. cel those of any other, or of all the other cities of Europe. There are not less than thirty or forty rich in architecture, marble, statuary and paintings. I shall not notice any but the most remarkable. St. Maria Maggiore is one of the oldest and most splendid, and, in my estimation, most beautiful churches of Rome. Its roof is square, divided into compartments, and ornamented with gilded stucco, in a style of magnificence known only in Italy and France. Its pillars are all of a most beautiful and singular white marble. Its altar is rich in a great variety of costly marbles and precious stones. It has like all the great Roman catholick churches, separate chapels within the body of the church. Two of these, built by two popes, Paul V. or pope Borghese, and Sextus V. two of the most distinguished pontiffs, are very superb. That of Paul V. called the Paulina, has two magnificent tombs in it, erected in honour of two dignitaries of that family, and the back part of one of the tombs is lined with a single piece of lapis lazuli (a precious stone of a deep blue colour) sixteen feet high and twelve wide. Opposite to it is the chapel of Sixtus V. called Sixtina, which excels the other in splendour. This chapel (only an eighth part of the whole church) is said to have cost the pope 800,000 crowns, or more than four times the expense of the state house in Boston. The great events of the life of this pope are represented in basso relievo in marble. They exhibit in this chapel what they pretend is the original manger of Bethlehem, in which our Saviour was born. The church, on the whole, is a most splendid and elegant edifice. The church of St. Giovannia, in Laterano, is the oldest church in Rome, and, as they pretend, in Christendom. It has been rebuilt by the later popes, and is now the second in point of splendour in the city. Its front or façade is most magnificent, and alone cost 400,000 crowns. Its interiour is ornamented with the richest marbles. Among the others, are twenty-four columns of verd antique, a rich species of Egyptian marble, taken from the temple of Jupiter. There are two superb brass columns, which they assure you were taken from the palace of Pilate in Jerusalem. They shew you the original table, on which the last supper was served, as they pretend, and the very well where our Saviour encountered the Samaritan woman; the curb of which they have tran ported hither. But aside from the puerilities of catholick superstition, this church abounds in works of taste in architecture, sculpture, and painting. The church of St. Paul's just without the city, is most extensive and magnificent. It is 780 feet in length, and 260 in breadth, and of course, larger than any church in the world out of Rome. It is supported upon four rows of pillars of superb marble, to the number of one hundred, said to be taken from the mausoleum of Adrian, or, as some writers say, the baths of Constantine. It is ornamented with the portraits of all the popes, at the head of whom, they take care to place St. Peter. The church of St. Gregory is ornamented with some beautiful fresco paintings by Guido and Domenichino, a stamp of one of which I shall send out to America. The church of the Capucins is rendered famous by a single piece of Guido's,' representing the angel St. Michael chaining the prince of darkness. A single eminent piece is capable of giving celebrity to a church throughout Europe. The Transfiguration of Raphael was known to all the world, and it was the first object of the cupidity of the French, when they seized Rome. Transferred to Paris, it makes the brightest ornament of the Louvre, to see which alone, amateurs would make the tour of Europe. The church of the Madonna della Vittoria, is a rich superb edifice, famous for two statues of the celebrated Bernini; one representing St. Theresa in the ecstasy of divine love, and the other, St. Joseph in his dream. They are both exquisitely wrought. ever seen. But it would be too tedious to enumerate only half the great beauties which are to be found in the churches of Rome, so we will quit the subject with a slight notice of that wonder of Europe, the cathedral of St. Peter's. This edifice, the largest, most magnificent, and confessedly on the whole, the most perfect in the world, responds in almost every part to this high reputation. The area in front of it is the largest and most striking, I have It is ornamented with two immense corridors, consisting of four rows of columns of astonishIn the centre ing extent and size. of the area is the largest obelisk in Rome; and on each side of it, are two of the noblest fountains in Europe. The water rushes out of them with impetuosity, and forms a magnificent jette d'eau correspondent to the grandeur of the edifice. The building and all its appendages externally are built of a free stone of a plain but excellent light brown colour. As you approach it, the building appears small, not But its size is the smallest part It requires two days to examine with care and attention the various Almost beauties of this church. every great artist from the time of Michael Angelo, who planned and erected the cupola, to the present day, has contributed something to enrich it. There are not less than twelve or fifteen superb monuments to different popes, all executed in a masterly style. The fine paintings of Raphael and Domenichino having suffered by the dampness of the walls, they have renewed them in Mosaick, in such a style, as that it would be impossible for any but an artist to distinguish them from paintings. These large Mosaicks are the most wonderful objects of medern art. On ELEGIA COLLINS, SUPER MORTE THOMSONL LATINIS REDDITA VERSICULIS. En tumulo jacet hoc sylvæ nemorumque poeta, Densâ quâ fluvius prætexit arundine ripas, Vespere et errantes pueri innuptæque puellæ, Littoris atque animo jucunda subibit imago, Aerios montes, riguos et visere valles Cum juvat, et pacem colere et per rura salutem; Tu, quoque, quem gremio tellus complectitur alma Et fugit ullus nunc captus oculis animoque Tu, cujus tristem, deserta heu! Thamesis, undam Et valles tenui umbrosæ vix luce videntur, Quæ tibi erant olim cordi flaventia culta, Tempore post longo marmor aggestaque terra Suffundet lacrimis oculos cum Britonis ægri; Lugete (inquiet heu valles, silvæque relictæ ; Hoc vestrum tumulo clausum plorate poetam Vol. V. No. VI. 2 Q |