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 curiosi ties, 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 ap peared 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.

LETTER XCI.

MILAN CONCLUDED-CHURCHES-CHAPEL OF THE DEAD--FESTIVAL OF ST. THOMAS-ÕPERA-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 alt 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 attractive 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 Seala 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 sufficient. 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 illusion 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. 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

The

rocks of Killarney, where the pipes of Pan still waken her slumbers. In the walls of a palace, she has literally realized the metamorphosis of the poet, and been changed into stone.

On our way back, we visited the Villa of Napoleon, in the suburbs of the city, presenting a distant view of the Cathedral. The grounds are extensive and highly embellished in the French style, watered by an artificial stream, overhung with trees. Grecian temples and pavilions rise along the rural walks, and the garden yet bloomed with autumnal flowers. The palace is two stories, elegant in its proportions and architecture, but objectionable in some of its ornaments. In the bas-reliefs of the exterior, the loves and frolics of Satyrs are represented in their broadest characters. The roof is crowned with ranges of statues. We traversed long suites of apartments, which are elegantly finished, but indifferently furnished, containing neither sculpture nor paintings. They are occupied a part of the year by the Viceroy. A call was made at the Palace of the Governor, standing upon the Corso. The architrave of the third story is supported by a series of caryatides, male and female, yoked together in pairs, and extending quite round the court. It is a barbarous and grotesque species of ornament. The edi fice is devoid of interest of any kind.

A day was occupied in an excursion to Monza, for the purpose of examining the Iron Crown of Lombardy. It was necessary to go through with the formality of obtaining a permit from the Austrian authorities. They gave us a sealed letter, bearing the double headed eagle and the arms of the Empire. It was folded, stamped, and superscribed in as much style, as if it had been a commission to a foreign court. What it contained was never known to us. It pass ed current with the priesthood, and served as a key to open the cabinet of the Cathedral, which was enough for us to know.

Monza is ten miles from Milan. We rode along the banks of the canal, which connects the city with Lake Como, and passed the Villa Greco, without discovering any of the charms with which it has been invested by the luxuriant and pliant imagination of Lady Morgan. The whole region is an unvaried plain, and the view is intercepted by eternal poplars, tangled with vines. Neither nature nor art presents a single new feature, in the course of a ride which has been so much extolled.

At noon we reached the large village of Monza, the Ver

sailles of Lombardy, and first looked at the Imperial Palace. It is one of the dozen residences of the Viceroy. He is at the age of 43, with a wife of twenty-five. His only employment seems to consist in riding from palace to palace, without troubling his head with the cares of empire.

The royal gardens at Monza surpass those of the Bourbons, in taste as well as in extent. They are laid out and embellished in the style of English parks. The woods are rich and beautiful. We sauntered an hour along umbrageous walks, following each winding pathway, which led to a Grecian or Chinese temple, a tower or an imitation ruin, a rustic grotto, a lake, fountain, or waterfall. Such is the location of these various objects, as often to take the spectator by surprise, and produce the finest effect. In some instances perspectives are opened purposely for show-a species of ornament not uncommon in the north of Italy. waters in these grounds are transparent, brisk, and musical, frequently descending in cascades, in which art has happily pursued the suggestions of nature. Swans, ducks, and other domestic animals give to the scenery a rural appearance. Botanical, kitchen, and fruit gardens are among the appendages of the park.

The

The palace is colossal in its proportions, and its architecture classical. It was rebuilt some fifty years ago of substantial materials. The interior, though highly finished and richly furnished, contains not a vestige of the fine arts. After traversing Lombardy from the Po to the Lakes, it was ascertained pretty satisfactorily, that an Austrian palace is one of the most vacant and stupid buildings in the world.

The Cathedral is near the Palace. Its front is not a mean specimen of Gothic architecture; but the black and white stripe destroys whatever of merit the exterior would otherwise possess. A fulsome inscription, in praise of the munificence of the Austrian dynasty, meets the eye at the portals. The church is consecrated to Theolinda, who is its patron saint, and whose tomb is near the high altar.

Our imperial order was delivered, and as much preparation was made, as if the Iron Crown was to be placed upon one of our brows, as it had been upon that of Napoleon. It required the services of four priests, and a layman, as a lackey, to exhibit the relic, which is enshrined in a cross of massive gold, studded with the costliest gems, and hallowed by veritable fragments of the apparatus, used in the crucifixion