Quitting this mighty ruin, which, together with the arch of Titus, the Popes have been, and still are, engaged in patching up with bricks and mortar, thus destroying the harmony and beauty of the ancient architecture, I returned to Serny's through the ancient Roman Forum, (now the Campo Vaccino,) where lie the chief relics of the former grandeur of the queen of cities. Here are the arches of Constantine, of Titus, and of Septimus Severus; the ruins of temples, baths, and imperial palaces; ruins which have afforded to antiquarians so much matter for research and for dispute, and which are regularly described in the works of every modern traveller in Italy. _3rd December._ We remained at Serny's till the first of December, as Sir Humphry found it no easy thing to find a lodging suited to him so late in the year; on the 28th, however, he found apartments at the corner of the Via di Pietra, which he liked, and we entered them on the 1st of December. They are situated in a good part of the city, and look out on the Corso. _31st._ Our daily life has been hitherto as monotonous as possible. Sir Humphry sees no society, and wishes to see none, and his only pleasure and amusement seems to consist in shooting. He drives out every day in the surrounding _campagna_, often to a distance of twelve and fourteen miles from Rome, when he gets out and rides on his pony over the fields in search of quails or snipes. On his return, when he is not too much fatigued, he dictates to me a continuation of his "Vision," which he thinks of forming into a series of dialogues on religion and other subjects; and our evenings are spent, as they have been ever since we left Calais, with a game or two at cards, and with my reading to him different works, principally English and French, which he procures from a circulating library in the Corso. I have formed no acquaintances, as Sir Humphry wishes me not to do so; but when I have copied off the morning's dictation, I often take a solitary walk in the gardens of the Pincio, to St. Peter's, or to the Colosæum.