magnificent dome of St. Peter's Church. There it stood like a mighty giant amid innumerable towers, and steeples, and roofs of houses, rising up into the sky, and high above them all bearing the Holy Cross.

It is impossible to describe my emotions as we neared the city of so many historical recollections. I thought of its antiquity, its renown, its glory, and its present lowly state. Even my own brief history involuntarily passed before my mind's eye-the past fruitful in its recollections of pleasures and pains. Collegiate days glowing with Roman story, professional trials and juvenile troubles, all came up and suggested thoughts at once pleasing and painful. We soon entered on the Campagna Romana; an undulating flat where few people can live on account of the malaria, and where for miles and miles there is nothing to relieve the terrible monotony and gloom. We asked our cocher to point out the Coliseum and other ancient ruins, but he replied that they were all on the other side of the city. We gave up almost in despair, and were compelled to drive thirty miles over this Campagna without seeing any thing except a few old dirt hovels inhabited by villainous-looking shepherds, with long uncombed hair hanging over their faces, and closely wrapped in brown mantles, tending their sheep. As we approached the city, the appearance of the country became more pleasing, and the vegetation more abundant. Monte Maria, covered with pines and cypresses, bounds the prospect on one side-the hills of Albano and Frascati extend far away in the distance on the other-while the plain of the yellow Tiber was spread out before us. We crossed the Ponte Molle, and entered Rome in the afternoon by the Porta del Popolo—which opens upon a spacious and well-built square of the same name, ornamented with a fine fountain and obelisk brought from Heliopolis, the On of Scripture.

We expected to be examined pretty closely before they would permit us to pass through the gates, but to our utter astonishment the officer came to the carriage door and openly demanded a bribe of ten pauls-which we paid, (of course,) and drove on to our hotel in the Piazza di Spagna without any examination. We said not a word, but thought what a commentary upon the government of the Pope.

LETTER THIRTY-THREE.

ROME, Italy.

Visit to the Capitol-View of the City and Campagna-The Corso and public Squares of the Modern City-The Museum-Castle of St. Angelo-St. Peter's Church-The Vatican and other Palaces-The Pope, Cardinals, and Government of the Papal States.

"O Rome! my country! city of the soul!

The orphans of the heart must turn to thee,
Lone mother of dead empires, and control
In their shut breasts their petty misery."

OUR first care, after arriving here, was to look about, inquire, and select suitable apartments, conveniently situated for visiting the various sights of the city-an undertaking apparently trifling, but really of considerable moment to a man who has an eye to time and fatigue. Following the advice and complying with the wishes of friends, we made the proper arrangements at a hotel, situated near the Piazza di Spagna, at the foot of the Pincian Hill, the favorite promenade of the modern Romans. This work being finished, our next object was to mount some lofty height and survey the great theatre of so many historical recollections. Our valet de place informed us that the tower of the Capitol and the dome of St. Peter's Church afforded the best views, but that the former was the most desirable, being situated on the summit of the Capitoline Hill, which separates the ancient from the modern city, the work of the Popes from that of the Cæsars. Passing through the Corso, a long and narrow street, lined on either side with shops, palaces, and private houses, sometimes opening into a broad piazza, we came to a long flight of marble steps, blackened by time and ornamented with two colossal statues of Castor and Pollux, with their horses, besides the milestone on the old Appian Way, and other relics of antiquity. Walking through a piazza, ornamented with a fountain and bronze. equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, we ascended a long and narrow flight of wooden steps, which led us to the summit of the tower. Here we realized, in one sweep of the eye, all the dreams of our boyish days and the hopes of later years. Like nectar, we drank in, to our heart's content, the beauties of a panorama rich in history, in memory, and in truth. The Seven Hills, the yellow Tiber, running

out of its bank and spreading desolation in its course, the broad
Campagna extending to the sea on the east, and the distant range
of the snow-capped mountains on the west, formed the outlines of
the picture-filled up on one side with the remains of the old Aque-
duct, the Coliseum, the Forum, and innumerable temples, and on
the other with the great dome of St. Peter's Church, spires without
number, and the lofty palaces of the modern Romans. Descending,
we went into the Museum, situated on the piazza alluded to above,
and opposite the Conservatory. The building is small, and the col-
lection much less extensive than that of the Vatican, and contains
only a few first-rate works of sculpture. The most remarkable ob
jects to be seen here are two ancient sarcophagi, elegantly worked,
the bronze horse discovered in 1849 in the Vicolo delle Palme, the
infant Hercules, also in bronze, statues of Agrippina, mother of Ger-
manicus, Venus of the Capitol, the Faun, and the Amazon, all of
which are executed in the most perfect manner.
In the Conserva-
tory, used for the sittings of the Senate, I observed some good paint-
ings and exquisite statuary, particularly a collection in a room
dedicated to Canova, embracing the busts of nearly all the modern
artists of celebrity. Just back of the Conservatory is the Tarpeian
Rock, which we approached through a small kitchen garden, and
found it surrounded with dirty buildings and filled nearly up with
rubbish from the streets. Enough remains, however, to point out
"The steep

Tarpeian: fittest goal of Treason's race-
The promontory whence the traitor's leap
Cured all ambition."

