Et trepidæ matres pressere ad pectora natos.* We returned by Gensano, Marino, La Riccia, and Castel Gondolfo. All the villages and villas I have named communicate with each other by fine walks and avenues of lofty trees, whose intermingling branches form a continued shade for the traveller. Castel Gondolfo is a little village near the lake Albano, on one extremity of which is a castle, belonging to his holiness, from which the village takes its name; there is nothing remarkably fine in this villa, except its situation. Near the village of Castel Gondolfo, is the villa Barbarini, within the gardens of which are the ruins of an immense palace built by the emperor Domitian. There is a charming walk, about a mile in length, along the side of the lake from Castel Gondolfo to the town of Albano. The lake of Albano is an oval piece of water of about seven or eight miles circumference, whose margin is finely adorned with groves and trees of various verdure, beautifully reflected from the transparent bosom of the lake; and which, with the surrounding hills, and the Castel Gondolfo which crowns one of them, has a fine picturesque effect. The grand scale on which the beauties of nature appear in Switzerland and the Alps, has been considered by some, as too vast for the pencil; but among the sweet hills and valleys of Italy, her features are brought nearer the eye, are fully seen and understood, and appear in all the bloom of rural loveliness. Tivoli, Albano, and Frescati, therefore, are the favourite abodes of the landscape-painters who travel to this country for improvement; and in the opinion of some, those delightful villages furnish studies better suited to the powers of their art, than even Switzerland itself. Nothing can surpass the admirable assemblage of hills, meadows, lakes, cascades, gardens, ruins, *The woods all thunder'd, and the mountains shook, groves, and terraces, which charm the eye, as you wander among the shades of Frescati and Albano, which appear in new beauty as they are viewed from different points, and captivate the beholder with endless variety. One reflection obtrudes itself on the mind, and disturbs the satisfaction which such pleasing scenes would otherwise produce; it arises from beholding the poverty of infinitely the greater part of the inhabitants of those villages-Not that they seem miserable or discontented-a few roasted chesnuts, and some bunches of grapes, which they may have for a penny, will maintain them; but the easier they are satisfied, and the less repining they are, the more earnestly do we wish that they were better provided for. Good heavens! why should so much be heaped on a few, whom profusion cannot satisfy; while a bare competency is withheld from multitudes, whom penury cannot render discontented? The most commanding view is from the garden of a convent of capucins, at no great distance from Albano, Directly before you is the lake, with the mountains and woods which surround it, and the castle of Gondolfo; on one hand is Frescati with all its villas; on the other, the towns of Albano, La Riccia, and Gensano; beyond these you have an uninterrupted view of the Campagna, with St. Peter's church and the city of Rome in the middle, the whole prospect being bounded by the hills of Tivoli, the Apennines, and the Mediterranean. While we contemplated all these objects with pleasure and admiration, an English gentleman of the party said to Mr. B―, There is not a prospect equal to this in all France or Germany, and not many superior even in England.' That I well believe,' replied the Caledonian ; ⚫ but if I had you in Scotland, I could shew you several with which this is by no means to be compared.'' Indeed! Pray in what part of Scotland are they to be seen ?' 'I presume you never was at the castle of Edinburgh, sir?' Never.'Or at Stirling? Never.' you ever see Loch Lomond, sir ?' I never did.' Did · I 6 ، suppose I need not ask, whether you have ever been in Aberdeenshire, or the Highlands, or I must confess once for all,' interrupted the Englishman, that I have the misfortune never to have seen any part of Scotland.' Then I am not surprised,' said the Scot, taking a large pinch of snuff, that you think this the finest view you ever saw.' 'I presume you think those in Scotland a great deal finer !' A very great deal indeed, sir; why that lake, for example, is a pretty thing enough; I dare swear, many an English nobleman would give a good deal to have such another before his house; but Loch Lomond is thirty miles in length, sir! there are above twenty islands in it, sir! that is a lake for you. As for their desert of a Campagna, as they call it, no man who has eyes in his head, sir, will compare it to the fertile valley of Stirling, with the Forth, the most beautiful river in Europe twining through it. Do you really in your conscience imagine,' said the Englishman, that the Forth is a finer river than the Thames ?' • The Thames ?' exclaimed the North Briton, why, my dear sir, the Thames at London is a mere gutter, in comparison of the Firth of Forth at