THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS.
Naples is remarkable for its picturesque situation, Rome and Florence for their exquisite treasures of art; while Venice alone, which has no delicious scenery, and but few collections to boast, possesses, on the other hand, a peculiar charm which the above-mentioned cities have not---that of the romantic. What, indeed, has a better claim to the epithet of romantic, than the celebrated Place of St. Mark, with the adjoining piazzetta? Enclosed on three sides by magnificent edifices, this place runs down close to the sea; the spray of which, when it is agitated, reaches the pillars, supporting the one the celebrated lion, and the other the image of St. Theodore. On the left appears the lofty pointed steeple, and near it the church of St. Mark, with its numerous singularly shaped cupolas, which have more of an oriental than christian air. In front of it, on metal pedestals, magnificently decorated, are planted three tall masts, bearing at their tops the arms of Candia, Cyprus, and the Morea; from which, on particular occasions, prodigiously large red and white streamers float down to the ground. On the right, upon the
