Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1857-02-25

wind which sweeps over this country rlgnt ih'0
oursdaces.. The snow ceased, and towards morning
suddenly opened my swollen
eyes and looking down the mountain saw in tho
distance rows Of gas lights. 1t was Trieste! and
the cold moon over head lighted up the shipping
that was floating upon the Adriatic. The rest Of
that day slept and the next morning Just as the
grey light Of the dawn was cxtnguishing the
moons beams, followed my baggage to the steam
er for Venice. As We steamed out into the deep
blue Adriatic, the scene was magnificent. The
sky was without cloud! Trieste was behindin;
the angle Of two mountain ranges, one Of which
shut out the Eastern, the other the Northern hori-
zorr; before was the sea covered with innumerabie
boats of quaintcst rigging. It was still dark at
Trieste when the deep orange tnts in the East, de-
f1rfns with double line as itwore the bluercrests
Of the Illyrian Mountains, announced the rising
sun. The tints deepened suddenly the highestGf
the snowy SUBMITS to the North lighted rp and
the illumination spread from it as from acentreto
the other heights The sleeping clouds first white,
then rosy, foated up from behind the. Eastern
mountain The deep color of the land, and sea,
and sky, the castles and Notifications on the
heights, the dreamy city below and the fantastic
boats that were moving to and fro around rs, all
joined to make me feel that the next moment
Guidos Aurora would realize itself. One spot Of
intense splendour appeared, then hemisphere,
then globe of fire, and quicker than thought, a
food of sun beams poured down over mountain
and wave, and had seen sun rise on the Adri-
attic. There was dramatic effect in these phe-
nomena which, magnificent as they always are, I
have never seen elsewhere, and which cannot de-
scribe. Certainly it was such an influence that
made nations which once witnessed scenes in this
country, believe that they stood in such near re-
lations with tho supernatural powers; and who
ever has aoatcd on the Adriatic at sunrise might
believe that Neptune was a God and Aurora
Goddess.
Seven hours more and Venice was before us, the
fair daughter and spouse of the Adriatic. Alas!
am no poet and I must shock you with my own
impressions. Between the getty" and the " Sea, !"
should have thought that the first if either, was
the "mothcr" There she sits drawn up, gloomy
and silent, save where some crumblng palace
wakes the ripple of her canals, and then beyond,
rolls the sea, as light and free, and blue, as when
the first sun beams fell upon it. Do you know
how Venice struck me first, when landed among
the Gondolas on the Piazzetta, in front Of the
Ducal Palace and the two columns, and the bronzed
Lions, and travcrsed the Place St. Mark, and
looked upon the famous Basilique and the Campa-
nila? Hold your ear close then, and let.mc wills
per it, for il is basphemy .and must not be spoken
loud She looked like ffsli-woman, who having
accumulated fortune in the oyster trade, arrays
herself in gorgeous apparel; but corpulence and
long habit hinder her from quitting the dear spot
which has witnessed her success and so she comes
back and with all her fnery squats mournfully
down upon bank Of oystershells, and sticks her
naked feet into the mud.
There is not a pedestal to all the columns which
adorn Venice The fair daughter Of the Adriatic
hides her feet in the still water of lagoons; and
when she commits the improperly of displaying
her ankles, you are struck with the reflection that
water does not always wash clean. But do not
condemn ME too severely for this. have seen all
the sights, read most of the stories, and even
skctched the prcttest balconies and columns of
Venice. You like it better, or do, as it becomes
more familiar to you. You cease to be panied by
the dwarf pillars of the Palace of the Dogos, and
the dumpy st. Marco, with its golden Mosaics, its
200 columns of every color and shape like so many
sticks of candy, overcoming by its quaintncs the
bad impression which the impunity of its style
made upon you. Then you come to enjoy its ca
nails so sombre, so silent, so sad. No sound save
the occasional splash of oars, moving thing save
the dark sondola gd g past like hearsc, and
on all sides the gloomy palaces, rising balcony and
colonade above balcony and colonade, door and
and realizing all the qucrcst phantases that ever
guided pair of dividcrs over paper They look
deserted, but report tells you that the descendants
of the Doecs and of Roman consuls sit shivcring
within their bare walls To me there is no style
of architecture in Venice, only style of architcc-
tural ornament. Such appears the famous capital
of the Republic to me but mind you, tell no body
what say, for poet, historian and romance writer's
all tell different talc and the reader is shocked
or carried away by the rehearsal of its tragedies
or its love scenes It's love scenes IL assure YOU
envy none of the heroes, for have never seen
such number Of ugly and dirty female faces.
pretty Venetian remains for me yet to see. The
women, cold as it is, walk the streets with bare
heads and shoes turned down at the heel, and the
men, I do not think would he admitted into any
other European City that have yet visited. 1t
las lccn remarked that Venice looks like retired
Pirate, and think 1 can see every where unulis-
taxable traces of tie opulcnt tradesman. Old as
their aristocracy was, doubling, in length of pedi-
gree, the most ancient families of Northern Eu-
rope, their lives were spent in driving bargains,
that i'll cultivate men to lordly sentiments and man.
ncrs. Venice is dull although the Court is here,
and except one laughabe scene, my Christmas was
dullcr than Philadelphia Sunday. The Emperor
and Empress had managed some how unobservcd
out of the Palace and across into the Church.
Pretty soon the people the place found out that
they was there and they collected in great crowds
to sec them return. Mass was over. No Emperor
appeared The greatest excitement prevailed; the
pcop!c running first to one door and tien to the
other, while imagined the Emperor dodsing about
among the pillars inside. At last he found it was
of no use, and so with his wife on his arm he slip
ped out of side door, but the people saw him
and they rushed round from the main portal and