Excerpt from Notes of a Two Year's Residence in Italy From him who ventures forth as the author of another work upon Italy, some apology will be required; it seems like presumption to tread in the steps of Eustace and Forsyth, and Lady Morgan (not to mention so many others), over the oft-travelled highways of this classic land - and yet, perhaps, there is more to excuse such, than almost any other literary enterprise. While the world endures, Italy will ever present to mankind the same charms and the same interest; but different minds will behold this lovely country with different views, and under different circumstances, though all with feelings such as no other European land awakens. The scholar and the artist will regard her for her past glory and the monuments of her ancient greatness; the lover of nature, for her teeming fertility and lovely climate; the poet, for all combined in that "immaculate charm which cannot he effaced," and which, even in her ruin, has shed upon Italy an undying beauty. It is not, then, surprising that, out of the crowds of pilgrims to this "bright, sunny land," so many, in the pleasure of marking an epoch of their lives, and recording the birth of new ideas, or at least of new tastes, should forget their usual prudence, and rush into print. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.