MILAN. Et Mediolani mira omnia; copia rerum AUSONIUS. ALTHOUGH, since the times of Ausonius, Milan has been subjected more than any city in Italy, or perhaps in the world, to the evils attending upon the greatest scourges of humanity,-war and plague,-yet the praises which the poet bestows upon it are still, in a great degree, applicable to that city. If there be not a circus and moles cuneata theatri; there are yet theatres of modern fashion, and that of La Scala, both for size and beauty, is one of the first in the world. There is no place dedicated to Hercules, but there are churches of very remarkable beauty, not to mention the cathedral, inferior in size only to St. Peter's at Rome, and superior even to that edifice in ornaments. Marble is there as plentiful as it was in the time of Ausonius. It is true that there is no longer opulens moneta there; yet the mint (zecca), under the late kingdom of Italy, was one of the best, and the coins which were struck there were superior, and still are, to all others in elegance of design. A few thousand francs worth of coins issued by Maria Luigia, Duchess of Parma, Napoleon's widow (which may perhaps be said to excel all the coins of the Italian kingdom), were struck at Milan. 66 Milan was a city of great importance in the time of the Romans, particularly towards the latter end of the empire, when it was even the seat of some of the emperors before the invasion of the barbarians. It was destroyed by Attila so completely that its archbishop, St. Ambrose, emphatically copying one of Cicero's expressions, said of it, and of some other cities destroyed by that conqueror, that they were tot semirutarum urbium cadavera." It was however rebuilt, and, in the twelfth century, it was, as it still is, the most flourishing and powerful of all the cities of Lombardy. The emperor, Frederic I. (Barbarossa), found in the Milanese a people determined to resist his tyrannical pretensions, and his German legions would have in vain attempted to reduce that city to a slavish obedience, had not many of the other cities of Lombardy joined the emperor against their own countrymen. Frederic, assisted by Pavia, Cremona, Lodi, and other neighbouring cities, in addition to his own Germans, besieged Milan, and, in seven months, succeeded in taking it, the citizens being reduced to the last extremities, and the emperor insisting on their unconditional surrender. Having taken possession of the city, he ordered all the inhabitants to leave it, and having delivered it up to plunder, he caused it to be razed to the ground. The executors of this abominable order were Lombards. Milan was divided into six parts, and six of the Lombard tribes were charged with the destruction, each of one portion of the city, an office which they executed so literally, and with so inveterate a hatred, that it excited both surprise and scandal even among the Germans in the emperor's army. The population of Milan was distributed into four provisional encampments, which were erected near the site on which the city once stood, and for three or four years the Milanese were subject to all kinds of vexatious and tyrannical acts from their imperial governors. At length the Italians becoming sensible of the danger of allowing the imperial power to grow stronger in Italy, united, and entered into an alliance, known under the name of the famous “Lega Lombarda." One of the first acts of this league was to assist the population of Milan in rebuilding and fortifying their city, which was done in an incredibly short time, and Milan in a few years was rebuilt handsomer and larger than before, as it now exists. The allies, amongst whom the Milanese stood prominent, having obtained a victory over the emperor, forced him to a dishonourable peace, which was sealed by the treaty " De Pace Constantiæ," so called, because it was signed at Constance. The cathedral of Milan was commenced in 1386, by Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, a prince who has left behind him a very lofty name. The front of this noble edifice was imperfect till the beginning of the present century, when by the orders of Napoleon it was completed. It is of gothic architecture, and in fret-work, in carving, and in statues it surpasses all churches in the world. The whole of it, even the roof, is of marble, and taking into account both the large and small statues, it is said to contain several thousands. Some of the pillars are ninety feet high, and eight in diameter. The whole temple is 490 feet long, 298 broad, and 258 high in the interior under the dome. The highest external point of the tower is 400 feet. This tower, dome, or obelisk, for, as Mr. Eustace observes, it is difficult to ascertain its appellation, was built only in 1763, and commands a very fine view. Coryat, who from another tower surveyed Milan, and the plain of Lombardy, speaks of the pleasure which he thus enjoyed in the following enthusiastic words: "I ascended almost to the toppe of the tower, wherence I surueyed the whole citie round about, which yeelded a most beautifull and delectable shew. There I observed the huge suburbs, which are as bigge as many a faire towne, and compassed about with ditches of water there also I beheld a great part of Italy, together with the lofty Apennines, and they shewed me which way Rome, Venice, Naples, Florence, Genoa, Ravenna, &c. lay. The territory of Lombardy, which I contemplated round about from this tower, was so pleasant an object to mine eyes, being replenished with such unspeakable variety of all things, both for profit and pleasure, that it seemeth to me to be the very Elysian fields, so much decorated and celebrated by the verses of poets, or the temple or paradise of the world; for it is the fairest plain, extended about some 200 miles in length, that ever I saw, or ever shall, if I should travell over the whole habitable world; insomuch, that I said to myself, that this country was fitter to be an habitation for the immortal gods than for mortal men." The churches of Milan are in general beautiful, and the traveller, who is at all interested in ecclesiastical antiquities, will find great pleasure in investigating the rites of the diocese of Milan, commonly called "The Ambrosian rite," said to have been instituted by St. Ambrose, archbishop of that city. The popes have, in vain, at different times, attempted to prevail upon the Milanese to conform to the strict practice of the Roman church. It seems that, in olden times, the Milanese church used some peculiar method in the administration of the Lord's Supper; and to this day the ritual for the celebration of mass is different from that adopted in other catholic countries. One of the great peculiarities of the Ambrosian rite consists in the administration of the baptism, which takes place by immersion, according to the primitive rite of the church. The rules of the diocese of Milan have also the effect of prolonging the carnival in that city, Lent there beginning not on Ash Wednesday, but on the following Sunday. The consequence is, that carnival lasts three days longer (Friday being excluded) at Milan than in any other city. This period is called Carnovoloze, and is very merrily kept, owing chiefly to a large concourse of people from the neighbouring places, the inhabitants of which make the best of their time, by shortening the period of Lent and prolonging that of carnival. In speaking of the ecclesiastical history of Milan, the glorious name of Borromeo is not to be forgotten. Two cardinals of that name, Carlo and Federico, deserve particular mention. Of the former something has been already said. If ever a man deserved to be canonized, it |