those days of
constant warfare; but as civilization advanced, the city of Florence
began to grow up on the banks of the Arno and to cover the valley at the
base of the paternal settlement, until, to-day, it has a population of
about a hundred and fifty thousand. It did not assume any importance
until the time of Charlemagne, from which period it grew rapidly in
numbers and in prosperity of trade, its early and long-continued
specialty being the manufacture of Etruscan jewelry and mosaics; the
latter business, especially, having descended from father to son until
it has reached the present time. One may now purchase in the Florentine
shops the finest specimens of the art to be found in all Europe.

The square of St. Croce receives its name from the remarkable church of
Santa Croce which is located here, and which is the Italian Pantheon or
Westminster Abbey, where rest the ashes of Alfieri, Machiavelli,
Galileo, and a score of equally historic names. What a galaxy of great
poets, artists, statesmen, and philosophers are here sleeping in their
winding-sheets. Another fine square is that of the Piazza della
Annunziata, in which is situated the church of the same name, a
foundling hospital, and an equestrian statue of Ferdinand I. by John of
Bologna. The Piazza della Signoria is the busiest place in Florence,
containing also some remarkable buildings, as well as statues,
fountains, and colonnades. The fine tower of one of the Boston city
churches is copied from the lofty campanile, or bell-tower, of the
Vecchio Palace, now occupied as the city hall, and which forms the most
striking object in this interesting centre.

The hills which overlook Florence are indeed classic ground. Here
Catiline conspired, and Milton wrote; here Michael Angelo occupied his
studio, and Galileo conducted his discoveries, while here, also,
Boccaccio wrote his famous love tales. These hillsides are dotted with
beautiful villas, mostly owned by foreigners drawn hither in search of
health, or the study of art. No other city in the world, not excepting
Rome, affords such extended facilities for the latter purpose. Those
great depositories of art, the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, are
perhaps unequalled, having within their walls over a thousand paintings,
each one of which is meritorious, and many of which are hardly
surpassed, if they are equalled. Raphael, Murillo, Titian, Michael
Angelo, Paul Veronese, Velasquez, and like masters of art are