DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62267#0097
Ch. in.
THROUGH ITALY
87
the distinguishing’ mark of an unwholesome and
uninteresting country.
In leaving Novara I need only observe, that
it is an episcopal city of great antiquity, but of
little renown either in ancient or modern times,
so that its Roman name is the only title it has to
the traveller’s attention. The night was clear and
refreshing. At a little distance from Novara we
passed the Agogna, and about break of day we
crossed the Sesia, a wide but then shallow river,
and immediately after entered Vercelli, a very an-
cient city, still retaining its Roman name, and
probably containing as great a population as in
Roman times. It never indeed rose to any very
great celebrity, though it enjoyed a transient
gleam of liberty and independence in the middle
ages. It is rather a handsome and flourishing
town. The portico of the cathedral is admired.
We proceeded over a flat country and fertile,
but neither so productive nor so beautiful, nor so
populous as the Milanese. This plain has indeed
been the theatre of many sanguinary contests be-
tween the French,the Spaniards,and theAustrians,
during the two last centuries, and is now subject
to the iron sway of the French republic; neither
of which circumstances are calculated to improve
its appearance, or to increase its importance in
THROUGH ITALY
87
the distinguishing’ mark of an unwholesome and
uninteresting country.
In leaving Novara I need only observe, that
it is an episcopal city of great antiquity, but of
little renown either in ancient or modern times,
so that its Roman name is the only title it has to
the traveller’s attention. The night was clear and
refreshing. At a little distance from Novara we
passed the Agogna, and about break of day we
crossed the Sesia, a wide but then shallow river,
and immediately after entered Vercelli, a very an-
cient city, still retaining its Roman name, and
probably containing as great a population as in
Roman times. It never indeed rose to any very
great celebrity, though it enjoyed a transient
gleam of liberty and independence in the middle
ages. It is rather a handsome and flourishing
town. The portico of the cathedral is admired.
We proceeded over a flat country and fertile,
but neither so productive nor so beautiful, nor so
populous as the Milanese. This plain has indeed
been the theatre of many sanguinary contests be-
tween the French,the Spaniards,and theAustrians,
during the two last centuries, and is now subject
to the iron sway of the French republic; neither
of which circumstances are calculated to improve
its appearance, or to increase its importance in