Ch. III.

THROUGH ITALY.

95

be lamented that when this edifice was fitted up
for a church, it was not restored to its original
form and beauty ; which might have been done
with less expense and difficulty, than were ne-
cessary to erect the wall and raise the roof which
I have just censured. It is indeed highly pro-
bable that the materials requisite for such a
restoration, that is the fragments of the frieze,
architrave, and cornice, might be found round
the bases of the pillars, as they may form part
of the mass of ruins which has raised the pre-
sent so much above the level of the ancient
pavement. But this singular want of taste ap-
pears, if possible, more conspicuous in two other
instances.

salvari possumus . . . Quid miserius vita . . . quid morte
. .... cum ab amicis et parentibus sepeliri nequeant.—
Several words are obliterated. Besides these representations
there are many detached figures, all alluding to religious
and Christian feelings, such as anchors, palms, vases exhaling
incense, ships, and portraits of different apostles. The dresses
are often curious, and border upon some ornaments still in
use in Italy, such as the cap of the Doge of Venice; the
tunica and trowsers so common in the south, &c. &c. The
language of the inscriptions is probably the colloquial Latin
of the times, at least in many instances, and sometimes ap-
proaches very near to modern Italian.