days of old it appears to have been strongly fortified. It is still surrounded by two walls: the outer one is four feet thick, of solid stone; towards the top of it are ramparts for archers, and for the use of missile weapons. The towers of the castle, one square and the other triangular, are still pretty perfect: in the last there is a small flight of steps leading to the summit; and under the ground is a vast excavation, which is supposed to have been for the purpose of concealing valuables in case of a sudden surprise. The castle is said to have been built by the Romans; and, on account of the height it stands on, and its difficult access, must have been almost impregnable.

The church of Beaucaire is a stone building, adorned on the outside with the Ionic and Corinthian orders; and the pulpit and other parts of the interior are of variegated marble: the whole, for so poor and wretched a place, is surprisingly grand, which is more or less the case with all the churches in Roman-catholic countries; and may be imputed to the extraordinary religious zeal and piety of the people, while they themselves appear in beggary and rags. The vast number of priests and attendants maintained by these churches, and the great quantity of wax tapers continually burning before their altars, would impoverish the treasures of far richer kingdoms.

Travelling from Beaucaire to Nismes, I was walking up hill at four o'clock in the morning by the side of my conveyance, and on a sudden I perceived a meteor in the air, about twenty feet in length to the eye, and in the exact shape of

a serpent. After expressing some surprise, I was informed by my conductor that these were no uncommon occurrences in the southern parts of France.

On arriving at Nismes, in the province of Languedoc, the great Amphitheatre presents itself as the first object of gratification to the trayeller. On the plan it is in the shape of an oval, whose conjugate diameter is 372 feet, and transverse 324 feet; but not having measured it myself (which cannot be done, owing to the heaps of ruins within, except by straining a cord across it each way), the dimensions must be taken on the credit of the person who shews it.

This most astonishing structure is said to have been built in the reign of Antoninus Pius; and when we recollect Nismes to have been the birthplace of that emperor's family, nothing appears more probable that that he should erect in it some monument by way of memorial of such an event. Here it stands, I had almost said an everlasting proof of the patience, talents, and glory, of the Romans; and so exceedingly perfect are some of the interior parts now to be seen, that you cannot fail to have the most full and satisfactory idea of the whole in its original state, Many rows of seats are entire; and, according to some computations, it would have held 17,000 spectators at once.

The old steps of the vomitoria having been dilapidated too much to be of service, the traveller is now conducted to the summit of the Amphitheatre partly by a temporary staircase which

E

was erected for Lewis XIV. who came many miles to behold these stupendous remains. When he places himself on the parapet (which I suppose is at least six feet wide), and looks down into the arena, the sight becomes inconceivably interesting, and not only impresses the mind with solemnity but fills it with reflection.

It is built of freestone; and the exterior, which is nearly as perfect as ever, consists of two stories of arcades, with sixty arches in each. Against the piers are Tuscan pilasters resting on pedestals, and the entablatures they support are broken over each pilaster. On the top are a sort of hollowed stone corbels, in which it is supposed poles were placed for the purpose of bearing an awning over the spectators. Some part of the lower story was concealed by the ground when I saw it; but orders have been given by Buonaparte for the removal of the earth, that the whole superstructure may be seen at one view. It is said to have been turned into a citadel by the Saracens, and held out a long siege against Charles Martel, king of France, who afterwards reduced it, and in his rage filled it with wood and set it on fire: but the workmanship and materials mocked all his endeavours to destroy it, though the intense heat cracked many of the large stones of which it is composed, and did considerable mischief, as may be discovered even at this day. On the outside are representations of the Roman eagle, the bulls, the priapus, Romulus and Remus sucking a wolf, and other emblems of antiquity.

Could modern masons see the method in which

these immense blocks of stone are squared and put together, they would blush at the feeble and imperfect works of the present day. Their horizontal and upright joints are so nicely and accurately worked, that they look as if they had grown together in one solid rock. The masonry of our own country, generally speaking, has nothing more than a fair outside the bed and inside work not being in sight, are considered of no consequence. The same complaint may be made, with more justice, against our brick walls. The workmen never think it necessary to fill up, as they ought to do, the inside of the walls--which is absolutely necessary to make them capable of resisting pressure--but always leave them with hollow joints and vacuities, to save their bricks and mortar; by which means they are easily separated, and fractures take place in the superstructure. So much did the Romans differ in this respect, that in no part of their brick and stone walls can be introduced a pin's head; and their brick-work is so well executed and cemented together, that it is impossible to separate the bricks without beating the whole to pieces.

The Temple of Diana, supposed to have been erected by the Romans, is in a ruinous state, and capable of conveying but a faint idea of its original beauty. This building forms on the plan a parallelogram, and was adorned on each side of the interior with the composite order resting on a continued plinth or zocle. The columns had capitals of olive leaves, and between them (one or two of which are still remaining) are niches formerly for the re

ception of statues. From the entablature an elliptic ceiling of stone sprung, and covered the temple, a small part of which is to be seen at the present day. All round the interior, separated by the wall of the naos, was a narrow corridore; a part of this also now remains. A plan and section of this ancient edifice, with their several dimensions, are contained in Palladio's fourth book of Architecture, published at Venice.

Very near this temple is a piece of water denominated the grand fountain. It consists of various basins, jet d'eaus, arcades; and the whole is surrounded by a balustrade embellished with figures and vases, and has a handsome appearance. From this fountain the city is supplied with water in different directions.

Another temple, called la Maison Quarrée, is also a parallelogram on the plan, and allowed to be one of the finest and richest specimens of Roman architecture to be seen at this day. The whole temple occupies a space of 84 feet by 40 feet on the plan. In the front is a noble flight of steps leading up to the portico, which is of the Corinthian order, with a pediment above. In the façade it has six fluted columns. On each of the returned sides are two columns; and then correspondent half-columns are continued all round the body of the building, which is of rusticated stone. The columns of the portico are nearly three feet in diameter, with an intercolumniation of one diameter and three quarters; and the entablature bears the great proportion of one fourth of the height of the column. Here let the traveller sit down,