In Switzerland, all was the grandeur and majesty of nature; in Italy, it is the splendor and perfection of architecture. In the one, the towns were of themselves nothing; in the other, they The plain of the Valley of Osola is beautiful. It are every thing. In Switzerland, the modern is the first Italian plain we have seen; it differs efforts for religion and liberty, and the fine spirit from the Swiss, in its greater fertility, softness, of the inhabitants, attract your chief attention; in and beauty; the meadows are more rich, the trees Italy, the ancient memorials of past power, and in finer verdure. The town of Domo d'Osola has the remains of science and literature. In Switabout three thousand inhabitants. There is no zerland, you connect the works of nature with the bookseller in the place-I mark this fact, where it men; in Italy, the men with the works, not of occurs, as implying a thousand consequences-nature, but of art. The Swiss have for five centhe public mind is bound down in imperturbable ignorance and self-satisfaction. As we passed Isella, the second village in Italy, our baggage was searched; and the officer told us plainly, the objects he looked after were books of religion and politics-morals are left to themselves.

the Rhine or of Switzerland; they are raised on treillises, often of granite, and always in regular order, high enough to form arbors; so that the grass or corn grows beneath, and the field is one bower. Where this is not the case, you have beech, maple, or peach trees hung with vines, joined from tree to tree by branches, suspended on ropes; at other places, the terraces rise, loaded with vines, all up the mountain-side. The view of the rich black grapes, hanging under the treillis-work, is incomparably beautiful. We were, perhaps, a little partial in our judgment, because the grapes of Switzerland, when we left it, were as hard as stones; whereas here the branches hang in rich, ripe clusters everywhere, so that our postillion, as he walks up a hill, or a boy conducting us to a sight, gathers large bunches unasked, and brings them to us. I conceive, that Italy must be something like to ancient Palestine, though

doubtless much inferior to it.

lake. The fragrance was most gratifying to-day, though it is as late in the year as the middle of September. Fountains and statues refresh and adorn every part of the grounds. In short, these islands are the model of perfection in their waywhich way, indeed, has been out of taste for about a century, and is undoubtedly stiff and unnatural; but still, they reward one richly for the trouble of a visit. Some of the prospects from the islands, on the lake and the bordering villages and mountains, are exquisite. The heights of the Simplon and the peaks of Mount Rosa and Saint Gothard may be discerned from them. The Borromean Palace, in each island, is an emblem of Italian finery and negligence. The wings of the principal one are completed: but the body is nothing but bare walls. I understand this is almost general in Italy; the nobles build, or rather begin to build, immense houses they half finish them-they soon allow them to decay and go to ruin; a complete well-appointed mansion is rare in this country.

Arona, 41 miles from Domo d'Osola, 8 o'clock, Friday evening, Sept. 12.-The weather is most propitious. We have had only one wet day (Au- In approaching this town of Arona, where I am gust 31) since the storm on the Righi: to-day now writing, we ascended a hill to examine a there has been a soft delightful temperature, with- colossal statue of cardinal Charles Borromeo, an out excessive heat. We set off at seven this eminent benefactor to Milan, and founder of the morning, and have been travelling a great way Sunday schools still existing there; he died in by the margin of the lovely Italian lake, called the year 1584. The statue itself is seventy-two Lago Maggiore; its waters are smooth as a mir-feet high-twelve times the natural size, and five ror, so as to reflect every thing on its banks; towns on each side, mountains in varied outline, crowning the prospect-the near scenery soft and lovely, the distant bold and magnificent. It is, in some parts, one thousand eight hundred feet deep. Eels abound in it, of the weight of thirty pounds.

From Baveno, we embarked to visit the Borromean Isles, so called from the ancient Italian family which possesses and has adorned them.They are two, Isola Bella and Isola Madre. The principal one is a mile and a half round; originally a barren rock, but now covered with gardens, grottos, and terraces, raised on arches and arcades. In some parts the arches are ten stories high, one over another, raised from the lower part of the rock to the highest terrace; which is one hundred and twenty feet above the surface of the lake, and forty feet square. A pegasus placed on the summit gives the whole island something of the appearance of a pyramid. The aspect of these arches and terraces from the road was most beautiful-there was something quite novel in the view of the mass of gardens and buildings rising at once out of the water, as by enchantment.

er.

