graceful, but rather too narrow for its elevation and effect, increased by the statues placed upon the pediment. One of the ornamented buildings contains a considerable collection of statues, found on the site of Galli, (for ruins there are none,) the territory of which now belongs to this family. The villa itself is of great extent, but though erected on the plans, and under the inspection of the principal architects of the age, and though built of the finest stone, yet it neither astonishes nor pleases. The reason of this failure of effect is evident, the ornaments are so numerous, and the parts so subdivided as to distract the eye, and to leave no room for any one predominant impression. The bass-reliefs and statues, scattered with rich prodigality over the exterior of this edifice are sufficient, if disposed with judgment and effect, to adorn the three largest palaces in Europe. The interior consists of several large saloons and apartments, and a gallery, all of which, particularly the latter, are lined and inlaid with the richest marbles, and supported by the noblest pillars, intermingled with bronze and gilding, and adorned with the last specimens of ancient art in sculpture and in painting. Such, indeed, is the value of the collection, and such the splendour of the apartments in which it is displayed, that no sovereign in Europe can boast of so rich a gallery or of a residence so truly imperial. Looking towards the west from this eminence at the close of a summer's evening we exclaim :

"How pleasant as the sun declines, to view

The spacious landscape change in form and hue,

Here vanish as in mist, before a flood

Of bright obscurity; with lawn and wood:

Theré objects, by the searching beams betrayed

Come forth, and here retire in purple shade."-WORDSWORTH.

The magnificence of this villa is probably equalled by that of the modern villa Estense at Tivoli, erected by a cardinal of that name in the sixteenth century. It is a lofty structure, surrounded with terraces, water-falls, groves of cedar, or cypresses and orange-trees, and adorned with statues, vases, and marbles. The gardens are laid out in the old style, and not conformable to our ideas of rural beauty; but the whole is in a most lamentable state of decay. Very different was the con dition when the ilex (or evergreen oak) and the poplar shaded the margin of its fountain, and when described by Strada, who lays the scene of two of his effusions in its gardens. There are in the town or immediate neighbourhood of Tivoli other villas, of great extent and some magnificence, enjoying a perspective, similar advantages of situation and prospect; and perhaps no spot in the universe affords more of either; but unfortunately the modern Romans, like the Italians and the continental nations in general, are not partial to country residences. They may enjoy the description or commend the representation of rural scenes, and occupations in books and pictures, but they feel not the beauties of nature, and cannot relish the calm, the solitary charms of a country life. Hence the delicious retreats of Tiber, and the rival beauties of the Alban Mount, scenes that delight the philosopher, and enchanted the poet in ancient days, are now beheld with indifference, and, perhaps, honoured once a year during the villeggiature with a short and partial visit.

ROMAN FURNITURE.

The Romans at first lived temperate, and in great simplicity, but afterwards had gorgeous furniture in their houses. The bedsteads were splendid and made of oak, box, ebony, and cedrat, (Citrus medica Lin,) enriched with inlaid work and figures in relief of ivory. Sometimes we find that the beds were so highly elevated, that they required steps to reach them, In Hadrian's villa are alcoves for receiving the bedstead. (Ovid.) The bedding consisted of palliasses or mattresses, stuffed with straw, or wool, flock, or, at a later period, dried vegetables and vine-leaves. Down beds, according to Livy, were imported from Egypt on account of the geese kept there. (Livy xxxix. 6.) He says, the lectarats (bronze bedsteads) and previous bedclothes were introduced through the Asiatic army. The Roman feather-beds were sometimes those of the peacock. (Mart. Apon. hor.) Bed-coverings consisted of skins of sheep and goats, with the wool and hair on. It is said of the Romans, when the English first slept upon straw, that their servants at the same period lay upon mats made of rush, broom, and the down of reeds. A statue of Fortune was placed in the bedroom of princes. A portrait sometimes hung over the bed, and there were other pictures. Claudan mentions rooms hung round with mirrors. And Horace, though the passage is disputed,

ROMAN CHAIRS.

