The daily gazette., 1881-06-18
SECOND EDITION
-
Letter from Flo renee.
FLoREs cElJune Alb, 1881.

j.
tiges of Christopher Columbus. -
Though the Genoese claim him IN Is
uncertain whether Le WAS bol d there Or
10 q village hot far away. His boybOoi
was, no doubt, passed here, and as we
wandered through the crooked compact
streets and tloitered 10 the old churches
filled with tonbs of the twelfth century,
we fancisd Columbus rs barefoot boy
wandering through these same old
streets aud churches aud, like us, filed
with ignorant speculation a. to the lives
VI the forgotten dead whose memory or
y the stones perpetuste.
Genoa is . closely built city, the only
open square in " being enriched with an
elaborate white marble monu-
ment In c6mmemoration Of theg great dis
coveIer. There are many fine palaces
here, aud churches abound, some of
then rich and beautiful, and some boast
pf treasures greater than the churches
pf Paris or Rome. In st. Lorenza isthe
Saeio CaEtinO, said to be the identical
pish from which Christ ate the Last
supper II Is vaIned 81 more than four
! ! million francs and was presented to
solomon By the Queen Of SheDa. We
give tie story rs IL was given US on the
spot, wi,Loat asking your faith In it.
ALI day we walked and rode about the
old city and Its beautiful harbour and
wandered through the churches, rich in
tprinting ny the old masters, aud trod
tile fne marble floors ami read the 1n-
scriptions ON the magnificent tombs that
have held the dust of their tenants for
many centuries. ~ f'V
l From Genoa to Spexzia, where our
national vessels often spendthe winter TO
secure In sale harbour. Then Oh the
crumbiing old city Of Pisa, where the
Leaning Tower stands fresh and white
as though erected yesterday instead OF
more than six hL ndred years ago. The
tower 10 nearly two huudred feet hign
and is bnfit ofpule white marble, look
ling light and airy. The tower leans out
Of the perpendicular about fifteen feet
from top 10 bottom, and gives one the
4 idea Of toppling over as he looks up to-
ward the top. Few venture osclimb the
'twinding stairs being content to.yieW 1t
fIom the ground. 1Eaa y
We expected to return from Florence
on our way to Rome and then stop to
make The ascent, and preferred looking
at the old Cemetery of Camp, SantO,
the earth Of which was brought from
Jerusalem In fifty boats about teigAt
thufidfed years ago.
j just before reaching Pisa we pass
the famous Can ara Marble sQuarries,
which we could only see in passing.
From the mountains of marble that
lare dazzling with their whi,eness, be-
ween six, and seven thousand work.
men get out the fine statuaFy and 9TH
Ter marbles. ~ It has very much Of the
appearance Of the finer Vermont n,ass.
bles, though 1t 10 closer aud harder,
while it lacks the spowy Whiteness, be-
ing often streaked with q vein Of dark
or color. aaill ssI a -tiatQsis -
| And Florence I Well, here we are
in the city that Is called the fsirest on
The earth. The birthplace and the
home Of the greatest poets and pain :
or, aud scalptors that have, in their
day, charmed aud beautified the
, world. After four days of busy in-
spection Of their great works that still
remain, we are not ready to assent to
/ this proposition, though we are in
/ competent judges, and We know one
must be- educated 9up to beauty and
high art. Surely, it IL the great onri-
osity shop of high art, and We are
bewildered with the beauty 30 profuse-
lily scattered throughout the city. Art
, is everywhere J; in every street, In every
, public square, on every bridge You
constantly encounter d bit OF statuary
lovely fresco or noble architectural
monument whose fame has for centUr.
les been ringing through the world
We live in . palace which, for all we
know, may have been the home OF
one Of the renowned. But palaces
are plsnty where great and rich and
: noble have been building for 80 many
), years, and whilst our palace would be
! wonder Of architectural beauty al
home with its high, painted ceilings
and massive stone doorways, near
twenty feet in height, It is . very
: modest building here. The house in
which Dante sang, that where Pet
rarch first saw the light Of day, the
home of Galileo and Michael Angelo
and Leonardo de Vinci and Salvador
Rosa aud many other dwellings ol
men almost as illustrions are shown.
Most Of them are plain, substantial
houses that look good for thousand
years to come. 35tlf53
The grand palaces, many Of them
built five hundred years sr moro, oh
fresh and ready for ., tussls with
time for another thousand years with.
out much injury. Il The Pitt palace,
known to every reader, the home 0i
1 the royalty, now q gallery of the anesl
} old pictures, is connected by covered
} way with the Ufzzi gallery more than
a quarter Of q mile in length, An
. lined on either side with fine tapestry
4 all the distance. Thus the two finest
galleries oil, the old pictures are made
one, and it 10 good days work 70
|. walk through them. .5.Is=
Now we are not going to infict upot
our readers q description Of the grand
.. old pictures and the fine statuary iws
have seen, We have not missed much
and wiriie many Of the charming gem
|, will be to U.s. st.sis,sl sf,,tEf -
"a Joy forever,"wc cannot help say
, ing our enthusiasm fAiledto enkindl,
whist contemplating some Of the work
= 50 greatly lauded. .ii yalsn5 : .5.a
4 :. he rooms In some of the old Palaces
are stupendous. Large, paved with
marble. OF MOSAIC aud their ceiling
s lwenty to forty feet In high !, painted n
i. beautiful as a dream, or giided in tn
I most gorgeous lnanner. The furniture
too, Is grand beyond our plain republi
}. can ideas. q - p isi4 e95
In the Pitt Palace we saw a tabl
ti,a, capt u,c hundsad thai,sa n nd d,l arr