Shepherd, and to beg the prayers of the afflicted Mother, he will never cease to befriend the traveller, nor to discharge the duties of hospitality. If French principles should unfortunately pass from the courts and cities in the plains, to the recesses of these mountains, the murderer may shortly aim his rifle, from behind the ruins of the cross, and the nightly banditti lurk, in expectation of their prey, under the roof of the forsaken chapel. But to proceed;

Bressinone, in German Brixen, presents nothing very remarkable to the attention of the traveller. Its cathedral is neither large nor beautiful; and its claim to antiquity is rather dubious, as the name of Brixentes, found in ancient authors, belongs not so much to the town, as to the inhabitants of the surrounding country. I need scarcely inform the reader, that the Brixia, alluded to by Catullus, is now Brescia, a well known and flourishing city in the plain below, between the lake Benacus and Cremona.

Brixia Chinæa supposita specula;

Flavus quam molli percurrit flumine Mela,

Brixia, Veronæ mater amata meæ*.

The River Mela, described in these verses as a yellow and

disfigured by rhyme, was justly admired by Johnson and Lord Roscommon for its pathos and sublimity.-The lines were,

* Catull. Lxv. 32. 34.

Recordare Jesu pie

Quod sum causa tuæ viæ-
Quærens me sedisti lassus

Redimisti crucem passus

Tantus labor non sit cassus.

smooth flowing stream, and represented by Virgil as meandering through cultivated valleys still retains its ancient name and character, and runs near the last mentioned town.

The descent from the little plain of Bressinone is not so steep as the road which leads to it. On a hill not far from Chiusa stands the abbey of Sabiona, the only remains of the ancient Sabina: Thus bearing its former name, with little variation. Chiusa, or Clausen, once Clusium, takes its name, as other towns of similar appellations, from its situation; as the plain, in which it stands, is terminated by a tremendous defile, whose rocky sides jut out so far and rise so high, as almost to hide the face of heaven: while the river, contracted into a torrent, or rather a continual cascade, rolls in thunder from steep to steep, hurrying shattered fragments of rock down its eddy, and filling the dell with uproar. The numberless chapels hewn out of the rock on the road, answer the double purposes of devotion and security, protecting the traveller against the sudden bursts of storm in summer, and the still more sudden and destructive masses of snow that roll from the mountains towards the termination of winter. The road which leads to this dell, runs along the edge of a most tremendous precipice, and is so near to it, that from the carriage, the eye without perceiving the parapet, looks all at once into the abyss below, and it is scarcely possible not to draw back with involuntary terror. The defile to which the road leads, seems yawning as if ready to swallow up the traveller, and, closing over him as he advances, has less the appearance of a road in the land of the living, than of a descent to the infernal regions. A heavy snow, falling as we passed, added to the natural gloom of the scene, and made it truly terrific.

We entered Bolsano late. The name of this town is converted by the Germans into the barbarous appellation of Bötzen. It is a commercial and busy place. Its situation, at the opening of several valleys, and near the confluence of three rivers, is advantageous; its neighbourhood well cultivated and romantic. It contains, however, no remarkable object. A little below Bolsano the Atagis flows into the Athesis; rivers, which from the resemblance of their names, are frequently confounded; especially as they now go under the same appellation, and are called the Adige, sometimes the Adese. The former name may be derived from either of the ancient titles; the latter can come from the Athesis only. This river takes its rise near a little town called Burg, not far from Cluras and Tiroli, anciently Tirioli, whence the territory takes its modern name, and after traversing the valley of Venosta, joins the Atagis at Bolsano.

From Bolsano the road presents nothing peculiarly interesting as Alpine scenery. Some castles, however, finely situated, project into the valleys of Sole and Anania; Monte Cerno and Monte Mendala are objects grand and beautiful. We left the village of Mezzo Tedesco, and entered that on the opposite side of the river called Mezzo Lombardo, with pleasure. Salurno interested us by its antiquity, of which its name is a memorial. Night had already closed upon us, when we entered Trent.

CHAP. II.

TRENT-COUNCIL OF TRENT-CASTELLO DELLA PIETRA-ROVEREDO-SLAVINI DI MARCO-ALA-CHIUSA-VERONA-ITS ANTIQUITIES AND HISTORY.

TRENT is the seat of an archbishop. Its ancient name was Tridentum, and the tribes and Alps in its vicinity were not unfrequently called Tridentini. It is seated in a small but beautiful valley, exposed, however, from its elevation, to intense cold in winter, and from the reflection of the surrounding mountains, to heat as intense in summer. When we passed, (February the sixteenth) the ground was still covered with snow, and the frost, notwithstanding the influence of the sun, very severe. The town is well built, and boasts some palaces. That of the prince bishop contains some very noble apartments, but it had been plundered and disfigured by the French in their late invasion. The cathedral is Gothic, and not remarkable either for its beauty or magnitude. Its organ is admired, though supposed to be inferior to that of the church Santa Maria Maggiore, in the same city.

But Trent owes its fame neither to its situation nor its edifices, but to the celebrated council held within its walls about the

middle of the sixteenth century*. It was opened in the cathedral, but generally held its sessions in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, where a picture still exists, representing the council sitting in full assembly. The most conspicuous figures are supposed to be portraits taken from the life. This assembly sat, with various interruptions, under three successive pontiffs, during the space of eighteen years. of eighteen years. It was convoked by Paul the Third, and consisted of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots, chiefs of religious orders, representatives of the universities, and ambassadors from the Emperor, Kings of France, Spain, Portugal, &c. republics of Venice, Genoa, cantons of Switzerland, German Electors, &c. These ambassadors were called Oratores, and were accompanied each by a certain number of lawyers and divines, selected by their respective sovereigns. The whole number of persons comprising the general assemblies of the council, amounted to one thousand. The business of the council was prepared in committees, and definitively settled in the general assemblies. The bull of convocation, issued by Paul the Third, is a master-piece of its kind. The style of the acts of the council is pure and dignified, and the dissertations and observations that precede the canons, cannot be perused, even by an impartial and pious protestant, without instruction and edification. One of the great objects of the council was the restoration of peace and unity among Christians. In this respect it failed: animosity prevailed over charity: conscious of authority on one side, rage of innovation on the other, would submit to no concession. The other object of the council

One thousand five hundred and forty-two.

+ Gibbon says of the council of Constance, that the number and weight of civil and ecclesiastical members might seem to constitute the states general of Europe; a remark equally applicable to the council of Trent.