Some have been produced by men of remarkable genius, whose piety was as intense as their love of art. Fra Angelica, whose paintings here and there adorn these venerable walls, never commenced a picture without long fasting and prayer, when he claimed he got his general idea from the Spirit, and nothing could induce him to depart from the ideal impressed upon his mind. We visited the tombs of the Medici within a chapel connected with the church of San Lorenzo. The chapel of the Medici is an octagon, covered in the interior almost entirely with all manner of precious stones. Here are the most delicate and perfect mosaics which can be found anywhere in the world. The traveller can hardly persuade himself that these beautiful pictures and designs are mosaics till he has made a careful examination of them. What patience! What intense application, not merely for months, but in some cases for years, must have been here! Though the chapel consists of one room, probably not more than sixty feet across it, around which are arranged the tombs, the entire cost of the building and its internal decorations is estimated at £900,000 or $4,500,000. From Florence we came to Milan, and of course paid a visit to the great cathedral, which, perhaps, for out ward decorations, is the finest in the world. This cathedral is, in round numbers, 500 feet long by 300 feet broad. Its tower is 400 feet high. It is adorned by 2,500 statues. Milan has many beauties worthy of being seen and described, but I have no time or space for these in this letter. LIVERPOOL, May 1st, 1888. ELEVENTH LETTER. E found real winter weather when we reached Switzerland. There had been a very heavy fall of snow just about the time of our leaving Milan, where it came in the form of rain. The avalanches were giving the railways a good deal of trouble, and caused the death of several men. Clearing the track for our train, seven poor fellows were buried up in an avalanche and killed, just at the entrance to St. Gothard tunnel. The passengers on our train, learning of the painful accident, made a collection for the suffering families, which we handed over to the station authorities for distribution among those whose breadwinners had been so suddenly taken from them. After passing the beautiful Lake Como, along whose pretty shore we ran for several miles, we were obliged to halt at Lugano, and remain there for over twentyfour hours till the track could be cleared for us. In passing through these Alps we are reminded of the saying, "God made the country, man made the town." Nature is still ahead. What tongue or pen can |