Mexico has been very much embelliſh-ed ſince the reſidence of the Abbe Chap-pe there in 1769. The edifice deſtined tothe ſchool of mines, for which the richeſtindividuals of the country furniſhed aſum of more than three millions francs,124.800l. ſterling See chap. VII.would adorn the principal places of Parisor London. Two great palaces [hotels]were recently conſtructed by MexicanArtiſts, pupils of the academy of FineArts of the capital. One of these palaces,in the quarter dela Traspana, exhibits inthe interior of the court a very beautifuloval perystyle, of columns. The travel-ler juſtly admires a vaſt circumferencepaved with porphyry flags, and enclosedwith an iron railing, richly ornamentedwith bronze, containing an equeſtrianſtatue This coloſſal ſtatue was executed atthe expenſe of the Marquis de Branciforte,formerly viceroy of Mexico, brother-in-law to the Prince of Peace. It weighs450 quintals, and was modelled, foundedand placed by the ſame artiſt, M. Tolsa,whoſe name deserves a diſtinguiſhed placein the hiſtory of Spaniſh sculpture. Themerits of this man of genius can only beappreciated by thoſe who know the diffi-culties with which the execution of theſegreat works of art are attended even incivilized Europe. of King Charles the Fourth,placed on a pedeſtal of Mexican marble,in the midſt of the Plazar Plaza Major ofMexico, oppoſite the cathedral and theviceroy’s palace. However, it muſt beagreed that notwithſtanding the progressof the arts within theſe laſt thirty years,it is much less from the grandeur andbeauty of the monuments, than from thebreadth and ſtraitness of the ſtreets andmuch less from its edifices than from itsuniform regularity, its extent and poſi-tion, that the capital of New Spain at-tracts the admiration of Europeans.From a ſingular occurrence of circum-ſtances, I have ſeen ſucceſſively, withina very ſhort space of time, Lima, Mexico,Philadelphia, Waſhington,From the plan of the City of Waſh-ington, and from the magnificence of itscapitol, of which I only ſaw a part com-pleted, the Federal City will undoubtedlyone day be a much finer city than Mexico.Philadelphia has alſo the ſame regularityof conſtruction. The alleys of platanus,acacia, and populous heterophylla, whichadorn its ſtreets, almoſt give it a ruralbeauty. The vegetation of the banks ofthe Potomac and Delaware is alſo richerthan what we find 2.300 metres (7.500feet) of elevation on the ridge of theMexican Cordilleras. But Waſhingtonand Philadelphia will always look like Eu-ropean cities. They will not ſtrike theeyes of the traveller with that peculiar,I may ſay, exotic character, which belongsto Mexico, Santa Fe de Bogata, Quito,and all the tropical capitals, conſtructedat an elevation as high or higher than thepaſſage of the great St. Bernard. Paris, Rome,Naples, and the largeſt cities of Germany.By comparing together impreſſions whichfollow in rapid ſucceſſion, we are enabledto rectify any opinion which we may havetoo eaſily adopted. Notwithſtanding ſuchunavoidable compariſons, of which ſeve-ral, one would think, muſt have proveddiſadvantageous to the capital of Mexico,it has left in me a recollection of grand-eur which I principally attribute to themajeſtic character of its ſituation andthe ſurrounding ſcenery.