but I did not arrive at Madame Mocalli’s hotel until an hour and a half later; for the examination of luggage and passes, and other business of this kind, always occupies a long time.

The country round Florence is exceedingly lovely, without being grand.  The charming Arno flows through the town:  it is crossed by four stone bridges, one of them roofed and lined with booths on either side.  Florence contains 8000 houses and 90,000 inhabitants.  The exterior of the palaces here is very peculiar.  Constructed chiefly of huge blocks of stone, they almost resemble fortresses, and look massive and venerable.

The cathedral is said to be the finest church in Christendom; I thought it too simple, particularly the interior.  The walls are only whitewashed, and the painted windows render the church extremely dark.  I was best pleased with the doors of the sacristy, with the celebrated works of Luca del Robbin, and the richly decorated high altar.

The Battisterio, once a temple of Mars, with eight very fine doors of bronze, which Michael Angelo pronounced worthy to be the gates of Paradise, stands beside the cathedral.

The other principal churches are:—­St. Lorenzo, also with a white interior and grey pillars, containing some fine oil paintings, and the chapel of the Medici, a splendid structure, decorated with costly stones, and monuments of several members of the royal family.

St. Croce, a handsome church, full of monuments of eminent men, is also called the Italian Pantheon; the sculptures are beautiful, and the paintings good.  The remains of Michael Angelo rest here, and the Buonaparte family possess a vault beneath a side chapel.  Another chapel of considerable size contains some exquisite statues of white marble.

St. Annunciate is rich in splendid frescoes; those placed round the walls in the courtyard of the church, and surrounded by a glass gallery, are particularly handsome.  On the left as we enter we find the costly chapel of our Lady “dell’ Annunciata,” in which the altar, the immense candelabra, the angels and draperies, in short every thing is of silver.  This wealthy church contains in addition some good pictures and a quantity of marble.

St. Michele is outwardly beautified by some excellent statues.  The interior displays several valuable paintings and an altar of great beauty, beneath a white marble canopy in the Gothic style.

St. Spirito contains many sculptures, among which a statue of the Saviour in white marble claims particular attention.

All these churches are rather dark from having stained windows.

Foremost among the palaces we may reckon the Palais Pitti, built on a little hill.  This structure has a noble appearance; constructed entirely of pieces of granite, it seems calculated to last an eternity.  Of all the palaces I had seen, this one pleased me most; it would be difficult to find a building in the same style which should surpass it.  As a rule, indeed, I particularly admired the Florentine buildings, which seemed to me to possess a much more decided national appearance than the palaces of modern Rome.