were strewn in the way of Christ when he went up to Jerusalem. (Fuller's Church History, p. 222.) The author of the Festival, as quoted by Brand (Popular Antiquities), says—"It is called Palme Sondaye for bycause the palme betokeneth vyctory, wherefore all Crysten people sholde here palme in procession in tokenynge that he hath foughten with the fendye our enemye, and hath the vyctory of hym." Branches of willow, box, and yew being more accessible than palm, are generally employed in Roman Catholic countries, and go by the general term of palms. The palm branches, on being borne to the church, are thrown together in a heap, and after being duly blessed by the priest, the worshippers carry portions of them away again, in the belief that they thus afford a sure protection against "winter stormes and thunders." (See Barnaby Googe's translation of Naogeorgus in his Popish Kingdome, 1570.) A wooden ass, surmounted by a rider of the same material, seems also occasionally to have formed a part of the procession on Palm Sunday. The author of the Pygremage of pure Devotion, 1551, gives a satirical glance at this practice in his preface when he says—"Upon Palme Sondaye they play the foles sadly, drawynge after them an asse in a rope, when they be not moche distante from the wooden asse that they drawe." As appears from authorities quoted by Brand, it was customary also to deck private dwellings and churches with the branches of the palm at this interesting season. (Vol. i., p. 120, Bohn's edition.) The ceremonies of Palm Sunday were retained in England for a considerable time after other practices peculiar to the Church of Rome had been abandoned. This ceremony was to be retained by an express declaration of Henry VIII. in 1536; but in the reign of Edward VI. it seems to have ceased. It is still customary with boys, however, in some parts of England to "go a palming," and gather slips of willow, flowers, or buds at this season. In Russia, the Greek Church seems to hold a very solemn procession on Palm Sunday.a town of Spain, in the province of Cordova, at the union of the Genil and Guadalquivir, 30 miles S.W. of Cordova. The streets are wide and well paved, and the buildings generally good. The court-house, jail, church, convents, school, hospital, &c., are the chief public establishments. The principal manufactories are oil-mills; but flour, soap, earthenware, bricks, &c., are likewise made here. Some trade is carried on in timber, corn, fruits, oil, and cattle. Pop. 5528.

a town of Naples, province of Terra di Lavoro, stands on a beautiful hill to the N.E. of Vesuvius, 4 miles S. of Nola. It contains several churches and convents, an old castle, and a feudal mansion belonging to the King of Naples. Pop. 6789.

a town of Sicily, province of Girgenti, and 14 miles E.S.E. of that town. It has several churches, and many good houses. On a hill to the west stands the large square castle of Monte Chiaro. Some trade is carried on in almonds and sulphur. Pop. 8400.

Giacopo, surnamed "the Old," an eminent Italian painter, was born near Bergamo about the beginning of the sixteenth century. He was a patient and laborious artist, and studied to catch the grace of Titian, and the clear expression and lively colouring of Giorgione. Accordingly, an elaborate refinement and a harmony of tints became his characteristic excellences. Among other great pictures, he painted "Saint Barbara" for the church of Santa Maria Formosa at Venice, and a "Madonna" for San Stefano di Vicenza. He is also the supposed artist of a portrait which has been warmly eulogized by Vasari as "a performance of astonishing perfection and singular beauty." His death took place at Venice in the forty-eighth year of his age. Several pictures ascribed to Palma, including some that are not well authenticated, are found in the galleries of Dresden, Vicenza, Venice, Vienna, and other European towns.

Giacopo, surnamed "the Young," was the grand-nephew of the preceding, and was born at Venice in 1544. Many favourable circumstances combined to assist him in his progress towards eminence. After receiving his first lessons from his father, a painter of some repute, he exercised his hand in copying from Titian and the best of the native masters. Then being sent to Rome at the expense of the Duke of Urbino, he spent eight years in copying from the antique, and in studying Michael Angelo, Raphael, and especially Pollidoro. On his return to Venice, when Tintoretto and Paul Veronese were monopolizing all the employment in that city, Vittoria, an eminent sculptor and architect, patronized him, gave him advice, and brought him into notice. By these means did Palma attain to such a reputation that, on the death of his two great rivals, he began to be overwhelmed with commissions, and his pictures came to be appreciated for their rich and animated composition, and their fresh and transparent colouring. Yet it was this very rise in popular estimation that led to his decline in art. The hurry resulting from his numerous and pressing engagements betrayed him into negligence. Unless when he was allowed to take his own time, and name his own remuneration for any particular painting, he was wont to dash off pictures which were little else than rough draughts. This evil influence did not stop with his death, in 1628. It affected the rising artists of the same school, and introduced the most corrupt period of Venetian art. One of Palma's most celebrated pictures is his "Plague..."