" 
1805.) 
of the family. At leaft, however, the 
monument of their profpcrity remains ; 
its fplendid architecture, and its rich but 
old-fafliioned furniture, atteft the former 
opulence and the prelent reduced circum- 
ftances of its poffeffor. Such is the origin 
of almoft all the large and magnificent pa- 
laces erected at Rome during the three 
lait centuries. Though grand and fuperb 
in the plan, rich in embellifhment, and 
coftly in the furniture, they are deftitute 
of domellic convenience, and exhibit not 
the leaft trace of what the Englifhman 
calls comfortable, Mott of thefe proud 
maffes {tand empty, and the rich antique 
furniture mouiders in duft. Some of the 
firtt families, fuch as that of Borghefe, 
Doria, Colonna, Maffini, &c. whole 
profperity was grounded on a permanent 
foundation, are the only exceptions. In 
their palaces reign princely magnificence 
and genuine Roman grandezza m the 
talle of the prefent age. ; 
To the {plendour of the great at Rome 
belongs a numerous retinue of fervants in 
fhewy liveries. Every cardinal and priz- 
cipe is obliged to keep at leat thrice the 
number of domeftics that he has any ac- 
tual occafion for ; for on feftival occaficns 
they are indifpenfably neceflary for his 
ftate.. Thefe drones pafs the greateft part 
of the day inthe hall of the palace in play- 
ing at cards, or lie loitering at full length 
on the benches. Such a numerous train 
of domeftics are but a comparatively: fmall 
expence to their mafters ; their wages are 
folow, that not even a fingle man, and 
much leis a family, can fubhit upon them. 
‘Yo make amends for this wretched pay, 
they calculate on perquifites ; for here 
prevails the beggarly cuftom, that, after 
every vifit paid by a native or foreigner to 
the houfe of a man of rank, the fervants, 
or, as they are here denominated, /a fami- 
sia, wait upon him the following morning 
todemand the mancta. Befides this, at 
Rome, where every thing is obtained by 
patronage, the valet of a cardinal or Ro- 
man prince is no infignificant perfon, and 
when fuch a fellow has infinuated himfelf 
into his mafter’s favour, he becomes a 
man of fo much importance, that even 
people of refpeétability do not difdain to 
court his favour. 
Whoever receives a recommendation to 
any family of diftinGtion at Rome, is re- 
ceived with civility ; and it commonly de- 
pends on the ftranger himlelf whether he 
ehufes to cultivate thisacquaintance. But 
he muft not expeét to find here the cordial 
holpitality of Hamburg or Vientia. The 
attentions paid him by the matter of the 
MontTuty Mac, No. 129. 
On the Writings of Don Lopez de Vega. 44,1 
houfe are thefe : he gives him a general 
invitation to his cozwerfazione, and takes 
care that the ftranger who is recommended 
to him. fhall be invited to all the focial 
circles withiw his fphere, to the converja- 
xiones, card-parties, and academies of his 
acquaintance. It is nor cultomary to afk 
a ftranger to dinner. ‘The Roman is too 
economical to put himfelf to expence for 
the fake of another without abiolute ne- 
ceffity. To receive an invitation to din- 
ner from a Loman, you muft either be his 
intimate friend, or have rendered him ‘ome 
{pecial fervice, or he mut expe& a fimilar 
return. Only fome very extraordinary 
occaficn, for inftance, the prefence of 
firangers of high rank, can induce the 
nobility to give an entertainment; but 
when fuch a cafe occurs, they make it a 
point of honour to treat their difttinguithed 
guelt with the utmoft magnificence, and 
the entertainments and feltivities difplay 
princely elegance and profufion. 
AES oan 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
OPULAR applaufe is the ftrongeft 
incentive to the diligence of a writers 
who can laugh at the feverity of eriticifm 
when he finds that new impreffions cf 
his work ftiil continue to be printed. It 
is currently reported, that an eminent mo- 
dern novelift has been feen to compofe in 
a room full of company, and, on being 
afked if the noife did not damp the ardour 
of imagination, replied, ** No, wat £ 
write, they will read.” This ftrange 
boaft feems juftified by the fuccefs which 
often attends very voluminous writers, 
from Lopez de Vega to Peter Pindar.— 
Of the former writer it may be inftructive 
to give fome account, which I have fent 
you tranflated from Don Jofcph Velatquez, 
his countryman, who wrote a very learned 
Treatife on Spanifh Poetry, which was 
publifhed at Malaga 1754. The fame of 
Lopez de Vega appeais to have been more 
indebted to the weight than to the value 
of his woiks; and it is fingular that the 
verfes hereaiter to be cited, exprefs the 
fame daring hopes.of his future, founded - 
on bis pat, fuccefs, which are recorded 
in the anecdote of the fair novelift. ‘* Lo- 
pez (fays Velafquez), trufting to the won- 
derful fluency of his ityle and the charm- 
ing eloquence of his pen, held in fcorn all 
the dramatic fpecimens which the writers 
of Greece and Rome have traafmitted to 
us. Vega banifhed from’ his plays alt 
confiderations of ‘probability, propriety, 
regularity, decency, decorum, and, in 
3.L thore 
