) among the kings
of Europe. The size and populousness of Milan could not surprise an
inhabitant of London: but the fancy is amused by a visit to the Boromean
Islands, an enchanted palace, a work of the fairies in the midst of a
lake encompassed with mountains, and far removed from the haunts of men.
I was less amused by the marble palaces of Genoa, than by the recent
memorials of her deliverance (in December 1746) from the Austrian
tyranny; and I took a military survey of every scene of action within
the inclosure of her double walls. My steps were detained at Parma and
Modena, by the precious relics of the Farnese and Este collections: but,
alas! the far greater part had been already transported, by inheritance
or purchase, to Naples and Dresden. By the road of Bologna and the
Apennine I at last reached Florence, where I reposed from June to
September, during the heat of the summer months. In the Gallery, and
especially in the Tribune, I first acknowledged, at the feet of the
Venus of Medicis, that the chisel may dispute the pre-eminence with the
pencil, a truth in the fine arts which cannot on this side of the Alps
be felt or understood. At home I had taken some lessons of Italian
on the spot I read, with a learned native, the classics of the Tuscan
idiom: but the shortness of my time, and the use of the French language,
prevented my acquiring any facility of speaking; and I was a silent
spectator in the conversations of our envoy, Sir Horace Mann, whose most
serious business was that of entertaining the English at his hospitable
table. After leaving Florence, I compared the solitude of Pisa with the
industry of Lucca and Leghorn, and continued my journey through Sienna
to Rome, where I arrived in the beginning of October. 2. My temper is
not very susceptible of enthusiasm; and the enthusiasm which I do not
feel, I have ever scorned to affect. But, at the distance of twenty-five
years, I can neither forget nor express the strong emotions which
agitated my mind as I first approached and entered the eternal city.
After a sleepless night, I trod, with a lofty step, the ruins of the
Forum; each memorable spot where Romulus stood, or Tully spoke,
or Caesar fell, was at once present to my eye; and several days of
intoxication were lost or enjoyed before I could descend to a cool and
minute investigation. My guide was Mr. Byers, a Scotch antiquary of
experience and taste; but, in the daily labour of eighteen weeks,
the power