Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1833-06-27

+ walls, affairs all exposed, and the inte
/ rior of the dome one mass of stone an,
rubbish. Ii was the first time ha,
seen the effects of an earthquake. Foi
eight or ten miles further, we Gount
every house cracked and deserted, am,
the people living like .thc settlers in
new country, half in the open air
The beggars were innumerable.
We stopt the next night on the shore
of lake Thrasimene. For once in m,
life, | felt that the time spent at schoo
on the ''dull dril'd lesson" had no
been wasted. | was on the battl,
ground Of Hannibal--the sfocus aptu.
insidiis," where the consul Flaminius
was shared and beaten by the willy
Carthaginian on his march to Rome,
| lnnged for my old copy of Livy,
"much thumb'd," that | might sit on
the hill and compare the image in my
mind, made by his pithy and senten-
tious description, with the reality.
The battle ground, the scene Of the
principal slaughter, was beyond the
albergo, and tho increasing darkness
compelled us to defer a visit to il till
the next morning. Meantime the lake
was beautiful. We were on the east.
ern side, and the dcep.red sky of de-
parted sunset over the other shore,
was reflected glowingly on the water.
All around was dark, but the light in
the sky and lake seemed to have for
cotton to follow. Ii is phenomenon
peculiar to Italy. The heavens seem.
ed dyed" and stepped in the glory Of
the sunset.
We drank our hosts best bottle of
wine, the grape plucked from the bat
tie ground; and If it was not better for
the Roman blood that had manfred its
ancestor, it was better for some other
reason.
Early the next morning we were on
our way, and wound down into the
narrow pass between the lake and the
hill, as the sun rose. We crossed the
Sanguinetto, little stream which
took its name from the battle. The
principal slaughter was just on its banks
and the hills are so steep above il, that
every body which fell near, must have
rolled into its bed. 1t crawls on very
quietly across the road, its clear stream
scarce interrupted by the wheels Of the
vetturino, which, in crossing it, passes
from the Roman states into Tuscany.
| ran little up the stream, knclt and
drank at a small gurgling fall. The
blood of the old Flaminian Cohor; spoil
ed very delicious water, when it min
gled with that brook.
We were six days and half ac-
complishing the hundred and eighty
mixes from Rome to Florencc--slow
travcling--but not too slow in Italy,
where every stone has its story, and
every ascent of IA hill its twenty match
less pictures, sprinkled with ruins, as
painters eye could not imagine them.
We looked down on the Eden-like val
ley of the Arno at sunrise, and again
my heart leaped to see the tall come
Of Florence, and the hills all about the
queenly city, sparkling with palaces
and bright if sun that shines no
where so kindly. If there is a spot in
the world that could wean one from
his native home, it is Florence! "Flo-
renee the fair" they call her! ] have
passed four of the seven months have
been in Italy, here-and think shall
pass here as greet proportion Of the
rest ofmy life. There is nothing that
can contribute TO comfort and pleasure,
that is not within the reach of the small
lest means in Florence. | never saw
q place where wealth made less dis
tinction. The choicest galleries Of art
in the World, are open to all Corners.
The palace ofthe monarch may be en-
tered and visited, and enjoyed by all.
The Ducal gardens Of the Boboli, rich
in every thing that can refine nature,
and commanding views that no land
can equal, cooled by fountains, haunt.
ed in every grove by statuary, are
the property of the stranger and the
citizen alike. Museums, laboratories,
libraries, grounds, palaces, are all free
as Utopia. You may take any pleas.
ure that others can command, and
have any means Of instruction, as free
ais Of another temper, and roam
by Thrasimcne's lake, in the drflcs'
Fatal to Roman rashncss, more at home;
For there the Carfhaginian's warlikr wiles
Come back before me, as his skill begnies
The host between the mountains and the shore
Where courage falls in her despairing files
And torrents, swoln 10 rivers with their gore,
Reek through the sultry plain, with legions scat
tered DER.
Like to forest felid by mountain winds;
And such the storm Of battle ON this day,
And such the frenzy, whose conyulsioa blinds
TO all save carnage, that, beneath the fray,
An earthquake reel'd unheededly away
II