482 
trade of this kind, perhaps it would be 
proper that a company fhould be formed 
for this purpofe, as the capital required 
to carry it-on to advantage would be too 
confiderable for private’ merchants, or 
fingle houfes, fuch as now export to Spain, 
to accomplifh. 
We fhould then open a new fource of re- 
venue to this couatry—we fhould then be- 
come the carriers of the articies from 
their firft immediate rife, and be enabled 
to render them cheaper in cur own mar- 
kets ; and we fhould then, even in time of 
war, be enabled to give employ to fome 
thoufands of families, who otherwile are 
dependenton charity,or quitting this coun- 
try, eftablith themfelves abroad, where 
their ingenuity muft ultimately operate 
to the prejudice of our manufatturers. 
ET may at a future time enlarge on thefe 
hints, and in the mean while fhall feel 
obliged if any of your readers will com- 
municate his thoughts to you on this fub- 
ject. B. Meur. 
Sept. 1804. 
= 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ACCOUNT of the PRESENT STATE Of LI- 
TERATURE and the aRTs im ITALY, 
collefed in a TOUR through that CoUN- 
TRY, i# 1803, by M. FERNOW. 
HE lateneis of the feafon and other 
circumftances obliged me to ufe 
greater expedition on my return through 
italy than I had intended. Ihave not, 
therefore, been able to make all the en- 
quiries I wifhed into the ftate of litera- 
ture and the arts in Upper Italy. ‘The 
few notices which I fhall now communi- 
cate compofe my whole collection. 
I ka w not whether you have heard of 
the new Academia Italiana. It has ex- 
ifted about two years, and has this pecu- 
Niarity, that it has no fixed place of refi- 
dence. Its members, among whom are 
‘the moft celebrated literati in every de- 
partment of {cience, and many of the firft 
-artifts, are difperfed throughout all Italy. 
Jt has likewile foreign affociates in France, 
England, and Germany, whofe number 
was at firlt fixed at forty, but which is 
now intended to be augmented to an hun- 
dred. The prefent prefident of the Aca- 
demy is Count Vargas, who is known to 
the public by his Saggio full’ Epigramma 
Greco, and ether literary labours. He 
now refides at Naples. I called, at Siena, 
upon the fecretary, Sachetti, who carries 
on the correfpondence of the Academy, 
and fuperiniends the publication of its 
‘Tranfactions, in order to enquire more 
State of Literature and the Arts in Italy. 
(Jan. 1, 
minutely into the conftitution and objects 
of this fociety, which, a fhort time pre- 
vious to my departure fron Rome, did 
me the honour to eles&t me a member. 
I {pent two days at Sicna, and was ein- 
ployed the greateft part of that time in 
viewing the Sienefe fchool, with which I 
had before but an imperfect acquaintance. 
Its fineft malter- pieces have fortunately 
been preferved from the tempelt of the re- 
volution, probably becaufe in France this 
{chool is lefs known than it delerves to 
be. I faw in the churches a great nem- 
ber of exquifite pi€tures by Baithafar, Pe- 
ruzzi, Sodena, Cafolani, and others,which, 
in cclouring and expreffion, far excel the 
works of the Florentine {chool, of the 
fame period. ‘The mannerifts of this 
{chool, however, begin with Beecatumi, 
and Vanni, and, fince their time, it has fur- . 
nifhed no productions of merit. I could 
not procure a fight of the celebrated Ma- 
dona, painted, in 1221, by Guido di 
Siena, which enabled the Sienefe to dif 
pute with the Florentines the merit of 
their Cimabue in the refloration of paint- 
ing; for the church of St. Domenico, 
where it formerly hung, was deftroyed by 
the late earthquake, and the piciures 
have been removed from it toa place to 
which I could not obtain admittance. The 
paintings executed by Pinruricchio and 
by Rafaei d’Usbino in his early youth, 
which are placed in the library adjoining 
the cathedral, were much mote interefting 
to me than the floor of the latter figured 
by Beccafumi. If with thefe produétions 
you compare thofe of Pinturicchio’s pen 
cil alone, the fuperiority of Rafael’s ge- 
nius immediately appears. The galleries 
of Seannocchi and Saracirvi are likewife 
worthy of notice; they contain many 
good pieces by Sienefe mafters, together 
with fome capital productions of other 
{chools. 
At Leghorn I'was moft curious to fee 
the library of Gaetano Poggiali, a man of 
letters, and the proprie‘or himfelf. He 
is a member of the Academy of Florence, 
and one of the moft zealous Crufcanti, 
He is folely occupied in endeavouring to 
add to the reputation of the literature of 
his native country, by editions of claffic 
works, combining elegance with the ut- 
moft corre€tnefs. For this purpofe he’ 
devotes two days in the week to the col- 
Jation of manufcripts and early editions, 
for which he has four affiftants. Poggi- 
ali’s library, which contains 10,000 vo- 
lumes, is unrivalled by any in Italy, as 
well in the ancient and rare editions of 
Italian outhors, as in thofe which are 
more 
