commonest sort of disaster at Cosenza. On the front of the new
edifice I found two inscriptions, both exulting over the fall of the
papal power; one was interesting enough to copy:--

"20 SEPT., 1870.
QUESTA DATA POLITICA
DICE FINITA LA TEOCRAZIA
NEGLI ORDINAMENTI CIVILI.
IL DI CHE LA DIRA FINITA
MORALMENTE
SARA LA DATA UMANA."

which signifies: "This political date marks the end of theocracy in
civil life. The day which ends its moral rule will begin the epoch
of humanity." A remarkable utterance anywhere; not least so within
the hearing of the stream which flows over the grave of Alaric.

One goes to bed early at Cosenza; the night air is dangerous, and--
Teatro Garibaldi still incomplete--darkness brings with it no sort
of pastime. I did manage to read a little in my miserable room by an
antique lamp, but the effort was dispiriting; better to lie in the
dark and think of Goth and Roman.

Do the rivers Busento and Crati still keep the secret of that "royal
sepulchre, adorned with the splendid spoils and trophies of Rome"?
It seems improbable that the grave was ever disturbed; to this day
there exists somewhere near Cosenza a treasure-house more alluring
than any pictured in Arabian tale. It is not easy to conjecture what
"spoils and trophies" the Goths buried with their king; if they
sacrificed masses of precious metal, then perchance there still lies