CAMPANELLO THE MISE- and nearly finished the execution of the cupola, or dome, in 1428. THE CATHEDRAL-THE MACHIAVELLI-GALILEO. SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE, the cathedral of Florence*, was one of the first ecclesiastical edifices of Italy whose construction deviated from the pure Gothic, though it still retains more of that than of any other style. It was commenced by Arnolfo di Lapo, in the year 1289; this artist dying, was succeeded by Giotto, who, originally a shepherd boy, became a pupil of Cimabue, the founder of the Florentine school of painting. Giotto built the Campanello, or steeple, and changed the original façade of the building to make it more in unison with this tower; his successors were Donatello, Gaddi, Lorenzo di Filippo, and Brunelleschi, which last celebrated artist designed See Saturday Magazine, Vol. IV., p. 2. VOL. XIII. A higher compliment could scarcely be paid to this monument than that of Michael Angelo, who desired to be buried in a spot in the church of Santa Croce, his wishes, from whence this dome could be seen; however, on this point, were not complied with; although buried in Santa Croce, the dome is not visible from his tomb. Notwithstanding the wonder and pleasure experienced by architects on viewing this work, it disappoints the general observer: the dusky red tiles with which it is roofed form a dismal contrast to the tesselated marble of the remainder of the building; its octagonal shape and general heaviness of appearance being unrelieved by columns or galleries, leave but the impression of imposing bulk. 408 expenses, in order not to encroach on the funds. It is also incumbent on them to attend the prisoner condemned to death, and administer the last office of consolation. The late archduke of Tuscany, Leopold, is reported frequently to have officiated; the present duke is also a member of the brotherhood. It is said that the bell has never tolled without as The cathedral has no façade, the space allotted to this being a plastered brick wall on which some high Corinthian columns were rudely painted in fresco, for the marriage of Ferdinand Medici; the design of this fresco can still be traced, but is nearly effaced by time, and the front now offers little more than a blank space of dead white; variety of opinion of the successive architects, is stated to be the reason of thesembling double the number required. There is one non-completion of the façade. This imperfection beautiful rule of this society, which requires, if a exists in several of the churches of Florence: want Catholic and heretic be found injured in the street at of money and continuous change of government the same time, that the heretic be taken up first; the during the turbulent period of the republic, are pro- founders made attention to the heretic imperative, bably the causes; it is, however, extraordinary that considering it certain to the Catholic patient. A it should happen so repeatedly, and that three or four sermon is annually preached, and contributions made churches should be commenced before one be well by the English Protestant congregation, in aid of this finished; still more extraordinary that the later arch-charity; and we need hardly add, that in no part of dukes of Tuscany have suffered this eye-sore to exist the world is British liberality ever appealed to in vain unaltered, and to detract so much from the beauty for benevolent purposes. of their metropolis. The Campanello, which stands at a few feet distance from the south-west corner of the church, is a production of surpassing elegance; the black and white tesselated marble with which it is encased is much better adapted to this light gracefully-proportioned structure than to the mountain mass of the church itself; at the same time it does not deteriorate, but rather improves the appearance of the latter, by its juxta-position; it was erected, as before stated, by Giotto, in 1334, about thirty years after the death of Lapo. "Beautiful as the Campanello," is stated to have been a favourite expression of the Florentines, whose pride in national monuments is evinced by the characteristic resolution of their municipality for the building of this church, in which document, it being "considered meet that the magnificence of a people should shine forth in the monuments it caused to be erected," Arnolf was enjoined to form the model of a work "than which man could imagine nothing grander or more beautiful." Resounding from the Campanello is occasionally heard the booming of a deep-toned bell; this is to summon the Confratelli della Misericordia, or Brothers of Charity. This institution, the most Christian in its nature and effects of any we meet with in Catholic countries, is reported to have been founded after the memorable plague of the fourteenth century, by the survivors of those humane spirits who devoted themselves to attendance on the sick, the dying, and the dead; and to the sick, the dying, and the dead, have its good offices ever since been devoted. It is purely voluntary, the brother taking the vows for any period of time he thinks fit; it has the peculiarity, unknown to other monastic institutions, of not excluding from worldly affairs, though these are never permitted to interfere with its duties. The members belong to all ranks, and the prince and the peasant, the master and his servant, the rich man and the pauper, walk side by side clothed in the same dress, and equally assiduous in ministering to the sufferings of