Page 101 (1/2)

To a spectator on the spot, it is remarkable that the events of Roman

history, and Roes

which succeeded theht of the

Capitol, and seeet that

a chasm extends between it and ourselves, in which lie all those dark,

rude, unlettered centuries, around the birth-tie of chivalry and romance, the feudal system, and the

infancy of a better civilization than that of Rome Or, if we remember

these e The

reason may be, that the old Roman literature survives, and creates for

us an inti

with the subsequent ones

The Italian clie of its reverence and makes it

look newer than it is Not the Coliseum, nor the tombs of the Appian

Way, nor the oldest pillar in the Forum, nor any other Roive the i with the ivy, frolish abbey or castle And yet every brick or stone, which we pick up

aes before the foundation of the latter

was begun This is owing to the kindliness hich Natures takes an

English ruin to her heart, covering it with ivy, as tenderly as Robin

Redbreast covered the dead babes with forest leaves She strives tothe handiwork ofverdure, till she has

won the whole structure back But, in Italy, whenever man has once hewn