under the Emperors, when all distinction was done away, and the privileges of the capital were communicated to the whole empire?

As Rome continued even after the fall of her empire the me tropolis and capital of Christendom, and has considered herself at all times as the common parent of Christians, and peculiarly so of men of genius and learning, the influx has never ceased to pour new inhabitants and with them fresh supplies of vigor and genius into the bosom of the Eternal City. This influx instead of being a reproach is an honor; it was the destiny of Rome from her foundation to be the asylum of mankind, the receptacle of nations," portus omnium gentium." But it must be remembered, that Rome, though taken and plundered by barbarians, has never been possessed, colonized, or repeopled by them, and that the change (if any) which has taken place in the breed is the inevitable consequence of wide-extended influence, whether of power or of opinion, and must have occurred even if Rome had retained the sceptre of the universe. All that can be inferred from such a change is that the Romans of the nineteenth are not the Romans of the first century, as these latter were not those of the era of Romulus. But they inhabit the city founded by Romulus, they are the descendants of the masters of the world, as much as these were the offspring of the Sabine race, or of the shepherds that accompanied the twin brothers, or of the fugitives who flocked to the asylum. They speak a language more resembling that of Cicero and Virgil, than the dialect of Cicero and Virgil resembled that of Tatius or Numa; in short, they are as much the descendants of the Romans as the modern French are the descendants of

the Franks under Clovis, or Charlemagne, and as the English are of the Saxons who invaded and conquered Britain. As such, the modern Romans may be allowed to excite interest, and perhaps almost deserve respect, especially as their virtues and their genius are their own; their vices, which are neither more numerous nor more scandalous than those of other nations, are owing to their circumstances, and may be ascribed to mistaken policy, an imperfect government, foreign influence, and in part perhaps to a narrow system of education.

August the third, at two o'clock in the morning, we set out. As we rolled under the arch of the Porta del Popolo, and heard the gates close behind us; as we passed the Ponte Milvio and looked down on the Tiber flowing dimly beneath, our regrets redoubled, and all the magnificence of Rome, now left behind us for ever, presented itself once more to our recollection *.

The feelings of an ancient provincial in the moment of departure from the capital which he had visited with veneration and enthusiasm, are expressed in language both passionate and poetical by Rutilius.

CHAP. VI.

ETRURIA-THE CREMERA-VEII-FALERIUM-MOUNT SORACTEOF TRASIMENUS--

FESCENNIUM---MEVANIA----ASISIUM----LAKE

ENTRANCE INTO THE TUSCAN TERRITORY---CORTONA---ANCIENT ETRURIANS---ARRETIUM---VAL D'ARNO.

THE weather was serene, the air cool and delicious, the stars sparkled with unusual brilliancy, and the night appeared in all the freshness and beauty of the climate.

Aure lievi portando, e largo nembo
Di sua rugiada prețiosa e pura;/z

E scotendo del vel l'humido lembo
Ne spargeva i fioretti e la verdura;
E'i venticelli debattendo l' ali
Lusingavano il sonno de mortali.

Gierusalemme liberata, Canto XIV. 1.

We had now entered Etruria, and were traversing a country celebrated in the early records of Rome for many a furious combat, and many an heroic achievement. On this ground the Romans defended their newly acquired liberty with all the intrepidity which the first taste of such a blessing must inspire. Here they triumphed over Tarquin and his Etrurian allies, and here their leader and consul, Brutus, sealed their freedom with

his blood. This region was the theatre of the Veientan war, and witnessed all the glorious deeds that graced that long protracted contest-the victories, and the disasters of the generous Fabii*.

All this territory, the object of so much contest and bloodshed, is now a desert. Even the capital itself, which stood so long the rival and terror of Rome, and would have been preferred to it, if the authority of Camillus, and an omen, that is, a lucky coincidence of a military order with the subject debate of the senate, had not prevailed over the representations of the tribunes, even Veii itself has perished, nor left á vestige to mark its situation. Hence even antiquaries differ as to the real spot. Some place it at Civita Castellana, and others, with more probability, at Scrofano, on a rocky hill called Monte Musivo, about six miles on the right from the road between La Storta and Baccano, and of course about twelve from Romet. The distance and natural strength of this site correspond with the description of Veii, and some shapeless masses of rubbish are pointed out as the remains of a city once superior even to Rome in magnificence, and capable, like Troy, of resisting for ten years the efforts of an army of fifty thousand men. But how vain it is to explore the situation of a place, which has been a solitude for more than two thousand years.

* The Cremera, on the banks of which they fell, intersects the plain on the right.

+ Others again place Veii in a little island about a mile and an half to the right of La Storta.