Frasers of Philorth > Volume 3

1 LETTERS FROM SICILY AND
referring to that, the length of this temple was to sixty paces, what their length
was to their breadth, at least in all human probability. As to the exterior size
it is not at all to be made out, but I should conceive a person well versed in these
matters could easily guess at it. Of the temple of Hercules there is only one
pillar perfect, of those of Castor and Esculapius there are no remains, but the
temple of Juno Lucina is nearly complete, and that of Concord perfectly so, and
they are extremely beautiful until you come close to them ; for that goose,
Ferdinand the Fourth, has crammed all the cracks which time has made in them
full of white mortar, so that when you expect a fine pillar you perceive a sort of
a harlequin one ; and not content with this, he has put up an inscription on them
in which he styles himself the illustrious preserver of the antiquities of Sicily.
All the vases and other things that have been found there are shut up in a house,
and you are not permitted to see them without proper credentials from his
Majesty, which are difficult to be got at.
In the great church at Girgenti there is a very fine picture of the Virgin and
Child by Guido Eeni, and also a beautiful antique, a representation of the story
of Hippolytus and Phaedra ; there is also another singular circumstance, which
is, that a person getting up above the altar, can hear anything said at the other
end of the church even in a whisper. This is said to have been discovered in
the following manner : — A carpenter was up there one day mending the figure
of a dragon, and saw his wife come in to confess. He was surprised at so
plainly hearing the priest speak to her, and therefore listened and heard the
whole of her confession. On returning home he gave her wholesome correction
for what he had overheard, and made a regular practice of mending the dragon
whenever any rich person went to confess, by which means he got together a
good deal of money. We left Girgenti, and the third day after reached Palermo,
which will do for another letter.
The packet has arrived, but I have received neither letters nor papers. I
conclude they are to come by Palermo. We are all in perfect health, and some
of the men talk of going home to be married, or, in other words, to go out ; — the
more the better ! With best love to all at home,
I am, dear mother, your dutiful son,
Saltoun.
Catania, 2d April 1807.