ly planned,
To warm, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright
With something of an angel light."

It was, therefore, with surprise that I gazed upon the canvases and
statues of the old masters, and wondered where they obtained their
exquisitely lovely models. From history we know that the women of Greece
and Rome were noble specimens of their sex, and worthy of imitation; but
if in later times, Correggio, Titian, and Fra Angelico, took their
models from among their own countrywomen, how lamentably the present
race must have deteriorated since their time!

The Museum of Naples is a very interesting one, and well repays a
careful examination of its contents. Unfortunately it closes at four,
but whenever we had an hour to spare during the day, we felt there could
be no mistake in repairing thither. I believe it has not its equal in
the world. Perhaps in statuary and painting the Vatican carries off the
palm, but scarcely, I think, in other treasures. "Here are united the
older and more recent collections belonging to the Crown; the Farnese
collection from Rome and Parma; those of Portici and Capodimonte; and
the excavated treasures of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae, and Cumae. These
united collections now form one of the finest in the world: the
Pompeiian antiquities and objects of art in particular, as well as the
bronzes from Herculaneum, are unrivalled."

Here we saw the _Farnese Bull_ group, the largest ancient piece of
sculpture in Italy. We saw also the _Farnese Hercules_, a magnificent
figure, and the _Gladiatorial Prize-fighters_; both groups are wonderful
portrayals of animal strength and manly courage. The mosaics and
frescoes are very beautiful; and there are some wonderfully preserved
Egyptian mummies, which, in their double casings or coffins, after two
thousand years, still defy the ravages of time, the teeth and nails in
many cases being quite perfect. The Pompeiian collection was especially
interesting to us, perhaps because, although so ancient, their discovery
has been of such comparatively recent date. Many of the bodies of those
who perished have been wonderfully recovered and preserved in the very
posture in which death so suddenly overtook and entombed them some
eighteen centuries ago. Every little detail of dress and drapery has
been preserved in a really wonderful manner by Florelli's process of
pouring liquid plaster into the mould formed by the lava in which the