has so much discoloured the structure, that the material of which it is composed is not readily ascertained, except in some places where sceptical heretics have scraped the surface. The Romanists deny that it is brick, and affirm that it is a reddish grey stone unknown in Italy; but neither the denial nor the assertion can stand in the face of a fact. And why, after all, be so squeamish about the material? The miracle ought to be accounted so much the greater, if the angelic bearers not only conveyed the holy house beyond the reach of the infidel, but also converted the Syrian stone into veritable Italian brick. The interior of the Santa Casa is divided by a silver rail into two parts of unequal dimensions. In the largest division is an altar; and in the lesser one, which is considered peculiarly holy, is a cedar image of the Virgin, placed over the chimney-piece. This image is decked in glittering robes, wears a triple crown, and is adorned with precious stones. She holds an image of the infant Jesus, and a globe. Her face is of an Ethiopian hue, and resembles that of an Eastern idol adorned with barbaric pomp, rather than that of the meek and lowly mother of Christ. The exterior of the house is cased with Carrara marble, enriched with bassi rilievi of subjects from the life of the Virgin, executed by the most distinguished sculptors of Italy. The church which enshrines the Santa Casa is profusely decorated, and contains not less than twenty chapels, many of which possess fine pictures, and admirable mosaic copies of the works of Barroccio, Luchero, and others. The wealth heaped upon "the Virgin Mary's shrine" was immense; it is still great, but the French laid sacrilegious hands not only upon the Queen of Heaven herself, but also upon her dowry; and when Napoleon afterwards, in 1801, restored our Lady of Loretto to the pope, he quite forgot to return the small matter of trinkets and bijouterie. Lassels, whose travels in Italy were published in 1670, describes some of the treasures of the Santa Casa, which for the edification of our readers we catalogue at the foot of the page.*

The city of Loretto is beautifully situated on the brow of a hill overlooking the Adriatic, and is distant from the sea little more than two miles. The approach from Foligno is striking.

* An altar of silver, the gift of Cosmo II., Great Duke of Florence; a lamp of gold, as large as two men could carry, the votive offering of the Senate of Venice in a time of plague; two great candlesticks of pure gold, the gift of Magdelena d'Austria, grand Duchess of Florence; an old cupboard, with some little earthen dishes, the moveable estate of St. Joseph; a door of silver, provided for aforesaid cupboard by a Duke of Parma; a window of the holy house enriched with silver, said window having afforded ingress to the saluting angel; many silver lamps; the statue of the Virgin and her Son, done by St. Luke; the vesti, or vails, of the Virgin, of divers colours and stuffs, whereof one, valued at forty thousand crowns, and presented by the Infanta Isabella of Flanders, is studded with diamonds to the number of three thousand, and over-wrought with twenty thousand pearls; crowns of diamonds for the Virgin and Child, given by a Queen of France; a fleece of rich jewels, presented by a Prince of Transylvania, and covering the breast of the Virgin's statue; a collar of rubies, pearls, and diamonds, with a rich cross attached, given by Cardinal Sfondrati; a glory of precious stones, adorning the niche in which the statue stands; a row of lamps of pure gold as big as a man's head, one whereof exceeds the rest, and was the gift of Sigismond, King of Polonia; to which add a profusion of rich vows and presents from great princes. But the treasury of the Santa Casa contained even greater riches than those enumerated. Here were entire services for the altar in amber, agate, lapis lazuli, and crystal; precious stones in prodigal excess; and piles of costly things of which even to write a catalogue would prove a laborious penance. Let us not, however, omit special mention of the richly enamelled three-cornered jewel, with the picture of the Blessed Virgin, the votive offering of two Bohemian Counts and a Gentleman, who were unceremoniously pitched from a high window in Prague, by the Calvinists, and yet, in consequence of the Virgin's intercession, received no damage from the fall!

From this point the dome of the Chiesa della Santa Casa forms a prominent object; on the left lies the fertile valley of the Musone, and around are the remains of the forest in which the holy house at length found an abiding rest.

ANCONA.

HE name of Ancona is derived from the Greek άyzwv, and is supposed to refer to the form of the promontory upon which the city is built. This place is distant about fourteen miles from Loretto. Though situated so nearly together, these two localities differ in a very marked manner from each other. Loretto relies for its prosperity on the multitudes of pilgrims and devotees that visit the far-famed shrine, and supports its torpid inhabitants on the wages of imposture; whilst Ancona presents a scene of commercial bustle and activity, and finds employment for its citizens in the useful occupations of maritime trade.

