Sunday, 7 July 1861
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.]
No better or more graphic summary of the political situation of the moment than this short letter.