the thermometer falling occasionally several degrees below the freezing point; and neither the olive-tree nor the orange-tree flourishes, except on the sheltered shores of Genoa, the borders of the lakes, and some other favoured spots. The second zone extends over Tuscany and the Papal dominions, from Florence to Terracina and the course of the Sangro; descending two degrees of latitude nearer the Equator. In this region, the winters are mild enough to allow the olive-tree and wild orange-tree to flourish; but the sweet orange and other delicate fruits cannot be brought to perfection in the open air. The summer heat, at Florence and Rome often rises to 90° Fahr. ; but in the former city, the winter is prolonged by the vicinity of the Apennines. The third climate, lying between the parallels of 41° 30′ and 39° 30′, comprehends the northern part of the kingdom of Naples. In this region, the Seville orange and the lemon thrive almost without culture and without shelter. Yet, in winter, frosts occur in places raised but little above the level of the sea; and at Naples, the thermometer occasionally descends a few degrees below the freezing point, while in summer it often rises to 96o. In the fourth region, that of the Further Calabria and Sicily, the thermometer very rarely sinks to the freezing point, and snow is seldom seen, except on the volcanic summits of Etna. The palm, the aloe, and the Indian fig-tree flourish in the open air, and the sugar-cane thrives in the low grounds. The vegetation resembles that of the finest parts of Africa. The south wind is extremely disagreeable in this burning climate; but the sirocco, or south-east wind, is in the highest degree oppressive; vegetation droops and withers beneath its influence, and the human frame is afflicted with languor and dejection.' Vol. I., pp. 2-6. In connexion with the subject of climate, the Writer has entered into a highly interesting investigation of the causes and circumstances of malaria; and he will be found to have compressed into a few pages the main facts and reasonings that tend to throw light on that insidious and destructive agent. The ancient and modern divisions having been exhibited in tabular forms, and the questions of surface and population satisfactorily disposed of, the Author enters Italy by Savoy, and exhibits much descriptive and discriminative skill in his dissertation on the passes of the Alps, and the marches of Hannibal. The valleys of the Vaudois give opportunity to tell the story of that persecuted community. The northern lakes, Turin, Genoa, are all, especially the latter, extensively illustrated by clear and striking descriptions, frequently given in the very words of the travellers from whom they have been extracted. Milan closes the first volume. Then Lombardy, Venice, Bologna, Florence follow in succession. From the Florentine illustrations we are strongly tempted to copy the able summary of the various criticisms on the Medicean Venus, but we pass on to a rich painting of the Vall' Ombrosa. The road to this "grand solitude," from Florence, winds up the VOL. XIV.-N.S. F F right bank of the Arno for thirteen miles, to Pelago, where the river is diminished to a rural stream. At that village, distant from the abbey about seven miles, the carriage road ends, and the path turns up the valley through which descends the beautiful stream of Acquabella, that once gave name to the solitude. This valley is diversified by some farm-houses and hamlets belonging to the abbey in the days of its prosperity. A rude bridge crosses the torrent higher up, from which begins a steep ascent up a narrow, paved way, winding among the luxuriant chesnut-woods that clothe the declivities. After ascending for nearly three hours, the traveller reaches some beautiful pinewoods, enclosing a verdant lawn; and, on emerging from their shade, finds himself in front of a large, handsome, but formal building. One side is defended by dark forests; on the other, towers a lofty mountain, clothed with hanging wood nearly to its top, and divided from the lawn only by a deep, narrow dell, down which a small stream falls in cascades. A little bridge crosses the stream below the fall, and leads to a steep path conducting to an overhanging cliff, on which stands the hermitage called the Paradisino, consisting of a few rooms and a chapel. The prospect which it commands, is most extensive, comprising a distant view of Florence, the vale, and the sea; while the fore-ground is composed of the grand scenery of the Apennines, -the dell, the water-fall, the convent, the park-like lawn, with its black girdle of forest, and the mountain beyond. 