They will end at the last in a pall and a plume,

And the moth and the rust will their treasures consume.

Their wealth, and their wisdom, their pride, and their power, Will make themselves wing in a shadowy hour;

Their heads and their hearts be defenceless and bare,

With no shield to protect them from woe and despair.

TRAJAN'S COLUMN.

ITALY.

The temple was a ruin, fair to see,

But lurking there the Italian bandit stood :

His brow was dark-his eye flash'd fierce and free,
And his right hand was deeply stain'd with blood.

In one of my tours through Italy I met with an adventure which had well nigh put an end to my talking for ever. This would have been a great affliction to me, but perhaps a much greater one to mankind, for I do not know that a being

is to be found, from the icebergs of Spitzbergen to Van Diemen's land, who has a more lively desire to benefit the community than myself, especially that part of it which consists of young people; whether I associate with courtiers or cobblers, Icelanders or Hottentots, fakirs or fireeaters, I am ever desirous of obtaining some information or source of amusement for my young friends.

When I explored Herculaneum and Pompeii, when I visited the Portician Museum, containing pictures, statues, vases, busts, altars, candelabra, marbles, and bronzes, which had been for eighteen hundred years beneath the lava and volcanic ashes of Vesuvius: when I inspected St. Peter's at Rome, the Vatican, the Colosseum, Trajan's Pillar, and all the wonders of that renowned city, with the monuments, statues, picture-gal

leries, and museums of Italy, I ever kept in view the desire to benefit the youth of my own country by my descriptions, and many an hour have I wiled away, with a buoyant band of young people about me, in recounting what my eyes have seen. But I will describe the adventure which occurred to me. It took place at a time when travelling in Italy was dangerous, for the roads were infested with brigands, who scrupled not to shed blood, whenever it was necessary so to do, to secure their booty. A short time before, a party of these brigands had sent the ears of a captured traveller in a letter to his friends, telling them that a certain sum of money must be sent by a certain time, otherwise his head would follow.

Notwithstanding the danger, my enthusiastic disposition led me to quit the common road to

admire the delightful scenes of the country. Attracted by the ruins of a temple, I had separated myself from my fellow travellers, five in number, and proceeded alone towards the ruin. At no great distance stood a thick clump of trees, and the adjoining ground was irregular and rocky. Scarcely had I reached the ruin and seated myself to take a rapid sketch of the place, when I found myself suddenly surrounded by eight bandits, who pinioned my arms, and threatened me with immediate death if I made any noise. They had been concealed behind the clump of trees, and, when they surrounded me, presented such a picturesque appearance, that, had I been permitted to introduce them into my sketch, I should have thought less of the misfortune of the loss of my liberty.

The chief had on his head a small red cap with

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