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diff --git a/37953.txt b/37953.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c068e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/37953.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10536 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Life, by Mary +Alsop King Waddington + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Life + January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904 + + +Author: Mary Alsop King Waddington + + + +Release Date: November 8, 2011 [eBook #37953] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ITALIAN LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S +LIFE*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 37953-h.htm or 37953-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37953/37953-h/37953-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37953/37953-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + Small capitals have been replaced by all capitals. + + In Part II (page 303) "I^{er}" represents "I" followed by + superscripted "er". + + + + + +ITALIAN LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE + + * * * * * + + +7th EDITION + +LETTERS OF A +DIPLOMAT'S WIFE + +By MARY KING WADDINGTON + +"A most interesting book of gossip, which, considered +from the point of view of the general +public, contains not a dull line from the first to the +last. The letters have all the freshness of the +best class of feminine correspondence." + +--_London Athenaeum_. + +Illustrated. 8vo. $2.50 Net + +CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS + + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: Elena, Queen of Italy.] + + +ITALIAN LETTERS OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE + +January-May, 1880 +February-April, 1904 + +by + +MARY KING WADDINGTON + +Illustrated from Drawings and Photographs + + + + + + + +Charles Scribner's Sons +New York :: :: :: :: :: :: 1905 + +Copyright, 1905, by +Charles Scribner's Sons + +Published, March, 1905 + +Trow Directory +Printing and Bookbinding Company +New York + + + + +NOTE + + +In December, 1879, M. William Henry Waddington resigned the Premiership +of France, and the following month, accompanied by his wife, left Paris +for a winter of rest and recreation in Italy, chiefly in Rome. The +letters from Madame Waddington to her mother and sister, which +constitute "Part I" of this volume, describe this journey and residence. +Those forming "Part II" relate the incidents of a similar Roman sojourn +some twenty years later, M. Waddington having died in the meantime. The +two series together compose a picture of life and society in the Italian +capital with a wide range of contrast and comparison, corresponding with +those of London and Moscow in the well-known "Letters of a Diplomat's +Wife" by the same writer. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + ELENA, QUEEN OF ITALY _Frontispiece_ + + FACING + PAGE + + MRS. CHARLES KING 12 + + PRESIDENT CHARLES KING OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE, NEW + YORK CITY 30 + + THE SPANISH STEPS 52 + _In the Piazza di Spagna, Rome._ + + POPE LEO XIII. 60 + + KING HUMBERT OF ITALY 66 + + QUEEN MARGHERITA OF ITALY 76 + + QUEEN MARGHERITA AND KING HUMBERT 84 + + QUEEN MARGHERITA AND THE PRINCE OF NAPLES + (PRESENT KING OF ITALY) IN 1880 94 + + VICTORIA, CROWN PRINCESS OF GERMANY 104 + + GARDENS OF THE VILLA TORLONIS, FORMERLY VILLA + CONTI, FRASCATI, OPPOSITE THE VILLA MARCONI, + WHERE WE SPENT THE SUMMER OF 1867 108 + + TOMB OF VINICIANO, BETWEEN FRASCATI AND TUSCULUM 112 + + GROUNDS OF THE VILLA DORIA-PAMPHILI, ROME 116 + _From an unpublished photograph taken about 1869._ + + POPE PIUS IX. 145 + + LAST BENEDICTION OF POPE PIUS IX. FROM THE + BALCONY OF ST. PETER'S 158 + + ST. PETER'S FROM THE PINCIO 172 + + THE BARBERINI PALACE 238 + _The residence of the Storys_ + + VICTOR EMANUEL III., KING OF ITALY 244 + + POPE PIUS X. 250 + + GREAT NEW BRIDGE FROM ALBANO TO ARICCIA 264 + _Built by Pope Pius IX_. + + ROMAN HUNTSMEN ON THE CAMPAGNA 266 + _Ancient Roman aqueduct in the background_ + + WAITING FOR THE HOUNDS 268 + + CARDINAL ANTONELLI 288 + _From a portrait painted for the Grand Duke of + Saxe-Weimar. From a photograph given to Madame + Waddington by the Hereditary Grand Duchess of + Saxe-Weimar at Rome._ + + THE DINING-ROOM IN THE BRANCACCIO PALACE 304 + + + + +ITALIAN LETTERS +OF A DIPLOMAT'S WIFE + + + + +PART I + + ITALY IN THE EIGHTIES + + + _To G. K. S._[1] + + 31, RUE DUMONT D'URVILLE, PARIS, + January 10, 1880. + +Well, dear, here I am back again in my little hotel, and very small and +uncomfortable it looks--like a doll's house after the enormous rooms of +the Quai d'Orsay--however I am very glad to be a _private_ individual +once more (no longer a "femme publique" as our friend used to say). Our +departure was hurried, as once W.[2] had made up his mind and resigned +he wanted to get away at once. We got off in two days, which I thought +quite wonderful. Of course ever since the opening of the session in +November it was evident that he couldn't stay. He and his Ministers were +hardly ever agreed on any point, and it wasn't worth while for him to +spend his energy and intelligence in trying to carry out a policy which +neither the Chamber nor the country apparently desired. There were +endless conferences all through December, but it was clear that it was +time for him to go. + +[1] Mrs. Eugene Schuyler, nee King. + +[2] W. here and throughout these letters refers to M. William Henry +Waddington, Madame Waddington's husband. + +The weather was something awful--bitterly cold--the Seine frozen tight, +booths and games established, and everybody sliding about and trying to +skate--but that was under difficulties as the ice was rough and uneven. +I walked over with Francis,[3] that he might say he had walked across +the Seine. We had great difficulty in warming the house--many trains +with wood and coal were blocked just outside Paris, and nothing could +get in. I don't know what we should have done, but happily the Ministre +de la Guerre gave us an order to take some wood from some depot in Paris +where they had a provision; so for the two days before we moved in great +fires were going in the calorifere. I really think the only person who +hated to leave the Quai d'Orsay was Francis. He was furious at seeing +all his things packed up, and was carried out to the carriage kicking +and screaming--"veux pas quitter ma maison--veux pas aller vilaine +petite maison." The huissiers (6, all standing solemnly in a row to say +good-bye) were much impressed, and the old grey-headed Pierson who has +been there for years and seen many Ministers depart, remarked--"au moins +Monsieur Francis est desole de partir." It seemed funny to drive out of +the big gates for the last time. I wonder if I shall ever go through +them again. Things go so quickly in France now. + +[3] Francis, son of M. and Madame Waddington. + +You can't conceive anything more uncomfortable than this house +to-day--no carpets down nor curtains up; all the furniture, books, rugs, +dumped in the middle of the rooms, and the hall and corridors full of +trunks and boxes. W. has had a steady stream of people ever since we +arrived--some to condole--some (old friends) to congratulate him upon no +longer serving such an infecte government--some a little embarrassed to +explain that, though they regret him extremely, still ... they must +serve their country, and hope he won't take it amiss if they make up to +the rising sun (in the shape of Freycinet, who has taken W.'s place). I +expect we shall have some curious experiences. When one is no longer in +power it is surprising how things change their aspect. I had to settle +the salons as soon as I could as I had invited a big party for Francis's +Christmas Tree, thinking it would be at the Quai d'Orsay. I didn't want +to put the people off--particularly the diplomatists who have all been +most civil and proper--so after a consultation with Kruft--(chef du +materiel at the Quai d'Orsay) who had already begun to make his +preparations, I decided to have it here, and Kruft and one of his men +came and helped dress it. Of course the tree had to be cut at the +top--our rooms are fairly high, but nothing like the Quai d'Orsay +naturally--but it looked rather prettier, quite covered with toys and +shiny ornaments. Francis had beautiful presents--a hand-organ with a +monkey on top from Madame Sibbern, the wife of the Swedish Minister, +from which he can't be extracted. He can't turn it alone, but some of +the bigger children helped him, and we had the "Cloches de Corneville" +and "Niniche" almost all the afternoon. There were about 100 people, +children and parents, and the rooms looked pretty. All the people and +lights warmed them too--it wasn't quite so Siberian. We couldn't attempt +cooking of any kind as the kitchen range was out of order, and besides +we hadn't fuel enough--l'Oncle Alphonse[4] who lives next door feeds us. +W. and I go to him for breakfast and dinner, and his chef (a very +distinguished artist and well dressed gentleman--quite a superior +person--Monsieur Double) submits Francis's menu every morning to Nounou, +as he says he has no experience with children. + +[4] M. Alphonse Sutteroth, ancien diplomatist under Louis Philippe. + +We have decided to go to Italy for two or three months, and shall make +Rome our headquarters. W. has never been there, and says it wouldn't be +worth while going for less than three months. What fun it will be to be +there together--I can hardly believe it is true. I am sure we are wise +to get away. There must always be little jarring things when one has +been in office some time--and it would be rather a bore to W. to take +his place as senator and be in opposition to the present Ministry. If he +stayed in Paris he would have to take part in all the discussions, and +would certainly be interviewed by all sorts of people to whom he would +say nothing (he never does--he hates newspaper people) but they would +say he did all the same, and so many people believe implicitly whatever +they see in a paper. The Minister has offered W. the London Embassy, but +he won't take it, doesn't wish to have any function of any kind at +present. He is looking forward to long, happy hours in Rome, deciphering +all the old inscriptions, and going over the old city with Lanciani[5] +and some of his literary friends. + +[5] Director of Excavations in Rome under Rossi. + + + January 12, 1880. + +After all I have been back to the Quai d'Orsay. W. said I must go and +make a formal visit to Madame de Freycinet (who is a very nice woman--a +Protestant, and has one daughter--a charming intelligent girl). +Henrietta and I went together, taking Francis with us, who was delighted +as soon as he got to the Place de la Concorde and crossed the +bridge--"C'est Paris--C'est Paris." Poor little boy--the rue Dumont +d'Urville is so quiet, nothing passing and nothing to see when he looks +out of the window. He was always at the window at the Quai d'Orsay +looking at the boats, the soldiers, and the general liveliness of a +great thoroughfare. It was a funny sensation to go and pay a visit to +Madame de Freycinet in the little blue salon where I had received her so +often, and to be announced by my own pet huissier, Gerard, who spent his +life all the time I was at the Quai d'Orsay sitting outside the door of +any room I happened to be in. He knew all my visitors--those I wanted to +see and those I didn't--kept all the cards, and books, and remembered +every quete I had given to--and the bills that had been paid. I don't +remember that he ever occupied himself with my garments, but I am sure +that he could have found anything that I asked for. + +The house is gradually getting warm and comfortable, and the furniture +settling into its place; but I have a curious feeling of smallness--as +if I hadn't room to turn. We hope to get off in three or four days. We +leave Francis of course, but Nounou and Hubert will look after him, and +he will go to breakfast every day with Mother, where of course he will +be well spoiled and have everything he asks for. + + + _To G. K. S._ + + January 18, 1880. + +I hope we shall get off now in a day or two--W. really needs the rest, +which he never will get here as all day long people come to see him and +suggest various plans. We have written to the Hotel de Londres. You or +Eugene might go there some day and see the rooms they propose. It will +be nice to be back in our old quarters Piazza di Spagna. We had a +pleasant small dinner last night at the British Embassy--Lord Lyons is +always so nice and cordial. He was a little surprised and not _quite_ +pleased that W. hadn't accepted the London Embassy, he would have been +so entirely a "persona grata" with his English education, connections, +etc. All the Diplomates seem to regret us (but I think they will like +the Freycinets just as much) and really here, where Ministers are such +passing figures in the political world, they would have a hard time if +they set their affections on any particular man. + +I am becoming very philosophical--though the attitude of some of my +friends has rather surprised me (not W.; he is never surprised at +anything). L'Oncle Alphonse keeps us well informed of what is said on +the other side. He is quite a Royalist, a great friend of the Orleans +Princes, and a great deal at the club where they always call him +"l'oncle du gouvernement"--and when the "gouvernement makes a 'betise'" +(which sometimes happens) they criticize freely, and he tells it all to +us. I fancy he always defends W. in public--but of course in private +pitches into him well. + +I rather miss the big life--seeing so many people, and being as it were +behind the scenes--also our conversations at night when W. had finished +his signatures, and Pontecoulant[6] came up from his quarters with the +report of the day, and got his instructions for the next morning. W. is +not at all "matinal" and hates doing any kind of business early--must +always have his ride first. We used to sit in W.'s cabinet until two in +the morning sometimes, telling our experiences--some of mine were funny. +I hated an official reception day, but the gentlemen of the protocol +department thought it absolutely necessary, so I was obliged to give +in--and certainly nothing I did tired me so much as those long Fridays +in the big yellow drawing-room. From 3 to 6 streams of people--women +mostly--of all nationalities--and of course no conversation +possible--however it wasn't always banal, as you will see. + +[6] Comte de Pontecoulant, chef de Cabinet. + +Our last Friday one of my friends had been in, very much taken up with +the journey to Rome--her clothes, the climate, which hotel was the best, +etc. When she went out in a whirl of talk and excitement I turned to one +of the 14 women who were seated in a semicircle on each side of me, and +by way of continuing the conversation said: "Il me semble qu'on serait +tres bien a l'Hotel de Londres a Rome en plein soleil," to which she +replied haughtily "Je n'en sais rien, Madame, je n'ai jamais quitte +Paris, et je m'en vante." W. wouldn't believe it, but as I told him I +couldn't have invented it. I was rather sorry I hadn't pursued the +conversation, and asked her why she was so proud of that particular +phase of her life. I suppose she must have had a reason, which naturally +I couldn't understand, having begun my career so very far away from +either Rome or Paris. It is a real pleasure though to be back in my own +salon, and have my nice little tea-table, and three or four of my +friends, and talk about anything and everything, and even do a little +music occasionally. + + + January 20, 1880. + +I didn't find my tea quite so pleasant the other day. I was sitting in +the little salon talking to one or two ladies, and receiving their +congratulations at being no longer of the official world, and obliged to +associate with the Government people, when the footman appeared with his +eyes round, to announce that "La Presidente" (Madame Grevy) was coming +upstairs to pay Madame a visit. I flew to the door and the top of the +stairs (I couldn't get any further) and received "ma Presidente" in +proper style. I ushered her into the salon where I had left my friends +(mad Royalists both). They were much disgusted--however they were too +well-bred to make things disagreeable for me in my own house--and rose +when we came in. I named Madame Grevy--and as soon as she had taken her +seat, and declined a cup of tea, they went away. Of course they _hated_ +getting up for Madame Grevy, but there was nothing else to be done as +she and I were both standing. Happily no one else came in but Prince +Orloff, Russian Ambassador, who of course knew Madame Grevy and talked +easily enough. She didn't stay long--it was the classic "visite de +condoleance" to the wife of the ex-Minister (if she only knew how glad +this _Ex_ was to return to private life and her own house, and to be no +longer "logee par le gouvernement"). This is the second visit of +condoleance I have had. When Marshal MacMahon dismissed (suddenly) all +his cabinet presided by Jules Simon, 16th of May, 1877, Madame de +MacMahon came also to see me--and at the same time--5 o'clock on my +reception day--so I knew precisely what the conversation would be--and +Madame Grevy and I both said exactly the same things that the Marechale +and I had said two or three years ago. I suppose everybody does say the +same thing on certain occasions. After she had gone Orloff asked me if I +remembered those two ladies meeting (for the first time in their lives) +at the Quai d'Orsay on one of my Fridays. Just after the Marshal +resigned Madame de MacMahon came to see me. She was announced by all the +servants and I had plenty of time to get to the door of the first +drawing-room, not quite to the anteroom, to receive her. When her +husband was President she was received always like Royalty--at the door +of the apartment. She was very simple and easy, quite pleased evidently +at still having all her honours. Prince Orloff came in to pay a visit, +and we were having a very pleasant talk, when I heard quick footsteps in +the second salon, and again appeared my faithful Gerard (I had also +visions of numberless doors being opened all down the enfilade of +salons) announcing Madame Grevy. I was embarrassed for a moment as I +didn't like to leave the Marechale, and yet I knew I must go and meet +Madame Grevy--all the ceremony of course was for the official position, +and one Presidente was just the same as the other. Madame de MacMahon +was most amiable--said at once--"Je vous en prie, Madame, ne pensez pas +a moi"--and "au fond" was rather curious to see her successor. I went as +quickly as I could (Orloff giving me a funny little smile, _almost_ a +wink, as I passed him) and got my other Presidente just at the door. She +was rather astounded I think at her reception--she hadn't been long in +her exalted position. We proceeded majestically through three or four +salons, and when we arrived at my drawing-room Madame de MacMahon got up +at once, saying quite simply "Voulez-vous me presenter, Madame, a Madame +Grevy?" She was quite at her ease--Madame Grevy rather shy and +embarrassed--however Madame de MacMahon talked at once about some of the +great charities, artists, etc., and it really wasn't too stiff--Orloff +of course always helping and making jokes with the two ladies. One or +two visitors came in and gasped when they saw the situation--also one of +the young men of the Cabinet, who instantly disappeared. I always +thought he went to tell W. what was happening upstairs so that he might +come to the rescue in case I wasn't up to the mark ... but he swears he +didn't. When the Marechale got up to go there was again a complication +as I wanted to accompany her to the door, and I didn't like to leave +Madame Grevy. She wouldn't hear of my going through all the salons--took +leave of me at the door--and then Orloff came to the rescue--gave her +his arm and took her to her carriage. It was a curious meeting, and, as +Orloff said just now, "je lui devais une fameuse chandelle."[7] + +[7] French idiom difficult to translate, meaning "I ought to be very +grateful to him." + + + February 6, 1880. + +We are starting to-night, straight for Florence, where we shall stay a +week or ten days with the Bunsens before going on to Rome. W. is much +pleased at the Roman prospect--and I can hardly believe that I am going +to see Rome again. We have our lit-salon straight through to Florence, +and I hope we shall be warm enough. It is bitterly cold to-day--even +walking I was glad to have my sealskin coat. Nounou is rather tearful at +being left in sole charge of Francis, but as that young gentleman is +perfectly well, in roaring spirits, and will be given everything his +heart desires by his Grandmother and Aunts, I don't feel very unhappy +about him. It seems incredible that we should be going to meet soon. How +we will prowl about Rome. I suppose I shall find it absolutely +changed--so many more people--not our dear old dead Rome. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Charles King.] + + + _To H. L. K._[8] + + FLORENCE, VIA ROMANA, VILLA MCDONNELL, + February 8, 1880. + +We arrived quite comfortably, dear mother, but almost frozen, +particularly W. He has not been extracted from the fire since we got +here. Henrietta will have told you of our start. Pontecoulant and one or +two men were at the station to see us off--also the Chef de Gare, most +civil, and saying we should not be disturbed at the frontier--and +that our coupe-lit would take us straight through to Florence. We had a +perfectly easy journey, and I slept quite peacefully--waking up merely +when we passed through the tunnel, as the guard came in to shut all the +windows. It was a beautiful, cold, starlight winter night. The great +mountains covered with snow looked gigantic as we approached--"sinistres" +as Madame Hubert[9] said. She was much impressed and rather nervous. There +were very few people in the train. When we arrived at Modane the Chef de +Gare was waiting for us--he had been telegraphed from Paris to expect us. +We had breakfast in the private room, and a nice woman was waiting for us +upstairs in the ladies' room with hot water, towels, etc. I made quite a +toilet--she carried off my dress and jacket to brush--and then we went +down to a nice little breakfast which tasted very good, as I hadn't +had anything since our 7 o'clock dinner. They offered us coffee +somewhere--Dijon I think--but I didn't want anything then. All the first +part of the road--in fact all the road to Turin was lovely. It was a +bright, cold morning, and the snow mountains looked beautiful. It was +such a pleasure to hear Italian once more--even the names at the stations +"capo stazione"--"grande velocita"--"uscita," etc., also the shrill +"partenza" when we started. The last time I crossed the Mont Cenis was +by the Fell railway when we all started together from Aix. That was +certainly very beautiful--but rather terrifying--particularly as we neared +the top and looked at the steep places and the various zigzags we were +to follow going down. One couldn't help feeling that if a brake or chain +broke there would be a terrible catastrophe. I remember so well some of +the women who were quite sea-sick--the swaying motion, I suppose, as we +rounded the curves, of which there were many. I can see one now stretched +out on the floor on a rug in the small salle d'attente at Susa, quite +exhausted and absolutely indifferent to the outside world. + +[8] Mrs. Charles King, mother of Madame Waddington. + +[9] Madame Waddington's maid. + +We had quite a wait at Turin. Our coupe was detached and put on the +Florence express. They locked the doors, and we left all our +things--books, shawls, bags, etc.--and had a very fair dinner at the +buffet. We had so much time that Madame Hubert and I went for a little +walk. There was not much to see close to the gare--but it was delightful +to me to hear Italian again, and to see the idle, placid crowd standing +about--nobody in a hurry apparently, and nobody jostling and pushing +through, though there were trains starting or coming in all the time. W. +was too cold to move--he really should have had a fur coat--which he +utterly despises--says that will do when he is 70, and can't walk any +more. It was warm and fairly light in the buffet so he established +himself there with a paper and was quite happy. We got here about +6.30--Charles de Bunsen was at the station with a carriage--so we came +off at once, leaving Madame Hubert and Francesco with the trunks. How +she will get on in Italian I don't know, but she is very active and +debrouillarde, and generally makes herself understood. Mary[10] was +waiting for us with tea and those crisp little grissini[11] we always +used to have in Casa Guadagni. They have a charming "villino"--part of +the McDonnell villa. One goes in by a small door (in one of the narrow +grey streets of old Florence, with high walls on each side--Via Romana) +and straight up a fine broad staircase to a good palier with large high +rooms opening out on it. All the bed-rooms and small salon open on a +loggia overlooking the garden--a real old Italian garden. I shall never +be dressed in time for anything in the morning, as I am always on the +loggia. The flowers are all coming out--the birds singing--the sky +bright, deep blue--and the whole atmosphere so soft and clear--and in +fact Italian--different from everything else. + +[10] Madame de Bunsen, nee Waddington. + +[11] Long crisp breads one has in Italy. + +Mary has arranged the small salon (which they always sit in) most +prettily and comfortably--with bibelots and quantities of books about in +all languages--there are usually four going in the establishment--Charles +and his daughter speak always German to each other--the rest of us either +French or English--it depends rather upon what we are talking about--and +always an undercurrent of Italian with the servants and "parlatrice" +(such a sweet, refined looking girl who comes every day to read and +speak Italian with my belle-mere). Mrs. Waddington strikes at the mixture +at meals and insists upon one language, either English or French. There +is also a charming German girl here, Mlle. de Sternberg, a niece of +Charles de Bunsen--so we are a most cosmopolitan household. The life +is utterly different from the one I have been leading for the last two +years. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + February 10, 1880. + +I try and write every day, but am so much taken up and so tired when I +come in that I don't always find the moment. W. is all right again. He +really got quite a chill from the cold night journey--and for two or +three days sat _in_ the fire. Francesco, the Italian servant, took +excellent care of him--was so sympathetic the night we had some music +and W. couldn't appear. It was a pleasant evening--a Russian Prince (I +forget his name, and couldn't probably spell it if I remembered), a +great friend of Mary's, an excellent musician and a great Wagnerian +offered to come and play some of the Nibelungen. I was delighted as I +only know Tannhaeuser and Lohengrin. I remember now your sigh of relief +when Seilern and I finished playing a 4 mains the Walpurgis Night years +ago in the Champs Elysees. I daresay it was trying for the public--but +we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The big drawing-room looked very pretty, +with plenty of flowers, and I think there were about 50 people--almost +all (except Lottie and Madame de Tchiatcheff) ardent admirers of the +great man. One lady appeared in a sort of loose, red gown (it seems red +is the only colour Wagner admits), her hair, very pretty, blonde, +hanging down her back, just tied with a ribbon--and carrying two +partitions. Mary said, "Wouldn't you like to sit by her, and she will +explain it all to you?"--but I said there was nothing I would like so +little. I knew enough of the legend to be able to follow, and moreover I +had always heard that Wagner's descriptive music was so wonderful that +one understood everything without any text, etc. The great man +appeared--the grand piano was opened all over to give as much sound as +possible--and he requested absolute silence. He played beautifully--it +was enchanting--one quite heard the little waves in which the +Rhein-Toechter were disporting themselves. It was wonderfully melodious +and delicate--I should have liked it to go on forever. He played for +about three-quarters of an hour--all Rheingold--then suddenly pushed +back his chair, and rushed to the anteroom, exclaiming "de l'air--de +l'air," followed by all the red and musical ladies. It is a pity there +must always be such a pose with Wagner--for really the music was a joy. +I met of course quantities of old friends, and agreed to go to Lottie +Van Schaick's ball. + + + February 12, 1880. + +W. and I had a lovely long flanerie this morning. He is quite well +again, and the sun was tempting. It seems quite a different Florence +living over here, and I must say much more old-world and Italian than +the Lungarno, with all the modern hotels and apartments, and evident +signs of forestieri[12] everywhere. As soon as we cross the bridge it is +quite different--a gay, bustling, northern city. W. was so much amused +the other day--we were in a fiacre and the driver put on the brake to go +down the almost imperceptible descent on the other side of the bridge. +We went straight across to the Piazza del Duomo to-day, where the market +was held, and wandered in and out among the stalls. It was all so +familiar--little green cucumbers, almonds, and strings of fried fish, +with a good healthy smell of "frittura." The people were all most +smiling, and so pleased when I spoke Italian to them, and said I was so +happy to be back in their country again. W. has no opinion of my +Italian. He came to my room this morning followed by the Italian servant +to tell _me_ to tell him that his razor must be sharpened. I began, and +came to a dead halt--hadn't the slightest idea what razor was in +Italian. W. was much disgusted, but I explained that when I was living +in Italy before as a girl, I hadn't often had occasion to ask for +razors--all the same he has evidently lost confidence, and thinks my +reputation as a linguist "surfaite." + +[12] Foreigners. + +This afternoon we had a lovely drive up the Fiesole hill with Mary and +Beatrice. Their man, who goes on the carriage, is called "Bacco" and is +so Italian and sympathetic--takes a lively interest in all our +proceedings--knows everybody we meet, and talks cheerfully with any of +his friends we happen to cross. The view from Fiesole was divine--the +long slopes of cyprus and olive trees--with Florence at the bottom of +the valley, and the Arno just visible--a streak of light. I am so fond +of the grey green of the olives. It all looked so soft and delicate in +the sunset light. + + + February 13, 1880. + +We are getting dreadfully mondain. The other night we had a pretty, +typical Florentine party at Edith Peruzzi's.