Edinburgh.' I suppose then,' said the Englishman, recovering himself, view from Windsor Castle ?' plied the other; I approve of it very much; it is an exceeding pretty kind of a prospect; the country appears from it as agreeable to the sight as any plain flat country, crowded with trees, and intersected by inclosures, can well do; but I own I am of opinion, that mere fertile fields, woods, rivers, and meadows, can never, of themselves, perfectly satisfy the eye.' You imagine, no doubt,' said the Englishman, that a few heath-covered mountains and rocks embellish a country very much ?' • I am precisely of that opinion,' said the Scot; and you will as soon convince me that a woman may be completely beautiful with fine eyes, good teeth, and a fair complexion, though she should not have a nose on her face, as that a landscape, or country, can be completely beautiful 'I you do not approve of the I ask your pardon,' re without a mountain." 'Well, but here are mountains enough,' resumed the other; look around you.'' Mountains!' cried the Caledonian, very pretty mountains, truly! They call that castle Gondolfo of theirs a castle too, and a palace, forsooth! but does that make it a residence fit for a prince?" Why, upon my word, I do not think it much amiss,' said the other; it looks full as well as the palace of St. James's. The palace of St. James's,' exclaimed the Scot, is a scandal to the nation; it is both a shame and a sin, that so great a monarch as the king of Scotland, England, and Ireland, with his royal consort, and their large family of small children, should live in a shabby old cloister, hardly good enough for monks. The palace of Holyroodhouse, indeed, is a residence meet for a king." And the gardens: pray what sort of gardens have you belonging to that palace?' said the Englishman; I have been told you do not excel in those." But we excel in gardeners,' replied the other, which are as much preferable as the creator is preferable to the created.' 'I am surprised, however,' rejoined the South Briton, that, in a country like yours, where there are so many creators, so very few fruit-gardens are created.' Why, sir, it is not to be expected,' said Mr. B, that any one country will excel in every thing. Some enjoy a climate more favourable for peaches, and vines, and nectarines; but, by G-, sir, no country on earth produces better men and women than Scotland,' I dare say none does,' replied the other. So as France excels in wine, England in wool and oxen, Arabia in horses, and other countries in other animals, you imagine Scotland excels all others in the human species. What I said, sir, was, that the human species in no country excel those in Scotland; and that I assert again, and will maintain, sir, to my last gasp.' I do not intend to deny it,' said the Englishman; but you will permit me to observe, that, men being its staple commodity, it must be owned that Scotland carries on a brisk trade; for I know no country that has a great Ι er exportation; you will find Scotchmen in all the coun tries of the world.' So much the better for all the countries of the world,' said Mr. B; for every body knows that the Scotch cultivate and improve the arts and sciences wherever they go.' They certainly improve their own fortunes wherever they go,' rejoined the other: like their gardeners, though they can create little or nothing at home, they often create very good fortunes in other countries; and this is one reason of our having the pleasure of so much of their company in London.' Whether it affords you pleasure or not, sir, nothing can be more certain,' replied the Scot in the most serious tone, ⚫ than that you may improve very much by their company and example. But there are various reasons,' continued he, for so many of my countrymen sojourning in London. That city is now, in some measure, the capital of Scotland as well as of England. The seat of government is there; the king of Scotland, as well as of England, resides there; the Scotch nobility and gentry have as good a right to be near the person of their sovereign as the English; and you must allow, that, if some Scotchmen make fortunes in England, many of our best estates are also spent there. But you mean to say, that the Scotch, in general, are poor in comparison of the English. This we do not deny, and cannot possibly forget, your countrymen refresh our memories with it so often. We allow, therefore, that you have this advantage over us; -and the Persians had the same over the Macedonians at the battle of Arbela. But, whether Scotland be poor or rich, those Scots who settle in England must carry industry, talents, or wealth with them, otherwise they will starve there as well as elsewhere; and when one country draws citizens of this description from another, I leave you to judge which has the most reason to complain. And let me tell you, sir, upon the whole, the advantages which England derives from the Union, are manifest and manifold.' I cannot say,' replied the Englishman, that I have thought much on this subject; but I shall be o |