their fellow creatures. On the sound of the bell above mentioned, all those who are on duty for the time leave their present occupation, be it what it may; the nobleman leaves his partner at the ball, the tradesman his business, and meet at the small chapel near the dome, where, having put on a dress which entirely conceals the person, they are directed to the object which requires their aid; they remove on a bier the sufferer, and convey him to the hospital. Should he be poor, they supply him with food and medicine until he recovers, or in case of death, bury him decently; but the better circumstanced person can always command their services, in which case they are generally reimbursed their The appearance of the Confratelli, as they march with solemn step, bearing a litter or bier, clothed in a black domino and cap with eyelet-holes (see Engraving in page 184), is strange, and impresses the beholder with awe; they look more like the hooded ministers of inquisitorial vengeance, than the humane. votaries of the chiefest Christian virtue. Opposite the gates of the cathedral is the small octagonal church of St. John, now used as a general baptistry for the city, the three bronze gates of which are celebrated as the most beautiful castings extant; the southern one was made by Andrea Pisano, and was honoured by a visit of the seignory of Florence, who conferred upon the artist the freedom of the city, a distinction at that time envied by princes. The construction of the other two was, at a subsequent time, thrown open for competition to the Florentine artists, among whom were Brunelleschi and Ghiberti: the specimen of the latter (the subject being the sacrifice of Abraham, and now preserved in the Royal Gallery) was decided to excel, and he produced two gates, one of which was so exquisite as to be called by Michael Angelo, the Gate of Paradise; it faces the cathedral, and exhibits, in twelve compartments, events from the Old Testament; over each gate are three statues representing passages in the life of St. John. Mixed with these beautiful specimens of art is a relic of barbarism, exhibited in the frustra of two porphyry columns, from which are suspended iron chains. It is a curious circumstance that these trophies record, at the same time, the friendship and enmity of the Florentines and Pisans; the former, namely, the columns, having been taken by the Pisans from the Saracens, and presented to the Florentines for guarding their city; the latter having been torn from the gates of Pisa by the Florentines, when conquerors. This custom of hanging trophies of conquest on temples of worship has existed in all ages; we ourselves are not entirely exempt from it, but it would seem that more acceptable offerings might ornament the temple of a Divinity than those which commemorate the slaughter of His creatures; that more acceptable thanksgivings for victory or deliverance may be rendered than those which tend to perpetuate unchristian arrogance in the victors, and to renew hostility by wounding the feelings of the vanquished. The church of Santa Croce, surnamed the Mecca of Italy, from the pilgrimages of visitors to the tombs of its illustrious dead, is, in the purpose to which it has been applied, analogous to our Westminster Abbey, having been appropriated to the burial of the most eminent Tuscans. Within its walls are the tombs of Galileo, Michael Angelo, Machiavel, Alfieri, and a cenotaph lately erected to Dante, who was buried at Ravenna. The Florentines, who banished him their rience, no reason to believe that the ball would choose one path in preference to the other. The child finds, however, that the floor of the room becomes the general receptacle of bodies falling from the hand or from the table. When the child becomes a schoolboy, he knows that the universal light-artil territories in his life-time, were subsequently very anxious to recover his remains, but the Papal government would never give them up on his actual tomb are engraved the words-Parvi Florentia, mater amoris -expressions attributed to Dante himself. His banishment was incurred by his inflexible adherence to the Ghibelline party, one of the great political fac-lery of the boy, namely, stones, on being hurled into tions which then agitated the republic: during his life-time the opposite faction of Guelphs had constantly the upper hand. At one time he was condemned to be burnt alive if he should attempt to return. The present cenotaph, executed by Ricci, is surmounted by a somewhat colossal statue of the great poet, crowned with laurel, and supported by weeping figures, emblematic of Italy and Poetry. The tomb of Michael Angelo is graced with a bust said to be a perfect resemblance of the eminent man whose dust it encloses; beneath are figures of the sister arts, Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture, in all which he excelled. Michael Angelo was born at Florence, and when apprenticed to the painter Ghirlandajo, visited the collection of objects of art in the Casa Medici, which, by the liberality of its possessor, was then generally open to artists and amateurs ; here, when working on the head of a friar, he was observed by Lorenzo Medici, surnamed "the Magnificent," who took him under his protection, and fostered a genius the most daring, the most original, and perhaps the grandest, that Italy has produced. On the tomb of Machiavelli rests a figure emblematic of Politics and History, the branches of literature to which he was devoted. The object