them lent them
an air of great animation. The great chain of the Apennines, with
rolling masses of cloud on its summits, ran along on the east, and
formed the bounding wall of the prospect. Below us there floated on the
surface of the mist an immense dome, looking like a balloon of huge size
about to ascend into the air. It did not ascend, however; but,
surrounded by several tall shafts and towers which rose silently out of
the mist, it remained suspended over the same spot. Like a buoy at sea
affixed to the place where some noble vessel lies entombed, this dome
told us that engulphed in this ocean of vapour lay FLORENCE, with her
rich treasures of art, and her many stirring recollections and
traditions.

CHAPTER XIX.

FLORENCE AND ITS YOUNG EVANGELISM.

Beauty of Position--Focus of Italian Art--Education on the Aesthetic
Principle--Effects as shown in the Character and Manners of the
Florentines--The result not Civilization, but Barbarism--The
Artizans of Britain surpass the Florentines in Civilization--Early
English Scholars at Florence--Man's Power for
Good--Savonarolo--History of present Religious Movement in
Tuscany--Condition of Tuscan Government and Priesthood prior to
1848--Attempts to introduce Religious Books--The Priests compel the
Government to interfere--The Revolution of 1848--The Bible
translated and seized--Visit of Vaudois Pastors--Secret Religious
Press--Work now carried on by the Converts--Denunciation of DEATH
for Bible Reading--Great Increase of Converts
notwithstanding--Present State and Prospects of Movement--Leave
Florence--Beauty of the Vale of the Arno--Pisa--Arrive at Leghorn.

Of Florence "the Beautiful," I must say that its beauty appeared scarce
equal to its fame. In an age when the capitals of northern Europe were
of wood, the Queen of the Arno may have been without a rival on the
north of the Alps; but now finer streets, handsomer squares, and nobler
facades, may be seen in any of our second-rate towns. But its dome, by
Brunelleschi, the largest in the world,--its tall campanile,--its
baptistry, with its beautiful gates,--and its public statuary,--are
worthy of all admiration. Its environs are superb.

Florence is sweetly embosomed in an amphitheatre of mountains, of the
most lovely forms and the richest and brightest colouring. Castles and
convents crown their summits; while their slopes display the pilla