most brilliant in Rome.

The Eternal City is not as hospitable to various phases of modern
thought as is Florence, in which Theosophy, Christian Science, and
psychic investigation flourish with rapidly increasing ardor; but Rome
has a Theosophical Society, among whose leaders is the Baroness
Rosenkrans, the mother of the distinguished young Danish novelist, and
the aunt of Miss Roma Lister. The society has its rooms in the very
heart of old Rome, and holds weekly meetings, often with an English
lecturer as the speaker of the hour. A Theosophical library, in both
English and Italian, is easily accessible, and the meetings are
conducted in either language as it chances at the time. The accession of
Annie Besant to the presidency of the Theosophical Society, succeeding
Colonel Olcott, whose death occurred early in 1907, was most
satisfactory to the Roman members. Mrs. Besant is one of the most
remarkable women of the day. She is in no sense allied with any fads
or freaks; she is essentially a woman of scholarship and poise, of
genuine grasp of significant thought and of brilliant eloquence.
Theosophy, rightly interpreted, is in no sense antagonistic, but,
rather, supplemental to Christianity. It offers the intellectual
explanation--the details, so to speak--of the great spiritual truths of
the Bible.

Rome seems fairly on its way to become an English-speaking city, so
numerous are the Americans and English who throng to Rome in the winter.

There are now at least a dozen large new hotels on the scale of the best
modern hotels in New York and Paris, beside the multitude of the older
ones which are comfortable and retain all their popularity; yet this
increase in accommodation does not equal the increase in demand. In
February the tide of travel sets in toward Rome, and from that date
until after Easter every nook and niche are filled to overflowing. The
demand for apartments in Rome is greater than the supply, although the
city is being constantly extended and new buildings are rapidly being
erected. It would seem as if, with the present increasingly large number
of Americans and English, it might be an admirable financial enterprise
for capitalists to come and build comfortable modern apartment hotels.
There seems to be no adequate reason why, in this age, people should be
compelled to live in these gloomy, dreary, cold, old stone palaces,
without elevator service and with no adequate heating, lighting, and
running-wate