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After six months' imprisonment, the relatives were set at liberty, but the wife was condemned to death. She was only saved from this by the intervention of the Duchess of Parma, who received her into her service, whence she was transferred to that of the Duchess of Modena.

The bereaved Savelli father never recovered the shock of his son's murder, and died in a lunatic asylum, and the only survivor of the Savelli having no heir, the property of that ancient race passed to the family of Chigi.

CHAPTER III

MONTE CAVO, NEMI, AND CIVITA LAVINIA

(Donkeys may be taken for the excursion from Albano to Monte Cavo and Nemi, except by good walkers-price, four lire each, the donkey-man four, the guide seven, for the day. Civita Lavinia will form a pleasant separate drive for the afternoon from Albano-a carriage ought not to cost more than seven or eight lire.

Those who ascend Monte Cavo from Rome, and return thither in the same day, may take the morning train, Central Station, or tram, to Frascati. They may then take donkeys at Frascati, and ascend Monte Cavo by Rocca di Papa, or better, walk. After passing some time at the site of the temple, they may descend by the Madonna del Tufo to Palazzuolo, and, skirting the Alban Lake, visit Albano, and take the train thence back to Rome. Good walkers may also visit Nemi the same day.)

ASCENDING the stony street which leads from Albano up to the Cappuccini, and reaching the corner whence we overlook the glassy lake, sleeping in its deep hollow, let us then turn R. by the tempting path (Via della Corona) which winds through the woods and rocks, between banks which in spring are carpeted with cyclamen, violets, hepatica, and every shade of anemone, while higher up, amid the richly-flowering laurustinus and golden genista, patches of honesty' glow in the sunshine. At every turn the flowers become lovelier, and the foregrounds seem as if waiting for an artist to paint them, until, passing round between some jagged masses of rock, which have fallen from the higher cliffs long ago, but have been half-buried for centuries under draperies of fern and moss, we reach, above the southern end of the lake, the Franciscan monastery of Palazzuolo (under protection of the King of Portugal).

Overhanging the beautiful garden are seen escarped cliffs of tufo forty feet high (quarries) and some splendid cypresses. The parapet overlooks the lake unrippled far below. Thence can be explored the ancient path of the Triumphal processions up to Jupiter Latiaris; where the Consul, who had not won his victories against a nonLatin foe, and had not slain at least 5000, took his ovatio.' The republican rock-cut Tomb of Cornelius Scipio Hispallus (B. C. 176) will be easily found beside the road. Upon it in relief are carven the fasces, sella curulis, apex, and scipios, the tokens of one who was both Pontifex and Consul. Near it, also above the Convent is the 'Casa Abbandonata,' formerly belonging to a Colonna Cardinal (1629). This stands just above the Convent. North of the Consul's tomb a road branches off eastwards.

A path winding upwards through the woods leads from hence to

the sanctuary of the Madonna del Tufo, much frequented by the country people, whence a beautiful terrace fringed with ilexes extends to the picturesque village of Rocca di Papa, which occupies a rather isolated sugar-loaf rock standing out from the rest of the mountain-side and crowned by the ruins of a castle, which for two centuries was a stronghold of Colonna, afterwards (1487) passing into the hands of Orsini.

'All know that, in those ages, the poor and weak had the choice of being assassinated in two ways, but they were obliged to choose: either assassinated by casual wandering brigands, or by established brigands settled in the fortresses. Generally the preference was given to the second, and thus around the fortresses was formed a trembling settlement of hovels and huts of contadini, which were afterwards changed into villages, towns, and cities, a preference which speaks to the praise of those poor calumniated barons of the middle ages.'--Massimo d'Azeglio.

Rocca di Papa est un cône volcanique couvert de maisons superposées jusqu'au faîte, qui se termine par un vieux fort ruiné. Les caves d'une zone d'habitations s'appuient sur les greniers de l'autre ; les maisons se tombent continuellement sur le dos; le moindre vent fait pleuvoir des tuiles et craquer des supports. Les rues, peu à peu verticales, finissent par des escaliers qui finissent eux-mêmes par des blocs de lave supportant une ruine difficile à aborder, et flanquée d'un vieil arbre qui se penche sur la ville, comme une bannière à la pointe d'un clocher.

'Tout cela est vieux, crevassé, déjeté et noir comme la lave dont est sorti ce réceptacle de misère et de malpropreté. Mais, vous savez, tout cela est superbe pour un peintre. Le soleil et l'ombre se heurtent vivement sur des angles de rochers qui percent de toutes parts à travers les maisons, sur des façades qui se penchent l'une contre l'autre, et tout à coup se tournent le dos pour obéir aux mouvements du sol, âpre et tourmenté, qui les supporte, les presse et les sépare. Comme dans les faubourgs de Gênes, des arceaux rampants relient de temps en temps les deux côtés de la ruelle étroite, et ces ponts servent eux-mêmes de rues aux habitants du quartier supérieur.

Tout donc est précipice dans cette ville folle, refuge désespéré des temps de guerre, cherché dans le lieu le plus incommode et le plus impossible qui se puisse imaginer. Les confins de la steppe de Rome sont bordés, en plusieurs endroits, de ces petits cratères pointus, qui ont tous leur petit fort démantelé et leur petite ville en pain de sucre, s'écroulant et se relevant sans cesse, grâce à l'acharnement de l'habitude et à l'amour du clocher.

'Cette obstination s'explique par le bon air et la belle vue. Mais cette vue est achetée au prix d'un vertige perpétuel, et cet air est vicié par l'excès de saleté des habitations. Femmes, enfants, vieillards, cochons et poules grouillent pêle-mêle sur le fumier. Cela fait des groupes bien pittoresques, et ces pauvres enfants, nus au vent et au soleil, sont souvent beaux comme des amours. Mais cela serre le cœur quand-même. Je crois d'ailleurs que je ne m'habituerais jamais à les voir courir sur ces abîmes. L'incurie des mères, qui laissent leurs petits, à peine âgés d'un an, marcher et rouler comme ils peuvent sur ces talus effrayants, est quelque chose d'inouï qui m'a semblé horrible. J'ai demandé s'il n'arrivait pas souvent des accidents.

"Oui," m'a-t-on répondu avec tranquillité, "il se tue beaucoup d'enfants et même de grandes personnes. Que voulez-vous, la ville est dangereuse!"' -George Sand, La Daniella.'

·

Rocca di Papa used to be frequented as a summer resort by English who lived at Rome: but it is not a desirable place of residence, being exposed to the sun, and receiving little shade. The place derives its present name from the residence here of an anti-pope John, in A.D. 1190.

By the steep path which scrambles up the rocks above the housetops of Rocca di Papa, we reach a wide grassy plain known as the

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