to the good of her subjects and is highly esteemed and much
regretted by them. The present Duchess of Lucca has no other character but
that which seems common to the Royal families of France, Spain and Naples;
viz., of being very weak and priest-ridden. Lucca furnishes excellent
female servants who are remarkable for their industry and probity. Their
only solace is their lover or _amoroso_, as they term him; and when they
enter into the service of any family, they always stipulate for one day in
the week on which they must have liberty to visit their _amoroso_, or the
_amoroso_ must be allowed to come to the house to visit them. This is an
ancient custom among them and has no pernicious consequences, nor does it
interfere with their other good qualities. At the back of Lucca is an
immense mountain which stands between it and Pisa, and intercepts the
reciprocal view of the two cities which are only ten miles distant from
each other. This mountain and its peculiarity is the very one mentioned by
Dante in his _Inferno_ in the _episode_ of Ugolino:
_Cacciando il lupo e i lupicini_ AL MONTE,
PER CHE i Pisan veder Lucca NON ponno.[101]
I started from Lucca in a cabriolet and in two hours arrived at Pisa,
putting up at the _Tre Donzelle_ on the Quai of the Arno. Between Lucca and
Pisa are the _Bagni di Lucca_, a favorite resort for the purpose of bathing
and drinking the mineral waters.
Pisa is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in Italy. The extreme
elegance and comfort of the houses, the spacious Quai on the Arno which
furnishes a most agreeable promenade, the splendid style of architecture of
the _Palazzi_ and public buildings, the cleanliness of the streets, the
salubrity of the climate, the mildness of the winter, the profusion and
cheapness of all the necessaries of life, and above all the amenity and
simplicity of the inhabitants, combine to make Pisa an agreeable and
favorite residence. Yet the population having much decreased there appears
an air of melancholy stillness about the city and grass may be seen in some
of the streets. This decay in population causes lodgings to be very cheap.
The most striking object in Pisa is the leaning tower _(Torre cadente)_ and
after that the Cathedral, Baptistery, and _Campo Santo_ which are all close
to the tower and to each other. Imagine two fine Gothic Churches in a
square or place like Lincoln's Inn Fields; a large oblong building nearly
at right angles with
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