it to be made; it was fortunate they did so, for the pavement itself was speedily destroyed. A statue of Diana and a colossal Mercury were discovered at the same period, and broken up, that their marble might be used in the composition of a cement! Several fragments of tombs and sarcophagi were likewise found, built into the walls. Not only these but various other antiquities have been brought to light, sufficient to give some faint idea of what must have been the original magnificence of a city which the most wilful and unsparing havoc from the hand of man always more destructive than that of time

had not been able wholly to obliterate in the progress of so many years.

We not only saw the cathedral in the interior, but went out upon the leads on the roofs of the lateral chapels, under the flying buttresses that support the nave. From this elevated station we had a complete view of the town, and I observed here and there gardens on the roofs of some of the houses. I thought of the customs of the East; and conjectured that some crusader might have borrowed this peculiarity from the

countries he had visited in Syria, and so perhaps have introduced it into this town of Europe on his return home.

My nephew ascended the winding stairs of a tower that led to the very summit of the edifice; and, under the guidance of the sacristan, crossed one of the flying buttresses above our heads. I shuddered, but I did not cry out; for I recollected the story of the Grecian mother and the child at the verge of the cliff. Indeed, his position was almost as dangerous

"As to o'erwalk a current, roaring loud,

On the unsteadfast footing of a spear."

Nor did I feel easy till he was once more safe by my side. I do not recollect that I was ever before perched on the outside of a fine old Gothic building, so as to give me such a peep over the roofs and into the chambers of the surrounding houses: the people moving about in them looked like so many pigmies; and, as my nephew followed his guide to the lofty perch to which he conducted him, they put me in mind of the description of Le Sage, of Asmodeus conducting Don Cleophas

to take his seat aloft, whilst that Cupid among demons unroofed, for the information of the young student, the houses of Madrid.

After having gratified our curiosity respecting the cathedral, we returned to our inn: there, seeing at the back of the card of the Hôtel de l'Europe a list of the "principaux monumens, promenades, et l'établissemens civils et militaires de la ville de Metz," I looked carefully over it, and read these words" Les arches de Jouy situées au village de ce nom, à deux lieues de Metz, sur la route de Nancy. Cet aqueduc fut bati par les Romains il y a dix huit siècles." With a warm commendation on the good sense displayed in all inn cards, that afford such notes of information which lead to those of admiration for the traveller, I hastened to point out what I had just read to my companions; and expressed an earnest wish to visit what I had so often desired to see, but had hitherto never been fortunate enough to meet with the remains of a Roman aqueduct. Mr. Dubourg's cork model of one that I had drawn when a girl, when I used to visit at that excellent man's house, was the only thing that gave me any adequate idea

Mr. Bray

of the beauty of such a structure. and my nephew were perfectly willing to gratify my wishes; and so we hired a carriage, and off we set. The aqueduct is situated in a pleasing country: the road runs beneath one of its lofty arches that rise for more than a hundred feet above your head. I made a note on the spot of the number of these arches; but having unfortunately lost it, I will not attempt any guess-work account. They were but few, yet the most striking among them were exceedingly perfect; and from their wonderful strength and size, their situation, and the nature of their ruins, I should apprehend that the hand of man had done more to destroy this majestic work than that of time. A little further on towards the river, which flows through the plain, there yet stood erect a few more arches of the same description, though at a considerable distance from the first named. They seem to lead to a steep hill on the opposite side. Aqueducts are generally found bringing their supplies from some small source to a town or city, where there is no water near: we could not therefore ex

actly comprehend what could have been the purposes of an aqueduct so close to a river, which it literally crossed, unless, indeed, it were to supply some Roman station on the hill I have just named.

Whilst contemplating this noble ruin, still beautiful in its simplicity, and imposing in the grandeur of its proportions, I could not but reflect on the wisdom of a government which used to employ its troops, in times of peace, to undertake works that were of such incalculable service.

What mighty works were, indeed, accomplished by the ancients! Yet, as I stood beneath one of the arches of Jouy, which towered above my head, awful in its character of majestic antiquity, still erect, unbending in its decay, though eighteen hundred years had rolled away since its foundation, I could not help feeling what a striking and melancholy lesson it afforded of the power, yet the nothingness, of the labours of man: even this noble aqueduct was but the ruin of a ruin. I stood and moralised beneath it, as Hamlet did over Yorick's skull. Where