now called, contains 80,000 people and is next to Athens in size and importance. Paul, after being driven from Thessalonica, went to the small city of Berea, where he established a church. Here the people "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily" (Acts 17. 11, 12).

Famous cities. At Athens, which, although it had lost political power, was still the literary center of the world, Paul

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established no church. Here he is supposed to have delivered a sermon on Mars' Hill (Acts 17. 22) before many learned Greeks. Four centuries afterward the Parthenon was used as a Christian church and the Athenians became bitter foes of image worship, which Paul

had condemned.

In rich and wicked Corinth, the capital of Greece under the Romans, Paul lived for about one and one half years. He "found a certain Jew named Aquila,

. . lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome): and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks" (Acts 18. 2-4).

The church Paul established at Corinth became an influential one. He wrote his letter to the Thessalonians during his

stay in Corinth. From here he also wrote his messages to the Romans.

1. Name and locate the chief centers in which Paul labored in Greece.

2. Which two are important cities of to-day?

MODERN GREECE

After the fall of the Roman empire Greece was overrun by

people from the northern part of Europe, and was finally conquered by the Turks. These destroyers held the country until 1829, when Greece became an independent state with its capital at Athens.

The modern Greeks, who comprise most of the five million

inhabitants of the country, are less illiterate than other peoples of southern Europe. Elementary education is compulsory, and the university at Athens has many students.

The Greeks are excellent seamen, traders, and merchants. Many have emigrated and acquired fortunes in Constantinople, Smyrna, Alexandria, and other cities of the East. They never forget their fatherland. Some who have become wealthy have built museums, hospitals, schools, and libraries in their home cities. A stadium has been erected at Olympus which holds 60,000 people. Here the ancient Olympic games were revived in 1906, and many American boys have since won honors.

Occupations and products. Only one fifth of the land in Greece is capable of cultivation. Grapes, olives, olive oil, wine, honey, figs, tobacco, and raw silk are exported. The small grapes, called currants, from the word "Corinth," comprise one half the entire value of the exports of the country. Much food has to be imported.

Grazing is one of the chief industries. The country has deposits of copper, zinc, lead, and iron. Some manufacturing is carried on in Athens and Piræus. The roads are very poor and the railroads few. Postal and telegraphic communications are good. A canal four miles long across the Isthmus of Corinth saves twenty hours for steamers going from Constantinople or ports on the Ægean to those on the Adriatic Sea. Many ships stop for repairs at Piræus, where $1,000,000 has been spent on dry docks. Greece has quadrupled her population in seventy-five years. As conditions in eastern Europe improve it hopes to win back some of its former glory.

1. What geographical conditions tend to make the Greeks a patriotic people? A nation of traders?

2. Name the chief exports and imports of Greece. Tell the countries with whom it trades. Trace routes of shipment for the products.

3. Boys report to class on the part Greece took in the World War.

LESSON XXXII

ITALY

ITALY, the "heart of the Mediterranean Lands," extends to within a little more than one hundred miles of Africa. Even in ancient times it was easily reached from the richest lands of Asia and from Europe. Its larger harbors faced the undeveloped western part of Europe. The Alps mountains protected it from the cold north wind and the warm breezes from the Mediterranean Sea gave it a genial climate. All these things fitted it to become the spreader of the civilization of the Greeks and of Christianity.

MODERN ITALY

Modern Italy is a narrow peninsula six hundred miles long with an area nearly twice that of Florida. It supports a population of 34,000,000, nearly one fourth of whom live within three miles of the sea.

Practically all of Italy's fertile land lies in the Po Valley and its narrow coastal plains, though there are many small fertile patches in the mountains. The high Alps slope down abruptly from Switzerland into the Lombardy Plain, then curve around in northwest Italy and join the lower Apennines, which extend the entire length of the peninsula. In the central part the foothills of these mountains spread out into broad uplands. Italy has a balmy climate and abundant winter rains. Its summers are long and dry, therefore irrigation is carried on extensively.

Industries and products.-Agriculture is the chief industry, and corn, wheat, rice in the Po Valley, vegetables, grapes, olives, oranges, lemons, flax, and hemp are raised. Silk worms are reared, and raw silk is the most valuable product. Wool from

the sheep and goats on the mountainsides, and large quantities of poultry, eggs, and cheese are exported. Most of Italy's natural forests were cut years ago, but useful trees have been planted on many slopes. Among these trees are the chestnut, whose large nuts form an important food of the poorer Italians. Italy has few minerals. Small deposits of copper, iron, and zinc are found, and much sulphur in Sicily. Pure white marble is quarried in the Apennines near Carrara. This marble is prized the world over and is used for buildings, tombs, monu

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HARVESTING IN ITALY

ments, and statues. Manufacturing, though backward, is increasing rapidly because of cheap labor and the abundance of water power for generating electricity. The Italians excel in artistic handmade products, among which are glass, lace, statuary, sculpture, paintings,

and articles of carved wood. The inland and export trade is extensive owing to the railroads that connect it with other European countries through the celebrated tunnels in the Alps. Its large share in the carrying trade of Europe is due to its nearness to the ports of northern Africa and the Suez Canal as well as to its excellent seaports.

Centers of population. The most important ports are Venice, Genoa, Naples, Brindisi, a noted point of call for steamers to the Far East, and Palermo, the great fruit market of Sicily. Milan, Turin, Florence, and Rome are the chief inland cities.