Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

152

CLASSICAL TOUR

Ch. IV.

not with its novelty forfeited its charms; inferior
as it is to that of Naples, it had still influence
sufficient to delight and to detain us. Ascending
the hill, we revisited the grove where Cicero fell,
and the tomb which popular tradition has erected
to his memory, without permitting any hyper-
critical doubts to disturb our feelings. “ Fama
rerum standum est,” says Titus Livius, “ ubi
certam rebus derogat antiquitas fidem.” At the
foot of the tomb sat a little shepherd boy reading
a book with great attention, while his flock spread
along· the sides of the road before him. He
smiled when I looked at the hook; it was La vita
della SSma. Vergine—estratta della Scrittura
santa, coi riffiessioni, &c.—lessons of purity, hu-
mility and piety! examples of filial love and of
parental tenderness. His pastoral predecessors
in Virg'il and Theocritus, were not so well em-
ployed, and must yield to the modern Alexis in
innocence and in simplicity. After having
winded through the defiles of Mount Ccecubus,
we descended into the plain of Fondi. The beauty
of this fertile spot was now enlivened by oc-
casional groups of country people collected with
their dogs and flocks, under the shade of the
thickest clumps of trees, and indulging themselves
in rustic mirth and festivity.

We entered the Roman territory shortly after,