k; and the
lofty visions of the noble author, which are, perhaps, too over-wrought
and ideal to harmonize with the sober contemplations of the closet, seem
in this spot to assume "a local habitation and a name." Undoubtedly they
ought to do so more particularly at Rome, and would so in every
instance, but that much of the effect of the "Eternal City" is lost from
the deserved eminence in which we know it to stand, and the consequent
familiarity which we have acquired with it through the works of Piranesi
and innumerable other artists. Thus its very celebrity lessens its
effect, as the commendations bestowed on a celebrated beauty frequently
occasion disappointment. The _on admire ici_ of the well-bound
Itineraire, the elaborate descriptions of Vasi, and the _Ecco Signore_
of your obliging cicerone, produce the same effect upon the mind, which
the mistaken attentions of Koah, the South Sea priest, did on the
stomach of Captain Cook. The meat was good, but honest Koah spoiled its
relish by proffering it ready chewed; and in the same manner, the effect
of what is really most admirable in nature and art is weakened by the
impertinent obtrusion of ready-made ecstasies. It is no reflection on
human perverseness to say, that every one has his own way of admiring,
and loves to feel and observe for himself; as well as to chew with his
own teeth. For my own part, I never could appreciate the stupendous
beauties of Rome as I wished, until I managed to abstract myself from
the notion that I was come to admire as thousands had done before, and
from the recollection of the unclassical comforts of the excellent inn
in the Piazza di Spagna. An English letter, or newspaper, is an
excellent preparative for this purpose; and when once absorbed in the
train of thought which it creates, the sudden transition to the mighty
scenes before you, produces by contrast the effect which it ought to do.

I have been led into these observations, to account for the reason why
Orange struck me so much; a place of which I had heard and read little
or nothing. No attentive and intelligent cicerone anticipated our
reflections in this place; nor did the creature-comforts of a good inn
debase our Roman reveries, though we could well have pardoned their so
doing. Madame Ran, of the Croix Blanche, was as mean and dirty as the
hole in which she lived; and looked as malevolent as Canidia, Erichtho,
or any other classical witch; and as to the inhabitants of Orange