JESUITS IN PROCESSION, VALETTA, MALTA—p.6.
This beautiful architectural vista, one of those avenues so execrated by Byron, represents the Strada St. Giovanni, at the moment (and at what moment are they not in motion?) when a religious procession, of the Jesuitic order, is passing by. Valetta abounds with "streets of stairs," an unavoidable consequence of its situation on a somewhat steep ridge. It must have been the inconvenience of ascent that drew forth the impassioned exclamation of the noble bard against all such avenues, he who would else have loved them for their very singularity, for their necessary absence from the every-day pageantry of life, from the deep shadows and vivid lights attendant on their narrow width, the height of the houses, and the numerous breaks caused by the projecting balconies and rich architectural decorations.
