The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1899-12-08

view. and then going onwards, turned
northwest, past St. Prisca, and began the
descent, by winding way, held in by vine
yards. Coming down we caught glimpse
Of the three churches of the Aventine, name
~, s. Sabina, S. Maria Aventina and St.
Alessio, which was held by the monastery of
St. Jerome, whose walls rose hard at hand
A look to the right showed US the Circus
Maximus, above which lowered q huge ODE
lisk surrounded by four lions. At length
we came to the Ticola di San Sabina, and
at the corner of the street rose the gray
walls and square tower Of the castle of the
Savelli. / drew rein, and looked at it with
bitter heart, and sigh i could not con-
troll escaped me, as saw the breeze catch
and spread to the wind the silken folds Of
the standard of the Chigi, who bore quar-
tered on their shield the star of the SavelG
and the tree of De Ia Revere. 1t Haunted
there, in all the insolent pomp of a new
house, whose money bags were full, and the
sight of it was enough for me. Jacopo must
have caught the look on my face, for he said,
kindly:
'Who knows, excellency-luck may turn"
Well meant AZ the words were, they
Jared on me, and, without replying, moved
on, silently raising my sword to the salute,
as passed the grim gates from which my
ancestors held the road as far as the river,
and almost held Rome itself.
As we went past the Island, did not
even raise my head to see the Theater of
Marcellus, within which lay another and
the oldest of our family houses, having come
to US through Pierleone towards the close
of the eleventh century.
Jacopo was for going straight on past the
monastery of the Aracoeli, on the Capitol;
but, unluckily, discovered that my horse
had cast a shoe, and this was a matter not
to be neglected. So we turned to the right
and entered the Campo Vaccine, formerly
the Forum of Rome. 1t being now sunset,
here were collected hundreds of oxen and
buffaloes, and from the height of Monte
Caprino we could hear the bleating of the
herds of goats which were pastured there
on, and the tinkling of their bells as they
moved slowly down towards their shelter
for the night. A hundred fires were blazing
Cheerfully, and served to dissipate the blue
vapor which began to hang over the place
Round these fires were groups of people,
mostly countrymen, who seemed in the best
of spirits, as they listened to songs, or
watched numbers of their party, who danced
merrily to the tune of q pipe. Hard by were
a number of sheds, used by mechanics, and
the blaze, which showed forge in work.
soon attracting our attention, we made
there at once, and had the horse attended to.
Whilst the smith was beating out shoe,
sat down on a rough bench, my horse be-
ing fastened to a wooden post, and Jacopo
holding his nag by the bride paced up and
down, occasionally stamping his feet on the
ground to free them, as he said, from the
ants. In other words, he was suffering
slightly from cramp. To my right was
large crowd, evidently enjoying a show OF
jugglery, and from their cries of wonder
nent and pleasure they seemed to be hav
ing their moneys worth. So l rose and ell
bowed my way to good place, unfortunate
ly only in time to see the end of the affair
The juggler was robed in a doctors gown,
and after performing trick he distributed
nostrums for various ailments, free of pay
ment Imagine my surprise in recognizing
in him no other than Mathew Corte; and as
/ came I'D he placed tambourine in his lit
tie dogs mouth, and babe him carry it
round for subscriptions. Coppers were free
ly flung in, and as the little animal stopped
before me l dropped in form and stopped
to pat it's head. As rose caught Corte's
eye, and saw he knew me, but as he made
no sign 1 stayed quiet. Collecting his money,
the doctor bowed his thanks and began
packing up the instruments of his trade.
went back to my seat and watched the smith
at work on my horse, thinking that Corte
BY this time the blacksmith had completed
his task, and we delayed no longer, but went
off at once. It was fortunate that Jacopo
knew Rome as he did, or we might have been
hopelessly lost in the labyrinth of streets,
some of them in total ruin, some of them
entirely uninhabited, for at the time SO
hideous was the misgovernment of the city
that all who could do so had fed from
Rome, and those who remained could not
have exceeded 10000 in number, of whom
ut least 10000, men and women, were beings
who had lost all claim to the respect of man
kind, and were capable of almost any crime.
These are hard words, but true, nor, indeed,
have l ever seen a place where all that was
bad was so shamelessly exposed as in Rome
when Roderigo Borgia was pope. At length
we reached the Strangers Quarters, but
Jacopo's hostel was not to be found, and,
after searching for it in vain, we were con
tent to pull up before the door of small inn
built on the lower slope of Monte Pincio,
barely bow-shot from S. Trinita de N-onte,
the church erected by Charles of France in
1895, and little beyond the convent of the
Danes du Sacre Occur. / cannot say that
the hostel was an nvitinglooking place; in
fact, it was little better than one of the COM
mon osterie or wineshops with which Rome
abounded; but it was too late to pick and
choose, and for the night, at least, / deter
mined to stay here. Our first duty was to
attend to the horses, which we had stabbed
in stalls, Immediately below the room to be
occupied by me, Jacopo having to put up
with lodgings in the stables for the night.
After the beasts had been fed and groomed,