A HILL-TOP STRONGHOLD. 



' WHY, what did they want to build a city right up here 

 for, anyway ? ' the pretty American asked, who had come 

 with us to Fiesole, as we rested, panting, after our long 

 steep climb, on the cathedral platform. 



Now the question was a pertinent and in its way a 

 truly philosophical one. Fiesole crests the ridge of a 

 Tuscan hill, and in America they don't build cities on 

 hill-tops. You may search through the length and 

 breadth of the United States, from Maine to California, 

 and I venture to bet a modest dollar you won't find a 

 single town perched anywhere in a position at all 

 resembling that of many a glowing Etrurian fastness, 

 that ' Like an eagle's nest Hangs on the crest Of purple 

 Apennine.' Towns in America stand all on the level : 

 most of them are built by harbours of sea or inland lake ; 

 or by navigable rivers ; or at the junction of railways ; 

 or at a point where cataracts (sadly debased) supply ample 

 water-power for saw-mills and factories ; or else in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of coal, iron, oil wells, or gold 

 and silver mines. In short, the position of American 

 towns bears always an immediate and obvious reference. 



