In passing out by the cloisters of the adjoining convent, I stopped a moment to see the fresco of the _Madonna del Sacco_, said to have been the masterpiece of _Andrea del Sarto_. Michael Angelo and Raphael are said to have "gazed at it unceasingly." It is much defaced, and preserves only its graceful drawing. The countenance of Mary has the _beau reste_ of singular loveliness. The models of this delightful artist (who, by the way, is buried in the vestibule of this same church), must have been the most beautiful in the world. All his pictures move the heart. FOOTNOTE: [6] The Tuscans, who are the best governed people in Italy, pay _twenty per cent._ of their property in taxes--paying the whole value of their estates, of course, in five years. The extortions of the priests, added to this, are sufficiently burdensome. LETTER LI. FLORENTINE PECULIARITIES--SOCIETY--BALLS--DUCAL ENTERTAINMENTS--PRIVILEGE OF STRANGERS--FAMILIES OF HIGH RANK--THE EXCLUSIVES--SOIREES--PARTIES OF A RICH BANKER--PEASANT BEAUTY--VISITERS OF A BARONESS--AWKWARD DEPORTMENT OF A PRINCE--A CONTENTED MARRIED LADY--HUSBANDS, CAVALIERS, AND WIVES--PERSONAL MANNERS--HABITS OF SOCIETY, ETC. I am about starting on my second visit to Rome, after having passed nearly three months in Florence. As I have seen most of the society of this gayest and fairest of the Italian cities, it may not be uninteresting to depart a little from the traveller's routine by sketching a feature or two. Florence is a resort for strangers from every part of the world. The gay society is a mixture of all nations, of whom one third may be Florentine, one third English, and the remaining part equally divided between Russians, Germans, French, Poles, and Americans. The English entertain a great deal, and give most of the balls and dinner parties. The Florentines seldom trouble themselves to give parties, but are always at home for visits in the _prima sera_ (from seven till nine), and in their box at the opera. They go, without scruple, to all the strangers' balls, considering courtesy repaid, perhaps, by the weekly reception of the Grand Duke, and a weekly ball at the club-house of young Italian noblemen.