CHAP. VII.

Bologna, its University, Academies - Imola-Faventia-Forli-For limpopoli-Cesena-Rubicon -St. Marino-Rimini.

THE traveller, as he rolls along the Via Emilia, from Modena to Bologna, amidst scenes of the neatest cultivation and of the most luxuriant fertility, will recollect, that the very fields which spread around him, the very country which he is traversing, was the bloody theatre of the last unavailing efforts of Roman liberty. The interview of the Triumvirs took place in an island formed by the Rhenus, at a little distance from Bologna*. As the river is small, and the island observable only on examination, the traveller generally passes without being aware of the circumstance. The stream still retains its ancient name, and is called the Rheno.

*This island is two miles from Bologna, three miles long, and one broad; it contains two villages, St. Viola, to the south; St. Giovanni, to the north.

From Modena to Bologna, the distance is three stages, about twenty-four miles: about six miles from the former town is Fort Urbano, erected by Urban VIII. to mark and defend the entrance into the Ecclesiastical State. Bologna (Bononia Felsinia) was a Roman colony, though it retains few or no traces of its antiquity, and is a rich, populous, extensive, and most flourishing city. Its history, like that of the preceding towns, is contained in a few words. First, great and prosperous under its founders, then in the succeeding revolutions of the empire, pillaged, destroyed, and rebuilt; sometimes enslaved, and sometimes free, it underwent and survived all the vicissitudes of the barbarous ages. At last, after various contests with the neighboring states, and with their own tyrants, the inhabitants of Bologna made a voluntary submission to Pope Nicolas III. in 1278, and afterwards to John XXII. in 1327, which they have frequently renewed since, at different periods.

But, in this voluntary submission, the Bolognese did not mean so much to acknowledge the Pope as their direct sovereign, as to put their city under his protection as liege lord: hence, they cautiously retained the management of their finances, the election of their magistrates, and the administration of their laws; that is to say, the essential forms of a republic, and only

employed the name and authority of the Pontiff to repress the ambition of powerful and factious citizens, or to awe the hostility of their neighbors the Dukes of Modena, and of their rivals the Venetians. Hence, they always resisted every encroachment on their privileges, and not unfrequently, expelled the papal legates when inclined to overstrain the prerogatives of their office. This guarded and conditional dependence produced at Bologna all the advantages that accompany liberty; industry, commerce, plenty, population, knowledge, and refinement.

The French, in their late invasion, found, but did not leave, the Bolognese in possession of these blessings. They deprived their city of its freedom and independence, separated it from the Roman state, and annexed it to the Italian Republic, to share with it the name of a Commonwealth, and, to bear, in reality, the oppressive yoke of an avaricous and insulting tyrant. Mr. Burke, speaking of this event says, "The Pontiff has seen his free, fertile and happy city and state of Bologna, the cradle of regenerated law, the seat of sciences and of arts, the chosen spot of plenty and delight; -converted into a Jacobin ferocious republic, dependent on the homicides of France."

The streets in Bologna are narrow, and the exterior of the public buildings by no means proportioned to the fame and to the opulence of the

city. The cathedral is a modern edifice, of Roman architecture, but in a bad style; the inside is light, and though it did not appear so to me, is considered by several connoisseurs, as beautiful. One altar, erected by the late bishop, of the finest marbles, chastest decorations, and best proportions, cannot fail to attract the eye of the observer; it is exquisite in its kind, and was, in our opinion, almost the only object in the cathedral worthy of attention.

The church of St. Petronius is considered as the principal church. It is Gothic, of great extent and antiquity, and though not beautiful, is celebrated as well for several grand ceremonies, which have been performed in it, such as the coronation of Charles V. by Clement VII. as for the meridian of the famous astronomer Cassini, traced on its pavement. It was built about the years 440 or 450, but rebuilt in a very different style in 1390, and seems still to remain, in a great degree, unfinished. The prelate, its founder first, and now its patron, flourished in the reign of Theodosius, and was a man of great activity and general benevolence. He enlarged the extent of the city, adorned it with several public buildings, procured it the favor and largesses of the Emperor, and by his long and unremitting exertions to promote its welfare, seems to have a just claim to the gratitude and veneration of its inhabitants.

S.

Salvador, S. Paolo, and above all, La Madonna di S. Luca, deserve a particular visit. This latter church stands on a high hill, about five miles from Bologna. It is in the form of a Greek cross, of the Corinthian order, and is crowned with a dome.

As the people of Bologna have a peculiar devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and crowds flock from all quarters to visit this her sanctuary, for their accommodation, in all seasons and in all weather, a portico has been carried from the gates of the city up the hill to the very entrance of the temple, or rather to the square before it. This immense building was raised by the voluntary contributions of persons of every class in Bologna; the richer erected one or more arches, according to their means; the middling classes gave their pecuniary aid in proportion; and the poorest insisted on contributing their labor to the grand undertaking. It is in reality a most noble monument of public piety, and alone sufficient to prove that the spirit and magnificence of the ancient Romans still animate the modern Italians, and may, in a fortunate combination of circumstances, once more blaze out in all their pristine glory.

The church is of a fine and well proportioned form, rich in marbles, but overloaded, as we imagined, with ornaments. It is needless to add, that from such an elevation the view is beautiful, lost on one side in the windings of the neighboring