Croce_ what most engaged my attention was the monument
erected to Vittorio Alfieri, sculptured by Canova. It is a most beautiful
piece of sculpture. A figure of Italy crowned with turrets seems fully
sensible of the great loss she has sustained in one who was so ardent a
patriot, as well as an excellent tragic poet. This monument was erected at
the expence of the Countess of Albany (Queen of England, had _legitimacy_
always prevailed, or been as much in fashion as it now is) as a mark of
esteem and affection towards one who was so tenderly attached to her, and
of whom in his writings Alfieri speaks with the endearing and affectionate
appellation of _mia Donna_. The beautiful sonnet to her, which accompanies
the dedication of his tragedy of _Mirra_, well deserves the monument; there
is so much feeling in it that I cannot retrain from transcribing it:

Vergognando talor, che ancor si taccia,
Donna, per me l'almo tuo nome in fronte
Di queste omai gla troppe a te ben conte
Tragedie, ond'io di folle avrommi taccia;

Or vo' qual d'esse meno a te dispiaccia
Di te fregiar; benche di tutte il fonte
Tu sola fosti, e'l viver mio non conte
Se non dal Di, ch'al viver tuo si allaccia.

Della figlia di Ciniro infelice
L'orrendo a un tempo ed innocente amore
Sempre da' tuoi begli occhi il planto elice;

Prova emmi questo, ch'al mio dubbio core
Tacitamente imperiosa dice,
Ch'io di Mirra consacri a te il dolore.

In this sanctuary (church of the _Santa Croce_) are likewise the tombs and
monuments of other great men which Italy has produced. There is the
monument erected to Galileo which represents the earth turning round the
sun with the emphatic words: _Eppur si muove._ Here too repose the ashes of
Machiavelli and Michel Angelo. This church is in fact the Westminster Abbey
of Florence.

To go from the _Piazza del gran Duca_ to the _Piazza del Duomo_, where
stands the Cathedral, you have only to pass thro' a long narrow street or
rather alley (for it is impervious to carriages) with shops on each side
and always filled with people going to or returning from the Duomo. This
Cathedral is of immense size. The architecture is singular from its being a
mixture of the Gothic and Greek. It appears the most ponderous load that
ever was laid on the shoulders of poor mother earth. There is nothing light
in its structure to relieve the massiveness of the building, and in this
respect it forms a striking contrast