Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/66

76 who gave herself out as five and twenty, but seemed to be older, had both the manners and mode of expression, which unmistakably betray the culture of the refined world.

At the hotel in Sienna we met with a young Prince Colonna, a handsome and well-bred man. He was an engineer on some railway—which I will endeavor to remember—in Piedmont, and I note down this circumstance, because I accept it as a sign that the young nobles of Italy are beginning to understand the honor of labor.

It was dark when we reached Sienna, but we had the opportunity of looking about us in the city for a good hour, the following morning, before the diligence set off for Rome—for from this point there are no more railways southward—and this morning was a real festival. The sun shone, and lit up the vast and splendid landscape, which the elevated situation of the city affords, especially from its grand promenade under the most beautiful of trees, beneath which stood white marble seats. Every thing here was calm and beautiful; beyond all was grand and open, tempting the mind to sweep round like the eagle, and rest upon its wings. We went into the Cathedral, the most beautiful which I have yet seen in Italy. The choir resembles a sacred grove of lofty columns, under the arch of which it is good to wander, to sit, to think, and to elevate the mind. In whatever direction one looks one sees beautiful or significant objects. The whole church is a poem; the stones speak and blossom forth. I have never felt in any Catholic