[13] We went a little after +ten and thought we would be among the first, but the rooms were already +full--quantities of people (not many of my old friends) and splendid +jewels. It was much more real Florentine society than the people we used +to see when we lived in Casa Guadagni. _They_ were generally the young, +sporting, pleasure-loving set, with a good dash of foreigners, artists, +diplomatists, etc. These were the real polite, stiff Italians of the old +regime. Many people were introduced to us, and W. enjoyed his evening +immensely--found many interesting people to talk to. He was delighted to +meet Bentivoglio again, and they immediately retired into a corner, and +plunged into Asia Minor and coins. Edith looked very well, did the +honours simply and graciously; and Peruzzi really not changed--always +the same tall, handsome, aristocratic type. + +[13] Nee Story, daughter of W. W. Story, the sculptor. + +Last night was Lottie Van Schaick's ball, very gay and handsome. Mary +wouldn't go--so I chaperoned the two girls--Beatrice and Rosa Sternberg. +They made a very pretty contrast--Rosa von Sternberg is fair and slight, +a pretty, graceful figure. Beatrice on rather a larger scale, with a +very white skin, and beautiful dark eyes. W. and Charles Bunsen came +too, but didn't stay very long. We went late as the Florence balls +always last so long. I met quantities of old friends, and made a tour de +valse with Carlo Alessandri for the sake of old times. W. was much +amused to see all the older men still dancing. At the Paris balls the +danseurs are all so young--few of the married men dance--only the very +young ones. I didn't wait for the cotillon--it hadn't begun at 3.30. The +supper is always before the cotillon which of course prolongs the +festivity. + +I was lazy this morning, as we came in so late last night, so W. and I +only went for a turn in the Boboli Gardens. The shade was so thick it +was almost black--but it was resting to the eyes. There are very few +flowers, one had a general impression of green. This afternoon we have +been driving about leaving cards, and ending with a turn in the Cascine. +There everything seemed exactly the same as when we lived there ten +years ago. The same people driving about in the same carriages, and +everybody drawing up on the Piazza, and talking to their neighbours. It +amused me to drive down the Lungarno to our bridge. There were +quantities of carriages and people lounging on the pavement, and looking +at the river. The instant one crosses the bridge it is perfectly +different--narrow streets, high walls, few carriages, no loiterers. + +Our garden was beautiful to-night--a splendid moon just rising over the +black trees, and a soft delicious air. We have had a quiet evening, +talking and reading in the small salon. Charles was very interesting, +talking about old Italy and their beginnings in Turin. It seems the +etiquette of that Court was something awful. Mary told us that she was +talking one day to the Marchesa S. (a lively little old lady who took +snuff) who had been in her time a famous wit and beauty, dame d'honneur +to the wife of Carlo Alberto. Mary was rather complaining of the +inconvenience of going to the winter reception of the Duchess of Genoa +(she had only one in the year) where all the ladies of the Corps +Diplomatique were obliged to go in full dress decolletee at about 4 in +the afternoon. "Ah, ma chere," said the old Marchesa, "what would you +have said in our time?" She told her that when the Queen-Mother was ill +in the winter at the Chateau of Stupinigi, some miles from Turin, all +her ladies had to go and inquire for her in full dress and manteaux de +cour, and that when they knew she was in bed, and could see no one. Mary +has splendid Italian lace which she bought from one of the ladies of the +old Queen after her death. It would cost a fortune now, and in fact +could not be had unless some private individual in reduced circumstances +was obliged to sell. I had a nice visit from Alberti to-day--just the +same--gay, impossible, saying the most risque things in a perfectly +natural way, so that you can hardly realize the enormities you are +listening to. They don't sound so bad in Italian--I think the language +veils and poetizes everything. He is very anxious we should go out and +spend the day at Signa--his most lovely place--and I wish we could, I +should like W. to see it--so much natural beauty--and, with our northern +ideas, so absolutely neglected--splendid rooms, painted ceilings--no +practical furniture of any kind, and a garden that was a dream of wild +beauty--flowers everywhere, climbing up over the roof, around bits of +grey wall, long grass that almost twisted around one's feet, and such a +view from the terrace. I told W. afterward of our great day there long +ago, when we started at 10 in the morning and got back at 2 A.M. I +wonder if you remember the day? We were a large party--Van Schaicks, +Maquays, Coxes, and others whose names I forget and pretty much every +man in Florence (of all nationalities). We started by rail--the women +all in light muslin dresses and hats. We were met by carriages of all +kinds--Alberti's own little pony-trap--and a collection of remarkable +vehicles from all the neighbouring villages. The drive was short, but +straight up a steep hill--the villa most beautifully situated at the +top, with a background of green hills. Two or three rooms had been +arranged for us--so we took off cloaks--a nice, sympathetic Italian +woman brushed off the dust--and we went at once to breakfast in the +state dining-room--the big doors on the terrace open. Some of the men +had their breakfast out there. After breakfast we all wandered about the +garden--such thick shade that it was quite comfortable. It was pretty to +see the white figures flitting in and out among the trees. About 3 I got +into a riding skirt and loose jacket, and went for a ride with Alberti +and a Frenchman, Brinquant, a friend of Alberti--very gay, and entrain, +and perfectly amused at the entertainment--so sans facon and original. +We had a lovely ride--through such narrow roads--branches of the orange +trees and roses nearly coming into our faces as we cantered along the +little steep paths. I had a pretty little mare--perfectly sure-footed, +which was an absolute necessity as the hill paths were very steep, with +many curves, and full of rolling stones. We pottered about for an hour, +and when we got home I thought I would retire to one of the rooms and +rest for half an hour before I got back into my afternoon dress, but +that was a delusion. They all came clamouring at the door, and insisted +upon my coming out at once, as the whole party were to be photographed. +As I was perfectly confident that they would all come in if I didn't +come out, there was nothing to be done, and I joined the group. It was +rather a long affair, but at the end seemed satisfactory. Then we had +tea on the terrace, and sat there watching the sun go down behind the +Signa hills, leaving that beautiful afterglow which one only sees in +Italy--the green tints particularly. + +Three or four men came out for dinner who hadn't been able to get off +early (diplomates, I fancy, for they were certainly the only men in this +gay city who had any occupation), also a tapeur[14] and little objets for +the cotillon. We did have about an hour before dinner to rest and make +ourselves look as nice as we could--but naturally a long, hot day +wandering about in a garden, and sitting on half-ruined crumbling stone +walls doesn't improve muslin dresses. The dinner was very gay and good, +and the hour on the terrace afterward with coffee, enchanting. One or +two of the men had brought guitars, and there were scraps of songs, +choruses, "stornelli," going on all the time. One man, with a lovely +tenor voice, sat on the lower step singing anything--everything--the +rest of us joining in when we knew the song. The terrace was quite +dark--the house brilliantly lighted standing out well; and every now and +then the Italian servants would appear at the door with their smiling +faces--black eyes and white teeth--evidently restraining themselves with +difficulty from joining in the choruses. I really don't think Mary's +"Bacco" could have resisted. I always hear him and Francesco singing +merrily over their work in the morning. They certainly are an +easy-going, light-hearted race, these modern Florentines. One can hardly +believe that they are the descendants of the fierce old Medici who sit +up so proud and cold on their marble tombs at San Lorenzo. + +[14] Man to play on the piano. + +We began the cotillon about 10, and it lasted an hour and a half. There +were 10 couples, plenty of flowers and ribbons, and, needless to say, an +extraordinary "entrain." We ended, of course, with the "Quadrille +infernal" (which Alberti always leads with the greatest spirit), made a +long chain all through the house down the terrace steps (such a +scramble) and finally dispersed in the garden. I shouldn't like to say +what the light dresses looked like after that. We started back to +Florence about midnight in two coaches--such a beautiful drive. The +coming out of the gates, and down the steep hill with a bad road and a +narrow turn was rather nervous work--but we finally emerged on the broad +high-road looking like a long silver ribbon in the moonlight winding +down the valley. We had the road quite to ourselves--it was too late for +revellers, and too early for market people, so we could go a good pace, +and galloped up and down the hills, some of them decidedly steep. It was +a splendid night--that warm southern moon (so unlike our cold white +moonlight) throwing out every line sharply. It was just 3 o'clock when +we drew up at Casa Guadagni. + +I didn't intend to write so much about Signa, but I had just been +telling it all to W., and I think it will amuse the family in America. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + VILLA MCDONNELL, + February 15, 1880. + +I try and write every day, but it is not easy. We are out all the time. +The weather is divine, and it seems wicked to stay indoors. W. and I go +out every morning, and we do a good deal of sight-seeing in a pleasant, +idle way. I go sometimes to the Boboli Gardens and wait for him there +when he has letters to write. It is all so unlike our Florence of ten +years ago; I love the quiet grey streets. The gardens are delicious; +dark and cool; you see no one, hear nothing but the splash of the +fountains, and the modern busy world doesn't exist. I am becoming quite +intimate with the custode--he is most friendly--smiles all over when W. +appears--and remarked the other day casually when he was late and I was +waiting at the gate, "Il marito si fa aspettare." This morning we +pottered about the Ponte Vecchio, where all the shops look exactly the +same, and apparently the same old wrinkled men bending over their pearls +and turquoises. So many foreigners have bought pearls that the prices +have all gone up. There has been a great influx of strangers these last +days as Easter is early, and we hear English on all sides. Two pretty +fair-haired English girls were loitering about the bridge and shops, +attracting much attention and admiration, quite freely expressed, from +some of the numerous young men who are always lounging about; but the +admiration is so genuine and so open that no one could be angry or +consider it an impertinence. + +Do you remember one of my first Italian experiences in crossing the +Piazza di Spagna one afternoon with my white kitten on my shoulder, and +one of the group of "paini"[15] standing at the door of the bank remarked +smilingly, "Che gatto fortunato!" I was rather taken aback but pleased +certainly. At Doney's in the Via Tornabuoni, there is always the same +group of men on the pavement about tea-time, when every one goes in for +a cup of tea or chocolate--all much interested in the pretty girls who +go in and out--also the society men standing at the door of the Club +making remarks and criticising, with rather more reserve perhaps. + +[15] Young bourgeois. + +We took a fiacre when we had crossed the bridge and drove to Santa Maria +Novella. The black and white facade looked like an old friend, also the +spezeria where we used to buy the sachets of iris powder in the old +days. We wandered all over the church, looked at the frescoes and the +wonderful Cimabue Madonna, and then through the cloisters. A monk (one +of the few left) in the long white robe of the Dominicans was working in +the garden. He looked very picturesque in the little square of green, +and was apparently engrossed in his work as he didn't even turn his head +to look at us. He wasn't at all an old man as we saw when he raised +himself--was tall and broad-shouldered. What a life it must be for a man +in the full force of strength and health. One can understand it in the +old days before books and printing, when the Dominicans and Benedictines +were students and their parchments made history, but now when everybody +reads and discusses everything it seems incredible that a man should +condemn himself to such an existence. + +We dined at the Tchiatcheffs, and on our way home crossed a procession +of "la Misericordia"; all the men with long cloaks and cowls drawn tight +over their faces, with slits for the eyes. One could see nothing but +bright, keen eyes, impossible to recognise any one. I believe men of all +classes belong to the society, and we had probably various friends among +them. I suppose they were going to get a corpse (which is always done at +night in Florence, or, in fact, everywhere in Italy) and their low, +melancholy chant rather haunted me. They say they do a great deal of +good when there is an accident or a case of malignant fever, in +transporting the patient to a hospital; but it was an uncanny sight. +They tell me they went to get a young Englishman the other day who had +fever, and was to be moved from the hotel to a private hospital. It was +the doctor's suggestion, and I am sure they carried him quite well and +gently, but it seems his poor wife went nearly mad when the procession +arrived, and she saw all those black eyes gleaming from behind the +cowls. + +We have been this afternoon to tea at "Camerata," the Halls' Villa. The +drive out was charming, the day beautiful and bright, flowers +everywhere. Quantities of peasant children ran alongside the carriage as +we toiled up the hills, chattering volubly (many _Inglesi_ thrown in) +and holding out little brown hands filled with yellow flowers. The +Camerata garden and terrace were lovely. It was still a little cool to +sit out, so we had tea inside. The lawn was blue with violets, and there +were quantities of yellow flowers, crocuses, narcissi everywhere, roses +just beginning. We met various old friends there--principally +English--among others Miss Arbuthnot, looking quite the same; and the +two Misses Forbes who have a charming apartment in Florence--we went +there to tea the other day. Our friend and compatriot, Mrs. K., was also +there; very dressy and very foolish; poor dear she never was wise. She +was glad to see me, was sure I was enjoying the change and rest after my +"full life"; then "Did you live in Paris?" I felt like saying, "No, +French Cabinet Ministers usually live in Yokohama," but I desisted from +that plaisanterie as I was sure she would go away under the impression +that W. had been a member of the Japanese Cabinet. W. doesn't like my +jokes--thinks they are frivolous. + + + February 17, 1880. + +Our Talleyrand dinner last night was handsome and pleasant. He was for +years French Ambassador at Petersburg (Baron Charles de +Talleyrand-Perigord), and is the type of the clever, old-fashioned +French gentleman and diplomatist. He married a Russian, Mlle. Bernadaky. +She is very amiable, has a beautiful voice and beautiful jewels. I had +Carlo Alessandri next to me, and we plunged into old times. After dinner +Talleyrand and W. talked politics in the fumoir. He is of course quite +"d'un autre bord" and thinks Republican France "grotesque," but W. said +he was so moderate and sensible, not at all narrow-minded, understanding +that a different opinion was quite possible, that it was interesting to +discuss with him. Talleyrand confided to Mary afterward that he couldn't +understand a man of her brother's intelligence and education being a +Republican. + +Madame de Talleyrand didn't sing, had a cold. I was very sorry as I told +her I should have liked to hear her sing again "Divinite du Styx." It +will be always associated in my mind with the French-German war when we +were all at Ouchy together hearing fresh disasters every day. + +This afternoon we went to have tea with "Ouida"[16] at her villa outside +Florence. She was most anxious W. should come to her--which he agreed to +do--though afternoon visits are not much in his line. As we were rather +a large party we went out in detachments, and Madame de Tchiatcheff +drove me. We arrived before the Bunsens and W. Ouida came to the gate to +meet us, and Madame Tchiatcheff named me. She was civil, but before I +had time to say that M. Waddington was coming in another carriage, she +looked past me, saying, "Et Monsieur Waddington--il ne vient donc pas," +with such evident disappointment and utter indifference to the presence +of _Madame_ Waddington that I was rather taken aback; but I suppose +geniuses must not be judged like other people. I was rather disappointed +in her appearance. I expected to see her dressed either in "primrose +satin with trails of white lace," or as an Italian peasant, and she +really looked like any one else--her hair cut short and a most +intelligent face. She was interesting when she talked about Italy and +the absolute poverty of the people. She spoke either French or English, +both equally well. When the visit had been talked of at home we had told +W. he must read, or at any rate look over one of her books. I didn't +think he could undertake one of her long novels, "Idalia" for instance, +where the heroine wanders for days through wood and dale attired in a +white satin dress, and arrives at her destination looking like "a tall, +beautiful, pure lily"; but I think he might like one of her short +Italian stories, which are charming, such beautiful descriptions. I +always remember one of her sentences, "There is nothing in the world so +beautiful as the smile of Italy to the awakening Spring." One felt that +to-day in the garden, every bud was bursting, everything looked green +and fresh and young. + +[16] Mlle. de la Ramee. + +Our dinner at home to-night was most agreeable. We had Mlle. de Weling, +a great friend of the Bunsens, a clever, interesting woman whose +girlhood was passed at the old Nassau castle at Bieberich on the Rhine. +Her mother was one of the Duchess's ladies. I know the place well, and +used often to walk through the beautiful park to the Rhine when I was +staying with Mary. It is quite shut up and deserted now. The old Duke +held out against United Imperial Germany, and never lived in his Schloss +after Nassau was annexed. It is a grand old house with all its great +windows and balconies facing the Rhine. One could quite imagine an +animated court life (small court) there, with music, and riding, and +excursions on the river. It is rather melancholy to see such a fine old +place deserted. + +We had, too, Comandi, an Italian who occupies himself with orphan boys, +and has a home for them near here somewhere in the country which we are +going to see some day. Anna de Weling, too, has founded one or two small +homes in different parts of Germany. She read us a letter the other day +from one of her boys, quite grown up now, whom she had placed. It began +"Wir brauchen Beinkleider" (we need trousers)--so naif. The conversation +was almost entirely in Italian as Comandi speaks no other language. All +the Bunsens speak of course perfectly--they lived in Italy for so many +years at the beginning of their diplomatic career. Mrs. Waddington is +quite wonderful, speaks and reads it perfectly. Her nice little +parlatrice is devoted to her. + + + February 19, 1880. + +We have had two nice days. Yesterday we walked straight across the +bridge to the Piazza del Duomo--walked about the Cathedral and the +Baptistery trying to make out the Saints' processions, and figures on +the marvellous bronze doors--but it would take weeks of study to +understand them. I was tired, and sat (very uncomfortably) on a sort of +pointed stone near the gates while W. examined them. I really think I +like the Piazza and the open air and the street life as much as anything +else. There was so much movement, flower stalls, fruit, cakes, those +extraordinary little straw bottles of wine, children playing and +tumbling all over the place (evidently compulsory education doesn't +bother them much), and always quantities of men standing about doing +nothing, wrapped up in their long cloaks, but what a wonderful cadre for +it all. The Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Loggia, etc.--one can't imagine now +the horrors that have been perpetrated in that very square. I told the +family the other day I wanted to read "Nicolo dei Lapi" over again, and +they all jeered at me; but I must get it somewhere; it will take me +straight back to Frascati and the long hot days of the cholera summer +when I was reading it, and trying so hard with my imperfect and +school-girl translation to make you understand the beauty and horrors of +the book. + +I was telling Mrs. Waddington the other day of our life at Frascati--the +great cholera year at Albano (1869), when so many people died--the +Dowager Queen of Naples, Princess Colonna, and Cardinal Altieri, who +came straight out to his villa as soon as the cholera broke out (which +it did quite suddenly). He was wonderful--went about everywhere in all +the poor little houses, relieving and encouraging the sick and dying, +holding up the cross to the poor dim eyes when life was too nearly gone +for any words to avail; and finally was struck down himself and died in +two days. How terribly lonely and cut off we felt--Dr. Valery was the +only person we saw. He was allowed to come out every day from Rome, but +was fumigated at the station at Frascati, and again in Rome when he got +back, obliged to change his clothes outside the gate before coming into +the city. We were never at all nervous about the cholera. I don't think +there was one case at Frascati, and of course all our thoughts were +centred in that great big room with its pink walls and mosaic floor +where father[17] lay desperately ill. It seems like a dream now, those +hot summer nights, when we used to go out on the terrace (upon which his +room opened) to get bouillon, ice, etc., and we fancied we could see the +cloud of disease hovering over the Campagna. + +[17] Charles King, President of Columbia College, father of Madame +Waddington. + +[Illustration: President Charles King of Columbia College, New York +City.] + +When it was moonlight, and such moonlight, that beautiful golden, +southern moon, we saw a long white line in the distance--the sea. +Circulation was very difficult, all the roads leading to Albano were +barred, and guarded by zouaves; and of course we heard tales of horror +from the Italian servants, always most talkative and graphic in their +descriptions. However on the whole they behaved well. We used to ride +every day, and always passed a little chapel on the way to Castel +Gandolfo, which was filled with people kneeling and praying--a long line +stretching out quite across the road to a little shrine just opposite. +They used to make way for us to pass without getting off their knees, +only stretching out their hands for anything the Principesse americane +would give them. + +Some of the women were quite absorbed, looking hard at the Madonna in +her shrine as if they expected some visible sign of pity, or promise of +help. I rather envied them their simple faith; it must help them through +many moments of trial and discouragement. + +As usual I seem to have wandered from my original subject, but Italy is +so full of memories. We were too tired to walk home, besides were a +little late, so we took a fiacre with a most friendly coachman, who saw +at once that we were strangers, pointed out all the places of interest, +and said it would be a delightful afternoon for Fiesole, and he would +come and get us if we would name the hour. + +We found lots of letters and papers at the house, and W. plunged into +Paris and politics after breakfast. I went for a drive with Mary and +Beatrice to the Villa Careggi. The house is nothing remarkable--a large +square building with enormous rooms, deep fireplaces, and very high +ceilings. Some good frescoes on the walls. The garden and terraces were +enchanting--the sun really too warm on the terrace--always a divine +view; blue-purple hills rolling away in the distance, and funny, crooked +little roads shut in between high walls, with every now and then a gap, +or a gate, which gave one glimpses of straggling, unkempt gardens, with +a wealth of flowers and vines. + +We had a quiet dinner and evening, which we all enjoyed. W. smoked and +talked a great deal of the past year and the last days at the Quai +d'Orsay. He doesn't miss the life in the least, which rather surprises +me; I thought he would be so bored with suddenly nothing to do, and no +part to play in the world's history; but I see that the absolute rest +and being with all his family is doing him so much good. It is +extraordinary how soon one forgets, and takes up a quiet life again. +Already the whirl and fatigues of the Exhibition year seem so far away I +feel as if somebody else had lived that life. I cannot imagine myself +now dining out (and not ordinary dinners, official banquets) 19 nights +in succession, but I suppose I should begin again quite naturally if we +returned to public life. + +Did you see the article in the "Francais" saying "M. Waddington will now +have all the rest of his life before him to consecrate to his studies"? +I wonder! This morning we had our usual walk--as W. was ready at ten +o'clock I didn't make my regular station in the Boboli Gardens. We went +to Vieusseux about a book W. wanted, and then into the bank to pay +George Maquay a visit. He was most cheerful, and showed us a nice +article in the "Times" regretting very much W.'s departure from the +Foreign Office, "one of the few men who could look ahead a little, and +who was independent, not limited in his views by what the Chamber of +Deputies would think." I was rather pleased, but W. is very calm about +all newspaper articles. He always has a "mauvaise presse" as we don't +_soigner_ any paper. I fancy, though, Henrietta is right when she says +the next time he takes office she means to buy one--so many people +believe implicitly all they see in a paper, especially when it says what +you want to believe. + +We did a little shopping, I wanted some veils, and W. remained outside +looking at the grim old Strozzi Palace, standing like a great fortress +with its huge stones and heavy doors in the middle of all the busy, +bustling life of the Tornabuoni. I think it is the one street in +Florence where people move about quickly, and as if they were going +somewhere. Everywhere else there are crowds of people, men especially, +doing nothing but sitting all day in the sun looking at the passers-by. + +We hadn't time to walk over to San Lorenzo, so hailed a fiacre, and +wandered about there for some time. I was delighted to see the Medici +Chapel again and the famous monument of Lorenzo. He does look as if he +were thinking out some great problem--I wonder what he would think of +our go-ahead, unartistic world, and of our politicians, so timorous and +afraid of responsibility--at least the men of that race were strong for +good or for evil. When they wanted anything they did all they could to +get it. I don't know that the women were behindhand either in energy +when one thinks of Queen Catherine and of all the Huguenots she disposed +of one summer evening in Paris. Do you remember our friend Mrs. A., a +converted Catholic, whom we overheard one night at the Opera when they +were shooting all the Huguenots in the last act, telling her daughter +(remained a Protestant) that the Saint Bartholomew had nothing to do +with Catholics and Protestants; was entirely a political move. + +We have had a long drive this afternoon with Mary and Charles, up the +Poggio Imperiale--a stiff climb but such a beautiful road--villas, +cypresses, olive trees, and roses everywhere. We went up to the Certosa, +where a nice old monk, in his white dress, showed us the church and +monastery. It was dark and rather cold in the church, and nothing +particular to see--good frescoes and many coloured marbles--but the +terrace outside was delightful. There were not too many beggars on the +road considering that it is the favourite drive in Florence, and of +course the carriage people are at a disadvantage as they must go slowly +up the hill, and are escorted by a long troop of children singing, +dancing with a sort of tambourine, turning somersaults, and enjoying +life generally, whether they get a few pennies or not. It is very +difficult to resist the children with their smiling faces and evident +desire to amuse the "forestieri." + +We went to Casa Guadagni before we came home, and paid a visit to the +Marchesa, who was at home. The same old porter was at the door, and +greeted me most warmly, much pleased to see W. "bel uomo, il +marito"--had I any children, and where were all the rest of the +family?