Cloudy ― & some rain early. Scirocco wind.

Off at 6.30 in a carriage, fissato1 by Giorgio for 10fr. Arrived at Lucca ― 8.45. The drive is very pretty: ― that great down like turf covered mountain, all chesnut grown ― is a sight. The people too seem so industrious & respectable. Found 3 letters: ― one from Fanny Coombe ― poor Mrs. Drewitt of Peppering is dead. From Mrs. Empson ― kind dear good woman: C. Empson also is dead. And from Sybella Mildmay ― very nice & good. ― Wrote letters to,

R.D. Drewitt.
Mrs. Coombe.
Mrs. Empson.
Mrs. Mildmay.
F.L.
C.F.
W.H. Hunt
&
posted all[.]

Dined at 12.

Afterwards read Jack Hinton2 & slept till 4. Then walked to see the Agorā, & S. Frediano ― where a priest was assuring his hearers that Eretici & Schismatici were the property of the Demonio, & it was solo dalla grazia di Dio that “noi, veri Cattolici non siamo di loro.”3 O Christianity! ―― Walked slowly twice round the Ramparts, & at 6.30 drew the Carrara mountains as well as I could ― but they are cloudy. ―

Home by 8.30. Bed before 9.

I mean to try to draw the coast of Via Reggio tomorrow.

I see “abasso il Potere Imperiale del Papa”4 & “vogliamo Roma,”5 & “W Roma, capitale d’Italia”6 all over the walls & houses ―: “W Vittorio Emanuele”7 was there plentifully before ― but the present Γραφὲ8 is new to me. “in c――o Corsi”9 is a favourite piece of delicacy.

[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]

  1. Agreed. [↩]
  2. Charles Lever’s 1843 novel, Jack Hinton, the Guardsman. [↩]
  3. Only tanks to God’s grace that we, true Catholics, are not among them. [↩]
  4. Down with the Pope’s Imperial Power. [↩]
  5. We want Rome. [↩]
  6. Three cheers for Rome, capital of Italy. [↩]
  7. Long live V.E. [↩]
  8. Writing (NB). [↩]
  9. F――k Corsi. [↩]