86 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



neglected, moss-grown, the habitations of owls 

 and bats, and fast sinking to decay : and many 

 of the great families who had inherited their 

 wealth and honours in direct succession for a 

 thousand yea*s, are now obliged to part with 

 their splendid mansions, or to see them gradually 

 crumbling into ruins, from the want of means to 

 repair them. 



Notwithstanding all this, Mr. Maude says 

 that Venice is still a magnificent looking place ; 

 and amongst its many beautiful buildings, he 

 describes the cathedral as being most venerable 

 and interesting. It was built so long ago as the 

 ninth century, and enriched with the spoils of 

 Greece and of Constantinople. He once went 

 through the city at night, to see the effect of 

 moonlight on its superb buildings; but the few of 

 them which were still dazzling with lamps, as if 

 enjoying their former glory, made such a con- 

 trast with the pale light and dark shade of the 

 moon, and with the general stillness, that the 

 whole scene had even a more deserted appear- 

 ance than in the day-time. Now and then the 

 gloomy silence was interrupted by the sounds of 

 the harp or guitar, or by the wild and plaintive 

 airs of a few gondoliers, as they kept time to the 

 gentle splashing of their oars. 



Mr. Maude, she says, added a great deal 

 about the present government, the state of 

 society, and the remaining commerce of Venice ; 



