New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-11-27
RAYARD TAYLOR'S LETTERS.
LXIV.
VENICE. THE TYRoL AND GERMANY.

n,
HaiteriaI Cerrespondencc Of The Tribune.
GornA, Germany, Monday, Sept % 1852
Again the old roads OF travel! nor can hope
~ make anew tracks" upon them, as does a
EurOpean correspondent OF The Tribune. After
that new and rich Oriental life, in which have
been revealing so long, what can say OF these
beaten highways that willn0t be stale from their
very familiarity DO not, therefore, expect /
more than the merest skeletons Ofmy journey |
ings-iust enough to keep up sort OF commu-
uication between the year of travel that has |
closed aud the new one which is about 10 com /
mence.
left Florence on the night of the Isl inst. in |
company with my brother. We took the rail- /
road as far as Pistoja, where We found mlsera- /
bic reuura, with three lean horses in waiting.
The Appenine. in the moonlight, &" is mighty
mountain dim and gray" and the air of his up
per regions is keen and bising There was an
unnecessarydetention OF four hours at the RO-
man frontier, in order To change horses the
passports We're speedily signed, and the Papal
functionary took bride of ID cents and did not
look at the baggage. The ride TO Bologna was
charming, but We arrived too late for the dill
gence 10 Padua and were ovhged to wait until
the next day In Bologna. n Papol town, the
truyeier receives an Has,,,oH DIiuCary wise on
his passport Alas for l0 Nono's temporal
power! lie would have hsa quito as much un.
der the Triumvirate.
We had three hours in Fcrrara the next day,
aud ! visited TasSo's prison. The diligence
reached the 20 at dusk, and after some delay
We were lerIied over 20 Austrian soil There
was no trouble in regard TO passports, except
for Piedmontese subject and this was finally
adjusted We were asked number of set
questions, and the answers were duly registered.
We then fell into the hands of the Custom
House officers, pack of boorish Greats, who,
having nothing 10 do, amused themselves for
two hours with our baggage. Everything was
emptied out, tumbled upside down, and the
small articles passed from hand to hand and
commented on. A red silk sash of mine ex-
cited their cupidity, and the chief officer tried
every means, short of absolute seizure, to get
hold Of it. All our letters were opened, and a
stupid Croat, who could scarcely read his own
language made ieint OF perusing them One
Of my iellow-traveors, prussan had some
miniatures OF female heads among his baggage;
these were passed around, criticised, and made
the subject of coarse ests. We were as polite
az possible all the while, notwithstanding We
were inwardly boiling over with wrath; but all
our politeness was worse than wasted.
Alter cramped, uncomfortable night, We
reached Padua before dawn. lie rained dis
mally aud we set out with the first tram Tor
Venice. The low mulberry orchards looked
halfswampcd, and the shallow lagunes struck
me az an overflow of the sea. We rolled over
the immense bridge OF 222 arches, which con-
meets Venice with the mainland, and came To
halt in the Station ON the Canal Grandc. at
once engaged q gondola, and was carried into
the heart of the silent city. My first Impress
ION was, that there was All inundation. The
Vain fell in toll IN
for the fact of the streets being filed with VA
ter; few hours more, and the lower stories
would certainly be- flooded | knew this was
sn sbsurdty, but could not drive il from my
mind, and il spoiled all the romance of my first
view of Venice
The three following days however, were
clear, bright aud warm. The water had that
hue of translucent beryl, such as You see in
Canaletti's pictures; the graceful Companies,
and the painted and gilded do.nes were lifted
against blue Italian sky; hundreds of open
barcas and close black gondolas darted hither
and thither through the silent streets; the
Place Of ST. Mark was full of music and the
Rialto crowded as in the days OF Shylock. My
unfortunate idea of an inundatiOn vanished;
Venice was true City of the Sea. l gave my
self up wholly TO the charm she wrought. All
day floating over the green water. over the Ca
nal tlancc, rorthward 10 the miniature Venice
Of Murano, southwark 10 the Lido, or through
the cool old shadowy alloys, where the plssh Of
the gondoiier's ear is the only sound. drank
deep, refreshing drsught from the cup of Poe
try aud Romance which she offered me. Ven
ice can never diSappont the traveller: hers is
freshness which nothing can DESTROY You
may have seen all other cities in the world. but
you are unprepared for her beauty. and YOU
will not leave her without feeling in Your heart
the echo Of that cry, uttered by one who knew
her:
"Oh Venice, Ncace when thy marble walls
Are level via The waterS taere hsn Be
A wall CT nations e'er thy sankcn halls
locd lament alone the sweeping sea"
The ride 10 Verona is delightful You have
the soft outlines OF the Eugsnean Hills, rising
from the great Plain of Lombardy on the one
aide, and the heavy masses of the Tyrolese
Alps ON the other The country between is
one vast garden, watered by the tributaries of
the Po. In Verona spent one afternoon, Vi
sitedthe celebrated Amphitheater, the Msuso-
lcum OF the Scsligers, and the tomb OF Juliet
There can of course be no doubt about the lat.
Ter, for the woman showed ne the hole in the
ssrcophsgus through which Juliet breatbed,