The equestrian statues of Marcus Nonius Balbus, and his son, at the foot of the great staircase, are both remarkably light and elegant. One has the greater pleasure in admiring them, from their being a tribute to virtue, erected after their death by the citizens of Herculaneum, of which they were Pro-consuls. Portici is about six miles from Naples, at the foot of Vesuvius; the theatre of Herculaneum is a little beyond the Palace, and Pompeia about seven miles farther, all on the great road to Castello Mare. No excavations having been made at Stabia, we did not go there. LETTER IX. TO CAPTAIN SMITH. Naples, September 27th. MY DEAR SIR, Engagements in Naples, which we could not decline, and the shortness of our stay, allowed us to make but one more excursion to the country. This was to the new palace at Casertta. The outside has nothing to boast of but the grandeur of its size; but for convenience, the plan is, perhaps, the best which has ever been laid out. It is a square of six hundred feet each side; and that no room may be lost, the interior court is divided into four, by a range of buildings in the shape of a cross, the head of which forms a most magnificent church, lined with the marble from the Temple of Serapis at Puzzoli. It hath not many paintings, but that of the Presentation is reckoned inestimable. I do not mean to criticise this admirable work, but it is natural to imagine that the painter intended the Virgin Mary to be his principal character, and yet, in spite of myself, my attention was constantly drawn from her to the surrounding figures. The great staircase forms one of the finest _coup d'oeils_ of the kind I ever beheld. It is in the center of the whole edifice, opposite the church gates. The dome is painted with Apollo and the Muses, in a circle, and the four seasons in the corners. The steps and balustrade are all of marble of different colours, on a very grand scale, crowned with two capital lions. If any fault can be found with this elegant piece of architecture, it is that the area below is too small in proportion to the grandeur of this part of the building. It is intended that this Palace shall contain apartments for all the Officers of State, &c. who by the skill of the architect, will be most conveniently lodged; as yet, however, none but those of the King are completed. These are finished in the richest style, and with a neatness and elegance that prevents our being dazzled by their magnificence. The walls are washed with light colours (for the Italians use no paper), with elegant mouldings of gold and silver, and the ceilings are adorned with a variety of most beautiful paintings. That of the Three Graces in the Queen's bath, is a most masterly piece; they have just been bathing, the beauty of their faces and symmetry of their persons, are beyond description.