The Square Sail Of Lake Como.

The Sail In Partial ProflLE.

Lecco.

Across that portion of Lake Como where its shores most widely separate, leaving a "silver streak" between them nearly three miles broad, two prominent towns confront each other, -Varenna on the eastern, Menaggio on the western, bank. Both are, of course, competitors for popularity. Each constantly reminds mankind that it has golf links. Each is connected with the outer world by rail. Each has its own advantages in points of view, conveniences, and climate. Hence each can boast of regular adherents, who are too loyal to stay elsewhere, when they make their annual visits to the lake. Menaggio is the cooler place in summer, for its exposed position catches every breeze. But when the heat is not extreme, to sit upon the southward-facing, wave-lapped terrace of Varenna's Hotel Royal, gazing down both the Como and the Lecco branches of the lake, as they divide, and melt away in silvery haze to right and left of the bold promontory of Bellagio, is one of those experiences which make life sweeter in its present, and measurelessly richer in its past. That is a spot in which to read and dream of the romantic Lady of the lake, Queen Theodelinda, whose eventful life passed peacefully away in an old castle still conspicuous on the wooded height above Varenna. Theodelinda is a name to conjure with upon the Larian lake. No record of its shores would be complete. without her. She is to Christian history here what Pliny is to that of Rome. A daughter of the king of Bavaria, this princess, in the latter part of the sixth century, married Autaris, king of the Lombards, who - as we have seen - had conquered nearly all of Italy from the Alps to Etna, and finally had subdued, on Como's solitary island, the last small band of Romans in the north. A few years later, having become a widow, she had already won such favor with the Lombards, that they requested her to choose a second husband, pledging themselves to recognize the favored suitor as their king. The fortunate man was Agilulf, Duke of Turin, whom she - already a believer - persuaded to adopt the ever spreading faith of Christendom. Moreover, as a proof of his sincerity, she even induced him to abandon his intention to lay siege to Rome, and make himself the master of the Roman world. In gratitude for this incalculably precious boon, Pope Gregory the Great gave to this ardent daughter of the Church a ring of iron, large enough to clasp her brows, and form the groundwork of a crown which otherwise is composed of gold and precious stones. This iron fillet owed its value to the belief that it had been hammered out of some of the nails of the true cross, found in Jerusalem by the Empress Helena in the fourth century. No diadem has had a longer or a more eventful history than that which holds within its grasp this papal gift to Theodelinda, for its attenuated circlet forms the nucleus of the famous Iron Crown, with which so many sovereigns of Italy have been endowed in the imposing ceremonies of their coronation. Among those who have worn it thus were Henry VII., in 1311; the long array of German emperors, who were crowned kings of Italy after the thirteenth century; the emperor Charles V. in 1530; and - most extraordinary of all - Napoleon in 1805, who in the great cathedral of Milan placed it upon his head with his own hands, exclaiming : "God has given it to me! Let him who touches it, beware!" After the latter's downfall, the Austrian emperor Ferdinand I., and subsequently his nephew, the present kaiser, Francis Joseph, were also crowned with it. In fact, on their expulsion from Lombardy in 1859, the Austrians took the celebrated relic with them, regarding it possibly as a talisman, insuring their return. If so, their hopes were doomed to disappointment, and seven years later they restored it to the new Italian dynasty. It is interesting, also, to remember that the present king of Italy, Victor Emanuel III., whose reign confers so many benefits on his people, insisted, after the murder of his father, Umberto, at Monza, that the Iron Crown should be conveyed to Rome for his coronation; and it was with this historic heirloom on his head that the young sovereign made that memorable appeal to parliament and people which thrilled the national heart, and told the world that a broad-minded, patriotic, and intelligent monarch was seated on the throne of Italy.