not, we believe, now in use, connected with which is a decayed chapel, containing a rude sarcophagus in red Verona marble, called Juliet's tomb. Hanging on the wall over the sarcophagus was a wreath of faded flowers, all of which is shown by a photograph in our collection. The origin of the story of "Romeo and Juliet" is in doubt. Its material incidents, we are told by writers upon Shakspeare, are to be found in romances written before his time; but it was left to his genius to give them immortality. "Romeo and Juliet,"" says Schlegel, "is a picture of love and its pitiful fate in a world whose atmosphere is too rough for this tenderest blossom of human life. Two beings, created for each other, feel mutual love at first glance. Every consideration disappears before the irresistible influence of living in one another; they join themselves secretly, under circumstances hostile in the highest degree to their union, relying merely on the protection of an invisible power. By unfriendly events following blow upon blow, their heroic constancy is exposed to all manner of trials, till, forcibly separated from each other, by a voluntary death they are united in the grave to meet again in another world." Thus much of these unhappy lovers. To acknowledge that no tears were shed by us at Juliet's tomb might indicate an unpardonable degree of hard-hearted

ness

"For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

On this point, therefore, we leave our readers in the dark.

The founding of the city of Verona is assigned to the Gauls, but later the Romans held sway here. There is an amphitheater here in tolerable preserva

tion, supposed to have been erected about the year 284, under Diocletian. It is calculated that it would accommodate twenty-five thousand spectators seated and seventy thousand more standing. Its arcades are now occupied as traders' shops.

The most imposing monuments here to individuals are the tombs of the Scaligers, or della Scala family, who, from 1262 to 1389, were Presidents of the Republic of Verona; and a full-length marble statue of Dante on a lofty pedestal. Dante is represented in a long robe coming to his feet and closely buttoned over his chest, with a long cloak fastened closely around the neck-the left side hanging gracefully over his arm, while with his left hand, in which he also holds a half-closed book, the other side is raised in folds to his right elbow. On his head is a kind of skull-cap. Resting his right elbow on his left hand and the forefinger of his right hand against his chin, he appears in the attitude of listening or of meditation. His expression is stern and forbidding. This statue stands in the center of the Plazza del Signori, so called from its having been the place of residence of the Scaligers. We wish it were in our power to describe the tombs of the Scaligers. They consist of a number of Gothic structures situated in front of the little Church of Santa Maria l'Antica, and are very striking in their appearance. The ladder which forms the crest of the family "recurs frequently on the elaborately executed railings. The largest of these monuments is that of Can Signorio. It consists of a sarcophagus resting on a pedestal supported by columns of moderate height, over which rises a canopy crowned with an equestrian statue of the Prince. On the square column in the middle are six Christian Heroes; in niches higher up are the

Christian Virtues." Another sarcophagus also with a canopy and equestrian statue is that of Mastino III. Between these two principal monuments are four large sarcophagi, the first three dating from 1311. The last is that of Can Grande II., who was assassinated in the public streets by his brother, Can Signorio, in 1359. Over the church door are the sarcophagus and equestrian statue of Can Grande, Francesco della Scala; and adjoining it, on the wall of the church, those of Giovanni della Scala and Mastino I.

The two distinguished scholars, Julius Cæsar and his son, Joseph Justus Scaliger, claimed to be descendants of this famous Scala family. The father was born at Padua in 1484, and died at Agen, France, 1558. He was a doctor of medicine and philosopher, and was remarkable for his prodigious memory. Joseph (born at Agen, 1540, died in Leyden, 1609) was acquainted with all the languages, ancient and modern, and with the idioms of the East as well as of the West. His contemporaries called him "an abyss of erudition," "the ocean of sciences," "the last effort of Nature." His letters are spoken of as a veritable treasure. Hallam pronounced him and Isaac Casaubon "the two greatest scholars of the sixteenth century," and Niebuhr says of him that he "stood on the summit of universal solid philological learning in a degree that none have reached since." Whether descendants of the old lords of Verona or not, the names of Julius and Joseph Scaliger are handed down to us inscribed high on the scroll of scholastic history.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Matricolare is the most imposing of the churches. It dates back to the time of Charlemagne. Though bearing the marks

of age, some portions of it are still beautiful. Among the paintings is an "Assumption," by Titian; and of the monuments, one to the poet De Cesuris and one to Pope Lucius III., who was buried here when he died in 1185. There are several other fine churches here, but we did not take time to visit them all. Portions of the old walls and some of the old gateways of the city still stand as interesting relics of the old times; and we can go in no street or square here that we do not see more or less to attract our special attention. The river Adige, spanned by several fine bridges, runs rapidly through the city, the streets of which are liable to be sometimes overflowed by the rushing floods from the Alps, which now loom up near us covered with snow.

And gliding up her streets as in a dream,
So smoothly, silently — by many a dome,
Mosque-like, and many a stately portico,
The statues ranged along an azure sky;
By many a pile in more than Eastern pride,

Of all the evidence of merchant kings;

The fronts of some, though Time had shattered them,
Still glowing with the richest hues of art,

As though the wealth within them had run o'er."

THIS IS VENICE; but when Rogers wrote this

description the city was not approached by a railway. Now, on the western side, one of the main small islands of the city is connected with the mainland by the railroad from Padua and Verona-the distance from the shore about two miles by a bridge built on over two hundred arches across the lagoons which surround the city on all sides. We were safely landed on this little island at half past three on the afternoon of the 8th of November, having come in about four hours from Verona, our last stopping place. Officers of the customs were on hand to make the least possible examination of our luggage, and other officials in uniform handed us tickets for whichever conveyance-gondola or omnibus boat- we might choose to convey us to our hotel. Being a party of five, we chose an omnibus,