"The Word was made flesh." A broken column suspended from the roof indicates1 the supposed place where the Blessed Virgin was kneeling when Gabriel-God's chosen messengerappeared before her.

2. Here were spoken those words in which she accepted her sacred mission, and with it her share in the sufferings of the redemption: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word." Words as fruitful as the first "Fiat" pronounced by the Creator when, in His omnipotence, He made the worid; for by her humble acquiescence 3 in the divine will, she consented to the conception by the Holy Ghost in her immaculate womb of the Creator Himself, made man. Here lived St. Joachim and St. Anne; here St. Joseph; here, in a word, was the home of the Holy Family. Here our Lord, after His return from Egypt, lived thirty years of that sacred hidden life; here "He was subject to them," living in the profoundest submission to His virgin mother and His supposed father. And this place, where the great mystery of the Incarnation was accomplished-what was it but a poor humble home in a quiet village of a land reduced to the condition of a petty province of the great Roman empire? Nay, mōre, even in this land Nazareth had become a by-word of contempt and reproach!

3. High Mass was over, when the Father Guardian came to propose to our travelers to visit the other spots which make Nazareth a place of such deep and thrilling interest to every reader of the Sacred Gospels. Their first visit was to the synagogue, where our divine Lord, having read in the Book of the Prophet Isaias the words regarding Himself, sat down and expounded them to the people, who "wondered at the gracious words which proceeded from His mouth." This synagogue is now converted into a Greek church, supposed to have been built by Tancred, who was Prince of Galilee during the temporary Christian occupation of the Holy Land. From the synagogue they passed on to St. Joseph's workshop, now a little chapel rudely furnished, but where Mass is daily said by one of

1 In'di cātes, points out; shows; denotes.

'Fi'at, let it be done.

mission; compliance.

4 Syn'a gogue, a building or place appropriated to the religious wor

3 Ac qui és′cence, cheerful sub- ship of the Jews.

the Franciscan Fathers. From thence they walked to the table or rock called "Mensa Christi," "The table of Christ," where our Lord is said to have dined with His disciples bōth before and after the Resurrection. It is on the summit of the city, and a tiny chapel has been erected close to the stōne.

4. The Father Guardian then led the way to the Fountain of the Madonna, which is situated at the eastern entrance of the town, and is the only spring of fresh, good water existing in Nazareth. Here, by undisputed tradition,1 the Blessed Virgin daily came during those thirty years. Here, again, must her divine Son have constantly accompanied her. Groups of women now, as then, were filling their pitchers at the fountain, and dressed precisely as the Blessed Virgin is always represented by the early masters-in red dresses and blue drapery, a white square cloth covering the head.

5. In every walk, at every turn in the streets, or on the hills, or in those flowery valleys, one seems to realize the presence of both the Mother and the Son. It was revealed to St. Bridget that the rough men of sequestered Nazareth, when they were sad, used to say, "Let us go and see Mary's Son !"-so wonderful was the reflection of His beauty and holiness; so exquisite His sympathy; so keen in Him was every natural human feeling; so wonderful His thought for all! In the beautiful words of a modern traveler, "Nazareth was the nursery of One whose mission was to meet man and man's deepest needs on the platform of commonplace daily life;" and every step of that daily life" becomes ennobled in the thought of Him who trod the same päth.

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II.

82. HUGO, MARQUIS OF TUSCANY.

PART FIRST.

`LORENCE was not always the beautiful city which she became under the fostering care of the lavish and splendid

1Tra di'tion, knowledge or belief ration to another, without the aid of transmitted orally from one gene- written memorials.

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Medici,1 nor was the valley of the Arno always a smiling field of olives, vines, oranges, and flowers, studded here and there with gorgeous villas and elegant casinos.2 The envi'rons of Florence, now so beautiful and so populous, were covered with thick and tangled wild-wood in the days when our story begins. The light of the sun, as it fell upon the silent soil, was broken and checkered by the branches of a primeval forest, and the huntsman often dismounted and warily led his steed through briery copsewood, or across marshy meadowland, traversed only by narrow and straggling päths. Along one of these rustic avenues, somewhat broader and straighter than the rest, a noble horseman rode slowly one sultry summer åft'ernoon.

