t have conceived, nor do I ever wish
again to see so disgusting a sight. The foolish fellow who invented this
plan of satisfying an Italian beggar's appetite found to his sorrow that,
instead of thanks, he obtained curses and an increase of importunity....

"After dinner we again walked to Genzano, whither we found were going
great multitudes of every class; elegant equipages and _vetture_ racing
with each other; donkeys and horses and foot travellers; and not among
the least striking were the numbers of women, some of whom were
splendidly dressed, all riding on horseback, a foot in each stirrup, and
riding with as much ease and fine horsemanship as the men.

"When we arrived at Genzano the decoration of the streets had commenced.
Two of the principal and wide streets ascend a little, diverging from
each other, from the left side of the common street which goes through
the village. The middle of these streets was the principal scene of
decoration. On each side of the centre of the street, leaving a
good-sized sidewalk, were pillars at a distance of eight or nine feet
from each other composed of the evergreen box and tufted at the top with
every variety of flowers. They were in many places also connected by
festoons of box. The pavement of the street between the pillars in both
streets, and for a distance of at least one half a mile, was most
exquisitely figured with flowers of various colors, looking like an
immense and gorgeously figured carpet.

"The devices were in the following order which I took note of on the
spot: first, a temple with four columns of yellow flowers (the flower of
the broom) containing an altar on which was the Holy Sacrament. In the
pediment of the temple a column surmounted by a halfmoon, which is the
arms of the Colonna family. Second was a large crown. Third, the Holy
Sacrament again with various rich ornaments. Fourth, stars and circles.
Fifth, a splendid coat-of-arms as accurate and rich as if emblazoned in
permanent colors, with a cardinal's hat and a shield with the words
_'prudens'_ and _'fidelis'_ upon it."

There were twenty of these wonderful floral decorations on the pavement
of one street and fourteen on that of the other and all are described in
the notes, but I have particularized enough to show their character. The
journal continues:--

"All these figures were as elegantly executed as if made for permanency,
some with a minuteness truly astonishing. Among other decorations of