ck is still shown as the place where St. John resided. "In and
around it," says Mr. Turner, "the Greeks have dressed up one of their
tawdry churches; and on the same site is a school attached to the
church, in which a few children are taught reading and writing."

[Illustration: PATMOS.]

Patmos used to be a famous resort of pirates. Dr. Clarke, after
describing with enthusiasm the splendid scene which he witnessed in
passing by Patmos, with feelings naturally excited by all the
circumstances of local solemnity, and "the evening sun behind the
towering cliffs of Patmos, gilding the battlements of the Monastery of
the Apocalypse with its parting rays; the consecrated island, surrounded
by inexpressible brightness, seeming to float upon an abyss of fire,
while the moon, in milder splendour, was rising full over the opposite
expanse," proceeds to remark, "How very different were the reflections
caused upon leaving the deck, by observing a sailor with a lighted match
in his hand, and our captain busied in appointing an extraordinary watch
for the night, as a precaution against the pirates who swarm in these
seas." These wretches, as dastardly as they were cruel, the instant they
boarded a vessel, put every individual of the crew to death. They lurked
about the isle of Fouri, to the north of Patmos, in great numbers,
taking possession of bays and creeks the least frequented by other
mariners. After they had plundered a ship, they bored a hole through her
bottom, and took to their boats again. The knights of Malta were said to
be amongst the worst of these robbers. In the library of the Monastery,
which is built on the top of a mountain, and in the middle of the chief
town, may be seen bulls from two of the Popes, and a protection from the
Emperor Charles the Sixth, issued to protect the island from their
incursions.

Though deficient in trees, Patmos now abounds in flowering plants and
shrubs. Walnuts and other fruit trees grow in the orchards; and the wine
of Patmos is the strongest and best flavoured of any in the Greek
islands. The view of Patmos from the highest point is said to be very
curious. The eye looks down on nothing but mountains below it; and the
excessive narrowness of the island, with the curious form of its coast,
have an extraordinary appearance.

* * * * *

SHAKSPEARE.

[Illustration: Letter M.]

Memorable in the history of genius is the 23rd of April, as bein