On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
lc ^^ f f ( c « ttd ^ tirldcir the of the € &mp& Vacdn ^ afvd its squaftd and Ji ^© ote ^«^ M «( Panoe , and the-ruini By which it is surrounded , - pres ^ rtta striking csontrasltQJite former Importance . In one place there is nearly half anattcieRi'huilding 1 entire , in another a row of columns , and in another two or : three which form part of a modem church . The most massive remains are three nnmenee arches of the Temple of Peace , which seem , by their
solidity , as if they were determined to defy the harid of time . "The arch of Septimius Severus is nearly perfect , and that of Titus in considerable preservation 2 the figures of the seven-branched candlestick , and of the table of shew-bread , which were carried in his triumphal procession after his return from Jerusalem , are still very distinct . It is a singular instance of the strength of national feeling , that the Jews have requested and obtained permission to have a road made at the side of this arch , as they considered it a
degradation to pass under a trophy which commemorates the destruction of their temple . If I fotod my expectations disappointed , and my associations disturbed , in my visit to the Capitol , I must say , that there is nothing which indemnified me for this in the genera ) appearance of the modern city . Not but that there are individual objects which are very fine in their own peculiar style ; some of the palaces , for instance , are princely mansions ; the churches of St . Peter , of Santa Maria Maggiore , and of St . John de Lateran , are grand and
noble ; the fountain of Trevi is of all fountains the most judiciously disposed , and the most beautifully ornamented ; and the obelisks , with which almost every principal line of streets is terminated , give an air of grandeur to the quarters in which they respectively stand . But the general aspect of modern Rome is fat floramagnificent : the streets , with the exception of one or two oi > ty , are narrow and without causeways , the houses poor , and the shop miserable . The Corso itself , which is the finest street , is nothing
to boast o ^ , and there is no where to be seen any such suite of handsome hau $ e& as we expect to find in the capital of a kingdom . One thing niust be perfectly clear to every one who . takes even half an hour's walk through this city , namely , that wealth is shut up in the hands of a very few individuals , and that the great majority of the inhabitants want either the power or , the will to rise into opulence * Ancient Rome is said to have contained 1 , 200 , 00 ft souls ; ; * but the modem town has not more than 100 , 000 , and even this population diminishes every day . It is melancholy to drive
through green ? fields within the walls which enclosed the ancient city , and sjill more so * to observe the solitary ^ deserted look of many parts which are still inhabited . Nor is this the only point of contrast between the old Romans and the present generation . It wqs one of the besj ; characteristics of t ^ e foranep , that they never conquered an enemy without borrowing from him sookeimpro . vemeBVin the arts either of peace or of war . But in the present day the tide of improvement has stopped ; the Roman States are hermetically sealed qgainst / heresy ; f and thao jealous spirit which guards
* See tt > bori * s Decline and Fall ^ cltaip . xxkli f * VvW & the traveHer who takes boakfi with him into Italyj or at least into the - Itoman- States I if he declares od , hi # airiral at the . ftrontier thAt be h&s such artic ^ fakfeilvsmm * tW , ift * t ** t « fi ^^^^^ twi ^ . whfc&bp fatim WW * ^ wivfowh hp ^ oWJggd to produce oi ^ , entering Rome . The book ^ are there ta ^ en from him ; and even if they are of a sufficiently innocent character to be returned , he cannot recover possession of them without goiug a nui ; i ^ er of times to the custom-house , am . fl applying to a dozen or twenty different officers to have the owier for their liberation signed . The few books which I had with me at Marseilles I sent direct from
Untitled Article
« sme 746 Jvurnul of u Tour on the Continent .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1828, page 746, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2566/page/18/
-