Switzerland Township (part 1 of 2)

Switzerland Township

The Trip from Milan to Lucerne. The Italian Lakes. Bellinzona. Wild Bits of Scenery. Spiral Tunnels. St. Gothard Tunnel. Fluelen. Lake of Four Cantons. The Axenstrasse. William Tell's Chapel. The Swiss People. Lucerne. Lion of Lucerne. Arnold von Winkelried. Across the Brunig Pass. Height of the Alps as Compared with the Rocky Mountains. Interlaken. Jungfrau and Its Monster Companions. A Story of the Mer de Glace. Grindelwald. Jungfrau as Seen from a Distance 130-146

Letter Xl

Return to Lucerne. Simplicity of Swiss Life. Zurich. Lake Constance. Lindau. German Farm Houses. German Life. Munich. The Map of Germany. Royal Palace. Galleries. The Glyptothek 147-154

Letter Xii

Munich to Oberammergau. Bavarian Alps. Village Accommodations. The Villagers. Origin of the Passion Play. Secret of the Skill of the Players. The Auditorium. The Play. The Characters. The Tableaus - Imitations for the Most Part of Great Masterpieces. The Marble Group on the Hill Side. The " Shepherd Boy and the Chapel." The Last Glimpse of the Kofel 155-168

Letter Xiii Germany Again. Pages

Munich to Dresden. Crossing the Danube. Saxon Switzerland. Happy Goosedom. The Wind Pumps. Dresden. Royal Palace of Saxony. The Finest Gallery North of the Alps. Sistine Madonna. A Drive Through Dresden. A Clean and Beautiful City. On the Way to Berlin. Greater Berlin. " Unter den Linden." Frederick Strasse. Thier Garten. Millitary Spirit of Berlin. Victory Monument. Victory Avenue. The Historic Windmill. Tomb of Frederick the Great 169-182

Letter Xiv

Departure of Graf Waldersee to take command of the Allied Armies in China. From Berlin to Frankfort on the Main. The Land of Martin Luther. Wartburg. Saxe- Coburg. The Federation of the Free Cities under the Empire. Frankfort on the Main. Growth of the German Empire. Heidelberg. The Castle. Mannheim. Mayence. ''Fair Bingen on the Rhine." An Interesting Ride in a Row Boat. The Mouse Tower. The Watch on the Rhine 183-198

Letter Xv The Rhine And Belgium

Down the Rhine to Cologne. The Vine Clad Hills. Coblence. Ehrenbreitstein. Cologne. The Cathedral of lentz. Ehrenbreitstein. Cologne. The Cathedral of Cologne. Aix-la-Chapelle. Brussels. Waterloo. Antwerp. A Climb to the top of the Cathedral Spire. Bird's Eye View of Antwerp and the Scheldt. Ghent. Lille. Roubaix. Calais. Boulogne 199-220

Letter The Voyage

Value of Travel. Departure from New York. The " Commencement Day " of an Ocean Steamer. Disappearance of Land. A Ship Alone on the Ocean. The Vessel. Natural History. How the Time at Sea is Spent. Longitude and Time. Land Sighted. Plymouth and the Pilgrims.

DEAR CHILDREN : - As our steamer will run into the old seaport of Plymouth, on the south coast of England, in a few hours, I must date and close this letter so that it may reach you by the first boat for America. After being on board for a few days, with nothing to do but sleep and rest, writing letters to distant friends becomes a pleasant pastime.

The world is not so large as it used to seem to be, and he who wishes to see it may do so. The wonderful improvements that have been going on in the building of ships and construction of railways have brought the remotest parts of the earth within easy reach of civilized man. The mystery that once surrounded all unexplored regions filled the imaginations of men with all sorts of false notions about our grand old round earth. The Quest of the Golden Fleece, the Adventures of Ulysses, and the Wanderings of Aeneas left impressions in the minds of the Greeks and Romans that have been recorded in stories of dragons and other monsters that were supposed to infest the shores of the distant seas. Boys and girls love to read these stories because they furnish food for the imagination. Geography and travel have corrected these impressions, but the charming mythological associations will remain as delicious seasoning ever to be appreciated and enjoyed. Happy is the parent or teacher who, at the time when the child is hungry for story and fancy, has a mind well stored with geographical knowledge and is able to feed and properly develop this wonderful power of the human mind - the imagination.

Nothing so broadens the mind of the individual as travel. Those nations that have carried on trade with the remote parts of the world enjoy the highest degree of civilization to-day. In fact, commercial intercourse means civilization. It is true now, it always has been true, and it ever will be true. The large number of bays and inlets that are found on the coasts of Europe has had more to do with its present day advancement than any other natural cause. The people have been able to mingle with and to understand each other. This has created mutual respect and esteem, and thus savage barbarism has gradually given place to human brotherhood.

Why does the Thames interest us more than the Yangste Kiang? Or the Potomac have a greater charm than the Arkansas ? The Amazon is a hundred times as large as the Rhine or the Tiber, and yet who would not far prefer the yellow Tiber or the plunging Rhine to the great South American river? Why the difference? Those rivers that have been the scenes of man's activity and associations have given them a kind of life and fellowship with man which ordinary streams do not possess. For that reason the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Jordan infatuate and draw the inter- ested students of history to their storied banks and pour out facts and traditions that hold them enchanted for days and weeks, and even months. They are among the finest specimens in the world's historical museum. Standing upon spots made famous by their connection with past centuries, one understands the meaning of history, and, as it were, lives it over again and sees it for himself.

So the first glimpse of the old world is a scene never to be forgotten ; a picture laid away in the mind to be brought back by memory with increasing clearness and beauty. The riches of memory, it has been said, are far more precious than the wealth of a Croesus. The latter may easily be lost. while the former will remain as long as reason retains the throne. Says Stoddard in his famous lectures : "The world is an open book whose author is Almighty God, and on the pages of which have been written, more or less distinctly, stories of the various races of humanity/' One who would read this book aright must travel. To stand by the rivers, to look upon the mountains, to walk through the cities made famous by the actions of the human race, is to realize history; just as standing by the tomb of George Washington, looking upon the scenes of his home life at Mount Vernon, or viewing the city which perpetuates his name from the lofty monuments on the banks of the Potomac, deepens the feeling of patriotism. To visit the art galleries and to see the best works of the masters not only leave impressions often to be recalled, but unconsciously developes a love for art and the beautiful. So standing among the everlasting hills and drinking in the grandeur and beauty of the

But should we not see all that is to be seen in our own country first, before visiting Europe? That depends upon what the student desires - and every true traveler is a student. If he wishes to study nature simply, the Rocky Mountains are as impressive as the Alps, the glaciers of Alaska are on a much larger scale, and our own home of the midnight sun is quite as beautiful as that of Norway ; if he wishes to study the history of his own country which is the richest of its age, he will have an opportunity on the battlefields of the Revolution and of the great Civil War; nowhere are the lines of battle so distinctly marked as at Chickamauga and at Gettysburg, while Lundy's Lane, so prominent in the War of 1812, the site of one of the hardest battles ever fought, considering the number of men engaged, is near at hand ; but, if he wishes to know the history of civilization, he must visit old Athens, stand on the hill of the Caesars, or catch the spirit of Hastings and Waterloo. The spot of the Guillotine, the location of the dreaded Bastile, the old London Tower, all have their associations that deepen historical impressions. Even Westminster Abbey, St. Denis, near Paris, the Appian Way, near Rome, all famous cities of the dead, inspire to greater study. If one wishes to imbibe the spirit of art he must go to the shrines of the great masters. There is but one Sistine Madonna and that is in Dresden only. The Louvre has its treasures, but they never leave Paris, while Rome and Florence are full of the finest gems of painting and sculpture, always to remain there until removed by the vandal hands of conquering nations or destroyed by the tooth of time. No amount of reading or looking upo-n copies can ever equal a few personal visits to the places where the great originals are kept. Nevertheless if we cannot travel, familiarity with copies is invaluable. The traveler must select a few things which he must see, before starting on his journey. They should be the objects best known and most written about. This done, many other things will be added, but without such forethought, lie will return, his mind filled with a confused mass of everything in general and nothing in particular.

To prepare properly for a trip abroad one should read for months, but the immediate arrangements for the voyage itself need not be extensive or require much time. As a matter of fact, every part of the United States is within a few days of the great seaports on the Atlantic. Although Columbus is located seven hundred miles from New York, but eighteen hours were required to make the overland trip. Compare this with the time required for such a trip in the days of Washington.

