In 1878 Browning was at the Albergo dell’ Universo, the Palazzo Brandolin-Rota, on the shady side of the Grand Canal, just below the Accademia and the Suspension-Bridge. Here he remained for a fortnight; and he visited the same hotel again in 1879, 1880, and 1881. In 1885 he occupied a suite of rooms in the Palazzo Alvise, on the other side of the Grand Canal, and about midway between the Grand Hotel and the Hôtel Grande Bretagne; and during the same year he entered into negotiations for the purchase of the Palazzo Montecuccoli, next door to the Albergo dell’ Universo, which he used to frequent. He wrote: “It is situated on the Grand Canal, and is described by Ruskin--to give no other authority--as ‘a perfect and only rich example of Byzantine Renaissance: its warm yellow marbles are magnificent.’ And again, ‘an exquisite example [of Byzantine Renaissance] as applied to domestic architecture.’ So testifies _The Stones of Venice_.” He never owned the palace, however, the foundations of the house proving insecure. During the last year of his life he lived in a beautifully restored palace on the Grand Canal. It is one of the finest private residences in Europe; but as it is now the home of the poet’s son, it is not, of course, except in his absence, open to the public view. It contains many original portraits of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, by different [Illustration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH BROWNING DIED] artists and at different ages, a number of bronze and marble busts of them by the present occupant, and notably their private libraries. Never was seen such a collection of absolutely invaluable “presentation copies” from all the writers of note who were the contemporaries and the friends of the wonderfully gifted husband and wife. To at least one visitor to Venice it is the most interesting spot in the interesting city; and he would rather be the possessor of that private library than of all the rest of the great treasures of Venice put together. Off the library, and on what, for want of a better term, may be called the drawing-room floor, is a bow-windowed recess delicately and exquisitely decorated in white and gold. It was originally the private chapel of that member of the Rezzonico family who became Pope Clement XIII.; and, carefully restored, it has been dedicated by the husband and the son to the memory of Mrs. Browning. It is plainly visible from the larger and the smaller canal; but it was not intended for the world to see, and what is its nature, and what its contents, I have no right yet, and no wish here, to disclose. On the side of the Browning Palace, above the little Canal of S. Barnaba, and immediately below the windows of the poet’s bedroom, is a tablet with this inscription, “Robert Browning died in this house 12th December, 1889. “Open my heart and you will see Graved inside of it ‘Italy.’”