ods and anything that withstood
them. The air glittered with frequent lightning, the sky thundered,
and terrific thunder-bolts fell from the clouds.... The night was
pitch dark, though the flashes of lightning were continuous.'

And of a lake at rest he says:

'The beauty of that lake is remarkable; everywhere it is surrounded
by high rocks, the water is transparently clear. Nature, so far
superior to art, provided a most pleasant journey. The Nemorian lake,
with its crystal-clear waters, reflects the faces of those that look
into it, and fills a deep basin. The descent from the top to the
bottom is wooded. The poetic genius would never be awakened if it
slept here; you would say it was the dwelling-place of the Muses, the
home of the Nymphs, and, if there is any truth in legends, the
hiding-place of Diana.'

He visited the lakes among the mountains, climbing and resting under
the trees; the view from Monte Cavo was his favourite, from which he
could see Terracina, the lakes of Nemi and Albano, etc. He noted
their extent and formation, and added:

'The genista, however, was especially delightful, covering, as it did
with its flowers, the greater part of the plains. Then, moreover,
Rome presented itself fully to the eyes, together with Soracte and
the Sabine Land, and the Apennine range white with snow, and Tibur
and Praeneste.'

It is clear that it was a thoroughly modern enthusiasm which
attracted AEneas Sylvius to the country and gave him this ready pen
for everything in Nature--everything, that is, except bare mountain
summits.

It is difficult to attribute this faculty for enjoying and describing
scenery to the influence of antiquity alone, for, save the younger
Pliny, I know of no Roman under the Empire who possessed it, and,
besides, we do not know how far Pius II. was acquainted with Roman
literature. We know that the re-awakening of classic literature
exerted an influence upon the direction of the feeling for Nature in
general, and, for the rest, very various elements coalesced. Like
times produce like streams of tendency, and Hellenism, the Roman
Empire, and the Renaissance were alike to some extent in the
conditions of their existence and the results that flowed from them;
the causal nexus between them is undeniable, and makes them the chief
stepping-stones on the way to the modern.

Theocritus, Meleager, Petrarch, and AEneas Sylvius may serve as
representatives of the development of the feeling for