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of fair Italy, the people, weary of its false promises, will turn again unhindered to those principles, which have made their country the delight of the poet and the artist no less than the saint: and the fraticelli will gather round 'Francesco's ' shrine once more, and chant their litanies of intercession.

It is sweet to linger over spots on which such holy flowers have heen gathered: it makes one happy in the fancy, that if one looks with faith and earnestness enough, one may yet see them garlanding the way-side shrines of the whole of central Italy, and casting their wreaths over many a sweet spot beyond. It is one of the special delights of foreign travel, that the unbroken tradition of the cultus of the Saints is continually uniting us with the unseen world, and with the holy and strong ones of old. It makes the memory of one's journeys like the memory of glimpses of Paradise. It is not only that the fields, the forests, the flora, the mountains, the sky, the very air, have a purity and depth of colouring, which seem not of this earth-but it is that the supernatural peers through all this: there are no more mists-Nature no longer veils Divinity-it becomes the very temple and shrine of God dwelling among men.

There are shrines in our own country too, and saintly memories, but the weeds and the desolate dust are spread' over them; and the effort of tracing them out fills us with the melancholy boding that the glory is departed. In the south, they come before us without an effort the incense of veneration is still around them; we have not to argue, and plead the right to kneel? and believe: the throng is kneeling already, and we, the weakest in faith among them. Nor need we go out of our way to seek them: I remember no journey to Italy in which undesigned coincidences have not brought me across some fragrant memory of the Fioretti di S. Francesco; so numerous are they, that you must fall in with their celebration somewhere. Even as far off from the Val di Spoleto as Chambéry, and resting there only for a single night's halt, preparatory to the diligence-crossing of Mont Cenis, I remember once wandering into a distant church for Mass before an early start; I found all the surrounding village population and a great many of the townspeople diligently assembling, all with a noble lily branch in their hands, which they held aloft during the singing of the Gospel, converting the whole area into a garden of lilies;' the sight and the scent were equally charming. Afterwards, they walked in procession down by the river, still holding their lilies, and singing hymns of thanksgiving. It was S. Antony of Padua's Day, and the grateful people were keeping up the memory of a benefit conferred on their forefathers by that fervent son of Francesco,' in staying the tide of an inundation which once threatened their town,

The iron road is now carried over the plain whence Francesco' breathed his last blessing on Assisi; it skirts the places which his holy knees pressed, on the heights of Perugia; it threads the bank of Lake Thrasimene, where he was wont to walk, discoursing of God, with his disciples, as anon the Saviour by the Sea of Galilee; but the appreciating love of his fellow-countrymen has so covered the face of the country with the tokens of his presence, from the majestic dome and campanile, to the rustic way-side chapel; and so imbued its life with the thought of him, from the lofty verses of the noblest of poets, to the rough rhyme of the anonymous versifier of the people-that all the clouds of steam and smoke are powerless to conceal them.

1 Even since the above was written it has already so far received fulfilment, that the Franciscan habit is no longer proscribed; and some of the dispossessed monks, in Sicily at least, have had the courage to resume it.

2 e. g. The annual conflict in Westminster Abbey on S. Edward the Confessor's day.

3 Thirteenth of June. I have selected this instance for mention because it is one of the most pleasing; and yet I never happened to meet with anyone who knew of it.

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¢, u{ a* ཀྭ་ PART 49.

The groves seem still to hide his coarse-clad girdled figure, wandering with his fair one by his side, 'questi amanti, Francesco e Povertà.'1 There seems nothing incongruous in the fancy, that if we take a little boat, and row over to the Isola Maggiore, we should still find him keeping the long Lenten fast among the thorny bushes, and eating nothing all the forty days but that one half loaf, out of humility, lest his fast should be compared with his Lord's." And when the discordant shriek of the steam-whistle rouses you from the vision of this 'poverel' di Dio,' in which you have passed the night-journey through supernatural Umbria,' and you open your eyes to the early April sun, enameling mountain, lake, and sky, with pearly tints of rose and mauve and silver, it only wakes you to carry your gaze onward to Mount Alvernia-the rock which was cloven asunder in terror at the Passion of the Son of God3-and to make you fancy it yet bathed in the opal light the Seraph may have shed abroad when he came to imprint upon the body of the Saint, himself tutto serafico in adore, the marks of the Lord Jesus;' until you almost look to see after it, as did the shepherds and mule-drivers of that mysterious morning, the rising of an ordinary sun-a grey colourless sunrise, or a gaudy garish sunrise, such as you have known sunrise heretofore to be-at least something less intolerably beautiful than this!

