Any account of Paul III would be incomplete without some reference to his extraordinary belief in astrology. It was quite a recognized fact that he never even considered any scheme, public or private, before consulting the planets. If the heavenly bodies were not in favorable conjunction, the enterprise was given up, or as nearly given up as was possible to so obstinate and tenacious a mind. In his own time this singular characteristic was felt to be incongruous and rather disgraceful; but it is easy for the modern spirit to understand, and even condone, the weakness. Surely, it was not strange that such a man, with such a life, should feel that “the stars in their courses fought” for him. The impression made upon the mind by the Farnese fountains is not pleasing. They are certainly “rare and vast,” but as fountains they are not a success. The form overshadows the substance; for the single jet of water thrown upward over the structural part of the fountain is not adequate, and is lost in the effect produced upon the eye by the huge tubs turned black by the deposits of the Acqua Paola; while the water falling back into these receptacles is caught as in a prison, the overflow from the upper to the lower basins being not sufficient to give an idea of a copious stream. The monster granite baths have a sepulchral effect. They seem more like coffins made to hold the bones of departed heroes than like basins for receiving and distributing living water. During more than two centuries these fountains bore witness to the magnificence of the Farnese family; but as that magnificence had been sought and held for reasons as purely personal and selfish as men have ever known, it had no real value or significance for the world. No memories of patriotism or ghost of romance hangs over these fountains, or over the palace which they guard. The family and the splendor once were, and now are not; and all the sunshine which daily floods the spacious piazza fails to reanimate the majestic vacancy of the façade, or to lift the gloom from the dejected and sombre fountains. VILLA GIULIA [Illustration] VILLA GIULIA I. FONTANA PUBBLICA DI GIULIO III “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree, * * * * * So twice five miles of fertile ground with walls and towers were girdled round. And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree, * * * * * It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice....”