frmi December 1826 to August 1827. 245 



tombs, some entire, and some in ruins. They are chaste in de- 

 coration, classical in design, and prove that they must have been 

 erected before the taste of the Romans had become corrupted 

 by the love of magnificence and grandeur, which they carried 

 even to the grave. There rest whole families in eternal repose, 

 as if they were still enjoying themselves around their Penates, 

 and solemnising some of those annual ceremonies in which all 

 took a part. The mother is there stretched at the side of the 

 father, and the children, according to their several ages, in re- 

 gular order beside the mother. 



Some of the tombs are most magnificent, and have been erect- 

 ed by a grateful country to citizens whose merits had entitled 

 them to such a distinction ; they are adorned with the palm and 

 the laurel, and present the elegant forms of the lectisternium and 

 bisellium. These nol>le monuments may be considered as al- 

 tars erected by the Genius of Arts to the honour of Mystery 

 and Death. 



It was here that the inhabitants enjoyed themselves at even 

 under the shade of the cypress, which waved its mournful head 

 over the tombs of their ancestors ; it was here that they caught 

 those genial breezes, which were so grateful after the heats of 

 the day. What a strange contrast must their games, diver- 

 sions, and tumultuous joy, have formed to the calm and silence 

 which reigned in the graves where slept those who had once 

 been as gay and as merry as themselves ! 



But as you have most probably seen a detailed account of the 

 discoveries made previous to December 1826, I proceed now 

 to give a short view of the progress that has been lately made 

 in disinterring the ancient city of Pompeii from December 1826 

 to August 1827. 



At present there is every appearance that we have at last ad- 

 vanced to a part of the town occupied by the more opulent 

 class of citizens, and we are in hope of making some valuable 

 acquisitions to our stock of antiquities. The streets have be- 

 come more spacious, and the houses begin to have an air of splen- 

 dour and neatness, far exceeding that of the houses situated 

 along the sea coast. Indeed, as we know that the shops and 

 taverns must have been in the vicinity of the Forum and public 



JANUARY MARCH 1828. H 



