But I am glad you were not there; for you would have seen me more
angry than I hope you will ever see me. The Praetorian palace, as it is
called, comparable, for its fine proportions, to the _Maison Quarree_,
defaced by the barbarians who have converted it to its present purpose,
its beautiful fluted Corinthian columns cut out in part to make space
for Gothic windows, and hewed down in the residue to the plane of
the building, was enough, you must admit, to disturb my composure. At
Orange, too, I thought of you. I was sure you had seen with pleasure
the sublime triumphal arch of Marius at the entrance of the city. I went
then to the Arena. Would you believe, Madam, that in this eighteenth
century, in France, under the reign of Louis XVI., they are at this
moment pulling down the circular wall of this superb remain to pave a
road? And that too from a hill which is itself an entire mass of stone,
just as fit, and more accessible? A former intendant, a M. de Basville,
has rendered his memory dear to the traveller and amateur, by the
pains he took to preserve and restore these monuments of antiquity.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226