fields of stones, or turning over a furrow here and there with the hoe. There was a rough wildness in the scenery and a sharpness in the air, both of which Horace liked, although, as years advanced and his health grew more delicate, he had to leave it in the colder months for Tivoli or Baiae. He built a villa upon it, or added to one already there, the traces of which still exist. The farm gave employment to five families of free _coloni_, who were under the superintendence of a bailiff; and the poet's domestic establishment was composed of eight slaves. The site of the farm is at the present day a favourite resort of travellers, of Englishmen especially, who visit it in such numbers, and trace its features with such enthusiasm, that the resident peasantry, "who cannot conceive of any other source of interest in one so long dead and unsainted than that of co-patriotism or consanguinity," believe Horace to have been an Englishman [Footnote: Letter by Mr Dennis: Milman's 'Horace.' London, 1849. P. 109.]. What aspect it presented in Horace's time we gather from one of his Epistles (I. 16):-- "About my farm, dear Quinctius: You would know What sort of produce for its lord 'twill grow; Plough-land is it, or meadow-land, or soil For apples, vine-clad elms, or olive-oil? So (but you'll think me garrulous) I'll write A full description of its form and site. In long continuous lines the mountains run, Cleft by a valley, which twice feels the sun-- Once on the right, when first he lifts his beams; Once on the left, when he descends in steams. You'd praise the climate; well, and what d'ye say To sloes and cornels hanging from the spray? What to the oak and ilex, that afford Fruit to the cattle, shelter to their lord? What, but that rich Tarentum must have been Transplanted nearer Rome, with all its green? Then there's a fountain, of sufficient size To name the river that takes thence its rise-- Not Thracian Hebrus colder or more pure, Of power the head's and stomach's ills to cure. This sweet retirement--nay, 'tis more than sweet-- Insures my health even in September's heat." (C.) Here is what a last year's tourist found it:-- ('Pall Mall Gazette,'August 16, 1869.)