46

A further, and not the least, improvement to be derived from the study of the Fioretti, is the help they afford in making acquaintance with, and appreciating, the Umbrian School of Art, as well as many paintings of other Schools during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The mysterious attitudes and combinations which have puzzled us in our visits to the sanctuaries-now, since the barbarous spoliation of altar-pieces, we must say the galleries-of Italy have here their key. Esthetically, it constitutes all the difference between the enjoyment of a beautiful melody when you hear it as an isolated composition, or when you know its place in the libretto of its opera. But, religiously speaking, it is much more than this. It is all the difference between the critical maybe, but probably mistaken, judgement of the production of the pencil, and the perception and contemplation of those glimpses of the actual presence of soul and mind and invisible spirit, beaming out through the human form, which it was given to the artist during two or three centuries to reveal, and then the gift was repealed. But the gift, while it lasted, has left recorded proofs of those disputed existences, more convincing than all the arguments of the schools.

So far, I have spoken of the Fioretti only under their legendary aspect; if not altogether necessary, it is perhaps wise, to add a line concerning their teaching, addressed to those who might be led either to censure it lightly, or follow it literally —and that line shall be merely to call attention to the distinction between commands, and counsels of perfection; between the 'better' which is proposed as the saintly aim of the few, and the 'well' which is the still difficult standard of the many. Many acts, beautiful in the life of a saint, would be injudicious and out of place in those of a different calling. There are in all ages of the world simple souls, who, while still walking the earth, appear yet to live in a higher sphere-who seem above the laws and conditions of Nature, and who-secure in their faith and confident in their hope and overflowing in the abundance of their charity-may act in a way which would be the merest extravagance in those to whom it is not given to be thus intimate with the secrets of the kingdom of Heaven. We can but stand by and adore the ways of God in such—enough if we can but feebly trace the spring which motived

1 Paradiso, xi. 73.

Fioretti. Part II. § 2, p. 185.

2 Fioretti. Part I. chap. vii. p. 29-31.

4 Paradiso, xi. 36.

5 Fioretti, p. 201.

The story of the imposition of the Stigmata is told at length in the Fioretti, p. 173-236.

their course. But we may not judge them by our ordinary standard; nor shall we be wise-even while we try in our poor far-off way to emulate something of their spirit-in selecting their isolated acts for imitation.

This key must be borne in mind in dwelling on such a work as the Fioretti; andI cannot forbear adding-most especially in such legends as those relating to Frate Ginepro,' whose exceeding naïveté it is not easy to admire. The practical piety of Frate Egidio, on the other hand, will readily recommend itself to readers of our age.

2

And now, 'one word more,' as to the literary character of the Fioretti.' It seems to me to recommend itself, especially to the student, by its brevity and purity of expression. It is easily understood, because there is no elaborate involution of phraseology-no striving after the grand in style; the descriptions are grand and striking, without being exaggerated-and minute enough to be graphic, without being trivial. There is an enthusiasm about its diction, which is at times commanding, and at times exceedingly pathetic, but never fanatical; while its vocabulary is always decorous and well selected.

When the humble and unknown frate was placing on record the acts of his Order, in a spirit of evangelic charity towards it and towards the world-a charity which dictated the choice of an evangelic simplicity of expression-it probably never occurred to him that he was helping to build up the written language of his country, no less than its history, its poetry, its art, and its religion; but it would seem that such is the case; and the preface to the edition indicated, following the opinion expressed by Cesari, declares it one of the most important as well as earliest of classic works of the Italian tongue.3

(To be continued.)

R. H. B.

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE CAMBRIDGE EXAMINATIONS FOR WOMEN.

Dear Mr. Editor,

It may not be known to some of your readers, that the University of Cambridge has extended its Local Examinations from girls under eighteen to women over that age. The first Examination for Women' was held last July, in London and Leeds; and of the thirty-six candidates who entered, twenty-five passed. It is a curious fact, that the greatest proportion of failures was in two subjects which are accounted especially feminine, viz. Music and Drawing. Almost as large a proportion failed in Divinity, and several in Arithmetic; but in English History, Literature, and Composition, the whole of the candidates satisfied the examiners. In French, German, and Political Economy, there was also great success. It is hoped that next July the examination will be held in Manchester, as well as London and Leeds; and if another centre could be formed at Bristol or Exeter, there would then be a place of examination within easy access from all parts of England.

The Examination is divided into groups. Group A includes Religious Knowledge,

1 Fioretti, p. 236-259.

2 Fioretti, p. 260-273.

3 Some judicious foot-notes distributed through the volume serve to point out the etymology of the few expressions which have ceased to be in use, or have modified their sense in modern times.

Arithmetic, English History, English Literature, and Composition; B, Languages; C, Mathematics; D, Moral Science; E, Natural Science; and F, Art. No classlist is published; and the Examinations are conducted under the superintendence of a lady, with all possible privacy. Those who pass in group A, and in at least one other group, receive a certificate; but the authorities encourage the plan of taking group A only the first year; and the marks gained are carried towards a certificate, which can be tried for subsequently.

As I was myself a candidate, I can assure your readers that the ordeal was not as formidable as the idea of an University Examination at first sight appears. All the candidates were very much interested in the work, and thoroughly in earnest; and I noticed no signs of undue fatigue or exhaustion at the end of the day.