of his treatise entitled "The Prince, or Instructions to an absolute Monarch," is much contested, and the term Machiavelism is generally applied to political hypocrisy, but the better opinion seems to be, that, in pointing out the only way in which a tyrant could govern, he wished to expose the evils of despotism. Galileo*, the inventor of the telescope, the discoverer of the satellites of Jupiter, the confirmer and expounder of the Copernican System, (viz., that the earth is not stationary, but revolves round the sun,) was for these crimes imprisoned and condemned to death; he only escaped by retracting publicly, and on his knees, the heresy of truth. His bust, exhibiting a finely developed head, adorns his sepulchre; on either side is a figure of Astronomy and Geometry; long inscription records his discoveries. Santa Croce covers the remains of many others of the distinguished of Italy. The chapels are ornamented with sculpture by some of the first masters. The body of the church is a plain spacious Gothic structure, the roof supported by naked rafters. Its pavement has probably been more trodden on by the gifted and illustrious of modern times, than any other spot on the surface of our planet; such, from all parts of the civilized world, converge to this focus, to pay a tribute of admiration and respect to the memory of kindred spirits. G. * See Saturday Magazine, Vol. II. p. 59. the air, descend again to the earth: he knows, also, that if the branch of a tree, on which he has ventured, in the unfeeling and cruel pursuit of nestrobbery, should break, that the earth would receive him with him unkindly concussion. All his experience, in short, as a child, a boy, and a man, convince him that bodies, when free to move, have a general tendency to fall downwards, and not upwards. It may appear absurd to talk of a body falling upwards; but the absurdity is only apparent; for we find that many bodies move upwards with considerable velocity: smoke, vapour, steam, air and fire-balloons, &c. This, however, is a subject which will engage our attention in a future article; our present object being to inquire why it is that bodies fall to the earth, and the general laws which regulate such fall. Every body which falls to the earth is an example of a species of attraction, called gravitation; and this attraction operates also among large masses of matter placed at a remote distance from each other, with a force proportioned to the quantity of matter contained in such bodies, and the distance between them. But the attraction of the earth for all bodies placed upon its surface, is so much stronger than their attraction for the earth and for each other, that the latter attraction is absolutely inappreciable by all ordinary modes of observation. Although two stones falling to the earth, not only attract each other, but attract the earth also in a small degree, they are attracted with so much greater force by the earth, that we cannot appreciate any other kind of attraction than that which results from gravitation. The great Newton discovered and established the law of universal gravitation, "that every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle, with a force varying inversely as the square of the distance" by which is meant, that if a body be attracted by the earth for example, with a certain force, and be afterwards removed to twice that distance, it will be attracted not half as much, but only one-fourth as much as it was at first; and if removed to three times the distance, it will be attracted only one-ninth as much as at first; a number multiplied by itself is the square of that number; thus, four is the square of two, nine is the square of three, and so on. We may, therefore, probably suppose, that if a stone were allowed to fall down a precipice by the side of a mountain, that its motion would be directed towards the mountain itself, and not to the earth: or we may go further, and inquire why it is, if one body attracts another, that houses do not move towards each other, or set out on an excursion to some large mountain in their vicinity. Now, we have already said, that gravitation acts with a force pro RECREATIONS IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. portionate to the quantity of matter, and since no No. VII. ON FALLING BODIES. WHEN a child begins to play with its toys, it soon learns by practical experience, that the ball or the rattle, falling from its hand, descends to the floor, or, at least, to a lower station than the hand. If the ball ascended towards the ceiling, instead of descending to the floor, the child would not mark it as extraordinary, since it has, in the outset of its expe body on the earth contains so much matter as the earth itself, the attraction of the latter predominates over that of all other bodies placed upon it. Houses are fixed to the earth so strongly by their gravity, that neither can other houses, nor the mountain, move them from their position; but that the attraction of a mountain affects the perpendicular attraction of the earth, has actually been found by direct experiment. A plumb line suspended at the side of part of the mountain chain of Chimborazo, in Peru, indicated a deviation from the perpendicular of 7′′ or 8", due to the attraction of the mountain. Another experiment made by Maskelyne on the attraction of Schechallien, a mountain in Scotland, indicated a deviation of 54". But the most accurate and celebrated experiments on this subject were instituted by