At last in New York, all arrangements completed, we went on board the Patricia, of the Hamburg- American line, and were soon gliding down the river toward the open sea. How like a great "Commencement Day" is the beginning of a sea voyage ! The dock is a busy scene. "Hurry, hustle, bustle," are the words that characterize the movements of everyone. The freight has already been loaded, except a few things that cannot be placed on board until the last moment. Scores of men are busy getting the baggage properly labeled and in place ; the constant arrival of those who have taken passage and hundreds of their friends makes a scene of great activity. Laughter and tears, mirth and sorrow, sometimes subdued, but often unrestrained, afford an opportunity for the student of human nature. Soon, however, this is brought to a sudden stop. The last passenger has come on board, the last visitor has gone ashore, the gang plank has been drawn away and the great vessel is ready to sail. Not a tremor is felt, not a bell is rung, but the commanding tones of the captain's voice are heard and the dock begins to move away. You wonder how all this happens, for the vessel's machinery is motionless. A little tug at the side, not more than one-thousandth part of the size of the great monster, is slowly, but surely, leading her out into the current of the North River, where she may float out with the tide. This is her "Commencement Day."

It is a never to be forgotten moment when a great sea monster thus draws up her anchor and starts on her journey for foreign lands. All seems gay and happy enough at first, surrounded by enthusiastic well wishers that line the docks and fill the decks of neighboring steamers. Mid strains of music, the shouts of friends, the waving of thousands of handkerchiefs that were kept in incessant motion as long as they could be seen with naked eye or glass, our great steamer glided down the North River, guided by this little tug. As if proud of its own importance, the tug kept up a puffing and fuming, darting hither and thither, that was interesting to watch, while the big liner in silent dignity allowed herself to be led down through the bay, across the bar, and out into the open sea. "And a little child shall lead them" was the thought that reverently passed through our mind.

At first the din of whistles from the hundreds of ferryboats plying across the river and bay in various directions was almost deafening. Scores of large vessels coming and going afforded an abundance of companionship and entertainment as we dropped down through the lower bay. But gradually the number became less and when at last we bade our little tug farewell and received "Bon Voyage" from the harbor pilot as he swung over the side of our ship, scarcely a dozen steamers and sailing vessels, all told, were in sight. With the disappearance of Rockaway Beach and its hotel, the last point of land to be seen, but two companions were visible, and before sunset one of these had disappeared beneath the southern horizon. The other was gradually veering toward the northeast, and though at the hour of retiring its lights could be dimly seen, before the coming of the morning it, too, had gone and we were left alone on the boundless sea. Our solitude had come so gradually that Ave did not realize it. Single handed and alone, our vessel, we knew, must now meet the storms and fight "old ocean's gray and melancholy waste." Is she able to do this? No one who examines her workmanship doubts for a moment that she is able.

We now have leisure to examine our craft. She is one of the largest afloat, exceeded in size by the Deutschland and Oceanic only. Many steamers cross the Atlantic more quickly than she, but none with greater comfort. Her motion is quiet, steady, sure. There is none of that rolling, plunging, or quivering so characteristic of the lighter and faster express steamers. This is due to the fact that the Patricia carries an immense amount of merchandise, which serves to steady her and break the force of the largest waves. Her capacity is thirteen thousand tons of freight, but we are told that she has on board about seventeen thousand tons, or three thousand tons more than her registered capacity. If this were loaded on freight cars, allowing twenty-five tons to each car, it would require the enormous number of seventeen trains of forty cars each to load this single steamer. If wagons were used instead of cars, and we were allowed one and one-half ton to each wagon and twenty feet of space for one wagon and horses, it would make a wagon train forty-three miles long, reaching from Columbus to

Our ship is somthing more than a floating hotel or a "floating palace,53 as we sometimes read. It is a floating community or town. It has its play grounds where not only boys and girls, but men a:: I wc men have good times. 7 /.est are the open decks and it is ess;- :: make believe that the great ^.is:? are trees in these parks. There are two of these large open decks, one in the front part of the vessel for first cabin passengers and the other in the after part for second cabin and steerage -; assengers. When the weather is fine these :ie:i:s are full :: people engaged in all s:r:s of games. 7i:e ladies are especially fond of shuffle board and the bean bag. while the men add to these an occasional contug :: war. But the :'::iiren play more games than the me:: :-..:: i women :ouM ever think Fax and geese, blin S : n I pi s :::rr s base St ::: to be li: -ir favorite home and friends and happy times. But the seas are not always at rest. There are times when the most experienced traveler is not hungry. A story is told of a gentleman who was very sea sick, but his wife who had not been affected by the movement of the waters, tried to console him and to draw his attention away from himself. " See, John," she said, " the moon is coming up. How beautiful ! " "I am not surprised,'' he replied, " every other blamed thing has come up." Below the main deck there is another deck, called the lower deck which is also used by the first cabin passengers making four stories in all rilled with state rooms. There are two dining rooms for the first cabin passengers, one on the lower deck and one on the promenade deck. The latter is the larger and is used for concerts, entertainments during the week, and religious services on Sunday.

The second cabin is a neat little hotel in itself and occupies the stern of the vessel. The steerage passengers are stowed away beneath the after main deck. There are really five stories beneath the lower deck making in all nine stories counting from the bottom of the vessel. These lower stories are filled with merchandise, baggage, and quarters for the ship's crew which consists of about four hundred men, while the bottom is occupied by boilers, machinery, and coal.

The state rooms are comfortable and usually accommodate two persons. There are six of us however in one large double state room, one judge from Ohio, two lawyers from Indiana, two business men from Columbus, and myself and vet we are not crowded. The room contains two port holes, or windows, two wash stands, two closets with plenty of hooks for wearing apparel, carpet on the floor, a table large enough for four to surround and to write upon at the same time, and six berths, three upper and three lower. The room has excellent ventilation.

It is not only a good place on shipboard to study human nature, but we have opportunity occasionally to study natural history as well, not questioning the idea that there is a great deal of human nature in natural history. It is a great moment when some one shouts "A whale, a whale I" During our second day out a large number were seen spouting" five or six miles away. Sometimes thev come very near the vessel. A great many fish are to be seen, porpoises in particular. When large numbers of these are together they form what is called a school, but I do not think that they learn how to read. I have not seen any of them with books under their fins. Do you not think that this would be a funny school?

Would you like to know how we spend each day on board? Well, the bugle calls at 7:30, when all who wish to do so are expected to get up and prepare for breakfast. I doubt not that you know just what the first bugle call sounds like. Then at 8 o'clock the second call is given, which is different from the first call, and means that breakfast is ready. At 10 o'clock the band gives a concert on one of the decks, after which bouillon and coffee are passed around. At 15 minutes before 1 o'clock the lunch signal is given, when all prepare for lunch, and at 1 o'clock the second call is given, which means that lunch is ready. At 3 o'clock the band plays for the second-cabin and steerage passengers and tea is passed around. Then, at 7 o'clock, comes the principal meal of the day. The bugle calls are the same as for lunch, and an orchestra always plays in one of the first cabin dining rooms. Ice cream is always served at this meal. It is not made out of condensed milk, but is made and put up in New York. It is really very fine. I am sure that this will be encouraging news for any boy or girl who expects soon to cross the Atlantic.

The clock is changed at 6 a. m. every day, so that going eastward we find our watches one-half hour late each morning. Ten changes will make a difference of five hours by the time we get to London, where longitude begins. This shows a difference of 750 in longitude between London and New York. It is interesting to note these differences and as one has plenty of time, on shipboard, he can soon help all his fellow passengers to refresh their knowledge of longitude and time, if he can find any of them who are willing to stand and listen to him. You will remember that in every circle there are 3600. Hence in every daily revolution of the earth, we pass through 3600, or as we may transfer the motion to the sun, it moves through 3600 in every twenty-four hours, so that every 150 of longitude makes one hour of time. It is on this principle that standard time is based. When it is 12 m. at Greenwich, it is 11 a. m. 150 west of Greenwich; i. e., the sun will reach that point one hour later, bringing noon with it. When it is 12 m. at Greenwich it is 10 a. m. 300 west; 9 a. m., 450; 8 a. m., 6o°; 7 a. m., 750 ; 6 a. m., 900. and so on. As we forward just one hour so as to have 75th meridian, or Eastern time. After leaving Xew York to keep the ship's time our watches had to be turned forward one hour every 15 . If one does not care to change his watch and it keeps g time, when the ship's clock is set. he can determine the longle of the vessel by the difference in time, certainly a source of considerable enjoyment and satisfaction.

nd sail boats on all sides indicated thai our search for land would SOOn he rewarded. Strange as it may seem, with all the traffic on the Atlantic, there were whole

Up any | 1 that might he thrown overrd. Eagerly we watched. Every face showed happ> anticipation. At last the lighthouse on Scilly [stands r aboi horizon, then the barren islands themselves with their rocky, dangerous shores. These passed, Land's End and the coast of Cornwall came into view. And now, just at noon-time, we are passing the Lizard, with its fortifications so near that wTe can see the men and almost hear their voices. Just beyond the Lizard, where the rocks are so numerous and dangerous, the magnificent American steamer, Paris, was wrecked a short time ago.

