Lina Duff Gordon

"C' tait le temps des guerres sans piti et des inimiti s mortelles." H. Taine. Voyage en Italie. Perouse et Assise. All who ascend the hill of the Seraphic City must feel its indescribable charm-intangible, mysterious, and quite distinct from the beauty of the Umbrian valley. "Why," we ask ourselves, "this stillness and sense of marvellous peace in every church and every street?" And, as though conscious of our thoughts, a young Assisan, with a gesture of infinite sadness towards the large, desolate palaces and broad deserted streets, said, as we lingered on our way: "Ah Signore mie, our city is a city of the dead-of memories only."