It was a fine moonlight night on my return from the Scala, which gave a very pleasing effect to the Duomo or Cathedral as I passed by it.  The innumerable aiguilles or spires of the most exquisite and delicate workmanship, tapering and terminating in points all newly whitened, gave such an appearance of airiness and lightness to this beautiful building that it looked more visionary than substantial, and as if a strong puff of wind would blow it away.  The next morning I went to visit the Cathedral in detail.  It stands in the place called Piazza del Duomo.  On this piazza stands also the Ducal Palace; the principal cafes and the most splendid shops are in the same piazza, which forms the morning lounge of Milan.  Parallel to one side of the Duomo runs the Corsia de’ Servi, the widest and most fashionable street in Milan, the resort of the beau monde in the evening, and leading directly out to the Porta Orientale.  The Cathedral appears to me certainly the most striking Gothic edifice I ever beheld.  It is as large as the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris, and the architecture of the interior is very massive.  There is little internal ornament, however, except the tomb or mausoleum of St Charles Borromeo, round which is a magnificent railing; there are also the statues of this Saint and of St Ambrogio.  There are several well-executed bas-reliefs on the outside of the Church, from Scripture subjects, and the view from any of the balconies of the spires is very extensive.  On the North the Alps, covered with snow and appearing to rise abruptly within a very short horizon, tho’ their distance from Milan is at least sixty or seventy miles; and on all the other sides a vast and well-cultivated plain as far as the eye can reach, thickly studded with towns and villages, and the immense city of Milan nine miles in circumference at your feet.  The streets in general in Milan are well paved; there is a line of trottoir on each side of the street equi-distant from the line of houses; so that these trottoirs seem to be made for the carriage wheels to roll on, and not for the foot passengers, who must keep within the space that lies between the trottoirs and line of houses.  With the exception of the Piazza del Duomo there is scarcely anything that can be called a piazza in all Milan, unless irregular and small open places may be dignified with that name; the houses and buildings are extremely solid in their construction and handsome in their appearance.  A canal runs thro’ the city and leads to Pavia; on this canal are stone bridges of a very solid construction.  The shops in Milan are well stored with merchandize, and make a very brilliant display.  The finest street, without doubt, is the Corsia de’ Servi.  In the part of it that lies parallel to the Cathedral, it is about as broad as the Rue St Honore at Paris; but two hundred yards beyond it, it suddenly widens and is then broader than Portland