To an American visiting Europe, every way of approach has its attractions and holds him spellbound, as associations of historical and literary interest rush through his mind. Whether he comes by the northern route, with the green hills of Donegal skirting the horizon for hours, or by way of Liverpool, the greatest seaport in the world, or by the south coast of England - all is new, interesting, and enchanting and the first land upon which he steps is always the most beautiful and longest remembered of any seen during his entire visit. No doubt, as Irving says : "The temporary absence of worldly scenes and employment produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive new and vivid impressions. The vast space of waters that separates the hemispheres is like a blank page in existence. There is no gradual transition by which, as in Europe, the features and population of one country blend almost imperceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy, until you step on the opposite shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world."

The Voyage

water before you the shores of the "old country," about which you have heard and read so much ! One can hardly wait to step off and know that this is England, the mother country of the United States ; so much of our history and literature and ideas of life and liberty have come to us across the sea from this island that it seems like coming home, after an absence of centuries. These impressions delightful memories always to be cherished and frequently recalled.

We are now nearing Plymouth. Eddystone lighthouse is just before us, the pilot boat is in sight, and we are ready to go a We have had a delightful voyage,

- in this old English city from which the "Pilgrims" sailed for America almost three hundred years ago, from their landing on Plymouth Rock on that cold December day!

- our landing here a more beautiful day could not be imagined; for their landing on the Western Continent, according to Mrs. T remans, the north winds had burst forth in all their fury :

The voyage from New York harbor to Plymouth, England, is often made in less than six days. The May-flower sailed from Plymouth on September 16, 1620, and the land off the coast of Cape Cod was not sighted until November 19 and a landing was not effected until December 21. Its passengers had a dreadful voyage across the Atlantic. At one time it seemed as if the ship would surely go down. With the help of the Pilgrims, the sailors placed a heavy piece of wood under one of the deck beams and saved the vessel from going to pieces. What must have been to them a most inhospitable and barren wilderness, has become one of the most beautiful and fruitful lands of all the world. No true American should cease to be grateful for this noble struggle with the elements for the establishment of religious and political freedom. For all such the city of Plymouth has sacred associations.

Letter Ii

Greater London. Plymouth. Plymouth to London. The Cars. Places of Interest tn tout'. How tu Sec London. A Ride on Top of an Omnibus. The British Museum. National Art Gallery. Westminster A

DEAR CHILDREN: - This is old London town, the largest city in the world. We may speak of reater London as we do o\ greater New York. idon proper is only a small part of the great city, which covers an area of six hundred and ninety square miles, and includes fully seven million people. The Thames river, <>n which this great city is located, has a wide, deep mouth. so that, although tin- city is located fifty miles from tin- open sea, high tide allows the larg vessel- to enter and pass out, thus establishing direct water communication with the English colonies in all parts of the world. This is one i)\ the secrets of the

W'e landed at Plymouth on July v^. remained over night at the Duke <»f Cornwall hotel, and ran over to London on the .ph. Being Americans, we could almost imagine that and barging on the British capital, on the glorious Fourth of July. However, the absence of firecrackers and the cordiality of the English people helped us to restrain <»ur enthusiasm and to fed that we were not in an line of cabs and omnibuses, the drivers all vying with each other in extending to us the use of their vehicle, for a reasonable consideration, to convey us to our hotel.

The ride from Plymouth to London, a distance of two hundred forty-seven miles, among green-clad hills and rich valleys, is one of the most delightful that it has ever been my privilege to enjoy. It is especially so for those who have just landed after a long sea voyage. Plymouth is a strongly fortified city, with its new and old parts, which are very different from each other in general appearance. The old, with its narrow streets, white stone buildings, and old-fashioned doors and windows, must look very much as it did in 1620, when the Mayflower sailed away. The new part is modern, substantial, with wide streets, electric cars, beautiful store rooms, elegant residences, and everything suggestive of the first days of the twentieth century. Some time ago I saw the envelope of a letter mailed at Plymouth and the mark by which the postage stamp had been destroyed was the significant number, 1620. Had the letter been mailed from Plymouth, Massachusetts, it would not have seemed strange, but coming from Old England here, it meant that the City of Plymouth regarded the sailing of the Mayflower as the greatest event in her history. And why not? It marked the beginning of a new civilization, for the young republic " across the Western Sea " is destined soon to overshadow the older nations of the world and to extend the influences of civil liberty and general education to all mankind.

The cars in which we ride to London are very different from those found en our American railroads. We do not enter at the end as at home, but every car lias from four to six compartments, with doors at the sides. Each compartment has two long seats running across the car and faci: :h other, something like a street car, but running

Windsor Castle, built in the days of William the Con* queror, is one of the residences of the royal family of England, and is among the finest castles in Europe. There is much to be said about each of the above cities, but I know that you are most interested in the great city of London.

To see London is not an easy matter. There are very few electric lines, and these do not run through the most interesting parts of the city ; the underground railway does not offer very attractive scenery, while the smoke and gas are often almost suffocating; carriages are excellent for drives through the parks and residence districts where the view is unobstructed ; but for busy London there is nothing as satisfactory as the top of an omnibus. There you sit in calm enjoyment, whether blockaded in the crowded Strand or moving with the current through Cheapside, Regent Street, or Piccadilly. This is the way to get a bird's eye view of London. Our first ride was down Victoria street, by Westminster Abbey, Parliament Houses, Trafalgar Square, through the Strand, by the Bank of England, St. Paul's Church, Bishop's Gate, over Holborn Viaduct, through Holborn and Oxford streets, by Furnival Inn, etc., to the marble arch, one of the entrances to Hyde Park ; then by the way of Hyde Park Lane and Buckingham gardens to our hotel. We are centrally located on Victoria street, near the points which we most desire to see. We can not visit all the places of interest during a week's stay, in fact, we could not do so thoroughly, if we were to remain a month.

The British Museum would in itself yield materials for years of investigation and study. This was the first place visited - a mere ramble through labyrinths of Elgin mars and ancient sculptures. Nineveh and Egypt, though long since fallen into decay, yet speak through their sculptured remains. Greece and Rome have contributed their share to the collection of relics found in -the great British Museum. The Elgin marbles, brought from Athens by Lord Elgin in I So 1-3, or we might say, taken captive by him, are the finest of the kind in existence and are undoubtedly the work of the great Phidias. \i we may judge by these marbles that adorned the Parthenon, that stood on the Acropolis of Athens, it must have been beautiful indeed. Jd he impossible even to enumerate the things rical interest to be found here, for the museum contains the largesl collection of books, manuscripts, works of art. and antiquities anywhere in the world t<> he seen under one roof. It was founded in [753, and from that time to the present has had a wonderful growth. The South -1 Museum, opened one hundred years later, is I chiefly to science. Not far from the British Museum, Trafalgar square with its fine monument to I the National Art Gallery, More than one thousand tine pictures are lure t«» be seen, among them som< the world's masterpi ;' as here that we received <>ur first introduction to Raphael, lie has several Madom in this gallery, one of which was bought from the Duke "t" Marlb - 0,000. But none of t!

One of the places of greatest interest in London is, of course, Westminster Abbey. No one versed in English history or literature ever tires of this resting place of English kings and heroes, consecrated as it is by monuments erected to the memory of the world's great authors. The Abbey is a magnificent old Gothic church, begun by Edward the Confessor in the eleventh century and rebuilt bv Henry III. in the thirteenth century. There are two places of special interest to me - the chapels of the kings and the poets' corner. Strolling through the chapels of the kings, the tombs of the Edwards and the Henrys, Queen Elizabeth,, and Mary Queen of Scots, are all pointed out, while many have no monument. Chatham, Pitt, Fox, Canning, whose eloquence helped to make England, all lie silent here, and the low hum of interested visitors talking only of their good deeds does not disturb their slumber. The poets' corner is a unique idea and shows in what reverence is held the memory of those gifted geniuses that made the English tongue sing so sweetly - Chaucer, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Gay, Prior, Addison, and Campbell are all buried in this sacred corner; while monuments have been erected here to Shakespeare, and to our own loved poet, Longfellow. If there is any place which inspires meditation, it is Westminster Abbey. While you are thinking about it, I would advise you to read Irving'' s beautiful description of Westminster Abbey in " Sketch Book."

