New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-02-17
Letter From Florence
rurrtspanSsnts of tbe Grtstsns.

FLORENCE, Jan. IA, 1854
The Ducal Palace, the rnost considerable in
Genoa, and once the residence of the Doges. is
now occupied By the town senate and govern
ment Offices. 1t IS on grand plan, and its
clever reconstruction in 17T8 shows the talent |
Of the Genoese architect, who had received |
orders, through excessive fear of confagra-
tion, to employ no timber in the construction |
OF hls work. 1t is now being repaired, or
rather reconstructed-for two sides of the conrt
have been entirely demolished to give place to
structures more in harmony with the beautiful
marble facade of the Palace proper The sta
tues OF the immense hall--the audience-chamber
Oh the Uoges-which were conseerated to the
men who had deserved well of the Republic, and
the last OF which was the one erected by. the
Senate to the Duke of Richeleu were shivered
to atoms by the demagogues of 1877. They
were replaced, however, BY provisional statues
representing the Sciences and yirtues-statue
made of straw, covered with calico and rot up
Tor the ball offered by the city to Napoleon dur
ing the pempous rejoieings that attended the
downfall of Genoese liberty IL was a pitv
that, on this occasion, the Italians did not
revive the 4, custom Of making living persons
supply the place of statues, as was the case
| during the festivities that attended the corona
ton OF Leo x, when a nymph delivered an
| orauen In his honor from her niche In the
| wall. The magnificent Marcel Durazzo Palace
which is one of the richest of Genoa Id work
| OF art. was bought by the king (Carlo Felice, I
oelleve,) few years ago with all its paintings.
Tor the sum Of six millions ofsfrancs. Its origi
nal cost was about three times that sum, 1t
has two grand white marble stair cases to the
| right and left of the vestibule, and is the only
| one In the city in which carriages can enter
and turn with facility. for sedan-chairs only
were used in this capital in former times [
walked out on the broad marble terrace which
commands e an enchanting prospect in the vast
| blue sweep Of the Mediterranean, and of the
long line of purple hills which grid to the
| horizon There IS private passage from the
palace to the gulf-shore, in which the royait
| family can reach the sea in case of aBy emerp
ency, OF should they wish to do SO without de-
scending into the streets. There is also a slid
ing car, capable Of holding only two persons, by
which the king and queen were Let down from
the top of the palace to the level of the street,
when they wished to save their royal limbs the,
fatigue of descending the stairs. The car is
lowered by means of maehineryro of elegant con-
struetion, placed overhead and worked by three
or four pairs of stout arms l Thought to my self
that should by far prefer the use Of my own
proper aids to loconoton to the risk of breaking
said aids, or perhaps even my neck, owing to the
treaehery or carelessness of the men stationed
at the windlass, Cogoleto will not give up the
honor of being the birth place of Columbus
But, notwithstanding the multitude of research
: les and dissertations, it is now pretty evident
that he was a native of Genoa--an honor which
the city seems but little anxious of claiming
= But the following passage from the will of this
! great man, 6 for that am native of Genoa
since of her, and in her was born,n is de.
claration that ought to be conclusive. The
5 pretensions of Cogoleto appeared for a time
, well founded, from the fact that two Admirals
named Colombo, and natives of that place
sailed with Columbus in one of his VOYAGES,
| They even pretend to know his house, kind OF
hut on the sea shore, which found yery fitly
occupied by coast-guard; on it may be read,
after number Of miserable Inscriptions this
hne verse in Latin-an impromptu, believe by
J an Italian: ss There was one world; let there
be two, said he; and there were two . it puts
one in mind Of Feat lux Speaking of Co
lumbus, I have in my possession a valuable
relic of.antiquity, in theshape of large auarte
| of eight hundred pages, printed at Venice in
1894. 1t is written in old Italian, and is called
''A Universal Historical Compendium of all
the Notable Things yet Transpired in the
! World, from the Creation thereof down to the
\ year of our Lord and Saviour, MDxeiiii'' The
history, after q long dedication, a long preface
an ode to the author, from gentleman Of great
: worth living at Paris, and most copious index
of all the notable things which are treated OF
in the present volume, the history proper, ]
: say, after this long preamble, starts in this
1 y
=, highest and great God, having in the begin
ming created, out of naught, the heavens
and the earth that is spiritual, nature and
. corporeal nature, and seeing that the earth, by
the density of the darkness, was shadowed
divided on the first day the. darkness from
the light, giyngto the former the nhme of night
and to the latter the name Of day" After tel
ling the world in general. and the Venetian
/, public in particular, all about the creation OF
the sun, moon. etc., he, the historian proceeds
to inform us that the first man was called Adam
and that he was fabricated in the plain ei
Damascus, out of a,speces of red clay very
abundant in those parts. Worthy Doglioni
/, after enlightening us on the mooted question Of
the creation of the world, and its first suzerair
! could you not give us one word of Information
as to the birthplace Of q man, who, though hi
hourished some time after farmer Adam an
though he did not exactly invent world, ye
discovered one which amounts, after all tt
+ about the same thing You, who lived not {
hundred years after Columbus, who were per
y haps boyEwhen he was man, could vol
, not even mention the name of a greater man thar
your pipe-clay soft baked Adam-for after all
Adams being the first man and the father of a
numerous family was nothing but pure acci
dent--you might have been good Father Dogli
oni, or even j myselffor that matter-whereas,
believe it is now generally conceded that Colum
bus possessed no ordinary share of Intelligence
aoSo lihC yout EubiitI*' Il CtkIlS
I near beginning your name with a small d. the
dogs take you, say, your dogs cared old book
4 with picture of lion on the frontispiece
ought to contain something more and something
less than it does; but after ALL should be sor.
ry to part with You for your weight in copper
The Saluzzi Palace, called aParadise'' was in
r habited by Lord Byron. He departed thence 70,
Greece, but returned moment when becalrnet
a whole day within sight of Genoa, and he ther
had q presentiment of his approaching gloriou
end. Having expressed wish to see his pal
: ace once more, he went thither accompanied b
Count GAMBIA alone. g His sconyersation,' - saw
the latter, ''took a melancholy turn he spoI
much of his past life, and the uncertainty Of til
future, Where shall we be- said he, a yea
hence ltwas like a gloomy prophecy add
his friend, ''for one year after, on the same da
t of the same month, he was laid in the tomb I
his ancestors He also spoke to Lady Bless
ington in much the same terms: Here we ar
IN each others company" said he, shut to-mor
2 row we shall be separated, and who knows fo
! how long, As for myself, have something
here, and he laid his hand on his heart
:, (which tells me that we are seeing each othe
). for the last time l 90 to Greece, and Isha
: not return. urn. . I Every place in Italy which By
ron made for any time his residence, loves an
respects his memory. At Venice, his sojour
i, in the place has passed into a tradition Her