs of the sorceress

On my embarkation :or Civita Vecchia, on board the
Leopold the Second, one of Lord Chesterfield's beautiful
horses either slipped or was pushed off the crowded little
pier, and such a confusion took place! The horse swam
out to sea; boats in pursuit shouting, pulling, rowing,
swearing ; at last the pour beast was nearly strangled by
a stupid attempt to drag him up the side of one of the
vessels lying in the harbour. This circumstance, trivial
as it may appear, caused considerable uneasiness to that
very clever and excellent seaman, Captain Olive, whose
attention to the comfort, welfare, and property of his

_
passengers cannot be too highly praised. However,
horse, luggage, passengers, and all, at length safely on

board, we began our voyage; and here it may be observed,
how convenient it is that you may book for Genoa. Leg-
horn, Civita Vecchia, Naples, Sicily or Malta, ad libitum,
and with permission to stop at each place a few days, and
resume your voyage. Even in the month of December,
in moderate weather, how delightful a voyage is it,—
passing along the romantic coasts of the islands of Hye-
rus ; Elba, where the lion of the desert, Napoleon, broke
his parole, that he might again bring war, rapine, fire,
and desolation in his train, through all Europe ; his na-
tive isle, Corsica, still a blot in the page of civilisation,
where person, property, and life are so little respected ;
but already, after scanning the various hill and valley
scenery—the numerous villages, each, however small and
insignificant, with one or more spires of churches visible,
—we enter the bay or gulf of Genoa, its fine lofty tower,
on a rock, with a lighthouse, seen for many miles distant.
" Genoa la Superba l" how. delightfully interesting thy
ninety palaces, lofty houses, stately females, with their
snow-white floating mantillas fastened with silver °ma-
rnents to the crown of the head, upon their thick crisped
locks! Even the poorer countrywomen, with their chintz
pattern floating draperies, ornamented with birds, beasts,
fishes, monsters, fruits, and flowers, look cool, smart,
and clean, and have a novel charm to the English
stranger. I had formed an intimacy on board the
steamer with Dr. B , a Catholic priest, and a young
Irish gentleman, whose uncle had been shot in Ireland
by some of that misguided, ill-educated, and badly-
remunerated population. We took a carriage, and en-
joyed a delightful drive along the beautiful gardens that
surmount the highest part of the amphitheatre which
half encloses the city. The manufacture of silver filla-
gree work is very beautiful in Genoa. You may see the
girls in the shops, and at the doors, making brooches,
-i•Ts, which, although made
at half the price you could
inc churches and cathedral, of
are highly ornamented. St.

ear-drops, rin6
of pure silver, may be bought
get such in Englaryl
black and white m

Laurence boasts of possessing the mortal remains of
John the Baptist, said to have been brought from Lycia.
The Sacristan tells you the emerald vase was brought from
Caesarea, the same as the Queen of Sheba presented to
Solomon, but however insignificant these legends may ap-
pear, the power of the Catholic religion is in full force in
Genoa. While I was examining the paintings in one of
the churches, I heard the military word of command in a
loud voice, and about four hundred soldiers, fully armed
and equipped for marching, entered ; their tramp to time
resounding from the marble pavement through the aisles
up to the fretted roof, above the music of the brilliant
band outside playing to their entt e. After a few minutes
a dead silence ensued ; suddenly two drums played a
rattling roll from the altar; down prostrate were all the
soldiers with sach a clattering of their muskets on the
pavement, men and arms all alike prostrate ; then the
host was elevated, dulcet strains of music from the solemn
organ softening the soul to the divinest melancholy. An-
other silence, another peel from the drums, the cup is
raised, the benediction pronounced, another clattering of
arms in rising, and the soldiers went forth to kill or be
killed, as chance or fate may decide. " Ohl what a re-
ligion is this ? how finely does it harmonise with the
weakness of our nature'.—how forcibly it works on the

passions

strangely it
its forms !

s on the imagination !

how interestin

graceful its ceremoni

—how awful its rites!—what a captivating, what a pic-
turesque faith !—who would not become its proselyte
were it not for the stern dictates and opposition of reason,
the cold suggestions of philosophy ?" The outer of the
two walls of Genoa extends about ten miles, and its for-
tifications, with its bastions and 500 pieces of cannon,
render it impregnable. Massena declared, "had it not
been for want of subsistence, (for he and h's army were
obliged to eat their horses,) he could have held out for
ever?' Genoa has been subject to great vicissitudes, the
feuds between Spinola and Doria, when fierce fighting
for twenty-four days, and battering engines from each
others houses, filled the city with ruin and bloodshed.
In 1336 formidable fleets were fitted out to aid Philippe
of France against Edward 111. of England. The Geno-
ese are more crafty as well as more industrious than most
other Italians, and I think they much resemble those of
Naples. One of their splendid palaces is now turned
into a magnificent hotel. In this many of my fellow pas-
sengers dined and slept, a pleasing change from our little
dormitories on board the steamer, 6 feet by 20 inches,
into one of which it was a ludicrous sight to see a stout
old gentleman thrust himself with great difficulty. All
the old family pictures and portraits still adorn with
gloomy grandeur the lofty palace walls of this hotel, and
threw an air of romance over our brief occupation of the
chambers once occupied by the brave warriors of the re-
public.
From Genoa to L

;horn was a delightful passage :
oast, agreeable companions, with
agers, ladies and gentlemen tra-

and, by way of contrast, poor
to the Holy City !
to receive the

teir way

These poor