on account of some tradition about St Benedict, and
perhaps still more as forming a kind of oasis on the barren, bare
mountain-side. Armed guards have to be placed at night around this wood,
to save it from the depredations of the peasantry; every tree belonging
to the convent and not guarded was sure to be cut down. No one, so my
informant told me, would believe the sums of money the convent had spent
of late on charity, and how for this purpose even their daily supplies of
food had been curtailed; but alas! it was only like pouring water into a
sieve, for the people were poorer than ever. I own that when the old
priest pointed out the number of churches and convents you could see in
the valley below, and spoke, with regret, of the time when there were
twelve convents round Subiaco alone, I felt that the cause of this
hopeless misery was not far to seek, though hard to remedy.

On my way homewards to the town I beheld the half dozen sky-rockets which
composed the display of fire-works, and also the two rows of oil-lamps on
the cornices over the church-door, which formed the brilliant
illuminations. Neither sight seemed to collect much crowd or create much
excitement. As the dusk came on the streets emptied fast, and by night-
time the town was almost deserted; and, except that the wine-shops were
still filled with a few hardened topers, every sign of the fair had
vanished. There was not even a trace of drunkenness apparent. The next
morning the same scene was repeated with little difference, save that the
crowd was rather greater, and a band of military music played in the
market-place. About noon the holy procession was seen coming down the
winding road which leads from the convent to the town. I had taken up my
position on a roadside bank, and enjoyed a perfect view. There were a
number of shabby flags and banners preceded by a hundred able-bodied men
dressed in dirty-white surplices, rather dirtier than the colour of their
faces. A crowd of ragged choristers followed swinging incense-pots,
droning an unintelligible chant, and fighting with each other. Then came
a troop of monks and scholars with bare heads and downcast eyes. All
these walked in twos and twos, and carried a few crucifixes raised aloft.
The monks were succeeded by a pewter-looking bust, which, I suppose, was
a likeness of St Benedict, and the bust was followed by a mule, on which,
in a snuff-coloured coat, black tights, white neckcloth, an