Cavendish, which we will shortly notice, since the subject is as important as it is curious and instructive. This distinguished observer imagined, that the attraction of matter for matter could be palpably shown, by having a long thin rod with small balls at each end, (as shown in fig. 1,) accurately balanced in a horizontal Fig. 1. position by a fine thread attached to the middle point, as at f. This lever, it was imagined, would oscillate backwards and forwards horizontally, by the attraction of two very large balls brought near its ends on opposite sides. These balls, ss', were of lead, and were brought near the small balls when the lever was perfectly at rest, and on opposite sides, in order that the effect of each might be to move the lever in the same direction. In this state the lever was set in motion by the attraction of the balls alone, and continued oscillating so long as the large balls of lead were near the small balls. The whole apparatus was enclosed in a room without doors and windows, in order to prevent disturbance from currents of air, &c., the room was illuminated by means of a lantern, E, and the observations made through the telescope below it. By means of this apparatus, Cavendish was enabled to learn the exact weight of the earth; he used it, in fact, as a pair of scales in which he weighed the world. We do not pretend to assign any reason why masses of matter attract each other: this is altogether an inexplicable subject, but the laws which regulate such attraction are now well understood. We see the operation of this attraction on a grand scale in nature. The moon is a mass of matter about one-fourth the diameter of the earth, and her attraction is made manifest to us by the phenomena of the tides, which are occasioned by a portion of the waters of the ocean being drawn together at one place, as the moon is passing round the earth; the elevated bulk of water travelling round the earth as the moon travels. If a body very much larger than the earth were placed at a distance from it, the earth would move towards that body with more impelling force than the latter would move towards the former. Such is the case with the sun, whose diameter is a hundred times greater than that of the earth; and the earth is only prevented from falling on the sun, by the revolving motion which she has round him. As a few familar illustrations of the attraction of matter for matter, we may notice logs of wood floating in a pond, or ships in still water, or corks, or other light bodies in a vessel of water; they move towards each other and remain in contact; the wreck of a ship in a smooth sea, after a storm, is often seen collected in large heaps. When we speak of a body being heavy, or possessing a great weight, we merely indicate the attraction of the earth for such body. If an iron ball, of a thousand pounds' weight were the only mass of matter in the universe, it would weigh nothing; since there would be nothing to attract it, so as to constitute its weight. By removing such ball from the earth in a balloon, we may prove experimentally by means of a spring-balance, that its weight diminishes in proportion as we recede from the earth. Indeed, astronomers have proved that a thousand-pound ball, if removed from the earth to the distance of the moon, would be diminished to five ounces: that is, the earth would attract such ball with a force of five ounces only, which would be called its weight. When bodies fall to the earth, the first thing that strikes our attention is the great disparity between the rates of their descent. A leaden ball falls very quickly, and the autumnal leaf slowly, and we generally say, as a reason, that the leaden ball is very heavy, and the leaf very light. But this is not the reason. A sheet of thin paper falls more slowly than if such sheet be rolled up, so as to make a paper ball. It is evident in such case that the weight remains the same, although the time occupied in the descent varies greatly. Now there is another force, which we have not yet considered, which opposes the attraction of gravitation, and that is, the atmospheric air: this retards the descent of falling bodies, and the more so in proportion to the extent of surface which such bodies present to its action. If the air be removed, all bodies fall to the earth with precisely the same velocity. There is a beautiful experiment which is shown by means of the air-pump. The air is removed from a tall glass vessel; a coin and a small feather, placed upon a moveable stage at the top, are allowed to fall at precisely the same instant, and they reach the bottom of the vessel together. In fact, in vacuo, a cannon-ball of a hundred pounds' weight would fall no quicker than a piece of paper; and a mountain would descend no quicker than a feather. reader may try a simpler experiment for himself. A piece of paper, of the same size as a penny-piece will fall more slowly through the air than the coin; but if the paper be placed close upon the coin, the latter will prevent the air from retarding the descent of the paper, and so both will reach the ground together. The Since bodies fall with the same velocity, let us now inquire into the degree of rapidity with which they fall: that is, what relation exists between the space through which a body falls, and the time which it employs in falling. It must be evident to the reader, that if any force which sets a body in motion ceases not to exert itself at the moment when the body begins to move, but