283 
which they lived, give an impression which reminds 
the reader of some characters in the novels of 
Richardson. 
Under the protection of this family Sir James 
had the opportunity of seeing the great council and 
the final election of a Doge, the only occasion 
on which strangers can be admitted at all to that 
august assembly. 
While wandering among the classic scenes of 
Italy, his admiration for the works of art, whether 
of painting or sculpture, was frequently called forth, 
and here his enthusiasm breaks out in language which 
inspires a similar enthusiasm in the reader. The 
strength of a first impression will be shown in his 
sensations when in the chapel of the Albergo : “ My 
attention,” he observes, ‘‘ was entirely withdrawn 
from a fine piece of sculpture I had been looking 
at, by an accidental glance to the left, where an- 
other sculpture over a small altar riveted my eyes 
and every faculty of my mind, in a transport of 
admiration and tender compassion as fervent as 
ever Mrs. Siddons herself excited. This was no 
other than the bas-relief by Michael Angelo Buo- 
narotti. The subject consists of two heads, about 
the natural size, of a dead Christ, and his mother 
bending over him. Words cannot do justice to 
the expression of grief in the Virgin. Itis not 
merely natural in the highest degree, ’tis the grief 
of a character refined and softened above humanity. 
The contemplation of it recalls every affecting scene, 
every pathetic incident of one’s whole life. Those 
who have watched all the agonizing turns of coun- 