One must not leave London without a visit to the Tower. I never visit this old castle without a feeling of sadness as we are reminded of the innocent people wh up their lives within these walls and on Tower Hill, near by - Sir Thomas -. Lady Jane Grey, and a long list

I. are said to have been murdered by the order of Richard III. Though full of dark history, the Tower is no longer ^loonr. - pris n that it once was. Instead, it has peare, pass Warwick castle on the way and stop off at Oxford on our return for a ramble through the many colleges of that university town. It would be no small pleasure to tarry long enough at Magdalene college to run around Addison's walk in the early twilight only a mile around, and then be locked in as we were, and have to wait for the sleepy watchman to come and let us out. I am sure that you would hasten to get your tickets for a boat ride down the Thames and come with me to Westminster Bridge and take a little steamer for a fifteen-mile trip down to Greenwich and back. Through the muddy Thames we dash, under bridge after bridge, by docks without number, among a multitude of vessels large and small, each trying to whistle the loudest and make the biggest show of business. Strange to say, you will find Greenwich on every map, it seems to be everywhere, and yet it has a very definite location. If you will look at the top of the map of the United States you will find it there, because it is the place from which all English-speaking nations reckon longitude. The great observatory of Greenwich is located on a hill not far from the Thames. No one would want to leave this place without going to the top and setting his watch by the time which regulates the world's commerce, take the measure of the true foot and true yard to be found there, and lift the pound to see that his muscular sense is properly educated.

We have said that London contains about seven million people; it is as large as New York and Philadelphia combined; in fact, one-seventh of the people of England live in London. Allowing a foot of space for each person, its

Letter Iii

Crossing the Channel. Dieppe. The Valley of the Seine. Paris as Seen from the Eiffel Tower. A Carriage Drive Through Paris. The " Place de la Concorde/' The Madeline. The " Place de la Bastile." The Celebration of the 14th of July. A Military Review. The Louvre. A Visit to Versailles. The Paris Exposition. Boats on the Seine. Growth of Paris.

DEAR CHILDREN: - We have been in Paris just eight days and expect to leave tomorrow for Switzerland and the South. We left London on Monday morning, July 9, and reached Paris at six P. M., the same day. The trip from London to New Haven, where we caught the channel steamer, gave us a fine view of Southern England. The fields of red poppies were something new to us and beautiful to behold. Old England was truly at her best, clad in her eariy summer dress of green, gayly-trimmed with red. We all regretted to leave her so soon, but felt that in the time taken we had done thorough work, at least all that could be expected.

The boats that cross the channel are not large like ocean steamers and are often rocked in a fearful manner by the great waves that roll up from the Atlantic. As we sat on the deck listening to the stories of those who had often crossed before and had seen stormy waters and fearful seasickness, we almost felt condemned that we experienced no pang of regret for the good dinner we had just eaten. However, some of our people paid their respects to old Neptune, the god of the sea, and with a pale face looked dashed ahead at the rate of twenty miles an hour, and in a very short time had measured the distance oi 64 miles trom New Haven, England, to Dieppe, Fran< small opening, but found plenty of dock room on the inside. It was not difficult to realize that we were in a strange country. All was different - a strange flag, a strange languaj people. This was France.

making the country look like a crazy quilt, but that only lent a charm to the whole scene. The farmers live in villages and farm small patches of land not all located in one place, but a little piece here and a little piece there. No fences are to be seen, as every inch of ground is cultivated. There is no lack of variety - a patch of potatoes, a patch of beans, a patch of wheat, a few fruit trees, etc., all growing in the greatest luxuriance.

We are pleasantly located in the Rue Castiglione, near the Garden of the Tuileries on one side and the Vendome Column on the other. We are within five minutes' walk of the Place de la Concorde, the Seine, the main entrance to the Exposition, the Louvre, the Grand Opera House, and a number of other important and well-known places. It is of great advantage to be so located, that on returning to the hotel after a busy day, one may in a few minutes revisit places which he desires especially to remember.

To stand on the top of Eiffel Tower, nine hundred and ninety-eight feet high, and look over the great city of Paris and the surrounding country, is one of the experiences of a lifetime. All about you is the World's Fair, the great Exposition of nineteen hundred, and the city which looks like a plaster model with its streets and avenues running in every direction. The Seine flows through the center of the city like a great winding serpent, its bosom covered with people going to and from the Exposition. Moving hither and thither like swarms of bees the people do not appear much larger than insects as you look down upon them, nearly one thousand feet below.

The Arch of Triumph stands in its majesty on an eminence, while the magnificent tomb of Xapoleon, the twin towers of Xotre Dame in the distance, the Bois de Boulogne, the Palaces of the Louvre and Luxembourg are all in plain view. At the same time the surrounding country, rich in history, presents a picture full of food for thought. Down the river but a few miles is St. Cloud, with the remains of the Palace of Xapoleon III. Beyond, but still in view, is Versailles, forever to be associated with the grandeur of Loui- XIV. and the misfortunes of Marie Antoinette. The march of the revolutionists may easily be traced from the <>i" Versailles to the guillotine in Paris. No better introduction to the study of a city can be obtained than a bird's eye view, Mich as the Eiffel Tower gives of Paris. After having taken Mich a view and then visited the different places of interest, another climb should be made for a farewell look. flow it would help you in your studies it you c«>uld catch that bird's eye view that takes iu all at a glance. It is such a view that an author or your teacher tries to give you in the " synopsis " of a subject.

time will permit. In London, the omnibus with a top seat is my choice, but in Paris everybody rides in a carriage or coupe. The ;de and airy as a rule, and the buildings

We have adopted no such plan. We have supposed our reading to have been done, except perhaps in a very few instances, and so try to keep our eyes ready to see and our minds ready to enjoy. Notes should be made after the day's work of sight-seeing has been completed, unless there is something unusual which is likely to be forgotten. In such a frame of mind one is ready to see not only objects of interest, but the habits and customs of the people, and actually receives rest and recreation in the midst of the hardest kind of labor. Among the places passed and visited in our preliminary survey we might mention the Grand Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral, t he Arch of Triumph, the Place de la Concorde, the Luxembourg Palace, the site of the Bastile, and many others with hard French names that sound prettier than they look. There are parks, gardens, boulevards, and beautiful avenues without number, as well as a few narrow streets and dark alleys through which you are glad to pass at a good trot. Returning from the drive and having eaten a good dinner, one is ready for a walk and a few hoars of meditation. I prefer the Place de la Concorde. It is only five minutes' walk from our hotel and is the very center of splendor and French history. The name means the "place of peace," and as you watch the joyous crowds of people passing to and fro and notice the brilliant surroundings it seems indeed the place of peace. The Seine is on the south, with its magnificent bridges and pleasure boats without number ; the Garden of the Tuileries, now the playground of the children of Paris, on the east; the main entrance to the

Prance

Exposition on the west ; while the north is lined with government buildings, with a street through the center leading up to the majestic front of the Madeleine church, tl specimen of Greek architecture to be found outside of Athens. A thousand fe and seven hundred feet wide, it is a magnificent square; but it has not always been the place of peace. Xear the center stood the awful guillotine that during- the French revolution did such bloody work. Between January 21, 1793, and May 3, 1795, nearly three pie were executed by the guill tine : among the number, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The spot is by a beautiful fountain and the Obelisk fht from Egypt and erected here in 18 Th( ild forever flow, it will not wash nother spot which is full of saddest tradition is the 44 PI ." I [ere stood for more tl e hunof tlie gloomiest prisons that ever on the . surrounded by a wall forty this gloomy prison with its slimy dungeons, and the soldiers within, who were friends of the people, compelled the governor to surrender and the Bastile fell. You may remember the key of the Bastile among the relics at Mt. Vernon, the home of Washington. It had been sent to him by Lafayette. The site of the Bastile is now occupied by a monument called the Column of July which is one hundred and fifty-five feet high and was erected in honor of the heroes who fell in the revolution of July, 1830.

We were fortunate in Deing in Paris on July 14, the great national holiday of France, marking the fall of the Bastile and the birth of the first republic. There were crowds of people everywhere, but they were quiet and orderly. President Loubet reviewed about thirty thousand soldiers, who were on dress parade at the Place de la Militaire in the Bois de Boulogne, which means the military training ground in the woods of Boulogne. The latter is a large park of several thousand acres. We spent fully five hours out at the military park and obtained an excellent idea of the French army. It was a magnificent sight. Coming up the avenue from the woods or park, we passed the Arch of Triumph, built by the great Napoleon. It is a wonderful structure, and the top was crowded with people. The arch is located on elevated ground facing the Champs Elysees, perhaps the widest and finest street in the world. Everything was jammed. As we passed around the arch and entered the Champs Elysees, we could see a surging mass of people waiting for the return of the president from the review. It had been falsely rumored that there would be an attempt to assassinate him. The avenue filled with people was a beautiful sight, extending down beyond the Place de la Concorde to the Louvre, all in full view from the top of the omnibus, which a few of us had chartered for the occasion.

