The Portland daily press., 1888-06-26

after glancing at the map, his quiet intuitiOns
almost anticipating the directions OF Baede-
ker. AS we proceeded, wondering where
we should find the museum. back of which
we afterward discovered the tomb Of Laura.
the great papal palace lowered up before US.
which we freely resign to POpes either
ancient or modern. Its cold, square, lofty
towers seemed indeed the gloomy pile which
our guide book described them. Ii Is more
lifting as Q soldiers barraek for which It Is
now used than Tor human habitatiOn,
which Il once was. IL was built by Clement
9TH, with its huge towers and walls thiyteen
Ieet tnlck and Is very remarkable edlfee.
klenz was lnearcerated here In the four
teenth century at the same time his friend
Petrarch was entertained here a. a guest
The faded freseOes OF the Sale du Consistoire
and the chapels are all that Is left Of its
ancient ad0rnments, and At present they are
quite toned down enough for maniacs OF the
Oscar Wilde type or any other fanatics OF
the new school Of art The palace was the
residence Of the p0pes for nearly century
until l277 Gregory III was the last who held
seat 70 Rome but it was governed by vice
legate until l79l, when after several severe
and bloody scenes It was resigned and an
nexed 70 France 1t Is still the seat Of an
ArenDlsnOp; opposite the palace In front Of
the theatre IS a statue Of Crillon, great gen
eral, who after fighting in many wars re-
turned TO AvignOn 10 spend his last days.
but military zeal Is said still 10 have inspired
his soul. for at one time on hearing a sermon
on the erucihxion Of Christ, he Is said 10
have drawn his sword and to have said
on et0it tu Crtllon," where were You Grill
l0n). Close by, just above the palace stands
the cathedral, almost at the top of the Roche
des DOms. It Is a structure Of the nth CEN
tury but has been rebuilt several times and
quite recently restored. Work Is always
going on about these old cathedrals, which
generally have a work shop back OF them
with tools tor the workmen who are always
doing something to restore or rebuild, there
fore there Is no apparent reason why they
may not last as much longer as they have
already existed. There Is here a monument
OF Pope John XXI, a gothic work Of the 9Th
century, badly mutilated A square tower
behind the cathedral was formerly employed
as prison in the time Of the Inq1lsition and
in the reign Of Terror was used as a place OF
execution. The Roche des Dom has still
higher rocky eminenee which affords a fine
prospect Of the surrounding country. The
Rhine can be seen from this point winding
round In It's broad channels like two, instead
OF one, great river, In its course inclosing a
portion Of land into the form Of a large pen
insula or island. At the east, far In the dis
tanee Ike silver thread, shines clear and
shiny the Durance, and way beyond, the
grand old Alps tower, ever with the same
power and grandeur and in the northeast.
just a suspicion Of the COYennes appears no
more like great river, than a mountain
mist. For final look we saw the tOrtuOus
the top Of barracks eharred by time, some
thing in complete contrast 70 one Of our New
England cities Of same size. The people
seem to be almos tin Rip Van Winkle sleep,
or to be like the old city which had no
Tomorrow, which rose one day in each cen
tury out OF its sleep, In the same garb, fol-
lowing the same pursuits, with which IL had
slept one hundred years before, and from
which one OF It's maidens warned the young
man halting there to "hurry, hurry" before
the setting mnIeQQ hp fonnH hi1 haaFf
free from guile and earthly stain, on penalty
OF sleeping with the rest one hundred years.
as had been the fate Of all sOiled BY sim
since the. day It first fell out Of sight, CEN
turies before, for want Of one untarnished
soul.
From this point we first saw the old bridge
so renowned in song. "Sur ie pOnt u AUtg-
non, on ddnse tout en- rOnd. tout en- rOnd
sur te pOnt q, Agignon." IL was formerly a
very long bridge but only half of It Is still
standing. 1t now ends in sudden pictur-
esqueness in the centre Of the RhOne. As
we first looked at it, ii seemed to span the
river like bow and with itself 10 muse It
Is built Of solid stone and the shadow Of Its
arches In the water redOubled the beauty Of
the picture. Art can do nothing for 1t, nor
nature build greater perfection. It is gem
with the sparkling Rhine for its setting. /
wonder those oval eyed women and sOmbre
men do not dance on it still in their
holiday merry makings II is a power
In itself and must contain a world
Of past romances. At present IL Is a
place too sweet for coy love making.
