when we left ferrara, our landlord insisted on our taking six horses to each chaise, on account of the badness of the roads, the soil about the town being moist and heavy. i attempted to remonstrate that four would be sufficient; but he cut me short, by protesting, that the roads were so very deep, that he would not allow the best friend he had in the world, not even the emperor himself, were he there in person, to take fewer than six. there was no more to be said after this; the same argument would have been irresistible, had he insisted on our taking twelve.
as you draw near to bologna, the country gradually improves in cultivation; and, for some miles before you enter the town, seems one continued garden. the vineyards are not divided by hedges, but by[293] rows of elms and mulberry trees; the vines hanging in a most beautiful picturesque manner, in festoons from one tree to another. this country is not only fertile in vines, but likewise in corn, olives, and pasturage, and has, not without foundation, acquired the name of bologna la grassa.
this town is well built, and populous; the number of inhabitants amounting to seventy, or perhaps eighty thousand. the houses in general have lofty porticoes, which would have a better effect if the streets were not so narrow; but in this particular, magnificence is sacrificed to conveniency; for, in italy, shade is considered as a luxury.
the duchy of bologna had conditions granted to it, upon submitting to the papal dominion. those conditions have been observed with a degree of punctuality and good faith, which many zealous protestants would not expect in the church of rome.
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bologna retains the name of a republic, sends an ambassador to the pope’s court, and the word libertas is inscribed on the arms and coin of the state, with the flattering capitals s. p. q. b. the civil government and police of the town is allowed to remain in the hands of the magistrates, who are chosen by the senate, which formerly consisted of forty members; but since this republic came under the protection, as it is called, of the pope, he thought proper to add ten more, but the whole fifty still retain the name of the quaranta. mankind, in general, are more alarmed by a change of name, in things which they have long regarded with veneration, than by a real change in the nature of the things themselves. the pope may have had some good political reason for augmenting the number of the council to fifty; but he could have none for calling them the council of fifty, if the people chose rather to call fifty men assembled together the council of forty. one of[295] the senators presides in the senate, and is called the gonfalonier; from his carrying the standard (gonfalone) of the republic. he is chief magistrate, is attended by guards, and is constantly at the palace, or near it, to be ready on any emergency; but he remains only two months in office, and the senators take it by turns.
in the midst of all this appearance of independency, a cardinal legate from rome governs this republic: he is appointed by the pope, with a vice legate, and other assistants. the orders which the legate issues, are supposed to be with the approbation of the senate; at least, they are never disputed by that prudent body of men. the office, which is of higher dignity than any other now in the gift of the court of rome, continues for three years: at the expiration of that time, his holiness either appoints a new legate, or confirms the old one in the office for three years longer.
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this ecclesiastical viceroy lives in great magnificence, and has a numerous suite of pages, equerries, and halberdiers, who attend him in the city. when he goes into the country, he is accompanied by guards on horseback.
the gonfalonier and magistrates regulate all the usual matters which regard the police, and decide, in common causes, according to the laws and ancient forms of the republic; but there is no doubt that, in affairs of great importance, and, indeed, as often as he chooses to interfere, the cardinal legate influences decisions. this must be mortifying to the senators and noble families, but is less felt by the people in general, who have every appearance of living under a mild and beneficent government.
the inhabitants of bologna carry on a very considerable trade in silks and velvets, which are manufactured here in great perfection. the country produces immense[297] quantities of oil, wine, flax, and hemp; and furnishes all europe with sausages, macaroni, liqueurs, and essences. the people seem to be industrious, and to be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their labour; the markets are most plentifully supplied with provisions; fruit is to be had in great variety, and all excellent in its kind; the common wine of the country is a light white wine of an agreeable taste, which strangers prefer to any of the french or german wines to be had here. those who are not pleased with the entertainment they meet with at the inns in this city, it will be a difficult matter to please; they must be possessed of a degree of such nicety, both in their palates and tempers, as will render them exceedingly troublesome to themselves and others, not only in their travels through italy, but in the whole course of their journey through life.
there are a great number of palaces in this city. what is called the public palace,[298] is, by far, the most spacious, but not the most elegant. in this the cardinal legate is lodged. there are also apartments for the gonfalonier; and halls, or chambers, for some of the courts of justice. this building, though of a gloomy and irregular form without, contains some very magnificent apartments, and a few good pictures: the most esteemed are, a large one, by guido, of the virgin, and the infant jesus, seated on the rainbow; a sampson, by guido also, refreshing himself with the water which issues from the jaw-bone with which he has just defeated the philistines; and a st. john the baptist, by raphael, a duplicate of that in the palais royal at paris, but thought, by some connoisseurs, greatly inferior. for my part, i think it is to be regretted, that this great painter did not employ the time he spent on one of them, at least, on some subject more worthy of his talents. a single figure, unemployed, can never please so much as a groupe, occupied in some interesting[299] action. it is a pity that a painter, capable, even in a moderate degree, of exciting the passions, should confine his talents to solitary figures. how much more unworthy of him who possessed all the sublimity and pathos of the art!
on his arrival at this town, the first object which strikes the eye of a stranger, is a noble marble fountain, in the area before the palazzo publico. the principal figure is a statue of neptune, eleven feet in height; one of his hands is stretched out before him, in the other he holds the trident. the body and limbs are finely proportioned, the anatomy perfect, the character of the countenance severe and majestic. this figure of neptune, as well as all the others of boys, dolphins, and syrens, which surround it, are in bronze. the whole is the workmanship of giovanni di bologna, and is highly esteemed; yet there seems to be an impropriety in making[300] water flow in streams from the breasts of the sea nymphs, or syrens.
over the entrance of the legate’s palace, is a bronze statue of a pope. the tiara, and other parts of the papal uniform, are not so favourable to the sculptor’s genius, as the naked simplicity in which neptune appears. a female traveller, however, not extravagantly fond of the fine arts, would rather be observed admiring the sculptor’s skill in imitating the folds of the sacerdotal robes, than his anatomical accuracy in forming the majestic proportions of the sea divinity.
