Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1868-05-13
Amther Letter from Rev. DIR. Lord,

Amther Letter from Rev. DIR. Lord.
Blow we give another of the graphic and
interesting letters written by Rev. Dr. Lord
from Italy
MILAN, April ODD, 1868.
lett Rome on the 18th inst. for Florence,
bv far the mott beautiful city of Italy We
spent few days very pleasantly, in visiting
the galleries md in excursions to Monte Belle
and Fiesoli. The view from the San Francis
can convent of Fiesoli, of the city, of the
valley of tn Arno, and of the villas that
nestle on tt slopes of the Apprentices, is one
that will pver fade from the memory But
the most greeable portion of the time in
Florence, vas the Sabbath. The great temp
tation oftravel in this country is to allow the
thought to become dissipated by the whirl
of sightseeing, and the constant contem-
plation)f a degraded form of religion. There
is no Snday here, like that to which we are
accustomed. 1t is day of parade, of uni
versal ecclesiastical and military display. 1t
is almst impossible to imagine ones self
within the sacred precincts of holy time.
Nor en- the feeling be resisted that there is
no eanest religious belief or worship in the
heart of far the larger proportion of the
popmtion of this beautiful land So you
can asily infer that an American Sunday
woul be most grateful amidst the binding
and whitening influence of this paganized
reah. On Saturday eve | found note at
my1otel, from Dr. Van Nest, the chaplain
! of ne American church in Florence. | had
Y hofever, already found the chapel, and made
allmy plans for homelike Sabbath | went
with the few worshippers, Gone hundred per-
/ hps) to the retired and agreeable place of
yorship the = Via Seraglia.'' The whole
service was delightful. The singing was led
b Ball, the sculptors Powers, Mead and
Clby,-names known and to be known,
Wrid-wide-were there; other American
rsdents, and many strangers like myself,
onstituted the congregation. Mr.. Marsh
or Minister to the Court of Italy, is always
resent, and is one of the chief managers
ad supporters of the church. We sang out
the Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book - Blest
b the tie that binds, etc, and az Come hum
BE- sinner, in whose breast The sermon
vas upon the text, " Come, and | will show
yu the Messias very warm and glowing
dscourse, full of pathos and eloquence, and
heed not say it was eagerly listened to by
oe, at least. [ resisted pressing invita-
TIN to preach in the afternoon. Fortunately
| eft my sermons at home, or | might be in
deed to accomplish what have been forbid
I y L
With the Doctor, and passed delightful
eening in the society Of his family And
sopassed this blessed day, day of rest from
a that had been irritating and vexing my
mnd, from all the rush of travel and annoy
aces of sightseeing. The pleasant New
Egland Sabbath under the soft sky of Italy,
AMI in the midst of all its paganism, will
mt soon be forgotten.
IN Monday afternoon we left for Milan
Tie road, after leaving Pistoias, winds up
tie Apprentices to the summit, and is an ever
vrying succession of surprises and delights
tothe eve. As we assembled the mountain,
W. would occasionally have glimpses far be
loy us, of the route we had traversed. Forty
five tunnels between Pistoias and Bologna
made good portion of the ride as dark as
Erbus. Bologna, is a fine walled city on
tn, east of the mountains, and not far from
the Adriatic From Bologna, route to Mi
Ian we passed Modena, Reggie and Parma
all medieval cities, enclosed by walls that
would furnish little protection now, what
ever they might have done in the days when
they were built. We reached this good city
at 9 clock in the evening and soon we were
most comfortably situated in rooms, looking
out upon the public gardens, from the Hotel
Cayour A fine statue Of the Count Cavour
graces the square in front of the hotel. The
city is fortified like all these towns of the
middle ages, but is being modernized with
wide streets and squares, and is fast becom-
ng a very beautiful city
The chief object of interest here is the
DuOmo, or Cathedral of which have heard
and read since my boyhood 1t was tbs
first point to which | directed my steps.
approached it through one of the narrow
streets of the city, and saw it under every
disadvantage But as | walked along it:
sides and to the front, and went through il
and to the top of it my wonder and admira
ton Increased. 1t is a miracle in marble
perfect frost-work of architectural beauty,
1t is Gothic structure, begun in the l4tf
century and not vet finished Its four wall.
and cIere story are adorned with statues set
into the buttresses and window arches The
real wonder of the building is. however, not
seen till we ascend to the roof Then we get
the kew to the building. The roof is sus-
tanned on ffty-two immense columns, run
ming In four rows. The ceiling is arched
the arches springing from these columns, anC
dying away into each, until they are all lost
in the central arch. l52 feet above the fl Dor.
The columns are clustered and 10 feet in di-
ameter. The inside length is Isl feet, and
width, at the transepts, l57 feet The hight
Of the tower is 1886 feet. We reach the
roof and come into very city of the skies
the whole length Of the building.
The columns project through the roof, or
extend above and terminate in beautiful
spires and points. filled with marble statutes
in innumerable niches and surmounted each
by some masterpiece of Canova or BellIni
The various spires are connected with mar
BILE girders, budding, in their nine thousand
points into flowers and plants, as if the
whole scene were a garden, all of whose
countless shrubs and pdrferres Of flowers
were, in single night, frozen into the en-
during forms of perennial marble. Here
indeed, are the botanical gardens and museum
of statuary of Milan. Seven thousand statues
on the outside and inside of the church make
it a marvellous depository of art.
climbed to the top of the tower. The
scene from that point simply surpasses de
scription. 1t is the centre of a vast circle.
At your feet, on every side, is the wide plain
of Northern Italy, green with the verdure
and the new foliage of spring, and the rich
crops of wheat To the north the plain, at
distance of thirty miles, is bounded by the
Alps. They extend, with their snowy peaks
from Savoy to the Grisons, and die away in
the far off Tyrol. The whole range was as
distinctly defined to the eye on this clear day
as are the Green Mountains from the Berlin
heights First, TO the left, Niso, and then
Gems, and then the king of the Alps, old
Blanc, and then the great st. Bernard; then
in succession Rosa, Fletshorn, Tungfrau and
the Burmese Alps, until they died away in
the right, at Brescia. near the Adriatic
The horizon, as we turn from left to right
now touches the sea of the Doges, and we
can almost descry its waters we gaze
With another turn, the Apprentices lift them
selves above the horizon, and their snowy
peaks send greeting to the loftier Alps. And
SO our circle is complete, with Milan as its
pivotal point and the cathedral tower the very
pivot itself. When L tell you that there is
not one of all the glorious mountains OF