May 15th.—Examined the antiquities of Nismes; truly wonderful and interesting.
May 16th.—Arrived at Montpellier; narrow streets; Citadel Fountaine; promenade; Jardin des Plantes; Mrs. Temple's tomb; read a passage from Young's Night Thoughts there; Baunia Palm; Ecole de Médicine; Cathedral; Museum of Painting.
May 17th.—Returned to Nismes; revisited the Amphitheatre and the Maison Carée; beautiful in proportion and execution. Returned to Beacaise; visited the Castle; very high, and remarkably strong; crossed the river to examine a castle, now a prison; historical recollections of both castles. Visited the Church dedicated to St. Martha; curious front. Visited St. Martha's Tomb; felt awful in the grim darkness, rendered barely visible by the flickering lamp; inscription at the head of the Tomb: "Solicita Noritubatur"; singular well; old women in the Church; the Image of St. Martha, with its knees and feet worn by kissing. Proceeded to Cette; the Amphitheatre is by no means as well preserved as that of Nismes, but larger; the walls immeasurably thick. Saw the remains of a Roman theatre; its curious workmanship attests its former magnificence.
May 18th—Sabbath.—Back at Marseilles, but no Sabbath here; theatres all open, and crowds pressing into them; saw some curious handbills about the Pope granting indulgences; holy water in the churches; children using it.
May 20th.—Coast from Marseilles, bold, varied, picturesque; barren rocks; vineyards and olive trees; entrance into the bay and harbor of Genoa very beautiful.
May 21st.—In Genoa the streets are very narrow; the buildings very high; the city clean; all preferable to Paris; left for Leghorn.
May 22nd.—At Leghorn, visited Smollet's tomb. At Pisa, saw the leaning tower; baptistry, etc.
May 23rd.—Entered Rome at sunset. We could see St. Peter's more than fifteen miles off.
May 25th.—Commenced visiting the churches of the city. 1. Temple of Antonius; column to his honour, and his victories inscribed. 2. Church of St. Ignazia; tomb of Gregory XV. 3. Pantheon of Agrippa—built 22 B.C., of Oriental granite brought from Egypt. The obelisk is from the Temple of Isis. 4. In the second chapel to the left, Raphael was buried in 1520. He gave orders to his scholar Lorenzetto to make the statue of the Virgin, behind which he is buried. It is ornamented by gold and silver offerings of trinkets, rings, and bracelets. 5th. Piazza della Minerva—formerly Temple of Minerva, another of Isis, another of Serapis, now a church obelisk. Statue of Michael Angelo. 6. Roman College. 7. Palace of Prince Doria. In the picture gallery I was especially struck by a beautiful painting of the Holy Family; also Titian, by himself, his last work. Visited the Church of St. Joseph—under which was the Mamertine Prison, where St. Paul was confined. Arch of Titus. The Church of St. Peter's in Vincola has twenty pillars from the Diocletian Bath, two of them Oriental granite. Michael Angelo's last work is a marble figure of Moses, with the two tables of the law under his right arm,—magnificent. There are also twelve magnificent marble figures of the twelve apostles.
May 26th.—Church of St. Maria, in Villicella; festival in honour of St. Fillippo. High mass was celebrated in presence of the Pope and cardinals. I stood near the altar, and had a good view of them all. The Pope passed twice within a few feet of me; was carried in a splendid chair by twelve men, who passed up the aisle into the vestry. He is eighty years of age, good looking and walked with a firm step; he blessed the people as he passed. The cardinals kissed the Pope's hand, the priests his toe or foot. Next went to the Church of the Jesuits, where there is a splendid representation of Religion, giving the foot to Protestant heresy in the person of Luther and Calvin.