ROME, 21st Sept.

The Palace occupied by the Pope is that of the Quirinal, standing on the Quirinal Hill, which is commonly called Monte Cavallo from the statues of the two Hippodamoi or tamers of horses, thought to be meant for Castor and Pollux which stand on this hill; this group is surmounted by an Egyptian obelisk.  These statues are said to be the work of Phidias; but there is a terrible disproportion between the men and the horses they are leading; they give you the idea of Brobdignagians leading Shetland ponies.  The Quirinal palace is every way magnificent and worthy of the Sovereign Pontiff; there are large grounds annexed to it; it stands nearly in the centre of Rome and from this palace are dated the Papal edicts.  The Pope resides here during the whole year, with the exception of three or four months in the hot season, when he repairs to Castel Gandolfo near la Riccia.

Of the fountains the grandest and most striking is that of Trevi, which lies at the foot of Quirinal Hill.  Here is a magnificent group in marble of Neptune, in his car in the shape of a mussel-shell drawn by Sea-horses and surrounded by Nymphs and Tritons.  An immense basin of white marble, as large as a moderate sized pond, receives the water which gushes from the nostrils of the Sea-horses and from the mouths of the Tritons.  There is a very good and just remark made on the subject of this group by Stolberg, viz. the attention of Neptune seems too much directed towards one of his horses, a piece of minutiae more worthy of a charioteer endeavouring to turn a difficult corner, than of the God who at a word could control the winds and tranquillize the Ocean.

The fountain Termina, so called from its vicinity to the Thermes of Diocletian, is the next remarkable fountain.  Here is a colossal statue of Moses striking the rock and causing the water to gush forth.  The grandeur and majesty of this statue would be more striking but for the incongruity of the arcades on each side of the rock, and the two lions in black basalt who spout water.  Moses and the rock would have been sufficient.  Simplicity is, in my opinion, the soul of architecture, and where is there in all history a subject more peculiarly adapted to a fountain than this part of the history of Moses?

The Fountain Paolina is a fountain that springs from under a beautiful arcade, but there are no statues nor bas-reliefs.  It is a plain neat fountain and the water is esteemed the best in Rome.  This fountain is situated on the Janicule Hill, from which you have perhaps the best view of Rome; as it re-unites more than any other position, at one coup d’oeil, both the modern and debris of the ancient city, without the view of the one interfering with or being intercepted by the other.  From here you can distinguish rums of triumphal arches, broken columns, aqueducts, etc., as far as the eye can reach.  It demonstrates what an immense extent of ground ancient Rome must have covered.  Near the fountain is the church where St Peter is said to have suffered martyrdom with his head downwards.