But the evening crowd in the Place de la Concorde was the great jam of the day. Fully one hundred thousand people had gathered in that immense square and the adjacent streets to see the fireworks, which closed the day's celebration. All seemed goodnatured and no one was hurt as far as we could see, though a number of accidents were reported in the next morning's papers. The French do not seem to as demonstrative as Americans, though when aroused, they arc much more difficult to control. A restless spirit pparent, and judging from the enthusiasm with which the name of Napoleon is always greeted, the number of Bonapartists must be very large. I should not be surprised to see this slumbering fire burst into a tlame at almost any moment. France can not stand many more revolutions and continue to exist as a nation.

wants to visit the Luxembourg gallery, where Rosa I U .nheur's best animals are t< i be seen and t lie works of other great French masters. The Louvre, however, took nearly all become, in fact, the great museum not only of Europe, but of the entire civilized world, and all are interested in the protection of its treasure 3. It occupies a part of the magnificent palaces in which the kings of France lived for many centuries. Any one who attempts to see everything will very likely remember nothing. The ground floor contains sculptures ; the first floor, pictures ; the second floor is devoted largely to science. There are two pieces of sculpture in the Louvre which are familiar to every school boy or girl in Columbus, "Venus de Milo" and the "Winged Victory." Although scarred and worn by the rough use of ages, they are still grand and wonderful. The approach to the " Venus de Milo" is very impressive. Standing in a room by itself, it is seen in the distance through the open archway, majestic and alone. This magnificent piece of sculpture was found by a peasant in the island of Milo, one of the Greek archipelago, in 1820. It belongs to the fourth century before Christ, a time when Greek sculpture was at its best, with Praxiteles at its head. The adjoining halls are filled with some of the finest works of antiquity, which standing alone, would challenge the admiration of all who see them, but they are almost forgotten on account of the presence of Venus de Milo. "Winged Victory" stands on the landing leading from the ground floor to the picture gallery. This figure was found in 1863, and belongs, no doubt, to the early part of the third century, B. C. Although much mutilated, it is one of the finest specimens of early Greek art.

The gallery is one of the most complete to be found. All the great masters are represented here. No gallery in Europe is so well supplied with the works of Raphael, among which are his Madonna and the Child with St. John. It is one of the most famous of pictures and copies of it are often seen in this country. Leonardo de Vinci, who painted the famous " Last Supper." has a number of his best pictures here. Correggio, Rubens, Murillo, and Titian may be enjoyed and studied to the fullest extent. One should always stop as long as possible in front of the works of these great painters, while time may compel him to pass with a mere glance hundreds that are excellent, but of less note. I cannot say that I liked the subjects used by Rubens, though his colors are fine; as a whole, I enjoyed Murillo much more. But I am entering upon a subject which I have neither the time nor the space to discuss.

( )ne of our most delightful days was spent at Versailles. The palace of Louis XIV must have been magnificent in his day. It is now used as a museum. Every corner is full of history. The rooms occupied by Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Xapoleon I, retain as far as possible the furniture and general appearance of the time when occupied by those noted characters. The splendid pictures on the walls are well worth seeing. Although many of them represent victories of the French over the nan-, they were uninjured by the latter during the t Paris and at the close of that siege were turned a besieging army than to publish this fact to the world. The Grand Trianon (triangle) is not so attractive, but the Petit (little) Trianon, with its thatched roof houses and

You may wonder why I have not said more about the Exposition. The fact is, that there is so much of interest outside of the Exposition that one finds his attention divided. I have been inside eight times, spending from three to four hours at a time, and feel well repaid. As a whole, I do not consider it equal to the world's fair at Chicago. There are some individual exhibits that are finer and much more complete than any at Chicago in 1893. This is to be expected; science, art, and the industries have made great advancement in seven years. But here the Exposition is quite scattered, while at Chicago it was very compact and the different parts much more accessible.

The idea of using a number of parks along the river front was a good one, as hundreds of boats on the Seine help to transport the people from one part of the Exposition to another. For two cents these boats carry passengers from one end of Paris to the other, a distance of ten to twelve miles - a delightful ride for almost nothing. The moving sidewalk is another means of going from park to park. Once on the sidewalk, you are carried over streets and even houses at a rapid rate.

Many of the buildings now used were erected for the Exposition of 1878. This is true of what is called the Palace of Trocadero, which has a fine location facing the Champs de Mars, where the main exhibits are to be /bund. As a matter of fact, it is not a palace at all, but a permanent museum with magnificent grounds. The great Hall of Arts is a permanent structure and will remain. Perhaps the finest monument of all will be

I like the plan of classification. Instead of the different nations having their exhibits alone, they are all arranged under different subjects, so that one who is interested in education for instance, will find all under that head in one place. The United States has a fine building prominently located on the Seine, which is used as a great reception hall for Uncle Sam's children who have strayed away from home. It does not contain any exhibits, all of these are scattered under different heads, as indicated above, but every American calls and registers here, meets friends, or gets his mail. There is so much written about the Exposition in all the papers and magazines that I shall not attempt a full description of it.

I am sure that you would enjoy a trip up the Seine in one of the little steamers that ply its waters. \ know of some Columbus people who took a trip of that kind after supper one evening and found, when it was late, that there were no more boats returning that night. But a friendly "brake" had just seats enough for them to return. They all say that they enjoyed their midnight ride through the streets of Paris, and 1 am inclined to two million five hundred thousand people. Located on the Seine, the river most easily navigated of all in France, surrounded by a fertile country, and in the main lines of trade between the countries of the Mediterranean and the north, its growth has been constant and rapid. The island in the middle of the river not only afforded a means of defense in its early history, but made bridge building easy, until modern engineering spanned the river at many points with magnificent bridges. One of the finest views in the city is that of the seven bridges as seen from the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral which stands on the island.

Letter Iv Crossing The Alps

DR CHILDREN: - The ride from Paris to Lausanne was both interesting and beautiful - interesting because of the historical associations connected with the country through which we passed and made attractive by the ever changing scenery. We foled up the Seine river as far as Dijon. The soil ms to ] productive and is in the highest state [

>f the Jura mountains. These mountains are not very high - about like the Alleghenies. The scenery is beautiful, rather than grand. Passing over to the southpes of the Jura mountains, we caught our first glimpse of the Alps across the low, hilly plateau oi th< not have seen them under more favorable circumstai It was near the hour of sunset, when the skies wear their Beneath the red clouds stood the everlastmountains, stretching for miles along the horizon and vying with the clouds themselves in brilliancy and beauty. I have never seen anything so beautiful it seemed like into I At Lausanm topped at Hotel Gibbon, whei and announced the fact that we were in a different country even from France. We were in Switzerland, the supposed home of William Tell. All were charmed. After a course dinner and a good night's rest, we were served to a regular Swiss breakfast, which is the same as that in the rest of Europe, viz., rolls, butter, and coffee, with the addition of honey, almost as clear as their mountain water

All regretted to leave Lausanne so soon, but a delightful ride down the lake to Geneva awaited us. The water is as clear as glass and in many places we could see the bottom as our boat glided over the smooth surface. A distant view was obtained of the base of Mt. Blanc for a few minutes, but the air was too hazy to enable us to see it wTell. At Geneva we met a number of American friends and enjoyed the pleasure of an evening boat ride with them.

Geneva is a splendid city through which the rapid Rhone flows from the lake and marks the spot where Caesar fought his first battle in his Gallic wars. Orgetorix was then king of the Helvetians and "the bravest by far of all the Gauls." One could enjoy weeks in this city of the lake and the river and never tire of the swift running waters of the Rhone always as clear as crystal, suggestive of the pure atmosphere and noble character of its brave people. It is interesting to note the fact that a monument has been erected here to the memory of Rousseau, the famous educator. Near the wharf where we landed, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, was murdered about two years ago.

Crossing The Alps 53

We left Geneva on a morning train for the city of Turin in northern Italy. This was an all-day ride down the Rhone, up the Arc and across the Alps by way of Mt. Cenis pass, with its tunnel, just twenty minutes long. At Chambery we first struck the valley of the [sere, which we followed to the junction of the Arc. Up this valley, no doubt, Hannibal passed in his famous march over the Alps more than two thousand one hundred years ago, Followed by Napoleon two thousand years later. But instead ^i continuing in the valley of the Isere, as they did, in the direction of Little St. Bernard, the modern railway keeps to the right, in the valley of the Arc, to Modane, Mere the train suddenly plunges into Mt. Cenis tunnel. When it appears above the surface again it is on the Italian side of the mountains. The scenery i> both beautiful and grand. The foothills are thoroughly cultivated and the thick patches entered French territory and all had to unload their baggage for inspection; then again at Modane, where we crossed the line into Italy. Sometimes one or two satchels would be opened for the entire party and the rest passed, and then again the inspectors would insist upon looking into every one.

While we were passing through the ordeal at Modane we were favored with a rainstorm and hail whose clatter on the tin roof of the station rose even above the chatter of the French and Italians, for we were now on the border line between the two countries. It was the first rain that we had seen since landing, and the novel surroundings made it doubly enjoyable and -

From Mt. Cenis tunnel down to Turin little steam is required and almost no smoke is produced by the engine. The engineer simply puts on the brakes and lets the train coast for miles - a charming ride with no danger, as the train is easily stopped.

