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Article IL GRAN VASCELLO. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Il Gran Vascello.
twa decent German lads wha came wi' me fra Geneva . I had made rather a hearty dinner , "—( we may guess what Mr . Cackelben ' s rather a hearty dinner must have been , )— " and drank my stoup o' wine , which I believe to ha' been brewed wi' the same grape as that decocted by the auld witch , Circe , that ye read of , when the ranschackel they ca' a veturino drove to the door to convey us to this Babylon of a city . I had my misgivings at the time o' starting ; butLord bless us ! it was just
, a lullabye to the contention that afterwards ensued . I thought my whame had been transformed into a steamer ; the rumbling o' the Swallow packet was just a nothing to it . " " A delightful companion , " exclaimed Herbert , "for a journey of such a length . " " The Germans are a sedative people , and do not easily fash themselveshaving a soothing habit o' smoking" dryly observed Mr .
Cack-, , elben . " And what , my dear sir , " I demanded , " is your opinion of Italy and Rome?—Doubtless you have made your observations . St . Peter ' s claims the first attention of every traveller . " " Aye , as a grand kirk , " he replied , " full of idols and other abominations . But is ' ent melancholy to see such a wilderness ?—not a single pew in it . "
" Pew ! " exclaimed O'Carrol , a hot-headed young Irishman ; " listen to the Cromwellian!—Would he make a conventicle of the Holy Church ?" " Then , " pursued the Scot , unmindful of the interruption for the country , " I'll no deny but I ha' seen worse land in Scotland ; but , Lord save us ! wha ever saw sic husbandry ? As to the people—I'll no be particularly harsh—but , its my belief , they are air-born liars ; and ,
when nothing is to be got by it , indulge in it just for practice . A feller at Geneva—it may be as weel not to mention names—to whom 1 was recommended , invited me to dinner , to meet his family and beautiful sister , as he called her . I went , full o' expectation , as ye may think . I ' m a heathen , if she were no a perfect owlet man , as auld as my grandmither , without a second tooth in her head !" " In this I can acquit your friend of intentional falsehood . It was a mere expression , —you have the same in French ; belle sceur is always applied to a sister-in-law . You must change your opinion of the Italians . "
" That does no follow , " said Mr . Cackelben , after a pause , in which he seemed to weigh the information I had given him . " I may change the premise , but the inference is the same ; it only shows that the language of Italy is fashioned for lying . Now , as the genius of a people gives a tone to their language , it follows that the genius of Italy is a lying genius , and the people must be liars . Then , for their pictures , they talk as gold were dust in comparison to their value;—five thousand for one grim saintten thousand for another wanton Jezebel ! I should
, no he surprised , " he continued , pointing to a picture of Herbert's , a " Judgement of Paris , " unfortunately placed on a table near him , " if some fool or anither was to tell me that daub was ivorth thirty or forty pounds . " This was a most unlucky contre temps . The artist , hoivever , affected to treat it with great contempt . " Pray , Mr . Cackelben , " he observed , " may I be permitted to ask
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Il Gran Vascello.
twa decent German lads wha came wi' me fra Geneva . I had made rather a hearty dinner , "—( we may guess what Mr . Cackelben ' s rather a hearty dinner must have been , )— " and drank my stoup o' wine , which I believe to ha' been brewed wi' the same grape as that decocted by the auld witch , Circe , that ye read of , when the ranschackel they ca' a veturino drove to the door to convey us to this Babylon of a city . I had my misgivings at the time o' starting ; butLord bless us ! it was just
, a lullabye to the contention that afterwards ensued . I thought my whame had been transformed into a steamer ; the rumbling o' the Swallow packet was just a nothing to it . " " A delightful companion , " exclaimed Herbert , "for a journey of such a length . " " The Germans are a sedative people , and do not easily fash themselveshaving a soothing habit o' smoking" dryly observed Mr .
Cack-, , elben . " And what , my dear sir , " I demanded , " is your opinion of Italy and Rome?—Doubtless you have made your observations . St . Peter ' s claims the first attention of every traveller . " " Aye , as a grand kirk , " he replied , " full of idols and other abominations . But is ' ent melancholy to see such a wilderness ?—not a single pew in it . "
" Pew ! " exclaimed O'Carrol , a hot-headed young Irishman ; " listen to the Cromwellian!—Would he make a conventicle of the Holy Church ?" " Then , " pursued the Scot , unmindful of the interruption for the country , " I'll no deny but I ha' seen worse land in Scotland ; but , Lord save us ! wha ever saw sic husbandry ? As to the people—I'll no be particularly harsh—but , its my belief , they are air-born liars ; and ,
when nothing is to be got by it , indulge in it just for practice . A feller at Geneva—it may be as weel not to mention names—to whom 1 was recommended , invited me to dinner , to meet his family and beautiful sister , as he called her . I went , full o' expectation , as ye may think . I ' m a heathen , if she were no a perfect owlet man , as auld as my grandmither , without a second tooth in her head !" " In this I can acquit your friend of intentional falsehood . It was a mere expression , —you have the same in French ; belle sceur is always applied to a sister-in-law . You must change your opinion of the Italians . "
" That does no follow , " said Mr . Cackelben , after a pause , in which he seemed to weigh the information I had given him . " I may change the premise , but the inference is the same ; it only shows that the language of Italy is fashioned for lying . Now , as the genius of a people gives a tone to their language , it follows that the genius of Italy is a lying genius , and the people must be liars . Then , for their pictures , they talk as gold were dust in comparison to their value;—five thousand for one grim saintten thousand for another wanton Jezebel ! I should
, no he surprised , " he continued , pointing to a picture of Herbert's , a " Judgement of Paris , " unfortunately placed on a table near him , " if some fool or anither was to tell me that daub was ivorth thirty or forty pounds . " This was a most unlucky contre temps . The artist , hoivever , affected to treat it with great contempt . " Pray , Mr . Cackelben , " he observed , " may I be permitted to ask