--that simple, natural Italian manner, without a thought of +familiarity. W. was delighted with Madame Guadagni. She talked about +everything and really didn't look any older. I asked about our old +apartment (piano nobile--first floor); she said it was always +let--generally to foreigners. I _didn't_ ask if she had made any modern +improvements since we lived there. Shall you ever forget that cold +winter with the doors that wouldn't open, and the windows that wouldn't +shut, and the chimneys that always smoked, and the calorifere, which +John never would light, as he was afraid it would warm the Guadagni +rooms below? I should have liked to go over the apartment and see the +rooms again--the big ball-room where we danced so often and had so much +music. We wound up with a turn in the Cascine, drawing up in the Piazza +alongside of Lottie's carriage, which was of course surrounded by all +the gilded youth of Florence. Maquay came to talk to us, Carlo +Alessandri and Serristori, whom I hadn't yet seen. He was just the same +(laughing and criticising) as in the old days when some of the swells +appeared in so-called Worth garments, which he said were all made in a +little room over his stables, by the wife and daughters of one of his +men. + +I was glad to get in and have a quiet hour to write before dinner. I am +at my table close up to the open window. The air is soft and +delicious--the garden just beginning to look dark and mysterious in the +waning light. The group of cypresses (I don't know how to write that in +the plural, it looks funny) always black. I was called off various +times, and must finish now as we are going to dine at the Maquays--we +being ourselves, Mary, and Charles. We generally go about a family +party. + + + Sunday, February 21, 1880. + +We are making our pacquets as we have decided to leave for Rome on +Monday (22). The Schuylers are clamouring for us, and though I hate to +leave here I really think we ought to go. As W. has never seen Rome two +months will not be too much. We shan't have much more as he wants to get +home for the Conseil General. The Schuylers want to have a big reception +for us, and would like next Sunday week, so I think we really shall get +off this time. The longer we stay the more invitations we have. It has +been all quite charming. Our Maquay dinner was very easy and pleasant; +the Tchiatcheffs, Lottie, Alessandri, Talleyrands, Mrs. Fuller, and one +or two stray men. The house looked so natural--of course the ball-room +wasn't open as we were a small party, but they lighted it after dinner. +I wanted W. to see how pretty it was and how light--white with red seats +all around. How it took me back to old times? I seemed to see everybody +settling for the cotillon--the stairs too, where we all used to sit +waiting for the cotillon to begin. How we amused ourselves that winter +in Florence, and how scattered all that little band is now. The +Florentines amuse themselves still--there must be something in the air +which makes people light-hearted--one can't imagine a serious, studious +life in Florence. + +We spent two hours in the Uffizi yesterday looking at all the old +friends again. I was delighted to see the dear little "St. John in the +Wilderness" hanging just where it did before, on one side of the door in +the Tribuna; also the Peruginos--I like them so much--his Madonnas with +their wooden faces, but a pure, unearthly expression all the same, and +the curious green colour one sees in all his pictures. We saw as much as +we could in the two hours, but as it was the second visit we found our +way about better. I never rested until I found the corridor with Niobe +and all her children--it used to fascinate me in the old days. One +realized perfectly all those big sons and daughters, so terrified, and +the last little one clinging to his mother's skirts. + +We went to tea, Mary and I, with Edith Peruzzi--quite quietly--as she +wanted to show me her children--and fine specimens they are; a duck of a +boy, quite sociable and smiling. Nina and Louisa Maquay came in--Louisa +looked lovely. This morning I went to the English church with Mary and +Beatrice. We didn't go out again till late--after tea--as we had various +visitors, among others Schuyler Crosby, who had asked us to dine but we +had no evening left. I saw him riding the other day in the Cascine, and +recognised him some way off by his seat. I don't know what it is, but +whatever the Americans do, whether riding, dancing, or tennis, they do +it differently from any one else. I was talking about it the other day +to an Englishman who had seen some of the Anglo-American boat races, and +he quite agreed with me, said their rowing was very good, but quite +another thing from the English sport. + +We drove out again Fiesole way. It was enchanting--more roses come out +every day. There was a perfect fringe of pink roses hanging over some of +the old grey walls. As it was Sunday, and a lovely day, there were +quantities of people about. There are scarcely any costumes left, but +all Italians like bright colours, and the red and green fichus and +aprons looked pretty and gay as the various groups passed us. Some of +the old women were terribly bent, with such brown, wrinkled faces--one +could quite see that they had toiled up and down hills under the Italian +scorching sun all their lives, with baskets and bundles of fagots on +their backs--but the old eyes were keen and smiling. They don't look so +utterly starved and wretched as Ouida (and others) say they are. I +suppose they live on nothing, and go on quite simply, leading the same +lives that their fathers and mothers did before them, without knowing of +anything better. + +Tell Henrietta I haven't made much progress in the travelling work she +presented me with. I did take it out into the drawing-room one evening, +but the immediate result of that was disastrous. I took it out of the +bag proudly, to show that I had silk, embroidery, scissors, needles, +etc., like everybody else, but left it on the table. Somebody wanted a +book or a newspaper also on the table; turned everything upside down, +and the work, silk, needles, thimble, etc., went rolling all over the +floor. When you think of the crevasses of an old parquet floor in an +Italian Palace, you can imagine how difficult it was to find anything +again. The two girls were hours on their knees looking for my thimble +which never turned up--however, that will be an excellent reason for +buying a pretty little gold thimble with a row of turquoises that I saw +the other day in a shop on the Ponte Vecchio. There is evidently a fate +against my becoming an accomplished needlewoman, and I am afraid the +"clumsy little fingers," which used to worry you so in the old days of +music lessons, have not improved with advancing years. Perhaps I shall +take to work in my old age. Isn't it George Sand who says (and I don't +believe she ever took a needle in her hand), "Don't despise our less +ambitious sisters who work. Many great resolutions and silent +abnegations have been woven into the bright flowers and delicate +tracings of the embroidery in the long hours spent over the frame." + + + Monday Night, February 22, 1880. + +We really are starting to-morrow morning--trunks are packed, compartment +engaged, and we have said good-bye to everybody. I made a last little +turn this morning in the Boboli Gardens. I didn't see the custode--I +wanted to say good-bye to him. Then we went to the Pitti gallery, W. +wanted to see one particular Botticelli, "la bella Simonetta" I think, +which he and Mary had been talking about, and which we had missed the +other day. It is quite impossible to see everything. I had remembered +pretty well the principal pictures. Then we took a fiacre and went out +to San Marco to see the Fra Angelicos and Savonarola's cell. We had +never once got there, there is always so much to do. We walked through +the cloisters first--the frescoes are perfectly well preserved--some of +Fra Angelico's and others less interesting. I wanted to see the cells, +and was quite pleased to recognise the "Coronation of the Virgin" and +the "Madonna and Child" surrounded by angels, all in their long +green-blue robes with wings and musical instruments of all kinds. As +usual people were copying them, and I will try and find a pretty one and +bring it back. I want the one in a sort of light green dress blowing a +trumpet. The faces are quite beautiful, so pure. He must have had a +wonderful imagination--I wonder if he believed angels look like that? +Somehow or other I always think of an angel in a white robe. We saw of +course Savonarola's cell, and they showed us his rosary, and a piece of +wood which is supposed to have been taken from his funeral pile. It all +looked so peaceful and smiling to-day, one could hardly realize the long +hours of doubt and self-torture passed in these solitary cells. There is +a fine description in one of the numerous books the Bunsens have on +Florence, of Savonarola's preaching--all the people congregated in the +great square before the church, when there was no longer any room +inside, leaving their shops and their work to come and listen to him. +That is one of the delightful things in this household, you can always +find a book in almost any language about any subject that interests you, +religion, music, politics, everything. + +Beatrice has a delightful German magazine, "Monatsheft," very well +illustrated, with all the modern German literature, stories, essays, +criticisms, etc. One could almost wish for a rainy day or a quiet +evening to read a little. + +W. went off by himself the other night and had a very pleasant evening. +First to the Piccolellis' where he found a small party and his old +friend Bentivoglio, with whom he had travelled in the East. Of course +they instantly got into a corner and talked shop (medals). Then to +Lottie Van Schaick who had a few friends, where he amused himself very +much. + +Gertrude writes that our rooms are very nice, and the man at the hotel +delighted to have us. I wonder what Rome will be like. It will seem +funny to be back there again, a respectable middle-aged lady. I think +one should always be young and gay to live in Italy. + +We had a fine musical evening Saturday with the Landi family--five; +mother, father, daughter, son, and grandfather. Madame Landi sang +anything, everything, delightfully. Some of the stornelli and peasant +songs, those particularly of the Abruzzi mountains, were charming. I +wonder what Italians have got in their "gosier" that we haven't, that +gives such a charm to their simplest song. I sang once or twice in +French, and then Madame Landi and I did some duos in Italian which went +very well. She was very complimentary over my Italian (I told it +triumphantly to W., but he remains under the impression of the razor), +said it was evident I had learnt in Rome; the language is so much +softer, or rather the pronunciation "Lingua toscana in bocca romana." + +The old father was killing, knew everything, was wildly interested, and +criticised freely. I think the daughter will have a very pretty voice, +like her mother's, a rich, low mezzo. + +I was called off by some visits, and will finish now. My letter will go +to-morrow morning. We don't start very early--9.30--but I shall not have +time to write anything more. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + HOTEL DE LONDRES, ROME, + February 24, 1880. + +We arrived last evening for dinner, dear mother, and are most +comfortably settled. We have a nice apartment on the second floor--a +large bright salon with a good bed-room on either side of it for me and +W., and a very fair anteroom where Madame Hubert has just had another +wardrobe put up. She interviewed the gerant and made it clear to him +that it was impossible for her to unpack her mistress's dresses until +she had something suitable to put them in. We found flowers and papers +on the table from the Schuylers, Mrs. Bruce, and the proprietor of the +hotel. + +I thought we should never get away from Florence. We were so happy there +with the Bunsens and Mrs. Waddington, and every day there was something +to see or do. The weather was divine the last days--the hills were quite +a pink-purple sometimes as we drove home after sunset, and quantities of +roses climbing up all the old grey walls. We had a very easy +journey--they had reserved a carriage for us, which was a good +precaution, as the train was crowded. We got to Rome about six. W. was +quite excited as we approached (it is too funny to think that he had +never been here), and very anxious for the first glimpse of St. Peter's. +I can't say we saw the dome from a great distance--I fancy it depends +upon which way you enter Rome. We found the Schuylers at the station +with a carriage, and drove at once to the hotel, where Gert had ordered +tea and a pannettone. If I hadn't known I was coming to Rome I should +never have believed it on arriving at the station. It was so unlike the +little old Termine of our Roman days--the funny little station so far +away, with few porters or cabs, and comparatively few voyageurs. I was +quite bewildered with the rush into this great, modern station, with +porters and officials of all kinds, and all the bustle of a great city. + +I looked in vain for some familiar landmarks as we came along. Nothing. +The new streets, Via Garibaldi and Nazionale--an abomination, tall ugly +maisons de location and official buildings so new and regular--awful! It +wasn't until we got into the town and near the Piazza di Spagna that I +really felt that I was back in Rome; that of course was unchanged. It +brought back such a flood of memories as we passed 20, and all the first +happy days in Rome came back to me, before father's illness, when he +enjoyed everything so much, and wrote to Uncle John that "the hours were +golden." The "barca" looked just the same, with boys and women leaning +up against the stones, flower-girls on the Spanish Steps, and even old +Nazzari's low, dark shop opposite looked picturesque. W. was quite +surprised to see me so sentimental, though I had warned him that for me +there was no place in the world like Rome. + +The Schuylers stayed talking some little while, then had to go, as they +were dining out, but promised to come in after dinner. W. asked me if I +was too tired to go for a little stroll (the tea had refreshed us), so +we started up the Spanish Steps to the Villa Medici, where we had that +beautiful view of Rome. I showed him the stone pines of the +Doria-Pamphili, which stood out splendidly against the last bright +clouds of the sunset--it was quite lovely. We stayed out quite late, and +were received with respectful, but decidedly disapproving greetings from +the gerant when we came in. It was not at all prudent for "Eccellenza" +and Madame to remain out late, particularly as they must be very tired +after a long journey. We dined downstairs in the big dining-room. There +was a long table d'hote full--people about half through their +dinner--and at the extreme end of the room five or six small tables, one +of which had been reserved for us. I didn't see any one I knew, but two +men got up and bowed as we passed. The dinner was good--the head waiter +hovering about us all the time, and of course always addressing W. as +"Eccellenza." We had coffee upstairs. W. smoked and I read the paper and +one or two notes. About ten the Schuylers appeared, very cheerful and +full of propositions of all kinds. They have got a big reception for us +on Sunday night--Roman and diplomatic--and we agreed to breakfast with +them to-day. Gert looked very well in blue, with her diamond necklace +and feathers. They don't seem very pleased with Marsh--our Minister. +Always the same old story and jealousy--the ministers consider +themselves so far above a consul. But really when the Consul-General +happens to be Schuyler and his wife King, one would think these two +names would speak for themselves--for Americans, at any rate. + +We told Schuyler how many compliments we had had both in Paris and +Florence for his "Peter the Great"--so much in it, and yet the subject +one that had been written about so often. They went off about eleven, +and I was glad to go to bed; could hardly believe I was sleeping again +in the Piazza di Spagna. I certainly never imagined when I left Rome +tearfully so many years ago that I would come back as the wife of a +French statesman. + +I was busy all the morning unpacking and settling myself, and of course +looking out of the window. It is all so delightfully familiar--all the +botte standing in the middle of the street, and the coachman trying so +hard to understand when some English or American tourists give them some +impossible address in Italian--you know the kind of people I mean, +conscientious tourists who think they must always speak the language of +the country they are in, learned out of a phrase-book. We have various +invitations, from our two Embassies, Quirinal and Vatican, also the +Teanos, and W. had a nice visit from Lanciani, who wants to show him all +Rome. We took a botta to go to the Schuylers. It isn't far, but I wasn't +quite sure of finding my way the first time. They have a charming +apartment in Palazzo Altemps, near the Piazza Navona, not at all far +really from our hotel, and now that I know the way I can often walk over +in the mornings when W. is off sight-seeing seriously with some of his +learned friends. It is a fine old palace with a large open court and +broad stone staircase. San Carlo Borromeo is supposed to have lived +there. Their apartment belongs to Mrs. Terry, wife of the artist, who +had arranged it very comfortably, and the Schuylers have put in all +their Turkish rugs, carpets, and bibelots, so it really looks very +pretty. There are quantities of green plants and flowers about (they are +both fond of flowers and are always making experiments and trying +something new) and of course books, papers, reviews, and a piano. + +I told Gert I thought I would write to Vera and have some singing +lessons--I have done so little singing since I have been married. Eugene +is a charming host, and he and W. had plenty to talk about. I inspected +Gert's wardrobe while they were smoking. Her dresses are all right, and +I think her maid is good. I wrote all this after I came in. The man of +the hotel had engaged a carriage for us--a nice little victoria with a +pair of greys. It comes from Tomba's stables--do you remember the name? +The same loueur we had when we lived here. The coachman said he +remembered me perfectly, had often driven the "signorine" to the meets, +and hoped la maman was well. We were lucky to get such a nice little +carriage. The d'Aubignys, a French couple, had just given it up, as they +were leaving the Embassy here for Berlin. + +We drove about a little--left cards for the Noailles, Desprez, Cairolis, +and wound up in the Villa Borghese, which was again quite changed--such +quantities of carriages and people walking, also Italian officers +riding, and soldiers, bersaglieri, etc., about. We crossed the +Wimpffens, looking very smiling, and saw in the distance, as we were +coming out, the royal red liveries, but the carriage was too far off to +see who was in it. Now we are going to dinner, and I shall be glad to +get to bed early. I think I am more tired than yesterday. + + + HOTEL DE LONDRES, + February 26, 1880. + +I will begin again this afternoon, as I have a little time before +dinner. The weather is divine, quite the same deep-blue sky and bright +sun of our first Roman winter. We have had an enchanting drive out of +Porta San Sebastiano and along the Via Appia as far as Cecilia +Metella--everything exactly the same as when we were there so many years +ago. The same peasant carts blocking up the narrow gateway, everybody +talking at once, white teeth gleaming, and quantities of little brown +children with black eyes and jet black hair tumbling down over their +eyes and outstretched hands for anything the forestieri would put into +them. W. was a little disappointed at first. The road is narrow, an +atrocious pavement, and high walls almost shutting out the view. +However, as we got farther out there came gaps in the walls through +which one saw the whole stretch of the Campagna with the Claudian +Aqueduct on one side, and when we finally emerged into the open fields, +he was delighted. How extraordinary all these old tombs and pyramids +are, most of them falling in ruins, with roses and creepers of all kinds +holding them together. On one of the largest round tombs there was a +peasant house with a garden and vines, and smoke coming out of the +chimney, perched quite on the top, with a steep, stony path winding +down, where the coachman told me the donkey went up and down, as he too +lived in the house with the family. Some of the tombs are very +high--real towers. There is hardly a trace of marble or inscription +left, but the original building so strong that the walls remain. + +The queer old tombs, towers, and bits of ruins all along the road +interested W. immensely; though he has never been here he knows them all +from photographs and reproductions, and could tell me a great deal more +than I could tell him. We went as far as the round tomb of Cecilia +Metella, and then got out and walked a little. I wanted to show him the +low wall which we used to jump always when the meet was at Cecilia +Metella. Do you remember the first time you came out to see us jump, not +at a hunt but one afternoon with Dyer practising to see what the horses +and riders would do? You saw us start at a canter for the wall, and then +shut your eyes tight until we called out to you from the other side. + +This morning W. and I had our first regular turn at sight-seeing. We +took a nice little botta on the Piazza, had our Baedeker--a red one, +like all the tourists--and were quite happy. Some of the old colleagues +were highly entertained seeing us driving about with our Baedeker; said +it was W. under a wholly different aspect. We wandered about the +Vatican for two hours, seeing quantities of things--Sistine Chapel, +Stanze Raphael, Apollo Belvedere, etc., and always a beautiful view over +the gardens. Later, he says, he must do it all regularly and +intelligently with one of his men friends, as I naturally could not +stand for hours recognising and deciphering an old inscription. I left +him from time to time, sat down on one of the stone benches, talked to +the custode, looked at the other people, and gave them any information I +could. It interested me to see the different nationalities--almost +entirely English, American, German, very few Italian, and no +French--yes, one artist, a rather nice looking young fellow who was +copying something on the ceiling of one of the "Stanze," rather a +difficult process apparently. There were many more women than +men--groups of English spinsters doing their sights most thoroughly--the +Americans more casual. The Apollo looked splendid, so young and +spirited. We walked some little distance, coming home before we could +get a fiacre, and I had forgotten how cruel that Roman pavement was. I +don't believe any of my boots will stand it; I shall have to get +somewhere here a pair of thick-soled walking shoes. + +We had a quiet hour after breakfast. I have arranged a ladies' corner in +the drawing-room. I was in despair the first two days over the room. I +had never lived in small hotel quarters with a man, and I had no idea +how disorderly they are. The table was covered with pens, papers--piles +of them, three or four days old, thick with dust--cigars, cigar ashes +over everything, two or three large, bulky black portfolios, very often +a pot hat, etc. So we compromised; W. took one end of the room and I the +other. I obtained from the gerant (thanks to Madame Hubert, who is very +pretty and on the best of terms with him) a small table, large china +vase for a plant, a nice arm-chair, and a cushion for the sofa, borrowed +a table-cloth from Gert, also some small things for my table, and my end +looked quite respectable and feminine. The room is large, so we can +really get on very well. We had a pleasant visit from the Marquis de +Noailles, French Ambassador to the Quirinal, before we went out. He has +a charming, easy manner. We are to breakfast at the Embassy, Palazzo +Farnese, to-morrow for me to make Madame de Noailles's acquaintance. I +wonder what I shall think of her? The men all say she is a charmeuse. +She is Polish born, was a beautiful woman--I think all Poles have a +great charm of manner. + +Trocchi came in, too--so pleased to see me again and to make W.'s +acquaintance. The two senators talked politics, and Noailles put me a +little au courant of Roman society and the two camps black and white. We +went out at 3.30, as I said before, to Cecilia Metella, and stopped at +Gert's for tea. W. walked home, and I stayed a little while with her +talking over the arrangements for their reception on Sunday. Every +one--Romans, diplomats, and Americans--they have asked has accepted; but +their rooms are fairly large and I don't think they will be crowded. + + + HOTEL DE LONDRES, + Monday, February 29, 1880. + +I am still tired from the quantity of people we saw last night at the +Schuylers. Their reception was most brilliant; all the world----However, +I will begin at the beginning. We went to church on Sunday, as Dr. Nevin +came to see us Saturday afternoon and said he hoped we would not fail to +come. W. found him clever and interesting. He said he thought I should +hardly recognise him in his new church. It is very pretty--English +style, built by an English architect (Street) in the new quarter, Via +Nazionale, utterly unlike the bare little room outside the Porta del +Popolo, where we used to go and do the music. It makes me laugh now when +I think of the congregation all embarked on a well-known hymn, when +suddenly Henrietta would lower the tune one note--if I was tired, as +often happened, as one of the gayest balls in Rome was Princess +Sciarra's on Saturday night. When I had danced until four o'clock in the +morning (the test of the ball was how late it lasted) it was rather an +effort to be at church at 10.30 Sunday morning and sing straight through +the service. Henrietta had the harmonium and I led the singing. I will +say that the effect of the sudden change was disastrous from a musical +point of view. However, we did our best. I am afraid Henrietta was not +always faithful to Bach and Beethoven in her voluntaries. We had no +music, and she played whatever she could remember, and occasionally +there were strains of "Araby's Daughter" or "When the Swallows Homeward +Fly," which were quite perceptible even through the minor chords. I +liked doing it all the same, and like it still. I am so fond of the old +hymns we used to sing as children, and should like to hear "Shout the +Glad Tidings" every Christmas. I never have since we left America and +Oyster Bay, where also we did the music, and where, when we were late +sometimes for church, Faust, the big black Newfoundland dog would come +and bark when the bell had stopped, telling us quite plainly we were +late--he knew all about it. + +We made the regular Sunday turn in the afternoon--Villa Borghese and +Pincio--sent the carriage away and walked home by the Villa Medici. W. +loves the view from the terrace. We met Mrs. Bruce, also looking at the +view, and walked home together. She told W. Cardinal Howard wanted to +see him, had known him in England in the old days, also a young English +monsignore--called _English_ oddly enough. She will ask us all to dine +together some night next week. I asked her if she remembered her famous +dinner long ago with Cardinal Howard and Dean Stanley. The two divines +were very anxious to cross swords. They were such a contrast. Dean +Stanley, small, slight, nervous, bright eyes, charming manners, and a +keen debater. The Cardinal, tall, large, slow, but very earnest, +absolutely convinced. The conversation was most interesting--very +animated--but never personal nor even vehement, though their views and +judgments were absolutely different on all points. However, both were +gentlemen and both large-minded. W. was much interested, as he knew Dean +Stanley and his wife Lady Augusta well; they came often to Paris, and +were habitues of Madame Mohl's famous salon, where the literary men of +all creeds and countries used to meet. It was there, too, that Dean +Stanley and Renan used to meet and talk, the two great intellects +finding points in common. I was taken there once or twice after I was +first married. It was a curious interior; Madame Mohl, a little old +lady, always dressed in white, with a group of men standing around her +chair--many more men than women, and never more than twenty or thirty +people. I suppose