New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-04

Lost IN the Norsemsns night of tme need ouV
IN ., me here 10 find themselves so easily outnone
an those mcesy, sersgged old men, and their surrey
sons-tbose handsome spinning women OF iras'c'e.o
.v5 ,ha;r ,oht-swaddled babes each and every one
bcasts his descent straight from Father .tneas baI
uitbout fording the river for antiquity. there s
ncneh more close by. Here, at the lett IS the NJ
flo round temple Of Vesta-round because the "oriu
!. round-so pretty and little il had better be ieft as
aub.ntic without further thought-where the Irejah
Palladium WIS hid in a bogshead, and the |es.es
kent the sacred elemental fire and the Teh',e,
of the Romans with subterranean steps sun
traced. on which We halt and wonder whether
ever some weaker sister was borne down NTH
or to her living tomb, or whether they ony
conduct 10 some passage to the Capnoi VI
Forum in case of siege or danger. just alongside,
with OILY a muddy read between is perfect little
Ionic model, remnant Of primal Rome, tempe
built by Seryius Tulus TO his patron Fortune, VINO
from slave had made him king. And IN the ciasscs
If ia whispered that later the Roman women came
here on the ls of April on no fools erand, but, after
bathing and sacrificing to the goddess, to lnplore
her 10 hide from their husbands any lack OF
pbysical beauty, and TO embelhsh them win
every grace in the eyes Of their lords pretty,
wiie.like PRAYER enough-if handsome is what hand
some does: but across the Piazza, IN the nign-
lowered church, with the columns OF the temple OF
Ceres within there is the marble disc with hoie
hitler led the bellss from the way to put their
hands into this yawning mouth and swear to their
virtue. and if she lied, woe TO the wOman-her
hand was held fast, aud she condemned. Ana 80
MYTH and fable mythology ard religion, twine their
! mazes round us here. All these temPes are
| churches now, dedicated to the Christian \lrgln;
tbc Piazza around which they stand is like muddy
cettle.yard. yoked oxen and bufalOes are resting
from their loads or drinking at the fountain, which,
by the way. is old Sabine Turnuss daughter turned
| by A wbim Of Joye to water This strange we'd
| lock of the past and now appears at every Turn.
| This little temple of Vesta in Numa's time was
| apaci ,us enough for the four women OF all Rome
who were consecrated to a celioic life: Now every
| temple is church, and every church hangs 10 lts
| convent swarming with Christian vestals.
Here We are at the foot Of the Palatlne, as green
and bushy as when the she.wOlf had her cave up in
its side. where the good couple Faustulus and Lau-
| rentia found the two nursDgs and adopted them as
their own little boys; and now the Palatine from
the cradle is changed to the grave OF an empire.
| Within call Of this weird spot, where anclenfly
| Law the graves of the Vestals, condemned soldiers
are shot now and the gulotine is raised for civil
criminals. Turning up toward the Forum is the
ouadranpular arch OF imperial times, built OF Cyclic.
plan marble blocks, to shelter the cattle merchants
| and drOyers from the sua and rain. Every god, OF
high or low degree, had his temple; every class OF
| people its monument. Opposite this still firm and
| pprPctN preserved Dut thC hiceh ""S
| ont from the iOinturc Of the stOnes-we turn
down weedy path, between high damp walls
hung with ivy and maiden's hair, and come
| TO a. crystal-clear stream, flowing out from
masonry and losing itself therein again; for further
along, and low down. under the same Oyergrown,
weedy walls is the arch OF the old ClOaca Maxlma,
almost as old as Rome, and still its sewer to the
| Tiber The water is high now and the passage is
| much filled; but anciently cart of hay might have
been drawn by oxen through it, 1t is built Of great
| blocks without cement, and so fitted you cannot
| nsinuate your finest penknifc blade in any joint
All this tells much of the will, and force, and fore.
sight of those strong old Romans who built their
civ though sometimes to be ravaged, yet ever to re-
| tain the surname Eternal. All these most antique
and later structures Just here seem eyes half closed
like rocks and QrOttOes. On side worried into
the wall is a filthy washing fountain, where women
are pounding and splashiDg their clothes in the
cold, sOapy alkaline water. On the other
hand this same clear Tiber, leading now
| TO the great ClOaca, first drained the Forum when
it Law a marsh between the Capitol and Palatine
hills; and to-day through the Forums broken mar
| BILE pavement the sunlight glances on the still flow
| ing stream. These great enduring structures are
the strong links between the past aud present, by
| which we pass, us on a pridge oi CHAINS 10 that
vide continent bounded by fable and peOpled by all
that race Of heroes and demigods, whose portraits
| in stone we 20 to see now in the Capitol and Vat
can the sea and river gods, the Theseuses the Her
cules and all their mighty kth and kin. Then by sud-
den contrast we come again to church OF wayside
.ltar. with images of the Virgin and Of the saints
and oil the p"raphernalla OF another worship and we
| ask ourselves anew, "What is this Rome, and
what are its compOnents, and where is its solution
/ Looking toward the south on Mount AlbanO, there
lies Alba Tonga ON the brink of Lake AlbanO, a
rock to mark its site, and We recall that IN early
| times some fugitives came from thence down here,
and on the Palatine built their huts and planted the
| seed of Pagan Rome. Eight hundred years later
some Asatic fishermen and their followers, prison.
| ers, slaves or fugitives, came and sowed their
| "martyred blood and ashes over all the Italian
| fields" and by and by the Vatican yanqushed the
| Capitol, and up rose Christian Rome
The coachman winds us through the Forum and
around the other side of the Palatne, whose base is
now somewhat ond-shapc, as the roads 60, the
northern acute angle pointing toward the Capitol,
and the South, out between the CGlan and Ayentne
hills on the line Of the Appian Way toward Albano
Its eminence is covered with whey ards, vegetable
gardens waste busby grounds modern villa
turned to n convent-ah scattered with huge walls
| whole and broken arches, bluffs and masonry-the
whole hill of ruins Unfortunately named the
palace of the Casars." The Capitol and the Pala-
tine with only the Forum between, stand rather in the
| center-around which circle the other five Of the
ancient seven hls-which in fact are one slightly
elevated ridge divided by valleys, in some cases now
| almost filled. The CapitOls elevation is decidedly
marked it is all built over with modern structures
and shows nothing of green unless in the gardens
on the brow of the Tarpeian Rock. The Palatine,
as i have said, is quite large hill, knol-lke, de-
tached-surrounded by valeys-itself all green, and
marked with ruins and walls that at distance seem
| like rocks and bluffs. The Aventine looks as high
| covered with vineyards over the grave Of Remus-
with some few buildings Of churches and cOhyents,
and perhaps country hOuses-all the hill over
looking the Tiber. The Quirinal is occupied
| by the Pope's Palace, the gardens Of the