Italian castles and country seats . e making themselves secure, toenlarge their dominion. They aimed at Pisa, andgained the enmity of Florence. They struggled forBologna, and were excommunicated and interdicted bythe popes, but they succeeded in forcing Genoa, whowas worn out and exhausted by her long struggle withVenice, to give herself to them, being promised peaceand security. Much has been said of the cruelty andruthless ambition of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, but hewas in reality the man the times demanded, for hewas probably the only one strong enough to bringorder out of chaos. Indeed, he c
Italian castles and country seats . e making themselves secure, toenlarge their dominion. They aimed at Pisa, andgained the enmity of Florence. They struggled forBologna, and were excommunicated and interdicted bythe popes, but they succeeded in forcing Genoa, whowas worn out and exhausted by her long struggle withVenice, to give herself to them, being promised peaceand security. Much has been said of the cruelty andruthless ambition of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, but hewas in reality the man the times demanded, for hewas probably the only one strong enough to bringorder out of chaos. Indeed, he came very near bring-ing the whole peninsula under one government afterhis conquest of Pisa, Perugia, and Assisi, and it ispossible he might have made himself King of Italyhad he not suddenly died in 1402. His successor wasweak and incapable, and his dominions dwindled away,one after another freeing itself from the Lombard rule. There are many branches of the Visconti familyat the present time — by far the most prominent the[ 220]. en by Mr. TEMPIETTO IN TH VILLA OLMO OF D I M O D R O N E GREAT PARK OF THETHE DUKE VISCONTIE ON LAKE CO MO AND COUNTRY SEATS Visconti di Modrone; but they are all in a way relatedto the famous leaders of this great house, though thereare no actual descendants at the present day in directline. To-morrow we dine with the Casatis, and shallprobably run in only to Milan for the night, ratherthan to come back here; besides, I have severalerrands that I want to do in Milan, which is an excel-lent place for shopping. I saw to-day a charminglittle villa just next to that of Mrs. Fisher, which canbe rented at a very reasonable figure, and I am sorelytempted to engage it for next season. I can imagineno better way of spending the late summer and autumnthan on the beautiful shores of this magic lake; for myfriends have made me feel as if I were rather in asecond home than in a foreign country. Who knowswhere Destiny will send me! T. Cernobbio, Lago di Como, O
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