ed liberal tendencies,
but is now restored to favour and placed at the head of the Royal
Typography. Signor Andreoni received me with every mark of esteem, and
after having shown me some of the finest examples of his work--such as
the Pindar, the Lucretius and the Dante--accompanied me to a
neighbouring coffee-house, where I was introduced to several lovers of
agriculture. Here I learned some particulars of the Duke's attempted
reforms. He has undertaken the work of draining the vast marsh of
Pontesordo, to the west of the city, notorious for its mal'aria; has
renounced the monopoly of corn and tobacco; has taken the University out
of the hands of the Barnabites, and introduced the teaching of the
physical sciences, formerly prohibited by the Church; has spent since
his accession near 200,000 liv. on improving the roads throughout the
duchy, and is now engaged in framing a constitution which shall deprive
the clergy of the greatest part of their privileges and confirm the
sovereign's right to annex ecclesiastical territory for the benefit of
the people.

In spite of these radical measures, his Highness is not popular with the
masses. He is accused of irreligion by the monks that he has removed
from the University, and his mistress, the daughter of a noted
free-thinker who was driven from Piedmont by the Inquisition, is said to
have an unholy influence over him. I am told these rumours are
diligently fomented by the late Duke's minister, now Prior of the
Dominican monastery, a man of bigoted views but great astuteness. The
truth is, the people are so completely under the influence of the friars
that a word is enough to turn them against their truest benefactors.

In the afternoon I was setting out to visit the Bishop's gallery when
Count Trescorre's secretary waited on me with an invitation to inspect
the estates of the Marchioness of Boscofolto: an offer I readily
accepted--for what are the masterpieces of Raphael or Cleomenes to the
sight of a good turnip field or of a well-kept dairy?

I had heard of Boscofolto, which was given by the late Duke to his
mistress, as one of the most productive estates of the duchy; but great
was my disappointment on beholding it. Fine gardens there are, to be
sure, clipt walks, leaden statues, and water-works; but as for the
farms, all is dirt, neglect, disorder. Spite of the lady's wealth, all
are let out alla meta, and farmed on principles that would disgrace a
savage. The spade use