e Arco della Pace. It is a gem, the brightest
of its kind that earth contains. The faultless grace of its form is
finely set off by the overwhelming Alpine masses in the distance, which
seemed as if raised on purpose to defend it, and which rise, piled one
above another, in furrowed, jagged, unchiselled, fearful sublimity.

I came round by the boulevard of the Porte Orientale, on my way back to
the city. It is a noble promenade. Above are the boughs of the
over-arching elms; on this hand are the city domes and cathedral spires,
with their sweet chimes continually falling on the ear; and on that are
the suburban gardens, with the poplars and campaniles rising in stately
grace beyond. The glorious perspective is terminated by the Alps. As the
breezes from their flashing summits stirred the leaves overhead, they
seemed to speak of liberty. I wonder the Croat don't impose silence on
them. What right have they, by their glowing peaks, and their free play
of light and shade, and their storms, and their far-darting lightnings,
to stir the immortal aspirations in man's bosom? These white hills are
great, unconquerable democrats. They will continually be singing hymns
in praise of liberty. Yet why they should, I know not. Milan is deaf.
Why preach liberty to men in chains? Surely the Alps,--the free and
joyous Alps,--which scatter corn and wine from their horn of plenty so
unweariedly, have no delight in tormenting the enslaved nations at their
feet. Why do ye not, ye glorious mountains, put on sackcloth, and mourn
with the mourning nations beneath you? How can ye look down on these
dungeons, on these groaning victims, on the tears of so many widows and
orphans, and yet wear these robes of beauty, and sing your song of
gladness at sunrise? Or do ye descry from afar the coming of a better
era? and is the glory that mantles your summits the kindling of an
inward joy at the prospect of coming freedom? and are these whisperings
of liberty the first utterances of that shout with which you will
welcome the opening of the tomb and the rising of the nations?

The formidable process of loading the _diligence_ was not yet completed.
There was a perfect Mont Blanc of luggage to transfer from the courtyard
to the top of the _diligence_, not in a hurry, but calmly and
deliberately. The articles were to be selected one by one, and put upon
the top, and taken down again, and laid in the courtyard, and put up a
second time, and perhaps a third