it was the type of the old French literary salon where +people went to talk. I naturally listened in those days, not being +sufficiently up in all the political and literary questions, and not +pinning my faith absolutely on the "Revue des Deux Mondes." Mrs. Bruce, +too, was often at Madame Mohl's. + +We stopped in a few minutes at the Trinita de' Monti, where there was a +service of some kind going on. The nuns were singing a low, monotonous +chant behind their grating; the church was quite dark, lights only on +the altar, a few women kneeling and absorbed, and a few irreverent +forestieri looking about and talking in whispers. We came down the +Spanish Steps, which were quite deserted at that hour--models, beggars, +flaneurs, all resting from their labours. + +I was glad to rest a little before dinner, and only dressed afterward, +as I couldn't well go down to the public dining-room in a low red satin +dress and diamonds. We went rather early--ten o'clock--to Palazzo +Altemps, but found many people already there. The apartment looked very +pretty, quantities of flowers and plants wherever they could be put. +Gert looked very well in yellow satin, and Eugene is always at his best +in his own house--very courteous and receiving people as if it were a +pleasure to him (which I think it is). We found quantities of old +friends--Pallavicinis, Teanos, Lovatellis, Calabrinis, Bandini, Pagets, +Mrs. Bruce, Hooker, Grants, etc., and quantities of people we didn't +know, and whose acquaintance we made of course--Mesdames Minghetti, +Cairoli, Despretis, and almost the whole of the Corps Diplomatique. + +W. enjoyed it very much, did his manners very well, and never looked +stiff or bored. I was delighted to see the familiar faces once more. I +almost felt as if we had never been away. Madame de Noailles was +astounded at the number of people I knew--I think she hadn't realized +how long I had lived in Rome as a girl. She had heard W. say it was his +first visit to Rome, and thought I, too, was here for the first time, +and she was naturally surprised to hear me talking to Calabrini about +the hunts, cotillons, his coach, and tempi passati generally. + +I have accepted so many invitations that I never can remember them, but +the ladies promised to send a card. Aunt Mary Gracie was rather put out +with me because I wore no necklace (which couldn't be said of the Roman +ladies, who all wore splendid jewels), but I told her it was the last +chic in Paris to wear your necklace on your bodice, not on your neck. + +We stayed on after all the beau monde had gone with Aunt Mary, Hooker, a +Russian friend of Schuyler's, and Count Palfy, had a nice little supper, +champagne and sandwiches, and talked over the party, saying of course +(as they say we Kings always do) how pleasant our party was. W. was much +interested in the various talks he had. He found Minghetti charming--so +intelligent and well up in everything. Cairoli, too, he had been anxious +to see; also Visconti Venosta. He was naturally (like all the men) +charmed with Madame Minghetti. She must have been beautiful, and has an +extraordinary charm of manner. The Cairolis are a very big couple. He is +tall and broad, fine eyes--she, too, on a large scale, but handsome. Of +course there were many inquiries from all the old friends for la maman +and the family generally. Mrs. Bruce says she never drives in the +Doria-Pamphili without thinking of you driving about in your plain black +dress and bonnet, with two or three daughters (not quite so plainly +dressed) in the carriage, and all always talking and laughing, and +enjoying life together. I told her about Florence, where the King of +Italy always bowed to you in the Cascine, evidently taking you for the +superior of some religious order (he must have thought the novices were +lively), and the children in the street used to run up to you and kiss +your hand. "He was quite right, to bow to you," she said, "my grand old +Republican." + +[Illustration: The Spanish Steps. + +In the Piazza di Spagna, Rome.] + + + March 4, 1880. + +Yesterday we went again to the Vatican. W. is quite happy, I thought I +should never get him away. It is most amusing to walk about old Rome +with him, for suddenly over a gateway or at the bottom of an ordinary +little court he discovers an inscription or a slab, or an old stone +which he knows all about, and we stop. He reads, and recognises, and +translates to me, and is wildly interested. It is all so good for him, +and puts politics and little annoyances out of his head. It is quite new +for me to see Rome from a classical point de vue, but I suppose one +enjoys things differently as one grows older. I certainly enjoyed the +mad gallops over the Campagna in the old days; do you remember Mrs. S. +who was so severe with us--first because we were Americans (she was +English) and then because we knew everybody and enjoyed +ourselves?--"when she was young people came to Rome to educate +themselves and enjoy the pictures, museums, historical associations, +etc. _Now_ one saw nothing but American girls racing over the Campagna +with a troop of Roman princes at their heels." Poor dear, she really +thought it was a calamity not to be born under the British flag. I +suppose that makes the great strength of the English, their absolute +conviction that England is the only country in the world. + +They are funny, though--I was discussing something one day with Lady S., +and we didn't quite agree; upon which she remarked she supposed I +couldn't understand her ideas--she came from a big country where one +took broad views of things. I said I thought I did too, but perhaps it +is a matter of appreciation--I think, though, I have got geography on my +side. + +After breakfast we drove about paying visits. We found Princess Teano +(who has asked us to dine on Wednesday) and she showed us her boys--the +eldest one a beauty. She looked very handsome with her pure Madonna +face. She told us her beau-pere (the blind Duke of Sermoneta) had been +so pleased to meet W. in Florence. They had a long talk somewhere, and +W. was so amused with the Duke's politics and liberalism--all so +easy-going, half chaffing, but very decided too, no sounding phrases nor +profession de foi; simply accepting (what he couldn't really like very +much) the inevitable, de bonne grace; and seizing and ridiculing all the +weak points. + +In France they are frightfully logical, must always argue and discuss +everything--I think they are born debaters. + +We left cards on various people, Princess Bandini, Cenci, Countess +Lovatelli, and then went for a little turn out of the San Lorenzo gate, +but not far, as we wanted to go to Princess Pallavicini, who received +that afternoon. W. was much struck with the apartment--so many rooms, +all very high ceilings, that we passed through before getting to the +boudoir where the Princess was sitting. It all looked so natural, I +remembered the hangings--bright flowers on a light satin ground--as soon +as I got into the room, and some of the pictures. She was very cordial +and friendly, told W. how long she had known me, and recalled some of +our rides at Frascati with her and Del Monte. She asked us to come on +Friday evenings, she was always at home. No one else was there but a +Princesse de Thurn and Taxis (nee Hohenlohe) who was introduced to us, +and the talk was pleasant enough. She was quite interested in our two +audiences--Pope and Quirinal--but we told her we had heard nothing from +either court yet. W. walked home, and I went on to Gert as it was her +reception day. She gave me a cup of tea, and I found various friends +there, including Father Smith who was quite pleased to see me again. He +doesn't look any older, and is apparently quite as energetic as ever. He +told me he had enjoyed his talk with W. very much, and they had made a +rendezvous for two days--the Catacombs and San Clemente. He remarked +casually that W. wasn't at all what he expected to find him; not at all +his idea of a "French Republican." I wonder what sort of trade-mark he +expected to see? If he had pictured W. as a slight, nervous, black-eyed, +voluble Frenchman, he must naturally have been surprised. + +We have heard people discussing us sometimes in English as we pass down +the long dining-room to our table--"There goes Waddington, the late +French Premier." "Never--that man is an Englishman." "I have seen +pictures of Waddington--he doesn't look at all like that, etc." The head +waiter always points us out as distinguished strangers. + +I found quantities of cards when I came home--one from Lily San Vito +with a nice little message of welcome. (We crossed her in the Corso the +other day and she looked lovely.) Also Valerys, Middletons, Pantaleones, +etc. After I had gone to my room to dress W. had a visit from Desprez, +the French Ambassador to the Vatican. He has just arrived, his wife not +yet come, and he feels a little strange in this very divided society. We +are going to meet him at dinner at the Portuguese Embassy. He told W. +there would be several Cardinals at the dinner--a regular black +assemblage. It will be a funny experience for W. + + + March 6, 1880. + +I will finish this long letter to night. We have just come in from the +Teano dinner, which was pleasant. Teano looked quite the same (I hadn't +seen him for years) with his tall, slight figure and white lock. (I +forgot to look if the boy had it.) She looked very handsome. We had the +Minghettis, a Polish Countess--sister-in-law of the Duc de Sermoneta, +the Calabrinis, and M. Heding, a German savant. Minghetti was +delightful, telling us his early experiences with the old Pope, Pio +Nono. He was killing over the entente between the government and the +monks for the suppression of the monasteries. The gendarmes arrived, +found barred doors and resistance. There was a sort of halt and +parley--one father came out, then another--a little livret of the Caisse +d'Epargne was put into their hands, and all went off as quietly as +possible. Heding seemed to think things wouldn't go so easily in +Germany, and they certainly wouldn't in France. + +Madame Minghetti and I talked for a long time after dinner exchanging +our experiences of the official world, which I fancy is always the same +in all countries. Calabrini was of course his same courteous self--so +absolutely free from pose of any kind--rather unusual in a man who has +always had such a success. + +This morning we went to Trajan's Forum, walked, W. as usual quite at +home, everywhere recognising old friends at every step. We looked at all +manner of inscriptions and basso-rilievos, and enjoyed ourselves very +much. This afternoon W. and Schuyler went off together to see some +churches and the Palazzo dei Cesari. I backed out, as I can't stand two +sight-seeings the same day with a dinner in prospect in the evening. I +went over to get Gert, and we drove about together, winding up at the +Comtesse Wimpffens, Austrian Ambassadress, who has a charming apartment +in the Palazzo Chigi (where Odo Russell used to live when we were in +Rome). There were various ladies there, the Marquise de Noailles, +French Ambassadress (who immediately asked me who made my dress, the +blue velvet that did all my visits the last year of the Quai d'Orsay), +Lady Paget, Madame Minghetti, and a sprinkling of secretaries and +attaches. Comtesse d'Aulnay, looking very pretty, very well dressed, +came in just as we were leaving. We wound up with a turn in the Villa +Borghese. There were grooms waiting at the gate with saddle horses, just +as our old Carmine used to wait for us. It is all so curiously familiar +and yet changed. I can't get accustomed to the quantities of people in +the streets where there never used to be any one--occasionally a priest, +or a few beggars, or a water-carrier. Now there are soldiers, people +carrying parcels, small employees, workmen, carts, carriages, life in +fact. There were quantities of people in the Villa Borghese. Some of the +carriages very well turned out, again very different from our days when +we knew every carriage, and when a new equipage or a new face made a +sensation. + +W. has had a delightful afternoon looking at some of the very old +churches with Eugene. He had, too, a note from Desprez saying our +audience from the Pope would be to-morrow at one o'clock, and giving me +the necessary instructions for my veil, long black dress, etc. To-morrow +night we dine at the Noailles. The breakfast there the other day was +pleasant--no one but ourselves and Ripalda. Of course it is a +magnificent Embassy--the Farnese Palace--and they do it very well, but +it would take an army of servants to "garnish" these long anterooms and +passages, in fact ordinary servants are quite lost there; there ought to +be Swiss guards or halberdiers with steel cuirasses and lances which +would stand out splendidly from the old grey walls. One could quite +imagine an Ambassador of Louis XIV arriving with 100 gentlemen and +armed retainers in his suite. The famous room with the Caracci frescoes +must be beautiful at night. Ripalda asked us to come to tea one +afternoon at his palace on the Tiber, the "Farnesina." Marquise de +Noailles was charming. + +Now I will say good-night, dear, for I am tired, and we have a busy day +to-morrow. I wonder if Leo XIII. will impress me as much as Pio Nono +did. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + ROME, HOTEL DE LONDRES, + Thursday, March 8, 1880. + +The Piazza is delightful this morning, dear mother; it is bright and +warm, and there are lots of people starting for excursions with +guide-books, white umbrellas, and every variety of wrap. The coachmen of +the little botte look so smiling and interested, so anxious to make +things easy and comfortable. Vera came to see us yesterday, and told me +he was hailed by one of the coachmen from the top of his box, just as he +was crossing the Piazza, who said to him: "Sai Maestro, una di quelle +signorine King e tornata col marito?" (Do you know, master, one of those +King young ladies has come back with her husband?) He was much +amused--told him he was quite right, and that he was going to see that +same signorina. I dare say he had driven us often to one of the gates to +meet the saddle horses. + +Yesterday was our udienza particolare (special audience), and most +interesting it was. Madame Hubert was madly excited dressing me. I wore +my black satin, long, with the Spanish lace veil I had brought in case I +should be received by his Holiness, and of course no gloves, though I +had a pair with me and left them in the carriage. We started at 12.30, +as our audience was at one, and got there quickly enough. I had +forgotten all the queer little courts and turns at the back of the +Vatican. Everything was ready for us; we were received really in royal +state--Swiss Guard, with their extraordinary striped yellow uniform +(designed, some one told us the other day, by Michelangelo), tall +footmen attired in red damask, Guardia Nobile, chamberlains, and two +monsignori. The garde noble de service was Felice Malatesta. He really +seemed much pleased to see me again, and to make W.'s acquaintance--swore +he would have known me at once, I was so little changed; but I rather +suspect if he hadn't known we were coming he wouldn't have recognised +me. We had a nice talk the few minutes we stood waiting in the room +adjoining the one where the Pope received us, and he gave me news of +all his family--Emilio (still unmarried), Francesco, etc.; then a door +was opened, a monsignore came out, bowed, and said his Holiness was +ready to receive us. We went in at once, the monsignore closing the +door behind us and leaving us alone with the Pope, who came almost +to the door to receive us, so that the three regulation curtseys +were impossible. There were three red and gold arm-chairs at one end of +the room, with a thick, handsome carpet in front of them. The Pope sat +on the one in the middle, put me on his right and W. on his left. He is +a very striking figure; tall, slight, a fine intellectual brow and +wonderfully bright eyes--absolutely unlike Pio Nono, the only Pope I had +ever approached. He was most gracious, spoke to me always in Italian, +said he knew I was an old Roman, and that we had lived many years in +Rome; spoke French to W., who, though he knows Italian fairly, prefers +speaking French. He asked W. all sorts of questions about home politics +and the attitude of the clergy, saying that as a Protestant his opinion +would be impartial (he was well up in French politics, and knew that +there were three Protestants in W.'s ministry: himself, Leon Say, and +Freycinet). W. was rather guarded at first (decidedly "banale," I told +him afterward), but the Pope looked straight at him with his keen, +bright eyes, saying: "Je vous en prie, M. Waddington, parlez sons +reserves." + +We stayed about three-quarters of an hour, and the talk was most +interesting. The Pope is very anxious to bring about a better state of +feeling between the clergy and the people in France, and tries so hard +to understand why the priests are so unpopular; asked about the country +curate, who baptizes the children and buries the old people--surely +there must be a feeling of respect for him; said, too, that everywhere +in town or country the priests do so much for the sick and poor. W. told +him the women _all_ went to church and sent their children to the +catechism, but the men are indifferent, if not hostile, and once the +boys have made their first communion they never put their foot in a +church. "What will keep them straight and make good men of them, if they +grow up without any religious education?" The answer was +difficult--example and home teaching, _when_ they get it. Evidently he +had been curious to see W., and I think he was pleased. It was quite a +picture to see the two men--the Pope dressed all in white, sitting very +straight in his arm-chair with his two hands resting on the arms of the +chair, his head a little bent forward, and listening attentively to +every word that W. said. W. drew his chair a little forward, spoke very +quietly, as he always does, and said all he wanted to say with just the +same steady look in his blue eyes. + +[Illustration: Pope Leo XIII.] + +From time to time the Pope turned to me and asked me (always in Italian) +if politics interested me--he believed all French women were keen +politicians; also if I had found many old friends in Rome. I told him I +was so pleased to see Felice Malatesta as we came in, and that we were +going to meet Cardinal Howard one day at breakfast. I shouldn't think he +took as much interest in the social life of Rome as Pio Nono did. They +used always to say he knew everything about everybody, and that there +was nothing he enjoyed so much as a visit from Odo Russell, who used to +tell him all sorts of "petites histoires" when their official business +was over. + +He also talked a good deal to W. about his uncle, Evelyn Waddington, who +lived in Perugia, where he was "sindaco" (mayor) for years. He married +an Italian lady, and was more than half Italian--curious for a man +called Evelyn Waddington. The Pope had known him well when he was Bishop +of Perugia. + +We both kissed his hand when we took leave, and he said again to W. how +much he had been interested in all he told him. We lingered a few +minutes in the anteroom, as there was some idea Cardinal Nina would +receive us, but it had not been arranged. It seemed strange to be in +those high, bare rooms again, and reminded me of our visit to Cardinal +Antonelli years ago with father, when he showed us his collection of +gems. I remember so well his answer to Bessie Curtis (now Marquise de +Talleyrand-Perigord), who was looking out of the window, and said it was +such an enchanting view, would help one in "des moments de +decouragement." "On n'est jamais decourage, mademoiselle." + +I imagine Leo XIII has very difficult moments sometimes. + +W. wouldn't come out again as he had letters to write, so I stopped for +Gert, and we had a lovely turn in the Villa Pamphili. Quantities of +people--it looked very gay. We got home about six, and had visits until +it was time to dress for our dinner at the Wimpffens. D'Aulnay came +first, very anxious to hear about our audience at the Vatican; and +Tagliani, the auditeur of the old "nonce"; also Dr. Nevin. + +Our dinner at the Wimpffens was very pleasant. Their apartment looks +very handsome lighted. There was a fine, pompous old porter at the door +downstairs, and plenty of servants and a "chasseur" upstairs. We had all +the personnel of the Embassy, the Calabrinis, Bibra (Bavarian Minister), +Van Loo (Belgian), and an Austrian whose name I didn't master, who had +been a minister in Andrassy's Cabinet. After dinner we all adjourned to +the smoking-room, which is very large and comfortable, lots of low +arm-chairs. The Austrian ladies smoked, and I talked to Bibra and Van +Loo, who told me all the diplomats had been rather struck with the +cordiality of our reception--that in general the Romans troubled +themselves very little about strangers. W. talked to Wimpffen and his +Austrian friend, who was much interested in hearing about our audience +with the Pope, and a little surprised that W. should have talked to him +so freely, both of them saying that his being a Protestant made things +much easier. + +The Romans went off early, so W. went to Geoffroy (director of the Ecole +de Rome--French Archaeological Society), who receives Thursday evenings +at the Farnese Palace. He has an apartment quite up at the top of the +palace over the Noailles, and I went to Gert, who also received +Thursday. I found a good many people there--principally Americans, and +some young diplomats. So many people were introduced to me that I was +quite exhausted, and went and sat down by Aunt Mary, who looked very +handsome. + + + Sunday, March 10, 1880. + +I shall not go out this morning. It is a little foggy--the first time +since we came here--and I was also lazy. We are going so perpetually. +Yesterday W. was off at nine in the morning with Geoffroy and Lanciani +for a classic tournee. I wrote one or two letters, and then Madame +Hubert and I walked over to Gert's and breakfasted. After breakfast +Monsignor English came in and had much to say about the Pope, and the +impression W. had made which he had heard from high personages of the +Vatican. I told him all about the interview, and he was much surprised +when I said we all sat down. W. came while he was still there, and of +course he wanted to hear his account, and was so pleased with all W. +said about the Pope, his marvellous intelligence and comprehension of +the present very difficult state of affairs in France. English also said +the Pope had been pleased with me (I did nothing but listen) so I +plucked up my courage, and asked him if he thought his Holiness would +give me a photograph _signed_--I should like so much to have one. He +said it would be difficult, as the Pope never _signed_ a photo--but +perhaps----. I should like one so much--I hope he will make an exception +for this heretic. + +W. and I walked home, and then I dressed, and we started again for some +visits. We found Princess Bandini, who was most amiable--very pleased to +make W.'s acquaintance, also rather curious about the Vatican visit. +There were quantities of people there, principally diplomats and +English. W. thought the apartment very handsome. + +We tried to find Madame Calabrini, but she was not receiving. We dined +at the Noailles. I wore my blue satin and all the diamonds I possess. +The apartment looked very ambassadorial--the great gallery lighted, +superb. The dinner was handsome--Wimpffens, Pagets, Uxkulls (Russian +Ambassador, you will remember him in Florence the year we were there), +Cairolis, Geoffroys, Schuylers, and various young men. Maffei, the +Under-Secretary of State, took me in, and I had Cairoli on the other +side. I didn't find him very easy to talk to. He doesn't speak French +very well, so I changed into Italian (which I am gradually getting back) +and then we got on better. I shouldn't think he was much of a ladies' +man, and never a brilliant talker. Maffei is very clever and amusing. +Gert sat just opposite, looking very well in yellow. + +During the dinner Maffei called my attention to the menu "Cotelettes a +la Waddington," and asked me if W. was as much of an authority in cooks +as he was in coins. I disclaimed any such knowledge for him, and was +rather curious to see what the "cotelettes" would prove to be. They were +a sort of chaud-froid, with a thick, white envelope, on which was a +large W. in truffles. The whole table was rather amused, and Madame de +Noailles gave us the explanation. Her chef had been some time with us at +the Quai d'Orsay, and when he heard W. was coming to dinner was much +excited, and anxious to do honour to his old master--so he consulted +Madame de Noailles, and that was the result. I will keep the menu for +you. + +After dinner we adjourned to the beautiful Carracci gallery, and there I +was presented to various ladies--Madame d'Uxkull (ci-devant Madame +Gheka), very handsome; and Madame Visconti Venosta, an attractive +looking woman with charming manners. I had quite a talk with Lady Paget, +who looks always very distinguished with her beautiful figure. She told +me Mrs. Edwards's baby had arrived--a little girl--to be called "Gay" +after her daughter.