The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1827-05-02

I
J compared to the Sea itself, to which its uni
form expanse bears a striking resemblance
Perhaps its formation cannot be better il
lnstrated, than by another comparison draw
from the same element. lis surface is TO
a dead level and marshy, as there marks o
some travellers had left me to believe. bu
IS varied by undulations of about the size
OF heavy swells of the ocean in a gale
The road crosses several pretty brooks. one
OF which 1.-THE Cremera was redeemed with
the blood of the three hundred Fabii. who
fell IN battle with the old Vicentes. In
the whole distance of fourteen or fifteen
miles, did not observe drop of stagnant
water, or nuisance of any kind, which
would be likely to breed pestilence. The
soil is light, sandy loam-the last in the
world to which we would look for bad air
and noAlous eXhalations. But more of this
hereafter.
The Campagna is by no means SO bar
rem as many tourists have represented 1t
is uniformly covered with a lively green
SOD, Ike ordinary American pasture land,
appearing to be fed close by the cattle.
sheep and goats, which are forever graz
ing upon it both summer and winter. The
whole region lies unfenced, though the
herdsmen and shepherds of the proprietors
have their prescribed limits. There are
no trees of any kind, and the shrubbery
along this road is scanty. The genista or
broom, gay with its yellow blossoms, some
tunes skirted the path and, in the most
desolate parts of the Campagna, the wild
poppy waved its crimson petals. This lat
ter plant, with all its gaiety of dress, ap-
pears to be recluse in its habits, loving
unfrequented fields, and the most desoIate
runs. 1t grows in such profusion as to
form conspicuous feature in Italian land
scape.
Scarcely single acre of this immense
tract, embracing twelve or fifteen hundred
square miles, is under cultivation: but. in
my opinion, by proper tillage, by the use of
gypsum and other manures. it might easily
be rec laimed, and rendered highly pro-
ductlve OF grass, grain, vegetables and
fruits. If the Pope, his seventy Cardinals.
and the Roman nobility, would apportion
out the neglected patrimony of st. Peter
TO colony OF Yankee emiorants. thew
would, III less than half century. make
the Campagna di Roma one of the finest
countries in the world, besides expelling
that damon of the waste, the Malaria. and
restoring republican liberty to the Seven
Hills. Such have been nv remarks in
crossing this region in several directions.
and such is nv full belief Industry and
than even the Romish church has ever Wit
messed.
The Campagna has at present all that
1 loneliness and solitude which have been
ascribed to it. There are, probably, not a
thousand inhabitants in as many square
miles. 1t is, in fact, an unpeopled desert.
A few, very few miserable habitations,
with still more wretched tenants, are scat
tered at distant intervals along the road
| The rest is all silence and desolation.-
/ Sometimes the mind almost startles at the
dreariness of the picture. Bleak ruins are
occasionally seen bursting the cerements
of the green sod, and rising from the plain,
as it were the sepulchral monuments of
( buried splendor, the shadowy spectres of
other ages Here and there an old tower
or castle rises from mound, or the arches
of an aqueduct stretch in a long line of ruins
across the waste. Round the shattered
battlements of one of the former large
flock Of rocks were seen lowering, darken-
ing the air with their dusky wings, and
croaking note of triumph over their IN
disturbed dominions.
Even scenes and objects, which, in q
different location, would assume an air of
cheeriulness and rural quiet, are here assim-
lated to the prevailing gloom. In one in
stance, little sheep-fold was observed
near the road, with the Eliminating flock
reclining in peace, with three shepherds
dogs sleeping by the side of their charge,
unattended by their master. The crowd
of peasants, who were journeying on to-
wards Rome, with the produce of their
Etrurian farms, and had encamped for the
night near the tomb of Nero before the
gates of the city, having unyoked their
teams to Craze upon the Campagna, pre-
scented picture at once novel and interest
ing.
In approaching Rome from the heights
of Baccano, the aspect of the city shifted
and became more distinct at every step
1 The ranges of palaces and churches ant
7 domes and towers, extending from hill t.
hill, for the distance of several miles, flank
ed by the Vatican and st. Peters on the
right, all rising above the long line of an
cient ramparts, and gilded by the beam.
of the declining sun, formed a coup d'oei
of indiscribable grandeur. 1t very far sur
, passed my expectations of the modern city
, and might almost adopt the language o
: tne MaItuan onepneru, III comparing IL
! imperial magnifcence with his native town
8 The dome of st. Peters, with its FURNISHED
cross, conspicuous as that which Constan
|, tine saw blazing in mid heaven, was con
! stantly in sight 1t emphatically forms
: Pharos to every part of the Campagna.
THE PANTHEON IN ROME. In one o
: the most populous districts of the modern
: city, the Pantheon lifts its beautiful rotun
9 da above the meaner buildings, by whicl
q it is surrounded. 1t fronts one of the pub
: lie areas, ornamented as usual with al
9 Egyptian obelisk and copious Fountain
This temple which is justly ranked among
: the most celebrated and interesting monu
t ments of Roman taste, was built by Agrip
: mn the Snn=in-ln1u of A nnIetns md dc