OPERA SCOTCH FREE CHURCH. 215 are admirably supplied with English and French goods. We went to a café, and, after having partaken of some capital cream and water ices, were surprised at finding how trifling the charge was made for them. Some members of the party attended the opera, and the performance was Semiramis. They returned much pleased, and reported the soprano, contralto, barytone and bass. voices, as very superior, and the choral and orchestral performers more efficient than they had found in London or Paris. house, they said, was elegantly fitted up, and they judged the audience was about two thousand. There are five rows of boxes -in all, one hundred and thirty-six; the Grand Ducal one elegantly furnished. The box-fronts are painted in illustration of Greek and Roman history. The drop-curtain bears a fine representation of Cæsar's triumphant entry into Rome. The The Sabbath day, Aug. 7, was a delightful day. At our breakfast we had a fine supply of figs and peaches. After breakfast several of our party took the railroad for Florence. I remained to pass the day in Leghorn, and inquired my way to the Scotch Free Church. I was delighted to find so good a building. It is one of the neatest chapels that I ever worshipped in. It is a model church, for its size, and will accommodate, I should think, about three hundred persons. Elegance and taste are apparent in every arrangement; and, though destitute of any gaudy ornaments; it is rich and noble in appearance, and would do no discredit to a palace, for a monarch's private chapel. I heard a capital sermon, — really an eloquent one, - from a gentleman who is supplying Dr. Stuart's pulpit during his visit to Scotland for the benefit of his health. After service, I went into the vestry and library, and spoke to the clergyman. He warmly pressed me to take the evening service, and this, too, was urged by Mr. Henderson, a leading member of the church; and, on my consenting, we were invited to take tea in the evening after sermon. I found a noble library belonging to Dr. Stuart and a capital library for parish use. 216 LEGHORN POPERY. Leghorn is a well-built city, and the best paved one that I ever saw. The streets are wide, paved with granite blocks about three feet long, fifteen inches wide and six inches in depth; they are very solid and even, and are laid in cement, the surface being chiselled to accommodate horses. The streets were really crowded all day; the people well dressed, and having a happy, contented air. In the evening, I noticed that the opera was open. After preaching at the Scotch kirk, we followed the Rev. Mr. Cicely and Mr. Henderson, the banker, into the parsonage, which is under the same roof as the chapel. At the teatable we met a very learned Swiss clergyman, the Rev. Dr. Schaffter, who has travelled much in the East, declined several professors' chairs in Prussia, and is now expecting to labor as a missionary in Canada. Mrs. Choules presided at the tea-table, and we had a long session, dawdling, as Dr. Johnson called it, over our cups of tea. Mr. Cicely showed us over the spacious manse, which is by far the handsomest parsonage I have seen. The rooms are large, the ceilings lofty, and every part of the house commodious. The drawing-room is very elegant, with inlaid floor; and all the stairways are wide, and of the finest workmanship. I would not omit to say that a small but interesting Sabbathschool is in connection with this place of worship. It is pleasant to know that pure evangelical truth is here proclaimed, even amid the black darkness of Popery; and I was glad of an opportunity to preach the gospel in Italy, and there to join in prayer with God's people, that He would soon overturn the Man of Sin, who, impiously placing himself in the seat of the Almighty, lays claim to infallibility. But God declares that he will not give his glory to another; and Popery, by this fatal assumption of a divine attribute, has tied around her neck the apocalyptic millstone, which is at last to sink her to the bottomless abyss. Mr. Henderson is a Scotch gentleman, who has long resided here; he is an eminent merchant and banker, and has a mercantile house in Liverpool MR. HENDERSON TOMB OF SMOLLETT. 217 and Canada. He sent the first export of marble to New York, and a small quantity overstocked the market. Now every ship from Leghorn carries out vast quantities of marble from the quarries of Carrara. I was delighted with the general character of this excellent man, and much regretted my inability to visit him at his villa in the country. Mr. Henderson was as kind as possible, and, on our return from Florence, proffered me very friendly letters of credit to his correspondents at Rome and Naples. In the English burying-ground at Leghorn is the gra e of Tobias Smollett, the novelist. 18* CHAPTER XVI. ARRIVE AT FLORENCE HOTEL D'ITALIE RIDE CITY AND STREETS, MENTS KNIFE-GRINDER, ETC.—TITIAN'S VENUSES-RAPHAEL'S PICTURES, ETC. -— NIOBE — RUBENS-POWELL'S DE SOTO, ETC. CATHEDRAL CAMPANILE ·SANTO CROCE - CHAPEL OF THE MEDICI ST. LORENZO MICHAEL ANGELO'S DAY AND NIGHT— PALAZZO VECCHIO BAPTISTERY SACRISTY ON Monday, we took the rail for Florence, and greatly enjoyed the journey, which lies through a beautiful region, giving proof of careful cultivation. The fields are small, and almost everywhere divided off by elms, mulberry and plum trees; and these trees are gracefully festooned with vines laden with grapes. We found the dépôt at Florence situated in the Cascine, which is the Hyde Park of this city. On our way hither we had frequent and beautiful sights of the Arno, and saw some charming villas perched on the eminences above its waters. On arrival, we found that Mr. Vanderbilt had politely sent a messenger to conduct us to our quarters, which were provided at the Hotel d'Italie, kept by Signor Baldi; and here Mr. V. and his own family were also established. Our elegant apartments looked out upon the Arno, and upon the iron balcony into which our windows led we passed many pleasant hours watching the fishermen, who stood up in the water breast-high, casting a net, which looked like a balloon, and which they elevated every few minutes. The fis appeared very small, and not as large as |