ushes, trees, and thick festoons of
ivy, as if laying her quiet finger upon the angry passions of man, and
obliterating the memory of his evil deeds by her own fair and smiling
growth.

The sepulchral vault in the interior was not opened till the time of
Paul III., about 1540, when a beautiful marble sarcophagus, adorned
with bas-reliefs of the chase, was found in it, which is supposed to
be that which stands at the present day in the court of the Palazzo
Farnese. This is likely to be true, for it is well known that this
Pope, who was a member of the Farnese family, unscrupulously despoiled
ancient Rome of many of its finest works of art in order to build and
adorn his new palace. A golden urn containing ashes is said to have
been discovered at the same time; but if so, it has long since
disappeared. On a marble panel below the frieze an inscription in bold
letters informs us that this is the tomb of Caecilia Metella, daughter
of Quintus Metellus,--who obtained the sobriquet of _Creticus_ for his
conquest of Crete,--and wife of Crassus. She belonged to one of the
most haughty aristocratic families of ancient Rome, whose members at
successive intervals occupied the highest positions in the state, and
several of whom were decreed triumphs by the senate on account of
their success in war. Her husband was surnamed _Dives_ on account of
his enormous wealth. He is said to have possessed a fortune equal to a
million and a half pounds sterling; and to have given an
entertainment to the whole Roman people in a time of scarcity, besides
distributing to each family a quantity of corn sufficient to last
three months. Along with Julius Caesar and Pompey, he formed the famous
first Triumvirate. While the richest, he seems, notwithstanding the
above-mentioned act of munificence, to have been one of the meanest of
the Romans. He had no steady political principle; he was actuated by
bitter jealousy towards his colleagues and rivals; and that
unsuccessful expedition which he undertook against the Parthians, in
flagrant violation of a treaty made with them by Sulla and renewed by
Pompey, and which has stamped his memory with incapacity and shame,
was prompted by an insatiable greed for the riches of the East. On the
field he occupied himself entirely in amassing fresh treasures, while
his troops were neglected. The manner of his death, after the defeat
and loss of the greater part of his army, was characteristic of his
ruling passion. Te