ries vice and impiety into every village, and literally scatters disease and death, both of mind and body, over all this country lately so virtuous and so happy. Ille sitim, morbosque ferens mortalibus ægris En. 10. The character of St. Ambrose, the celebrated archbishop of Milan, his eloquence, his firmness, and his political, as well as ecclesiastical influence, are well known; but it is not equally so, that he modelled and regulated the liturgy of his church, and that this liturgy is still in use in the Cathedral, and indeed in most of the capitular and parochial churches of this diocese. The reader, who may perhaps be acquainted with such forms of public prayer only as are of a later invention, will be surprized to hear that the Ambrosian liturgy in the fourth century, was more encumbered, as a protestant would express it, with rites and ceremonies than the Roman is in the * So Sirius, when his baleful beams arise Pitt, nineteenth. It must be remembered that St. Ambrose did not institute or compose the liturgy that now bears his name (it existed before his time, and was probably coeval with the church of Milan) but that he merely reduced it into better order, and improved it in expression and arrangement. The body of this saint lies, not in the Cathedral, but in an ancient church at a considerable distance from it, that is now called from him the Basilica Ambrosiana, and is said to have been that in which he generally officiated. Though ancient, it has been so often repaired that it may possibly retain not much of its original materials or appearance. One proof indeed of its antiquity is the gradual elevation of the ground all around it, occasioned by the ruins of neighboring buildings; so that you descend some steps to enter it; a circumstance that gives it a damp and cheerless aspect. It has in front a large court surrounded with galleries conformably to the ancient mode, which ought never to have been neglected, because it contributes so much to the silence and the tranquillity so necessary to the exercise of devotion. The doors are of bronze and said to be those which St. Ambrose closed against the Emperor Theodosius; but without the least foundation, as no doors were closed on the oc casion; the piety of the Emperor rendered such a precaution unnecessary, and in the next place the present doors were made in the ninth century. The church is divided by arcades into a nave and two aisles; it is terminated by a semicircle, and vaulted nearly in the same manner as the church of the Carthusians at Rome (the great hall of Diocletian's baths). The body of the saint is supposed to lie under the high altar together with those of St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, of his brother Satyrus and of his sister Marcellina. St. Victor's church called in St. Ambrose's time, Basilica Portiana, is ennobled by its connexion with the actions of the saint, and by his contests with the Arians. It is however old in site and in name only; the whole fabric being entirely modern, and far too gaudy for ancient taste. This censure indeed may be passed upon many other churches in Milan, which lose much of their majesty and even of their beauty by the profusion of rich and splendid decorations that encumber them. The materials of all are costly, the arrangement of most is tasteless; yet there are few which do not present some object of curiosity worthy of a visit. The same observation is applicable both to the convents and to the palaces. From these edifices therefore we will pass to the Ambrosian library, an establishment which, notwithstanding its appellation, has no connexion with antiquity, and owes its existence entirely to the munificence of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, nephew of St. Charles, and his successor in the See of Milan. This prelate, who seems to have inherited the virtues, if not the talents of his uncle, began to collect books when a student at Rome, and enlarging his plan as he advanced in age and dignities, at length when raised to the archbishopric, erected an edifice, placed his collection in it, and opened it to the public under the title of Bibliotheca Ambrosiana. It contains about forty thousand volumes, and more, it is said, than fifteen thousand manuscripts. There is also annexed to this library a gallery of pictures, statues, antiques, and medals, which contained many articles of great rarity and reputation. But these, whether statues, medals, or paintings, have, together with the most valuable books and manuscripts, been conveyed to Paris. The hall of this library is well-proportioned, though not so large as might be expected, and as is indeed requisite for a collection of books so considerable. The ceiling is adorned with paintings, and the space between the bookcases and the cornice filled up, by the portraits of the most eminent authors, whose writings are deposited below, or to use the elevated language of Pliny the Elder, quorum immortales animæ, in locis iisdem loquuntur.* It is well known, that one of the most curious and valuable articles in this library was a manuscript collection of various works of Leonardo da Vinci, accompanied with drawings, designs, &c. which had been presented to it by a citizen of the name of Galeas Arconati, who generously refused vast sums offered for this precious deposit, and to secure its possession to his country, consigned it to the Ambrosian library as to an inviolable sanctuary. The reputation of Leonardo, whose genius ranged over all the sciences at pleasure, and shone with equal lustre in poetry, painting, architecture, and philosophy, gave these volumes of sufficient importance in themselves, an inestimable value in the eyes of his countrymen, who accordingly, with that enthusiasm for the arts which distinguishes the modern Italians as honorably as it did the ancient Greeks, erected a marble statue to the donor, and enregistered his name among the public benefactors of the city. What then must have been their rage and in * Pliny, xxxv. |