JOTTINGS FROM TRAVELLERS’ JOURNAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1079, 20 October 1883, Page 4

JOTTINGS FROM TRAVELLERS’ JOURNAL.

rnhl immmir n min muninr ■■■» ' *" [SFEOIUJ.Y 'WRITTENFOE “THE ASHBURTON • —~ GUARDIAN.”] .K ; ■ CHAPTER XlX.—(Continued.) Starting for Naples —The Hernici Exquisite Pavements and Gorgeous Teppets—Passing Ancient Settlements—The “Angelic DocxpE’’—Monte Casino— A Sporting i’TIO ilihr-laady.—Mark Anthony’s Resort—A Splendid Sight—The Monastery, An Expensive Door—An Ancient Library—A Glimpse of Vesuvius and the Island of Ischia. The time of my first sojourn at Rome had expiredL; .The next morning I started f-Yr Naples. I hadchosenaslow train in Jrafbrence to an express, as it afforded oetter opportunities of seeing the intervening f ,country- .Leaving the “Eternal siiy.”'.we rah along in sight.of the venerALIo r .i!Co]lW pfv the Acqua Felice, and .'Siarcia, the Sabine and Alban liWuntains brtundin i the prospect on the left. Passed Ciampino, Marino, Albano, and other stations devoid of special inter--eat, and entered the., fruitful valjey of the Sytfetrl ’’This was the ancient territory of the Hernici, a range of mountains on both sides form a natural defence. W e ciame to Segrii—anciently called Signia thb-place whs founded by the last of the Tarquins, and the remains of the huge walls he erected, as barriers against the incursions of tne Volsci and Hernici may still be seen. Anagni, in the middle ages, was a place, of some renown ; the Popes were wont to reside there at times, but now it is without prestige. It was at Anagni that Boniface VIII. was taken prisoner by Qillaume de Nogaret, a ruthless French Knight who was a partisan of the Colonnaa. But the populace rose’ in defence of their aged Pontiff, and rescued him after he had been held in durance three—days.- - There-is nothing in the place at, present to attract the traveller e»!ep|[ii?Sf.>jie|'hips the cathedral. There are some ancient frescoes in the crypt worth seeing, and a mosaic, pavement of exquisite and" those who have a fancy for what Carlyle calls “ church tippets-’’-may' be gratified by a look at the gorgeous vestments once worn by Innocent 111. hnd Boniface VIII. > We passed several settlements on the hills at* distance, and ; by ihe aid of my glass, ,ij could see the ruins of three ancient walls. yprentino is a town of considerable size. It was -ptiginaHya settlement of the Vel* sei, atterwktas T became subject to the Hernici, and eventually after having been all but destroyed in the second Punic war, became a Roman colony. Many ancient inscriptions and fragmentary remam#are'to be seen. But I could not stay to examine them.. , , ‘ .Qecoauo, and Ceprano, h we crossed the LVris, and ran along , a cultivated plain to Aquino, the birthplace ‘of Ziivenal the satirist, and the celebrated casuist, Thomas Acquenas, the “ angelic doctor,” as he has been desighiited by'his Ardent admirers. The ruins of-» ! theatre, and of the temples of Ceres and Diana, are to be seen near the Via Latina. The sit ration of the townia very pleasing, and 1 in‘ addition to its natural -attractions, the locality, has the reputation of being heal thy and free from malaria. " We were now drawing near the chief point of interest on the journey, the celebrated Monastery of Monte Casino. It stands on the summit of a bleak mountain overlooking the, town ot San Germane. The neighborhood teems with interesting historical associations. More than three hundred years before the Christian era, the Romans founded a settlement <n this, bpct, and called at Casinum. The present town is trite and common place; but at a short distance are the ruiotf .of an Amphitheatre said to have been erected by Ummidia Quadra til la, a Roman lady of sporting, proclivities. Site" defrayed the coat of the building from her own purse. Pliny, in his letters, : alludes both to her wealth and her vivacity. She was passionately fond of the drama, and in modem parlance, would have been described as an enthusiastic- patroness of the stage, and all kinds of athletic sports,' including the “noble art of self defence.” The relics of the past are not confined to the ruin% of 'Madam Qriadratilla’s amphitheatre. On the banks -of the Rapidp, Marcus Terintinq Varro had his villa, in which, according to Cicero, Mark Antony occasionally—>to put "it mildly—unbent, and gave himself up to pleasure. Patrons of modern slang would say he came here “on th»JGGte”i an^ V got tight.” Sober histofy says he' rendered the place notorious by hia.wijd.and dissolute orgies. ' A pkaaant'Walk or; drive of five or six miles, affording - delightful views by the way, o£, c thp'.valley of GarigUanoand the surrounding.country, takes the : traveller to the .Monaatery. . From the elevated site a aplendid panaromic prospect is obtained, variegatad by.;,villages, cultivations,'. andrugged mountains stretching away rto r t,hchj(i®tapt sea. . .. , . i if [ I may apply such a word 'te 'me.masa qf ..buildings that comprise the monastery, are very extensive. In some respects they coincide more with the ideaof a mediaeval, baronial castle than an ecclesiastical. rSreat. '-■'The entrance is by a low paspge ‘throu *h a,,cock, where the Benedict, is-said to have had his ; (The interior expands into several courts, connected by arcades. The the .site ?of. an ancient templgjef Apollo, some of the columns of whioh,_now.adorn the,Christian sanctuary. The qdpf is ,of bronze,,and is inscribed Vitli a long" list oL. thp possessions tp'tne,' monastery, The inlaid in silver. The interior “.of 'tKtf"’ phuroh is . ornate with moa‘‘ic& > , isneg£ted, marbles paintings. Two are -‘oy . the high altar, on3*-’cjfi each 1 side - , to tlje memory, respectively of Pietro de Medici, and Guidone Fierdmosca, the last Prince of Mignapp ; and beneath the' altar and its lavish decorations lie the. bones of St Benedict and St Scholastic*. The library is large, and rich in literary treasures, ancient rare e| ftiohs r amonga t other bibliothecal varietieajire Origan’s Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, the vision of Albfetioj- which is said to haye sugggatedi .toDante the iiea of his ihfamb. Arid ih lhe tr. gather with' m'afij/ 5 cmriohs ancient State ;tha signatures of kings and tilukes and, emperors,, there is. preserved ‘a 1 tetter from; Mohammed IT, addressed to Pope'NJcfrolas-iy, on which the Sultan, as an inducement for the Pontiff to desert from warlike preparations, offeisdo'become a convert to Chris- . tianity when he visits . Rome. The monastery' fs tiow chiefly maintained as , an educational establishment; many stu- ; dents ateTdterd trained in theology, After'lfeiVing-San Germaao the route i lies through p tract of country comparatively wrtteH'-and 'uninteresting, Wo paused several places'and stations, a bare mention of tfipr- names, "of. . which must suffice Vairapo, , Riardo, Teano, —the ancient capital of the , Sidiceni, _ and containing many relics of Us former grandeur,—Sparanisi. Before J aching Pignataro I 'gbta glimpse of j psuvius and the Island of Ischia, since j icome memorable by the disastrous , earthquake. We were now running along the rich plain of Terra di Lavoro, anciently called Oaoipatiia. ;■ The luxuriance of the \ growing tuteph' denoted : the extreme fer- < tility of the soil; fr.qif .trees, of. all. kinds j ' ere abmldanV :: I- J vtas told that in one season when the weather was favorable j two crops of grain were harvested, besides fcqr* •’ [To be continued.]