[18] I hope she will grow up as pretty as her mother. +I talked some time to Madame Cairoli who was very amiable and expansive, +called me always "Madame la Comtesse"; and offered me anything I wanted +from cards for the Chamber to a presentation to the Queen. + +[18] Now the Hon. Sylvia Edwards, Maid of Honour to Queen Alexandra. + +There was quite a reception in the evening--not many of the Roman +ladies. Marc Antonio Colonna came up--recalled himself, and introduced +me to his wife--very pretty, with splendid jewels. She is the daughter +of the Duke of Sant-Arpino, a very handsome man. Her mother, the +Duchess, an English woman, also very handsome, so she comes fairly by +her beauty. I walked about the rooms with Wimpffen, and he showed me all +the notabilities in the parliamentary world. Lady Paget asked us to go +to her on Sunday afternoon, and I promised Nevin we would go to his +church, but we didn't. + +W. has just received an intimation that King Humbert will receive him +to-morrow at one o'clock, and I have told Madame Hubert to get out his +Italian decorations, as he always forgets to put them on, and it seems +in all courts they attach much importance to these matters. We are +starting now for a drive; first to the Villa Wolkonsky--I want to show +it to W., and we shall probably go in late to the British Embassy. + + + Monday, March 11, 1880. + +The King gave W. his audience to-day at one. He went off most properly +attired, _with_ his Italian ribbon. He generally forgets to put on his +orders, and was decidedly put out one day in Paris when he arrived at a +royal reception _without_ the decoration the sovereign had just sent +him. The explanation was difficult--he could hardly tell the King he had +forgotten. W. got back again a little after two, and said the interview +was pleasant enough--the King very gracious, and he supposed, for him, +talkative; though there were long pauses in the conversation--he leaning +on his sword, with his hands crossed on the hilt as his father always +did--spoke about the Queen, said she was in Rome, and he believed Madame +Waddington had known her when she was Princess de Piedmont. I never was +presented to her--saw her only from a distance at some of the balls. I +remember her quite well at a ball at the Teanos in a blue dress, with +her beautiful pearls. I hope she will receive us. He talked less +politics than the Pope; said France and Italy, the two great Latin +races, ought to be friends, and deplored the extreme liberty of the +press; knew also that W. was in Rome for the first time, and hoped he +would have fine weather. He did not ask him anything about his interview +with the Pope. W. said the reception was quite simple--nothing like the +state and show of the Vatican. There was a big porter at the door of the +palace, two or three servants on the stairs, and two officers, +aides-de-camp, in the small salon opening into the King's cabinet. + +Soon after he came in we had visits--Hooker, Monsignor English, a French +priest, head of St. Louis des Francais, and Del Monte, whom I hadn't yet +seen. He was so nice and friendly--doesn't look really much older, +though he says he feels so. I told him it seemed unnatural not to have a +piano. He would have brought his cello, and we could have plunged into +music and quite forgotten how many years had passed since we first +played and sang the "Stella Confidente." + +[Illustration: King Humbert of Italy.] + +After they had all gone we started out to the "Tre Fontane," taking Gert +with us to see the establishment of the French Trappists who are trying +to "assainir" the Campagna by planting eucalyptus trees. It is an +interesting experiment, but rather a dangerous one, as several of the +fathers have died. The summer here, with that deadly mist that rises +from the Campagna, must be fatal, and the two monks we saw looked yellow +and shrivelled with fever. However, they will persevere, with that +extraordinary tenacity and devotion of the Catholic priests when they +undertake anything of that kind. I carried off a bottle of Elixir of +Eucalpytus, for I am sorry to say these last bright days have given me +an unpleasant souvenir in the shape of a cold chill every now and then +between the shoulders, and evidently there is still truth in the Roman +proverb "Cuore di donna, onde di mare, sole di Marzo, non ti fidare." +(Don't trust a woman's heart, the waves of the sea, nor the March sun.) + +We got home about half-past six, had tea and more visits--Calabrini, +Vitelleschi, and Princess Pallavicini, who was most animated, and talked +politics hard with W. We dined at home and had a little talk, just as we +were finishing dinner, with Menabrea, who was dining at a table next +ours. They say he will go to the Paris Embassy in Cialdini's place. W. +wouldn't go out again, so I went alone to Gert's, who had a few +people--Mrs. Van Rensselaer, clever and original; Countess Calice, an +American; her husband, a cousin of the Malatestas; Vera; young +Malatesta, a son of Francesco; a Russian secretary, and one or two +others. It was rather a pleasant evening. They had tea in the +dining-room--everybody walked about, and the men smoked. + + + Tuesday, March 13, 1880. + +Yesterday morning W. and I had a good outing, wandering about the +Capitol. First we walked around Marcus Aurelius, then up the old worn +stone steps to the Ara Coeli. I told W. how we used to go there always +on Christmas Eve to see the Creche and the Bambino. It was very well +done, and most effective. The stable, beasts, shepherds, and kings (one +quite black with a fine crown). There were always children singing the +"storia di Gesu" and babies in arms stretching out their hands to the +lights. Yesterday the church was quite empty, as there is not much to +attract the ordinary tourist. We made our way slowly, W. stopping every +moment before an inscription, or a sarcophagus, or a fresco, to the room +of the "Dying Gladiator," which he found magnificent--was not at all +disappointed; afterward the faun--and then sauntered though all the +rooms. I had forgotten the two skeletons in one of the sarcophagi--the +woman's with rings on her fingers, most ghastly. + +After lunch Countess Wimpffen came in to know if I would drive with her +to the Villa Borghese, and do two teas afterwards--Madame Cairoli and +Madame Westenberg (wife of the Dutch Minister, an American and a great +friend of Gert's); but I couldn't arrange it, as W. wanted to come with +me to the Affaires Etrangeres--so we agreed to go another day. I always +liked both Wimpffens so much when they were in Paris that it is a great +pleasure to find them here. Wimpffen likes to get hold of W. and talk +about France and French politics. + +Our dinner at Mrs. Bruce's was very gay. I told her I didn't find her +salon much prettier than in our days when we lived on the first floor of +Perret's house (she on the second), and she always said we made Perret +send up to her all the ugly furniture we wouldn't have. What we kept +was so bad, that I think the "rebut" must have been something awful. We +had the Minghettis, Vitelleschis, Wurts, Wilbrahams, Schuylers, and one +or two stray Englishmen. Vitelleschi took me in, and I had Minghetti on +the other side, so I was very well placed. It is killing to hear them +talk politics--discussing all the most burning questions with a sort of +easy persiflage and "esprit de conciliation" that would astound our +"grands politiques" at home. Minghetti said the most absolutely liberal +man he had ever known was Pio Nono--but what could he do, once he was +Pope. + +It was really a charming dinner--Mrs. Bruce is an ideal hostess. She +likes to hear the clever men discuss, and always manages to put them on +their mettle. We all came away about the same time, and W. and I went on +to the opera "Tor di None." Bibra had invited us to come to his box. The +house was much less "elegante" than the Paris house--hardly any one in a +low dress, no tiaras, and few jewels. The Royal box empty. Princess +Bandini was in the next box with Del Monte and Trochi. The Minghettis +opposite with the Wimpffens. The "salle" was badly lighted--one could +hardly make the people out. + +W. had rather a shock--we had scarcely got in--(Bibra not yet come) when +the door opened and in came Maurizio Cavaletti--enchanted to see +me--seizing both my hands--"Maria mia adorata--cara regazza, etc.," +utterly oblivious of "cara Maria's" husband, who stood stiff and cold +(an icicle) in the background, with Anglo-Saxon written all over him; +waiting for the exuberant demonstration to finish, and a presentation to +be made. As soon as I could I presented Monsieur le Marquis in proper +form, and explained that we were very old friends, had not met for +years, etc., but W. hardly thawed all the evening. + +When he went out of the box to pay a visit to our neighbours I +remonstrated vigorously with Maurizio, but he was so unfeignedly +astonished at being taken to task for greeting a very old friend warmly, +that I didn't make much impression. The ballet was pretty, and of course +there was an influx of young men as soon as it began--a handsome, rather +stout "ballerina" being evidently a favourite. + +To-day we breakfasted with the Schuylers to meet Mrs. Bruce and Cardinal +Howard--no one else. We had a pretty little breakfast, most lively. I +didn't find the Cardinal much changed, a little stouter perhaps. He was +quite surprised at W.'s English; knew of course that he had been +educated at Rugby and Cambridge, and had the Chancellor's medal, but +thought he would have lost it a little having lived so many years in +France, and having made all his political career in French. I asked him +if he was as particular as ever about his horses. He always had such +splendid black horses when we lived in Rome, but he said, rather sadly, +that times were changed. W. and he talked a long time after breakfast. +He was very anxious to know whether _all_ the religious orders were +threatened in France or merely the Jesuits. Comte Palfy (Austrian) came +in just as we were leaving. He is so attractive--a great friend of +l'Oncle Alphonse--knows everybody here and loves Rome. + +W. and I went off to the Villa Albani--out of Porta Salara. We walked +through the rooms--there are principally busts, statues, bas-reliefs, +etc.--and then loitered about the gardens which are fine. Fountains, +vases, and statues in every direction, and always that beautiful view of +the hills in the soft afternoon light. + +I will finish when I come home from our _Black_ dinner. We are asked for +seven, so of course will get back early, as we do not go anywhere +afterward. I shall wear black, as I hear so many Princes of the church +are to be there. Madame Hubert is very sorry I can't wear the long black +veil that I did for the Pope--she found that most becoming. + + + Tuesday, March 12, 1880, 10.30 P.M. + +We are just home from our dinner at the Portuguese Embassy, so I have +got out of my gauds and into my tea-gown, and will finish this long +letter. It was most interesting--a great deal of couleur locale. We +arrived very punctually--three or four carriages driving up at the same +time. There was of course a magnificent porter downstairs, and +quantities of servants in handsome liveries; a good deal of red and +powder. Two giants at the foot of the staircase, with the enormous tall +candles which are de rigueur at a Black embassy when cardinals or +ambassadors dine. They were just preparing to escort some swell up the +staircase as we arrived; there was a moment's halt, and the swell turned +out to be M. Desprez, the new French Ambassador to the Vatican +(replacing the Marquis de Cabriac). He was half embarrassed when he +recognised us; W. had so lately been his chef that he couldn't quite +make up his mind to pass before him--especially under such novel and +rather trying conditions. However, there was nothing to be done, and he +started up the great staircase between the tall candles, W. and I +followed modestly in his wake. We found several people, including two or +three cardinals, already there. The apartment is very handsome. The +Ambassador (Thomar) looked very well--"tres grand seigneur"--standing at +the door of the first salon, and one saw quite a vista of large, +brilliantly lighted rooms beyond. All the guests arrived very +quickly--we had hardly time to exchange a word with any one. I saw the +Sulmonas come in. I recognised her instantly, though I hadn't seen her +for years. She was born Apponyi, and they were married when we were +living in Rome. Also Marc Antonio Colonna and the d'Aulnays. Almost +immediately dinner was announced. Sulmona took me in and I had a +cardinal (Portuguese) on the other side. I didn't say much to the +cardinal at first. He talked to his neighbour, and Sulmona and I +plunged, of course, into old Roman days. He was much amused at the +composition of the dinner, and wondered if it would interest W. He asked +me if I remembered the fancy ball at the Palazzo Borghese. He had still +the album with all the photos, and remembered me perfectly as "Folie" +with short skirts, bells, mirror, etc. I remember it, of course, quite +well. Some of the costumes were beautiful, particularly those copied +from portraits. After a little while the cardinal turned his attention +to me. He was a nice old man, speaking either French or Italian (both +with a strong accent), and much interested in the guests. He asked me if +I belonged to the corps diplomatique. I said no--we were merely +strangers spending the winter in Rome. He thought there were a good many +strangers at table--he didn't know half the people, not having been long +in Rome; but he knew that there was one man dining whom he had a great +desire to see, Waddington, the late French Premier; perhaps I knew him, +and could point him out. He had always followed his career with great +interest, but there were some things he couldn't understand, "par +exemple son attitude dans la question--" Then as I didn't know what he +might be going to say, I interrupted, and said no one could point out +that gentleman as well as I, as I was Madame Waddington. He looked a +little uncomfortable, so I remarked, "Il diavolo non e tanto nero quant +e dipinto" (The devil is not so black as he is painted), to which he +replied, "Eh, no punto diavolo" (no devil)--was rather amused, and asked +me if I would introduce him to W. after dinner. We then, of course, +talked a little about France, and how very difficult the religious +question was. He asked me where I had learned Italian, so I told him how +many years we had lived in Rome when my brother was the last Minister +from the United States to the Vatican. Sulmona joined in the talk, and +we rather amused ourselves. Sulmona, of course, knew everybody, and +explained some of the people, including members of his own (Borghese) +family, who were very Black and uncompromising. Still, as I told him, +the younger generation is less narrow-minded, more modern. I don't think +they mean to cut themselves off from all participation in the nation's +history. After all, they are all Italians as well as Romans. The foreign +marriages, too, make a difference. I don't think the sons of English and +American mothers could settle down to that life of inaction and living +on the past which the Black Party means in Rome. + +As soon as I could after dinner I got hold of W. (which was difficult, +as he was decidedly surrounded) and introduced him to my cardinal, whose +name I never got, and I went to recall myself to Princess Sulmona. We +had a nice talk first about her people--her father, Count Apponyi, was +Austrian Ambassador in Paris when Marshal MacMahon was President, and +their salon was very brilliant, everybody going to them; the official +world and the Faubourg St. Germain meeting, but not mingling. Then we +talked a little about Rome, and the future of the young generation just +growing up. Of course it is awfully difficult for families like Borghese +and Colonna who have been bound up in the old papal world, and given +popes to Italy, to break away from the traditions of centuries and go in +frankly for "Italia Unita." Do you remember what they used to tell us of +Prince Massimo? When some inquisitive woman asked if they really called +themselves Fabius Maximus, he replied that it had been a family name for +1,400 years. + +The present Prince Massimo is one of the most zealous supporters of the +Pope. The great doors of his gloomy old palace have never been opened +since the King of Italy came to Rome. One can't help admiring such +absolute conviction and loyalty; but one wants more than that in these +days of progress to keep a country alive. + +The evening wasn't long; the cardinals never stay late, and every one +went away at the same time. We again assisted at the ceremony of the big +candles, as of course every cardinal and the Ambassador had to be +conducted downstairs with the same form. It was altogether a very +interesting evening and quite different from any dinner we had ever been +at. I don't think the French cardinals ever dine out in France; I don't +remember ever meeting one. Of course the "nunzio" went everywhere and +always had the "pas"--but one looks upon him more as a diplomatist than +a priest. + +W. enjoyed his evening very much. He is now settled in his arm-chair +with his very disreputable pipe, and has been telling me his +experiences. He found my old cardinal very intelligent, and very well up +in French politics, and life generally. He liked Sulmona, too, very +much; made her acquaintance, but didn't have a chance to talk much to +her, as so many people were introduced to him. There is certainly a +great curiosity to see him--I wonder what people expected to find? He +looks very well, and is enjoying himself very much. I am so glad we did +not stay in Paris; he would have had all sorts of small annoyances, and +as it is, his friends write and want him to come back. He is quite +conscious of the sort of feeling there is about him. First his +appearance--a great many people refuse to believe that he is a +Frenchman; he certainly is not at all the usual French type, with his +fair hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders; and when they realize that it +is he the cautious, doubtful way in which the clericals begin a +conversation with him, as if they expected red-hot anarchist +declarations to fall from his lips, is most amusing. Cardinal Howard +always seeks him out for a talk--but then he doesn't mince matters--goes +straight to the subject he wants to discuss, and told him the other day +he couldn't understand how a man of his English habits and education +should ever have dropped (he didn't say degenerated, but I think he +thought it) into a French republican government. + +W. is very pleased to see the cordial way in which everybody meets me, +and I must say I am rather touched by it myself. I have never had a +moment's disappointment, and I was a little afraid, coming back in such +changed circumstances after so many years. Everybody asks after you, and +some one the other day--Countess Malatesta, I think--asked if you still +wore in Paris your plain black dress and bonnet. I suppose she thought +that even you couldn't have resisted the Paris modiste. It would seem +strange to see you in a hat and feathers. + +Good-night, dearest; W.'s pipe is out, and we are going to bed. + + + HOTEL DE LONDRES, + March 14, 1880. + +Cannons are firing, drums beating, flags flying in all directions +to-day, dear mother. It is King Humbert's birthday and there is to be a +great revue on the Piazza dell' Indipendenza. We are invited to go and +see it by Turkam Pacha, Turkish Minister, who has an apartment on the +Piazza; but as he told us that we should meet Ismail Pacha (the +ex-Khedive) we thought we had better remain at home. I hardly think it +would be a pleasure to Ismail to meet the man who was one of the chief +instruments in his downfall. My sympathies were rather with the +Khedive--I never quite understood why France and England should have +politely but forcibly insisted upon his leaving his throne and +country--but whenever I raised the question I had always that inert +force the "raison d'etat" opposed to me. We crossed him the other day +driving. The carriage full of red-fezzed men attracted my attention, and +our Giuseppe told us who they were. He looked very fat and smiling, +evidently was not ronge by his disasters. Turkam suggested that I should +come alone, but that of course I could not do. + +Mrs. Bailey, who has also an apartment on the Piazza, has asked us to +come to her, but I think I shall stay quietly at home and look out of +the window. I see lots of officers and functionaries, in uniform, +passing in fiacres and riding, and a general migration of the whole city +including the beggars and flower girls of the Spanish Steps toward the +Piazza. W. says he will smoke his cigar walking about in the crowd, and +will see very well. + +[Illustration: Queen Margherita of Italy.] + +I was interrupted by a message from Gert begging me to come to her at +once. Her maid was in such an extraordinary state of violence she +thought she was crazy--and as Eugene was away for a day or two she was +really afraid. I questioned the little footman who brought the note but +he was very non-committal. W. was already off to see the review and I +left him a note explaining where I was and asking him if I didn't get +back to breakfast to come and get me at Gert's. I then started off with +the little footman who had a fiacre waiting. As I entered the court of +the Palazzo Altemps a glimpse of a white, frightened face at the window +told me what Gert's state was. Poor dear, she was terribly upset, and +Eugene's being away is a complication. Her two men-servants are very +devoted, but they evidently feel uncomfortable. She asked me if I would +go with her and see the woman. We found her sitting in a chair in Gert's +dressing-room looking certainly most unpleasant, sullen, and an ugly +look in her eyes. She is a great big Southern woman (French), could +throw Gert out of the window if she wanted to. Gert spoke to her very +gently, saying I had come to see her as I had heard she was not well. +She didn't answer nor move but gave Gert a nasty look--she evidently has +got something against her. I looked at her very steadily--said we were +very sorry she was suffering, which was most evident, and that the best +thing for her would be to rest, attempt no service of any kind and go to +her own room--that we had sent for Dr. Valery who would certainly be +able to relieve her. She didn't answer at first, and looked as if she +would like to spring upon us both, then burst into screams of +abuse--"She would go to her room of course--would leave the house at +once and never come back, etc." I told her I should certainly advise +Mrs. Schuyler to send her away--that evidently the climate did not suit +her, and she would be happier in France. She didn't answer, relapsed +into her sullen silence, and almost immediately Valery appeared. He +insisted very quietly that she should go to her own room (at the other +end of the apartment), and she went off with him, giving an ugly look at +Gert as she passed. It seems she already had had such an attack, less +violent, when they were at Birmingham, but once it was over went on +quite peaceably and didn't seem to realize how ill she had been. Valery +came back to tell us the result of his examination--said she had already +calmed down and was anxious to beg her mistress's pardon, but that she +was of a nervous, dangerous temperament, and at any moment might have a +relapse. Of course she must go, but it is very uncomfortable. I took +Gert out for a drive. W. sent me a line to say he was busy all the +afternoon and would not come unless I wanted him. I think the air and +distraction did her good. The streets had a decidedly festive +appearance. There were a good many flags everywhere, and soldiers still +passing on their way back to their various barracks. We were kept some +time in the Corso seeing a battalion of "bersaglieri" pass. They had +good music and looked very spirited as they moved along with all their +feathers flying. They were rather small, but well set up, and marched in +beautiful time with a light, quick step. We saw some cavalry too, but I +didn't care so much for them. I thought the men looked too tall for the +horses--their legs too near the ground. + +We went to Nazzari's for tea, and the man was so smiling and pleased to +see me that I asked him if he knew me--"Ma si, certamente, la Signorina +King"--had seen me various times in the Piazza or driving, and hoped I +would come in some day for tea. I went upstairs with Gert when I took +her home, and left every possible instruction with the maitre d'hotel to +look after her, and above all to look after Louise, and not let her +leave her room. The cook's wife will help her dress, as the poor thing +has a dinner. + +We have dined quietly at home. W. was tired, having been out all day. +There is a reception at the French Embassy, but we shan't go. I told W. +about the maid and the exciting morning we had had. He said of course +the woman must go at once--that she had evidently a grudge of some kind +against Gert, and might do her some injury. He had had rather a pleasant +day. He walked about in the crowd seeing everything very well. He was +rather favourably impressed with the Italian soldiers--said they were +small as a rule, but light and active--marched very well. The King +looked well, and was very well received. He thought him a striking +figure on horseback in uniform, that curious type of all the Savoy +Princes. They don't look modern at all, but as if they belonged to +another century. I don't know exactly what it is--one sees the same sort +of face so often in old Spanish and Italian portraits. + +He had breakfasted alone, as I was over with Gert, and then started off +with Monsignor English to meet Father Smith at the Catacombs, where they +had a long delightful afternoon. He says Father Smith is a charming +guide, knows and loves every corner of the Catacombs. His brogue, too, +is attractive, sounds so out of place in that atmosphere of Latin and +old-world tombs and inscriptions. He also told me what pleased me very +much, that the Pope will give me his photograph, signed. Monsignor +English told him to tell me, and he will come and see us to-morrow. +Among our cards was one from the Cardinal Di Pietro--Doyen of the +College of Cardinals--coming first to see W. What would the Protocole +say? + + + March 16, 1880. + +Schuyler has got back, and the maid is a lamb, but is going all the +same. The doctor and the other servants advise it strongly, and I am +sure Gert will find a nice Italian maid here to replace her. W. and I +have done a fair amount of sight-seeing these days, and yesterday he +paid a long visit to Cardinal Nina--Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the +Vatican. He found him reasonable and interesting. I tell him he is +getting quite a "papalino"--he finds the Cardinals so pleasant. He came +and got me after his visit and we went off to the Chambre des Deputes. +Visconti Venosta was going to make a great speech attacking the Ministry +on their foreign policy, and they thought there would be a lively +seance. We were in the Diplomatic box--all the Ambassadors were there, +and he had just got up to speak as we got there. They don't speak from +the tribune, as in France. Every man speaks from his own place--and as +he had his back to us we didn't hear very well. He spoke very easily, +and was very well listened to. Occasionally there would be a sort of +growl of disapproval, but on the whole the house was much quieter than +ours. Cairoli looked quite composed when Visconti was pitching into him, +smiling even when he remarked he didn't understand the Italian +character, nor how to use the great powers his position gave him, etc. +Various people came up and spoke to me, among others Countess Celleri, +who seems to be taking up politics now. She has grown a little older, +but is very handsome still, and was evidently a great attraction to all +the young diplomatists who were in the box. W. admired her appearance +and manner very much. We stayed there till 5.30 hoping that Cairoli +would answer, but he didn't, the discussion rather trailed on, so we +went for a turn in the Villa Borghese to get a little air before our +dinner at the British Embassy. It was very crowded, all the swells +driving--King, Queen, and Khedive all in separate carriages. The King in +a small victoria with one aide-de-camp--the Queen in her big landau with +one lady and the red royal liveries; the Khedive in an ordinary +carriage, but conspicuous, as he and his gentlemen all wore the red fez. + +Our Paget dinner was pleasant. They have got a big villa in the Venti +Settembre out toward Porta Pia. There is a large garden with fine trees, +and the entrance and staircase are handsome. We were 36--Italians +chiefly--but a few Diplomatists. I knew almost every one, Calabrinis, +Minghettis, Somaglias (you will remember her name, she was Gwendoline +Doria, and married when we lived in Rome), Serristori, Castagneta and +some Deputies and gentlemen of the Palace who, of course, were strangers +to me. The dining-room is large with a quite round table which must be +very difficult to cover, there were such spaces. I think there must have +been hundreds of roses on the table. The Marquis de Villamarina, head of +the Queen's household, took me in, and I had Uxkull on the other side, +Lady Paget next to him. We all talked together, and I complimented Lady +Paget on the quickness of the service. It was always one of our +preoccupations at the Quai d'Orsay to get through these long official +dinners as soon as possible. W. took in Madame Visconti Venosta, and +they seemed to be getting on swimmingly. After dinner I talked some time +to Countess Somaglia, and asked to be introduced to the Marquise +Villamarina. She told me the Queen would certainly receive us, but +couldn't quite fix the day yet as she had many official rendezvous these +days. When the men came in from smoking I had a few words with +Calabrini, and one or two Deputies were presented, Sella, Lanza, etc., +but I really only _talked_ to Sir Augustus Paget. He said they were +going to have a small ball after Easter, and hoped we should still be +here. I hope we shall, I should like to see the ball-room--they say all +the decoration, painting, flowers, cupids, etc., has been done by Lady +Paget herself. The party broke up early, no one stays late at dinner. +There is always a reception somewhere to which everybody goes. + +We came home as I get tired at night. We begin our day early, and are +never in the house. This morning Gert and I went out shopping in the +Piazza della Minerva and Campo Marzo--it was most amusing. We got two +dresses for her--one of that coarse Roman linen, and a very pretty Roman +silk from Bianchi, the same man who existed in our days. He looked most +smiling and evidently recognised the familiar faces, though he could not +put a name to them. We got the linen in a funny little old shop, low, +and as dark as pitch. I never should have dreamed of going there for +anything, but some one told us it was _the_ place for linen, and we +found at once what we wanted. I bought two Roman sashes--one for Alice +and a ribbon for Nounou. We pottered about for some time looking at the +bits of old brocade and embroidery, some pieces stretched out on the +pavement with a stone at each end to hold them down. There were two +pieces of old rose brocade which looked very tempting, but when I took +them up I saw there were thin places in the silk, and spots--so I +resisted these "occasions." The woman was amusing, tried to make us buy, +but knew quite well her silk was not first-rate. She evidently attached +no importance to the spots (e vecchia), but allowed that the frayed bits +were not encouraging. + +This afternoon we have been again to the Chambre des Deputes--Cairoli +was speaking. He has a good voice, we heard him much better than +Visconti Venosta. _I_ didn't find his speech very interesting. There +were all sorts of details and references to despatches and blue books +which were Greek to me, but of course W. liked it and knew the question +thoroughly so he said he would stay and I had much better go and get +some fresh air. The heat was something awful and the box full, so I took +myself off. One of the Austrian secretaries came down with me to look +for the carriage and I started for a solitary turn in the Villa +Borghese. I hadn't gone very far when I met Comtesse Wimpffen alone in +her carriage. We drew up for a little talk, and she proposed I should +send my carriage away and come into hers, which I was delighted to do. +We went for a little walk, and met various friends--Marchesa Theoduli[19] +looking lovely. She was very amusing over the divided state of +society--says she is not allowed to bow to the Queen, and as they meet +almost every day driving and neither of them can pass inapercue it is +rather awkward. Mrs. Lorillard Spencer came up too, she was walking with +her daughter, Princess Vicovaro, whose husband was "le beau Cenci" of +our days. It was delicious lounging about on the grass under the trees, +after the heat of the Chamber. We stopped at Nazzari's for tea, met +Bibra at the door and invited him to come with us--also Cornelie +Zuylen,[20] who had seen us from the street and rushed in to have a +little talk. She is in Rome for a few days--sight-seeing hard. We had +tea and very good cakes--and I was glad to have a few minutes before +dressing for the Calabrini dinner. + +[19] Nee Lily Conrad. + +[20] Now Madame Scheidecker. + +We started off again at 8, and had really a very pleasant evening at +Calabrini's. Their house is not large--they can't dine easily more than +10 people. I was the only lady--the men were Vitelleschi, Sella (their +rising political man) whom W. was delighted to see, a Ruspoli whom I had +never seen before, a brother of the late Prince; and Alphonso Doria who +looks like a tall English boy. Stella is clever enough, decidedly un +homme serieux, and Calabrini was much pleased to have him for my homme +serieux. He told us all sorts of stories about "Italia Unita" and +Cavour, and