Neither is it necessary for me to speak, I am sure, of the romantic situation of Tivoli-seated like a queen upon the sunny slopes of Monte Ripoli-nor of the lovely valley at its feet, through which the Teverone sweeps in floods of gold. I have seen this sight as the rays of the setting sun cast their glory upon it; and even the painter, I believe, would find it beyond the compass of his art at such a moment. How, then, It is

could I attempt to realize it with the pen ? another of the inimitabilia in which Rome and its vicinity abound.

Of the temples and the villas, I need hardly say much either. The temple of the Sibyl, however, or of Vesta-to whom it is now more properly attributed -should at least be mentioned in every article referring in any way to Tivoli. Italy has few ruins more beautiful; and its position, whence it seems to complete and embellish the delightful picture into which it has been so happily introduced, is really beyond all praise.

The Villa d'Este, as the principal modern villa in

beautiful than the effect of the sun upon its spray. The exquisite rainbows thus produced are described with enthusiasm by all who have written on the subject, and they suggested to Lord Byron two of his most sublime similes :

"Beneath the glittering morn
An Iris sits amidst the infernal surge
Like hope upon a deathbed, and unworn
Its steady dye-while all around is torn
By the distracted waters-bears serene

Its brilliant hues with all their beams unshorn;
Resembling 'mid the torture of the scene,
Love watching madness with unalterable mien!"

R

the locality, and the last remarkable object that we visited at Tivoli, may also claim a word or two in a notice of this excursion.

This handsome villa, which belongs to the Duke of Modena, was built by Cardinal d'Este, son of Alfonso II., Duke of Ferrara. It is picturesquely situated on the brow of a hill, near the Porta Santa Croce, and is remarkable for the splendid groups of pines and cypresses by which it is surrounded. Its gardens have been for a long time abandoned, and, in consequence, much neglected; but their natural beauties still remain, and abundantly testify, even in their present state, the happy development of which they are susceptible, and the elegance with which, in better days, this princely residence was adorned.

The magnificent view enjoyed from the balcony of the palace is also a delightful feature in the Villa d'Este. This view is one of the finest to be obtained in Tivoli. From the cedars and the orange-trees, the groves, the waterfalls, and the marbles, which are immediately beneath the gaze, the eye wanders over the storied plain which stretches towards the Capital; straying over forests of olives, and piles of ruins, until it is fixed in the distance by the beauty of a temple, the graceful outline of a column, or the colossal majesty of an aqueduct,-objects which present themselves in such fair profusion in every panorama formed by Rome or its environs. The golden light is streaming on the deserted garden, burnishing statue and antique; and far away it glows upon the purple plain, shedding brightness and beauty even on those mouldering relics

which death and desolation had long since shadowed and appropriated as their own. But the Abbé de Lille alone could describe and moralize on the wonders of such a scene. As I gazed on it, I could not help repeating his noble lines,-" O champs de l'Italie! O campagnes de Rome!"* In similar circumstances I

* O champs de l'Italie! O campagnes de Rome!
Où dans tout son orgueil gît le néant de l'homme !
C'est là que des aspects fameux par de grands noms,
Pleins de grands souvenirs et de hautes leçons,
Vous offrent ces objets, trésors des paysages.
Voyez de toutes parts, comment le cours des âges
Dispersant, déchirant de précieux lambeaux,
Jetant temple sur temple et tombeaux sur tombeaux,
De Rome étale au loin la ruine immortelle.
Ces portiques, ces arcs, où la pierre fidèle
Garde du peuple-roi les exploits éclatants;
Leur masse indestructible a fatigué le temps.
Des fleuves suspendus ici mugissait l'onde;
Sous ces portes passaient les dépouilles du monde ;
Partout confusément dans la poussière épars,
Les thermes, les palais, les tombeaux des Césars;
Tandis que de Virgile et d'Ovide et d'Horace
La douce illusion nous montre encore la trace.
Heureux, cent fois heureux l'artiste des jardins,
Dont l'art peut s'emparer de ces restes divins.
Déjà la main du temps sourdement le seconde ;
Déjà sur les grandeurs de ces maîtres du monde
La nature se plaît à reprendre ses droits.
Au lieu même où Pompée, heureux vainqueur des rois,
Etalait tant de faste, ainsi qu'aux jours d'Evandre,
La flûte des bergers revient se faire entendre.
Voyez rire ces champs au laboureur rendus,

Sur ces combles tremblants ces chevreaux suspendus,
L'orgueilleux obélisque au loin couché sur l'herbe,
L'humble ronce embrassant la colonne superbe ;
Ces forêts d'arbrisseaux, de plantes, de buissons,
Montant, tombant en grappe, en touffes, en festons,

have no doubt they will recur to any one who has ever read them.

This, as I said, was the last remarkable object that we examined in the neighbourhood of Tivoli. We here dismissed the mules we had hired for visiting the falls, and returned on foot to dine at the Sibilla . Three hours afterwards we drove into the court of the Minerva, whence our departure had been celebrated that morning with so much confusion, and having ascended once more to the vicinity of our friends the Provençal and the Hanoverian, we were soon again-Morpheus is much a quicker traveller than a vetturino-in the midst of cedars and cypresses, vines and villas, temples and Teverones, which did not disappear till long after the light of another day had broken upon the spires and palaces of Rome.

Par le souffle des vents semés sur ces ruines,
Le figuier, l'olivier, de leurs faibles racines,
Achèvent d'ébranler l'ouvrage des Romains;
Et la vigne flexible, et le lierre aux cent mains,
Autour de ces débris rampant avec souplesse,
Semblent vouloir cacher ou parer leur vieillesse.

245

CHAPTER XXV.

A FÊTE NOCTURNE.

Moonlight Festival-A means of fêting peculiar to the climate of the South-Farewell visit to St. Peter's-Appearance of this glorious basilica by Moonlight-Emotions excited-Visit to the VaticanTorchlight Excursion through the Halls of this Palace-Effect of this illumination on the statues-The Apollo-Wonderful appearance of the Laocoon-The Ganymede-The Apollo Musagatus— Figure of Melpomene-Regret at leaving all those extraordinary objects-The Fountains-Their agreeable and useful NatureAbundance of Water in Rome-The Fountains of Paris, Versailles, and St. Cloud, mentioned with reference to those of the Eternal City -The latter incomparably superior-The Climate of Rome suited to these delightful objects-Their appearance at Noon-At EveningAnd by Moonlight-The Aqueducts of Rome Termination of our Festival by a Torchlight Tour and Picnic in the Coliseum.

THE last night I passed in the Eternal City was one of those delicious "Nuits de Rome" which are famous all the world over. A few of my friends had united to celebrate my departure, and I was invited to join them in a moonlight festival which they had prepared for the occasion. This is one of those means of fêting unknown in northern countries-peculiar to the artistic imagination of the Italian, and really practicable only in the genial climate of the South. We do sometimes talk, it is true, of "moonlight rambles," even in the British Isles-at least, our poets and our novel-writers do-but I never hear of such things at the frigid distance of fifty-two degrees from the