SECRETARY'S REPORT. 269 



and the track is resorted to as a substitute, as a place to show 

 off to best advantage the many fine points of the young ladies 

 and the young gentlemen who are too glad to avail themselves 

 of its superior facilities. 



Another grand opportunity is afforded at the villa Pallavicino, 

 a beautiful elevated pleasure-ground, adorned witii temples, 

 ruins, Swiss chalets and pagodas, among groves of laurel and 

 other graceful trees, rocks, lakes and hills, giving the finest 

 prospect imaginable to the curving, half moon harbor, and so 

 off over the blue waters of the sea. As you pass through the 

 pretty artificial grotto made of the most gorgeous stalactites, 

 you come out upon a little lake of clear, crystal water, sur- 

 rounded by obelisks and other ornamental structures, rare 

 flowers and seats of porcelain, jets from unseen fountains and 

 marble temples, and the stranger might easily persuade himself 

 that he is in the land of the fairies. 



We cannot forget that this beautiful city was once the seat of 

 a proud republic, and the old marble palaces, now either in 

 ruins, or converted to the baser purposes of life, only serve to 

 remind us of the wealth and splendor of a haughty nobility. 

 Our hotel was one of these palaces, situated upon the very shore 

 that once gave shelter to a thriving commerce, that reached out 

 its strong arms to gather in the riches of many less favored lands. 

 There is here still the aristocracy of a past age, who, without 

 comprehending the spirit of the present, or without the energy to 

 direct it, take no part in its development, but look back upon the 

 grandeur of their ancestry, vainly hoping, like Wilkins Micawber, 

 for something to " tui-n up." They sympathize little with the 

 activities of the hour, and were it not for the growing power 

 and influence of other classes who once looked up to them in 

 humble obeisance, little hope would there be for a newer life 

 and glory for Italy. 



But the hour is coming. We cannot look upon the splendid 

 marble monument and statue of Columbus that adorns this 

 city, without a thought of the faith that led him to look over 

 the sea to a new and fresher world beyond, and the changes 

 going on around us, point clearly enough to the dawning of a 

 brighter day, and quicken our faith in the future prosperity 

 and happiness of a country which once stood forth to the 

 world as a model of human greatness and civilization. 



