ment.

through an open space left for that purpose far below the paveFour other columns adorn the wall that runs some feet behind the sanctuary, as four more of porphyry support the canopy over the altar. The seats of the sanctuary are of marble, as is the chair of the pontiff, a very ancient episcopal throne. Under the altar is the Confession or tomb of St. Laurence, where his body reposes, as is related, with that of St. Stephen the first martyr; it is beautifully inlaid and incrusted with the most precious marble.

This church, though unfrequented on account of its situation, is yet rendered highly interesting by its antiquity, its form, and its materials, and by a certain lonely majesty which seems to brood over it, and fills the mind with awe and reverence. Prudentius has described the martyrdom of St. Laurence in a long hymn, in which among many negligencies there are several beauties; and the celebrated Vida has treated the same subject with the devotion of a bishop and with the enthusiasm of a poet. Several of his images, sentiments, and allusions, as well as his language throughout, are truly classical; and while I recommend the two hymns of this author to the perusal of the reader, I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of inserting one passage from the first, not only on account of its exquisite beauty, but on account of its connexion with the scenery of Rome, and with the ground which we are now treading. In it the saint, when sensible or rather certain of his approaching fate, is represented as hanging occasionally over the Tiber, and turning with melancholy recollection towards his native land and the haunts of his youth.

Si quando tamen in ripâ subsistit amæni
Tybridis, aspectans auras, cœlique profunda,

Solis ad occasum versus, Non te amplius, inquit,

Aspiciam, dives regnis*, Hispania opimis,
Nec vos, O patriæ fluvii, carique parentes,
Qui spem forte mei reditus agitatis inanem.
Tuque, O Tybri! vale! colles salvete Latini!
Quos colui heroum tumuli, sacrataque busta!

In another passage the last sensations and feelings of the martyr are described in a style highly animated and affecting. The concluding verses of the same hymn express at once the piety and the patriotism of its author.

From the Porta Tiburtina a long and straight street, or rather road, leads almost in a direct line to the Basilica Liberiana‡, or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which derives its former appellation from Pope Liberius in whose time it was erected, its latter, from its size and magnificence, as being the first that bears the appellation of the Blessed Virgin. It is said to have been founded abont the year 350, and has undergone many repairs and alterations since that period. It is one of the noblest churches in the world, and well deserves an epithet of distinction. It stands by itself on the highest swell of the Esquiline hill, in the midst of two great squares which terminate two streets of near two miles in length. To these squares the Basilica presents two fronts of modern architecture and of different decorations. The principal front consists of a double colonnade, one over the other, the lower Ionic,

* St. Laurence was a native of Spain.

+ V. 245.

In the portico of this church there is a large antique sarcophagus, on which is sculptured an ancient marriage; on another which stands behind the sanctuary is a vintage. They are both admired for the beauty of the workmanship. The fields round St. Lorenzo were called anciently the Campus Veranus.