in the centre of this court; and our Italian servants, with that natural taste for the picturesque which appertains to them, ornamented the repast with flowers plucked from the neglected gardens of the monks.

We spent a long summer's day at the Certosa, one of those summer's days only to be seen or felt in Italy; where the blue heavens above us produce an exhilaration of spirits that precludes gloomy reflections, though it disposes the mind to calm contemplation. A gentle breeze fanned the leaves of the stately trees around, and waved the long grass springing up between the stones of the pavement; the cows feeding in the park, lowed as the hour for yielding their rich milk approached; the voices of the playful children of the custode mingled with the sounds, as they frolicked gaily about; and there rose that stately façade, the glories of the setting sun throwing tints, half golden, half crimson, over its sculptured wall, as we threw on it our last and lingering look.

We saw to-day a basin and ewer, the work of Benvenuto Cellini, and exquisite they are. They are proved to have been the identical bacino e bacealetto," presented to Francis I., by an engraving of them shown us by Signor Morose, executed during the life of that sovereign. The basin and ewer do not appear to me to have been intended to match, the subjects being totally different; nor, truth to say, though I know this opinion may be deemed an unpardonable scepticism, do they seem to have been designed or executed by the same hand. The basin is ornamented by an inimitably chiselled representation of the seasons, and the occupations of rural life. These reminded me of the charming Idyls of Gessner; and the beauty of the grouping, and the care bestowed in the execution of it, evince the artist's love of his subject, The ewer is adorned by heroic emblems and figures, and the chiselling struck me as being much less sharp than that of the basin.

We were told that these admirable works were sold at the melting price, that is, as old silver; and that within a recent period the sum of three thousand pounds had been offered for them. The Duke of Devonshire, it is said, wishes to become their owner, but so large a sum (five thousand pounds) is demanded for them, that no purchaser has yet been found. Good as is the taste of the Duke of Devonshire, and vast as is his fortune, both are considerably exaggerated in France and Italy; where every dealer in curiosities imagines that in his

Grace will be found a ready buyer of any thing rare, however enormous may be the price demanded for it.

We went yesterday to Monza, and took with us an order to see the celebrated iron crown. On the road we passed through Greco; and stopped to view some very fine frescos by Bernardino Luini.

The town of Monza, though silent and deserted, is full of interest, as offering so many traces of the Lombards; and this very silence and solitude is not only in harmony with the aspect of the place, but better disposes the mind to the contemplation of the objects it contains, and the reflections they awaken.

The royal villa is outside the town, and is approached by a long avenue of stately trees. It owes all the beauty of its apartments and grounds to the good taste of Prince Eugène Beauharnois, who rendered it a most agreeable residence, and who loved to resort to it as a refuge from the cares of state. The history of Psyche, by Appiani, ornaments the orangery, and has a very good effect.

The cathedral, founded by Theodolinda, contains many curious objects, but none to which so much interest is attached as the iron crown; that crown which encircled the brow of the chosen husband of Theodolinda, bestowed on him unsought, by her who was compelled to the delicate and painful office of announcing to him the honour she designed to confer on him, and which bound the laurelled brows of Charles V. and Napoleon.

Theodolinda evinced a woman's wit and grace in the mode she adopted for making the overture of her hand to Agigulphus : nevertheless, the task must have been a trying one to feminine feelings. I ventured to hint this to one of the monks, who was relating the anecdote; but he gravely reminded me that the queen was a widow, and consequently not so timid or bashful as if she had not previously been married. Besides, Signora," added he, "queens have no refusals to dread, and this Theodolinda well knew.”

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The following was the mode adopted by Theodolinda to offer her hand to Agigulphus. She ordered a precious cup, never used except by her royal self, to be filled with the rarest wine, and having taken a portion of its contents, she presented it with her own hand to him she had selected as her husband. Some persons are malicious enough to assert, that in placing it in his

hand, she allowed hers to give it a gentle pressure while others insist that she turned towards his lips the side of the cup that her's had touched, in order that he might not by any possibility misunderstand her intentions, and so compel her to the painful necessity of avowing them by words. But these surmises (for they cannot be more than surmises) must be mere scandal; and I, for one, can never believe that the fair Theodolinda could commit such solecisms in feminine delicacy, as either to press the hand of Agigulphus, or turn to him the side of the cup which her lips had touched.

One thing, however, is quite clear, that Theodolinda must have been greatly beloved by her subjects, or they would not have authorised her to offer, not only her hand, but what they perhaps thought much more important, her crown, to any husband she might select: an example which I fear is not likely to be followed in modern times, in those countries where the Salique law does not exist, and in which subjects are so ungallant, as to leave nothing, save their hands and hearts, at the disposal of their queens; a want of gallantry which places the husbands selected in a much less enviable position than that filled by Agigulphus.

