and we cannot help being reminded, as Prof. Howard tells us, that "A world is at our feet, as fragile as our clay."-Byron. 4. When I asked Prof. Howard what I should say about Rome, he replied, "Do not attempt to describe it. There is too much of it for description. Just mention a few things about it, and put in a few of the best poetic selections, which I will get for you, and then pass these grand old ruins by, as beyond the powers of description." While I am glad to be relieved of the difficult task, there is still a feeling of regret that I cannot do justice to the relics of ancient grandeur, sublimity, and beauty still enthroned here. 5. Of course we visited that modern wonder,-St. Peter's Church, which has grown up on the ruins of the pagan world, since the old Rome passed away. It is the largest -the grandest church in the world,-was one hundred and seventy-five years in building,-and cost, with its monuments and embellishments, more than sixty millions of dollars! We were told that the base of the cross on the top of the dome is four hundred and thirty feet above the pavement below,—and that, if our Capitol at Washington were piled on top of another building just like itself, the whole would not then equal St. Peter's in height, and still less in length and breadth. 6. Prof. Howard says that St. Peter's Church is universally admitted to be the noblest work of architecture ever produced by man. Then he quoted what the poet Byron says of it: “Thou, of temples old or altars new, Standest alone-with nothing like to thee- Of earthly structures in God's honor piled, Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled 7. And when the Professor spoke of the massive columns, each more than eighty feet in diameter, and the lofty dome which they support, he said Pope's description of the Temple of Fame would well apply to this noble structure :— "There massy columns in a circle rise, O'er which a pompous dome invades the skies: 8. Our artist has obtained a fine photographic view of the church, with the large oval area in front. This area is surrounded by a superb colonnade, and in the middle, between two fountains, is an Egyptian obelisk seventy-eight feet in height. You may perhaps form a better idea of this wonderful structure from the view which I send you. 9. Of course we visited the Colise'um, and all the other grand ruins; and at our hotel we read Byron's description of the Colise'um, and of the Dying Gladiator, and many other fine poetic descriptions, most of which-and perhaps all of them-you can find in the Wilmot Hall Library. 10. We stood on the very spot where once was the ancient Forum, where the people gathered in their great assemblies; where consuls, dictators, and senators sat, and debated, and decided the fate of nations: "The Forum! where the immortal accents glow, And still the eloquent air breathes, burns with Cicero." Byron. 11. I must also quote what Prof. Howard has been reading to us from another poet, about this once grand old Roman Forum,-now covered with ruins. Alas! in these latter days of degenerate Rome, the place has been turned into a cattle-market! The lines I quote will help to give you, who have not seen the ruins, a better idea of what the place now is : 12. "Here and there appears, As if to show Ruin's handiwork, not ours, A wall of some great temple. Here was once . The very dust we tread stirs as with life, 13. Most of the ruins of ancient Rome are on the left bank of the Tiber; but St. Peter's is on the right bank. A rear view of St. Peter's in the distance, together with the Castle of St. Angelo near by, may be had from another illustration that I send you. 14 We were at Rome during the Christmas festivities. At midnight on Christmas eve, the bells rung their merricst peals, and, as we looked out of our windows, we saw that the city was illuminated, and that the streets were alive with people. We witnessed the ceremonies at St. Peter's on Christmas morning, and were struck with the grandeur and sublimity of the music. Some days before, minstrels from the mountain districts came down to the city, and in their fantastic dresses marched through the streets, singing and playing their wild mountain music. These events led to an interesting account, by Prof. Howard, of the Christmas festivities in England and Germany, and in European countries generally. II.-Naples and its Surroundings. 1. Leaving Rome on the 5th of March, and returning to our steamer, we passed down the coast, a distance of about a hundred and twenty miles, to Naples, the largest city of Italy, and so famous for its loveliness when viewed from the waters of the bay, of which it forms the northern boundary. Seated partly on the declivity of a hill, it spreads its buildings along the shore, and covers the shelving coasts and adjacent eminences with its villas and gardens, while its beautiful suburbs stretch far away, both to the east and to the west, in unrivalled beauty. 2. The charms of the bay, and its surroundings, have been celebrated both by ancient and by modern writers, and have formed the subject of numerous fine paintings, engravings of which may be found in almost every land. On the eastern shore of the bay, and seemingly very close to the city, rises |