hich is
Even in itself an immortality.
Though there were something save the past, and this
The particles of those sublimities
Which have relapsed to chaos:--here repose
Angelo's, Alfieri's bones, and his
The starry Galileo, with his woes;
Here Machiavelli's earth returned to whence it rose.

These are four minds, which, like the elements,
Might furnish forth creation:--Italy!
Time, which hath wronged thee with ten thousand rent
Of thine imperial garment, shall deny,
And hath denied, to every other sky
Spirits which soar from ruin:--thy decay
Is still impregnant with divinity,
Which gilds it with revivifying ray;
Such as the great of yore, Canova is to-day."

The facade of Santa Croce, like that of the Cathedral, is finely encased
with marble; but it is the interior that excites such deep interest in
the mind; the many fine monuments, and the beautiful sculptures on the
tombs of the great and illustrious men whom Italy has had the honour to
call her children. In this she is indeed rich among nations. The church
contains a great number of chapels, some large, some small, but all
possessing paintings, sculptures, mosaics, and monuments of interest.

In the Church of San Lorenzo are the stately mausoleums of the Medici.
The Capella dei Deposite, or Chapel of the Buried, was designed by
Michael Angelo, on purpose to contain his two celebrated statues of
Giuliano and Lorenzo di Medici. At the feet of Giuliano rest the
recumbent figures, Day and Night; of the latter, the great Angelo
wrote--

"Grateful to me is sleep; to be of stone
More grateful, while the wrong and shame endure
To see not, feel not, is a benediction;
Therefore, awake me not; oh, speak in whispers!"

The other and more imposing statue of Lorenzo, grandson of Lorenzo the
Magnificent, is a truly wonderful study. The figure is seated in a
perfectly natural attitude, one hand supporting the head, which is
covered by a kind of helmet; the shadowed face is full of intense
thought, and the stone almost seems to breathe beneath your gaze. The
statue is worthy of the master mind which designed it. Allegorical
figures, representing Morning and Evening, are recumbent on either
side.

There are many other churches to visit in Florence, but although they
may well repay the trouble, I think, as a rule, that visitors waste much
time and money in making a point of