pitched upor by those who piled up this huge mass of stones, above three thousand years ago; it follows, that during so long a space of time there has been no alteration in the heavens in that respect, or, which amounts to the same thing, in the poles of the earth or the meridians.

SECTION VI.

Of the Forum, and other public Buildings at Rome.

1. THE Roman Forum now lay extended before us-a scene in the ages of Roman greatness of unparalleled splendor and magnificence. It was bordered on both sides with temples, and lined with statues. It terminated in triumphal arches; and was bounded, here by the Palatine hill, with the imperiala residence glittering on its summit, and there by the Capitol, with its ascending ranges of porticos and of temples.

2. Thus it presented one of the richest exhibitions that eyes could behold, or human ingenuity invent. In the midst of these superb monuments,-the memorial of their greatness, and the trophies of their fathers, the Roman people assembled to exercise their sovereign power, and to decide the fates of heroes, of kings, and of nations.

3. Nor did the contemplation of such glorious objects fail to produce a corresponding effect. Manlius, as long as he could extend his arm and fix the attention of the people on the Capitol which he had saved, suspended his fatal sentence. Caius Gracchus melted the hearts of his audience, when in the moment of distress he pointed to the Capitol, and asked with all the emphasis of despair, whether he could expect to find an asylum in that sanctuary, whose pavements still streamed with the blood of his brother.

4. Scipio Africanus, when accused by an envious faction,d and obliged to appear before the people as a criminal, instead of answering the charge, turned to the Capitol, and invited the assembly to accompany him to the temple of Jupiter, and to give thanks to the Gods for the defeat of Annibal and the Carthaginians.

e

5. Such, in fact, was the influence of locality, and such the awe, interest, and even emotion, inspired by the surrounding edifices. Hence the frequent references that we find in the Roman historians and orators, of the Capitol, the Forum, the temples of the gods; and hence those noble addresses to the deities themselves, as appear in their respective sanctuaries.

a Im-pe'-ri-al, belonging to an emperor. d Fac'-tion, a political party. Trophies, ineinorials of victory.

c A-sy-lum, a refuge.

e Ju'-pi-ter, one of the heathen deities.

6. But the glories of the Forum are now fled for ever; its temples are fallen; its sanctuaries hive crumbled into dust; its colonnades encumber its pavements, now buried under their remains. The walls of the Rostra, stripped of their ornaments, and doomed to eternal silence,- -a few shattered porticos, and here and there an insulated column, standing in the midst of broken shafts, vast fragments of marble capitals and cornices, heaped together in masses,-remind the traveler that the field which he now traverses was once the Roman Forum.

7. A little farther on commences a double range of trees that leads along the Via Sacra, by the temples of Antoninus and of Peace. to the arch of Titus. A herdsman, seated on a pedestal while his oxen were drinking at the fountain, and a few passengers, moving at a distance in different directions. were the only living beings that disturbed the silence and solitude which reigned around.

8. Thus, the place seemed restored to its original wildness described by Virgil, and abandoned once more to the flocks and herds of cattle. So far have the modern Romans forgotten the theater of the glory, and of the imperial power of their ancestors, as to degrade it into a common market for cattle; and sink its name, illustrated by every page of Roman history, into the contemptible appellation of Campo

Vaccino,d

9. Proceeding along the Via Sacra, and passing under the arch of Titus, on turning a little to the left we beheld the amphitheater of Vespasian and Titus, now called the Coliseum. Never did human art present to the eye a fabric, so well calculated, by its size and form, to surprise and delight. Let the spectator first place himself to the north, and contemplate that side which depredation, barbarism, and ages have spared, he will behold with admiration its wonderful extent, well proportioned stories, and flying lines, that retire and vanish without break or interruption.

f

10. Next let him turn to the south, and examine those sturendous arches, which, stripped as they are of their external decorations, still astonish us by their solidity and duration. Then let him enter, range through the lofty arcades, and, Ascending the vaulted seats, consider the vast mass of ruin hat surrounds him-insulated walls, immense stones susended in the air, arches covered with weeds and shrubs,

• En-cum-ber, to embarrass. In'-su-la-ted, detached.

Ped-es'-tal, the base of a column. d Cam-po Vac-ci-nɔ, cow pasture.

e Am-phi-the-a-ter, an edifice of a round
or oval form.

f Dec-o-ra'-tions, adornments.
g Arcades, continued arches.
h Vault'-od, arched.

vaults opening upon other ruins; in short, above, below, and around, one vast collection of magnificence and devastation, of grandeur and decay.

11. The Coliseum, owing to the solidity of its materials, survived the era of barbarism, and was so perfect in the thirteenth century that games were exhibited in it, not for the amusement of the Roman only, but of all the nobility of Italy. The destruction of this wonderful fabric is to be ascribed to causes more active in general in the erection, than in the demolition of magnificent buildings-to Taste and Vanity.

12. When Rome began to revive, and architecture arose from its ruins, every rich and powerful citizen wished to have, not a commodious dwelling merely, but a palace. The Coliseum was an immense quarry at hand: the common people stole, the grandees obtained permission to carry off, its materials, till the interior was dismantled, and the exterior half stripped of its ornaments.

13. It is difficult to say where this system of depredation, so sacrilegious in the opinion of the antiquary, would have stopped, had not Benedict XIV., a pontiff of great judgment. erected a cross in the center of the arena, and declared the place sacred, out of respect to the blood of the many martyrs who were butchered there during the persecutions.— This declaration, if issued two or three centuries ago, would have preserved the Coliseum entire; it can now only protect its remains, and transmit them in their present state to posterity.

