When we arrived at Milan, the VESTALE was in representation, and although it had already run near thirty nights, the enthusiasm was still warm, and the applause as clamorous as the first night of its exhibition. The story of this piece is well known […]

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The two most impressive and deeply-affecting scenes are those in which the vestal fire is suffered to expire, and in which the frail priestess is buried alive. In the first of these scenes, the Vestal (returned from the Circus) is discovered in the deep solitudes of the temple, love-stricken by the victor she has crowned. […] She stands deeply absorbed in thought, and in her countenance the most passionate abstraction is perfectly expressed; while the music which symphonizes to her reverie, seems a part of her own sensations.

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The funeral scene opens with a procession of the consuls, patricians, and people of Rome, the military, lictors, and the priestesses of the temple, accompanied by a sad and solemn music, in march to the Campus sceleratus, where the Vestal's tomb is already dug. The victim follows on her funeral bier.