is saidto have had his bed chamber so finished (Sueton. Vit. Horat.) They had tables of cypress wood, spotted like a leopard, the legs of which were of silver and the feet of onyx, and chairs of the common and curule form, and sofas covered with lion and tiger skins. Theophrastus, (33 ed. Cæsub.) mentions clothes' chests. There were also wash-hand-basins on stands for cleansing the face on getting up in the morning, and ewers, vessels of glass, and earthenware boxes, made of alabaster, sandal, and chased cases, and various trinkets or articles of dress were in the women's apartments. Plutarch says, that Numa introduced the Etruscan vases into Rome, and Livy says, those people brought here the crural chair. The candelabras were very numerous in Rome, composed of the shaft of a column entwined with ivyleaves, grapes, various fruits, and other appropriate ornaments. Some were of immense height, placed in the centre of the staircase-hall, and supported a superb and luminous lamp. Thus the ancient Romans at last became voluptuous in furniture and in dress; having conquered the provinces of the East, and obtained immense possessions, they gave themselves up to a degree of luxury to which the moderns have never arrived. The profusion of pearls worn by the women can hardly be expressed; after having covered the head, the locks of hair, the neck, ears, fingers, and arms, they attached a great number to their shoes, and the celebrated Lollia Paulina on every public occasion carried no less upon her than the value of four millions of French francs. The expense of the suppers of Lucullus, Apicius, and Vitellius, exceeds imagination. The fish, of which they were so greedy, were seen alive at the tables before cooking them, and for this purpose there were reservoirs beneath. The servants at the suppers were all nearly of the same age, of the same quality, and colour of hair.—(Pigrotti.)

ROMAN SOFA.

ROMAN GARDENS.

A vineyard and a garden (according to Varro) were usual accompaniments to a villa. Pliny describes his garden as set with mulberry and fig-trees, and a vine in the middle, a walk encompassing it, bordered with box, or where the box ended with rosemary. The box-trees were clipped as now, and the topiary art was in general use so whimsically, that servants inscribed the names of their masters in box or scented herbs, (Alberti, lcx. 11.)* The cypress, bay, and ilex (evergreen oak) were great favourites in their gardens. An inclining situation, with a flowing stream, was preferred for gardens by the Romans. Indeed, the occurrence of springs breaking over in unexpected places was deemed a great addition. An old painting exhibits them so disposed as to bubble and form pretty cascades, or rushing from piles of rock, probably artificial, and made of the "vivus pumex" of Ovid, the ancients being accustomed to make grottoes of this kind. (Montfaucon.) A portico and withdrawing-room looked out upon the garden. The Nasconi sepulchres show upon them walks formed of lath-work, interlaced with vines. Terraces, approached by steps, on each side of which were dwarf pedestals, containing sometimes a statue of Priapus and other sylvan figures; heathen deities, busts of renowned men, vases, and similar ornaments were usual. The gardens were all adorned with the same evergreens, and represented, upon a greater or less scale, the same scenery. The Romans were fond of terraces in their gardens, which were approached by dwarf steps, on each side of which vases abounded. (Classical Tour.)

ROMAN SCENERY.

Nothing is more pleasing to an eye accustomed to contemplate prospects through the medium of a vaporous sky, than the extreme purity of the atmosphere, the consequent brightness of light, and the distant appearance of remote objects. A serene sky takes off much of the horrors of a desert, and communicates a smile to barren sands and shapeless rocks; what then must be the effect upon the face of a region in which nature seems to have collected all her means of ornament, all her arts of pleasing; plains, fertile and extensive, varied with gentle swells and bold elevations. Mountains of every shape, outline, and degree, sometimes advancing, sometimes retiring, but always in view; presenting here and there shaggy declivities clothed with woods, and there a long line of brown rugged precipices, now lifting to the skies a head of snow, and now a purple summit unfolding as you advance, and discovering their windings, rich vallies, populous villages, lakes and rivers, convents and cities. These are the materials of picturesque beauty, and the constant and almost unvariable features of Roman and Italian scenery. Hence this celebrated country has not only been the favourite resort, or rather theme of poets, but the school of painters, whether natives or foreigners, who have found in its varied prospects the richest source of every species of beauty. There, amid the Sabine hills, that spread so many soft charms around Tivoli, Poussin formed his taste and collected the originals of the rural scenery displayed in his most famous landscapes. Claude Lorraine made Tiber, the Alban Mount, and all the successive range of Apennines that sweeps along the Roman and Neapolitan coast, his favourite haunt, and there he saw and copied the glowing shades that embrown the woods, the rich tints that gleam along the distant promontories and brighten the surface of the ocean. Salvator Rosa indulged his bolder genius in contemplating the mountains and the forests of Calabria, where he found that mixture of strength and softness, of grace and mildness, and that striking combination of deep and airy tinges, that characterize his daring pencil.

* Both the ancient and modern gardens betray the same taste for the unnatural; the same symmetry of plan, architectural groves, devices cut in box, and tricks performed by the hydraulic organa. Could the ancient Topiarii transform wood or water into more fantastic shapes than we find in the Villa Panfili? walls of laurel, porticos of ilex, green escutcheons, and clipt coronets vegetating over half an acre, theatres of jets d'eau, geometrical terraces, built rocks, and measured cascades? -(Forsyth.)