DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53553#0094
76
an old acquaintance. From the church we proceeded to a
gallery, where my conductors consigned me respectfully to
Father Onofrio, the superior, a tall, corpulent man, of about
forty-five, with a handsome, thoroughly good-natured coun-
tenance. Into better hands I could not have fallen.
cc Why, my good sir, did you not come an hour sooner ?
We have just dined, and should have been happy of your
company : however, we shall find something for you by the
time you have seen our garden, which has been admired by
every one of your countrymen who honoured us with a visit.”
It was of no avail to observe, that a late dinner was wait-
ing for me in town ; a nod of the head to a lay brother, con-
vinced me that Donna Luisa’s culinary preparation would
on this day go a begging. The garden, to which we next
shaped our course, certainly was an object of curiosity.
Flowers, fruit, and vegetables, of every description, throve
in luxuriant abundance on an artificial level, created on the
summit of a high mountain ; the mould itself was exotic.
The just admiration excited at their view, and a desire to
say something obliging, elicited a comparison with the pen-
sile gardens of Semiramis. (C Indeed not!” replied the
holy father; “ we know enough of the beauty of your
English gardens to be convinced that what you are pleased
to say is but a compliment from your politeness.”—Poor
Onophrius’s ignorance of the Assyrian termagant was cer-
tainly carying the vow of chastity to a great length.
The gardens terminate at an abrupt precipice, from
which, under the cooling shade of some gigantic trees, I en-
joyed the most enchanting prospect; which I shall forbear
describing, since no delineation of mine, however minute
and romantic, would enable you to see a whit the more for
it. But, with almost tears in his eyes, the superior pointed
down
an old acquaintance. From the church we proceeded to a
gallery, where my conductors consigned me respectfully to
Father Onofrio, the superior, a tall, corpulent man, of about
forty-five, with a handsome, thoroughly good-natured coun-
tenance. Into better hands I could not have fallen.
cc Why, my good sir, did you not come an hour sooner ?
We have just dined, and should have been happy of your
company : however, we shall find something for you by the
time you have seen our garden, which has been admired by
every one of your countrymen who honoured us with a visit.”
It was of no avail to observe, that a late dinner was wait-
ing for me in town ; a nod of the head to a lay brother, con-
vinced me that Donna Luisa’s culinary preparation would
on this day go a begging. The garden, to which we next
shaped our course, certainly was an object of curiosity.
Flowers, fruit, and vegetables, of every description, throve
in luxuriant abundance on an artificial level, created on the
summit of a high mountain ; the mould itself was exotic.
The just admiration excited at their view, and a desire to
say something obliging, elicited a comparison with the pen-
sile gardens of Semiramis. (C Indeed not!” replied the
holy father; “ we know enough of the beauty of your
English gardens to be convinced that what you are pleased
to say is but a compliment from your politeness.”—Poor
Onophrius’s ignorance of the Assyrian termagant was cer-
tainly carying the vow of chastity to a great length.
The gardens terminate at an abrupt precipice, from
which, under the cooling shade of some gigantic trees, I en-
joyed the most enchanting prospect; which I shall forbear
describing, since no delineation of mine, however minute
and romantic, would enable you to see a whit the more for
it. But, with almost tears in his eyes, the superior pointed
down