beauty? What have you to tell me of the firm yet soft gestatio, the sunny bath, the public saloon, the private dining-room, and all the elegant apartments for repose, both at noon and night? Do these possess my friend, and divide his time with pleasing vicissitude? or do the affairs of the world, as usual, call him frequently from this agreeable retreat?”

The town of Como is very pleasantly situated on the southern extremity of the lake, in a narrow vale, enclosed by fertile hills. It is surrounded by a wall, flanked with towers, which present a picturesque appearance. The houses are built of stone; but the cathedral is of white marble, and though it displays a mixture of Grecian and gothic architecture, has not an unpleasing effect. The celebrated Paulus Jovius was bishop of Como, of which town he was a native. His house is still shown without the walls, by the side of the lake. Como was also the birth-place of the poet Cæcilius, as we learn by the following invitation, addressed to him by Catullus.

"Poetæ, tenero meo sodali,
Velim Cæcilio, papyre, dicas,
Veronam veniat, novi relinquens
Comi mænia, Lariumque littus.
Nam quasdam volo cogitationes
Amici accipiat sui, meique.

Quare si sapiat, viam vorabit."

Como and Verona have both claimed with much eagerness the honour of giving birth to the elder Pliny. The Conte Anton-Giuseppe della Torre di Rezzonico, in a long dissertation, vindicated the claims of Como his native place, which has been thought by the learned Tiraboschi to place the question at rest.