Madame Hembert of the Pension de Suisse, is a most pleasant and attentive woman, and so well calculated for her situation, that her house has been, for some time, a favourite resort of the visitors to this city. Finding it too small to accommodate her friends, she had, just before our arrival, taken a magnificent palace, called the Maladura, delightfully situated on the banks of the Arno, which she was now busily occupied in removing to. As it was not the most agreeable thing in the world, to reside in the midst of so confused a scene, we determined to take lodgings for the week of our proposed stay in Florence. While we were meditating this arrangement, who should we meet but Mr. F⸺, a gentleman to whom I was greatly indebted for various kind attentions at Rome, and who instantly proposed that we should place ourselves in the same house, where he himself lodged. This was so agreeable to our inclinations, that we requested him immediately to make the necessary arrangements, and on the following morning took possession of our rooms, situated in the Strada Mal-Aurange. After this, my friend wished to see a race contested by horses without riders, but we found the ground so wet and uncomfortable, that we returned without waiting for the exhibition; which I was far from regretting, as I know no species of amusement, that, in my present situation, would have less interested me; nor was it novel to my friend. We dined at a trattoria’s, after which I had the pleasure of accidentally meeting, at the library, with Mr. F⸺, with whom I had sailed in the felucca, from Nice, and was also introduced to Mr. H⸺, the gentleman whom I before mentioned, as having travelled with the French merchant, who threw himself into the crater of Vesuvius. Florence is said to owe its origin to a Roman colony, composed of selected veterans from Cæsar’s legions; but in its modern state, you would scarcely imagine it the offspring of the camp; for its whole appearance bespeaks gentility, and its inhabitants are possessed of so courteous an air, that we cannot wonder it should be selected by our countrymen, as a residence preferable to every other in Italy. The society, both among the natives and foreigners is excellent; and the city abounds with literary institutions, and museums of natural history, and the fine arts. Good houses are easily procured, and provisions and necessaries of all kinds abundant and cheap. The town itself, both as relates to its public and private buildings, is not only handsome, but in many respects magnificent, and the streets spacious and well paved. It is justly entitled to its appellation of _La bella Fiorenza_. The only fault attached to it, in my opinion, is its climate; beyond this nothing is wanting.