he would very soon receive as much more than he is to receive for it. There is a Venus in Parian marble in the Palazzo Chigi; there are plenty of Venuses in the Museum of the Vatican; and even the Venus of Praxiteles, which was so very natural that a pope had it covered with bronze drapery, cannot, in my opinion, surpass, in form or in just proportions, the painted Venus of Gibson.

There is always a vast difference of opinion concerning statues, and perhaps, to change from the soft, voluptuous feminine form of the Venus to the Laocoon, it will be easy to see how difficult it is to get the best judges to agree in opinion. Michael Angelo called it

the wonder of art," and Julius II. rewarded the discoverer, Felice de Fredis, most handsomely. Byron, in his enthusiasm, has poured forth the torrent of his splendid poetry to enhance the interest; but John Bell, who was an invalid, and who looked calmly and profoundly at all objects, who was a most distinguished anatomist, and whose eye was not to be easily deceived, has pronounced it a caricature, contrary to nature, faulty in anatomy, and altogether at variance with muscular proportions. There certainly is much to applaud in Bell's judgment, since it appears that many others,

Canova, for instance, are of opinion that the right arm of Laocoon is not in its original position. There have been plenty of artists to make arms, but none have succeeded; and the statue remains with an arm, according to Bell, quite impossible in reality, quite at variance with nature. It may be great presumption in me, but I prefer the copy of this famous work of art, by Bandinelli, in the Palazzo Vecchio, at Florence. And thus, as critics differ, so must that talented man, Gibson, be contented to hear such miserable judges as myself prefer a copy to the original, and regret the decoration of the hair in the painted Venus.

I have not the slightest doubt that the ancient Romans were a remarkably fine race of men; but they are sadly deteriorated. A cabbage is but a sea-weed, grown great by care and cultivation; it will return to its original state by neglect; and I am much of opinion the remark would be just, relative to human nature. Amongst the higher classes of the Romans, there is yet to be found the most exquisite beautythe finely chiselled features, the dark clear eye, the raven hair, and all that is expressive of passion or intellect; but such beauties are very rare indeed, and must not be sought for in the lower classes; here, however, some of the Roman bra

very still exists, and in the last revolution these people exhibited a valour worthy of all praise.

It never was my intention in this work to give descriptions of places far better described in hand-books, nor to go creeping along the road from one town to another, mentioning the vines and the olives en route; but I devoted some time to the political feeling of the oppressed people, and most safely can I bear out the remark of the "Times," that the ashes from a corporal's pipe would ignite all Italy. The Austrian domination is haughty and harsh, and no people are more thoroughly detested. The withdrawal of the French troops from Rome would be to render the papal chair very insecure; and when the head of the church only finds support in foreign bayonets, his position is one of extreme danger.

For a moment all is kept quiet by coercion and the police: the latter have ears and eyes in every street, in every church, house, or corner; and the traveller and the inhabitant should, if he feels no love of liberty, no detestation of thraldom, for ever remember, and act up to the Italian proverb

"Chi vuol vivere in Pace

Vede, ascolta, è tace."

THE END.

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