struction, during which it rapidly sprang into
life again as the capital of Lombardy, and is still a growing
metropolis. True, it can offer no such attractions to the traveller as
abound in Naples, Rome, and Florence, though there are some art
treasures here which are unique. Were it not that the city is so near to
Lakes Como and Maggiore, and in possession of half a hundred remarkable
pictures, with a score of choice original pieces of sculpture, together
with its wonderful cathedral, the traveller would hardly care to pass
more than a day in Milan. The present population is about two hundred
and forty thousand. It is thrifty and devoted more to successful
branches of business than are the cities of Southern Italy.

The Milan Cathedral is regarded as one of the wonders of the world,
being also next to the cathedral at Seville and St. Peter's at Rome, the
largest church in Europe, though this matter of size is of insignificant
consideration compared with its other marvels. The interior is nearly
five hundred feet in length and but a fraction less than two hundred in
width, while the dome is over two hundred feet in height. Its loftiest
tower is over three hundred and sixty feet above the ground; there are a
hundred pinnacles in all, and no less than four thousand five hundred
marble statues ornament the exterior. The interior consists of a nave
with double aisles, and is supported by fifty-two pillars, each fifteen
feet in diameter, the summits of which are decked with canopied niches
presenting statues in place of the customary capitals. The pavement is
finished in marble and mosaic. The edifice was in course of construction
for five hundred years, and to look at it one would hardly suppose there
was white marble enough in Europe to furnish the raw material of which
it is built. The principal part of the work has been performed during
the last hundred years.

One mounts nearly five hundred stone steps to reach the summit of the
cathedral, where we stand in the highest pinnacle, nearly four hundred
feet from the street. Far below lies the city, the dwellings and
churches resembling toy-houses, while the people moving about in the
thoroughfares assume pigmy proportions, horses looking like exaggerated
insects. We gaze about in dizzy wonder, and are half inclined to believe
it all a trick of the imagination. After the first surprise is over, the
true aspect gradually dawns upon the stranger, and the labor of
ascending th