Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1870-01-28

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enrich floors, and ceilings, and walls, ana
all that skill could supply in carpets, furni
ture. and ornament, seem to have been sup
piled, while the gardens and grounds were
perfectly exquisite. All were the result of
his own taste and skill, and could not but
feel sorry that he allowed himself to be the
too! OF another's schemes rather than of his
own ambition. With such hume, happily
married, and popular with the Austrian ma
ton as he was, it is strange that he should
have left it all for the thorny crown of Mex
leo, as he must have known it must prove
at best.
From Trieste we went to Venice through
a vast stretch of fiat plains planted with
mulberry trees, with grape vines stretched
from tree to tree. All the poetica glow
with which writers have surrounded Venice
disappeared like much of the halo OF all
these old cities when we reached it. The
"Bride of the Sea" presented herself with
cloudy skies, cold and damp atmosphere,
that had no tinge of "dreamy lansuor'
about it. Her palaces seemed mass of
defaced, dilapida.ed, ary-ooking build
ings. Her gondolas were all painted black,
and resemb!ed funeral conveyances, while
her ''gay gondoliers' resolved themselves
into noisy hackmen, who cried "gondola"
instead of carriage" We occupied
room in one OF her palaces. now hotel,
and found it cherries as palaces usually
are The process of warming room by
soap-stone stoves that won't heat, particu-
larly when the largest piece of wood you
can find is hardly as large as small mans
wrist, we found by actual demonstration to
be absurd, here as in other places in Eu-
rope. Indeed European knows nothing
about comfort as we understand it.
Such a thing as gas in any place but few
of the great rooms of the hotels, is not
known here, and candies are still burned
almost universally. The fire-wood consists,
generally, of the merest twgs, and gives no
heat. A tub of hot water to put your feet
on is all you can get to warm you III the
cars, and The mass of the people know
nothing of warming facilities except lit
tie charcoal furnace, or an earthen pot with
Goals and ashes, the first for the feet and
the second for the hands. | am more than
ever convinced that we are far in advance
of any other people in every unitarian as
pect. But to return to Venice. It's en-.
trely unique Nothing like it elsewhere in
the broad universe. Built upon piles in
the midst of lagunes that have a depth OF
from one to fifteen feet, its streets are canals
and its carriages are boats. You can. in
deed, traverse the city by land if you only
know the crooks aud turns, but these inside
passages are the narrowest and darkest OF
alleys, generally, and all tie transpol ,a;ion
must be done by water. All this may be
very poe:ical, but it violates every idea of
u;,.itarianism, and really has no special at
traction except freedom from mud and
dust. Perhaps in sultry days, to be pro-
PEELED quietly and swiftly through the dark,
narrow canals, between the high, gloomy
walls Of dilapidated houses, may be cool
and pleasant enough, bat in cherries, cold,
rainy weather such as we have had, there is
but little except the roYelty to Recommend
it. Still enjoyed it, as have eujoyei ev-
erythng nearly that | have seen f.om their
association with the historical, There are
few more interesting pages of history than
those which treat oil the Venetian Repub-
lie, with her Dodges and the mysterious
Council of Ten, and her Inquis;toria
Connp. of Three, and TO tread the still
s2' 1ndid halls and chambers which they &C.
copied, and to traverse the dark dungeons
where they imcarcerated their prisoners, and
the passages through which they led them
to tie secret council chambers, and tn
Bridge of Signs over which they generally
passed 10 eternity, was most interesting.
There are few structures more rich III arch
itectural decorations, or more thoroughly
preserved, than this old palace Of the
Dodges, which wi h its Byzantine architec-
ture. has an air OF oriental magniIcence
1t is rich, too, in its magnificent paintings,
from the pencils Of Titan, Tin,orelto, Paul
Veronesc, Belni, and others who threw SO
much glory upon Venetian art. Near ii,
on the noted Pace San Marco, stand the
cathedral Of San Marco, one of the very
earliest Of Christian churches, built in the
Greek style, after the model OF San Sophia,
of Constantinople. about the earliest OF
Christian churches built by the Emperor
Constantine after he removed the seat OF
Roman empire from Rome to Constantinope
San Marco is said to contain the body OF
among wonderful number Of monuments
and relics of the richest description. The
whole church. outside and inside is a mass
of mosaic, walls, roof aud floor, some Of
the work is so finely done that it would be
mistaken readily for painting. Ii is a won
dcrlul old pile, and numbers of other
churches of the city, surpass in wealth o.
sculptured marbles for tornbs and affairs, al
that have ever dreamt of, although
have seen vest deal Of such work il
scores of noted ediices l have visited il
Europe, and it shows how rich Venice once
was, and makes more apparent her present
degeneracy. We visited her manutactor
les of glass and mosaics, and some of hei
palaces, and saw much that would be as in
teresting to detail as it was for me to see
but have already far extended the contem
plated limits of this letter.
We went from Venice to Milan, passing
through Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Bresca
Mantua, Bergamo, and other large cities OF
Northern Italy. We found Milan a fine
city, the main feature of which is its ca
thedra, that astonished me after having
seen nearly al! the noted Gothic ediGces in
Europe. Its small spires number nearly
two hundred, and lis statues on the outside
nearly $500, and inside nearly 900, all by
artists Of distinction. Its spires, pinnacles
and bultresses are so richly carved, that the
whole top is very APPLY said to resemble a
flower garden. The whole building is oil
white marble, in splendid preservation, and
is vast in its dimensions, only exceeded, l
believe, by one or two cathedrals in Europe,
St. Peters in Rome and the cathedral u.
Seville, which | have visited, and which
does not compare with this except in inter-
nal adornment. From the top of the ca
thedral of Milan we were fortunate enough
to obtain view over the Alps. The clouds,
which had hung for weeks over the noun
tains. most opportunity for an hour or two
fell down their sides, placing them in deep
shadows, but leaving the whole vast.range
Of peaks and SUBMITS flooded with won
derfu!ly rich and peculiar glow. The range
is from 60 to $50 miles away, and yet seem.
ed to be only little over beyond us, and
we saw the whole vast range of the Savoy,
Chablais and Bcrnese Alps. 1t was sight
worth my whole journey so see. We have
traversed all along the north side of the
range from Florence to Austrian Illyria.
through it three times, and along nearly the
whole extent Of the south side, so that we
have seen the Alps in many of their varied
and beautiful aspects, but never presenting
more favorable or more beautiful features
than at this time, and perhaps at no time
for month before, as the guide said, and
doubtless not since, but only for that hour
or two when we happened to be just in the
right place, could We have been thus favor
ed. We esteemed ourselves very Fortunate.
From Milan we expected to go to Genoa
to meet the Sip, but on telegr phing found
that she had not left Nice, ard so were