shattered remains will be no great loss to the world, except as a mere object of curiosity. A scaffolding is now erected before it, for the purpose of making some repairs.

Near the church of the Jesuits, a sumptuous palace was pointed out to us, which was built by a Milanese adventurer, who emigrated to South America, and after an absence of many years, returned laden with no small portion of the mines of Peru. His proud pile attracted less attention, than the more modest mansion of Beccaria, author of the standard work on Crimes and Punishments. Its front is neat and classical, bearing medallions of the distinguished men of modern Italy. The palace is at present inhabited by his two sons, who are in moderate circumstances, but eminent for their scientific and literary attainments.

The Brera Palace is the great school and centre of the Fine Arts at Milan. It is a noble establishment, in point of architecture, extent, and the treasures of its splendid halls. It was formerly a college of the Jesuits. Napoleon converted it into a National Academy of the Arts. The edifice stands round a quadrangular court, presenting double ranges of corridors and colonnades of Grecian pillars. A beautiful simplicity prevails in the arrangement of the orders, and the style of the ornaments. The Doric basement appeared to me a perfect model. Both the Gallery and the Academy are in the second story. The former comprises eight apartments, four of which are spacious saloons, and the remaining four, smaller chambers, all contiguous and opening into one another. Corinthian columns of the utmost magnificence separate the different sections of the grand hall, through which the eye looks for its whole extent, and surveys its walls lined with the rare productions of the great Italian

masters.

Supereminent in merit as well as in fame, is the Parting of the two Apostles, Peter and Paul, by Guido. It is justly deemed the sublimest work, that his prolific pencil ever produced. In moral grandeur, in dignity of attitude, in force of expression, the figure of Peter is one of the most vigorous conceptions of any mind. All the elevation of the apostolic character, the firmness of the martyr, the fortitude, the resignation of the Christian, blended with a portion of that manly grief, which such a moment might be supposed to call forth, are thrown into every feature of his face.

I was much pleased with a beautiful oval picture by Alba

no, representing a circle of Cupids, dancing hand in hand round a tree, while three of the party are seated in the branches, amidst the foliage, playing upon tiny musical instruments, as the orchestra of the rural fete. The minikin gods have thrown aside their armour, and piled up their bows and quivers upon the green turf, that they may frolic in the fairy ring with more alertness, and print the sod with lighter footsteps. It is an original idea, happily expressed.

Such were the attractions of the Brera, as to induce us to pay it a second visit, on the eve of our departure from Milan, and to linger several hours in the saloons, with the melancholy reflection, that it was the last great gallery, which would be seen in Italy. The love of pictures and statues, like all our other passions and habits, grows with what it feeds on; and so far from palling upon the senses, the last assemblage of the master-pieces of art afforded a much higher relish than the first. If the taste is not improved, a sort of companionship and intimacy is contracted with artists, whose works the traveller surveys daily, and to whom he bids a reluctant farewell.

The halls appropriated to the School of the Fine Arts afforded us scarcely less pleasure than the Gallery, furnishing evidence that great efforts are still making, to cherish genius and promote taste in designs, architecture, sculpture, painting, and engraving; in all which departments, premiums are annually distributed, and every inducement offered to awaken a laudable emulation. The rooms contain two monuments in honour of the distinguished patrons of the school; one by Canova, and the other by Thorwaldsen: also the head of a Vestal, by the former of these great artists, which is one of his most finished works. The face and drapery appeared to me inimitable. An extensive library is attached to the institution, to which students have free access. On the whole, the Academy is highly creditable to the genius, talent, and public spirit of the Milanese, who seem determined to render their city one of the foremost in modern Italy, in keeping alive a taste for the fine arts.

In our second visit to the Brera, we witnessed the annual exhibition of manufactures, for Milan and its vicinity, similar in design to that of the Louvre. Three or four rooms in the basement were well filled with commodities of all descriptions, except cutlery, embracing models of new inventions; rural implements; mills of various kinds s; machines

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for making wine; a variety of household utensils; vessels for cooking with steam; an extensive assortment of domestic fabrics, such as cloths, silk stuffs, linens, woollens, tapestry, gloves, and hosiery; together with an infinite number of fancy articles, embroidery, needle-work, and artificial flowers, done by young ladies in their schools of industry. The specimens of plated ware would have done credit to the shops of Sheffield, and the clocks and time-pieces were scarcely surpassed by those of Paris. Among the curiosities, was a museum of natural history, in which beasts, birds, and reptiles were made of straw, so closely imitated in form and complexion, that the eye could hardly distinguish them from real animals.

The premium articles were entwined with wreaths of laurel. A numerous concourse of both sexes appeared to take a lively interest in a show, which reflected so much credit upon the mechanical ingenuity and skill of their countrymen. There is a much greater degree of activity and energy in the Milanese character, than in the inhabitants of the softer and more voluptuous regions of the south; and the resemblance between the capitals of France and Lombardy is much stronger, than between the latter city and Rome or Naples. It appeared to me, that vestiges of Cisalpine Gaul could be traced in all the country north of the Po. The peasantry are distinguishable from the rest of Italy, in language, features, costumes, manners, and habits.

