Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/180

166 in common, both because they belong to one and the same nation,—which, as it always lives in public, always adopts an impassioned manner of speaking,—and because they imitate each other. There is, besides, a marked language of gesticulations, with which they accompany the expressions of their intentions, views, and feelings.

This day was the festival of St. Francis; and I was in his church, Alle Vigne. The loud voice of the Capuchin was accompanied by the cries of the salesmen in front of the church, as by an antiphony. I stood at the church door between the two, and the effect was singular enough.

5.

This morning I was in the arsenal, which I found interesting enough, though I know nothing of maritime affairs; and visited the lower school there. It has an appearance like that of an old family, which still bustles about, although its best time of blossom and fruit has passed. By paying attention to the handicraftsmen, I have seen much that is remarkable, and have been on board an eighty-four-gun ship, the hull of which is just completed.

Six months ago, a thing of the sort was burned down to the water's edge, off the Riva dei Schiavoni. The powder-room was not very full; and, when it blew up, it did no great damage. The windows of the neighbouring houses were destroyed.

I have seen worked the finest oak from Istria, and have made my observations in return upon this valuable tree. That knowledge of the natural things used by man as materials, and employed for his wants, which I have acquired with so much difficulty, has been incalculably serviceable in explaining to me the proceedings of artists and artisans. The knowledge of mountains, and of the stone taken out of them, has been to me a great advance in art.