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the end of the last stay. The d withdown the Bower of is apolitans thought taget no their country of the Frenc at time in the sp tering Rome with his id come from Germany andoned it. They, so je Nospolitans in the aughter; so that C rmy was driven

of the country serving as a very limited order of omnibus, into which four persons might squeeze themselves with difficulty. At the same time there entered it a portly and respectable middle-aged gentleman, who devoutly crossed himself before doing so-the pious prelude of old-fashioned travellers to any undertaking in which there may be risk or danger. We had some conversation with him. He spoke with severity against the new government of the Roman territory. Under papal rule he had been general of the fortress of Civita Castellana, which is a considerable one; but on its annexation to the kingdom of Italy he had, of course, been dispossessed. Whilst we were talking, there came on a heavy shower of rain; the wretched old suncracked covering of the vehicle allowing the water to pour upon us in streams from every part of it, so that we were soon wet through. By the roadside we saw some cloaked and cowled figures watching over the body of a shepherd who had been found dead the day before, probably from natural causes, as we were told there was no mark of violence upon him. The ex-general made it a ground of bitter complaint against the new régime that the poor fellow had lain there so long pending the official inquiry; for by the law it is necessary that any one meeting with death in any extraordinary manner must be left in the same place and position until inquiry has been made. By the time we had got to Civita Castellana the rain cleared off and the sun shone brightly. Bidding farewell to our fellow-traveller, with many offers of civility and politeness on his part to afford us any assistance that he might be able to render, we entered our albergo, one of the better kinds of inns of the Roman territory.

Whilst we were sitting after dinner, an interestinglooking lad came into the room, dusty and apparently tired. He brought with him a violin, and, after saluting us, began to play upon it, resting it on his knee, in the manner which one frequently sees represented in old pictures. There was a touch of pathos in his appearance;

he looked thin and worn. Presently, at the request of an Italian who sat at table with us, he commenced to sing a Neapolitan song called "Mastro Raffaello," in a somewhat rough voice. I asked where he came from. "Quite unnecessary to ask," anticipated our companion at table; "of course he comes from Viggiano; non è vero, raggazzino ?" (is it not true, my boy?) he said, turning to the young musician. "Ngnor, si," (yes, sir), he answered in the manner of the Neapolitans. "It is a most wonderful little town, that of Viggiano," pursued our companion; "there is scarcely a man, woman, or child in it who does not play some musical instrument, generally the violin, very often with taste and feeling. I have seen a little child," he added, "of three years old take the violin upon its knee and play, not merely with accuracy, but with a style and manner quite surprising." It would appear as if this talent were quite innate, since no one teaches the people, but they seem to grow naturally into it.

Civita Castellana is a few miles to the west of the Tiber, with which it is connected by a small tributary called the Treja. It is situated upon an undulating table-land, but, like Veii, is surrounded by deep ravines, which entrench it on all sides excepting the south, where it subsides into the plain or table-land towards Nepi and Monterosi. The ravines are doubtless the result of volcanic disturbances which have torn the tufaceous rock into these enormous rents, at the bottom of which streams of water run, turning several picturesque mills in their course. The sides of the cliffs are excavated in many places by numerous Etruscan tombs. The chasms are crossed by two lofty modern bridges leading into the town. The town itself is not remarkable, except for that quaintness and irregularity of structure so frequently met with in Italy. It has a fine cathedral front or portico of delicate and graceful architecture, with mosaics by the Cosmati, the celebrated mosaic workers of the thirteenth century. Various remains of ancient Roman marbles are built into the walls of the

houses here and there. Its mediæval history is embodied in the sturdy old fortress built by San Gallo for Pope Alexander the Sixth, still maintained, as has been said, as a garrison. Not only is the situation of the town romantic and beautiful in itself, but it is surrounded by a country which embraces every variety of spreading champaign, deep-green woods and far-away hillside slopes spotted with towns and villages-all overlooked by the towering Soracte and the more distant mountains of Sabina.

Here stood Falerii, one of the oldest and most powerful cities of Etruria. Its origin is involved in obscurity. The peculiar character of its position would doubtless cause it to be chosen as one of the first settlements in this part of Italy. It is first mentioned as having united arms with the Veientes and Fidenates against Rome in the year four hundred and thirty-seven before Christ, when the allied forces were defeated by Cornelius Cossus under the walls of Fidenæ, as already narrated. Still maintaining the strongest enmity against Rome, the Falisci did their best to induce the inhabitants of the surrounding country to assist the Veientes in their last struggle against their powerful enemies. This brought upon them the vengeance of the Romans. After the fall of Veii, Camillus led his army into the territory of the Falisci, who, witnessing from their walls the slaughter and depredations committed around them, issued from the city, establishing themselves on the summit of a steep place of difficult access, about a mile distant. Camillus, however, succeeded in obtaining possession of a situation which commanded theirs, and thence making an onslaught upon them, drove them back with considerable losses into the city, which was then besieged; but its reduction might have been as protracted an undertaking as that of Veii had not a fortunate chance occurred to further the cause of the Romans.

A schoolmaster, having under his care the children of some of the chief families at Falerii, was accustomed to take them for recreation without the walls of the city.