his profound distrust of Louis Napoleon; how, until the very +last moment when the French troops were really at the gates, he was +afraid they wouldn't come. We stayed fairly late, as the talk was +interesting. I don't think there is much real sympathy between the +French and Italians. They are very unlike though they are of the same +race. The Italians seem very excitable when they talk fast and +gesticulate and their eyes flash, but au fond they are calmer than our +people--at least the upper classes; I don't know about the bas peuple. +They say knives play a part in their discussions. Certainly in France +there are always rows when the Italian workmen arrive. They are +generally terrassiers and come in bands when railroads or bridges are +being made. One recognises them at once with their black eyes, white +teeth, red sashes and slouched hats. There is usually a coup de couteau +before the season ends. They work well enough, are light and active, but +always stop to talk--don't keep up a sort of desultory talk over their +work as our men do. + +[Illustration: Queen Margherita and King Humbert.] + + + March 18, 1880. + +Last night we went to the Wimpffens' grand official "ricevimento." All +the street in front of the house was crowded just as it used to be in +the old days--people coming close up to the carriages (going of course + at a foot's pace) and peering in to see the diamonds. There was +nothing like the display of carriages, diamonds, and liveries there +used to be--many fiacres, and many uniforms. Countess Wimpffen looked +very well in white satin, pearls, and diamond tiara, Wimpffen of course +in uniform and his broad ribbon, Cenci (now Prince de Vicovaro) attached +to the Court, was standing at one side of the Ambassadress presenting +all the Court people. The Princess, his wife, stood near by looking very +well, beautifully dressed, with diamonds and large pearl pendants. She was +wearing for the first time her decoration of dame de palais. All the +"White" Roman ladies were there. I saw quantities of people whom I knew. +W. also begins to know the people. He thought the Roman women very +distinguished looking, and the jewels splendid, particularly the pearls. +We stayed quite late, and decidedly amused ourselves. I was rather +interested in seeing when Madame de Wimpffen shook hands and when she +merely bowed. When W. was at the Foreign Office and we had big +receptions I was puzzled sometimes. My impulse was not to shake hands +with the men. W. and Richard thought I ought to shake hands with all the +Deputies, but that seemed a great undertaking and would, I think, have +surprised them, as Frenchmen as a rule are formal, don't shake hands +usually with ladies, but make rather a stiff bow, so I compromised by +shaking hands only with those I knew. + +This afternoon W. and I went out together. We left several cards and +wound up in the Villa Borghese, where we walked about for some time. It +was lovely under the cypress trees, long dark avenues with a fountain at +one end--large vases--bits of half-ruined gateways, columns, and +unexpectedly a sort of rond or opening with fountains, statues, big +stones, all in a heap, and then long stretches of lawn with anemones, +violets, and a pretty little yellow flower I didn't know, all perfectly +neglected and growing wild, but with a wonderful charm. Such a contrast +when we emerged again into the regular promenade and the gay modern life +of Rome of to-day. There were quantities of carriages, three or four +four-in-hands with women in light dresses on the tops of the coaches; +men, principally officers, riding (in uniform, which always makes a gay +note), lots of victorias and open carriages. The Prince of Naples (with +the Royal red liveries) driving with one gentleman. He was dressed in +sailor dress, looked smiling and interested, and bowed all the time. +Three or four carriages filled with pretty girls--English or +American--looking hard at everything, and always bands of black-robed +students, seminarists from the various colleges which abound in Rome. It +is a curious motley crowd--I don't think one would see it anywhere else. +The clerical element is always well to the fore, and in spite of the +changes the Monarchy established, with all the train of courtiers, +deputies, soldiers, and endless functionaries that it brings, one feels +that it is the great centre of Catholicism, and that the long arm of the +Church still retains her hold on her children scattered all over the +world. + +I will finish now as we have come home fairly early from the Pallavicini +reception. We dined at home and started off about 10. We went to get +Gert, and on arriving about 10.30 found ourselves almost the first +people. Felice Malatesta was there, also Del Monte. Both being +"Gardes-Nobles" they can only come early and not run the risk of meeting +any of the Court people nor diplomatists to the Quirinal. Princess +Pallavicini is one of the Queen's ladies, but she is such an old friend +of both gentlemen that they always go to her. Among the first arrivals +was Massari. He and W. and Prince Pallavicini had a nice talk, and it +amused me to see the people come in. There were about 30 (I knew a good +many of the Romans, but of course the Court people and Deputies were +strangers to me), Wimpffens, Noailles, St. Asilea, Somaglias, and a +sprinkling of young diplomatists. As soon as the White diplomatists +began to appear Del Monte and Malatesta departed. I had a talk with +Villamarina who is very musical, also with Vitelleschi. The party broke +up early--there was no music nor dancing (not even the little informal +"tour de valse" there used to be in our days) and we were home before 12 +o'clock. W. enjoyed his evening--talked principally to the men. + + + Saturday, March 20, 1880. + +W. is off this morning with Father Smith to San Clemente. I was lazy as +I was out all day yesterday. In the morning W. and I walked to the +Palazzo dei Cesari, and stayed there two hours walking about and sitting +down in the nice sunny places. It was beautifully bright, a splendid +blue sky, but cold, a sharp wind, very unusual they say for the end of +March. One gets a very fair walk on the Palatine Hill. There is so much +to see, and the little irregular paths running up and down from the +various temples and ruined buildings of all kinds give one plenty of +exercise. It needs a good deal of imagination to reconstruct all the +temples, tribunes, porticoes, and palaces which existed in the days of +Imperial Rome, but there are still bits of coloured marble, faded +frescoes, mosaics, tops of columns and broken statues in every +direction. W. was quite happy--he had already spent a morning there +with Lanciani, and so could show me what was still well enough preserved +for me to understand. The view from the terrace over Rome and the +Campagna was beautiful--the mountains seemed so near. We didn't walk +home as we found a botta which had just brought up a party of +forestieri--French this time, with a young priest, who was evidently the +guide. + + + Sunday, March 21, 1880. + +We went to the American church this morning as Nevin was so anxious we +should see it. There is no very interesting French church--a sort of +Vaudois chapel--so we preferred the Capella Americana. It is a pretty +little church, very full--I should think a good many English as well as +Americans--very good singing and a good sermon, not too long. We had +visitors after lunch, and about 4 started for a drive out to Ponte +Nomentano. We got out and walked about the Campagna for some time. The +view was divine--Frascati and Rocca di Papa on one side, Tivoli on the +other. W. thought the old bridge most picturesque. He recognised it +instantly from the aquarelle that is in the dining-room at home. As it +was Sunday all the country people were out; carts filled with women and +children, boys on donkeys, sitting well back, almost on the tails of the +animals, and all the little courts in front of the various osterias +quite full. There were not exactly costumes, but there was a general +impression of colour. The men had bright coloured sashes and shirts--the +women nearly all red and blue skirts striped, and a coloured +handkerchief on their heads--almost all with long gold ear-rings (some +of the men too had ear-rings--large gold hoops) and a string of coloured +beads around their necks. Everybody talking, laughing, and enjoying +themselves. We stopped at the British Embassy for tea. Lady Paget +receives always Sunday afternoon. There were various carriages at the +door, and the villa looked pretty. The tea-table was on a broad palier +at the head of the stairs. It was very well arranged with screens +"cassoni," plants, arm-chairs--very original and attractive. I went in +first to the drawing-room and had a talk with Lady Paget, then adjourned +to the palier with Princess Sciarra and Countess Wimpffen, and we had a +very pleasant hour. It was amusing to see all the people coming up the +broad staircase. There were of course a great many I didn't know, as +besides all the Court set and political people there were many English, +all arriving for Holy Week. Mrs. Bruce, Madame Visconti Venosta, Gert, +Marquise Chigi came and joined us. I was quite horrified when I found +how late it was. We had just time to dress and go and dine with the +Geoffroys at the Palazzo Farnese. The evening was very pleasant; +decidedly archeological and scientific, but the men were all clever and +talked so well that they would have made any subject interesting. We had +Visconti, de Rossi, Lanciani, and some of the young men of the Ecole +Francaise. They all love Rome and know every stone. W. was quite in his +element, talked a great deal himself, and was much interested in their +excavations and all the curious things they are finding all the time. I +meant to leave early and go to Gert who had a few people at dinner, but +it was eleven o'clock before any one moved, and we went quietly home. + + + Good Friday, March 26, 1880. + +I was too tired to-day to do anything, as yesterday we were out all day. +W. and I walked about in the morning, going into all sorts of churches +whenever we saw one open. There were always people, and in the smaller +churches they looked devout and absorbed, but the crowd of strangers in +the large, better known basilicas took away any religious feeling. It +all seemed a great show, which is practically what Holy Week is in Rome. +They say they have not had so many foreigners in years. Last night the +"gerant" begged us not to come downstairs until 8 o'clock, or even a +quarter past, as they needed all the small tables for the table-d'hote. +It was not so very crowded this morning as we breakfast at 12.30, much +earlier than the foreigners, who are usually English and come in for +luncheon at 1.30. + +Yesterday afternoon we went to St. Peter's and found ourselves in a long +file of carriages going the same way; also all kinds of pedestrians, +priests, nuns, soldiers, artists, Cook's tourists, etc. W. was rather +horrified at the crowd in the church, and the regular "bousculade" at +the big doors. There was to be very good singing at one of the small +chapels, but it was already so full that we couldn't get in, though we +had cards from one of the Monsignori. We tried to make our way in but it +was utterly impossible, and then stood outside, thinking we might hear; +but the people all talked so much that we heard nothing except every now +and then a few notes in that curious, high, unnatural voice of the Papal +Choir. Two young German priests, with keen intelligent faces, were so +put out--begged the people near not to talk--"in zehn Minuten ist alles +vorueber" (in ten minutes it will be all over). All Rome was walking +about the church, talking and looking about as if they were in a great +hall of some kind--a crowd of strangers pushing, jostling, and trying to +get up to the High Altar, or the statue of St. Peter where all the +faithful were kissing the toe. It was certainly not solemn nor edifying, +except when we came upon a quiet corner, with some old chapel filled +with tombs of dead Romans, Popes or Princes, who had played a great part +in their day. That took us back into the past, and we could realize that +we were really in St. Peter's. I tried to show W. the part that was shut +off for the great Ecumenical Council under Pio Nono, but I couldn't +remember exactly. We shall come back another day with Father Smith who +will know all about it. I did find the Stuart monument with the busts of +Charles Edward and Cardinal York. People kept pouring into the church, +but it is so enormous that, except at certain places, it was quite easy +to circulate. All the women (except a few stray tourists) were in black, +and every now and then one saw a long file of seminaristes, also in +black, but with a coloured sash to mark their nationality. I think the +Americans wear blue--the French are quite black--no colour. We talked to +quantities of people--it was like an enormous reception. I was very +tired when we finally came out, as of course we were walking and +standing about all the time. There is no aisle with regular seats as in +most churches--merely a few prie-Dieu inside the side chapels. The drive +home was lovely--we went at a walk almost all the time, there were so +many carriages. + +I went out after all this afternoon with W. and Monsignor English to St. +John Lateran, where they were singing a Miserere of Cappoci's. It is +most strange, weird music, and the voices of the men are so unlike +anything one hears elsewhere. There was always the same crowd. I will +say Cook does his business thoroughly--wherever there is anything to see +or hear he pilots all his band. After the Miserere was over we stood +some time at the foot of the Scala Santa. It was black with people going +up on their knees, saying a prayer at each step (I think there are 30) +and some of them did look serious and absorbed. They were principally +peasants--every now and then some well-dressed bourgeois. Monsignor +English told us we would be surprised at the class of people (society) +who come early, before the great crowd of sight-seers. + +We went back to the Palazzo Altemps, picking up Count Palfy on the way, +where Gert had promised us tea and hot cross buns from Spillman's (very +good they were). + +We found a note from the Quirinal when we came home saying the Queen +would receive us to-morrow at 2.30. Desprez came and sat some time. He +told W. all that was going on in Paris--the Ministry as usual struggling +against the Radicals who are always wanting to suppress the French +Embassy at the Vatican. It doesn't make the position of the Ambassador +very pleasant, but Desprez is very wise, has had long training at the +Foreign Office, and will certainly do all he can to conciliate and keep +things straight. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + Saturday, March 27, 1880. + +It was raining this morning, and I was very glad. The dust was getting +most disagreeable in one's eyes and throat, and covering everything. I +am glad, too, that it is cool, decidedly, as I wanted to wear my blue +velvet. If it had been a bright warm day it would have looked dark and +heavy. It is four o'clock--we have just come in from our audience, and I +will write at once while the impression is fresh. W. has a "rendezvous" +with some of the French Institute people, and I shall not see him again +until dinner time. We got to the palace (a great ugly yellow building, +standing high) quickly enough, as there was no one in the streets at +that hour, and drove into the court-yard to a handsome entrance and +staircase. There were a few soldiers about, but not much movement. A +carriage came in behind us, and just as we were going upstairs some one +called my name. It was Bessie Brancaccio,[21] who had also an audience +with the Queen. She had come to thank her for her appointment as dame de +palais. I was glad to have just that glimpse of her, as they are not in +Rome this winter. Their beautiful house is not ready for them, so they +have been spending the winter in Nice. We walked through a large +anteroom where there were three or four servants and an "ecuyer," and in +the first salon we were received by the Comtesse Marcello, one of the +Queen's ladies, a Venetian and a great friend of Mary's, and the +gentleman-in-waiting, whose name I didn't master. We talked for a few +minutes--she said a lady was with the Queen. The room was handsome, +prettily furnished and opened into another--three or four, in fact, all +communicating. After about ten minutes we saw a lady come out of the end +room, the door of which was open, so Comtesse Marcello ushered us +through the suite. We went to the corner room, quite at the end, where +the Queen was waiting standing. We went through the usual ceremony. The +Comtesse Marcello made a low curtsey on the threshold, saying, "I have +the honour to present his Excellency, M. Waddington and Madame +Waddington," and instantly retired. The Queen was standing quite at the +end of the room (a lovely, bright corner room, with lots of windows and +a magnificent view over Rome--even on a dull day it looked cheerful and +spacious). I had ample time for my three curtseys. She let us come quite +close up to her, and then shook hands with us both and made us sit +down--I next to her on the sofa, W. in an arm-chair in front. I found +her rather changed since I had seen her. She has lost the girlish +appearance she had so long, and her manner was nervous, particularly at +first. When she began to talk and was interested and animated she was +more like what I remembered her as Princess Marguerite. She was dressed +in bronze satin, with a flowered brocade "casaque," and one string of +splendid pearls. She told W. she was very pleased to see him, remembered +that I had lived in Rome before my marriage, and asked if I still sang, +Vera had talked so much about the music in Casa Pierret, and the trios +we used to sing there with Lovatelli and Malatesta. The talk was most +easy, about everything, generally in French, but occasionally breaking +into English, which she speaks quite well. W. was delighted with +her--found her most interesting and "tres instruite"--not at all the +banal talk one expects to have with sovereigns--in fact, I quite forgot +we were having a royal audience. It was a very pleasant visit to a +charming woman, in a pretty room with all sorts of beautiful pictures +and "bibelots" about. While we were still there the Prince of Naples[22] +came in. We both got up; she told him to shake hands with W. and to kiss +me, and to ask me how old my little boy was, which he did quite simply +and naturally. He told his mother he was going to ride. I asked him if +he had a nice pony, to which he replied in English, "Oh, yes, jolly," +and asked if my little boy rode. I said not yet; he was only two years +old. The child looked intelligent, but delicate. They say his mother +makes him work too much, is so ambitious for him; and he has rather that +look. The Princes of Savoy have always been soldiers rather than +scholars, but I suppose one could combine the two. The Queen also +spoke about the Bunsens, and "little Beatrice";[23] said she was very +fond of Mary. I was very sorry when the audience was over and she +dismissed me, saying she had people waiting. + +[21] Princess Brancaccio, born Field. + +[22] The present King. + +[23] Now Mrs. Charles Loftus Townshend, of Castle Townshend, Ireland. + +[Illustration: Queen Margherita and the Prince of Naples (Present King +of Italy) in 1880.] + +We found Bessie and one or two other ladies in the first salon when we +came out, waiting their turn. Comtesse Marcello was delighted with all +W. said about the Queen. He was very enthusiastic, for him, as he is not +generally gushing. I told her she had remembered that I had lived some +years in Rome as Mary King, and she said: "Oh, yes, she remembered you +and all your family perfectly, and knew that you had married M. +Waddington." + + + Tuesday, March 30, 1880. + +It is much pleasanter to-day--quite Spring-like, and the Piazza is full +of people. I have drawn my little writing table close up to the window, +and I am afraid my correspondence will suffer, as there is always so +much to see. Almost all the little botte have departed, in fact W., who +has just started off with Visconti for the Vatican to look at the coins, +took the last one. Cook's two big omnibuses have also just started for +Tivoli--crammed. Some of the people dashed into Nazzari's, and +reappeared with little paper bags, filled evidently with goodies. + +Yesterday W. and I breakfasted again at the Noailles', and they took us +over the palace (Farnese) which is quite splendid, such enormous rooms +and high ceilings. The great gallery with the famous Carracci frescoes +looked beautiful in the daylight, and we saw them much better. The +colours are still quite wonderful, hardly faded, some of the figures so +graceful and life-like. Madame de Noailles' bed-room and dressing-room +are huge. The enormous bedstead hardly took up any room at all. She +said it took her some little time to accustom herself to such very +spacious apartments, she almost had the impression of sleeping in the +streets. + +We went for a drive afterward out of Porta Maggiore to look at the +Baker's tomb--do you remember it, a great square tomb with rows of +little cells? We wandered about on foot for some time, looked at the +bits that remain of the old Roman road, and then drove out some distance +toward the arches of the Claudian Viaduct. It is the road we shall take +when we go to Tivoli. It was not quite clear, so the hills hadn't the +beautiful colour they have when the sun is on them--but the grey +atmosphere seems to suit the Campagna, which is after all a long stretch +of barren, desolate country broken at intervals by the long lines of +aqueducts--every now and then a square tower standing out straight and +solitary against the sky, and hardly visible until one comes close upon +it, and a few shepherds' huts, sometimes with a thatched roof, sometimes +what remains of an old tomb, with a dried-up old woman apparently as old +as the tomb spinning in the doorway. We met very few vehicles of any +description. + +We dined at the Palazzo della Consulta where Cairoli, Foreign Minister, +lives. There were not many women--Madame de Noailles, Gert, Madame de +Sant' Onofrio (wife of one of Cairoli's secretaries), and quantities of +men. They divided the honours--Cairoli took in Madame de +Noailles--Madame Cairoli, W. The Prefet of Rome, Gravina, took me and +put me on Cairoli's left. We all talked Italian, and I rather enjoyed +myself. I told Gravina how much I preferred "Roma com' era," that the +new buildings and the boulevards and the bustle and the quantities of +people had spoiled the dear, dead, old Rome of our days--to which he +replied "but you, Madame, are an American born, you surely can't be +against progress." Oh, no, I like progress in my own country, but +certainly not here. Rome was never intended to be modern and +go-ahead--it didn't go with the monuments and the ruins and the +traditions of old Rome. However he answered me quite seriously that not +only every country, but every individual, must "marcher," or else they +would "deperir." Cairoli joined in the conversation, others too, and +there was rather an interesting discussion as to how much could be left +to sentiment, association of the past, etc., when an old historic city +was being transformed into a busy, modern, political centre. + +After dinner Madame Cairoli came and sat down by me, and was pleasant +enough. She looked handsome--very wide awake--still continues to call me +Madame la Comtesse, so I have given up correcting her. She is well up on +all subjects, particularly art, music, pictures, etc. She was rather +amusing over the state of society and all the great Roman ladies whom +she didn't know (there is such a division between the Government people +and the old Romans) but said she had a very pleasant entourage with all +the diplomatists and the distinguished strangers (with a little bow to +me) and really didn't notice the absence of the grandes dames. She asked +me about my audience with the Queen--had we been able to talk to her at +all. She had been so tired lately and nervous that any attempt at +conversation was an effort. I told her that on the contrary she talked a +great deal, and that I didn't find her changed. + +Maffei came up and talked--asked me if I really liked Rome better as it +used to be--I must surely prefer life to stagnation. He speaks English +well, and likes to speak. They tell me that all the present generation +of Romans speak English perfectly--much better than French. There was a +small reception after dinner, some of the young diplomatists and +political men. We came away early--10.30, and plunged into our Paris +letters, of which we found quantities. + + + Friday, April 2, 1880. + +It is raining quite hard this morning, so I will write and not go out +until after breakfast. Yesterday was beautiful, and we had a charming +day at the races. I drove out with Madame de Wimpffen in her +victoria--W. and Wimpffen together. I wore my brown cloth with the coat +trimmed with gold braid and a great bunch of yellow roses on my hat, but +I was sorry I hadn't sent for something lighter, as almost all the women +were in white. I had thought of having two dresses sent by the "valise" +(I hadn't time to have them sent by ordinary express). I consulted +Noailles, who was very amiable, and said he would do what he could, but +that the rules were very strict now for the "valise," as there had been +such abuse. I rather protested, so he remarked with a twinkle in his eye +that I had better speak to my husband, as he was the Minister who had +insisted on a reform being made--he added that it was Princess Lise +Troubetzkoi who made the final scandal--that when St. Vallier was French +Ambassador to Berlin she was always sending things to Petersburg, via +Berlin, by the "valise." When the "petit paquet" she had spoken of +turned out to be a grand piano there was a row, and W., who was then +Foreign Minister, decreed that henceforth no "paquets" of any kind that +were not on official business could be sent by the "valise." I suppose a +pink tulle ball dress would hardly come under that head. + +The Queen was there looking very well and bright, dressed in light grey +with a big black hat--very becoming. There were a great many pretty +women. We came away before the end and drew up a little distance from +the gate where a long string of carriages was waiting to see the Queen +pass. The cortege was simple--first two dragoons, then a "piqueur" and +her carriage with four horses, postillion and two servants behind in the +scarlet liveries. The Countess Marcello was seated alongside of the +Queen--two gentlemen (I couldn't make out who they were) facing her; a +second carriage with two horses with two gentlemen in it followed, all +very well turned out. The scarlet liveries make a great effect, one sees +them from such a distance. The crowd was very respectful--not +particularly enthusiastic. The Queen bowed right and left very prettily. +I talked to lots of people at the races--among others to Madame Alphonse +Rothschild who is here for a few days, and to Mesdames Somaglia, +Rignano, Celleri, etc. I walked about a little with Sant' Asilea, but it +was not easy to move--most of the ladies stayed quietly in the tribunes. +We stopped at Nazzari's coming back and W. treated us all to tea--then +we sent our carriage away as we wanted it at night for the Teano ball, +and we walked about in the Corso, looking at all the turn-outs. The +Teano four-in-hand was very handsome, and there were one or two others +we couldn't make out which were very well turned out--some of the +victorias, too, very smart, with handsome stepping horses. The Corso was +full of people waiting to see the "retour"--it looked so gay. About +eleven we went off to the Teano ball, which was most brilliant--all the +societe there. Again I was sorry I hadn't sent for another dress as my +red satin looked heavy and wintry. Princess Teano in white, with a +diamond tiara, looked charming. Of course all the young generation who +were dancing were strangers to me, but I met many old friends. I had +quite a talk with Doria who wanted to be introduced to W. whom he had +not yet seen. We stayed until 1.30, and when we came away they were just +beginning the cotillon. In the old days we used to arrive at the balls +about 12.30 or 1 o'clock just so as to have one waltz before the +cotillon which was usually the best of the evening, as all the serious +people had gone, and the mammas were at supper fortifying themselves for +the long hours before them, so the ball-room was comparatively empty and +one could get a good turn. + + + Saturday, April 3, 1880. + +It is a beautiful morning, so was yesterday, an ideal Roman day--the sky +so blue and just a soft little air that makes the awnings over the shops +opposite flap lazily and indisposes one to any exertion. We walked about +a little before breakfast, inspected the Fountain of Trevi where Neptune +sits in state, looking at the rush of water falling over the rocks and +splashing into the great marble basin. The water is beautifully clear, +and sparkled and glistened in the sunlight. There were a good many +people about--girls with pitchers on their heads, old men and women with +pails and cans, all after water. The Trevi water is considered the best +in Rome and is in great demand. We loitered about in the small narrow +streets that branch off in every direction, always seeing something +interesting. I think we lost our way as we found ourselves down by +Trajan's Column and Forum, but we managed to get back to the Piazza di +Spagna in good time for breakfast. + +We started