centuries had been a period of religious unrest and chaos. As
Archdeacon Wilberforce has so impressively said in the words quoted from
him, a life lived with no sense of the invisible is blind and
impoverished. The movement initiated by St. Francis proclaimed anew the
divine grace and love.

"Tokens are dead if the things live not. The light everlasting
Unto the blind is not, but is born of the eye that has vision."

Something not unlike this trend of thought must drift through the mind
of every one who journeys through the lovely Umbrian country to Assisi,
one of those picturesquely beautiful hill towns of Italy whose romantic
situation impresses the visitor. Seen from a little distance, one could
hardly imagine how it could be reached unless he were the fortunate
possessor of an airship. The entire region is most picturesque in
character. Journeying from Rome to Assisi there is a constant ascent
from the Campagna to the Apennines, and the road passes through wild
defile and valley with amethyst peaks shining fair against the sky, with
precipitous rocks, and the dense growth of oak and pine trees. In some
places the valley is so narrow that the hills, on either side, rise
almost within touch of the hand from the car window. The hill towns are
frequent, and the apex of these towns is invariably crowned with a
castle, a cathedral, or a ruin, and around it, circling in terraces, is
built the town. The charm largely vanishes when fairly in these circling
roads, for on either side are high walls, so that one's view is
completely bounded by them; but from the summit and from the upper
floors of the houses the most beautiful views are obtained. The Umbrian
region, in which are located Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Foligno, Spoleto,
Terni, Narni, and others, is simply the gem region of all Italy. The
Umbrians are the most ancient of the Italian people, and Assisi claims
to have been founded eight hundred and sixty-five years before the
founding of Rome. It was the scene of constant warfare, and the streets
are all underlaid by subterranean passages, in which the inhabitants
could disappear from their enemies.

To this ancient Umbrian city, from which went out the life and light
that carried wonderful currents of vitality and illumination to all
Italy and into almost all parts of the world, one comes as to a special
and a sacred pilgrimage. For this mediaeval town, perched on the top of a
rocky hill, is the birthplace of S