the Rosetta stone, commemorating the coronation of Ptolemy the Fifth, at Memphis: and when we behold the bust of Memnon, the younger, once decorating those ruins, which, having survived the art that formed them, are still more magnificent in decay, than the noblest of modern buildings;—the imagination supplies the deficiencies of barbarism, and the accidents and wastes of time. When from the Theseus we turn to the Ilyssus; thence to the sarcophagus of Alexander; and lastly to the Portland vase; the mind transports itself to distant ages, and imparts a glow of eloquence, worthy the most poetical of poets.

II.

At Parma we may study the masterpieces of Corregio;-at Bologna those of the Carracchi;-and at Venice those of Titian, Tintoret and Paul Veronese. -But at Rome pictures present only subordinate attractions. There we trace the glory and decay of empires: for, from the monuments of Roman authority, we revert to the dynasties of Macedon, Persia, Babylon, Assyria, and the still more ancient ones of China. In imagination, we behold the mud palace of Romulus, the farm of Cincinnatus, and the cottage of Curius; which we contrast with the "marble city of Augustus," or associate the whole with the triumph of Aurelian, made glorious to the Romans, but melancholy to posterity, by captives, belonging to no less than fifteen different nations.

Heightened by these moral and classical associations, we seem to be cotemporary with all ages; and every

spectacle, familiar to our youth, seems to be renewed; from the first triumph of Tarquinius Priscus to those of Diocletian and Maximian ;-the last celebrated in Rome. Thence to that of Belisarius, the last recorded to have been witnessed at Constantinople.-Spectacles exceeded only by the splendid march of Xerxes into Greece through Asia Minor; or by Alexander's magnificent entry into Babylon.

But what a reverse presents itself in the subsequent devastations of the Goths: when Totilas having sacked the city, the wife of Boethius, and many of the most illustrious ladies in Rome, were reduced to such distress, that they begged their bread from door to door. Nor, since intellectual power stands in the first rank of Nature's phenomena,-do we reflect without scorn and derision, that in a time, when Rome was threatened with a famine,' three thousand female dancers, and many other persons connected with theatrical exhibitions, were allowed to remain ; when vast numbers of persons, who professed the liberal arts, were desired by a public edict to withdraw!

III.

When Da Rosa entered Genoa, he remembered the history of the time, when the families of Spinola and Doria filled the whole city with slaughter and dismay. When, for four and twenty days, they fought in the streets, and raised battering rams against each other's

1 Ammian. Marcellin. lib. iv.

houses. And when the whole coast of Genoa, formerly adorned with palaces and vineyards, presented a picture of such desolation, that no eye could behold it without astonishment and horror. (A. D. 1317.)

When he beheld the amphitheatre of Verona, the churches of Venice, the master-pieces of Corregio and Parmegiano, in the city and environs of Parma; and those of Albano, at Bologna; how rich were the feelings of his heart! When he entered the walls of Padua, did he forget Livy? When at Cremona, did he forbear to meditate on the life and accomplishments of Vida? When at Verona, had he no sense of the merits of Cornelius Nepos; of Vitruvius; of the elder Pliny; of Politian, or of Fracastorius? When at Milan did he forget Ausonius? When at Vicenza was not Palladio always in his memory? And when at Lucca, was it possible for him to forget, that the magnanimous Countess Matilda was born within its walls? Could he fail to pause, with melancholy regret, on the spot, where,— nineteen centuries before,-Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus met to divide the Roman world between them? When he was at Pavia did he not desire to be led to the plain, bordered by the Alps and the Appennines, where Francis of France was taken captive by the imperial army? Or did he neglect to visit the tomb of Boethius, raised by an Emperor'; or to read his epitaph, written by a pope??

Not one of all these were absent, either from his memory, or his admiration! And when lulled to

tranquillity at the feet of Fiesole, the shades of Vallombrosa became more rich and more magnificent, by being associated with Lorenzo, with Galileo, with Raphael and with Milton.

With what enthusiasm did he visit the haunts of Petrarch; his villa of Arguato, now the house of a farmer; his garden shaded by olives; and the laurel, which still lives, a monument of his love. Then the ruin, covered with ivy; the shrubs, screening a multitude of violets; and the nightingales warbling among the neglected olives.-Why, my Lelius, has fortune debarred me from such luxuries as these?

1

IV.

Alexander travelled a considerable distance to visit the tumulus of Achilles. An interesting circumstance occurred there. For Hephæstion, observing Alexander place a crown upon the monument of Achilles, immediately put another upon that of Patroclus; intimating that what Patroclus had been to Achilles, Hephaestion was to Alexander. Upon which the latter said with a sigh, "Achilles was indeed not only happy but pre-eminently so, to have such a friend to love him while living; and such a poet, as Homer, to celebrate him when dead."

1

Germanicus visited Athens with veneration; and, during his stay, divested himself of every insignia of power. Atticus paused, with awe, among its tombs and monuments: Julian shed tears, on quitting its bowers and groves; Leo Allatius wept, with melancholy delight, over the ruins of a house, which was

1 Tacitus, Annal. ii. c. 54.

said to have belonged to Homer; and Cicero' beautifully alludes to the pleasure, which every accomplished mind experiences, when exercised on the spots, once sanctified by the presence of illustrious characters.

V.

Michael Bruce could never meditate by the side of Loch-Leven, without a sigh of regret at the fate of Mary, queen of Scotland. That beautiful and unfortunate queen, falling into the power of her enemies, was committed to the tyranny of her bitter enemy :she, who had, for a time, been queen of France; who was then queen of Scotland, and heir to three kingdoms, fell under the bondage of a proud, imperious, woman, who had not even sufficient magnanimity to abstain from insulting her in her distress. The castle, in which she was confined, stood in an island of the lake, which was not more than an acre in circumference. The landscapes, seen from the loopholes, were wild and romantic; and the towers of the priory of St. Servanus gave solemnity to the whole.

There the queen lived a considerable time. She saw no one but the household of her enemy; and even the French ambassador, who had journied thither to see her, was denied admittance. From this captivity the unfortunate queen was at length relieved by the gallantry of Douglas, half-brother to the regent;' who, captivated by her beauty and accomplishments, resolved to rescue her. This youth stole the keys of the castle, while the

1 Movemur, says he, nescio quo pacto, locis ipsis, in quibus eorum, quos diligimus aut admiramur, adsunt vestigia. Me quidem, &c. &c. 2 Buchanan, Camden, p. 410.