Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . oar of the great tides of humanity is not heard here : the birds sing from the boughsin the rose-scented cloister garden, prayerful voices whisper through the halls, the bellrings in the twilight, or announces dewy dawn,—and that is all! We think we couldtarry here for ever, but the purple distance beckons us, the clouds sail swiftly above theprecipice towards the immeasurable horizon, and then our wings begin to stir like thoseof a bird about to leave its cage, and we, too, prepare for flight over hill and dale. MOUNTAIN MONASTERIES AND A PAINTERS PARADISE.
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . oar of the great tides of humanity is not heard here : the birds sing from the boughsin the rose-scented cloister garden, prayerful voices whisper through the halls, the bellrings in the twilight, or announces dewy dawn,—and that is all! We think we couldtarry here for ever, but the purple distance beckons us, the clouds sail swiftly above theprecipice towards the immeasurable horizon, and then our wings begin to stir like thoseof a bird about to leave its cage, and we, too, prepare for flight over hill and dale. MOUNTAIN MONASTERIES AND A PAINTERS PARADISE. 341 Thus, when the sun rises next, we find ourselves upon a summit of the Samnitemountains. A bright river winds along below us : it is the Garigliano, the Tins; in thebackground the snow-covered peaks of the Abruzzi rise into a bluer heaven, and this vastpile of building here, which we approach beneath a canopy of ilex trees, is the convent ofMonte Cassino, and the town nestling in the ravine at its feet is the Oscan, Volscian,. THE SERPENTARA NEAR OLEVAXO. Samnite, Roman, city of San Germane The service of Apollo was still performed here,and the columns of the temple of Venus were still twined with roses, when Benedict,beginning to grow old, and expelled by the malice of his enemies, wandered hither fromSubiaco, to found a home for imperilled Christianity. The convent was built, faithfuldisciples gathered around the master, and multitudes of worshippers animated themountain paths. The temple of Apollo was soon deserted, and the roses of Venus wereleft to wither. Peace reigned here whilst the world resounded with the clash of , Goths, Greeks, struggled in bloody strife for the crown that had fallen on theearth, and the storm raged even to the foot of the convent hill : for the decisive battlebetween Tejas and Narses, was fought down there on the Volturno. During these agitations the needy, the sorrowful, the sick, and the hungry, took 342 ITALY. refuge with the
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