The last evening that I passed here, two families of Pescia came in. One of the gentlemen was a great reader of voyages and travels, and India suddenly became the subject of discourse. As I had passed six years in that country, during which time I had visited the three Presidencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, having ascended the Ganges as far as Benares, having visited the Mysore country and Nizam's territory, having sojourned three weeks among the splendid and magnificent ruins of Bijanagur or Bisnagar, having travelled thro' the whole of the Deccan from Pondicherry to cape Comorin, besides having traversed on horseback the whole circumference of Ceylon and across the whole island from East to West by the Wanny, I was enabled to furnish them with many an anecdote from the Eastern world, which to them was a great treat, and I dare say at times my narration appeared almost as marvellous as a story in the Arabian Nights, particularly when I related the various religious ceremonies, the grim Idol of Juggernaut, the swinging to recover cast, the exposure of old people to the holy death in the Ganges by stopping up their nose, mouth and ears with mud, and placing them on the water's edge at low tide in order that they should be swept off at the high water; the holy city of Benares; the magnificent remains of Bisnagar; the splendid Pagodas of Ramisseram; the policy of the Bramins; the appalling voluntary penances of the Joguis or Fakirs as the Europeans call them; the bed of spikes; the arm held up in the air for fifteen years; the tiger hunt; the method of catching the elephant in Ceylon; the pearl fishery; Sepoy establishment; in short I must have appeared to them a Ulysses or a Sindbad, and I dare say that they thought I added from time to time a little embellishment from my imagination, tho' I can safely and solemnly aver that I did not extenuate nor exaggerate any thing, but simply related what I had myself seen and witnessed.
Mr Sismondi is under a sort of banishment from his native country Geneva in consequence of the side of the question he took in his writings on the return of the Emperor Napoleon from Elba. It was indeed natural for the restored government (the Bourbons) to desire the removal from France of a man of talent who had exposed their past and might scrutinize their future conduct and wilful faults; but why the Government of Geneva should espouse their quarrel and visit one of their most estimable citizens with banishment for opinions not at all connected with nor influential upon Geneva, appears to me not only absurd and anomalous, but unjust in the highest degree. But such is the state of degradation to which Europe is reduced by the triumph of the old régime; and the Swiss Governments are compelled to become the instruments of the vengeance of the coalition. But I shall dwell no more on this subject at present. Let us hope that in a short time a more liberal spirit will arise, and the Genevese will be eager to recall in triumph the illustrious citizen of whom they have so much reason to be proud.
We spent our mornings, Mr Sismondi and I, in promenades towards the most striking points of the country immediately environing Pescia, and as I had at this time some idea of coming to settle in Tuscany, he was so kind as to conduct me to look at several villas that were to let; and I inspected three very beautiful ones well furnished and each capable of holding a large family, that were to be let for 18, 20, and 24 louis d'or per annum.
Wine and every article of life is of prodigious cheapness here, and the inhabitants are so respectable, and there is such an absence of all crime, that Pescia must be a very desirable and economical residence for any foreign family possessing a sufficient knowledge of Italian to mix with the society of the natives. There are several ancient and noble families in the neighbourhood, highly respectable in point of moral character and manners, but rather in décadence in point of fortune.
It was with the greatest regret that I bade adieu to the amiable Sismondi, his mother and sister; but I hope for a time only, as I have some idea of removing my domicile from Lausanne to this part of the world.
I started at 10 o'clock a.m. on the 11th of November and after two hours' journey in a cabriolet arrived at Lucca, a distance of ten miles, and put up at the Hôtel del Pelicano. The road runs thro' a highly cultivated country.
Lucca is a large fortified city, situated hi a beautifully luxuriant plain or basin surrounded on all sides by hills and mountains of various slopes, contours and heights, and abounding in villas, vineyards, mulberry and olive plantations. Every spot of ground is in cultivation and the industry of the inhabitants of Lucca is proverbial. Indeed the whole territory of this little ci-devant Republic is a perfect paradise.
The city itself, from the massiveness and solidity of the edifices, has more of a solemn than a lively appearance; but there is a delightful walk on the ramparts which are lined with trees. The streets are well paved. The extreme antiquity of the city and style of its edifices make it appear less riani than the other cities in Tuscany. The Cathedral is Gothic and there are in it the statues of the four Evangelists. This and the Palazzo Pubblico are the most conspicuous edifices. Tho' the Republic is annihilated, the word Libertas still remains on an escutcheon on the gates of the city. Lucca, tho' no longer a Republic and enclavée in Tuscany, is for the present an independent state and belongs to an Infanta of Spain (formerly Princess of Parma) who takes the title of Duchess of Lucca. It is generally supposed however that on the demise of Maria Louisa, ex-Empress of the French and now Duchess of Parma, this family, viz., the Duchess of Lucca and her son will resume their ancient possessions in the Parmesan, and that Lucca will then be incorporated with Tuscany.
Before the fall of Napoleon the Princess Elisa Baciocchi his sister was sovereign of Lucca, and she it was who has embellished the outside of the city with some beautiful promenades. She devoted her whole time, talents and resources to the good of her subjects and is highly esteemed and much regretted by them. The present Duchess of Lucca has no other character but that which seems common to the Royal families of France, Spain and Naples; viz., of being very weak and priest-ridden. Lucca furnishes excellent female servants who are remarkable for their industry and probity. Their only solace is their lover or amoroso, as they term him; and when they enter into the service of any family, they always stipulate for one day in the week on which they must have liberty to visit their amoroso, or the amoroso must be allowed to come to the house to visit them. This is an ancient custom among them and has no pernicious consequences, nor does it interfere with their other good qualities. At the back of Lucca is an immense mountain which stands between it and Pisa, and intercepts the reciprocal view of the two cities which are only ten miles distant from each other. This mountain and its peculiarity is the very one mentioned by Dante in his Inferno in the episode of Ugolino:
Cacciando il lupo e i lupicini AL MONTE, PER CHE i Pisan veder Lucca NON ponno.[101]