The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1907-10-11
AHARFORD TEACHERS DREAM REALIZED.
[Continued from last week ]

reach the sky; all the churches have
towers that rise to illimitable heights, -
so high it is painful for the eye to follow
Florence is a treasure house of the paint
ings of the Renaissance Everywhere
we see Neronese's Sartos. Raphaers.
etc; she is also the home of the Medici
SavoLarola, Dante, etc.
We visited the Palace Vccchia where
Savonarola was imprisoned for many
weary days; and we stood on the spot
where this great reformer was burnt
amidst the yells of savage populace.
1t almost seemed as if we might see
Dante's sad face wandering around, no
wonder he loved Florence SO much. We
passed the house where Elizabeth Bar
rett Browning wrote her Cast Guidi Win
dows,- on the outside is an inscription
stating that she by her poetry had linked
Italy and England and we saw her grave
in the Protestant cemetery. We had
beautiful drive to the San Miniato, hill
overlooking the city which is said to be
Europe We left Florence with regret
and found ourselves in Venice. that won
deriul city rising from tht sealik a nvmph
She is built on II islands and is really
n city of silence,-no trans or trains dis
turb the quietness. We were met at the
station in graceful gondolas and taken
n he hni n1 no he
beautiful liquid Italian and don't split
personsear with their singing or speak
ing. We saw the Ducal Palace, another
gem OF architecture and rich in art and
statuary. The Cathedral is quite the
quaintest one we saw in Italy. 1t seems
to be a union of a mosque and a church.
The Venetians rifed the world to enrich
the Cathedral and it is adream-a sensu-
Gus dream so warm and gorgeous in its
coloring and decorations. In the square
one often sees the tourists feeding the
pigeons which are quite tame and are
much esteemed by the Venetians. We en-
tered the Bridge of Signs, an old political
named for all persons who entered this
place came not forth again,-the cruel
guillotine did its work and the cruel sea
removed its traces. Oh, how thankful
we should be that we are privileged to
live in the dawn of a new age when
capital punishment is fast becoming a
crime and when all lives are considerd
sacred.
Wehad trip on the Grand Canal We
saw the Browning and Desdemona's
house, and the glass factory, which is a
wonder. We went to Lido, noted bath,
ing place on the Adriatic. Some one
has said that Venice is the pearl ofItaly-
she certainly is gem of some sort. Her
painting and art is a school of its own.
She is unique in her structure and
through all is the splendid, moving, rest
less sea, her marble palaces, colonnades
and churches. Nothing can be more
plcasurable than gliding along in a grace
full gondola, slowly and silently. almost
forgetful of life. 1t is as if we were in a
dream but we felt the Weakening too
soon and passed on to Milan.
Milan is truly modern city, not un-
like New York The honk of the auto
mobile told US that Milan was still a
power in Italy. Her Cathedral is the
grandest, in my opinion, have seen; it
is magnificent in its simplicity and is a
true Christian temple, being pure
| are magnificent maj ble pillars in imita-
| ton of the German forest. They spread
out in great branches meeting in the
| vault overhead, the intervals of the
arches being filled with network of
foliage with sprigs and branches twining
and INTERVIEWING and look like mag
ni6cent lace; it is hard to realize that it
is cut from marble. No one can describe
the stained glass windows; the light
filters in through the red, green and
amethyst. The coloring is gorgeous
and everything is in such harmony. The
inside has but few statues and they are
bronze. The grand columns, the beau
tiful stained glass and these bronze
figures are in perfect symmetry and
harmony. A great bronze crucifx sus-
pended above the altar was seen by US
just as the suns rays struck it, and it
said something to US. The feeling of
wondrous awe in such building can not
be told. The outside is glistening
marble, decorated with 1000 statues.
One could stay in the church for days
and still feel the utter isolation from the
world and its turmoils. This church is
the work of foreigners, Germans and
French, and really is capitalization OF
beauty in stone.
In summing up Italy should say it is
a beautiful sunny land, blue skies, blue
and tranquil waters, rich and luxuriant
growth, rich in all art and beauty, the
shrine of all who would sit at the feet of
history, yet she has, as Victor Hugo
saws, the barbarian in the shape of the
priest, and the savage in the beggar.
| There is much misery everywhere among
| the poor, who are taxed to the utmost,
and one wonders how they can be so
happy.
Next | crossed the st. Gothard, that
marvel OF engineering skill, and found
myself in that wonderful land of song
and story - witzerland-clothed with
gittering mountain peaks and placid
lakes and roaring waterfalls echoing to
the yodel call of the herdsman. Every
thing here speaks of the ruggedness of
life lin Italy it was always the luxurious
and esthetic side that was appealed toj
wonderful mountains tower beyond the
clouds, fearscme, yet the very fastness of
liberty One realizes the meaning of
that beautiful verse, when he is here-"l
will look unto the hills from whence
cometh my help" had pleasant stay
ar Lucerne, Swallowed by Mt. Pilatus
and nesting on it's blue lake. The lion
carved by Thorwaldsen out of solid rock
in the mountain side is wonderful. 1t is
a monument in memory of the Swiss
Guards who persisted in the defense of
Marie Antoinnette and Is a huge lion
wounded unto death, pierced by arrows,