The old church of St. Ambrosia stands upon a solitary peak, perhaps a thousand feet high, a gray timeworn sentinel of the past, and marks our entry upon the fertile plains of Italy. Here we first realize that we have reached a lower latitude. Indian corn (maize) is again seen and makes us think of home.

Crossing The Alps. Do

This is due to the fact that it was almost destroyed by tire during- the siege of 1706. It was also destroyed by Hannibal in 218 B. C., during his first week in Italy, after having crossed the Alps, but that has not had much to do with its modern prosperity. It contains about four hundred thousand people, and was the capital of Italy from 1S59 to ]V After spending a night at Turin, the Po, that historic river, was crossed and the journey to Genoa renewed. Italy looks more like the United States than any country that we have visited. Splendid fields of corn and familiar trees, oaks, silver maples, buckeyes, elms, locusts, etc., are all old friends. The houses, the people, and customs alone are different. The ride for the most part from Turin to Genoa was very enjoyable, though the numerous tunnels of the western spur of the Apennines were hot and dusty.

We are now in Genoa, the birth-place of Columbus. It is a quaint old city of about two hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, and is the natural seaport <>i Milan and Turin and a large fertile region in northern Italy.

have known it to be in Columbus, "('amp'- Santo" 1- even more than it i^ claimed t<» be, a marble burying ground full of finest statuary, representing in many cases the figures of living. Genoa is pre-eminently the city of marble palaces. Alessi, one of the distinguished pupils of Michelangelo, was the architect of nearly all of the marble palaces so numerous here. The most richly decorated church that we have seen, or are likely to see, is San Ambrogio of this city. It is sumptuous in mosaics, gilding, and frescoes, the latter the work of Guido and Rubens. I am afraid that your teacher will have to explain what is meant by " mosaics " and " frescoes," unless you look up the words in the dictionary for yourselves.

The hotel at which we are stopping is one of the old palaces, built by a rich merchant during the days of the Doges, when Genoa was a republic and one of the wealthiest cities of the world. We have visited the home of Columbus which still stands in a narrow street, not more than twelve feet wide. The house itself is only a section of a long row of houses, six or seven stories high and ten to fifteen feet wide. There is nothing attractive about it and the location is one of the poorest in the city. A sigh of relief was heard from many of our party as we stepped out of this narrow, crowded, dirty, passage way, filled with people whom no one would care to meet alone.

A party of twenty-seven took a delightful boat ride this morning along the bay front and out into the Mediterranean sea. A little steam launch, large enough to hold all was chartered for the occasion. The view of the white city as seen from the sea is magnificent. For a background the green hills and in the distance the Apennine mountains gave to all a charm far more attractive than the city itself, with its narrow streets and marble palaces, reminders simply of departed glory. But if I write at greater length on Genoa you will wonder whether this is the only city seen since leaving Paris.

We leave here this evening for Rome, which we hope to reach tomorrow morning at seven o'clock. The day train has been taken off on account of the heat. They stop anything at pleasure here without notice, and the night train may be taken off, too, for all we know.

Rome

Night Ride from Genoa to Rome. Entrance to the " Eternal City." The " Seven Hills of Rome." Santa Maggiore. Forum of Trajan. The Pantheon. Princian Hill. The Colosseum.

DEAR CHILDREN : - We have now been in Rome just long enough to whet our appetites for a month's visit. "An old city," you will say, " musty and in ruins." Rome will admit her age, I am sure, but as to mustiness, I must say that she is the cleanest city that we have so far visited. As predicted in my last letter, we left Genoa on the evening of the twenty-second, but found no sleeping cars as on our American trains. The distance from Genoa to Rome is about the same as from Columbus to Chicago, and when I tell you that we passed through the land of the ancient Ligurians and Etrurians, about whom you have read in your Roman history, and old Pisa with its leaning tower, where Galileo performed some of his experiments, you will not be surprised that it was a sleepless night. With a half dozen or more in each compartment and contests at every station with belated travelers who tried to share our compartments with us, we had an interesting as well as a wakeful time. There was but one Italian word which we knew, and we had learned this from necessity and observation. It was " reservato " (reserved). This generally had the desired effect, as the Italians are very courteous, especially to strangers. We reached Pisa soon after midnight, and every bit of space on the train was filled for some distance. As the morning light began to drive away the darkr. the peaceful Mediterranean again became visible on our right, and lit up by the first rays of the morning sun, presented a picturesque appearance, which was pleasing to behold. We were on the Campagna, which an Indiana lawyer said reminded him of the great prairies of Illinois. At an early hour we turned away from the sea, ran up the valley of the Tiber, followed it for some distance, crossed the river, curved around to the south, and finally entered the " Eternal City " from the southeast, somewhat to our surprise. That this was Rome there could be no doubt, for the ruins of the great Claudian aqueduct stretched off to the south. In fact, the train had passed through one of the arches of the old ruins in winding its way to the station, which is located on the Yiminal, one of the seven hills Rome. One scarcely leaves the station before the study of antiquity begins. In fhe immediate vicinity are the vast ruins of the Baths of Diocletian. Our hotel is near by and the starting point from which all our excursions were made. I have referred to the u Seven Hills of Koine." [f von will place before you a map of ancient Rome, you will find just north of the southern wall of the city four hills: the Quirinal at the extreme east, followed as we proceed rd by the Viminal and Esquiline, with the Caelian at the extrei ithwest Just north of these four are center of the bend in the river, is the location of the old bridge which was so nobly defended by Horatius. East of the old city stands the Pincian Hill, and just across the river, north of the city, are the Janiculum and Vatican Hills. These do not belong to the " Seven Hills/' but are closely connected with the history of the city.

It is said that when you are in Rome it is well to do as the Romans do. In some respects, at least, this is true. Stores are closed at twelve o'clock, noon, and are not opened again until four P. M. During this hot part of the day people stay at home and in the shade. It is wise for strangers to observe the same custom if they would avoid sickness and fever. At four P. M. everything is opened again and kept in full operation until late at night.

The first afternoon drive took in many places of interest, and the first church visited was Santa Maria Maggiore. Under the altar it is said the remains of St. Matthew repose awaiting the judgment day. Whether this is true I cannot prove, nor can I disprove it. At all events it is a grand old church first built in 352 A. D., but it has been rebuilt and remodeled many times since. It may be something like the boy's knife which had had three blades and two new handles, but was still the same old knife. Report claims that the paneled roof was gilded with the first gold brought to Spain from South America.

The Forum of Trajan, next visited, is a remarkable union of Pagan, Christian, and Modern Rome. In the center of what is now a modern square is the imperial monument, the Column of Trajan, built in 14 A. D., in honor of the column now stands the statue of St. Peter. The column is still in a fine state of preservation. It is more than one hundred feet high, and from top to bottom is covered with scenes from the Dacian campaign.

There is another column very much like this, which was ted in honor of Marcus Aurelius, but Marcus, like Trajan, was forced to come down centuries ago and St. Paul has taken his place on the top of the shaft.

the inside was beautifully decorated with gilt bronze, almost one-half million pounds having been used for tin's purpose. All of the bronze except the ancient d^^v<> was taken away centuries ago. Still, it is a grand old monument. It has been used as a Christian church for more than twelve hundred years, and has become the burial place of the distinguished painters and of the kings of Italy. Raphael and Victor Emanuel are buried there.

From the Pantheon we drove directly to the Pincian hill to get a bird's eye view of Rome. This hill, located in the eastern part of the city, laid out with numerous paths and avenues, decorated with busts and statues in great profusion, is the public park and promenade of Rome. We had hoped to see the King of Italy here, as he often rides through these grounds, but we were not gratified in this respect. What we did see was more interesting to me, however, than all the modern kings and queens - the view was magnificent - stretching off to what was once the Campus Martius, beyond that, to the Tiber, still farther to the Vatican hill, at whose base stands St. Peter's, with its never to be forgotten dome, the glory of the world. Farther to the west, still north of the Tiber, is Alt. Janiculum, whose summit is crowned with an immense statue of Garibaldi, the Italian patriot; to our left is Rome itself scattered over its seven hills, and for two thousand years the ruler of the world. One object of interest after another is located for future examination; a person who has read of Rome from his childhood could stand on the Pincian hill for hours and dream of the picture spread out before him. The hill itself is interesting, and if these cypress trees could speak what stories they could tell of comedy and tragedy which have taken place before them. I think that you would enjoy read- ing Stoddard's lecture on Rome, lie tells in such an intering way, so many things that happened on this hill. The king of all ruins is the Colosseum. Having failed to run across it while riding, a party of seven started <mi to find it after dark. Some claimed to have seen it during the day and were sure that they could find it at once. But they were mistaken, the whole party was soon lost in \ strange city, and not one of us could speak the langu; But the Italians arc quick to understand, and a few atl at the pronunciation of the name brought the desired information by the pointing of the finger. After wander around for some time and following in the direction poin out we suddenly came upon the object of our search - the grand, mournful, n SSeum. "To see it." savs

Die! is to see the of old Rome, wicked, wonderful old city, haunting the very ground on which its people trod." Much i^ said of the impressivent -tun by the dim glimmer of the distant street lamp we enU iv 1 hty ample arches and were soon on the large ted in the center to keep from falling alarmed, although we could see the uncertain forms of men moving among the arches and doubted the wisdom of our being there at that time of night, and alone. This vast structure was large enough to seat eighty-seven thousand people at one time. Although more than eighteen hundred years old, it is still substantial and likely to stand for ages. Much of it is being restored and protected from destruction, for it is said that when the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall.