Leaving this fated place, we drove through the principal squares and streets of the modern city, and found them as reported, extremely filthy and disagreeable. The piazzas are generally ornamented either with fountains or Egyptian obelisks; while the narrow streets, paved with lava, are without sidewalks, and lighted at night with oil. The Corso is the only street in Rome on which a person may walk with impunity in inclement weather, and even here there is danger of being jolted into a mud-hole by a begging monk, or spattered from top to toe by some Jehu driving most furiously towards the goal of the ancient Capitol.

Rome, like Venice, is distinguished for the number and magnifi

cence of her churches, a description of which would be not only uninteresting to you, but too great an undertaking to embrace in a single letter. Next to St. Peter's, which overshadows all the rest, the churches of St. Paul, St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore, and the church of the Jesuits, are particularly distinguished. St. Paul's is situated in the outskirts of the city, on the bank of the Tiber, and when completed will vie with any building in Italy. It is extremely rich in solid alabaster columns, mosaics, statuary, and paintings. To describe St. Peter's church seems almost a work of supererogation, after the thousand and one descriptions that have appeared from time to time in books and the letters of travellers. We will not attempt, therefore, to enter into any thing like a minute representation of this great building; but will merely write down our impressions after several visits. It is situated not far from the west bank of the Tiber, and opposite to the main part of the modern city. Crossing the Ponto St. Angelo, near the castle of the same name, we came in sight of the stupendous building. At first I was really disappointed in its dimensions and external appearance, and this disappointment continued until we entered the great door-way, walked through the various aisles and chapels, and ascended the mammoth dome, from which the greatness, the glory, the surpassing grandeur of St. Peter's was revealed to our bewildered senses. The exterior is not so beautiful or rich in architectural embellishments as the Cathedral at Milan, but take it all in all, it surpasses any edifice now in the world. The Piazza in which it stands, with its cluster of large and exquisite columns, and its gushing fountains, so fresh, so broad, and free, and sparkling, nothing can exaggerate, while the semicircular colonnades, sixty feet wide and about the same height, supported by four rows of columns, through which carriages pass, terminate in two galleries three hundred and sixty feet long and twenty-three broad, and communicate with the vestibule of St. Peter's. The entire structure is built of travertine, and decorated, the summit with colossal statues of saints, etc. To form some idea of the immensity of the Cathedral, I quote from another the following facts relative to the time of building and cost: "It required three centuries and a half to bring it to perfection, and its progress during that period extended over the reign of no less than forty-three Popes. The expenses of the works were so great that both Julius

II. and Leo X. resorted to the sale of indulgences for the purpose of meeting them. At the close of the seventeenth century the cost was estimated at £10,000,000, not including the sacristy and other parts since finished. The annual expenditure on repairs, superintendence, etc., is £6,300." Now that I have given you some idea of the extent, cost, and external appearance of St. Peter's, you must go with me through the vestibule and massive door-way into the interior, which comprises all that is beautiful and grand in architecture, mosaic work, statuary, and paintings. The nave is vaulted and ornamented with sunk coffers, elaborately decorated with gilding and stucco ornaments. Five massive piers, supporting four arches, separate the nave from each side aisle. Each pier is faced with two Corinthian pilasters, having two arches between them occupied by colossal statues of saints, etc. Numerous chapels, corresponding with the great arches of the nave, are arranged on either side of the church, and tend to break the general effect and reduce the appearance of the aisles. The pavement is entirely composed of marble, and the walls and piers are generally faced with plates of marble, varied with medallions and other sculptures. The vases for the holy water, sustained by cherubs, and the numerous statues and monuments of merit that fill up the niches and other vacant places, also add to the beauty of the interior.

The first object that fixes attention after entering, is the Baldacchino, or grand canopy covering the high altar. It is of solid. bronze supported by four spiral columns of the composite order, and covered with the richest ornaments. The High Altar is immediately over the grave of St. Peter, and is surrounded by a circular balustrade of marble, from which are suspended more than a hundred lamps which are kept constantly burning night and day. In the centre of this holy place there is a statue of Pius VI., one of the finest works of Canova, representing the Pope in a kneeling posture, praying before the tomb of the Apostle. Above is the great dome covered with mosaics, and an inscription representing in letters of gold the following words: TV. ES. PETRVS. ET. SVPER. HANC. PETRAM. EDIFICABO. ECCLESIAM. MEAM. ET. TIBI. DABO. CLAVES. REGNI. COLORVM. Near the Baldacchino is the famous bronze statue of St. Peter, seated on a pedestal with the right foot extended, in order, I suppose, to give the multitude a fair opportunity to kiss its