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Article IL GRAN VASCELLO. Page 1 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Il Gran Vascello.
IL GRAN VASCELLO .
READER , hast thou ever been in Rome ? Do not cry " pish ! " and close these pages hastily , for I will neither bore thee with descriptions of churches and palaces , or dissertations on dry antiquity ;—but if thou art companionable in thy nature—a "buono camerado "—take thee frankly by the arm , and march with thee to the Gran Vascello , the most comfortable albergo in the eternal city , and the general rendezvous of the English students , the embryo Wests , Martins , Shees , of thine own loved , foggy
island—take an old traveller ' s word for it , they are ivorth knowing ; Italia hath not spoiled them : they are wild , generous , high-spirited lads , with warm hearts , and slender purses . The enthusiasm of the young ones , if thou art old and crabbed , may at first annoy thee ; but a little forbearance will soon reconcile thee to raptures and extravagances created by the vividness of first impressions , and ivhich a year employed in multiplying Madonas and Graces after Raphael and Titianseldom fails
, to subdue . Still undecided . ' well , thank heaven . ' mine is an independent disposition ; I can dine—enjoy my company—drink my " ciprio vecchio" without thee ; but that thou mayst feel what thy unsocial temper hath lost , I fling thee a stray leaf from my diary , by way of valediction , promising , for thy information , that being no longer myself a student , I am uninfluenced by esprit de corps , having , I blush to confess , become marvellously indifferent of fame , ever since a legacy of five
hundred a-year , left me by a maiden aunt , relieved me from a painful state of incertitude as to the true bent of my genius , —whether it most inclined me to cast Rembrandt into the shade , or eclipse the sunny brightness of Claude .
On the 12 th of March , 1835 , instead of our usual numerous party , but six students were assembled at the private table d'hote established for their especial convenience at the Gran Vascello , —the rain which descended in torrents , sufficiently accounted for the defalcation . I had just flavoured my potage blanc ivith the delicious parmasan , which ( par parenthese ) few soups are ivorth a straw without , when Batelli , the most accommodating animal of the whole " camerieri" tribe , placed upon the table a cardon ivhich was inscribed informal round text— "Mr .
Cack-, , elben ' s compliments , and if agreeable to the gentlemen of the English table d'hote , at three francs per head , will be happy to join their party . " The singular terms in which the request was conveyed , ensured a ready acquiescence , and our spirits , which hitherto had sympathised in the dullness of the weather , rose in anticipation of the amusement which such an original as the writer of the card could scarcely fail to afford . On his entering the salonwe could perceive nothing like gaudier e in his
, manner;—the bow was formal , but not vulgar , —and the quiet step with which he advanced to the table , indicated perfect self-possession . His age 1 should have guessed at seven-and-twenty ; his person—but that really demands a more graphic description . Imagine , gentle reader , a tall , strougly-set , ungain figure , with the body placed upon a pair of legs bowed like a parenthesis ( ) , dressed in tartan trousers made to fit extremely tihtbuff" waistcoatand blue coat of the most antediluvian
g , , cut , —this ungraceful pedestal surmounted by a head in which shrewdness and ugliness contended for pre-eminence;—long red hair puritanically combed behind the ears , and tortured into a toupee in front;—high cheek-bones , —a mouth infernally sarcastic in its expression , —and VOL . vi . 3 K
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Il Gran Vascello.
IL GRAN VASCELLO .
READER , hast thou ever been in Rome ? Do not cry " pish ! " and close these pages hastily , for I will neither bore thee with descriptions of churches and palaces , or dissertations on dry antiquity ;—but if thou art companionable in thy nature—a "buono camerado "—take thee frankly by the arm , and march with thee to the Gran Vascello , the most comfortable albergo in the eternal city , and the general rendezvous of the English students , the embryo Wests , Martins , Shees , of thine own loved , foggy
island—take an old traveller ' s word for it , they are ivorth knowing ; Italia hath not spoiled them : they are wild , generous , high-spirited lads , with warm hearts , and slender purses . The enthusiasm of the young ones , if thou art old and crabbed , may at first annoy thee ; but a little forbearance will soon reconcile thee to raptures and extravagances created by the vividness of first impressions , and ivhich a year employed in multiplying Madonas and Graces after Raphael and Titianseldom fails
, to subdue . Still undecided . ' well , thank heaven . ' mine is an independent disposition ; I can dine—enjoy my company—drink my " ciprio vecchio" without thee ; but that thou mayst feel what thy unsocial temper hath lost , I fling thee a stray leaf from my diary , by way of valediction , promising , for thy information , that being no longer myself a student , I am uninfluenced by esprit de corps , having , I blush to confess , become marvellously indifferent of fame , ever since a legacy of five
hundred a-year , left me by a maiden aunt , relieved me from a painful state of incertitude as to the true bent of my genius , —whether it most inclined me to cast Rembrandt into the shade , or eclipse the sunny brightness of Claude .
On the 12 th of March , 1835 , instead of our usual numerous party , but six students were assembled at the private table d'hote established for their especial convenience at the Gran Vascello , —the rain which descended in torrents , sufficiently accounted for the defalcation . I had just flavoured my potage blanc ivith the delicious parmasan , which ( par parenthese ) few soups are ivorth a straw without , when Batelli , the most accommodating animal of the whole " camerieri" tribe , placed upon the table a cardon ivhich was inscribed informal round text— "Mr .
Cack-, , elben ' s compliments , and if agreeable to the gentlemen of the English table d'hote , at three francs per head , will be happy to join their party . " The singular terms in which the request was conveyed , ensured a ready acquiescence , and our spirits , which hitherto had sympathised in the dullness of the weather , rose in anticipation of the amusement which such an original as the writer of the card could scarcely fail to afford . On his entering the salonwe could perceive nothing like gaudier e in his
, manner;—the bow was formal , but not vulgar , —and the quiet step with which he advanced to the table , indicated perfect self-possession . His age 1 should have guessed at seven-and-twenty ; his person—but that really demands a more graphic description . Imagine , gentle reader , a tall , strougly-set , ungain figure , with the body placed upon a pair of legs bowed like a parenthesis ( ) , dressed in tartan trousers made to fit extremely tihtbuff" waistcoatand blue coat of the most antediluvian
g , , cut , —this ungraceful pedestal surmounted by a head in which shrewdness and ugliness contended for pre-eminence;—long red hair puritanically combed behind the ears , and tortured into a toupee in front;—high cheek-bones , —a mouth infernally sarcastic in its expression , —and VOL . vi . 3 K