Nor were we disappointed when we came nearWe saw in the gardens, cedars, myrtle trees, cypresses of enormous girth, aloes, Egyptian grapes, serpentine cucumbers a yard and a half long; a plant from the Canaries, which grew twenty-four feet high in thirty-two days; but the most abundant species of trees were the citrons, which lined the walls of the terraces, and had large cabbages planted at their roots, to protect them from the intense heat of the sun. There were also vines, olives, and orange trees in profuBion. More than thirty thousand oranges and citrons are gathered every year. In the time

or six times as high, I think, as that of the duke of Bedford in London-the pedestal thirty-six feet. The arm is twenty-eight feet long, the head twenty feet round, the nose two feet seven inches long, the circuit of the cloak fifty-four feet, &c. &c.The attitude is that of one blessing the people.The right hand is raised gently, the left clasps the Breviary;* (which is thirteen feet high) the head is bare; the countenance most benignant; the garments those of a cardinal, in easy, flowing drapery. So admirably natural is the whole, that you have no idea of its enormous dimensions on first looking at it. It is curious that we thought we discovered a likeness between the cardinal and the present count Borromeo, whom we happened to meet as we landed on his island: the resemblance in the nose seemed to us to be striking. The head, feet, and hands of this Colossus are made of bronze; the body of copper; the pedestal is of stone. There are no steps within the pedestal, as you might expect; but my sons had to ascend by a ladder from the outside to the part of the statue where the fold of the cloak falls.Under this bronze fold they entered, and then ascended to the head of the figure, and sat with ease in the nostrils. A stone pillar with iron spikes fixed in it, by way of stairs, runs up the interior of the statue to support it. I really quite trembled as they went up the quivering ladder of forty-eight steps; and when they entered the statue, and afterwards looked out to me from a kind of door which opened in the back of it, a hundred feet above my head, (half as high as the Monument in London) I was really alarmed. Thank God, they came down safe.

The inns in Italy are contrived for delight.We are now sitting with our windows open;

So the guide-books call it—for my part, I hope

when the gardens are in flower the sweet per-
fume spreads for a considerable distance over the it is the BIBLE.

flower-pots are placed in every nook; grapes for their farms, but divide the returns with their hang all around in rich clusters; open galleries landlord. Ploughing is performed by oxen. The and platforms conduct from one part of the house agricultural instruments are deplorable; and the to another; the floors are all brick or stone; the inhabitants are generally poor. Many of the rooms are lofty; and if they were but clean, all churches have small square towers, very lofty, would be well. We have now the finest fruit at with six or seven stories, and windows in each.breakfast and dinner, and good light wines at a The towns are slovenly and dirty beyond all defranc a bottle. The people are of a copper color. scription: one would think there was scarcely a The women wear handkerchiefs over their heads comfortable house in them. like veils. At Domo d'Osola, the streets had two narrow slips of smooth flags in the middle, for the wheels of carriages, the rest being rough pebbles. We are under stricter police laws than ever; our passports are sent for at every town, as soon as we enter; and we have a license for post-horses, which we have to show at each stage. Such is the liberty of the Sardinian and Austrian dominions in Italy.

us we had only to give him two francs each, and | paintings on the glass, also tend to increase the one for himself, and he would be content; the general gloomy appearance. rogue took the money without a word. The statue of St. Bartholomew, within the caMilan, where we now are, is considered, next thedral, is considered as a chef-d'œuvre-but the to Rome and Naples, one of the largest cities of subject is frightful-the martyr is represented just Italy. It was the ancient Mediolanum; and in the act of being flayed alive-the skin hangs was founded as early as Tarquinius Priscus, 670 down loose like a garment behind him. Two years before Christ. It was the capital of Bona-pulpits in the choir much pleased us. They are parte's kingdom of Italy, and is now the joint- of fine bronze, each running round an immense capital with Venicet of the Italian dominions of pillar, like a gallery; one is supported with adthe emperor of Austria. It has nearly one hun-mirable figures of Cyprian, Ambrose, Austin, and dred and fifty thousand inhabitants; the outer Jerome; and the other, by the four mysterious wall is ten miles in circuit, and it is one of the very animals of Ezekiel. The tomb of Carlo Borrofew great cities not built on a river. The Adda meo is most splendid. It is a room of silver gilt, and Tesin, however, communicate with it by ca- and contains a superb altar, and the history, in nals. We are at the Royal Hotel, and are ex-bas-relief, of the chief events of his life beyond tremely well accommodated. The landlord tells conception magnificent. The shrine is of rock us that his servants have, during the last nine crystal. The summit of the tower of the catheyears, perfectly learned the English taste. dral presents a beautiful and extensive view of the city and plain of Milan; with its rivers, gardens, groves, vineyards, and numerous towns; bounded by the neighboring Alps, and more remote Apennines.