14. We then ascended the Palatine Mount, after having walked around its base in order to examine its bearings.This hill, the nursery of infant Rome, and finally the residence of imperial grandeur, presents now two solitary villas and a convent, with their deserted gardens and vineyards.

15. Its numerous temples, its palaces, its porticos, and its libraries, once the glory of Rome, and the admiration of the universe, are now mere heaps of ruins, so shapeless and scattered, that the antiquary and architect are at a loss to discover their site, their plans and their elevamon. Of that wing of the imperial palace which looks to the west, and on the Circus Maximus, some apartments remain vaulted, and of fine proportions, but so deeply buried in ruins as to be now subterranean.

16. A hall of immense size was discovered about the be

a E'-ra, a fixed point of time.

b De-no-li-tion, act of overthrowing. e Grand-ees', men of rank

d Sac-ri-le'-gious, violating what is sa

cred.

e An'-ti-qua-ry, one versed in antiquities. f Pon-tif, a high priest.

g Con-vent, a religious house. a nun

nery.
Sub-ter-ra'-ne-an, under ground.

ginning of the last century, concealed under the ruins of its own massive roof. The pillars of Ferde antico that supported its vaults, the statues that ornamented its niches, and the rich marbles that formed its pavement, were found buried in rubbish, and were immediately carried away by the Farnesian family, the proprietors of the soil, to adorn their palaces, and furnish their galleries.

17. This hall is now cleared of its encumbrances, and presents to the eye a vast length of naked wall, and an area covered with weeds. As we stood contemplating its extent and proportions, a fox started from an apertureb at one end, once a window, and, crossing the open space, scrambled up the ruins at the other, and disappeared in the rubbish.

18. This scene of desolation reminded me of Ossian's beautiful description: "the thistle shook there its lonely head; the moss whistled to the gale; the fox looked out from the windows; the rank grass waved around his head,”— and almost seemed the accomplishment of that awful prediction-"There the wild beasts of the desert shall lodge, and howling monsters shall fill the houses; the wolves shall howl to one another in their palaces, and dragons in their voluptuous pavilions." Eustace.

SECTION VII.

Description of Etna.a

1. Ar day break we set off from Catania, to visit Mount Etna, that venerable and respectable father of mountains. His base, and his immense declivities, are covered with a numerous progeny of his own; for every great eruption produces a new mountain; and, perhaps by the number of these better than by any other method, the number of eruptions, and the age of Ætna itself might be ascertained.

2. The whole mountain is divided into three distinct regions, called La Regione Cultra or Piedmontese, the fertile region; La Regione Sylvosa, or Nemorosa, the woody region; and La Regione Deserta or Scoperta, the barren region. These three are as different, both in climate and productions, as the three zones of the earth; and perhaps with equal propriety might have been styled the Torrid, the Temperate, and the Frigid Zone.

3. The first region surrounds the mountain, and constitutes the most fertile country in the world, on all sides of it,

a Nich'-es, hollows in a wall. b Ap'-er-ture, an open place. c Vo-lup'-tu-ous, luxurious.

d Et'-na, a mountain on the island of

Sicily.

to the extent of fourteen or fifteen miles, where the woody region begins. It is composed almost entirely of lava, which, after a number of ages, is at last converted into the most fertile of all soils. At Nicolosi, which is twelve miles p the mountain, we found the barometera at 27 1-2:-at Cata nia it stood at 29 1-2.

4. After leaving Nicolosi, in an hour and a half's traveling over barren ashes and lava, we arrived on the confines of the Regione Sylvosa, or temperate zone. As soon as we enter ed these delightful forests, we seemed to have entered another world. The air, which before was sultry and hot, was now cool and refreshing; and every breeze was loaded with a thousand perfumes-the whole ground being covered with the richest aromatic plants. Many parts of this region are surely the most delightful spots upon earth.

5. This mountain unites every beauty, and every horror; and the most opposite and dissimilar objects in nature. Here you observe a gulf that formerly threw out torrents of fire, now covered with the most luxuriant vegetation; and from an object of terror, become one of delight. Here you gather the most delicious fruit, rising from what was but lately a barren rock. Here the ground is covered with flowers; and we wander over these beauties, and contemplate this wilderness of sweets, without considering that under our feet, but a few yards separate us from lakes of liquid fire and brimstone.

6. But our astonishment still increases, upon raising our eyes to the higher region of the mountain. There we behold in perpetual union, the two elements which are at perpetual war-an immense gulf of fire, for ever existing in the midst of snows which it has not power to melt; and immense fields of snow and ice, for ever surrounding this gulf of fire, which they have not power to extinguish. The woody region of Ætna ascends for about eight or nine miles, and forms a zone or girdle of the brightest green, all around the mountain.

7. This night we passed through little more than half of it; arriving some time before sun set at our lodging, which was a large cave, formed by one of the most ancient and venerable lavas. Here we were delighted with the contmplation of many beautiful objects,-the prospect on all sides being immense, and we already seemed to have been lifted from the earth. After a comfortable sleep, and other refreshments, at eleven o'clock at night we recommenced our expedition.

8. Our guide now began to display his great knowledge of a Ba-rom-e-ter, an instrument to show b Ar-o-matic, spicy, fragrant. He weight of the atmosphere.