then fast descending. But to the
Churches of Lombardy it was longer light than to those of southern
Italy. Ambrose went to the grave; but the spirit of the man who had
closed the Cathedral gates in the face of the Goths of Justina, and
exacted a public repentance of the Emperor Theodosius, lived after him.
From him, doubtless, the Milanese caught that love of independence in
spiritual matters which long afterwards so honourably distinguished
them. They fought a hard battle with Rome for their religious freedom,
but the battle proved a losing one. It was not, however, till towards
the twelfth century, when every other Church in Christendom almost had
acknowledged the claims of Rome, and an Innocent was about to mount the
throne of the Vatican, that the complete subjugation of the Churches of
Lombardy was effected. When the sixteenth century, like the breath of
heaven, opened on the world, the Reformation began to take root in
Lombardy. But, alas! the ancient spirit of the Milanese revived for but
a moment, only to be crushed by the Inquisition. The arts by which this
terrible tribunal was introduced into the duchy finely illustrate the
policy of Rome, which knows so well how to temporize without
relinquishing her claims. Philip II. proposed to establish this tribunal
in Milan after the Spanish fashion; and Pope Pius IV. at first favoured
his design. But finding that the Milanese were determined to resist, the
pontiff espoused their cause, and told them, in effect, that it was not
without reason that they dreaded the Spanish Inquisition. It was, he
said, a harsh, cruel, inexorable Court--(he forgot that he had
sanctioned it by a bull)--which condemned men without trial; but he had
an Inquisition of his own, which never did any one any harm, and which
his subjects in Rome were exceedingly fond of. This he would send to
them. The Milanese were caught in the trap. In the hope of getting rid
of the Spanish Inquisition, they accepted the Roman one, which proved
equally fatal in the end. The degradation of Lombardy dates from that
day. The Inquisition paved the way for Austrian domination. The
familiars of the Holy Office were the avant couriers of the black eagles
and Croats of the house of Hapsburg.

In the arch behind me, so simple withal, and yet so noble in its design,
and whose beauty, dependent on no adventitious helps or meretricious
ornaments, but inherent in itself, was seen and felt by all, I saw, I
thought, a type o