every respect. Besides the
spacious avenues, woods, fountains, a lake, and cascades, are various
edifices, among which is one in the form of a triumphal arch, decorated
with ancient statues; the casino of the villa in which are preserved
some ancient marbles and several pictures; the beautiful circular
chapel, adorned with eight columns of marble and other stately
ornaments. There is a monument erected by the present Prince Doria to
the memory of the French soldiers who were killed there during the siege
of 1849. From the terrace of the palace there is a magnificent view of
the environs of Rome, as far as the sea. In consequence of excavations,
some columbaria, sepulchres, inscriptions, and other relics have been
found, which have attracted much attention from archaeologists.

It is near these grounds that the "Arcadians" still hold their _al
fresco_ meetings. The society dates back to 1690, and the first _custos_
(whose duty was to open and close the meetings) was Crescimbeni. The
"Arcadians" organized themselves to protest against the degeneracy of
Italian poetry that marked the seventeenth century. To keep their
meetings a secret from the populace the "Arcadians" held their meetings
in an open garden on the slope below San Pietro in Montorio,--a terrace
still known as "Bosco Parrasio degli Arcadi."

One of the enchanting views in Rome is from the Piazza San Giovanni. One
looks far away past the Coliseum in its ruined grandeur and the _casa_
where Lucrezia Borgia lived, and in the near distance is the colossal
pile of San Giovanni di Laterano, its beautiful and impressive facade
crowned with the statues of the apostles silhouetted against the western
sky. In the piazza formed by the church, the museums, and the Baptistery
of San Giovanni and the Scala Santa is one of the most remarkable
obelisks in Rome, ninety-nine feet in height, formed of red granite and
carved with hieroglyphics. This shaft is placed on a pedestal which
makes it in all some 115 feet in height. It was placed in 1568 by Sixtus
V. The museums of the San Giovanni are the "Museo Sacro" and the "Museo
Profano,"--the latter founded by Pope Gregory XVI, and very rich in
sculptures and mosaics. The "Museo Sacro" was founded by Pio Nono, and
is rich in the antiquities of the Christian era. Within San Giovanni
the visitor finds himself in a vast interior divided by columns of
verd-antique into three aisles, each of which is as wide as, and far
longer than,