Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

4

CLASSICAL TOUR

Ch. I

while she sung the evening hymn, in a sweet voice
and with great earnestness. Occasionally the man
and boy joined in chorus, and while they sung,
the eyes of all three were sometimes raised to
heaven and sometimes fixed on each other, with
a mixed expression of piety, affection, and grati-
tude. I own, I never was present at an act of
family devotion more simple or more graceful,
it seemed to harmonize with the beauty of the
country, and the temperature of the air, and
breathed at once the innocence and the joy of
Paradise. Shortly after similar little concerts
rose from the town below, and from different parts
of the island, and continued at intervals for an
hour or more, sometimes swelling upon the ear,
and sometimes dying away in distance, and ming-
ling with the murmurs of the sea. One would
almost imagine that Milton, who had visited all
this coast, had these concerts in mind when he
speaksof
Celestial voices to the midnight air
Sole or responsive each to other’s note
Singing their great Creator.
Next morning· I was awakened earlier than
usual by the rays of the sun shining full into my
room, and getting up, I placed myself in the bal-
cony to enjoy the air and the prospect. Misenus