ار

LETTER XCI.

MILAN CONCLUDED-CHURCHES-CHAPEL OF THE DEAD-FESTIVAL OF ST. THOMAS-OPERA-MINOR THEATRES-ENVIRONS-VILLA OF NAPOLEON-EXCURSION TO MONZA-IMPERIAL GARDENS-PALACE-CATHEDRAL--IRON CROWN OF

LOMBARDY.

October, 1826.-We went the usual rounds of the churches, without finding much to admire or amuse. With the exception of the Cathedral, they will sustain no comparison with those of Rome or Venice. The walls of the Chapel of the Dead are lined with human bones and an array of skulls, piled to the very ceiling, and kept in place by iron net work. It is a dark, dreary charnel-house, dimly lighted by the glim

mer of a solitary taper at the altar. Some years since, a skull was seen to move without hands, and soon after to fall from its place to the pavement. All the priests were called in to witness the miracle, and pray for the rest of the unquiet bone, which kept dancing about the floor. At length a peasant ventured to take it up, when lo, a rat leaped out of the socket of the eye! He had built him a home in the seat of intellect, and was comfortably lodged, till his house fell. Had he secretly escaped, while the monks were counting their beads, the miracle would doubtless have been recorded for the benefit of posterity.

We attended the festival of St. Thomas, at the church which bears his name. Crowds of females left no room for the other sex. Incense was burned in such profusion, that the smoke dimmed the lights at the altar. Two orchestras of vocal and instrumental music united in the chants of the priesthood; and prayers to the patron saint rose amidst the animating symphonies of Rossini, such as are heard every night at the Opera. The street leading to the church was tastefully hung with festoons of crimson, yellow, and blue curtains, extending across from window to window. This custom seems to have descended from the triumphal processions of the old Romans.

Most of our evenings were passed at the theatres. Of these the Scala or Opera is by far the most celebrated. In scenery, dresses, and stage effect, it is superior to San Carlo at Naples, and probably the first in the world. The edifice itself did not fully equal my expectations. It appeared to me inferior to its rival in the south, in architecture and the splendour of its decorations. The boxes have rather a tawdry appearance, the alternate ranges, to the height of six tiers, being trimmed with strata of blue and yellow silk. One colour would have been in much better taste; and yellow is the meanest of all, especially in the night. Notwithstanding the brilliant chandelier, suspended from the centre of the ceiling, and of enormous size, the house is badly lighted; and the Milanese beauties have an opportunity of displaying few of their captivating charms. They, however, enjoy the privilege of seeing without being seen; for when the curtain rises, a flood of glory bursts from the stage, and the scene becomes all enchantment. Goddesses, nymphs, winged loves, and aerial spirits descend from heaven in clouds, course the air, and tread the earth with fairy feet, singing their sorrows as

well as their joys all the while. The orchestra is equalled only in strength by that of the Royal Academy of Music at Paris, and surpassed by none in skill and taste. The style of dancing is carried to still greater extremes than at San Carlo. This part of the show seemed to be the most attrac tive to the audience. Many persons left the theatre, as soon as the pirouettes were finished. That the opera is sometimes a stupid place to the Italians as well as to others, I had demonstrable evidence before me. Eight persons were counted fast asleep, within a circle of as many paces from my seat, lulled by angelic voices, and dreaming over the adventures of Elisa and Claudio. Yet these same persons deem it a kind of duty to attend at the Scala every evening, though the piece be repeated for the hundredth time. They go from habit, as certain merchants visit the Exchange, for the sake of appearing in public, and mingling with the world.

One evening each to the minor theatres was amply suffici ent. The Teatro Re is near the Viceroy's Palace, and from its name it is probably under his special patronage. It is a small but neat building. The comedy was amusing, and the ballet surpassed that of the Scala in indelicacy.

At another minor theatre, we witnessed a perfect burlesque upon the Italian stage. The players were marionettes, made of wood, about three feet in height, with imperceptible wires fixed in their heads, and moved by persons above the scenes, who by dint of ventriloquism threw their voices into the consequential actors. By a contraction of the stage, and the ilJusion of the perspective, they appear like real persons at a

distance.

An excursion was made a mile or two beyond the walls of Milan, to look at an old palace hidden among vines and poplars, celebrated chiefly for an echo in its court, which is said to give sixty distinct reverberations of sound. We did not take the trouble to count them. Three parties of ladies and gentlemen arrived on the same errand to this secluded retreat, during our visit of an hour. Pistols were discharged, and all sorts of noises made by the visitants, from the stentorian shouts of valets, to the involuntary shrieks of females, at the report of fire-arms and the smell of gunpowder. The echo is very perfect, though not more so than that in the mausoleum of Augustus; while the retreat of the fabled daughter of Air and Earth is here not so classical as on the banks of the Tiber, nor so silvan as amidst the woods and