THE PALAZZO REALE, PALERMO.

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with mosaics: the walls are similarly decorated, and at every angle of the room clustered marble columns, of small proportions and Norman style, are placed. The designs on the walls are less to be admired for correct drawing, than for brilliancy of colouring, and, to aid the latter, peacocks, and other birds of the most brilliant plumage, have been introduced. The mosaics on the ceiling include groupings of wild animals, such as lions, panthers, and griffins. A suite of apartments is approached through this splendid curiosity, each adorned in a style appropriated to the abode of royalty, but in a character so modern as to sacrifice all claims to notice, from contrast with the Norman saloon. For some years the Palazzo Reale was abandoned by the Spanish viceroys, for the citadel of Castellamare, whence retreat might be more easy, on the approach of danger. This desertion continued until the year 1550, when a man of superior courage, and more refined taste, caused the ancient drapery to be cleaned, the long closed doors of royalty, to be thrown open, and restored the halls and towers of this spacious edifice to their primitive elegance. At a comparatively recent period, the court of Naples may be said to have taken shelter here; and for some time a Norman race, after the lapse of eight centuries, again became the occupants of a palace that was founded by an adventurer of their ancient line. The royal family inhabited the apartments in the higher stories of the Palazzo, from whence a terrace extends over the top of the Porta Nova, one of the city gates, and commands a most extensive and beautiful prospect across the city, the sea, and towards the mountains.

Since the retirement of the Neapolitan royal family, the paintings have been removed, and a few English prints alone are left to plead for the fine arts. There are, however, two fine antique bronze rams, that once adorned the Castle of Maniaces at Syracuse; they are in a reclining posture, of the natural size, and acknowledged to bear evidence of the most masterly conception and performance. In the library is shown an almanac calculated to last for sixty years; and in the armoury, a sword said to have been Count Roger's, though others assert it to be of a far more remote date: an excellent opinion in antiquarian lore, says, "it is so much larger than any ancient sword I ever saw, that I should rather imagine it really to have been a Norman weapon, although the beauty of the hilt, which is of silver, is superior to the general taste of that period."

The Archivio, which communicates with the Sacristia, contains many curious deeds and charters, written in the Greek, Arabic, and Latin languages and characters. The act of foundation, as it is called, coeval with the reign of Ruggieri, is written in letters of gold laid on purple silk, a style adopted by the Byzantine emperors in their edicts, and imitated by Western Europe on occasions of pageantry only.

ELYSIUM, in ancient mythological history, is the name of certain regions to which the blessed were supposed to pass after death. Here were admitted the patriot who died for his country, the man of unblemished name in life, those that had been truly inspired by the genius of poetry, the inventor of any useful art, and every individual who had benefited mankind during his earthly career. Homer and Virgil have described minutely these happy abodes of the pure and chaste; and the voluptuous description of the gardens of Armida, in Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered," is but an imitation of the ancient idea of the Elysian Fields. This paradise is described as consisting of various delightful meadows, but sometimes as including a number of islands that lay off the western confines of the olden world, and which gradually receded as the earth was explored. Conjecture points to the Fortunate Isles off the African coast, as well as to the Isle of Leuce: but Lucian startles the classic critic by his confident assertion, that the vicinity of the chaste cold moon is the correct locality of Elysium, while Plutarch assigns the centre of the earth to those that deserved well of the gods. However, the authority of Virgil, who places these happy fields in Italy, has been treated with the most universal respect. It will naturally be inquired in what form the shades of the blessed appear, and how they pass their time: the poet has anticipated the reader's curiosity, by informing him, that the souls of the good are contained in vapoury forms, and that they pass a life of tranquil enjoyment. The images after which an Elysian abode is described, are taken from the tale of Olympus and the fable of the Golden Age. Here beauteous meads alternate with pleasant groves; a serene and cloudless sky was spread over them, and a soft celestial light shed a magic brilliancy on every object. Heroes were permitted to resume their favourite sports: they exercised themselves in the chariot-race, in wrestling, in dancing to the melodious music that flowed from the lyre of Orpheus, in wandering through odoriferous laurel-groves, on the smiling banks of a smooth-flowing river, or in valleys watered by clear murmuring