that but few skeletons have been found in Pompeii; all that have been met
with are covered with ornaments, and appear as in the act of escaping from
their hapless town, with what they could carry off of their most valuable
possessions; from which death would not relinquish his hold. More wealth is
supposed to have been buried in Herculaneum, from that which has already
been found therein; but owing to the excessive difficulty, time, and
expense, which the attempt to bring it to light would occasion, excavations
in this city, are now almost, if not entirely, abandoned; for it is to be
remembered, that Herculaneum was destroyed by a flood of liquid lava, which
as it cools, hardens into solid and impenetrable _rock_; whereas the hot
ashes of Vesuvius overwhelmed Pompeii, and consequently it is much less
difficult to clear.

[2] "Witness," said my friend, "the bracelets which I am now
wearing; they are modelled from a pair found in Pompeii." These
were made of gold, quite in the fashion of the present day;
beautifully chased, but by no means of an uncommon pattern.

* * * * *


THE CONVICT'S DREAM.

_(For the Mirror.)_

"A wreck of crime upon his stony bed."

R. MONTGOMERY.