again in the afternoon for tea at the Farnesina Palace with +the Duke di Ripalda. We stopped at the Farnese Palace to pick up Madame +de Noailles, who was coming too, and we had a charming afternoon. +Ripalda took us all over the Palace, and W. was delighted with the +frescoes, particularly Sodoma's. The garden was lovely, though they have +cut off a great piece for their quays and works along the river. They +are enlarging the Tiber, making great walls, etc. The City of Rome gave +Ripalda a large sum of money, but he is much disgusted as it had taken a +good bit off his garden. More people came in--the wife of the Peruvian +Minister, a very pretty woman, and one or two men. We had tea in the +long gallery with all Raphael's and Carracci's beautiful gods and cupids +over our heads. How many different scenes they must have looked down +on--not always so peaceful as this quiet party. + + + Saturday evening, April 3, 1880, 10 P.M. + +We went to the German Embassy on our way home to write ourselves down +for the German Crown Princess, who had just arrived there for a short +stay. I hope I shall see her--W. admires her so much. He saw her often +when he was in Berlin for the Congress, and found her most sympathetic +and charming. Turkam Bey came in just before dinner and had a great deal +to say about the Khedive, and what France would have done if he had +resisted, retired up the country, and obliged the French and English to +depose him by force. It was evident that the suite had been talking to +him, and talking very big--he was very anxious to have a categorical +answer. W. said very quietly they had never considered that emergency, +as it was quite evident from the beginning that the Khedive had no +intention of resisting. "Cependant, monsieur, s'il avait voulu," etc., +so W. could only repeat the same thing--that they had never been anxious +on that point. + +We dined quietly at home, and in the course of the evening there came a +note from Keudell, the German Ambassador (whom we don't either of us +know), saying that "par ordre de Son Altesse Imperiale la Princesse +Hereditaire d'Allemagne" he had the honour to ask M. and Madame +Waddington to dine to-day at 7.30 at the Embassy "en petit comite." We +should find a small party--the Wimpffens and Pagets. The Princess only +arrived on Thursday, and W. is much pleased that she should have thought +of us at once. Keudell has been ill with gout ever since we have been +here. We have never once seen him, but various people told W. he +regretted so much not seeing him, that the other day we tried to find +him, but the porter said he was still in his room. + + + Sunday, April 4, 1880. + +Our dinner was charming. I was not a bit disappointed in the Princess. +W. had talked so much about her that I had rather made up my mind I +should find her very formal and German--and she isn't either one or the +other. We left a little after seven (I wearing black satin). I am so +bored with always wearing the same dresses. If I had had any idea we +should go out every night I should have brought much more, but W. spoke +of "a nice quiet month in Rome, sight-seeing and resting." We were the +first to arrive. Keudell was at the door, introduced himself, and took +us into the large salon, where Madame Keudell was waiting. She looked +slight and rather delicate, and he really ill, so very white. He said he +had had a long, sharp attack of gout--had not been out for some time, +and was in the salon for the first time the day the Princess arrived. +While we were waiting for the others to come he showed us the rooms and +pictures. I recognised at once one of those pretty child's heads by Otto +Brandt like the one we have. He was much interested in knowing that we +had bought one so long ago, he thought Brandt had so much talent. There +was a grand piano, of course, as he is a fine musician. The Pagets and +Wimpffens came together almost, and as soon as they were there the +Princess came in. She had one lady with her and a "chambellan"--Count +Seckendorff. She was dressed in black, with a handsome string of pearls. +She is short, and rather stout, carries herself very well and moves +gracefully. We all made low curtseys--the men kissed her hand, Sir +Augustus Paget just touching the floor with his knee, the first time I +had seen a man kneel to any one in a salon. She received W. most +charmingly, and was very gracious to me--asked me at once why I didn't +accompany my husband to Berlin. I said, "Principally because he didn't +want me," which was perfectly true. He said when he was named +Plenipotentiary that it was all new ground to him, that he would have +plenty to do, and didn't want to have a woman to look after. He rather +protests now, but that is really what he said, and I certainly didn't +go. The dinner was pleasant enough. The Princess talked a great deal, +and as the party was small, general conversation was quite easy. The +talk was all in French, which really was very amiable for us--we were +the only foreigners present, and naturally if we hadn't been there every +one would have spoken German. After dinner she made a short "cercle," +standing in the middle of the room, all of us around her, then made a +sign to W. to come and talk to her, sat down on the big sofa, he on a +chair next, and they talked for about half an hour. We all remained +standing. I asked Keudell about his piano. He told me that he liked the +Erard grand very much, but that they didn't stand travelling well. In a +few moments the Princess told us all to sit down, particularly Keudell, +who looked quite white and exhausted. I sat by Madame Keudell, and as +she is very fond of Italy, and Rome in particular, we got on very well. +When the Princess had finished her talk with W. she came over and sat +down by me--was most charming and easy. She has the Queen's beautiful +smile, and such an expressive face. We spoke English; she asked me if I +had become very French (I wonder?)--that she had always heard American +women were so adaptable, taking at once their husband's nationality when +they married foreigners. She had always remained very fond of England +and English ways--the etiquette and formality of the German Court had +tried her at first. She asked me, of course, how many children I +had--said one was not enough. "If anything should happen to him, what +would your life be?" and then spoke a great deal about the son she lost +last summer by diphtheria, said he was the most promising of all her +children, and she sometimes thought she never could be resigned. I said +that her life was necessarily so full, she had so many obligations of +all kinds, had so many to think about, that she would be taken out of +herself. "Ah, yes, there is much to do, and one can't sit down with +one's sorrow, but the mother who has lost her child carries a heavy +heart all her life." It was all so simply said--so womanly. She said she +was very glad to meet W. again, thought he looked very well--was sure +the change and rest were doing him good. She regretted his departure +from the Quai d'Orsay and public life generally. I told her he was still +a Senator, and always interested in politics. I didn't think a few +months' absence at this time would affect his political career much, and +that he found so much to interest him that he really didn't miss the +busy, agitated life he had been leading for so long. She said she +intended to spend a quiet fortnight here as a tourist, seeing all she +could. She then talked to all the other ladies, and about ten said +she was tired and would go to her own rooms. She shook hands with the +ladies, the men kissed her hand, and when she got to the door she turned +and made a very pretty curtsey to us all. We stayed on about a quarter +of an hour. + +[Illustration: Victoria, Crown Princess of Germany.] + +The Wimpffens have arranged a dinner for her on Thursday (to which she +said she would like to have us invited), just the same party with the +addition of the Minghettis. As we were going on to Madame Minghetti's +reception, Countess Wimpffen asked us to tell them to keep themselves +disengaged for Thursday, as she wanted them for dinner to meet the +Princess--she would write, of course, but sent the message to gain time. +They brought in tea and orangeade, and I talked a little to Count +Seckendorff--he speaks English as well as I do. He told me the Princess +was quite pleased when she heard W. was here, and hoped to see him +often. We hadn't the courage to stay any longer--poor Keudell looked +ready to drop--and started off to the Minghettis'. + +It was a beautiful, bright night, and the Capitol and all its +surroundings looked gigantic, Marcus Aurelius on his big bronze horse +standing out splendidly. We found a large party at Madame +Minghetti's--principally political--not many women, but I should think +every man in Rome. Alfieri, Visconti Venosta, Massari, Bonghi, Sella, +Teano, etc. It was evidently a "centre" for the intelligent, serious men +of all parties. There was quite a buzz, almost a noise, of talking as we +came in--rather curious, every one seemed to be talking hard, almost +like a meeting of some kind. They were all talking about the English +elections, which apparently are going dead against the Ministry. +Minghetti said it was quite their own fault--a cabinet that couldn't +control the elections was not fit to live. Of course their time was +over--there was no use in even attempting a fight--they had quite lost +their hold on the country. Madame Minghetti seems as keen about politics +as her husband. She has many friends in England. I told her about the +Wimpffen dinner--they will go, of course. She asked a great deal about +the Princess--said she was very glad she had decided to come to Rome, +that she couldn't help being interested and distracted here, which she +needed, as she was so upset by her son's death. We talked music--she +sings very well--and we agreed to sing together some afternoon, perhaps +at the German Embassy, as Keudell is a beautiful musician and loves to +accompany. + +Mrs. Bruce was there and I sat down by her a little while, looking at +the people. She pointed out various political swells, and a nice young +Englishman (whose name I didn't catch) joined us, saying he wished he +understood Italian, as it was evident the group of men around Minghetti +was discussing English politics, and he would so like to know what they +were saying. Mrs. Bruce told him it was just as well he didn't +understand, as, from the echoes that came to her, she didn't believe it +was altogether complimentary to John Bull. I don't believe political men +of any nationality ever approve any ministry. It seems to me that as +soon as a man becomes a cabinet minister, or prominent in any way, he is +instantly attacked on all sides. + +We didn't stay very long, as we had promised to go for a few moments to +the Farnese Palace, where the Noailles had also a reception. I had some +difficulty in extracting W. from the group of men. He naturally was much +interested in all the talk, and as almost all the men were, or had been +ministers, their criticisms were most lively. They appealed to him every +now and then, he having been so lately in the fray himself, and he was +a funny contrast with his quiet voice and manner to the animated group +of Italians, all talking at once, and as much with their hands as with +their tongues. + +It was very late--after eleven--but we thought we would try for the +Noailles, and there were still many carriages at the door when we drove +up. We met so many people coming away, on the stairs and in the long +anteroom, that it didn't seem possible there could be any one left, but +the rooms were quite full still. The palace looked regal--all +lighted--and there were enough people to take away the bare look that +the rooms usually have. They are very large, very high, and scarcely any +furniture (being only used for big receptions), so unless there are a +great many people there is a look of emptiness, which would be difficult +to prevent. Madame de Noailles was no longer at the door, but I found +her seated in the end room with a little group of ladies, all smoking +cigarettes, and we had an agreeable half hour. Madame Visconti Venosta +was there, and another lady who was presented to me--Madame Pannissera, +wife of one of the "grand-maitres de ceremonie" at court. W. was at once +absorbed into the circle of men, also talking politics, English +elections, etc., but he was ready to come away when I made the move. +Noailles insisted upon taking me to the buffet, though I told him I had +done nothing but eat and drink since 7.30 (with a little conversation +thrown in). It was rather amusing walking through the rooms and seeing +all the people, but at 12.30 I struck. I really was incapable of another +remark of any kind. + +I will finish this very long letter to-day. I wonder if you will ever +have patience to read it. I am sure I shouldn't if it were written to +me. I hope I shall remember all the things I want to tell when we get +back--so much that one can't write. My black satin was right--the +Princess was in mourning, the other ladies equally in black. W. wants me +to be photographed in the black dress and long veil I wore at the Pope's +audience. He found it very becoming, and thinks Francis ought to have +one; but it is so difficult to find time for anything. + + + Saturday, April 10, 1880. + +We had a nice musical evening the other night at Gert's. All the vieille +garde turned up, Vera, Malatesta, Del Monte (with his violoncello), and +Grant. We sang all the evening, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I was +sorry Edith Peruzzi couldn't come, as she sings so well, and it would +have been nice to have another lady. She has been nursing her mother, +who has been ill (so ill that they sent for Edith to come from +Florence), but she is getting all right now, and I don't think Edith +will stay much longer. Charles de Bunsen has arrived for a few days. We +took for him a room at our hotel, and we have been doing all manner of +sight-seeing. Thursday morning we went to the Accademia of San Luca, +where we had not yet been. It was rather interesting, but there is much +less to see than in the other galleries. There are some good busts and +modern pictures--a pretty Greuze. + +[Illustration: Gardens of the Villa Torlonia, Formerly Villa Conti, +Frascati, Opposite the Villa Marconi, Where we Spent the Summer of +1867.] + +Our dinner at the Wimpffens' was very pleasant. We arrived very +punctually at 7.20 and found the Keudells already there. He told us the +Princess was very tired, she had been all day in the galleries standing, +looking at pictures, and he didn't think she would stay late. He still +looked very tired and pale, but said he was much better and that the +royal visit did not tire him at all. The Princess was very considerate +and went about quite simply with her lady and Count Seckendorff. The +other guests arrived almost immediately--the Pagets, Minghettis, +Gosselins of the British Embassy, and Maffei, Under-Secretary of the +Foreign Office. About a quarter to eight the Princess arrived with her +lady and chamberlain, she was dressed in black, with a long string of +pearls. We went at once to dinner (which was announced as she entered +the room), Wimpffen of course taking the Princess, who had Minghetti on +her other side. Sir Augustus Paget took me, and I had Gosselin on the +other side. W. sat next Countess Wimpffen. The talk was easy and +animated, quite like the other day at the Palazzo Caffarelli (German +Embassy). The Princess talked a great deal to Minghetti, principally +art, old Rome, pictures, etc.--she herself draws and paints very well. +After dinner she sat down at once (said she didn't usually mind +standing, but the long days in the galleries tried her), made us all sit +down, and for about half an hour she was most charming, talking about +all sorts of things, and keeping the conversation general. When she had +had enough of _female_ conversation she said something in a low tone to +Lady Paget, who got up, crossed the room to where W. was standing, and +told him the Princess wished to speak to him. He came at once, of +course--she made him sit down, and they talked for a long time. She is +naturally a Protestant, but very liberal, and quite open to new ideas. +She was much interested in French Protestants--had always heard they +were very strict, very narrow-minded, in fact, rather Calvinistic. She +kept W. until she went away, early--about ten--as she was tired. She has +an extraordinary charm of manner. Her way of taking leave of us was so +pretty and gracious. She dines quietly at the British Embassy to-morrow +night, and when Lady Paget asked her who she would have, said: "Cardinal +Howard and Mr. Story." She wants to see all manner of men. + +Yesterday we made our first excursion to Frascati, and most unpleasant +it was. We had chosen our day so as to have Charles Bunsen with us, and +one also when we had nothing in the evening, as one is so tired after +being out all day. We started about 9--in the carriage--W. and I, Gert +and Charles. It looked grey (was perfectly mild) and rather threatening, +but the hotel man and coachman assured us we should have no rain--merely +a covered day which would be more agreeable than the bright sun. +Schuyler promised to come out by train for breakfast. The drive out was +delicious, out of the Porta San Giovanni, the whole road lined with +tombs, arches, ruined villas, always the aqueducts on one side, and the +blue hills directly in front of us. The sun came out occasionally +through little bits of white clouds, and the Campagna looked enchanting, +almost alive. We passed close to the Osteria del Pino--where the meet +used to be often in old hunting days. It was so familiar as we drove up +the steep hill and recognised all the well-known places--the Pallavicini +villa at the side of the road, half-way up the hill; the Torlonia +gardens, and the gateway of the funny little town. We went straight to +the hotel, the same one as in our day, Albergo di Londra (that shows +what a haunt of "forestieri" it is), ordered breakfast, and then sallied +out for a walk. + +The little piazza before the hotel was filled with donkeys and boys, all +clamouring to us to have a ride, expatiating on the merits of their +beasts, and making a perfect uproar. We explained to the porter that we +wanted beasts of some description to go up to Tusculum, and he said he +would arrange it for us. However, the boys pursued us to the gate, +dragging their donkeys after them. We went first to the Palazzo Marconi, +which is just outside the gates opposite the Torlonia villa. I wanted so +much to see the old house again, it was inhabited by a Russian family, +and at first there seemed some little difficulty about getting in, but +W. sent in his card, and after a little parley a servant appeared and +took us all over the house, except the dining-room where the family were +breakfasting. It looks exactly the same--only much more neglected and +uninhabited. The broken steps were more broken, the bright paint more +faded, and the look of discomfort much accentuated. I showed W. the room +where father died. It looked much more bare and empty, but the pink +walls were still there, and the door open giving on the terrace. How it +brought back those long, hot nights when we tried to hope--knowing quite +well there was no chance--but never daring to put the fear into words. +W. was much struck by the lonely, desolate look of the whole place. The +little salon which we had made so comfortable with tables, rugs, and +arm-chairs brought from Rome, looked perfectly bare--no furniture except +one or two red velvet benches close to the wall, and rather an ugly +marble table with nothing on it. The big round salon with its colossal +statues in their marble niches and the marble benches, was exactly the +same--only no piano. We went through the bed-rooms at the other end (our +three), the marble bath still in the middle one, which used to be +Henrietta's, but there was no trace of occupation, neither beds, washing +apparatus, tables, nor chairs. I suppose the "locataires" live in the +two rooms at the other end. There wasn't much furniture there, but I did +see some beds. We went out into the little raised garden behind the big +statue, but it was a wild waste of straggling vines and weeds. It was +rather sad--nothing changed and yet so different. + +I explained our life to W.--our morning or evening rides, our music, +which was enchanting in the big salon--so mysterious, just a little +glow of light around the piano and other instruments, and the rest of +the great room almost dark, the white statues looking so huge and grim +in the half light. I was rather nervous the first nights out here when I +had to cross that room to go to mine with a very small Roman lamp in my +hand--but I soon got accustomed to my surroundings, and it seemed quite +natural to live our daily, modern life in that milieu of frescoes, +marble statues, hanging gardens, and strangers. I tried to find some +little flower in the mass of weeds in the garden, but there wasn't one, +so I send these periwinkles and anemones picked in the Villa Torlonia, +where we walked about for some time under the splendid old ilex trees. + +[Illustration: Tomb of Viniciano, Between Frascati and Tusculum.] + +Breakfast, a fairly good one, was ready when we got back to the hotel, +but no Schuyler. I think he was a wise man and foresaw what was going to +happen. Quite a number of strangers had come out by train--all English +and American, no one we knew--and the table-d'hote was quite full. As +soon as the gentlemen had had their coffee, about 1.30, we started for +Tusculum, Gert and I on donkeys with two pretty, chattering Italian boys +at their heads--Bunsen on a stout little mountain pony, and W. on foot. +He wouldn't hear of a donkey, and preferred to walk with the guide. We +climbed up the steep little path, between high walls at first, then +opening out on the hillside to the amphitheatre, which we saw quite +well. The arena and seats are very well preserved. There are still rows +of steps, slippery and green with moss. We went on again toward Cicero's +Villa, and for a moment the clouds cleared a little, and we saw what the +view might be straight over the Campagna to Rome (the dome of St. +Peter's just standing out--on one side the hills with the little +villages where we have ridden so often, Monte Compatri, Monte Porzio, +the Campi d'Annibale and Monastery of Monte Cave in the distance). I +wonder if the old monk would tell us to-day what one did years ago, when +we were standing on the terrace looking at the magnificent view: "Quando +fa bel tempo si puo vedere le montagne d'America" (When it is fine one +can see the mountains of America). I thought it was rather pretty, his +eagerness to make us understand what an extended view one had from his +mountain top, and he probably didn't know where America was. However, +our little gleam of sunlight didn't last--first came big drops, then a +regular downpour, and in a few minutes a thick white mist closed around +us, shutting out everything. We took refuge for a few moments under a +sort of ruined portico, but the rain came down harder, and we decided to +give up Cicero's Villa, and turn our faces homeward. + +The descent was neither easy nor pleasant--a steep little path with the +donkeys slipping and stumbling, and the rain falling in buckets. I was +wet through in ten minutes, as I was very lightly dressed in a white +shirt and foulard skirt (having stupidly left my jacket at the hotel as +it was very warm when we started). Gert was better off, as she had her +tweed dress. I shan't soon forget that descent, and as we passed +Mondragone--the Borghese Palace--we had thunder and lightning, which +didn't add to my comfort--however, the donkeys didn't mind. I was wet to +the skin when we arrived at the hotel, and had to undress entirely and +go to bed wrapped up in a blanket. The chambermaid lighted a fire in the +room, and she and Gert dried my clothes as well as they could, and I had +a cup of hot tea. About 5 my things were fairly dry--Gert went shopping +in the town, and bought me a piece of flannel which I put on under my +corsage which was still damp. It rained a little when we started home, +but cleared about half-way, and we had the most glorious sunset. + +It was too bad to have fallen upon such a day, and I am afraid we shan't +have time to attempt it again. I was half tempted to stay at Frascati +all night and try again the next morning, but the others thought it +better to come home. I went to bed immediately after dinner, and feel +quite well to-day--only a little stiff--the combined effect of the +donkey and the damp. + + + April 11, 1880. + +Yesterday it rained hard all day, there was quite a little stream of +water in the Piazza coming down from the Pincio. Certainly Rome needs +sunshine, everything looked forlorn and colourless and everybody so +depressed. The Spanish Steps were quite deserted, no models nor children +galloping up and down. The coachmen of the fiacre-stand on the Piazza +dripping and dejected on their boxes--nobody wanting carriages and very +few people about. I really believe the Romans stay in when it rains. We +didn't, of course, as our time is getting short, and the galleries are +always a resource. We went off about 10 to the Vatican and spent two +hours there. Charles de Bunsen was very glad to see it all again. We +went first to the Cappella Paolina where there was not much to see--some +frescoes of Michelangelo's, not very well preserved. It used to be so +beautiful, Holy Week in Rome, when we were here before, brilliantly +lighted for a silent adoration and filled with people kneeling and +motionless. + +Then we went on to the Cappella Sistina where there were a good many +people taking advantage of a rainy day to do the Vatican. It wasn't at +all dark--I don't know exactly why, for the rain was pouring straight +down. The Last Judgment is an awful picture. I had forgotten Charon and +his boat and the agonized faces of the people whom he is knocking back +with his oar. Some of the faces were too terrible, such despair and +suffering. I can't think why any artist ever chooses such subjects, one +would think they would be haunted by their own conceptions. + +We walked through the Stanze, I wanted to see the Deliverance of St. +Peter; I remember so well the engraving that was in the dining-room at +Bond Street, which I have sat opposite to so often. I used to be +fascinated as a child with the Roman soldiers, particularly the one with +a torch. We sauntered through the picture gallery looking at the +beautiful Foligno Madonna, Communion of St. Jerome, and of course the +Marriage of St. Catherine, and really my copy by the young German is +good as I see the original again. We finished in the Galerie des +Inscriptions where W. always finds odd bits of inscriptions which are +wildly interesting to him. I think for the moment yellow-books and +interpellations and the "peuple souverain" generally as represented in +the Chambre des Deputes are out of his head. + +The sun came out bright and warm in the afternoon and we drove to the +Villa Pamphili. We stopped at San Pietro in Montorio on our way. It is +there that St. Peter is said to have been crucified. The view from the +terrace is very fine--the whole of Rome at our feet stretching out over +the Campagna to the Alban Hills. It was too early really for the view, +as one ought to see it at sunset, when the hills take most beautiful +rose blue tints and the Campagna looks vague and mysterious, not the +long barren stretch of waste uncultivated land it is in the daylight. + +We stopped again at the Fontana Paolina, looked at the rush of water +that tumbles into the stone basin, and climbed up the Janiculum, every +turn of the road giving the most enchanting view, out of the Porta San +Pancrazio to the Villa Pamphili--all Rome apparently was doing the same +thing; there were quantities of carriages. It was charming in the +Villa--many people had got out of their carriages and were walking about +in the shady alleys. It was a relief to get out of the sun. The stone +pines of course are magnificent, but I think I like them best from a +distance--from the terrace of the Villa Medici for instance they stand +out splendidly. What is grand is the view of St. Peter's. It seems to +stand alone as if there were no Rome anywhere near it. The dome rises +straight up above the green of Monte Mario, and looks enormous. + +We walked about the gardens with the queer, old-fashioned flower-beds +and the little lake with a mosaic pattern at the bottom, and talked to +quantities of people. The drive down was enchanting; the sun setting, +clouds of every colour imaginable and a sort of soft "brume" that made +every dirty little street (and there are many in Rome) look picturesque. + +We went to the ball at the British Embassy in the evening, taking +Charles de Bunsen, who protested at first he didn't go to balls any +more, etc., but he found plenty of old friends and was very glad he had +gone. The house looked very handsome--the ball-room with its decoration +of flowers, cupids, etc., had a decidedly festive appearance. I danced +two quadrilles--one with Count d'Aulnay and the other with the Duke of +Leuchtenberg who was here with his wife, Comtesse de Beauharnais. As it +is a morganatic marriage (he is a Royal Prince) she can't take his name +and title. She was beautifully dressed, had splendid jewels--pearls as +big as eggs. + +[Illustration: Grounds of the Villa Doria-Pamphili, Rome. + +From an unpublished photograph taken about 1869.] + +The ball was very gay, lots of people. We stayed quite late; went to +supper, which W. generally refuses with scorn, and only left at 1.30. +They were preparing for the cotillon, but were going to dance a +"tempete" (whatever that may be) first. I hear they danced until 4 +o'clock. + + + Thursday, 12th. + +We had a nice dinner at the Villa Medici Tuesday night. The Director M. +Cabat, his wife and daughter, M. and Madame Geoffroy and 5 or 6 of the +young men. They all love Rome and say it is a paradise for an artist. +Such beautiful models of all kinds in the old pictures and statues. I +ventured to say that I thought one or two of the modern Roman +things--fountains and statues--were pretty, but I was instantly sat upon +by the whole party--"no originality; no strength, weak imitations of +great conceptions, etc." I suppose one's taste and judgment do get +formed looking at splendid models all the time; still the world of art +must go on and there is no reason why the present generation shouldn't +have graceful fancies, and power to carry out their dreams. We didn't +stay very late and went on to Countess Somaglia, who was receiving. +There were only two or three ladies. Her younger sister, Olympia Doria, +married to a Colonna, the Marquise Sant' Asilea and two others I didn't +know. Quantities of men came in and out, Calabrini, Vitelleschi, +Minghetti. The "maitre de maison" was not there. I was sorry, as I had +never seen him. Lucchesi-Palli came up and claimed acquaintance--said he +had danced at Casa Pierret in the old days. I introduced him to W. who +was rather interested at meeting a half brother of the Comte de +Chambord. He is much astonished at the quantity of people I know, but I +told him one couldn't live years in Rome without seeing almost every +one worth knowing, as everybody comes to Rome. + +Yesterday Gert and I went out together. W. had an expedition of some +kind with de Rossi, and gave a dinner at the Falcone to Charles and some +of his men friends. The Roman menu didn't tempt me. I heard them talking +about porcupines and peacocks. I preferred dining with Gert--she asked +Mrs. Van Rensselaer, and we had a pleasant evening. Mrs. V. R. is clever +and original, very amusing over her Italian and the extraordinary +mistakes that she knows she makes, but she keeps on talking all the +same. It is curious how much colder Gert's apartment is than our rooms +at the hotel--I suppose no sun ever gets into that narrow street, and +one is quite struck with the cold the minute one gets into the palace +and on the stone staircase. We had a little fire and it wasn't at all +too much--of course in the Piazza di Spagna the sun streams into the +rooms all day. I came home early--about 10--and found the two gentlemen, +Charles and W., settled very comfortably each in a large arm-chair with +pipe and newspaper (you can imagine the atmosphere in a small hotel +sitting-room). They said their dinner was very good, even the ordinary +Roman wine, but they both agreed they wouldn't care to have that menu +every day. The talk was very interesting; some of the men had been in +Italy years ago, before the days of railways or modern conveniences of +any kind, and their experiences in some of the little towns near Rome +were most amusing--most of the peasants so mistrustful of the artist +baggage, white umbrella, camp-stool, etc., and so anxious, when they +finally understood no harm was intended, that they should sketch a nice +new house or a bit of wall freshly plastered instead of old gateways and +tumble-down palaces. + +Charles is going back to Florence to-morrow; I think he has enjoyed his +visit very much, it brought back so many recollections (he was born in +Rome and spent all his early childhood there).