1810.) | 
fastened toa column, is more common. 
The, butterfly is the well-known symbol 
of the soul; and here (as- wel! as in all 
Monuments) it is not merely Psyche, but 
has also an allegorical meaning. 
No. 73. Cupid flying with a palm- 
branch in one hand, end a wreath in the 
other, I elieve it to be avenius, The 
attitude, &c. resembles a Victory over a 
triumphal car, with a palm-branch and 
wreath: and probably alluding to a 
similar occasion. rie 
No. 75. A terminal head of the 
bearded Bacchus. A veil hangs down on 
each side of the head. The head-dresses 
pt these Indian Bacchuses are often fan- 
tastic and singular. See two in Mont- 
Saucon, L’Antig. explig. i. p. 2. b. 1.° 
¢. 4833 
No. 76. A female statue, probably of 
Thalia, Q? 
No, 77, 78,79. An Amphora, and fe- 
male statues, unknown. The last, with an 
indented diadem, has the air of a Roman 
matron: perhaps it is an empress. 
This room: is rather too dark to show 
the small parts of the bas-reliefs in full 
perfection, 
T. D. Fossrooxe. 
7 ea, ee 
For ihe Monthly Magazine. 
WALKS in BERKSHIRE. By MR. JAMES 
woRRis Brewer: No. 1V.—Contain- 
ing a Visit to the antient Vindonum 
of the Romans. 
7 O observant man will complain of 
monotony in scenes of. nature.. 
Throughout uo two weeks of the year is 
nature seen clad in ornaments. of the 
same hue; but, almost as quickly as the 
painter can vary the colours on his pallet, 
while employed in imitating her excel- 
lence, does she sport through the inter- 
mixtures of light and shade, eliciting a 
thousand fresh graces from the varieties 
of each. 
Virgil has described, with the trae 
pathos and fervor of poetry, the pecuhar 
delicacy of that blush with which the, 
bursting petal first peeps forth, in seem- 
ing diffidence at the call ofspring. And 
there is another season as transient as 
the era noted by Virgil, and as attrac- 
tive, though I do not recollect it to have 
been noticed by any poet, and have 
never seen an attempt at its delineation 
on the canvas: I] mean that period 
which immediately precedes the fall of 
the leaf at autumn. I may be fanciful, 
but I think that I have observed in 
4 
Walks in Berkshire: 
‘cluded shelter of the lowlands. 
525 
several successive years, the occurrence 
of a few days, not many, during which a 
stilly languor prevailed, as if Nature 
lamented the havoc and wild uproar 
which were about to disrobe the forest, 
and to drive the herd from the short but 
genial sward of the hill-top, to the se- 
There 
appears a richness in the melancholy of 
this short season unspeakably pleasing. 
Allis hushed.’ No leaf falls, but each 
seems to tremble on its stalk. Such was 
the day on which I quitted Streatly, for 
the purpose of crossing the hills which 
rise between that villaze and the an- 
cient Spine of the Romans; and witha 
view of visiting Silchester, one of the 
most perfect remains of Roman power 
in the kingdom. 
The village of Streatly lies on the 
Berkshire edge of the Thames, and the 
etymology of the name implies the for- 
mer connexion of ihe place with some 
great thoroughfare, or passage. It was 
here indeed that the ancient Ickleton 
Way (for so the Ichnield-street is termed 
in Berkshire) crossed the Thames. The 
modern village has no great claim on 
admiration, though its low snug vicarage, 
the grounds belonging to which are con- 
tiguous to the river, interests the specs 
tator, and tempts him to form a little 
enchanting scene of fancy respecting 
christian content and village simplicity. 
This small and irregular hamlet 1s 
viewed to considerable advantage from 
various points of the lofty hill which 
surmountsit. The sinuous course of the 
Thames enlivens the scene: on the right 
reposes that soft and lovely valley no=-: 
ticed in our first Berkshire excursion; to 
the left a wide and more level expanse 
unfolds a long catalogue of villages, each 
half-veiled by an umbrageous coverlet of 
forest trees; while the rade but © pic- 
turesque cottages of Streatly, seem to 
cling for protection to the base of the 
hill which guards them from the storm. 
There is scarcely any county in Eng- 
land which contains more vestiges of 
Roman strength and perseverance, than 
that through which we are now walking ; 
and yet the conjoined researches of some 
very laborious antiquaries, have failed to 
ascertain with punctuality, the situation 
of the different cities and tracks menti- 
oned in the Itinerary of Anteninus. 
Thus, although there were certainly 
three very considerable Roman towns in 
Berkshire, the precise situation of only 
one (Spene, or Spine) is ascertained ; 
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