Letter Vi Rome - Continued

The Colosseum. Hadrian's Tomb. St. Peters. The Vatican. The Roman Forum. The Palaces of the Caesars. The Arches of Triumph - Septimius Severus, Titus and Constantine. The Old Prison. " Quo Vadis." M St. Paul's Outside the Walls." Capitoline Hill. Final View from Janiculum Hill.

DEAR CHILDREN: - We have just returned from Xaples and Pompeii, and as we have some time to wait before our train leaves for Florence, cpect to spend the Sabbath, I shall finish my begun s ireral days ago,

[f I am 11 ' mistaken, I left you standing in the gloomy old Colosseum, without moon or electric light, meditating on the dark that had been enacted there in the early centuries of the Christian era. I am sure thai you would rather see the Colosseum by daylight. There is a fine picture of it in the assembly room of Central High school. You

As we approach the riv^r we can see beyond the magnificent tomb of the Emperor Hadrian. The bridge which we cross is comparatively new, not more than seventeen hundred years old, while the great sewer still in use, which opens into the Tiber some distance below, is seven hundred years older than this bridge. To be a bridge builder in that early day wras the height of every Roman's ambition and " Pontifex Maximus " ("the greatest bridge builder") was the highest honor that could be conferred upon any man. The term, " pontiff " is still used when speaking of the pope. But we are now on the bridge and just ahead of us is the tomb of Hadrian. It looks more like a castle than a tomb. Little he thought that in so short a time the beautiful marble covering would be pried off, the dust of Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and himself scattered to the four winds of heaven and the structure itself be used as a fortress. Yet all of these things have come to pass. In fact the name has been changed.

It is no longer called Hadrian's tomb, but the castle of St. Angelus. It is said that near the close of the sixth century a great plague prevailed in Rome, which carried away thousands of lives. Many were the prayers offered by Pope Gregory, the Great, for the relief of the people. On one of these occasions, while crossing this bridge, he is said to have seen a vision of an archangel sheathing his sword, as if the work of death were done. The plague ceased and the name of the building was changed in honor of that event. Its summit is now crowned with a colossal bronze statue of the short drive brings us in front of St. Peter's, The great square, with its curving colonnade on each side, its Egyptian obelisk and magnificent fountains are all that could be elisk, like the columns oi Trajan and Marurelius, shows the triumph of Christianity over Pagani ss which glitters above the obelisk is one four hundred and forty and four hundred and seventy-five feet, according to the authorities which you have read. What a wonderful church, six hundred feet long, four hundred and seventy-five feet wide and one hundred and sixty feet high ! Marbles of the finest quality, decorations rich in gold, statues and paintings without stint are seen on all sides. And why not ? It cost more than sixty million, and for that amount of money ought to be beautiful. But let us follow Byron's advice and admit that we feel the effects of the growth which he describes so beautifully when he says :

"Enter ; its graudeur overwhelms thee not ; And why? It is not lessened ; but thy mind, Expanded by the genius of the spot, Has grown colossal and can only find A fit abode wherein appear enshrined Thy hopes of immortality."

The utmost freedom is allowed visitors. Even while services are being conducted at some of the altars, large parties are allowed to come and go at will. The inside does not seem so large, because everything is so symmetrical. But when you look at the people in the distance and compare them with the statues and even the figures in the great pictures about them, you begin to comprehend the size of the church. Under the high altar, whose porphyry columns are almost a hundred feet high, are buried the remains of the Apostle Peter, who was crucified near this place head down. So that the site of the circus of Nero is not only occupied by Peter's tomb, but by this grand church, the most magnificent monument of Christianity which the world contains.

Rome Continued

J cannot tell you all that I wish, but I am sure that you would like to look at the famous bronze statue of St. Peter. The statue is enthroned, the right foot extended. You will hardly believe me when I tell you that the bronze toe is aim st rn away by the lips of the thousands of people who have kissed it in passing. Many kiss it in the spirit of devotion, but, no doubt, others do so because it is so customary. The Vatican, which is near by, is the residence of the pope. It contains four thousand rooms, but he uses very few of them himself. Anion-- the most interesting places in the n are the Sistine chapel, the art gallery, and the 11111- The Si-tine chapel is rather dingy now, but Michel- Judgment" will furnish material for ment. It is almost impossible to ainter g the archi supply of working material for the artistically inclined people of that city. Not only were these quarries worked by the ancients but at the present time the annual output amounts to millions of dollars. A group, Laocoon, with his two sons, whose attack by the serpents from the sea is so vividly described by Virgil, is also very interesting. This is the original group from which all the Laocoon pictures that you see are taken. There are so many rare pieces of sculpture in this museum that space would fail me were I to attempt even to enumerate them.

Every spot in Rome is historical, but there is one place no traveler should miss - it is the Roman Forum. We have just made a hasty examination of the ruins of the palaces of the Caesars on the Palatine hill, where Romulus is said to have begun this city almost thirty centuries ago, when suddenly we come to a point where the hill ends abruptly. A magnificent view is presented from this point. Lying before us are the ruins of the celebrated Roman Forum. How these broken shafts and crumbling foundations could speak of deeds of glory and of dishonor, too, if they had but tongues ! It is a spot for observation and reflection. Almost in front of us are the ruins of the rostra from which Cicero and the other great Latin orators poured forth tnose words of eloquence whose influence not only reached all parts of the world known at that time, but have rung down through the ages and helped in the formation of all modern governments, especially of republics. For more than two thousand years Rome had had more power in the affairs of mankind than any other city in the world, and the Forum was the great center from which this energy was sent forth. Lo king to the left, the Capitoline hill stands up in its majesty; glories on one side, crimes on the other. From one of its steep sides, traitors and almost obscured by the side of the hill, is the arch of Constantine. This was the last of the triumphal arches built, but it marks the first victory gained by a Christian monarch tinder the banner of the cross. Constantine became a Christian. Fifteen years after this arch had been built, he marched out under it on his way to the Bosphorus, where he built a city that bears his own name - Constantinople. The last two arches mentioned are the best preserved of antiquity and are the models from which all modern arches are made.

We must leave the ruined palaces of the Caesars and return to our hotel. In doing so we will drive through the Forum over the road mentioned before. On our way we shall stop a few minutes and look into the old prison not far from the arch of Septimius Severus, where Paul and Peter are said to have been confined. It is entered by a dark, narrow stairway leading down about two stories below the surface of the earth. What a gloomy place ! No light, no fresh air, damp, dingy, and yet what courage was shown by these great martyrs for the sake of the truth when they defied the tyrant, Nero, and were " ready to be offered " that Christianity might live. " The time of my departure is at hand," wrote Paul, cheerfully. " I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith." Peter was no less courageous and the manner of his death was cruel in the extreme.

I should like to have you ride out the Appian way, lined with marble monuments for miles, to see the little church of Quo Vadis. Peter, in one of his hours of discouragement, is said to have met Jesus at this point, who said to him in Latin, " Quo Vadis," which means " Whither Goest Thou." A little chapel was built at this place many years afterwards by Christians and the spot where the Savior is supposed to have stood is marked on the floor. You would enjoy a ramble through the old ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, which were large enough to accommodate almost two thousand bathers at the same time. The dirt which had accumulated during the centuries of neglect has been hauled away, show-

On the afternoon of the same day as we took the train for Naples, this same couple started on their wedding tour. The bride had never ridden on the cars before and was so afraid that she cried, but after the train had started and she became accustomed to it, she really seemed quite happy. I intended to tell you all about that trip in this letter, but it has grown out of all proportion. Besides the train for Florence is about ready to start, and if I have time to write you from that city I shall tell you about Naples and Pompeii. I have omitted a great many things in Rome that you would like to know about, but it would take a great many letters to include all. Before leaving Rome, we went to the top of the Janiculum hill, northwest of the city, to get a parting bird's eye view. It was grand. Across the valley was the Pincian hill, on which we had stood on that first afternoon, while between it and us lay the Eternal City, with the churches, columns, monuments, and temples which we had visited, and winding through them all was old Father Tiber himself, his surface still yellow with the clay of the mountains. As we turned to leave, we could only say " Goodby, thought inspiring old Rome, we must now leave you, but we are quite sure that the memory of you will never leave us."

