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fered by Beatrice, Archdutchess of Modena, as a fac-simile of one of her own noble bantlings.

From the tomb we were conducted to the Sacristy, where all the treasures, plate, and relics of the church, consisting of golden chalices, crosses, crowns, crosiers, mitres, and other ornaments of the most costly descriptions, were displayed for our inspection. Here are two statues, one of San Carlo, and the other of St. Ambrose, of immense value, composed entirely of gold and silver. Their fingers, as usual, are loaded with rings. Busts of Apostles and Saints, wrought from the precious metals, throng the sanctuary, the riches of which are boundless. Among other curiosities, are relics of the Virgin's robe and veil, consisting of little patches of lace and gingham, hung upon the branches of a metallic tree, as splendid as that, whence Æneas plucked the enchanted twig:

Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.

It is singular that these treasures have escaped pillage, amidst all the wars and revolutions, conquests and confiscations, to which Milan has been subjected, by foreign nations.

The Monday after our arrival was the last day of the Pope's Jubilee at Milan. It was kept holier than the Christian Sabbath, which preceded it. The shops were all shut and the theatres closed. At an early hour, the ancient banner of St. Ambrose, bearing his image wrought in tapestry, was displayed at the front door of the Duomo, and a band of buglemen, in red coats, summoned the church militant to the ceremonies of the festa. They were followed by guards of armed soldiery, who pushed the women aside with their bayonets, in marching up the aisles, to join the Cardinal and priesthood in their sacerdotal robes at the altar. As the only means of securing a passage, we fell into the procession, and were probably taken for " persons of distinction." Mass was celebrated to the sound of the trumpet, and the usual quantity of incense was burned.

After the conclusion of ceremonies at the Cathedral, the innumerable multitude moved off in solemn pomp, to the church of St. Ambrogio, in a distant part of the city. Bullion enough was hoisted, in the shape of crucifixes and standards, to purchase a kingdom. Such a spectacle afforded us very little novelty or pleasure, except that it furnished an opportunity of seeing the whole population of Milan and the surrounding country, assembled in their holyday dresses. The Milanese peasantry are less soft and delicate in their manners, as well as less splendid in their costumes, than those in the south of Italy.

They begin to partake of the coarser features and ruder habits of the north. Both sexes drink brandy, and instances of intoxication are not unfrequent. Many of the women of the higher classes are extremely beautiful; symmetrical in their forms, dignified and graceful in their manners, and uniting taste with richness in dress. We saw several with their hair frizzled and powdered, in the fashion of the last century. One of the most amusing pictures, which attracted my attention in the show, was an old man selling rosaries at the door of the Cathedral. He had beads of all colours and sizes, to suit purchasers. At the end of each string is a little medal, bearing the image of the Virgin on one side, and St. Carlo, St. Anthony, or some other popular saint on the reverse. I heard an old lady pour forth a torrent of eloquence, in cheapening the price of a rosary from twenty to fifteen soldi. Medals have been struck in honour of the present Pope and his Jubilee. The inscriptions are in Italian and German.

We walked through the subterranean passage, leading from the Cathedral to the Archbishop's Palace. It has more than a twilight dimness, and the rumbling of carriages, along one of the principal streets, was heard above our heads. The wall at the end of the covered way bears the following inscription: "Donne non passino per questa strada"-females must not travel this road. Such a prohibition, which was aimed at those who were in the habit of availing themselves of the obscurity of the avenue, has only served to make it the more frequented, and the injunction seems to be wholly neglected. In groping through its mazes, we met crowds of women.

The Palace of the Viceroy, consisting of a centre and two wings, fronts upon the Piazza del Duomo. It is occupied by Ranieri, Archduke of Austria, who resides here the greater part of the year, but had gone to Vienna at the time of our visit, probably to receive his orders from the Aulic Council. We found an immense waste of vacant and unfurnished apartments, like those in the regal palaces about St. Mark's, at Venice. Some of them are neatly finished in the French style, having been prepared for the residence of Napoleon and Eugene Beauharnois. The floors are checker-work of nut-wood and oak, the ceilings exhibit roods of frescos, and the walls are hung with Brussels tapestry. Ranieri may lie in bed and gaze at the Triumphs of Napoleon, delineated upon his canopy; and the dressing chamber of the Grand Dutchess is ornamented with images of the republican eagle and the arms of France.

In one end of the basement of the Palace are deposited all the moveable memorials of Napoleon, swept from the saloons and heaped together as rubbish, on the ascendency of the present dynasty. Gallic

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cagles, Cupids, and winged lions of St. Mark nestle in confusion, among the score of heads of the Emperor by different artists. Much the finest of the group is a semi-colossal bust by Canova, which is said to be one of the most correct likenesses of Bonaparte ever taken. His temples are more hollow, and his nose more prominent, than in the ordinary representations of his face. The bust of Canova himself stands by the side of his immortal subject; and in the general outlines of the two heads, there is a strong resemblance.

