show rather than durability and beauty; and the
selfish gratification of our own generation rather than a patriotic
pride and thought for future ages. If the nineteenth century has made
great advances in the industries, science, and thought, it has also
introduced a taste for meretricious imitation in every department of
manufacture and art. This is essentially the century for contracts.
Everything is done by contract, and not only is the matter of cost, but
also that of time, made a strong point in the bargain. When St. Peter's
was built, estimates of cost were not thought of, and no one ever
dreamed of fixing a date for completion of so vast a work.

To gain admission to the galleries of paintings and sculpture in the
Vatican, it is necessary to procure tickets. These may always be
obtained of your hotel proprietor, while a pass to the Pantheon and to
all exceptional ceremonies can generally be got by an early application
to your Banker.

Next to the Vatican, the Villa Borghese, near the Piazza del Popolo, and
the gardens of the Pincian Hill, has the most important
picture-galleries in Rome. The Palazzo Doria, in the Corso, is also one
of the finest in the city. There are three large fronts enclosing a
spacious court, and this is surrounded by a piazza. There is a very
handsome staircase, leading to the splendid series of galleries full of
priceless works by the great masters--Correggio, Raphael, Titian, and
others. Unfortunately, we were obliged to hurry through, without seeing
half of them properly.

It is necessary to provide yourself with a quantity of small copper
coins, for every Usher who shows you anything, expects some payment in
return, and they are quite satisfied with a few centissima.

The Vatican contains the richest, rarest, and most varied collection of
art treasures in the world. This is not to be wondered at when we
remember that it has been the work of more than a hundred popes, many of
them princely patrons of art and genius, some very unscrupulous, and
each in his day exercising almost uncontrolled power over nations,
emperors, and kings, and commanding the moral, physical, and material
resources of the civilized world. Here there is gathered, as in an
immense casket, the chiefest of the art treasures of all ages, the works
of antiquity, and the principal productions of the greatest men who have
lived. The dimensions of the Vatican exceed those of Tuileries and
Louvre put together. The very li