Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Hospital  of  St.  Anna,  an  exten*
sive  edifice  fronting  upon  the  Corse.     The  court  is  shaded


i(^iA.lioUy<and  other  shrubbefy.  On  the  rigbt  of  the  entrance
is  a  narrow  passage,  leading  to  the  prison  of  Tasao,  labelled
with  the  words,  ^^  ingredso  allaPrigtone  di  Tori[)uato  Tasso."
it  is  a  low  arehed  vault,  dark  and  damp,  with  a  small  grated
window  in  front,  once  looking  into  a  garden,  but  now  obstruc-
ted by  other  hpildiogs.  •  The  ceil  h^s  no  floor.  There  was
a  place  for  a  fire  in  one  comer,  and  the  poet's  bed  occupied
the  other.  -An  inscription  over  the  door  states,  that  here
Tasso  W83  confined  seven  weeks.  Mr.  Hobhouse  makes
the  time  still  longer.  The  walls  bear  the  name  of  Byron,  in-
scribed by  himself.'  Such  is  the  dungeon,  into  which  the
great  epic  poet  of  modern  Itafy^  was  thrown  by  his  royal  pat-
rons^ lender  a  pretence  of  madness  \

'  We  continued  our  excursion  thence  to  the  Ducal  Pal'ace«
once  the  residence  of  the  House  of  Este.  It  is  a  monstrous
pile,  three  stories  high,  crowned  with  four  red  towers,  irising
in  the  centre  of  the  city ;  surrounded  by  broad  moats,  filled.
with  stagnant  water,  and  approached  by  a  draw-bridge.  The
C'Ourt  is  lined  with  arcades.  A  cicerone  led  us  through  room
after  rooih,  tolerably  furnished,  but  containing  few  pictures
or  statues.  In  one  of  the  apartments, .  Cardinal  Aris^zio
and  ^  party  of  priests  were  at  table,  revelling  Over  dieir  wine^
and  indulging  in  loud  laughter,  ^heedless  of  the  associations
of  the  house,  and  of  their  professional  duties.  A  state^bed
has  been  fitted  up  for  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Parma,  when
s)|e-cannot  find  accommodations  at  the  Three  Crowns.
