Murder is almost unknown and the punishment of death is
banished from the penal code. Where the government is good, the people are
or soon become good. I know of no country in the world more agreeable for a
foreigner to settle in than Tuscany.
I omitted to remark that in the street called Borgo d'Ognissanti is a
large house or palazzo which belonged to Americo Vespucci. His bust is to
be seen in the Florentine Gallery. It is curious to remark the different
appellations given to the word street in the different cities of Italy.
In Milan a street is called vico and in Turin, contrada; in Florence
strada and in Rome, I understand, via.
FLORENCE, 1st Sept.
I shall start in a day or two for Rome, being very impatient to behold the
Eternal City, a plan which I have had in view from my earliest days and
which I have not been able hitherto to effect; for like the Abbe Delille I
had sworn to visit the sacred spot where so many illustrious men had spoke
and acted, and to do hommage in person to their Manes. I was always a great
admirer of the "Popolo Re."
In Florence there are a great many literary societies such as the
Infuocati, Immobili, and the far renowned La Crusca.
