home and under the eye of their parents? Upon what very easy terms might you, by a general contribution, procure proper masters, if you would only apply towards the raising a salary for them the extraordinary expense you sustain for your sons' journeys, lodgings, and for whatever else you pay in consequence of their being educated at a distance from home, as pay you must for every article of that kind. Though I have no children myself, yet I shall willingly contribute to a design so beneficial to my native country, which I consider as my child or my parent; and therefore, I will advance the third part of any sum you shall think proper to raise for this purpose. I would take upon myself the whole expense, were I not apprehensive that my benefaction might be hereafter abused and perverted to private ends, which I have observed to be the case in several places where public foundations of this kind have been established * * *. You can undertake nothing that will be more advantageous to your children nor more acceptable to your country. Your sons will by these means receive their education where they received their birth, and be accustomed from their infancy to inhabit and affect their native soil."

The affection with which Pliny regarded his native place appears from several of his letters. In addressing one of his correspondents, he says, "How stands Comum, that favourite scene of yours and mine? What becomes of the pleasant villa, the vernal portico, the shady planetree walk, the crystal canal, so agreeably winding along its flowery banks, together with the charming lake below, which serves at once the purposes of use and

beauty? What have you to tell me of the firm yet soft gestatio, the sunny bath, the public saloon, the private dining-room, and all the elegant apartments for repose, both at noon and night? Do these possess my friend, and divide his time with pleasing vicissitude? or do the affairs of the world, as usual, call him frequently from this agreeable retreat?"

The town of Como is very pleasantly situated on the southern extremity of the lake, in a narrow vale, enclosed by fertile hills. It is surrounded by a wall, flanked with towers, which present a picturesque appearance. The houses are built of stone; but the cathedral is of white marble, and though it displays a mixture of Grecian and gothic architecture, has not an unpleasing effect. The celebrated Paulus Jovius was bishop of Como, of which town he was a native. His house is still shown without the walls, by the side of the lake. Como was also the birth-place of the poet Cæcilius, as we learn by the following invitation, addressed to him by Catullus.

"Poetæ, tenero meo sodali,
Velim Cæcilio, papyre, dicas,
Veronam veniat, novi relinquens
Comi mænia, Lariumque littus.
Nam quasdam volo cogitationes
Amici accipiat sui, meique.

Quare si sapiat, viam vorabit."

Como and Verona have both claimed with much eagerness the honour of giving birth to the elder Pliny. The Conte Anton-Giuseppe della Torre di Rezzonico, in a long dissertation, vindicated the claims of Como his native place, which has been thought by the learned Tiraboschi to place the question at rest.