Immediately after our arrival, we hastened to see the celebrated cathedral, built of white marble, the grandest and most imposing specimen of Gothic architecture now remaining; and the finest church in Europe, after St. Peter's at Rome, Still all is an entire flat; the plain of fair Italy. and St. Paul's at London. It is also the largest In this respect, Switzerland, dear Switzerland, far in Italy, next to St. Peter's. It is four hundred surpasses it. As we approached Milan, a small and forty-nine feet long, two hundred and seventy-hedge in the road was sufficient to conceal the five wide, and two hundred and thirty-eight high. It was begun in 1386, and is yet unfinished; but, strange to say, Bonaparte did more to complete it in a few years, than had been done in three hundred previous or than will be done, perhaps, in three hundred to come.

This noble edifice, as you first approach it, bursts upon the eye most majestically. The façade is magnificent, and the three other sides are hardly inferior. The immense mass of perfectly white marble, of which it is built, its amazing size, the labor manifest in its several parts, and the exquisite finish of the ornaments and statues which adorn it, fill the mind of a stranger with admiration. We gained the best idea of the beauties of its alabaster walls by going up on the roof, which is itself covered with slabs of marble. We then saw quite closely the fret-work, the carving, and the sculpture, and marked the grace of the figures, and the symmetry and elegance of each pinnacle. Above the dome there rises an elegant tower, like an obelisk. We walked up stairs of marble, we leaned on balustrades of marble, we passed through galleries of marble; whilst the walls were literally studded with statues, and every niche filled with its archbishop or saint there are in all more than four thousand figures. The fact is, as marble is obtained with ease and in great abundance in Italy, and admits of nicer workmanship than stone, the full benefit has been taken of these advantages. The interior of the building, however, is obscured with dust and smoke, and incense, and burning lamps; so that it does not look nearly so handsome as the outside. The smallness of the windows, and the

whole of the place from us. The town has some fine streets, with handsome foot-pavements; but as it is very ancient, most of the streets are narrow, and irregularly built. Its superb private edifices and palaces are but few; in these it yields, not only to Rome and Genoa, but to Florence. I observe all is done to keep out the heat: the shops have no windows; curtains hang on the outside of the doors; the people come out chiefly in the evening; and on great festivals they ascend the roof of their cathedral, and pass their evenings in the coolness which it furnishes. The streets have two single rows of flags, in the middle, for the wheels of the carriages, and sometimes double sets. The windows have three shutters: first, Venetian; then glass; then, on the inside, wood, to exclude the hot air.

Sunday morning, Sept. 14.-This is one of my melancholy Sundays. An immense Catholic town of one hundred and fifty thousand souls the ecclesiastical apparatus enormous; about two hundred churches, eighty convents,* and one hundred religious houses-compare this with the Protestant establishments of Birmingham or Manchester, which fall as far short of what such a crowded population fairly demands, as the Milan establishment exceeds it. We might surely learn something in England of the duty of greater zeal and attention to our pure form of Christianity, from the excessive diligence of the Catholics in their corrupt superstitions.

I feel a peculiar veneration for Milan on two accounts: St. Ambrose, whom Milner dwells on with such commendations, was the light of this city in the fourth century; Carlo Borromeo, whose benevolence exceeds all description, was archbishop here in the sixteenth. This last I know at present little of; but Ambrose was one of the most humble and spiritual of the fathers of

* One hundred and fourteen convents are said to have been suppressed by Napoleon.

the church, two or three centuries before Popery, still many persons of distinction in the city reproperly speaking, began. In this city Ambrose mained Pagans, especially amongst the senators. preached; it was here Austin heard him, at-The tradition, therefore, as to his cathedral, mentracted by the fame of his eloquence. It was tioned in my next letter, may be considered auhere also, that Angilbertus, bishop of Milan in the thentic. ninth century, refused to own the supremacy of the Pope; indeed, the church of Milan did not submit to the Roman see till two hundred years afterwards. May God raise up another Ambrose to purify and recall the city and churches, which he instructed thirteen or fourteen centuries ago! Nothing is impossible with God; but Popery seems to infatuate this people. On the church of Milan notices are affixed, that whoever causes a mass to be said there, may deliver any one he chooses from purgatory. In the mean time, this debasing superstition goes hand in hand with secret infidelity and unblushing vice.

