LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOSEPH HARDY NEESIMA

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256 TO EUROPE AND AMERICA AGAIN. am now bound to get well. I am very careful about my expenses; a m1ss10nary ought not to travel like rich people. I must defer telling you my rich experi­ences in Naples and Rome. Some thoughts differ from the reality. I used to think of the clear and beautiful Tiber; but what a dirty stream it is! TO MRS. HARDY. TuRJ:N, June 18, 1884. I remained six days in Florence, and spent much time in those splendid Pitti and Uffizi galleries. But what interested me most were the relics of Savonarola, which are kept in an old cell where he used to stay. I had a most interesting interview with Dr. Villari, the author of Savonarola's life. I found him rather indifferent to religious matters. He adopts Cavour's principle : a free church in a free state. He hesitated to reply when I inquired his own religious views, but of Christianity he said, "It is an excellent thing for the country, and has a powerful civilizing effect." To my question whether the spirit of Savonarola still survived he replied in the negative, to my great dis­appointment. Savonarola is dead, indeed, and the square where he was burned is not ornamented in his honor, but with mytholo.;ical emblems. Alas! the spirit of this monk may be dead in the hearts of Ital­ians, but he still lives and preaches to those of the evangelical faith. I also called on Dr. Piccini, the Oriental scholar. He has many Chinese and Japan­ese manuscripts. I have visited many institutions of learning. I find the clergy of Italy less well educated than those of France and Germany. But I meet very many accomplished Oriental scholars, especially Dr. Teza of Pisa, who speaks German, Dutch, English,

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