strange to make the remark ... will you believe me when I say, that, of the various palaces, or large mansions visited by me, that of the EMPEROR is the least imposing—­as a whole?  The front is very long and lofty; but it has a sort of architectural tameness about it, which gives it rather the air of the residence of the Lord Chamberlains than of their regal master.  Yet the Saloon, in this palace, must not be passed over in silence.  It merits indeed warm commendation.  The roof, which is of an unusual height, is supported by pillars in imitation of polished marble ... but why are they not marble itself?  The prevailing colour is white—­perhaps to excess; but the number and quality of the looking glasses, lustres, and chandeliers, strike you as the most prominent features of this interior.  I own that, for pure, solid taste, I greatly preferred the never-to-be-forgotten saloon in the monastery of St. Florian.[144] The rooms throughout the palaces are rather comfortable than gorgeous—­if we except the music and ball rooms.  Some scarlet velvet, of scarce and precious manufacture, struck me as exceedingly beautiful in one of the principal drawing rooms.  I saw here a celebrated statue of a draped female, sitting, the workmanship of Canova.  It is worthy of the chisel of the master.  As to paintings, there are none worth description on the score of the old masters.  Every thing of this kind seems to be concentrated in the palace of the Belvedere.

To the BELVEDERE PALACE, therefore, let us go.  I visited it with Mr. Lewis—­taking our valet with us, immediately after breakfast—­on one of the finest and clearest-skied September mornings that ever shone above the head of man.  We had resolved to take the Ambras, or the LITTLE BELVEDERE, in our way; and to have a good, long, and uninterrupted view of the wonders of art—­in a variety of departments.  Both the little Belvedere and the large Belvedere rise gradually above the suburbs; and the latter may be about a mile and a half from the ramparts of the city.  The Ambras contains a quantity of ancient horse and foot armour; brought thither from a chateau of that name, near Inspruck, and built by the Emperor Charles V. Such a collection of old armour—­which had once equally graced and protected the bodies of their wearers, among whom, the noblest names of which Germany can boast may be enrolled—­was infinitely gratifying to me.  The sides of the first room were quite embossed with suspended shields, cuirasses, and breast-plates.  The floor was almost filled by champions on horseback—­yet poising the spear, or holding it in the rest—­yet almost shaking their angry plumes, and pricking the fiery sides of their coursers.  Here rode Maximilian—­and there halted Charles his Son.  Different suits of armour, belonging to the same character, are studiously shewn you by the guide:  some of these are the foot, and some the horse, armour:  some were worn in fight—­yet giving evidence of the mark of the bullet and battle axe:  others were the holiday suits of armour ... with which the knights marched in procession, or tilted at the tournament.  The workmanship of the full-dress suits, in which a great deal of highly wrought gold ornament appears, is sometimes really exquisite.