Montorso (Stat.). This is the station for the famous historic convent of Farfa. A humble diligence for Poggio Mirteto, which travels at a foot's pace, meets the early train from Rome, and a two-horse carriage (25 frs.) may be obtained there for the day to Farfa, 5 m. distant, or may be ordered to be ready at the station. 1 hour must be allowed for the return drive from Farfa to Montorso, where there is no inn, so that those who are late for the last train to Rome must go on to sleep at Terni or Spoleto.

An excursion to Farfa should be made in the spring. In the latter part of April, or still better in May, it is quite impossible to visit a place of more radiant loveliness. It is the ideal Italy-the most fertile part of the beautiful Sabina, and no transition can be more complete than that from the desolate Campagna, with its ruined tombs and aqueducts speaking only of the past, to these exquisite woods and deep shady valleys amid the purple mountains, filled with life and in the richest cultivation, and watered by the rushing stream of the Farfarus.

One can scarcely open a page of Italian history in the middle ages without meeting the name of Farfa. Doubly founded by saints, its monastery rose to the utmost height of ecclesiastical importance. Its Benedictine monks were looked upon as the centre of Italian learning, and the 'Chronicle of Farfa,' compiled from its already decaying charters and records by Thomas the Presbyter, about 1092, and now preserved amongst the most valuable MSS. of the Vatican, has ever since been one of the most important works of reference for church history. The abbots lived as princes and considered themselves as the equals of the Popes. It is narrated that the Abbot of Farfa once met a Pope at Corese, and knew that he must be going to the monastery. He said to his majordomo, who was with him -That is the Pope, and he is going to Farfa; of course I cannot be expected to return, but you will go back to receive him, and you will desire that the same respect should be paid to him which is paid to me, and that a fatted calf

should be killed in his honour.' The monks of Farfa appear never to have numbered more than 683, but the amount of their possessions is almost incredible :-' urbes duas, Centumcellas (Civita-Vecchia) et Alatrium; castaldatus 5; castella 132; oppida 16; portus 7; salinas 8; villas 14; molendina 82; pagos 315; complures lacus, pascua, decimas, portoria, ac praediorum immanem copiam. Till the recent suppression, the revenues of the abbot, who has long resided at Rome, amounted to nine thousand scudi annually.

But in 1686, when Mabillon made his monastic tour, the buildings of Farfa were already falling into decay. In the summer and autumn months the air of the Farfarus was considered unhealthy, and the abbot resided at the castle of Fara on the hill side above the monastery, and the monks eight miles off, at the convent of San Salvatore. Since that time Farfa has been more and more neglected till its very name and existence are almost utterly forgotten.

Various towns and villages crest the different hills between Montorso and Farfa: to the left, Cantalupo, Pompeo, Poggio Catino, and Aspra; to the right, Montopoli. The largest town is Poggio Mirteto, called by the natives Il Parigi della Sabina,' which has rather a handsome church and piazza. Strange to say, the population of this considerable, though out of the way place, is chiefly Protestant.

An excellent road leads from Poggio Mirteto to Montopoli, along the ridges of the swelling hills, which are covered with olive, chestnut, and peach trees, with an under-carpet of corn. On the left a wide valley runs up between the mountains, which are here clothed with wood almost to their summits, ending in the rock-built town of Torfea. The further mountain is crowned by a castle. This is the famous fortress of Fara, which protected the abbey beneath it in time of trouble, and which is spoken of in the chronicle of Farfa as 'Castellum Pharae in hoc eminente monte.' On the hill beyond, at the spot called Bucci, is another castle of the monastery called Tribucci or Buccinianum. A tall ruined tower on a nearer hill is called Cottetino.

Embosomed in woods, beneath La Fara, the great monastery of Farfa stands boldly out from the side of the mountain. It is on the spot where the Syrian hermit Lorenzo, who had been made Bishop of Spoleto, retired from the world about A.D. 550 and built a hermitage, where by his prayers he destroyed a poisonous dragon which had long devastated the neighbouring valleys. The exact site of his cell was long marked by three tall cypresses, but they are now only to be seen in a fresco in the church. Many brethren and disciples gathering around his retreat, he built a monastery which he called after the name of the farm—' Casale Acutianus-in which it was erected, and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin. The monastery of Acutianus became a place of pilgrimage, as containing the shrine of Lorenzo, and attained great splendour, no less than five basilicas being raised there, one of which was intended for women. But the monastery was attacked and destroyed by the Lombards in 568. It then remained desolate till 681, when S. Thomas the Venerable, while praying before the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, beheld in a vision the Blessed Virgin, who commanded him to rebuild her sanctuary and that of her servant Lorenzo. The buildings were restored, and the monastery rose to such magnificence, that no other in Italy, except that of Nonantula, could rival it. Early in the 11th century the name seems to have been changed to Farfa. The famous Chronicle speaks of it by both its names—' Liber Chronici Monasterii Acutiani sive Farfensis in Ducatu Spoletano.'

