The flowers of modern travels; being elegant, entertaining and instructive extracts, selected from the works of the most celebrated travellers intended chiefly for young people of both sexes - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1792 Excerpt: ... SECT. LVII» f THE SITUATION OF VENICE, ITS CANALS V-AND BRIDGES. THE view of Venice, at some little distance from the town, is mentioned by many travellers in terms of thehighest admiration. I had been so often forewarned of the amazement with which I should be struck at the first sight of this city, that when I actually did see it, I selt little or ilo amaze-ment at all. You will behold, faid those anticipators, a magnificent town; or more frequently, to make the deeper impression; they gave it in detail! '--You will behold, faid they, magnificent palaces, churches, towers and steeples, all standing in the middle of the sea Well, this unquestionably is an uncommon scene; and there is no manner of doubt that a town, surrounded by water, is a very fine sight; but all the travellers that have existed since the days of Cain, will not convince me, that atown, surrounded by land, is not a much finer. Can there be any comparison, in point of beauty, between the dull monotony of a wartery surface, and and the delightful variety of gardens, meadow, hills and woods'? If the situation of Venice renders it less agreeable than another city, to behold at a distance, it must render it, in a much stronger degree, less agreeableo inhabit. Foryou will please to recollect, that, instead of walking or riding in the fields, andnjoying the fragrance of herbs, and the melody ofbjrds; when you wish to take the air here, you must submit to be paddled about from morning to night, in a narrow boat, along dirty canals; or, if you don't like this, you have one resource more, Which is, that of walking in St. Mark's Place. These are the difadvantages which Venice labours under, with regard to situation; but it has other peculiarities, which, in the opinion of many, overbalances the...