Fair Italy, the Riviera and Monte Carlo

ia-Cathedral-Baptistery-Leaning Tower-Campo Santo-The divine angels-The great chain of Pisa-Legh

oria, a quiet house, reminding us of the Swiss hotels in its style of entertainment. We

arch. It looked sandy and muddy as it flowed rapidly by. There were several gondola-like barges being towed by ropes on the other side, a

urface of the

d image of

unquiet, a

, but never

years of his stormy life here, and only left it in the summer of 1823 for the Casa Magni, on the wild sea coast between Leri

ient greatness and learning, and is generally looked upon as the cradle of Italian art. In these latter days it is again becoming wealthy and enterprising. It is considered a remarkably good place for consumptive invalids. A fellow-traveller informed me that a friend of his had lived here for many years with both lungs gone! The climate is exceedingly mild, almost humid from the quantity of rain that falls: there

ay extending down both banks of the river. The houses here are very imposing; one, in partic

uaint, the overhanging shops and cloistered pavements reminding us much of Chester. On the way we visited San Stefano di Cavalier, the church of the Knights of the Order of St. Stephen, and were much i

It can still boast some marble churches, a marble palace, and a marble bridge. Its towers, though no longer a mark of nobility, may be traced in the walls of modernized houses. Its gravity pervades every street, but its magnificence is now confined to one

h black and coloured ornamentation. The most magnificent part is the fa?ade, which in the lower storey is adorned with columns and arches attached to the wall; in the upper parts with four open galleries, gradually diminishing in length: the choir is also imposing. The ancient bronze gates were replaced in 1602 by the present doors, with representations of s

che mortal,

man than ange

ful Cathedrals I have ever seen, more p

cular structure some 160 feet in diameter, surrounded by columns below, and a gallery of smaller detached columns above, covered with a con

nd the sinking of the soil, which is light and sandy, and which caused it to settle down on one side while the building was still uncompleted; and this defect was afterwards provided for by its architect. This is evident from the staircase, of some 294 steps, being also at an angle. There are some very heavy bell

atically correct that the celebrated astronomer took his idea of the pendulum from it. There is a very fine view from the top of the tower, well repaying the trouble of ascending. We were very pleased with the old "leaning tower of Pisa," so familiar in our childhood as "one of the eight wonders of the world," a

nd Memmi, some of them almost obliterated. There is a very ancient and interesting collection of Roman, Etruscan, and Medi?val sculpture and sarcophagi, important links in the history of early Italian sculpture. The pavement is formed by the tombstones of those who have been interred here. Through the round and beautifully traced arched windows you look out on the original burial-ground in the centre, whic

the more ancient part of Pisa. This was carried away by the Genoese as a tro

rises to the mind, and one could go on for ever rebuilding in fancy all that has pleased and interested. With all my heart I can

sums up his impressions in a few exceedingly apt, albeit somewhat unkind, words: "Leghorn is a polite Wapping, with a square and a theatre." The grave of Smollett, who lived here for some time, is on

idently alive with vermin. The woman, on my wife's refusing to give her anything, deliberately told her poor neglected child to rub up against her-in order, no doubt, to communicate some of her infirmity

the background, looking, however, much nearer than is actually the case. Distance is almost annihilated in this clear, dry, Italian atmosphere, which also to a great ex

o death, stood "a littel out" of Pisa, as old Chaucer has it, but the very site of

There is much of interest in this old city, but our time was limited, and we were compelled to press on towards the south,

ave a signif

nsa a ch

a si

who sit

enough in the town to experie