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the inner are basaltic. Both are broken away on the northern side towards Grotta Ferrata and Marino; but on the southern side they are tolerably perfect.

The outer crescent-shaped crater beginning from Frascati extends to Monte Porzio and Rocco Priora, and then curves round by Monte Algido, Monte Ariano, and Monte Artemisio. The inner crescent includes the height of Monte Cavo, and surrounds the flat meadows known by the name of Campo d'Annibale. Besides the two principal craters, the ages of which are probably as distinct as those of Vesuvius and Somma, there are traces of at least four others to be found in the lakes of Castel Gandolfo, commonly called the Alban lake, and of Nemi, and in the two small cliff-encircled valleys of the Vallis Aricina and Laghetto.'-Burn, ‘Rome and the Campagna.'

The effect of the Campagna here, as everywhere, is quite different upon different minds. The French almost always find it as depressing as the English do captivating and exhilirating.

Beyond Ciampino (station), the railroad ascends at Galleria, out of the Campagna into the undulant land of corn and olives. Masses of pink nectarine and almond-trees bloom in spring amid the green, while everywhere the vines are trained to stacked canes (a cannochia), making the vineyards resemble a rifle-camp. On the right, we get glimpses of the great ruined castle of Borghetto, which, probably built by the Conti of Tusculum, belonged to the Savelli in the twelfth century. Outside the station of Frascati one ascends the flight of steps leading directly to the public garden and the town. The road to the right, up a slope, leads direct to Grotta Ferrata (3 kilos.) and Marino, and Rocca di Papa; that to the left, to Tusculum and Camaldoli. The new tramway to Albano renders everything more easy.

The cathedral (S. Pietro) (in Piazza Vitt. Emanuele) only dates from 1700, but we must enter it if we would visit the monument (near the door), which Cardinal York put up to his brother Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, who died Jan. 31, 1788. It is inscribed :

:

Hic sepultus est Carolus Odoardus cui Pater Jacobus III. Rex Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, Hiberniae: Primus natorum, paterni juris et regiae dignitatis successor et haeres, qui domicilio sibi Romae delecto Comes Albaniensis dictus est.

'Vixit Annos LXVII. et mensem; decessit in pace, pridie Kal. Feb. Anno MDCCLXXXVIII.

There is an older cathedral, Duomo Vecchio, now called SS. Sebastiano e Rocco (1309), and near it a fountain erected in 1480 by Cardinal d'Estouteville, the French Ambassador. The streets are dirty and ugly; but the little town is important as being the centre of the villas and vineyards which give Frascati much of her charm. The origin of Frascati as a town can be traced to the VI. cent., when the Benedictine monks came into possession of the place at the hands of the Anicii Tertulli, to which family S. Benedict belonged. Before them the Flavian emperors had possessed the site, surrounded with noble villas, rivalling Tivoli. Most of the modern villas date only from the seventeenth century, and, with the exception of the Villa Mondragone, the buildings are seldom remarkable, but they are situated amid groves of old trees, beside fountains and waterfalls which, though artificial,

ness.

have been long since adopted by Nature as her own, while from the terraces the views over the Campagna are of ever varying loveliIn many of these villas, far too large for any single family, vast airy suites of apartments may be hired for the summer villeggiatura, and, though scantily furnished, form delightful retreats during the hot season.

At Frascati and Albano there are good lodgings to be had. Noble old villas may be hired on the Alban slopes for a small rent, with gardens going to ruin, but beautifully picturesque-old fountains and waterworks painted with moss, and decorated with maidenhair, vines, and flowers-shady groves where nightingales sing all the day-avenues of lopped ilexes that, standing on either side like great chandeliers, weave together their branches overhead into a dense roof-and long paths of tall, polished laurel, where you may walk in shadow at morning and evening. The air here is not, however, "above suspicion"; and one must be careful at nightfall lest the fever prowling round the damp alleys seize you as its prey. The views from these villas are truly exquisite. Before you lies the undulating plain of the Campagna, with every hue and changing tone of colour; far off against the horizon flashes the level line of the Mediterranean; the grand Sabine hills rise all along on the west, with Soracte lifting from the rolling inland sea at their base; and in the distance swells the dome of S. Peter's. The splendours of sunset as they stream over this landscape are indescribable, and in the noon the sunshine seems to mesmerise it into a magic sleep.'-Story,' Roba di Roma.'