The iron crown, so designated from a ring of iron, made of the nails of the cross on which the Saviour suffered, is incased in gold, and beheld from such a distance as to offer only a glittering object flashing through the fumes of incense from the censers of the priests, and the less pleasant smoke of the torches held up to display it. The crown is contained in a huge cross placed over the altar, and is never touched without the celebration of a religious ceremony.

A priest, in full canonicals, attended by two others bearing torches, and some half-dozen white-robed boys, entered the church, the priests prostrated themselves before the altar, and prayed, while the sacristan mounted by a ladder to the cross, opened it, and displayed the crown.

To atone for not letting us see the real crown nearer, we were permitted to examine a copy of it; and more, were allowed to look at a cotton gown, said to have been worn by the Virgin, which is enshrined in a silver case, and which testifies that Raphael had better taste in attiring her than was evinced by herself, if we may judge by this specimen of it. This gown, to which so much value is attached by the clergy at Monza, is

evidently not more than two centuries old; but the people receive it as a most sacred relic, and question not its authenticity.

The gifts of various sovereigns and other pious persons were shown us, many of them of considerable value, but not remarkable either for good taste or fine workmanship. It would appear that the donors imagine that the saints to whom these offerings are made, or the clergy, their delegates, are either bad judges of such matters, or that they prefer the intrinsic value of gold and gems, to beautiful design and execution.

ARONA.-The colossal statue of St. Carlo Borromeo is well placed on the summit of a hill above the town of Arona, and seen at a distance has a very imposing effect. The saint is represented holding a book in one hand, while the other is extended in benediction; employments allegorical enough of his mission on earth, which was to enlighten and to bless. The statue looks grim and monstrous when approached, appearing, like other great men, to most advantage at a distance. I declined the proposal made by our cicerone, of ascending to the interior of the saint, having little curiosity to study the anatomy of his nose, or to look from the casements of his eyes, a ceremony generally undergone by most travellers.

The view from the base of the statue is very fine, and could this brazen giant, this "copper captain," see, he might be well pleased with the prospect selected for him.

On the steeple of one of the churches is an image of the Redeemer on the cross; which, unlike any that I have hitherto observed, is covered by a robe. The church of St. Mary has a piece of sculpture representing the Nativity, evidently the work of a very remote age, and highly interesting as a specimen of the revival of the art.

Arona is a prosperous town; its dockyard appears to afford employment to several hands, and its little port was filled with The people are healthy-looking and well clad, and a spirit of active industry seems to animate them.

boats.

LAVENO. We have spent a delicious day in viewing the Borromean islands, and never did finer weather occur for such an expedition. Not a breeze ruffled the smooth and pellucid water; which, like a vast mirror, was spread forth, reflecting

on its tranquil bosom the azure heavens above, and the shadows of the mighty Alps that bound them. How striking is the contrast afforded by these stupendous mountains, the work of the Almighty, and the palace and gardens, the works of art, that rise up from the crystal waters! Terrace ranges above terrace, crowned with orange and lemon trees, intermingled with the most rare and odorous shrubs and plants, from which marble statues are seen peeping forth amid the bright foliage. They look like the dwellings of fairy queens, so gay and fantastic is their aspect; which, in spite of the artificial appearance of the whole, is nevertheless charming.

I ventured to make this remark to one of our party, and was answered that, in his opinion, the lake resembled a vast plateau of looking-glass, with a rich epergne laden with bright flowers and fruit in the centre of it; a comparison that struck me as peculiarly just.

The palace of Isola Bella is spacious, and richly decorated, but the taste displayed in it is meretricious; and one turns with impatience from the contemplation of its finery, to admire the largest and most beautiful laurels I ever saw, and which are said to be indigenous.

Isola Madre has been less dressed by art than Isola Bella, and therefore pleased me more; but Isola Piscatore, with its population of fishermen, surrounded by nets and boats, the implements of their profession, and destitute not only of all luxury but of what are deemed the common necessaries of life, offers such a contrast to Isola Bella and its luxurious dwellings and gardens, as to bring painfully before the sojourners in the latter, the different destinies of the rich and the poor.

I have not enough of the epicurean philosophy in me to be able to enjoy the superfluities of wealth within sight of those denied all, save the scanty food obtained by a precarious trade, without feeling my pleasures disturbed by the view of their privation. Hence, were I the proprietor of the Borromean Isles, I would render the Isola Piscatore a less dreary spot, and the poverty of its inhabitants should not disturb my enjoyment.

It might, perhaps, offer a curious problem for a casuist to solve, whether the pain excited by the view of the poverty of others, as contrasted with our own luxuries, or the zest which this contrast sometimes imparts to our enjoyments, is most produced by selfishness. The sophist might argue, that the