Among the rubbish are busts of Napoleon and Maria Louise, in wax. They are scarcely fit for the sign of a barber's shop. The hair of the Empress hangs in strings over her dirty, blotched, blue-eyed, vulgar face, giving her the appearance of a hackneyed courtezan. Her imperial companion appears in no better style. Both should be sent off to a wig-maker, to have their heads combed, and then be placed in a bow window, beneath the three pewter basins. There is a spirited picture of Bonaparte crossing the Alps, from the pencil of David. It has some of the faults of the French school; but the design as well as the subject is grand. The hero is represented on horseback, upon the summit of the mountains, with his right-arm extended and pointing to Italy. He is followed by his army, dragging artillery up the rocks. The violence of Alpine storms is forcibly expressed in the agitation of the drapery. I have seen copies of this painting else. where, but much inferior in point of execution.

LETTER XC.

MILAN CONTINUED-FORUM OF NAPOLEON-CASTLE-CAMPUS MARTIUS -AMPHITHEATRE-ARCH OF THE SIMPLON-GATE OF MARENGOCORSO-PUBLIC GARDEN-MILITARY ACADEMY-HOSPITALS-AMBRO

SIAN LIBRARY-GALLERY-FRESCO OF THE LAST SUPPER--LITA PALACE-THE BRERA-ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS.

October, 1826.

ONE of the most prominent features in the topography of Milan, is the Campus Martius, with its surrounding structures. It is a green open plain, three or four miles in circumference, lying in the northern part of the city. One section of it is denominated the Forum of Napoleon, forming the parade, under the walls of the Castle. It is intersected by walks and planted with young trees. Bonaparte intended to surround it with ranges of palaces, and to open a broad avenue thence in a direct line to the Cathedral. The Citadel rises between this forum, in embryo, and the Field of Mars. It is a monstrous pile, enclosing three spacious courts, crowded with Austrian troops. The corps of lancers were seen upon parade. They are armed with long spears, in the style of Cossacks. There is nothing in the architecture, furniture, or associations of this Castle, that can interest the visitant.

On the east of the Campus Martius, is the great Amphitheatre, constructed under the auspices of Napoleon. A superb gate, supported by Grecian pillars, and enriched with representations of chariot races in bas-relief, leads to the arena. On the western wall, stands a stately pavilion, with a splendid portico and colonnade in front. The amphitheatre is strictly classical in its form and construction, resembling similar works among the old Romans, to which it is scarcely inferior in size and substantial masonry. Its dimensions are something like 600 feet in length, and 400 in breadth. The arena is surrounded by a wall of granite, and the seats are composed of immense blocks of the same material, rising to the height of perhaps forty feet. A mound, sufficiently wide for a walk, covered with green turf, and shaded with trees, forms the parapet, and presents a circle of rich foliage. At one end of the oval is a semicircular range of arches, with a balustrade at top, designed for the orchestra. The benches. will accommodate 30,000 spectators.

This stupendous work was intended for a naumachia, as well as for Olympic games. A copious stream, drawn from Lake Como, flows under the walls of the amphitheatre, and thence to the city. The

arena may be filled with water in a few minutes. At the coronation of Napoleon as King of Italy, the whole series of Roman games were celebrated in order, beginning with chariot races, and ending with a naval combat between boats, which came hither on the canal from Como. Our old valet witnessed the spectacle, and described its splendour with much enthusiasm. By a stratagem, the attention of the spectators was directed to a show upon the Campus Martius. On a return to their seats, they found the scene changed, as if by enchantment, and the arena filled with vessels, instead of wrestlers, bigæ, and horses. Such was the skill of the great magician to secure popular applause, as well in the character of his public amusements, as by his daring achievements in the works of war. Under the walls of the amphitheatre spreads a beautiful promenade, resembling the Champs Elysées at Paris.

On the northern side of the Campus Martius, terminates the great road over the Simplon, a work as splendid in utility, as the amphitheatre is in luxury. The eye looks through a vista of several miles, formed by lines of trees bordering the wide avenue. At the point of entrance into the city, a gate, or more properly a triumphal arch, is now in progress, upon a scale of magnificence proportioned to the grandeur of a terrace across the Alps, piercing their rocks, traversing their snows, and bridging their torrents. Not all the Alexanders and Cæsars of antiquity-neither Greece nor Rome, in the age of republican greatness or imperial glory, ever undertook an enterprise that can be compared with this in extent, magnitude, and practical utility. The Egyptians reared pyramids for kings; but Napoleon opened roads for nations. Assyrian monarchs attempted to build towers, the tops of which should reach to heaven; but the Corsican scaled eternal ramparts, planted by the hand of nature herself. Greece had her Acropolis, her Piræus, and Colossus; and Rome her paved ways, aqueducts, and bridges; but these were the works of pigmies, in comparison with the Simplon.

Amidst all the monuments of imperial grandeur, I have seen nothing more stupendous in its proportions, more rich in its materials and ornaments, or more lofty in its design, than the Gate which is now erecting upon the borders of the Campus Martius. Some of its proud arches, and its gigantic columns, hewn from solid blocks of granite and marble, have been reared; and the rude masses for others strew acres of ground in the vicinity, as if another Coliseum were going up. Fifty or a hundred men are at work; but they are wanting in that energy and enthusiasm, which Bonaparte infused into the artisans, who commenced the execution of his plan. A hamlet of shops has

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