We learn from Strabo that Ancona was built by a band of Syracusan patriots, who fled from the tyranny of Dionysius, and settled upon this coast. It is supposed by some to have had even an earlier existence, since it is mentioned, in the Periplus of Scylax, as having belonged to the Umbri; but this authority is by no means decisive, it being subject of dispute with the learned whether the Periplus is really the work of the author whose name it bears. Under the Romans, Ancona became a famous sea-port; and in the reign of Trajan those magnificent works were constructed which remain objects of admiration to the present day. Its situation on the coast, and its importance as a seat of maritime power, exposed it to the vicissitudes common to so many towns of Italy, after the fall of the empire. In 550 it was besieged by Totila, and in the same century it was seized and plundered by the Lombards, after whom came the Saracens, who surpassed their predecessors in outrage and oppression. It next became a free city, and in the twelfth century it was one of the most important towns of the league of Lombardy. In 1173, Ancona was besieged by Christian, Archbishop of Mayence, who had been sent into Italy by Frederick Barbarossa as his representative. This memorable siege furnishes many examples of patriotism and heroic self-devotion. The Venetians, the allies of the Archbishop, had built a vast ship, named Il Mondo. Wooden towers of great height and magnitude had been erected on the deck of this colossal ship, which was considered as the very centre of the power of the fleet. A priest of Ancona, observing the havoc which it occasioned, resolved to attempt its destruction. He swam out boldly towards the vessel, bearing an axe between his teeth, and succeeded in

cutting the cables and turning the ship adrift amongst its allies, thereby rendering it a source of mischief to the besiegers themselves. After this daring performance he effected his escape from the Venetians who pursued him, and reached the shore uninjured. Another example of courage was given by a woman, who rushed with a lighted torch and set fire to a wooden tower erected by the besiegers. She stood calmly at the base of the tower, regardless of the missiles aimed at her, and there remained until the flames had spread over the entire battery of the enemy. It was during the famine occasioned by this siege, that the young mother, called "the heroine of Ancona," performed an act of exalted and noble charity, characteristic of her sex. This woman, who was young, handsome, and of high birth, observed a soldier too much exhausted to obey the summons which called him to battle. She withdrew her breast from the lips of her infant and offered it to the warrior, who thus refreshed went forth with his comrades to the defence of his country. Another example is given, in which fortitude and tenderness are equally conspicuous. A woman beheld her sons perishing for want of sustenance, and having no other means of satisfying their hunger, she yielded to the great necessity and opened a vein in her left arm, and from her own blood she formed by culinary preparation, a costly food that prolonged the lives of her children at the imminent risk of her

own.

Ancona continued in the enjoyment of its privileges, as an independent territory, until 1532, when Gonzaga, general of Clement VII., under the specious pretext of defending it against the Turks, erected a fort and filled the city with papal troops. It thus became incorporated with the papal states; the aristocratic constitution which had existed for nearly two centuries was overthrown; the senators were expelled, and the principal nobles banished. It remained in connection with the holy see until 1798, when it was seized by the French, who in the following year surrendered it to the united forces of the Russians, Austrians, and the Turks. In 1808 it was again in the possession of the French, and formed part of the territory of Napoleon, as King of Italy; was restored in 1814 to the papal government; in 1860, was captured by the Sardinian army, and now belongs to the kingdom of Italy.

Few cities present a more imposing exterior than Ancona, but it is only externally that it is either striking or beautiful; the streets are dark and narrow; and, with the exception of the Marina, which was laid out by order of Pius VI., the whole interior has a miserable character common to the coast towns of Italy. The magnificent Mole of Trajan, and the triumphal arch erected in his honour, are the objects of chief interest. The greatest part of the Mole still remains, a solid compact wall, formed of huge stones bound together by iron, and rising to a considerable height above the level of the sea; it serves now merely as a protection to the quays that are built within it. The New Mole, which is much lower, stands close to that of Trajan, and sustains a triumphal arch, of the Tuscan order, erected in honour of Clement XII., and raised in manifest rivalry of the one dedicated to the emperor, yet serving, at most, only as a foil to the beauties of the imperial monument. The arch of Trajan is still entire, though stripped of its metallic ornaments; the order is Corinthian; the materials Parian marble. It was formerly decorated with statues, busts, and probably inferior ornaments of bronze, but these were all destroyed by the gothic invaders of Italy, whose avarice and rapacity defaced every building and monument in which either bronze or iron was found.

The Cathedral, dedicated to San Ciriaco, the first bishop of Ancona, is built upon a com