They still shew the chamber in which the French monarch was confined during the first day and night of his captivity. It is small, plain, and unadorned, as all the private apartments, even of the richest abbies, invariably are, and is distinguished only by the imaginary importance which it derives from the presence of the royal captive.

We left the abbey in the dusk of the evening, rolled rapidly over a smooth and level road, and entered Milan about nine o'clock.

E che brevi allegrezze, e lunghi lutti,
Poco quadagno, ed infinito danno

Riporteran d'Italia; che non lice,

19

Che'l Giglio in quel terreno abbia radice,.

Ariosto. Orlando Furioso, Canto xxx111. 10.

The flower de luce or lily was the distinctive ornament of the royal arms of France.

CHAP. XIV.

MILAN, ITS HISTORY, ITS CATHEDRAL----COMPARISON BETWEEN ROMAN AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE----ST. CHARLES BORROMEO, HIS CHARACTER----ST. AMBROSE----BASILICA AND BIBLIOTHECA AMBROSIANA----COLLEGES AND HOSPITALS OF MILAN

CHARACTER OF ITS INHABITANTS.

MILAN,

ILAN, Milano, anciently Mediolanum, may be ranked among the few cities of Italy which have, I will not say escaped, but risen superior to the devastation of ages, wars, and revolutions, and brought down to modern times the greatest part, if not the whole, of their ancient celebrity. This city may certainly, during certain periods of her history, have enjoyed greater independence, but it may be doubted whether for any length of time she could ever boast of so exuberant a population, so wide a circumference, or such durable peace and prosperity, as from the middle to the end of the last century. Many, we well know, are the blessings which accompany independence; but independence, by which I mean exemption from foreign influence, is only a partial advantage if it be not perfected by liberty. This observation is, I think, in a peculiar manner elucidated by the history of Milan, which, from its situation, the fertility of the surrounding country, and

the mildness of the climate, soon attained, and with a few intervals of visitation and disaster generally preserved, but never exceeded, a certain mediocrity of fame and magnificence.

This city, like most of those situated between the Alps and Apennines, is of Gallic origin. The Insubrians were its founders, and at an early period of Roman history, built it, or rather erected a few hovels, which gradually rose from a village to a town, and at length became a city, that is, during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, or perhaps his successor Ancus Martius. As the capital of a considerable territory it had acquired, in the year of Rome 531, strength sufficient to keep a Roman army in check for some time, and to require the united efforts of two Consuls. Under Roman controul it enjoyed tranquillity undisturbed for many ages, increased in extent and opulence, improved in the polite arts, and became the seat of an academy, honoured, if we may be allowed to conjecture from an inscription still extant, with the appellation of Nova Athena. One advantage indeed this city possessed quite peculiar to itself, as its prosperity was rather increased than diminished by the civil wars and invasions of the third and fourth centuries; so that while the other cities of Italy and of the whole empire were gradually wasting away under the increasing calamities of the times; and even Rome herself, with all her lofty prerogatives of majesty and fame, saw her streets deserted and her pomp withering under the influence of warring Powers; Milan flourished in population and splendor, and became, not indeed the nominal but oftentimes the real scat of empire. Such was its state under some of the successors of Constantine, and particularly during the reign of the Valentinians, and such its glory when described by Ausonius, and decorated with

temples and porticos, baths and amphitheatres. But here its ancient prosperity closed, and the era of its disasters commenced. Seated at the foot of the Alps, its situation exposed it to the attacks, while its splendor and fame attracted the attention of every invading barbarian. Attila visited it in his fury, and first plundered, then butchered its inhabitants. Next the Goths, under Vitiges, in order to punish an effort of Roman spirit indignantly spurning at their yoke, delivered it up to flames and devastation. It was then taken and sacked by the Langobardi, under their King Alboin, and abandoned during the existence of their kingdom, to contempt and insignificance. Charlemagne restored it, in part at least, to its former dignity but one of his successors, the Emperor Barbarossa, irritated by the insolence of its inhabitants, or perhaps instigated by the neighbouring rival cities, razed it to the ground, and if we may believe some historians, tore up its foundations and passed the ploughshare over its ruins. But Milan survived even this tremendous visitation, and rose almost immediately, and even with the assistance of the same prince, from her ashes.

This re-establishment, as well as her former splendor, was in some measure owing to the zeal and authority of her pastors, who, like the Roman pontiffs, after having long been the benefactors and fathers of their flocks, at length became their sovereigns. One of them, of the name of Visconti, transmitted his temporal authority to his nephew, whose descendants reigned for several generations with considerable influence and reputation. Of these dukes, for such was their title, John Galeas Visconti, was the most distinguished, and the first perhaps who merited both by his military talents, and by his useful institutions, the sovereignty which his ancestors had in part usurped. The

Cathedral of Milan, the Carthusian abbey of Pavia, several bridges and aqueducts, and above all the various canals that intersect, drain, and fertilize this country, are to this day monuments of the piety, the patriotism, and the benevolence of this prince.

Unfortunately for Milan, and indeed for all Italy, the family of the Visconti formed matrimonial connections with the royal dynasty of France, which on the extinction of the former, laid claim to its territories, and made repeated attempts with various success to take possession of them. These attempts at length terminated in the decisive battle of Pavia, which broke the French power in Italy, and secured the possession of Milan to Spain, and eventually to Austria, which retained it, with a few intervals of incidental and temporary incursions, till the French revolutionary invasion.

I have elsewhere observed that the Austrian government is in general mild and benevolent, and that the provinces under its controul enjoy a fair proportion of ease and prosperity. This observation is peculiarly applicable to the Milanese, the natural fertility of which, if the cultivators be not checked by despotic regulations, and partial taxation, supplies in abundance all the comforts of life, and all that can stimulate and recompense industry. Hence, under the Austrian sway, it exhibited like the Netherlands, a scene of population, riches, and felicity, seldom equalled even in free countries, and alike delightful to the eye, and to the mind of the humane traveller. The Emperor Joseph, with good intentions but bad policy, first disturbed the tranquillity of both these happy provinces, in attempting to introduce innovations, most of which, whether in their own nature useful or not, were unquestionably unpopular. The fermenta