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ITALIAN SCENERY, MANNERS , A N D CUSTOMS. 39
PIRATE X V I I I .
A FOUNTAIN NEAR ROME.
Go i n g out of Rome by tlie gate lormcWy ciillcd Jfrniia Celimontana, on account of it's being
on the declivity of Mount Celius; but now the gate of Si. John Lateran, from the church near,
a name given it by Pope Gregory XIIT, by wliom it was rebuilt and ornamented ; we find ourselves
on the road to Frescati, oncc so celebrated under the name of 2 «i-c?//^//«. About two
miles from the town, on this road, is a fountiun, whicii forms the subject of the present plate.
The architecture is modern, and of no particular beauty, but it shows that public utility is
still consulted; and we see throughout the country in Loxcer Italy many such neat ornaments,
destined to administer to the wants of passcngere, and of the inhabitants of the villages. They
arc all supplied by springs of the best M-ater, which descend from the neighbouring mountains,
and are conveyed, as formerly, by aqueducts.
The beauty of the spot wlience this drawing has bcoi taken does not depend merely on the
fineness of the climate, or on the delightful landscape which is seen around ; but on the presence
and costume of the inhabitants, which add in a great measure to it's chavms by the variety
of their dresses, rich both in invention and ornament, in spite of the poverty of this class of
people. This poverty, however, is only relative, and the term of comfortable mediocrity
would better suit tlieir situation. No dress can he more elegant than that of the young woman,
copied after nature. The man, whose horse is drinking in a trough placed there for this
purpose, appears as returning from market. His dress is of coarse cloth, but tastefully ornamented
; and large silver shoe-buckles, like those lie wears, are reckoned a great luxury among
the country peo])le, and always a certain mark of wealth. "When tlie circumstances of the
man permit him to add a Avatch to this finery, it shows him to be really prosperous in life; and
happy thecountry girlto whom this sj)lendid swain pays his addresses. The vicinity of thecapital
contributes in a great measure to tiic wealth of the country people ; particularly as the
law gives to the labourhig farmer half the produce of the land.
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