continues in constant operation, that the motion of such body cannot be uniform, but goes on moving quicker and quicker every moment. A body is moving much faster towards the end than at the beginning of its fall. If we allow a ball to fall from the hand, we can catch it the first instant; but in a very little time it moves too quickly to be overtaken. We may leap from a chair or a table without injury ; but a fall from the top of a house would fracture the limbs, because during the descent such a velocity is acquired that the earth is struck with great force. The force, indeed, with which a body reaches the ground is composed of all the forces which the body received during every instant of its descent. Now it has been ascertained that a body falls through 16, feet during the first second of time of its descent; three times that distance in the next second, five times that distance in the third, and so on, according to the odd numbers 7, 9, &c. If a stone be allowed Making the depth equal to .. 576 feet. But this process can be shortened by the following rule:-Multiply the number of seconds by itself, and the product by 16; thus, in the above example, 6 x 6 = 36, and 36 × 16 = 576 feet. It will be interesting to the reader, to know the means by which this important law was discovered. Fig. 2 is a representation of Mr. Atwood's machine; a contrivance by which the motion of falling bodies may be retarded to any desired extent, without otherwise altering the character of the motion. In Fig. 2 we have a wheel swinging on its axle, with very little friction, with a groove at its edge to receive a string; to this string equal weights, m n, were attached, so that balancing each other no motion results. To one of the weights, m, an additional | weight was added, so as to make it preponderate slightly; the loaded weight would, therefore, descend and draw up on the other side the unloaded weight. The descent of the loaded weight, in such case, was found to be a motion of precisely the same kind as the descent of a body falling freely by the full force of gravity. Fig. 2. ma na In order that the circumstances of the descent might be better observed, the wheels Q, (the construction of which is shown in a separate part of the figure,) were mounted upon a pillar, P, which is divided to inches and halves; a pendulum, R, vibrating seconds, forms part of the apparatus. The weight, m, may also, by this arrangement, continue loaded during a portion only of its descent, by placing upon it one of the slips of metal shown in the figure: the weight, in falling through the ring near P, leaves upon such ring the metal slip, and continues to descend by virtue of its acquired velocity. As an easy illustration of the value of this machine, let us suppose m n to be weights of two pounds each, balancing each other, and that to m a weight of one THE VIOLIN. HISTORY OF THE VIOLIN. ONE of the great objects of music is to appeal to the imagination by a resemblance, more or less perfect, of the human voice, in all its various modulations and inflections, whether under the influence of poetry, and the sentiments generally, or of the intellect, the passions, the tastes and the feelings. Accordingly we find that the impression which music produces on different individuals, is greatly modified by the constitution of that individual's mind. A person of a poetical temperament, associates with a beautiful air some of the most charming results of the muse. Music, though not martial, reminds the soldier of the camp. The pure mind of devotion also connects with music some of its brightest associations; and the mind, under the influence of hope or melancholy, associates words with the beautiful harmonies of a well-appointed band of instrumental performers. But thou, O Hope, with eyes so fair, What was thy delighted measure? Still it whispered promised pleasure, And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail! Still would her touch the strain prolong, And from the rocks, the woods, the vale, She called on Echo still through all the song; And when her sweetest theme she chose, A soft responsive voice was heard at every close, And Hope enchanted smiled, and waved her golden hair. With eyes up-raised, as one inspired Pale Melancholy sat retired, And from her wild sequestered seat, In notes by distance made more sweet, Poured through the mellow horn her pensive soul: And dashing soft from rocks around Bubbling runnels joined the sound; Through glades and glooms the mingled measure stole : Or o'er some haunted stream, with fond delay, Round a holy calm diffusing, Love of peace and lonely musing, In hollow murmurs died away. But O, how altered was its sprightlier tone, Her bow across her shoulder flung, Her buskins gemmed with morning dew, Blew an inspiring air, that dale and thicket rung, The hunter's call, to faun and dryad known: The oak-crowned sisters, and their chaste-eyed queen, Satyrs and sylvan boys were seen, Peeping from forth their alleys green; Brown Exercise rejoiced to hear, And Sport leapt up, and seized his beechen spear. We have given a copious extract from Collins's enchanting ode, because the whole poem shows so eloquently the real influence of music on the human mind. A poet of a kindred genius says,— The soul of music slumbers in the shell, There is probably no instrument which imitates the human voice, or appeals to human sympathies so well as the violin. Its variety of tones, delicacy of execution and brilliancy, have assigned it an important |