the mingled colours of purple and gold announce the coming luminary-in a word, to watch the progress of firmamental change from early dawn to actual sun-rise, would always more than reward us for quitting even beds of down, which ours were not. “The sun appears, and heaven, earth, water smile ;" He appears with all the fiery brightness that threatens a renewed flood of fervent heat; and we enjoy the gorgeous spectacle of his first beams illuming the glaciers of the distant Alps.-The road from Turin proves mostly good, in some parts excellent; and runs on so perfect a level, that we have scarcely felt any thing like the sensation of deviating for a single moment from the horizontal line. The country, however, through which we are now passing, is not at all of an inviting kind. Our career is over the stony beds of hill-streams, and the sedgy banks of canals; through fens, and fields of maize, rice, and rank grass. In front and to our right, it is a perfect flat "extending to the skies." And to our left the prospect would be equally unattractive, were it not for the high aqueducts and reservoirs of Europe by whose almost interminable range it is so magnificently bounded.* Vercelli (where we pass the broad course of the Sesia) and Novarat (situated on the less important Gogna) are large towns, with handsome churches and shabby houses, *Mr. Evelyn alluding to the apparently sudden rise of the Alps after some hundreds of miles of the most even country in the world, says "it is as if Nature had here swept up the rubbish of the earth in the Alpes to form and clear the plains of Lombardy.”—Diary, p. 218. + Both Vercelli and Novara have curiosities, as well modern as antique, whose inspection would doubtless have amply repaid us for a longer stay than we allowed ourselves in either of those places. as usual. The fresco paintings on the fronts of many of the religious edifices are extremely well designed and executed. The women are tall, coarse, and yellow-skinned. Now and then, a pretty face, a tolerably clear (but never fair) complexion, or a well proportioned figure, will present itself; by way of exception to the general mould and aspect of the female peasantry. Their head-dress is either a shawl of white linen thrown over the head and shoulders, or a sort of diadem coiffure, consisting of a metal circlet fixed on at the back of the head, and having long pins with shining knobs radiating from it. At a solitary station of douaniers, between Orfengo and Bufalora, we cross the boundary dividing Piedmont from the Milanese. Hereabouts we also pass the Tesino, which (issuing from the Lago Maggiore) displays at this season a narrow yet very rapid current, flowing in a broad bed of shingles. At other times its spacious channel is incapable of restraining the inundations of the river. The present bridge over the Tesino at this point is constructed of boats; but a little lower down the Austrian Government are building a fine one entirely of granite. Mr. Addison, in his "Remarks on Italy," alluding to the beautiful description which Silius Italicus has given of the Tesino, has expressed himself at a loss to know why that writer represented it as so very gentle and still a river. The words of the Geographical Poet of ancient Italy are: Coeruleas Ticinus aquas et stagna vadoso "Smooth and untroubled the Ticinus flows, "And through the crystal stream the shining bottom shows: "Scarce can the sight discover if it moves; "So wondrous slow, amidst the shady groves “And tuneful birds that warble on its sides, "Within its gloomy banks the limpid liquor glides."-ADDISON. It is true, that at the point where we crossed it, as at Pavia, where our illustrious countryman made his observation, the Tesino, though a clear stream, is the very opposite of a gentle and still one. In our journey, however, through the passes of Savoy, we have seen numberless transitions from rapidity to sluggishness, from impetuosity to calmness, in the current of the same mountain-stream: and bearing that fact in mind, I should be apt to suppose the character of lenlè trahens given to this river, might be applicable to some part or other of its course. But, without further argument, to shew that the Latin author above quoted was not without a foundation of local accuracy for bis description, it may suffice to notice, what M. Reichard says of the Tesino. "It pours (says the modern topographer) from Mount St. Gothard like a cascade through the ruins and remains of ancient avalanches; but having reached the chesnut-planted valley of Giornico, this same river, as if tired of foaming and dashing itself into spray down its numerous torrents, flows through groves of rosemary, in a smooth channel, and winds slowly along by the track of the passenger." The loud noise of the grasshoppers in these level districts surpasses any thing of the kind to which in more northern latitudes we are accustomed. It is indeed difficult to believe that it can be produced by such insects. They are, however, of a larger size than those in England; and their numbers must be beyond all calculation, for we ride many miles amidst their tiresome chirping, which reaches our ears from all quarters; the grass, the hedges, even the trees appear to be filled with them. — Green lizards we see basking on banks and bridges. At Bufalora our trunks were examined, and plombé for Milan. We found the mean spirit of mendicity strong in the underling officers of the custom-house. This is annoying to the traveller. But he will not do justice to the active though unpopular government of the Emperor of Austria, if he shut his eyes to the obviously improved appearance of towns and villages, and of their inhabitants, since the time of his quitting the Piedmontese territories of his Sardinian Majesty. Of the maize, or Indian wheat, there is an abundant crop this year. It is the peculiar food of the peasantry, who make it into bread and other forms. The rice-grounds which we see in these plains are irrigated by means of numerous canals that distribute the waters issuing from the lakes of Como, Maggiore, and the Alps. There is a prohibition against its being grown within five miles of any great city. The reason assigned for this regulation is that the aquatic mode of rice-culture renders it liable to generate fevers. At two in the afternoon we arrived at the ancient and renowned city of Milan, the capital of the New Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. The entry by the Turin gate (like all the rest) is imposingly grand. It is a triumphal arch, with corinthian columns and entablature. streets near the walls are wide and well built; but towards the centre of the city, the houses, without decreasing in height, form much narrower avenues. The We fail not, however, to notice on each side numerous churches and other public buildings. After dinner we directed our steps towards the Cathedral.* The impression of the first coup d'œil was not equal to what I had anticipated from having previously examined with so much pleasure Durelli's engraved outline of it. I have the less hesitation in confessing this disappointment, because even at the very moment of experiencing it, I became aware of the cause. Like too many other grand and interesting structures, the Duomo of Milan is not sufficiently disengaged from surrounding objects, to be seen in an advantageous general view. But it is necessary only to survey it more in detail in order to be convinced that it has well-founded claims to the repute of being the most magnificent of Gothic edifices. Gothic did I say? Yes: as to its interior and a considerable portion of the outside, that vague term is perhaps not less applicable than to the grand structures in Normandy, to Notre Dame, at Paris, and St. Denis' Abbey, as well as to our own noble Minsters of York, Lincoln, Salisbury, Ely, &c. But since the year 1386, when the first stone of this yet not entirely finished building was laid, the plan has been subjected to the various revolutions of taste, and consequently offers a heterogeneous mixture of stile. This more especially prevails in the generally admired and truly fascinating elevation of the west end. That splendid part of it, judging from the construction of its portals and windows, was probably begun so late as the * It is the largest in Italy, after St. Peter's at Rome. The building is 449 feet in length, 275 feet wide across the transepts, and 238 feet high under the cupola. The inside is divided into five naves, supported by 160 large columns of white marble.-Reichard. |