In the weather of this spring, 1842, he was again abroad for a little while; partly from necessity, or at least utility; and partly, as I guess, because these circumstances favored, and he could with a good indulge a little wish he had long had. In the Italian Tour, which ended suddenly by Mrs. 's illness recalling him, he had missed Naples; a loss which he always thought to be considerable; and which, from time to time, he had formed little projects, failures hitherto, for supplying. The of spring were always dangerous to him in England, and it was always of advantage to get out of them: and then the sight of Naples, too; this, always a thing to be done some day, was now possible. Enough, with the real or imaginary hope of bettering himself in health, and the certain one of seeing Naples, and a glance of Italy again, he now made a run . It was not long after Calvert's death. The Tragedy of Strafford lay finished in his desk. Several things, sad and bright, were finished. A little intermezzo of was not unadvisable.
His tour by water and by land was brief and rapid enough; hardly above two months in all. Of which the following Letters will, with some , give us what details are needful:—
"To Charles Barton, Esq., Leamington.
"FALMOUTH, 25th March, 1842.
"MY DEAR CHARLES,—My attempts to shoot you flying with my paper pellets turned out very ill. I hope young ladies succeed better when they happen to make appointments with you. Even now, I hardly know whether you have received a Letter I wrote on Sunday last, and addressed to The Cavendish. I sent it thither by Susan's advice.
"In this missive,—happily for us both, it did not contain a hundred-pound note or any trifle of that kind,—I informed you that I was compelled to plan an expedition towards the South Pole; stopping, however, in the ; and that I designed leaving this on Monday next for Cadiz or Gibraltar, and then going on to Malta, whence Italy and Sicily would be accessible. Of course your company would be a great pleasure, if it were possible for you to join me. The delay in hearing from you, through no fault of yours, has naturally put me out a little; but, on the whole, my plan still holds, and I shall leave this on Monday for Gibraltar, where the Great Liverpool will catch me, and carry me to Malta. The Great Liverpool leaves Southampton on the 1st of April, and Falmouth on the 2d; and will reach Gibraltar in from four to five days.
"Now, if you should be able and disposed to join me, you have only to in that tea-kettle, and pick me up under the guns of the Rock. We could then cruise on to Malta, Sicily, Naples, Rome, &c., a . It is just possible, though extremely improbable, that my steamer of Monday (most likely the Montrose) may not reach Gibraltar so soon as the Liverpool. If so, and if you should actually be on board, you must stop at Gibraltar. But there are ninety-nine chances to one against this. Write at all events to Susan, to let her know what you propose.
"I do not wait till the Great Liverpool goes, because the object for me is to get into a warm climate as soon as possible. I am decidedly better.
"Your affectionate Brother,
"JOHN STERLING."
Barton did not go with him, none went; but he arrives safe, and not hurt in health, which is something.
"To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London.
"MALTA, 14th April, 1842.
"DEAREST MOTHER,—I am writing to Susan through France, by to-morrow's mail; and will also send you a line, instead of waiting for the longer English .
"We reached this the day before yesterday, in the evening; having had a strong breeze against us for a day or two before; which made me extremely uncomfortable,—and indeed my headache is hardly gone yet. From about the 4th to the 9th of the month, we had beautiful weather, and I was happy enough. You will see by the map that the straightest line from Gibraltar to this place goes close along the African coast; which accordingly we saw with the utmost clearness; and found it generally a line of mountains, the higher peaks and covered with snow. We went close in to Algiers; which looks strong, but from art. The town lies on the slope of a straight coast; and is not at all embayed, though there is some little shelter for within the . It is a square patch of white buildings together; fringed with batteries; and commanded by large forts on the above: a most uncomfortable-looking place; though, no doubt, there are cafes and billiard-rooms and a theatre within,—for the French like to have their Houris, &c., on this side of Paradise, if possible.
"Our party of fifty people (we had taken some on board at Gibraltar) broke up, on reaching this; never, of course, to meet again. The greater part do not proceed to Alexandria. Considering that there was a bundle of midshipmen, ensigns, &c., we had as much reason among us as could perhaps be looked for; and from several I gained bits of information and traits of character, though nothing very ....
"I have established myself in an inn, rather than go to Lady Louis's; 27 I not feeling quite equal to company, except in moderate doses. I have, however, seen her a good deal; and dine there to-day, very , for Sir John is not quite well, and they will have no guests. The place, however, is full of official banqueting, for various unimportant reasons. When here before, I was in much and anxiety, on my way from Rome; and I suppose this it was that prevented its making the same impression on me as now, when it seems really the stateliest town I have ever seen. The architecture is generally of a Roman kind; with something of the and look, though much more massive, of our Elizabethan buildings. We have the finest English summer and a sky.... Your affectionate
"JOHN STERLING."
At Naples next, for three weeks, was due of the sceneries and , Bay and Mountain, by no means forgetting Art and the Museum: "to Pozzuoli, to Baiae, round the of Sorrento;"—above all, "twice to Pompeii," where the and classic of Ancient Housekeeping strikes us much; and again to Paestum, where "the Temple of is far the noblest building I have ever seen; and makes both Greek and Revived Roman seem quite barbaric.... Lord Ponsonby in the same house with me;—but, of course, I do not countenance an of a beaten Party!" 28—Or let us take this more account, which has much more of human in it, from an stage, ten days later:—
"To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London.
"ROME, 13th May, 1842,
"MY DEAR CARLYLE,—I hope I wrote to you before leaving England, to tell you of the necessity for my doing so. Though coming to Italy, there was little comfort in the of being divided from my family, and pursuits which grew on me every day. However, I tried to make the best of it, and have gained both health and pleasure.
"In spite of communications from England (owing to the of my position), a word or two concerning you and your dear Wife have reached me. Lately it has often occurred to me, that the sight of the Bay of Naples, of the beautiful coast from that to this place, and of Rome itself, all bathed in summer sunshine, and green with spring , would be some to her. 29 Pray give her my love.
"I have been two days here; and almost the first thing I did was to visit the Protestant burial-ground, and the graves of those I knew when here before. But much as being now alone here, I feel the difference, there is no scene where Death seems so little dreadful and as in the lonelier neighborhoods of this old place. All one's impressions, however, as to that and everything else, appear to me, on reflection, more than I had for a long time any notion of, by one's own . All the feelings and activities which family, friends and occupation commonly engage, are turned, here in one's , with strange force into the channels of observation and contemplation; and the objects one is with seem to gain a tenfold significance from the abundance of spare interest one now has to on them. This explains to me a good deal of the effect that Italy has always had on me: and something of that enthusiasm which I remember you used to think so singular in Goethe's Travels. Darley, who is as much a brooding in England as here, felt nothing but disappointment from a country which fills me with childish wonder and delight.
"Of you I have received some slight notice from Mrs. Strachey; who is on her way hither; and will (she writes) be at Florence on the 15th, and here before the end of the month. She notices having received a Letter of yours which had pleased her much. She now proposes spend............