----"Now the brow We gain enraptured; beauteously distinct The numerous porticoes and domes upswell, With obelisks and columns interposed, And pine, and fir, and oak; so fair a scene Sees not the dervise from the spiral tomb Of ancient Chammos, while his eye beholds Proud Memphis' reliques o'er the Egyptian plain: Nor hoary hermit from Hymettus' brow, Though graceful Athens in the vale beneath." From hence a short drive brought us to the Tiber and to the Ponte Molle, a bridge of brick, built on the ancient foundations of the _Pons Molvii_, in front of which stands a handsome gateway and tower. Crossing this bridge, we drove along a straight broad street upwards of a mile in length, which ends at the Porta del Popolo, the entrance into Rome, and a magnificent entrance it is. The gate itself is fine, though not very elegant, but the view through it into the Piazza del Popolo is grand in the extreme, and strongly impresses the stranger with the feeling that he is entering into a magnificent city, the metropolis of religion and of the arts. In the middle of the Piazza, which is formed of two large semicircles, rises a superb obelisk of red granite, covered with hierogliphics; four lions of white marble spouting water into the basins before them, form part of the pedestal. In the centre of the back of each semicircle is a very elegant fountain in the shape of a colossal shell, and surmounted by groups of gigantic statues. Looking across the Piazza, three long streets present themselves to view; the middle the Corso; the one on the left, the Strada del Babuino; and to the right, the Strada di Ripetta. The ends of these streets, facing the Piazza, are formed by two elegant churches, perfectly similar in architecture, and above the left semicircle are seen the gardens of the Monte Pincio, the ascent to which, adorned by columns and statues, is not yet finished. Having found our _lascia passare_ at the gate, we were permitted to drive to the hotel directly, and were not first conducted to the custom-house, as is the case with those who enter Rome without having procured, through some friend, the permission to pass, which is only given by the secretary of state.