Nothing can describe the charm of the villa-life of Frascati,—the freshness of the never-ceasing fountains, the deep shade of the thick woods, the splendour of the summer fruits, and, above all, the changing glories of the view, which is unlike any other in the world, over the vast historic plain, in which the world's capitol seems almost to be lost in the immensity and luminousness of the soft haze.

Opposite to the station and to R. of the Public Gardens is the Villa Conti-Torlonia (formerly Ludovisi)—the Pincio of Frascati— and the great resort of its inhabitants. The villa itself is not worth visiting, but the view from its terrace is most beautiful, and a grand waterfall tumbles down a steep behind the house, through magnificent ilex-groves. Annibale Caro, Poet and translator of the Eneid, lived here 1663-6.

Below the Villa Torlonia, the Villa Pallavicini, with an ilexcrested terrace, projects over the plain. Above the Public Gardens is the imposing Villa Aldobrandini, with far-flashing windows, standing spaciously upon a succession of terraces, designed by Giacomo della Porta, and finished by Giovanni Fontana for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, nephew of Clement VIII. The villa is adorned internally with frescoes by Cav. d'Arpino. Behind it a succession of waterfalls tumble through a glorious old ilex-grove, into a circle of fantastic statues. The scene may once have been ridiculous, but Nature has now made it most beautiful. Tusculum can be reached by taking the path to left of the upper cascade.

'At the Villa Aldobrandini, or Belvidere, we were introduced to the most multifarious collection of monsters I ever hope to behold. Giants, centaurs, fauns, cyclops, wild beasts, and gods blew, bellowed, and squeaked, without mercy or intermission; and horns, pan's-pipes, organs, and trumpets, set up their combined notes in such a dissonant chorus, that we were fain to fly

before them; when the strains that suddenly burst forth from Apollo and the Nine Muses, who were in a place apart, compelled us to stop our ears, and face about again in the opposite direction.

When this horrible din was over, we were carried back to admire the now silent Apollo and the Muses-a set of painted wooden dolls, seated on a little mossy Parnassus, in a summer-house-a plaything we should have been almost ashamed to have made even for the amusement of children. All these creatures, in the mean time, were spouting out water. The lions and tigers, however, contrary to their usual habits, did nothing else; and the "great globe itself," which Atlas was bearing on his shoulders, instead of "the solid earth," proved a mere aqueous ball and was overwhelmed in a second deluge.' -Eaton, 'Rome.'

Both Frascati (which perhaps owes its origin to the Villa of Lucullus) and Tusculum became Imperial properties, enjoyed by Vespasian, and perhaps Flavius Clemens. Hence we may be certain that great transformations had taken place there after Cicero's days; and we should accept all attributions with caution.

Those who are not good walkers should engage donkeys for the excursion to Tusculum (the birth-place of Cato), to which a steep ascent leads from the piazza of the town, between the walls (L.) of the villas Aldobrandini and Falconieri (1550), now a Trappist convent. The latter has a picturesque old gate, with a falcon over it. Just beyond the latter, an inscription marks the retreat of the learned Cardinal Baronius. Within, an oblong basin is lined with veteran cypresses. Voss, the German novelist, lived and wrote here, and his bust was placed here in 1902. A steep path leads (hour) to the Convent of the Cappuccini, but we continue through the shady and delightful walks of the Villa Rufinella, which is now the property of Prince Lancellotti, having formerly belonged to the Bonaparte, and before these, to the Sacchetti. The casino was built by Vanvitelli. The chapel contains monuments of the Bonaparte family. During the residence of Lucien Bonaparte here (Nov. 1818), this villa was the scene of one of the boldest acts of brigandage known in the Papal States. A party of robbers, who had their rendezvous at Tusculum, first seized the old priest of the family as he was out walking, and having plundered and stripped him, bound him hand and foot. As they surmised, when the family dinner-hour arrived, and the priest was missing, a servant was sent out in search of him, and left the door open, through which five bandits entered, and attacking the servants they met, forced them to silence by threats of instant death. One maid-servant, however, escaped, and gave warning to the party in the dining-room, who all had time to hide themselves, except the Prince's secretary, a French painter, who had already left the room to discover the cause of the noise, and who was carried off, together with the butler, and a facchino. The priest meanwhile contrived to free himself and hide in some straw.

The next day the facchino was sent back to treat with the Prince, and to say that unless he sent a ransom of 4000 crowns the prisoners would be immediately put to death. He sent 2000 and an order on his banker for the remainder. The brigands, greatly irritated, returned the order torn up with a demand for 4000 crowns more,

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