was one, whose magnificence they only can fully appreciate, who have wandered over the glorious ruins of Roman greatness, in the countries formerly subject to her empire; for the richest theatres of modern times, beautiful as they may be, are but puny fabrics of lath and gilding, unworthy to compare with the stupendous theatrical structures of the Romans. I looked above and around me, and saw that the hill-side of the once shrine of Nata, the very living rock of the declivity itself, was hewn out to form the vast semi-circular ranges of steps where the spectators sat, so that the graduation of seats corresponded to the natural ascent of the height, while at the lowest part was the scene or place of representation. The latter was a beautiful edifice, with its pillared front facing the city, while that part of it, which more strictly answered to our stage, opened of course upon the crowded amphitheatre. Nothing could surpass the splendor of such a spectacle. The seats, it is true, were faced with slabs of finely polished marble, and a wall of heavy masonry was built around them, containing passages and vomitories for the convenience of the spectators. But the broad arch of heaven alone overcanopied the whole; and there sat the thousands of Roman Illiberis, capable, if the mimes of the stage fatigued their attention, of yet raising their eyes to look forth on a scene enchanting as poet ever imagined or painter transferred to his canvass, and clad in the never-tiring tints of lovely

nature herself:-for the entire beautiful city, with all its temples and basilica, and its green gardens of the vine, the olive, and the pomegranate, lay extended in smiling repose in the back ground of the magnificent picture.

But scarcely had I time to take in all the intellectual luxuries of such a spectacle, when messengers hurried along in hot haste with tidings that raised a loud cry, or rather shout, of consternation from the assembled multitude. The Vandals were at hand; and the unhappy Illiberians rushed from the attractions of the theatre to engage in desperate but ineffectual struggle with the martial and hardy sons of the North, whose myriads, like a dammed torrent suddenly breaking up its embankments, seemed to burst in wildness and ruin over the alluring fields and valleys of Spain. The fierce Ulric secretly led his barbarous hordes through the defiles of eastern Boetica, and Granada had fallen almost ere it was attacked. The clash of arms, the quick short cries of contending thousands, the agonizing shrieks of fatherless daughters and husbandless wives, all the horrid din which betokens the mortal conflict of God's creatures marring with their infuriate passions the beautiful work of God's creation, all the crash of human strife seemed to be thrilling in my pain-stretched ears. But the theatre and its thousands had vanished; and I beheld myself in the hall of a rich palace, whither a chieftain among the Gothic invaders was chasing a

flying Roman. It was the Senator Caius Antistius, rushing to secure the treasured hoards of his wealth, and the rapacious and bloody-handed Ulric close in his pursuit.

Amid sights and sounds of unutterable woe, Antistius forced his way through the apartments of his palace, still followed by the raging Ulric, and my eye seemed to accompany them into the subterranean recesses of the hill of Nata. Who has not experienced that, in the busy imaginings of our dreams, we possess not only a kind of ubiquity of presence, but a ubiquity straightened by no bounds of corporeal power, and as regardless of physical obstacles as the ethereal essence of spirit itself?So it was in this case; for I distinctly saw a narrow subterraneous passage, dimly lighted by a single lamp, which led to a small apartment, from which another passage struck off deeper into the bowels of the mountain. At the entrance of the latter, on either side of it, was a niche, in each of which was a delicate marble statue representing a female figure looking back, as it were, over her shoulder into the dark passage behind her with anxious watchfulness. I beheld, in truth, the beautiful nymphs, as they are called, being antique marble statues, which still keep their mysterious guard over the treasure vaults of the Alhambra. Caius Antistius was there, but his blood stained the pavement, and he grasped in vain the gold which he prized so dearly when living; for the gigantic

Goth had crushed the old man with a blow, and stood sole master of all that hoarded wealth. But what avails it to Ulric now? Ignorant of his descent into these secret regions, the Vandals and Romans are engaged in battle in the very courts of the palace of Antistius. Maddened by conflict, and desperate of success, the Romans have fired the palace of the Senator. Its crackling partitions are soon converted into unsightly heaps of ruin, and Ulric is buried beneath its smouldering masses. His yell of irremediable despair, hopeless vengeance, and impotent rage, yet rings in my ears.

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Roman and Goth were alike passed away, when my fancy recovered her train of images. I moved in a gay cavalcade of cavaliers, mounted on mettled steeds, and all shining with jewels and gold, whose bright silken turbans and swarthy complexions bespoke the Moors of Andalusia. Ascending a long street, we came to a heavy gate surmounted by three large sculptured pomegranates, having the rind broken asunder so as to exhibit the pulp; and I knew the Pomegranate Gate of the Alhambra. We entered, and continuing along a gently rising road, between steep elevations on either hand crowned with walls and terraces, and amid verdant slopes covered with fig-trees and grapevines, with the murmur of fountains and the gentle brawl of rivulets or cascades playing around, finally arrived on a sudden turn at a large square tower. 3*

VOL. I.

An open arch of arabesque style of construction formed the entrance of the tower. On the keystone of the arch was sculptured an out-spread hand, the symbol of truth and justice, which are open, free, and 'plain. The interior of the tower presented a kind of covered vestibule or arcade, with stone benches along its sides, while opposite the first arch was another of similar style, but more complicated make, on the summit of which was the figure of a key, the symbol of wisdom, which unlocks the secrets of the heart, and without which justice would be blind and truth imperfect.

It was the Gate of Judgment, and in it sat the Calif Mohammed, dispensing justice to the followers of the Prophet indiscriminately, the high and low alike, as they thronged to his presence. A haughty noble of the tribe of Aliatar, and alcayde of Los Velez, had unjustly quarrelled with an armorer in the Alcaceria concerning the setting of a sword hilt, and, regardless of the well known sternness and impartiality of Mohammed, had rashly drawn his scimitar in a rage, and cut off the hand of the unhappy artisan, who now stood before the Calif, exhibiting the maimed and useless limb to his view, and relating the story of his wrongs. 'By the beard of the Prophet,' cried Mohammed, 'I would avenge it were he my brother. Eye for eye and tooth for tooth is the sentence of honor and the law. The offending alcayde was brought forward by the African guards of the Calif, and