Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber: or, The influence of Romanism on trade, justice, and knowledge

About this book

The work is a travel memoir by James A. Wylie, a Scottish clergyman who sets out from the Alpine foothills of Turin with a clear purpose: to visit the Vaudois region and then to reach Rome. The opening pages describe his departure in a “diligence,” a multi‑storey carriage that he likens to a moving castle, and then launch into a panoramic meditation on the landscape of Piedmont and Lombardy. Wylie’s prose sweeps from the glittering Po River to the towering Alps, noting the fertile plains, the “princess cities” of art and trade, and the shadow of Austrian and Roman influence that looms over the region. Interwoven with these observations are philosophical reflections on the constancy of the traveller’s inner life, suggesting that the journey across mountains does not alter the self any more than a change of scenery can erase past deeds.

Wylie writes in a richly descriptive, nineteenth‑century style that blends detailed geographical commentary with lyrical digressions and moral musings. His voice is erudite yet conversational, peppered with classical allusions and occasional humor about the cramped conditions of the diligence. Readers who relish expansive Victorian travel literature, enjoy vivid depictions of Italian geography, and appreciate a contemplative blend of history, theology, and personal reflection will find this book rewarding. It will especially appeal to those interested in the cultural impact of Roman Catholicism on trade, justice, and knowledge as observed from the road between the Alps and the Tiber.

Opening lines

I had two objects in view in crossing the Alps. The first was to visit the land of the Vaudois; the second was to see Rome. The first of these objects I had accomplished in part; the second remained to be undertaken. This plain of Piedmont was the richest my foot had ever trodden; but often did I turn my eyes wistfully towards the Apennines, which, like a veil, shut out the Italy of the Romans and the City of the Seven Hills. At Turin, which the Po so sweetly waters, and over which the snow-clad hills of the Swiss fling their noble shadows, properly begins my journey to Rome. I started in the diligence for Milan about four of the afternoon of the 21st October. Did you ever, reader, set foot in a diligence ? It is a castle mounted on wheels, rising storey upon storey to a fearful height. …

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