THE COLOSSEUM — OPENING OF THE REGENT'S PARK.
A FRESH addition has been made to the attractions of the Colosseum, in the shape of a prospect seen from the window of another apartment of the Swiss Cottage. The effect is quite as illusory us the Marine
Views from the Grotto. The scene is characteristic of the romantic beauty of Switzerland. The Alps rise in the distance, seemingly in ac- tual relief against the sky ; and boats glide across the lake, their sha- dows reflected in the water, and the line of their wake visible. In the foreground is a village, with its church-spire rising from amongst the trees ; while the smoke ascends from a cottage near the eye, and a water-wheel is in motion. We again admired the tasteful ingenuity displayed in the fittings of the Swiss Cottage ; and the effect of the rocky cliff, with its shrubs
and streams of water ; and enjoyed a walk through the Conservatory and its magnificent display of tropical plants, with their strangely-beau. find forms of gigantic growth. The fountain gives a refreshing cool- ness to the heated air ; and its effect is no less pleasing to the eye. We also paid another visit to the Panoramic View of London—un- doubtedly one of the wonders of art. The Sculpture Gallery, too, afforded us a new opportunity of comparing the antique with modem sculpture. MICHAEL ANGELO'S statue of Lorenzo de Medici may vie with the Elgin Marbles in unaffected grandeur. From the top of the Colosseum, we took a bird's-eye view of the Pisgah of Park, which is now thrown open to the people. It is a handsome slice, extending the whole length of the east side of the enclosure. A broad gravel-walk leads from Park Square direct to the Zoological Gardens ; and a serpentine path winds through the green- sward and plantations. It was pleasant to see the surface of the Park, heretofore sacred to cows and milk-men, dotted by groups of children, revelling in the luxury of green turf and fresh air. Rustic seats are placed here and there, for the public accommodation ; but not in suffi- cient numbers.
This Park is certainly now the most pleasant of any, limited as is the extent of ground thrown open. The air is purer, and the views towards Highgate and Hampstead are delightful. There will be but little shade, however, for years to come. The gates are not open till eight in the morning, and are closed at half-past six in the evening. These hours may suit people of leisure very well ; though even they may prefer .a summer walk in the cool of the evening; but persons in business will be almost excluded on any day but Sunday. This should, and doubt- less will, be altered. The hours during which Kensington Gardens are open—from six in the morning in summer and seven in winter until sunset—would properly be the rule here. The public will be grateful for this concession—for people are grate- ful for what is their right—and in accepting this, the first instalment of their claim, not cease to "agitate" for the remainder. It was their importunity that extorted this grant : what sufficient reason is there for withholding the rest ?
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