'About the year 936, the reigning abbot was murdered by two of the fraternity, Campo and Hildebrand. The last words of the abbot, addressed in doggerel Latin to Campo, were Campigenans Campo, malè quam me campegenastis."

'Campo was abbot in 936, and Hildebrand in 939. The conduct of Campo seems to have been particularly disgraceful: his children he portioned from the effects of the church, and he seems to have been addicted to every species of riotous and disorderly living, to the great scandal of the place and times.

'These crying sins of the Christians, says the history, calling aloud for punishment, the Agareni (Saracens) invaded the country (A.D. 1400

The abbot of that time, Peter,

and surrounded the monastery of Farfa. made a stout resistance, and drove away the invaders several times.; and, in the interim, found means to send away all the treasure of his convent to Rome, to Rieti, and Fermo. The valuable marbles of the churches lie hid underground, and they have never since been discovered. The Saracens, when they at length took the deserted monastery, though enraged at the loss of their expected booty, admired the place so much, that instead of burning it, they converted it into a residence for themselves. The abbey was subsequently destroyed by fire certain Christian marauders from Poggio Catino, who had taken up their lodging there for the night, whilst the Saracens were absent upon some occasion, had lighted a fire in a corner, which (being alarmed by some noise in the abbey) they left burning; and, hurrying away, the neglected fire spread, and the stately buildings were completely destroyed.

After this, Farfa lay in ruins forty-eight years; till Hugo, king of Burgundy, coming into Italy, the abbot Raffredus began to restore it, with the treasures sent to Rome and to Fermo; but those which had been conveyed to Rieti had fallen into the hands of the Saracens.'-Sir W. Gell's 'Rome and its Vicinity.'

From the time of S. Thomas the Venerable in 680, to Nicholas II. in 1388, the list of the abbots of Farfa is almost intact, and the place constantly increased in importance. One of its monks, Bernardo, chosen Abbot of Subiaco in the 13th century, pompously begins his installation-edict with: We, Bernardo Eretoni, of the Order of S. Benedict, monk of the holy and imperial abbey of S. Maria of Farfa, and afterwards by the grace of God abbot of S. Scolastica, &c.'

Through the valley beneath the monastery flows the beautiful river Farfarus or Fabaris :-

'Qui Tybrim Fabarimque bibunt.'-—Virgil, ' Aen.' vii. 715.
'Amoenae Farfarus umbrae.'-Ovid, 'Metam.' xiv. 330.

and is crossed by an ancient bridge.

As in classical times, the valley is almost buried in verdure. Plautus alludes to it :--'You shall be dispersed like the leaves of Farfarus.' A stony road (possible for carriages) ascends from the stream, through thickets of oaks, and of Judas trees, which make the very ground pink with their falling flowers in spring. The banks are carpeted

with periwinkles and anemones, and cuckoos and nightingales sing incessantly in the thick shades. An outer wall surrounds the monastic enclosures, and serves also as protection to the little village, which nestles under the shadow of the church. Twice a year, after Easter and Michaelmas, there is a famous fair here, much frequented by those who purchase the oil of Farfa, which is sold here in huge barrels. Over the outer of the two gateways, both very richly sculptured, the sainted founders, Lorenzo and Tommaso, over the inner Benedict and Scholastica, kneel before

the Virgin and Child, in two very beautiful frescoes by an early Umbrian master. The church is cruciform, and almost covered with frescoes, which, if not very good as works of art, are at least highly picturesque. The Papal benefactors of the monastery are represented between the arches, which are supported by ancient granite pillars. The ceiling is richly carved in wood. At the cross is an intricate pavement of opus-Alexandrinum. The choir is now stripped of its 'choir books plated with gold and silver and set with gems,' and is no longer rich in 'gold and silver ornaments,