ower is attributed
to witchcraft or evil spirits. In the very ancient frescoes of San
Miniato there is one in which the devil causes a wall or tower to fall
down and crush a young monk. What confirms the legend, or its antiquity,
is that the original bell-tower of San Miniato actually fell down in
1499. The other then built was saved from a similar fate by the genius
of Michael Angelo Buonarotti, who built a bank of earth to support it.

"_Haec fabula_ of the head of San Miniato," wrote the immortal
Flaxius on the proof, "teaches that he who would get round a priest
in small trickery must arise uncommonly early--nay, in most cases
'twould be as well not to go to bed at all--especially when dunning
is 'on the tap.' Concerning which word _dun_ it is erroneously
believed in England to have been derived from the name of a certain
Joseph Dunn, who was an indefatigable collecting bailiff. But in
very truth 'tis from the Italian _donare_, to give oneself up to
anything with ardour--to stick to it; in accordance with which,
_donar guanto_, or to give the glove, means to promise to pay or give
security. And if any philologist differs from me in opinion as to
this, why then--_let_ him diff! Which magnanimously sounding
conclusion, when translated according to the spirit of most who utter
it, generally means:

"Let him be maledict, excommunicate, and damnated _ad inferos--in
saecula saeculorum_!--twice over!"

THE FRIAR'S HEAD OF SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE--THE LADY WHO CONFESSED FOR
EVERYBODY--HOLY RELICS

"He who speaks from a window or a pulpit, or the top of a good name
or any high place, should speak wisely, if he speak at all, unto
those who pass."

The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore "remounts," as the Italians say, or
can be traced back to 700 A.D., but it was enlarged and renewed by the
architect Bueno in the twelfth century, and according to Pitre it was the
germ of a new style of architecture which we find much refined
(_ringentilata_) in Santa Maria del Fiore. "There were, regarding its
bell-tower, which no longer exists, many tales and curious anecdotes,
which might form a part of a fine collection of local legends." There is
still to-day on the wall above the little side-door facing the Via de'
Conti, a much worn head of stone, coming out of a round cornice, which is
in all probability the one referred to in the following legen