The orator is said to have been so astonished at hearing these words from a peasant, that he instantly gave up his intention of preaching to such connoisseurs of Italian, and returned from whence he came. Not only for its pure language is Sienna famous, but also for its beautiful women; and this very justly, for no where have I seen so many well-made and handsome figures as in the streets of this town. The cathedral is one of the strangest buildings I ever saw; it is entirely built of alternate layers of black and white marble, and the Prussian boundary-post which we saw from a distance is its chief tower. The portico is a fine, but very incongruous piece of Gothic architecture; pillars of all sorts and sizes are intermingled with statues of saints, bas-reliefs, horses' heads, and the gaping mouths of dragons, some gilt, some bronze, and others in white marble. The black marble in the interior seemed to overpower the white, and threw a strange and unearthly gloom over the broad aisles as I saw them in the dusk of evening, hung with flags, and lighted with a few flickering tapers, which hardly served to discover here and there some solitary devotee, praying at the altar of his patron saint. In the evening, after reading to Sir Humphry, I went for an hour to the theatre, where I found a juggler amusing a numerous and delighted assembly with his tricks. _4th._ This was a very rainy day, and Sir Humphry determined to remain at Sienna, to rest himself from the fatigue of the journey, which he has, however, borne much better than could have been expected. In the morning I went again to the cathedral, to see the paintings of Raphael. They are painted on the walls of the sacristy, and represent scenes from the life of Clement II. It is said they were only designed by Raphael when he was very young, and afterwards coloured by another master; good judges, however, can alone decide upon this point. In the same room are some beautifully illuminated old missals, and a fine marble monument by Ricchi, to the memory of the celebrated anatomist Mascagni, who was a native of Sienna. It represents a weeping female in a sitting posture, holding a scroll in her hand, on which is an inscription in letters of gold, and around her lie different anatomical instruments and books. In the middle of the room, on a lofty pedestal, is an antique group in marble, representing the three Graces. They were found in repairing the foundations of the church, and, though much mutilated, are beautifully executed, and may probably have given Canova the idea of his Graces, as the sacristan told me he had repeatedly visited them, and spent much time in the study of them. The cathedral also contains many fine pictures of very ancient date, one as early as the year 1280. The pulpit of African marble is very remarkable for the beauty of its sculpture, and the inlaid and carved pavement before the altar is also very curious, but its chief boast is the possession