We passed through several streets of more or less considerable houses,
and at last turning round a corner we came upon a large piazza, at the
end of which was a magnificent building, of a strange but noble
architecture and of great antiquity. It did not open directly on to the
piazza, there being a screen, through which was an archway, between the
piazza and the actual precincts of the bank. On passing under the
archway we entered upon a green sward, round which there ran an arcade or
cloister, while in front of us uprose the majestic towers of the bank and
its venerable front, which was divided into three deep recesses and
adorned with all sorts of marbles and many sculptures. On either side
there were beautiful old trees wherein the birds were busy by the
hundred, and a number of quaint but substantial houses of singularly
comfortable appearance; they were situated in the midst of orchards and
gardens, and gave me an impression of great peace and plenty.
Indeed it had been no error to say that this building was one that
appealed to the imagination; it did more--it carried both imagination and
judgement by storm. It was an epic in stone and marble, and so powerful
was the effect it produced on me, that as I beheld it I was charmed and
melted.
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