But once more adieu. May God make me prize more the essence of Christianity, and dwell less on those adventitious circumstances which are so soon carried to excess, or converted to superstition! The Gospel in its simplicity, power, holiness, and love, is all in all. Here we cannot be too earnest, too fervent, too watchful. Other things are valuable as they promote this, and only as they do so. If they obscure or supersede what they ought to aid and adorn, they become pernicious and even destructive.

I am yours,

NOTICE OF ST. AMBROSE.

D. W.

His conduct towards the emperor Theodosius has deservedly raised his character in all succeeding ages. The emperor professed Christianity, and in the main is thought to have been a decidedly pious prince; but he was of a passionate temper, and the inhabitants of Thessalonica having, in a tumult, put to death one of his officers, he signed a warrant for military execution, though he had previously promised Ambrose to forgive them. In three hours seven thousand persons, without trial and without distinction, were massacred. The Bishop upon this refused to admit Theodosius into the church of Milan for more than eight months, and then only after doing public penance. Mr. Addison, who travelled in Italy in 1699 and 1700, says, he was shown the gate of a church that St. Ambrose shut against the emperor. No such entrance was pointed out to us, probably from the neglect of our guide; for the tradition itself of such pieces of local history is commonly indelible.

But it is as the instructor of his great convert, St. Augustine, or Austin, that I most cherish the memory of Ambrose. Austin was sunk in the depths of Manichæism, when about the year 384, and the 30th of his age, a requisition was made from Milan to the prefect of Rome, where he then resided, to send a professor of rhetoric to that city. Austin obtained this honorable appointment. He sought the acquaintance of Ambrose because he was skilful in rhetoric. Ambrose received him Ambrose was one of the brightest luminaries like a father, and Austin conceived an affection of the fourth century. He was born in the year for him, not as a teacher of truth, which he had 338, and was educated for the law. The emperor no idea of discovering in the Christian church, but Valentinian appointed him judge at Milan, A. D. as a man kind to him; and he studiously attended 374, where he became renowned for prudence his lectures, only with a curious desire of discoverand justice, during five years. At the end of that ing whether fame had done justice to his eloquence time, a tumult having arisen in the cathedral at or not. He stood, indifferent and fastidious with the election of a bishop, Ambrose repaired thither respect to this matter, and, at the same time, dein order to quell it. An infant's voice was on a lighted with the sweetness of his language. But sudden heard in the crowd, "Ambrose is bishop." the ideas which he neglected came into his mind, The whole assembly caught the words; and, for- together with the words with which he was pleasgetting he was a layman, vociforated with one ed; and he gradually was brought to attend to the consent, "Ambrose is bishop." The judge was doctrines of the bishop. Thus imperceptibly did confounded and alarmed, and absolutely refused the grace of God work in the mind of this extrato accept of the nomination. The emperor, how-ordinary man! It was long before he unbosomed ever, whose court was at Milan, at length compelled him to assent.

His first act was to make over all his property to the church. He then commenced a particular and most devout study of the Scriptures. His labors afterwards, as bishop, were incessant. In the instruction of catechumens he employed so much pains, that five bishops could scarcely do what he alone performed. He preached every Lord's day, and frequently in the week. When he was fiercely persecuted by Justina the empress, a patroness of Arianism, and was required to yield up his church, he spent whole days and nights in the sacred place, employing the people in singing divine hymns and psalms; and on this occasion he introduced, for the first time, the responsive singing, after the manner of the east, to preserve them from weariness. Arianism was, by his doctrine and his zeal, at length expelled from Italy. But

himself to his instructor. He tells us it was out of his power to consult him as he could wish, surrounded as he was with crowds of persons whose necessities he relieved. During the little time in which he was from them, (and the time was but little,) he either refreshed his body with food or his mind with reading.

After two or three years of inward conflict, he at length gave in his name for baptism; which Ambrose administered to him, little thinking that he was admitting into the church a convert who, in the gracious purposes of God, was designed to be the bright glory of the western church, and the main restorer of decayed Christianity in the world. There was a little chapel lately rebuilt when Mr. Addison visited Milan, on one of the walls of which an inscription stated, that it was in that place that Austin was baptized, and that on this occasion St. Ambrose first sung his Te Deum, his