"Rome, May 12. 1817.
"I have received your letter here, where I have taken a cruise
lately; but I shall return back to Venice in a few days, so that if
you write again, address there, as usual. I am not for returning
to England so soon as you imagine; and by no means at all as a
residence. If you cross the Alps in your projected expedition, you
will find me somewhere in Lombardy, and very glad to see you. Only
give me a word or two beforehand, for I would readily diverge some
leagues to meet you.
"Of Rome I say nothing; it is quite indescribable, and the
Guide-book is as good as any other. I dined yesterday with Lord
Lansdowne, who is on his return. But there are few English here at
present; the winter is _their_ time. I have been on horseback most
of the day, all days since my arrival, and have taken it as I did
Constantinople. But Rome is the elder sister, and the finer. I went
some days ago to the top of the Alban Mount, which is superb. As
for the Coliseum, Pantheon, St. Peter's, the Vatican, Palatine, &c.
&c.--as I said, vide Guide-book. They are quite inconceivable, and
must _be seen_. The Apollo Belvidere is the image of Lady Adelaide
Forbes--I think I never saw such a likeness.
"I have seen the Pope alive, and a cardinal dead,--both of whom
looked very well indeed. The latter was in state in the Chiesa
Nuova, previous to his interment.
"Your poetical alarms are groundless; go on and prosper. Here is
Hobhouse just come in, and my horses at the door, so that I must
mount and take the field in the Campus Martius, which, by the way,
is all built over by modern Rome.
"Yours very and ever, &c.
"P.S. Hobhouse presents his remembrances, and is eager, with all
the world, for your new poem."
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