forth in torrents from all sides, roar down the clefts of the crag, and form a sea around its base. In the heats of summer, they overflow their usual limits, fill the whole marble concavity round the fountain, and rise to a level with the square, where, after sunset, the inhabitants of the neighboring streets assemble, to enjoy the united freshness of the waters and of the evening. " Such is the celebrated Fontana di Trivi, the noblest work of the kind in Rome? and probably the most magnificent fountain in the world. The basin itself is of white marble, and the vast enclosure around it is flagged and lined with marble of the same color. A flight of steps of white marble leads down to this basin and to prevent acci- ;

dents, a chain, supported by large blocks of granite, encloses the exterior border. I know that the architectural part of the Fontana di Trivi, and indeed of the Aqua Paola and Aqua Felice, has been severely criticised and in candor, I must acknowledge, that the ;

criticism is in many respects well founded for instance, it must be allowed that the :

elegance and lightness of the Corinthian, or Ionic, is ill adapted to the simplicity of a fountain where Doric would be more appropriate, because plainer and more solid. It will be admitted also, that these edifices are broken and subdivided into too many little parts ;

a process in architecture, as in painting and in poetry, diametrically opposite to greatness and to sublimity. In fine, it cannot be denied, that the superstructure is, in all three, too massive for the order, and too much encumbered with coats of arms and other supernumerary decorations. Yet, notwithstanding these faults, and they are not inconsiderable, while the spectator sits on the marble border of the basin, and contemplates the elevation of the columns, the magnitude of the edifices, the richness of the materials, the workmanship of the statues, and, above all, the deluge of waters poured round him, the defects are lost in the beauties, and criticism subsides in admiration."