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2. He had followed the chase, which was his favorite pastime, through the wilds of Valdarno, for several hours, until, 'panting from the heat of the season, weary of exertion, and parched with thirst, he paced gently along in hope of hearing a grateful promise of refreshment in the song of some lonely cottager or the bubbling sound of a mountain rill. The noble mien and lofty bearing of the cavalier would have led to the conclusion that he was a person of rank and consequence; nor did his distinguished appearance belie him, for he was the Marquis Hugo, Lord of Florence and its seigniory. He was led onward, on the occasion we speak of, without being himself aware of the fact, by a heavenly guide. Wholesome warning was much needed by the erring prince for his own good and for the good of his vassals; and he was on that day to receive it.

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3. The marquis was the grandson of the renowned Hugo of Provence, second king of Italy, after the downfall of the Em

1 Medici (měd'e che), a distinguished family, prominent in the history of Florence from the close of the thirteenth century until 1737, when it became extinct. Under one of the Medici, Lorenzo the Magnificent (born January 1, 1448; died April 8, 1492) Florence reached the highest pitch of wealth and prosperity which it ever attained.

2 Casino (ka se'no), a small country-house.

* En vi'rons, the parts or places

which surround another place, or lie in its neighborhood.

4 Checkered, broken into crosslines.

5 Copse'wood, a wood of small growth.

6 Val darʼno, the valley of the Arno.

'Cǎv'a lier, a military man serving on horseback; a knight.

8 Seigniory (sen'yur y), a lord ship; a domain.

'Err'ing, mistaken; sinful.

peror Berengarius. He was a powerful chief, a gallant soldier, and during the early part of his career he delighted in the practice of every virtue becoming a Christian prince. The teaching and example of a pious mother, to whom he was fondly attached, had impressed themselves at an early age upon his generous heart, and none more so than her often repeated injunetion that he should ever be faithful in his devotion to Mary. Deeply and sincerely did the young prince mourn his bereavement when his affectionate parent was called from the scenes of her virtuous life upon earth to receive a well-earned crown in heaven. His loss was even greater than the young nobleman fairly understood it to be. For when the gentle voice of his mother had ceased to breathe the timely warnings which had hitherto guided his steps, he began little by little to swerve from the straight päth along which duty is present and certain at every point, while happiness may be reached only at the journey's end.

4. Hugo changed rapidly, and for the worse. Yet such is the inconsistency of human nature that, although he soon neglected and forgot the counsels of his mother concerning the fulfillment of the ordinary practices of Christian virtue, he cherished what was most pure and refined in the course she wished him to pursue a constant love and devotion toward the Queen of angels and virgins. The daily increase of influence and power, the noisy occupations of medieval warfare, and the society of worthless associates, depraved the young prince to such a degree that nothing was left save veneration for her name, and the practice of certain devotions in her honor, to distinguish him from the crowd of ruthless 2 and corrupt chieftains who lorded it over Italy in the time in which he lived. He became a heartless oppressor of his people, and the excesses of his private life were the scandal of all who had access to the court. Such was the conduct of the noble marquis, who professed tender devotion toward the Blessed Virgin, and who now rode along through the forests of Valdarno, cursing the heat of the season and the thirst which parched his lips after the labors of the chase.

1 Mē'di e'val, of, or relating to, the middle ages.

2 Ruth'less, having no ruth or pity; cruel.

5. Suddenly and unexpectedly a person met him on his way, and what was his delight when he perceived that it was a woman, bearing in her hands a salver of the freshest and most delicious fruits. It was a little mound of autumnal treasures, such as Domenichino 1 or Carracci 2 loved to paint to the life, and such as the traveler beholds in the banquet-halls of Italian villas, as he gazes with astonishment at a counterfeit that stands forth from the canvas more real than reality, more natural than nature itself. Piled up before the eyes of the prince, dying of thirst, there were slices of fresh watermelon, large ripe

1581; died in Naples, April 15, 1641. ? Caracci (kä rät'chee).