'From May to October, this is a delicious retreat from the heats of the plain; but often, long before "autumnal leaves have strewn the brooks In Vall' Ombrosa, where Etruscan shades the streams themselves are arrested in their rapid course, by the icy Pisa, Sienna, Naples, ROME, occupy the last volume; and if we could manage it without injury to the general effect, we should be liberal both in abstract and extract. We have, however, seldom-perhaps never-met with a work so little suited to either. Singularly compact and comprehensive, it is only by citation on a large scale that it could be fairly dealt with this we cannot venture on, and must, therefore satisfy our critical conscience with an emphatic reference to the volumes themselves, and with a striking quotation from the historical introduction to the account of the Eternal city. ROME. < Rome is the hereditary name of a dynasty of cities. Though frequently overthrown, its site has never been entirely deserted; so that, as Dr. Burton expresses it, "it stands as a link in the chain which connects ancient and modern history; and in this part, the continuity. has never been broken." But it is the continuity of succession. There are in fact," says Mr. Forsyth, "three ancient Romes substantially distinct; the city which the Gauls destroyed, that which Nero burned, and that which he and his successors rebuilt." In other words, there is the Rome of romance, the classic Rome of Augustus, and the restored Rome of Nero and Aurelian. There may be said to be also three modern Romes, that of the middle ages, that of Leo X., and that of the nineteenth century. A slight review of the principal revolutions of which its site has been the theatre, forms an almost indispensable introduction to any attempt at topographical description. "The foundation of Rome, and to what people the Eternal City originally belonged, are precisely the matters of which we know nothing." Such is the peremptory decision of the sceptical, the incredulous Niebuhr. Yet, the foundation of Rome has served as one of the most important eras in history. The earliest calculation assigns to it a date almost a century previous to the Olympiads; but the received chronology fixes it in the first year of the 7th Olympiad, or 432 years after the fall of Troy (B.c. 753). "Every thing at Rome indicates an Etruscan origin. The whole of the original constitution was Etruscan, established by the sacred books of that nation. The whole religious system was Etruscan. But, about the time which is stated as the foundation of Rome, the Sabines were in progressive movement along the river. The city of Tatius was a Sabine settlement on the Capitoline and Quirinal hills, close upon Etruscan Rome. Rome was thus a double city, like the Greek and Spanish Emporia, and some cities of modern Europe. But, before the time of Tullus, this twofold State had already become a single republic. All this is antecedent to history: it is not Latin; it is older than the Latin character of Rome. The latter was derived first from Tullus, through the union with Alba in his reign, and through the forcible incorporation of so many Latins under his successors, so that the earlier inhabitants were absolutely blended with them into Latins. Their language became perfectly unintelligible to later ages (like the songs of the Salii and the Arvales); and this accounts for the destruction of all historical notices of those times." 66 Such is Niebuhr's hypothesis (for it is nothing more) respecting the origin of this city. According to Antiochus of Syracuse,' remarks Mr. Cramer, "the name of Rome was known as far back as the time of the Siculi, the first possessors of Latium. That Saturnia was a name once given to Rome, or, at least, to one of the seven hills, and probably to the Capitol, seems very generally admitted by ancient writers." And this name, the learned Author supposes, must be re ferred to the Siculi. Again, "the settlement of Evander and his Arcadians on the Palatine hill, appears likewise to be supported by the concurrent testimony of ancient writers." This Evander, we are to consider "as one of those numerous Pelasgic adventurers who, after the settlement of the Tyrrheni and the expulsion of the Siculi, mi grated from Greece into Italy. The arrival of Evander in Latium is an interesting fact in the history of that country, as he is said to have introduced a knowledge of letters and other arts with which the Latins were then unacquainted." But who were these nations-the Pelasgians, the Sicilians, the Tyrrhenians, the Etrurians, the Sabines, the Latins? The vague and conflicting authorities of ancient writers, the philosophical researches and learned hypotheses of modern antiquaries, serve but to shew how arbitrary is the meaning attached to such designations. If, however, turning from the bewildering discussions respecting the nomenclature, filiation, and distribution of these various tribes, we confine ourselves to a general view of the state of society at this early period, we shall find sufficient evidence that Italy, like other countries of a similar geographical character, was originally occupied by races distinguished less by their physical lineaments, than by their modes of life and the degree of civilization to which, as the result, they had severally attained. In all countries which admit of the breeding of domestic animals, the pastoral is the first stage of social life; and by the wants and circumstances attendant upon that mode of life, the rude institutions of the infancy of nations are created and moulded. The mountains and high table-lands, in temperate or warmer regions, are the chosen territory of those tribes whose property consists chiefly in their flocks; while the owners of