The Villa Of Cardinal Alexander Albani
Is Light, Gay, And Airy; Yet The Rooms Are Too Small, And
Too Much Decorated With Carving And Gilding, Which Is A Kind Of
Gingerbread Work.
The apartments of one of the princes Borghese
are furnished in the English taste; and in the palazzo di colonna
connestabile, there is a saloon, or gallery, which, for the
proportions, lights, furniture, and ornaments, is the most noble,
elegant, and agreeable apartment I ever saw.
It is diverting to hear all Italian expatiate upon the greatness
of modern Rome. He will tell you there are above three hundred
palaces in the city; that there is scarce a Roman prince, whose
revenue does not exceed two hundred thousand crowns; and that
Rome produces not only the most learned men, but also the most
refined politicians in the universe. To one of them talking in
this strain, I replied, that instead of three hundred palaces,
the number did not exceed fourscore; that I had been informed, on
good authority, there were not six individuals in Rome who had so
much as forty thousand crowns a year, about ten thousand pounds
sterling; and that to say their princes were so rich, and their
politicians so refined, was, in effect, a severe satire upon
them, for not employing their wealth and their talents for the
advantage of their country. I asked why their cardinals and
princes did not invite and encourage industrious people to settle
and cultivate the Campania of Rome, which is a desert?
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