Note 151 — NO. XXI.—ROME.

The cicerone said to the king of Sweden, as that monarch was looking over the ruins of the Coliseum,—“Ah, sire, what cursed Goths those were, that tore away so many fine things here, and pulled down such magnificent pillars, &c.”. “Hold, hold, friend,” cried the king, “what were your Roman nobles doing, I would ask, when they laboured to destroy an edifice like this, and build their palaces with its materials!”