should our emotions be in contemplating ruins, to which, they-compared-are as " a wart to Ossa ?"

XIII.

That wall was Troy-like Veii!

"Veii," says that careful writer, Burton, " seems now to "be very satisfactorily placed at L'isola Farnese, not far " from La Storta, the first post on the road to Perugia.

XVII.

What fires have blazed from that oft-taken Troy!

In the five sackings of Rome (from 536 to 552) in which she was both attacked and defended by Barbarians, it is impossible but that most of the architectural monuments of the city must have been utterly ruined or overthrown; the very anxiety which, according to Procopius, Narses displayed to restore, in some measure, its injuries, is a proof of their im

mense extent.

"The golden Capitol has lost all its splendour," (says Jerome,) "the temples of Rome are covered with dust and "cobwebs, the very city is moved from its foundations, and "the overflowing people rush before the half torn up shrines, "to the tombs of the martyrs." Again, another ecclesiastical writer, Theodoret; "The destruction of the idolatrous "fanes was from their foundation ;" and so complete, that his cotemporaries could not perceive a vestige of the former superstition; lastly, in much stronger language-" Their "temples are so destroyed, that the appearance of their form

"no longer remains, nor can those of our times recognise the

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shape of their altars: as for their materials, they are dedi"cated to the fanes of the martyrs." We read of fifty-six churches built upon the sites, or supposed sites, of temples despoiled by the zeal of the early Christians; and their materials employed to the honour of their triumphant religion; so true are the lines of the most correct of poets:

"Some felt the silent stroke of mouldering age,

"Some hostile fury, some religious rage:

"Barbarian blindness, Christian zeal conspire,

"And Papal piety, and Gothic fire."

POPE'S EPISTLE TO ADDISON.

XX.

Spirits of forty Ages! answer me :

"Soldiers!" exclaimed the modern Conqueror of Egypt and of half the world—“ from the heights of those Pyramids, "the Spirits of forty ages look down upon your actions!" After such an appeal at such a time-and on such a spot, what soldier could fail?-the proclamation, no doubt, a calculation founded on his profound knowledge of character, that is, of a Frenchman's character, insured the victory.

XXI.

Thrown to the wealthier wretch:

Bought by Didius, as the best bidder, at the Auction of the Roman Empire; the infamous transaction is admirably pictured by Gibbon, in his most graphic style.

XXIII.

Immortal Trajan! thou:

Trajan [I quote Montesquieu] prince le plus accompli dont l'histoire ait jamais parlé. Ce fut un bonheur d'etrê nè

...

sous son regne. . . . enfin l'homme le plus propre à honorer la nature humaine, et representer la divine-such is a part only of his fine and just panegyric.

"Decebalus, the Dacian king, approved himself a rival "not unworthy of Trajan; nor did he despair of his own and "the public fortune, till, by the confession of his enemies, he had exhausted every resource both of valour and policy." GIBBON.

XXIV.

As stands thy Column:

Ammianus records that when the Emperor Constans entered Rome A.D. 356-" and came to the Forum, a structure

unique in the world, he was struck with amazement by its

gigantic edifices. Giving up the idea of attempting a "similar work, he observed, that the only object he would "imitate, should be the Emperor's horse. Upon which, "Hormisdas,—of the royal family of Persia, who was near " him,―said :— First, order a similar stable to be built for "him if you have the means: may the horse which you de"sign to form, command as much admiration as that which "we behold.' It is certain that neither Alaric nor Genseric destroyed this forum, for, Cassiodorus, who wrote

about the year A.D. 500, observes-" The Forum of Trajan " is a perfect miracle, if we inspect it even with the utmost "minuteness."

XXV.

But Luxury crushed Law :

The master-hand of Tacitus has admirably developed this subject in his annals; and, in a modern day, Montesquieu has brought to it his acute discrimination.

XXIX.

Yet, ere we enter, gratitude be given :

It would be an injustice to Eustace not to recal the following tribute, as true as it is eloquent: "The name of "Rome echoes in our ears from our infancy; our earliest

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years are passed with her orators, her poets, and her "historians-such impressions are indelible. Wherever "her eagles flew, schools were opened: aqueducts and

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bridges, temples and theatres arose in every town. . . .

Compare Gaul, Spain, Britain, covered with sumless "cities, with their forests, swamps, and huts, and naked "savages, previous to their subjugation. When, in the two "succeeding ages, she was stripped of her honours, when "the scenes of her cultivation, peace, and improvement, "were ravaged by barbarian hordes, she sent out-not con"suls and armies to conquer-but apostles and teachers to "reclaim the savages who had wasted her empire; and, dis

"playing in the better cause, all the magnanimity and per

severance which marked her former career, she triumphed,

" and diffused Christianity over the world.”

XXXI.

So rears Earth's mightiest shrine of worshipping:

Three hundred years rolled away, and thirty-five Pontiffs lived and died, from the commencement, to the termination of this Wonder of the Earth. The greatest architects, immortalizing their names in adorning it, passed away in the same rapid succession, unwillingly leaving their pride and glory unfinished to their successors. Bramante, Raffaello, Vignola, Maderno, Bernini, and, "the greatest is behind," MICHAEL ANGELO,-have here left the proofs, greater or less, of their congenial spirits. Eustace is eloquent on his subject; it is worth observing that he will not have a fault hinted at, by any but himself; nothing, however, can be abstracted from his evidently fond enthusiasm.

In quoting his most graphic description, let it be borne in mind that it should not fatigue those to whom the sight was familiar; while it must for ever interest that far larger class, to whom St. Peter's is still " a Vision among the things to come."

"At the first entrance of the area before St. Peter's, "what a startling effect on the mind has the fourfold row of

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pillars of the Colonnade sweeping away to the right and "left, in its bold, and graceful, and magnificent semicircle!