herds must descend with the rivers to the plains. The shepherd is of necessity a wanderer; and the first migrations, probably, were those of pastoral tribes, who sought room for their multiplied flocks. Wherever the wild animals abound, he is also of necessity a hunter; and the transition is easy, from the habits and character thus induced, to those of the bandit and of the warrior. Thus, the pastoral and the military character, which seem at first view so opposite to each other, are, in reality, nearly allied; and the metamorphosis is explained, by which the shepherd becomes a king. The herdsman of the plains is naturally, perhaps, less roving in his habits, and more pacific. He is soon compelled to unite to his other cares the labours of tillage. With agriculture originates fixed property, and towns are formed for mutual defence. This is the second stage of civilization. The physical features and climates of the country must, of course, powerfully contribute to determine the shape which society shall in these rude stages assume. In a region where the maritime plains are liable, in summer, to intolerable heat, or to pestilential exhalations from the undrained levels, the first permanent settlements will be in the mountains; and on shores subject to the predatory visits of corsairs, we shall find the towns placed, by way of precaution, at some distance from the coast. The climate and the soil will also regulate the nature of the habitations, in the construction of which the arts will first be developed; according as a defence is required chiefly against the violence of summer's rains or winter's cold, and as the forest, the rock, or the skin and hair of the herds, affords the readiest and most effectual protection, the dwellings of nomade hordes will be either the cavern or the portable hut or tent. The hunter slings his hammock in his pine-cabin, or piles up a hearth of stones with the wreck of the mountain. The inhabitant of the bare, clayey plains becomes a potter and a builder. In the mean time, the seas will have bred up a race of bold adventurers, traders or pirates; and maritime settlers of a foreign nation are led, by chance, necessity, or a spirit of adventure, to take possession of the harbours, and to spread themselves up the line of the rivers. Accustomed, perhaps, to the suns of more southerly climes, they are better able to sustain the summer heat of the low plains; and by means of traffic, they contrive to provide themselves with the necessaries of life. This presents to us another stage of society, and one which has always been the most closely connected with the advancement of knowledge and the development of useful invention. Such has been the history of Italy. 66 The city of Romulus is stated to have occupied at first only the Palatine mount, the square area of which would not, Mr. Simond says, quite cover the garden of the Tuileries at Paris, or St. James's Park in London; and its elevation, only 198 feet above the sea, is not twice the height of the largest trees in either of those gardens." Yet, its compact and detached form, defended by the Tiber and the marshes, might recommend it as an eligible post; and its height would be sufficient, according to the modes of ancient warfare, to render it a place of strength. Its unhealthy situation, however, and the deficiency of wholesome water, would sufficiently account for its not having been preoccupied by the natives. The earlier inhabitants of Italy, the founders of those towns to which Rome herself conceded a prior antiquity, were all built on mountains, in a purer air, and in situations protected as well by nature as by the Cyclopean walls with which they were surrounded. To maritime settlers, on the other hand, its distance from the sea would have rendered it ineligible. Strabo remarks, that the situation of Rome was originally fixed upon by necessity, and not by choice, and that no one, judging from its situation, would have predicted its future prosperity. Cicero, in the newly discovered fragments of the De Republica, speaks of the happy choice which Romulus made of a site for his city, in language which implies the insalubrity of the region. And Livy makes Camillus enumerate the advantages of the situation, in terms which confirm the idea, that it was chosen by necessity, and that those advantages were equivocal : he speaks of "the healthiness of the hills, the convenience of the river for bringing provision from the inland regions, and also from the sea; the sea not too distant, and not so near as to expose the city to the attacks of corsairs; and the situation of the city in the middle of Italy." Vol. III. pp. 146-159. Of Imperial Rome, nothing was entire but the Pantheon, even in the days of Poggio (A.D. 1430). Of the monuments described by the learned Florentine, and of which some fragments still remain, the following catalogue comprises all that can be with any certainty identified: The Coliseum; the Triumphal Arches of Titus, Severus, and Constantine (then almost entire); those of Drusus, of Dolabella and Silanus, and of Gallienus; the Baths of Diocletian, of Caracalla, and of Constantine; a part of those of Titus; the theatre of Marcellus ; |