Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1833-05-16
tFrom the New York Alirror.1
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EUROPE.
BY N. p. WILLIS.

! ry-appedrance of the country--man.
ner Of ctiLtirating the rine on hring
treeS--the etntage--dnother riSit TO
| Jutiets tomb-the opera at Verona
the prina donnd--RomdR amphithed-
! tre--Bologna again--ln1ddme Mall
bran IN La Cara Lddra--ckeap lur-
| uries--the palace of the Ldmbdccari--
Magdalen Of Guido Carracci--
Charles the Seconds 6eauties-ralley
| Of the Arno-F2orence once more.
! Our gondola set us on shore at Fusi.
ma an hour or two before sunset, with
a sky (such as we have had for FIVE
months) without a cloud, and the same
promise of a golden sunset, to which
have now become so accustomed, that
the rain and dark heaven would seem
to me almost unnatural. 1t was the
hour and the spot at which Childe
Harold must have left Venice, and we
look at the "blue Friuli, mountains"
the "deep-dyed Brenta," and the "lar
Rhetian hill" and feel the truth of his
! description as well as its beauty. The
J two banks of the Brenta are studded
with the palaces of the Venetian no.
+, bles for almost twenty miles, and the
road runs close to the water on the
northern side, following all its grace
full winnings, and at every few yards,
surprising the traveller at some fresh
scene of cultivated beauty, church pal
ace, or garden, while the gondolas on
the stream, and the fair 'damas" of
Italy sitting under the porticos, enliven
aud brighten the picture. The people
live out of doors, and the road was
thronged with the contadini; and here
and there rolled by carriage, with
servants in livery; or a family of the
better class on their evening walk,
sauntered along at the Italian pace of
Incidence, and finer or happier
looking race of people would not east
ly be found. 1t is difficult to see the
athletic frames and dark flashing eyes
of the Lombardy peasantry, and re-
member their degraded condition. You
cannot believe it will remain SO. If
they think at all, they must, in time,
feel too deeply to endure.
The guide book says, ''travellers
want words to express his sensations
at the beauty of the country from Pa
Qua to Verona" It's beauty is owing
to the perfection of method of cult
walton universal in Italy. The fields
are divided into handsome squares, by
rows of elms or other forest trees, and
the vines are trained upon these with
all the elegance of holiday festoons,
winding about the trunks, and hanging
with their heavy clusters from one to
the other, the foliage of vine on trees,
mingled SO closely that it appears as
if they sprung from the same root. Ev-
cry square is perfectly enclosed with
these fantastic walls of vine leaves and
grapes, and the Imagination of poet
could conceive nothing more beautiful
for festival of Bacchus. The ground
between is sown with grass or corn.
/, The vines are luxuriant always, and
often send their tendrils into the air
higher than the topmast branch of the
tree, and this extends the whole dis
lance from Padua TO Verona, with no
interruption except the palaces and
gardens Of the mobiles lying between.
!, 1t was just the season for gathering
and pressingthe grape, and the roman
! tic vineyards were full of the happy
peasants, of all ages, mounting the lad.
ders adventurously for the tall clus-
tiers, heaping the baskets and carts,
driving in the stately gray oxen with
their loads, and talking and singing as
merrily, as if it were Arcadia. oh
how beautiful these scenes are in Italy.
| The people are picturesque, the land
is like the poetry of nature, the habits
are all as they were described centu-
ries ago, and as the still living pictures
of the glorious old masters, represent
them. The most every day traveller
: smiles and wonders, as he lets down
+ his carriage windows to look at the
vintage.
/ We have been three or four days in
Verona, visiting Juliet's tomb, and rid
ing through the lovely environs. The
opera here is excellent, and we went
last night to see ''Roneo and Juliet
performed in the city renowned by
, their story.-The prima donna was one
of those sirens found often in Italy-a
young singer of great promise, with
that daring brilliancy which practice
and maturer science discipline. to my
taste, too severely. 1t was like the
wild, ungovernable trill of bird, anc
my ear is not SO nice yet, that | even
would not rather feel roughness il
the harmony than lose it. Malibrar