The Idler in France

be filled by these letters, the conclus

is very lofty, and on each side is a pilaster; beneath the cornice are two long cut stones, which advance like a kind o

discussion among the antiquaries; some asserting it to have been erected by the E

of a Roman knight, in a cuirass, and another colossal torso, with a charming little draped statue seated in a curule chair, and holding a cornucopia i

n a good state of preservation. It is richly decorated, and by the inscription is proved to have been that

f the Maison Carrée, that I confess I had much more pleasure in contemplating its exterior, t

e of a table; but it would require the hand of a master to do justice to the olive leaves

autiful building ought to be preserved in a golden étui, and its compactne

s. Colbert was the originator of this barbarous project, which, however, was fortunately abandoned from the fear of impairing, if not destroying, the beauty of the building. The Emperor Napoleon is said to have entertai

ation is lost when they are transferred to other places; and the view of them ceases to afford that satisfaction experienced when beheld where they were primarily destined to stand

when they were reared. The hills and mountains, unlike the productions of man, change not; and nowhere can the fragments of a bygone age app

eneration after generation has passed away, who have looked on this edifice which now meets my view, so little changed by the ravages of that ruthless conqueror Time, or the still more ruthless Visigoths

tion of its vast extent may be formed, when it is stated

same number of Tuscan pilasters in the first range, and of Doric columns in the upper, and an attic, which crowns all. Four prin

jecting consoles, 120 in number, placed in couples at equal distances between two columns, and pierced with a large hole, which corresponds with

the theatre in all cases of emergency, and precluding those fearful accidents that in our times have not infrequently occurred, when an alarm of fire has been given. The mode of arrangements, too, saved the spectators from all the deleterious results of impure air, while the velarium preserved them from the sun. But not only were the spectators screened from too fervid heat, but they could retreat at pleasure, in case of rain or storm, into the galleries, where they were sheltered from the rain. Our superior civilization and refinement have not led t

tus, or Domitian, from a fragment of an inscription discovered here som