Why don't they advertise it instead
OF regarding It as "an unassuming, common
place Of nature" and shutting 1t up like
box and almost sinking the key, for so we
thought. We had walked miles and miles
through crowded alleys to get to II, though 1t
was only few yards distant from the rocky
thought we were ready to 20 on 10 Ii, when
they told Us the key was at St. Mary's.
though Samuel had kept 1t. SO we trudged
to st. Mary's, which we found TO be a church
and where they told us Samuel still kept IL:
but our feet were too swollen with our
tramping to trust the veracity Of anything
further, and so for the moment we gave Il
up and proceeded to find traces Of Petrarch
and Laura, which was one Of the charms
which had tempted us hither
In the garden back Of Musee Calvert we
found the tomb Of Laura. The guide told
the old story anew from which we gathered
the following: When Petrarch was twenty
two years old he first visited AyignOn and
went to the church Of. the nunnery Of st.
Clair. Laura was only eighteen at the time,
Her portrait In the museum BY the garden
represents her as very beautiful. She has
clear, pure face, simple and sweet. The first
look was Cuptd's fatal shaft for the young
Italian, and the wound never healed. AL
though Laura never showed one sign Of re-
cipr0cal love, he continued TO celebrate her
praises throughout his whole life In song and
sonnet, and admitted no other love into the
sacred sanctuary Of his heart Finally, dis
couraged by her coldness, he quilted Avign0n
and went to live in the sweet valley Of Var
eluse, and finally spent his time travelling In
France and Germany. The house in Var
cluse where he lived so long is near a deep
grotto. where the source Of the Sorque,
small tributary of the Rhine, emerges, and
above Is ruined old castle. The station Is
called Isle sur Sorque, near Mt. VsntOne.
The fountain OF Narcluse Is also near here.
It is a very beautiful spot. Petrarch men
ti0ns 1t In one OF his canzones. After he had
travelled abroad for many years he returned
to get one more glimpse Of his fair Laura,
whom he found, like GOethes Charlotte,
cutting bread and butter for numerous
family otehildren. But the unrOmantic sit
uation OF her surroundings seem not to have
cooled the poets ardor any more than TO
have kindled enthusiasm In her heart for
him. Mark Twain says all the worlds sym
pashies are for Petrarch and Laura, but as
for himself he thinks "ur. Laura is entitled
to some consideration but her undoubted
GOODNESS for PetraTch, and her all-absorbing
interest In her family would seem TO exclude
all necessity for such sympathy. She died
young, weighed down by the weight Of her
own cares and sorrows, about which poetry
fails to expatiate. Her remains were dis
turbed at the time Of the revolution, and al
most every trace OF cher lost. Her mOLu-
ment was built by passina stranger, an
Englishman; going through the town, ne in
AoA uCA kOulus anu no nuuu-
ment erected to her, subscribed several hun
dred francs to perpetuate her memory A
bust Of Petrarch Is also found in Musse Cal
vert.
On leaving the sacred precincts Of Laura's
tomb we struck out towards the new suspen
sion bridge. Some Of the party being tired
went back to the hotel, while the rest Of US
went across 10 Nillaneuve Struck anew by
the beauty Of the old bridge from this point,
we decided TO seek Samuel and get the key
A garrul0us old woman brought It 10 US, un-
locked the door below, and we aseended.
The old avenue connecting II with the city
has long since been walled up, and so at
present the place Is entirely by itself, so
high above the street below as to form via
duct for some little distance. There Is not
footprint upon IL. 1t Is covered with a thick
carpet Of moss, and fragrant with sweet
thyme. The old woman picked handful or
wo and gave 1t 10 us TO take away Half
way across the portion still standing Is
peculiar little chapel with an altar and con-
fesSional 1t Is a tit shrine for tOil-wOrn pill
grims In which 10 lay their burdens down,
or for the young and happy TO gather inspi-
ration for the onward journey. The passage
by the chapel Is only two feet wide. We
asked how horses and carriages had passed,
and were told 1t had only been for
foot passengers or those on horses.
If carriages OF any kind were used here In
those days they must have forded the river
In some other place Such o chapel in such
busy place must have had powerful inau-