delicate perception, which enables them to catch the most harmonious notes, and to reject every false tone? They know not the rules of music; they are ignorant of the lowest principles of composition, yet they form combinations which indicate the finest skill, and seem the effect of a sort of instinct.

Without experiencing the least fatigue from the length of the way, we arrived at the entrance of the ancient mansion of a powerful emperor. No triumphal arch, no succession of porticos were left-a simple and unornamented door-way, formed of two pilasters covered with plaster, was all that remained. As I entered the vast inclosure of the Villa Adriana, I found myself surrounded by heaps of ruins which astonished me by their immensity.

The proud retreat of Adrian, situated about three miles from Tibur, towards the south-west, occupied, in a line of nearly three miles, a chain of hills in the midst of a winding valley, bounded by rocks: it was protected towards the east by high mountains crowned with thick forests; and on the opposite side lay the numerous monuments strewed along the plain of Rome. In the distance the seven hills of the eternal city, covered with obelisks and temples, rose above the horizon, burning with the setting splendours of the sun. A nearer view of the villa discovered the edifices built on the summits of the hills, on their sides or at their base; some built on level ground, some raised on terraces, and some constructed under ground; there were porticos, gymnasiums, theatres, circuses, stadiums, temples, and houses mingled with gardens, bowers, and pieces of water. This vast territory contained such a quantity of monuments, that it bade defiance to the outrages of time and man.

Sallust, Horace, and Seneca, complain with reason of the ruinous magnificence of the villas of their time; Adrian surpassed all his predecessors, and put the world under contribution for embellishments for his Tiburtine Villa. This emperor is said to have had a desire of constructing in this place, imitations of all the most celebrated edifices which he had admired in his travels, as the Lyceum, the Academy, and the Prytaneum of Athens. Nay, it was even said that a representation of the infernal kingdom and the Elysian fields was to be seen here. One cannot doubt the truth of history, when one beholds these monuments. Though explored a hundred times, and presenting no interest but to painters and architects, yet the immense space which is covered, the thickness and solidity of the walls, the precious objects, the remains of which crowd every step, the very considerable number of statues, basreliefs, and inscriptions, which have been discovered in this VOYAGES and TRAVELS, No. 5, Vol. III.

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place, and carried to Rome, to enrich the museums—all add to the idea which we have formed of the powerful magnificence and never-failing resources of the monarch-people.

The principal entrance into the villa looked towards the bridge of Lucano, and the Tiburtine road; a way, the remains of which are still seen, led to it: two piles of masonry, distant from each other 75 feet, mark the entrance-they rise on the border of the road, at the entrance of the modern enclosure. On entering, the most remarkable object which presents itself is a very high wall, which overlooks the Pæcile, a double portico of 700 feet in height, once ornamented in all probability with paintings, like that at Athens, and supported on each side by the wall we have mentioned. This building is so high, that it casts a shade at almost every period of the day. This wall was situated between two squares equally surrounded with porticoes; that on the south still preserves the form of a parallelogram, terminated at its extremities by flattened arches. In the centre of this vast court there rose some low walls, which formerly supported a fountain, if we may credit those who levelled the place, in order to plant it with vines.

It was in the Pæcile, and in a hall which yet exists, that Adrian used to assemble his literary friends, and where he used to amuse himself in listening to, or disputing with them, according to the Athenian custom. The Bibliotheca, or Library, was not far from the Pæcile-nothing remains of it but the wall, in which there are 25 niches.

On a neighbouriag hill rises a magnificent theatre; fragments of 48 statues have been discovered here; the rising seats are still distinguishable, and the proscenium and some other parts are in good preservation: it is the same with the other ancient theatre, with the exception of those of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are more complete.

Turning to the south, we see the remains of the porticoes which led to the baths; then we arrive at the Academy and the Temple of Apollo and the Muses, which was ornamented with columns of Parian marble; not far from this, in the place in which the wild-beasts were confined, there were discovered in the pontificate of Alexander VI. the statues of the nine muses, which now adorn the Royal Museum of Paris. The neighbouring ground is covered with the ruins of the buildings which formed the Academy, habitations mingled with gardens and fountains formed by conducting thither the waters of the Marcia and the Anio: from this point extends a portico, which led to that part of the villa called the Lyceum→

a building dedicated to philosophical studies, where a group of Pan and Syrinx was discovered.

After having traversed the foundation of an exedrum and of the baths, the traveller arrives at the Canopus, one of the most beautiful ornaments of the place; here part of the valley had been shaped so as to contain a vast sheet of water, where imitations of naval combats were represented: at one of the extremities lie the ruins of a temple in the form of a shell, which was dedicated to Neptune, who was called Canopus by the Egyptians. Here also the statue of a sea-horse, one of the attributes of that deity was discovered; and also a considerable quantity of figures of Egyptian divinities, which were conveyed to the Museum of the Vatican, and deposited in the hall called on that account Canopus. In proceeding towards the east the traveller enters another valley, which is supposed by antiquarians to have been fashioned into a model of the delicious bowers of Tempè and the Elysian fields, and in which was the entrance to the infernal regions.

It appears to me that the excavations ornamented with sculptures and paintings, and in which mysteries, so terrifying to the uninitiated, were celebrated, were formed from the quarries, whence the immense piles of materials used in the construction of this villa were drawn; the entrances are through three apertures, which, in the opinion of Pirro Ligorio, mark the avenues of the three-quarters of the world— Asia towards the East, Africa towards the west, and Europe towards the north: long corridors, forming a labyrinth, led to an immense cavern filled with water, where the thrones and tribunals of the infernal deities were seen. The Crypto Porticus was a grotto formed in the rock. (See Plate IX.)

Towards the south, and at the extremity of the villa, extends the rest of the Prytaneum; it was composed of vast piles of building, where the emperor lodged the sick soldiers, his ancient companions in arms. Here were the granaries, the cellars, and innumerable other magazines for all sorts of provisions. Both in the environs, and in the centre of the beautiful gardens, rose the monuments of the illustrious persons who died in the villa. Many cinerary urns have been discovered. With the exceptions above mentioned, the villa only presents a mass of ruins. In the time, indeed, of Pirro Ligorio, many other buildings were standing; this was about the year 1550.

I quitted these interesting scenes, and hastened towards Rome. On my return from the villa, I passed a crowd from which loud laughs proceeded, and cries of bravo. I enquired the reason, and found that they were engaged in the game