Rossi. 281 



a curious circumstance, that lie, who was a Roman 

 subject, and was exiled, and, if I am not mis- 

 taken, condemned to death, should return to Rome 

 as French Minister. He had a remarkably fine 

 countenance, resembling some ancient Roman bust. 

 M. Thiers had brought in a law in the French 

 Chambers to check the audacity of the Jesuits, and 

 Rossi was sent to negotiate with the Pope. We had 

 seen much of him at Rome, and were horrified, in 

 1848, to hear that he had been assassinated on the 

 steps of the Cancelleria, at Rome, where the Legisla- 

 tive Assembly met, and whither he was proceeding 

 to attend its first meeting. No one offered to assist 

 him, nor to arrest the murderers except Dr. Panta- 

 leone, a much esteemed Roman physician, and mem- 

 ber of the Chamber, who did what he could to save 

 him, but in vain ; he was a great loss to the Liberal 

 cause. 



Towards the end of summer we spent a month 

 most agreeably at Subiaco, receiving much civility 

 from the Benedictine monks of the Sacro Speco, and 

 visiting all the neighbouring towns, each one perched 

 on some hill-top, and one more romantically pictur- 

 esque than the other. It was in this part of the 

 country that ' Claude Lorraine and Poussin studied 

 and painted. I never saw more beautiful country, 

 or one which afforded so many exquisite subjects for 



