precious stones of all kinds with which it abounds, I was reminded of Aladdin and began to fancy myself in the cavern of the Wonderful Lamp.  This church was built by Galeazzo Visconti, whose coffin is here, and his statue also, in white marble.  There are several bas-reliefs of exquisite workmanship.  There are no fewer than seventeen altars here and of the most beautiful structure you can conceive, being inlaid in mosaic with jasper, onyx and lapis-lazuli.  Besides these precious marbles of every colour and quantity under heaven, here are abundance of rubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines and topazes, incrusted in the different chapels and altars.  Here again is a proof of the falsehood and injustice of the aspersions cast on the French army, as being the plunderers of churches; for if they were so, how comes it that the Certosa the richest of all, was spared?  Mr Eustace[119] in his admiration of Church splendour, should at least have given the French no small degree of credit for their abstinence from so rich a prize.  A canal runs parallel to the road the whole way from Milan to Pavia, where it joins the Tessino.  The banks of the Canal and each side of the road are lined with poplars.  Pavia is one of the most ancient cities in Italy and has something very antique and solemn in its appearance.  It is quite Gothic and was the capital city of the Lombard Kings.  The streets are broad and the Piazza is large.  I could not find any traces of the ancient palace of the Lombard Kings, which I should like much to have done; for then I should have endeavoured to make out the chamber into which Jocondo peeped and discovered what cured him of his melancholy, and where the impatient Queen received the petulant answer from her beloved Nano, conveyed by one of her waiting maids who told her: 

  E per non stare in perdita d’un soldo,
  A voi nega venire fl manigoldo.[120]

  Nor, lest he lose a doit, his paltry stake,
  Will that discourteous churl his game forsake

  —­Trans. W.S.  ROSE.

MILAN, 28th June.

I have been to the Scala theatre, to see the Ballet of the Vestal, one of the most interesting Ballets I ever beheld.  Oh! what a mighty magician is the ballet master Vigano, and as for the prima ballerina, Pallerini, what praises can equal her merit? then, the delightful soul soothing music, so harmonious, so pathetic, and the decorations so truly tasteful and classical!  I can never forget the impression this fascinating Ballet made on me.  It is called La Vestale.  It opens with a view of the Circus in ancient Rome, and various gymnastic exercises, combats of gladiators, of athletes, and ends with a chariot race with real horses.  The Roman Consuls are present in all their pomp, surrounded by Lictors with axes and fasces.  The Vestal virgins assist at this spectacle, and from one of them the victor in the games receives a garland, as the recompense