Letter Vii

v. Up the Valley of the Tiber by Lake Ti an.l Down the Arno to Florence The Cathedral vi Florence. Bell Tower and Baptistery. The Great Men oi Florence. The Art Galleries.

DEAR CHILDREN: - ] promised in my last letter mailed at Rome to tell you something about our trip to Maples and Pompeii. I must keep my - The run from Rome to Maples is through the most interesting of these is Cassino, with its world-renowned and magnificent Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. The imposing effect of this grand structure as viewed from the approaching train will not soon be forgotten. Standing out on the broad plain of Campagna Felice, a little less than thirty miles from Naples, is Capua. " What a dingy old town !" exclaimed a lady as we approached that old city. " It has not always been so/' said a wide-awake Columbus teacher. Although Capua has only about fourteen thousand inhabitants now, there was a time when she contained many hundreds of thousands. Some of the finest Roman remains anywhere to be found are here, among them being an amphitheater whose capacity was only excelled in Italy by the Colosseum itself. Capua unintentionally weakened Hannibal in a way that Roman arms were unabie to do. In the three great battles of Trebia, of Lake Trasimenus, and of Cannae, the Romans had been fearfully defeated and for two years the Cathaginians had overrun Italy at will. Hannibal might have entered Rome on at least two occasions, but chose not to do so. The last winter he spent in Capua. The hospitality of the city, which was then rich and powerful, was more than his soldiers were able to stand. While they were accustomed to the hardships of camp life, no army which Rome could send against them was able to defeat them. A few months of luxury and idleness changed all. The comforts of Capua were a greater misfortune to Hannibal's army than the loss of many battles. Many young men are defeated in just the same way. Smart, ambitious, industrious, too much eating and drinking and idleness soon how people lived eighteen centuries ago. As stated before, it was covered up by lighter materials and hence excavating is not so difficult and has been carried on extensively. Pompeii has had a rather uncertain history. For nearly five hundred years it was a Greek commercial city. Just before the beginning of the Christian era the city was conquered by the Romans and became a favorite resort for Roman nobles and even emperors. Only sixteen years before it was covered by the volcano it had been racked and almost destroyed by an earthquake. Scarcely had it recovered from the effects of the earthquake when this mantle of ashes was spread over it, and for seventeen hundred and fifty years its silence was undisturbed. So complete was this covering that the farmers of those regions tilled the soil over it, planted their vineyards, and gathered their crops, unconscious of the fact that a dead city lay beneath them. The excavations have been extensive. Street after street has been cleared of its covering, and shops, halls, and dwellings found as they were left on that awful day. There is no better place to study social life as it then existed. The intervening ages have added no changes to the brick or stone buildings of those distant centuries, when the people built as giants but their lives were by no means the lives of the just. There are the temples of the gods, the theaters, the forums, the triumphal arches, all giving testimony to the religious fervor, the amusement loving, and the business and public activity of the people. The bakery, the barber shop, the fountains, physician's house, and places for the sale of statuary are all easily located by the usual signs or instruments found in them. A notice of an election posted up a few days before the eruption of the volcano is easily read. The vote was never taken. All is silent now and the burning sun of a hot July day fell from a cloudless sky upon the vacant streets and empty palaces with wonderful force. The museum is full of interesting relics that have been found as the excavations have been carried on. I am sure that you would be itly entertained and instructed if you were now to read ilwer's "Last Days of Pompeii."

half a million people and has very little of historical or Sural interest to the traveler. Its chief beauty is its location. The bay is one of the finest in the world, SUTr"l'n'k,<1 a nificenl scenery and rich in mythmd hist. >rv. There are some unsurpassed views. Perhaps the finest in Italy is obtained from the nil] just west yellow color. Lake Trasymene (Trasimenus) is one of the most interesting points between Rome and Florence. Here Hannibal gained one of iiis great victories over the Romans in 217 B. C. Had Hannibal followed up his victory at this time, Rome certainly would have fallen and the world's history would have been changed. As seen from the train it is a beautiful sheet of water surrounded by a fertile and well cultivated country. At Arezzo, the birthplace of Petrarch and a number of famous men, we struck the valley of the Arno river, which we followed to Florence.

The country is like a garden, but is carefully irrigated. You may remember the picture in your Advanced Geography showing how this is done in some of the western states of our own country.

About five o'clock this morning I was awakened by the chimes of bells so near that I got up to open the window blinds to see where they wfere. Imagine my surprise to find that only a half square away stood the great bell tower designed by Giotto (jotto) which is more than three hundred feet high. Near by it is the great cathedral of Florence, with its dome three hundred and forty-two feet nigh, the first of the kind ever built. Under the shadow of the cathedral is the baptistery. These three objects are among the most interesting things in Florence and appeared even brilliant in the light of the early morning sun. They are all built of variegated marble of the most costly kind and impress one with the idea that they belong to the present time and not to ruins of the past of which we have recently seen so much. From an architectural point of view, the is quarried, is only sixty-two miles away and Florence produces the sculptors. The " Loggia/' as it is called, is nothing more than an open corridor facing the square in which Savonarola was burned at the stake. Here the children may play hide and seek among the finest pieces of marble statuary, any one of which would be guarded with greatest care as a priceless gem if it were in Columbus. It is said that every little Florentine boy expects some day to become a sculptor. If the presence of fine marble statuary will produce such a result, the chances are in favor of these boys.

A visit to each of these galleries would be enjoyed, but you would not remember all that you would see, so in a brief letter a list will not be attempted even. There is one picture, however, in the Pitti gallery which you would not soon forget. It is the "Madonna of the Chair/' by Raphael. Of this you have seen a great many beautiful photographs, but there is nothing to compare with the picture itself. It is natural, the mother's face is full of tenderest love and pride in her son who clings to her with deepest trust and devotion. Of course, all of the madonnas have a religious significance which Raphael more nearly reaches than any otner painter, I think. There is a seriousness of expression about the Christ-child that at once distinguishes him from ordinary children. The other boy in the picture is John the Baptist. His eyes are fixed on the infant Savior and his hands clasped in ardent worship far beyond his years.

ricrence has an unusually fine location. It is situated on the Arno river and is surrounded by beautiful undulating hills affording many charming views. The river is crossed by a number of bridges, one of which, the "Ponte Yecchio," is different from any other which I have ever seen. Except for a short distance at the center ir is two stories high and is lined on both sides by little shop;, or -

Milton's sympathy for the blind philosopher was genuine, although he little realized that he himself would suffer the same misfortune. No doubt this incident often came to the mind of the stern old Puritan in after years when he, too, was blind and dictated to his daughter his celebrated poem, "Paradise Lost."

A drive through the park to the cemeteries is a rare treat. The cemeteries of Florence are interesting spots because they contain the remains of persons whose names are familiar to Americans, among them are Mrs. Browning, Salvini, and others. The Chapel of the Princess, erected by the Medici, that great family which figured so prominently in European history, is a handsome memorial. This chapel cost four million four hundred thousand dollars and contains the tombs of that illustrious family. But all the work which the great master sculptor bestowed on " Twilight," " Dawn," " Day " and " Night," the great pieces to be seen in the new sacristy of this chapel, cannot add new luster to the stars in the crowns of some of these princes or take away the stain of one jot of the innocent blood which was shed by others.

We shall leave to-morrow morning for Venice. We shall cross the Apennine mountains and pass through the old cities of Bologna and Padua. I am sure that it will be an interesting trip. I should like to remain much longer in Florence. It seems to me that it would be an ideal place in which to spend a winter.

Letter Viii

murder were made known. The people as a whole love their king and are filled with sorrow on account of his untimely death. He was a generous, just ruler, and has done much for Italy, and his murder must prove a great misfortune.

Never did the early morning sun shine more beautifully than while we wTere pulling across the rich Tuscan plains, " the garden of Italy," to Pistoja, an ancient town at the foot of the Apennines and about twenty miles from Florence. It may be interesting to know that the first pistols were made in this town, and that is why they are called pistols. Here, too, Catiline, the great conspirator against Rome, was defeated and killed nearly two thousand years ago. For sixty miles from Pistoja to Bologna beautiful landscapes and wild scenery greeted the eye on all sides. Forty-five tunnels were threaded in which the scenery was not so attractive, but the galleries, bridges, viaducts, and embankments which came in uninterrupted succession, afforded delightful views up the mountain sides and down the valleys. The Apennines are not high like the Alps nor so rugged, but like the Jura mountains are cultivated to the very summits and the landscape is dotted here and there by the comfortable homes of the mountaineers.