In Fact, It Challenged The Public Attention And Even
Homage As It Extended The Baton Of Command And Triumphed Over The Four
Moorish Or Algerine Corsairs Who, In Their Splendid Nudity, Were Chained
To The Several Corners Of The Monument And Owned Themselves
Galley-Slaves.
The Medicean grand-duke who lords it over them, and who
erected this monument in honor of himself for
The victories his admirals
had gained in sweeping the pirates from the seas, is a very proud
presence, and is certainly worthy of the admiration which his bronze
requires from the spectator. I instantly suspected this monument of
being the chief sculpture of Leghorn, and I did not wonder that a
_valet de place_ was lying in wait for me there to make me observe that
from a certain point I could get all four of the galley-slaves' noses in
perspective at once. Upon experiment I did not find that I could do
this, but I imputed my failure to want of merit in myself and not the
monument, and I willingly paid half a franc for the suggestion; if all
one's failures cost so little, one could save money. I was going then to
view at close quarters the port of Leghorn, which is famous for its mole
and lighthouse and quarantine, the first of their kind in their time.
The old port, with the fortifications, was the work of a natural son of
Queen Elizabeth's Earl of Leicester, whose noble origin was so
constantly recognized by the Tuscan grand-dukes that he came at last to
be accepted as Lord Dudley by the English.
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