To give an impetus to this scheme, it is to be hoped that some women of real cultivation of mind will enter as candidates, if only for the sake of the example to others, who on their own account alone would not do so; and very earnestly do I commend the advantages of two or three years steady reading, with the stimulus and the test of the examination at the end of every twelvemonth, to the consideration of young girls who have just left school, or the school-room. Froin eighteen to twenty-one is, as a rule, a period in a woman's life of great leisure, and no great usefulness; and this time cannot be better employed than in gaining intellectual culture. A group may be taken each year, for three or four years, and the girl who does this will have acquired a fund of knowledge, which will enable her to do her future life-work more thoroughly and more perfectly, because more intelligently. A certificate will give a professional teacher a right to demand a rate of remuneration, which has hitherto been but rarely earned by a governess. She will thus be enabled to lay by some little store for the time when she can no longer work, and not have to depend on the dole of Benevolent Societies for the support of declining years, as is now too often the case.

Let me advise any of your readers, who think of trying their luck next July, to begin at once, and read steadily three hours a-day, and, warned by the failures of last year, to give a large portion of this time to Divinity and Arithmetic. They must also learn to write at a great pace, (an accomplishment gained by boys in writing impositions,) for otherwise a candidate, however well informed, cannot produce her knowledge in the allotted time. In History and Literature, it is well to throw one's strength on a period of, say, two or three centuries, as diffuseness in reading is a frequent cause of failure; and let me remind them that there is everything to gain, and nothing to lose, in making the attempt. Even the candidate who fails, has the satisfaction of feeling, that after all she must be a little less ignorant than before she began her preparations. And to a woman of any intellectual vigour, the pleasure of wide and systematized reading is in itself considerable.

'The reward is in the doing,' if in nothing more.

Copies of regulations, the list of books, and other information, can be obtained by writing to

Or,

MISS WILSON, HILARY PLACE, LEEDS.

MISS E. BONHAM Carter, RavensBOURNE, BECKENHam, Kent.

I am, &c.,

ONE WHO PASSED.

THE INVALID KITCHEN, SOHO.

My dear Mr. Editor,

Two years ago, you were kind enough to receive an appeal from me on behalf of the Invalid Kitchen, in Soho. That winter it was enabled to give upwards of sixteen thousand dinners, between October 29th and April 6th, and to continue relief to cases of actual sickness throughout the whole of the following summer; and even this fell far short of the necessities of the surrounding district. But last year, I regret to say, the subscriptions were greatly diminished, and amounted to little more than half of those in the preceding twelve months; and at the present time the usual winter dinners cannot be begun, owing to want of funds. As I said in my former letter, the Invalid Kitchen was set on foot some years ago by Mrs. Gladstone; and by the kind permission of the Council, has been carried on in an unused room at the House of Charity. Although subscribers may obtain tickets, and give them to anyone they please, yet it is naturally only those living in the immediate neighbourhood who can send cases in this way for relief, and therefore those principally benefited by the Invalid Kitchen are the inhabitants of the adjoining parishes of St. Anne's and St. Mary's, Soho. In the parish of St. Mary's alone there are six thousand poor, a number which of course falls far short of those in many larger parishes; but then they have also wealthy inhabitants, who can support the local charities: while in St. Mary's all help has to be begged from outside. I must not trespass on your space now by attempting to give any account of the efforts made to stem the torrent of poverty and sin among its destitute inhabitants; though I should only be too glad if you would allow me to do so in a subsequent letter: my present object is to plead for the Invalid Kitchen, which, always valuable, is more than ever needed now. The fever, which has been long increasing throughout London, has now assumed so serious a form, that the most careless and indifferent are becoming alarmed. At present, as may be seen by the newspaper reports, medical men are of opinion that what is called 'Relapsing,' or 'Famine Fever,' may be completely stamped out by proper sanitary precautions, and good food. Humanly speaking, these remedies would generally be found sufficient; but though the proper sanitary regulations will probably be enforced by the authorities, they will be ineffectual, unless the poor can obtain better food than their own means could supply, especially at a time of year when a majority in the poorer districts are out of work. It is to meet this urgent need that help is now earnestly solicited; and those willing to give it, need have no fear of their contributions being mis-applied, as with the exception of the few tickets applied for by subscribers, and distributed on their own responsibility, no relief is given, except on tickets given by the district visitors, after a careful personal investigation of each case. The average cost of each dinner appears to be about threepence; but in some cases of actual illness, wine or brandy is even more necessary than food, and this adds greatly to the expense, and, in fact, can only be procured when the subscriptions are unusually liberal.

Before concluding, perhaps I may be allowed to mention two other undertakings, which have in some degree grown out of the Invalid Kitchen. Two years ago, a plan was formed for giving each of the boys in the Ragged Industrial School two dinners a-week through the winter. This has been continued as far as possible to the present time, and supported partly by special subscriptions, but principally by scraps contributed from the tables of the rich. This year, a sick-children's dinnertable has been established; a good dinner being given twice a-week in the girls' school to those children in the various schools who are found to be most in need of

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