[24] + +[24] His father, Baron de Bunsen, was for years Prussian Minister at +Rome, a most intellectual, distinguished man; after Rome he was for many +years Minister in England, and their house in Carlton Terrace was the +rendezvous of all that was most brilliant and cosmopolitan in London. He +married Miss Waddington, and his son Charles also married Miss +Waddington, sister of William Waddington. + +I wish they would settle in Rome instead of Florence, the life is so +much more interesting here. Florence is charming, but asleep--here there +is life, and the contrast between the old patrician city full of +old-world memories and prejudices, and the political, financial +atmosphere of this 19th century is most striking. W. has decided to go +to Naples for four or five days. I shan't go with him. He will be all +day in the museums, as there is a great deal to see, and I should bore +myself sitting alone in the hotel. If we could stay long enough to make +some excursions--see Sorrento, Capri, and Ischia, I would not hesitate, +I should love to see it all again. They say Vesuvius is giving signs of +a disturbance. + +As we were talking about Capri and Vesuvius I told them my experience +there so many years ago, and both gentlemen told me I ought to write it +while it was still fresh in my memory, so here it is and you will send +the letter to the family in America. + +We went to Naples in October, 1867. Father died at Frascati the 27th of +September, and we all needed change after the long nursing and watching. +All our friends in Rome were most anxious we should get off; affairs +were rapidly coming to a crisis in Italy and it was evident that the +days of the temporal power of the Pope were numbered. At any moment the +Italians under Garibaldi might appear at the gates of Rome and it was +not considered safe for women and foreigners to remain there. No one +thought or talked of anything else, and though we were absorbed by +father's illness and the numerous duties that a sick room entails we +were quite as excited as all our friends. Of course we heard the two +sides--the liberals who had high hopes of liberty and "Italia Unita" and +the "papalini" who were convinced that the Italians would only enter +Rome over the bodies of the faithful. Our young imaginations pictured +anything, everything; the Garibaldians penetrating quite to the Court of +the Vatican, the Swiss Guard, Charette and his Zouaves, massacred; +priests flying in every direction pursued by a crowd of soldiers and +infuriated populace. Good old Dr. Valery, who knew his countrymen better +than we did, assured us there was no danger. When resistance was +perfectly useless it would be wicked to shed blood, and Pio Nono himself +would be the first to advise submission to the inevitable. We couldn't +believe that such a tremendous change and uprooting of the traditions of +centuries could be accomplished so quietly. We stayed two days only in +Rome after leaving Frascati. We laid father at rest in the little +English churchyard just by the San Paolo gate. There was a mortuary +chapel where he could stay till he was taken home to the old family +churchyard at Jamaica where Grandpapa King and a long line of children +and grandchildren are buried. We had to see about our mourning and were +finally hustled out of Rome the third day, Mr. Hooker (the American +banker), our great friend, fairly standing over us while the trunks were +being packed. He was quite right. We took the last train that went +through to Naples, carrying with us a number of letters which our +liberal friends had asked us to mail as soon as we crossed the +frontier,--they naturally being unwilling to trust them to the Roman +post-office. Rome looked deserted, very few people about, some of the +shops and hotels still closed, but one felt a suppressed excitement in +the air. Some of our friends, jubilant, came to see us off at "Termine" +and promised to send us a telegram at Naples if anything happened. Mr. +Hooker was rather anxious. He too thought the Papal court wouldn't make +any resistance if the Italians came, or rather when the Italians came, +as they were marching on Rome; but he thought there might be trouble in +the streets. He had his large American flag ready to protect the bank. +We of course made our journey very quietly and comfortably, as Garibaldi +and his men were not on that road. I was rather disappointed, I should +have liked to have had a glimpse of the famous revolutionary leader in +his classic red shirt. We found Naples just the same, very full, people +everywhere, in the Via Toledo, on the quays, etc. There wasn't much +apparent excitement, all the red-capped, bare-legged fishermen were +lounging about on the quays or in the numberless little boats of all +descriptions flying about in every direction. The same songs, "Julia +Gentil," "La Luissella," "La Bella Sorrentina," were sung under our +windows every night with an accompaniment of mandolins and a sort of +tambourine. From time to time the voices would cease and then there +would be a most lively dance--tarantella, saltarella--all the dancers +moving lightly and quickly and always in perfect time. The nights were +beautiful--warm and clear--the whole population lived in the streets and +we were always on the balcony. The islands, Ischia and Capri, took such +beautiful colours, at sunset; seemed almost like painted islands rising +straight up out of a perfectly blue sea. Vesuvius, too, was most +interesting. Savants were prophesying an eruption and every now and +then faint, very faint curls of smoke came out of the crater. We knew +nothing of what was going on; had no communication with Rome, and were +entirely dependent for news on the landlord, whose information was +certainly fantastic; also the little Naples paper, the "Pungolo," which +made marvellous statements every morning--the streets of Rome running +with blood, etc. Finally came the first news--the battle of "Monte +Rotondo," Garibaldi and his men victorious. From Paris we heard that the +French troops had started and were at Civita Vecchia, but there were so +many conflicting stories that we really didn't know how much to believe. +Then came Mentana--the Garibaldians driven back by the Papal and French +troops; the Pope still supreme in Rome. We had a telegram from one of +our liberal friends, "Le malade va bien," which meant that the Pope had +conquered, and Rome was not yet the capital of "Italia Unita." There was +no fighting at all in the streets of Rome; a great deal of patriotic +talk among the young liberals, but I don't think any of them absolutely +enrolled themselves in Garibaldi's band. It wouldn't have made any +difference--they could do nothing against the combined Papal and French +troops--but it might have been a personal satisfaction to have struck a +blow for the liberal cause. There again the common sense of the Italians +showed itself--there was no resisting "le fait accompli," they had only +to bide their time. We had lovely days at Naples, making all sorts of +excursions--Posilippo, Capo di Monte, Camaldoli, etc. Every morning we +went to the Museum; I was madly interested in the Pompeian relics, +particularly the mummies. It seemed impossible to believe that those +little black bundles had once been human beings feeling and living as +keenly as we do now. We always kept our eyes on Vesuvius as it really +did seem as if something was going on. The column of smoke looked +thicker and we could quite well see little jets of sand or small stones +thrown up from the crater. One afternoon when we came in from driving +everybody in the street was looking hard at the mountain and the padrone +informed us that the eruption had begun. We didn't see anything, but +after dinner when we were standing on the balcony suddenly we saw a +great tongue of flame leap out from the crater and a stream of fire +running down the side of the mountain. The flame disappeared almost +immediately; came back three or four times in the course of the evening, +but didn't gain very much in height or intensity. The next day, however, +it had increased considerably and was a fine sight at dark, every few +moments a great tongue of fire with quantities of stones and gravel +thrown high in the air. We almost fancied we heard the noise of thunder, +but I don't think we did. People were flocking into Naples, and we of +course, like all the rest, were most anxious to make the ascent. The +landlord told us there was no danger; that the authorities never +permitted an ascent if there was danger, and no guides would go, as they +are very prudent. One would go up on one side (the only thing to avoid +was the stream of red-hot lava). Mother was rather unwilling, +particularly as we were to go at night (and at night from our balcony +the mountain did look rather a formidable thing to tackle). We waited +still another day and then when we had seen some English people--two +ladies and a youth who had made the excursion and said it was not at all +alarming and most interesting--she agreed to let us go. Anne stayed with +her, she doesn't like donkey riding under any circumstances, and a +donkey at night on the slopes of Vesuvius in eruption, with a stream of +red-hot lava running alongside, didn't strike her absolutely as a +pleasant performance. We started about 7 o'clock, William, Henrietta, +Gertrude, and I. The drive out all the way to Resina was most amusing. +Quantities of people, the famous Naples "cariole" crammed with peasants +and children, and all eyes turned to the mountain. Our landlord had made +all the arrangements for us, secured the best guides, donkeys, etc., and +we were in great spirits. The mountain looked forbidding; as we came +nearer we heard the noise, rumbling and thunder--the thunder always +preceding a great burst of flames and showers of stones thrown up very +high and falling one didn't know exactly where. I didn't say anything as +I was very anxious to make the ascent, but I did wonder where these red +stones fell and how one could know exactly beforehand. We drove as far +as we could and then arrived at the Hermitage and Observatory, where +there was a very primitive sort of wooden house, half tavern, half inn. +Here donkeys and guides (very voluble) were waiting, and we started. It +had begun to rain a little, but the guides assured us that it would not +last and we should soon be above the clouds. It was almost dark--not +quite--and everything looked weird, even the faces of the guides seemed +to me to have a curious expression; they looked fierce and wild. We went +on quietly at first though the rumblings under our feet and sudden light +as the flames burst out were unpleasant. When we began the last steep +ascent I had got very nervous. I was the last of the party, and when the +donkey-boy (an infant) took a short cut, when the path was steep, +calling out cheerfully "Coraggio Signorina," and left me and the donkey +alone to clamber over the great slippery blocks of lava, I was +frightened and felt I should never get up to the top. It was really +terrifying--the rain and mist had increased very much, it was pitch +dark, rumbling and thunder all the time, and such noises under our feet +that I was sure a great hole would open and we should all be swallowed +up. I didn't like the dark, but I certainly didn't like the light +either, when a great tongue of flame would spring out of the crater +spreading out like a fan and throwing a mass of stones and gravel high +in the air which all fell somewhere on the mountain. The red stream of +lava looked wider and seemed to me to be coming nearer. I called out to +William, who was far ahead and looked gigantic in the mist where he was +crossing some great rocks of lava (quite black and shiny when they are +old), and told him I was too frightened, that I should go back to the +Hermitage and wait there. He was much disgusted--said there was no +possible danger. All the guides and donkey-boys repeated the same thing, +but it was no use, I was thoroughly unnerved and couldn't make up my +mind to go on. We had a consultation with the guides as he didn't like +the idea of my going back alone to the inn, but they told him it was all +right, that the padrone was a "brav'uomo" and would take care of me +until they came back; so most reluctantly they went on, and I turned my +face homeward, always with my minute attendant whom I would gladly have +shaken as he was laughing and chattering and repeating twenty times, +"non c'e pericolo." I think the going down was rather worse; I had the +rain in my face, heard all the same unearthly noises around me, and from +time to time had glimpses of the whole country-side--Naples, the little +villages, the islands, the bay standing out well in the red light thrown +on them by the flames from the crater; then absolute darkness and +stillness, nothing apparently on the mountain but me and the donkey +scrambling and stumbling over the wet, slippery stones. How we ever got +down to the inn I don't know, but both boy and donkey seemed to know the +road. I was thankful when we emerged on a sort of terrace and saw a +faint light, which meant the little inn. The boy helped me off (it was +pouring), called out something at the door, told me to go in and go +upstairs, then disappeared around the corner with the donkey. I +called--no one answered--so I went upstairs, just seeing my way by the +light of a little dull, smoky lamp put in a niche of the wall. I saw two +doors when I got up to the top of the stairs, both shut, so I called +again, knocked; a man's voice said something which I supposed to be +"entrate" and I walked in. I found myself in a big room hardly +lighted--a small lamp on a table, a fire of a sort of peat and wood, a +bed in one corner on which was stretched a big man with a black beard +and red shirt; another man not quite so big, but also in a red shirt and +a hat on his head, got up when I came in, from a chair where he had been +sitting by the fire. He said something I couldn't understand, first to +me and then to his companion on the bed, who answered I thought rather +gruffly (they both spoke Neapolitan "patois" which I couldn't understand +at first). I didn't feel very comfortable (still I liked even that room +with those two brigand-looking men better than the mountain-side with +the flames and the lava), but I tried to explain, took off my wet cloak +which spoke for itself, and went toward the fire. My friend with the hat +always keeping up a running conversation with the man on the bed, +brought up a chair, then a sort of stand over which he hung my cloak, +and proceeded to take a bottle out of a cupboard which I supposed was +their famous wine (lacrima Christi) which one always drinks at Naples. +However that I declined and established myself on the chair by the fire. +He took the other one, and when I looked at him I saw that he had +rather a nice face; so I took courage. He pointed to my shoes, which +were wet as we had walked a little, and wanted to talk. After a little +while I began to understand him, and he me; and we had quite a friendly +conversation. He looked at my shoes, asked me where they were made, and +when I said in Rome was madly interested; he had a brother in Rome, a +shoemaker, perhaps I knew him "Giuseppe Ricci," he might have made those +very shoes--instantly confided that interesting piece of information to +the gentleman on the bed. He told me they were three brothers, the +eldest was the shoemaker, then came he the padrone of the osteria, and +the other one "there on the bed" had vines and made very good wine. He +asked me if I had ever seen the Pope, or Garibaldi (there was a picture +of Garibaldi framed on the wall), and when I said I had often seen the +former, and that he had a good, kind face, he again conversed amicably +with the gentleman on the bed, who first raised himself into a sitting +posture, and finally got up altogether and came over to the fire, +evidently rather anxious to take part in the conversation. He was an +enormous man and didn't look as nice as the "padrone." He rather +startled me when he bent down, took my foot in his hand and inspected +the shoe which he pronounced well made. We must have sat there fully +half an hour talking--they were perfectly easy, but not familiar, and +wanted to hear anything I would tell them about Rome. Every now and then +they dropped off into some side talk in their "patois," and I looked at +the fire and thought what an extraordinary experience it was, sitting +alone with such odd-looking companions in that big, bare room on the top +of Mount Vesuvius. The fire had almost died out, the miserable little +lamp gave a faint flickering light that only made everything look more +uncanny, and every now and then the whole room would be flooded with a +red lurid light (heralded always by a violent explosion which made the +crazy little house shake) which threw out the figures of the two men +sitting with their long legs stretched out to the fire, and keeping up a +steady talk in a low voice. Still I wasn't afraid; I was quite sure they +would be respectful, and do all they could to help me. They had a sort +of native politeness, too, for they stopped their talk occasionally and +made conversation for me; one looked out of the window and said the rain +had stopped, but that the night was "brutta" and they referred to other +eruptions and told me stories of accidents that had happened to +people--two young men, "Inglesi," who were killed because they would go +on their own way and not listen to the guides, consequently were knocked +on the head by some huge stones; always assuring me that this eruption +was nothing. However I was getting tired, and found the time long, when +suddenly we heard the noise of a party arriving, and for a moment I +thought it was my people; but no, they were coming the other way, up the +mountain. There was a great commotion and talking, lanterns flashing +backward and forward, donkeys being led out and all preparations made +for the ascent--but there seemed a hitch of some kind and I heard a +woman's voice speaking English. The "padrone" had rushed downstairs as +soon as he heard the party arriving, and presently he reappeared talking +very hard to a lady and two gentlemen who were coming upstairs behind +him and evidently wanting something which they couldn't make him +understand. He was telling them to have patience, that there was an +"Inglese" upstairs who would talk to them. They were so astounded when +they saw me that they were speechless--il y avait de quoi--seeing a +girl established there in rather a dishevelled condition, her hat off, +wet cloak hanging over the chair, and entirely alone with those +"Neapolitan brigands"--but one man ventured to ask timidly "did I speak +English." Oh yes--Italian, too--what could I do for them. They explained +that the lady was tired, cold and wet (she looked miserable, poor thing) +and wanted a hot drink--brandy, anything she could get. She didn't look +as if she could go on, but she said she would be all right if she could +have something hot, and that nothing would induce her to give up the +excursion, having come so far; so a fresh piece of wood, or peat rather +of some kind (it looked quite black), was put on the fire, also water in +a most primitive pot. I suggested that she should take off her cloak and +let it dry a little. The men brought in some more chairs and then the +new comers began to wonder who I was and what I was doing there alone at +that hour of the night. They were Americans, told me their name, but I +have forgotten it, it is so long ago. I told them my experience--that I +was absolutely unnerved, in a dead funk, and would have done anything +rather than go on toward that horrible crater. They couldn't understand +that I wasn't much more afraid of spending two hours in that lonely +little house in such company, and begged me to try again--there was +really no danger, people were going up all the time, etc. The older man +was very earnest--said they couldn't leave a compatriot in such +straits--he would give me his donkey if another one couldn't be procured +and would walk--how could my brother have permitted me to come back +alone, etc. However I reassured him as well as I could--told them I was +perfectly accustomed to Italians and knew the language well (which was a +great help to me, I don't know what I should have done if I hadn't been +able to talk and understand them). They stayed about 20 minutes--the +lady said her drink was very nasty, but hot, and she looked better for +the rest and partial drying. She wasn't as wet as I was, the rain had +stopped when they were half-way up. I told them who I was and begged +them to say, if they met my people coming down, a gentleman and two +ladies, that they had seen me, and that I was quite dry and comfortable. +They went away most reluctantly, were half inclined to stay until the +others should come back, but the guides were anxious to be off. Even at +the last moment when they had got downstairs, the older man came back +and begged me to come with them--"I assure you, my dear young lady, you +don't know in what a dangerous position you are; if I had any authority +over you I should insist, etc." He was very nice, and left all sorts of +recommendations in English and a very good fee to the padrone, who of +course didn't understand a word of what he was saying, but seemed to +divine in some mysterious way. He looked smilingly at me, told me to +cheer up ("Coraggio" is their way of saying it) and told the American, +in Italian, that he would take good care of me. He was very sorry to go +and leave me, said he had never done anything he liked so little. As +soon as the excitement of their departure was over the two men came +back. The "vigneron" went back to his bed, from where he conversed with +us occasionally, and the other one settled down in his chair, and seemed +half asleep. It wasn't very long before my party came back. The men +heard them before I did, and told me they were arriving. I must say I +was glad to see them. They had had a splendid time, seen everything +beautifully, gone quite up to the stream of red-hot lava, put umbrellas +and canes into it (the ends were quite black and burnt)--they were not +in the least nervous, and jibed well at me. William said he had rather +an uncomfortable feeling at first when he saw me and my very small +attendant depart, but he forgot it in the excitement and novelty of +their excursion. He thanked the padrone for taking such good care of me, +proposed a hot drink (very bad it was) all round, and we took quite a +friendly leave of the two gentlemen. I promised to try and find the +brother shoemaker. They had crossed my American friends on the way +back--William said they were just starting down when they saw another +party appearing and he heard a gentleman say, "I think this must be Mr. +King." He was very much surprised to hear his name, but rode up to the +speaker, to see who he was, and then the gentleman told him of his +amazement at meeting his sister in that wretched little shanty and how +miserable he had felt at leaving me there alone, with two Neapolitan +brigands, but that I had assured him I was quite safe and not at all +afraid of the two black giants--but he begged William to hurry on, as it +was not really the place to leave a girl--even an American who would +know how to take care of herself. We made our journey down quite easily. +It was still pitch dark, except when the fire of the mountain lighted up +everything, but there was neither rain nor wind, the air was soft, and +the little outlying villages looked quite quiet and peaceable, as if no +great mountain was throwing up masses of ashes and stones just over +their heads, which might after all destroy them entirely. There must +always be a beginning, and I suppose in the old days of Pompeii and +Herculaneum the beginning was just what we have seen--first columns of +smoke, then the lava stream and showers of red-hot stones, and none of +the people frightened at first. We found Mother and Anne waiting for us +with supper. They had been a little anxious, particularly as the weather +was so bad, and they evidently had had more of a tempest than we had. +They were of course madly interested in our expedition and were +astounded that I was the coward. They wouldn't have been at all +surprised if it had been Gert. It is true she is nearly always timid, +and we used to play all sorts of tricks on her when we were children at +Cherry Lawn, beguile her up into the big cherry tree, then take the +ladder away and tell her to climb down; or take the peg out of the boat, +let in a little water and pretend it was sinking--so she was triumphant +this time. I can't understand why I was so frightened. I am not usually +afraid of anything, but that time no reasoning would have been of the +least use, and nothing would have made me go on to the crater. Mother +was rather like the American--she wouldn't have liked the flames and the +awful rumbling noises any more than I did, but she would have been much +more afraid of the lonely house and long wait on the mountain in that +wretched little inn with those two big, black-bearded Neapolitans. + +Le monde est petit--years afterward my brother William was travelling in +America, and in the smoking-room all the men were telling their +experiences either at home or abroad--many strange adventures. One +gentleman said he had never forgotten a curious scene on the top of +Mount Vesuvius in eruption, when he had met an American girl, quite +alone, at night, in the dark and rain, in a miserable little shanty with +two great, big Neapolitans "looking like brigands" (he evidently always +retained that first impression of my companions). He told all the story, +giving my name, which excited much comment; some of the listeners +evidently thought it was a traveller's tale, arranged on some slight +foundation of truth--however, when he had finished William said: "That +story is perfectly true. The young lady is my sister, and I am the Mr. +King to whom you spoke that night on the mountain, in the dark, begging +me to hurry down, and not leave my sister any longer alone in such +company." They naturally didn't recognise each other, having merely met +for a moment in the dark, both wrapped up in cloaks and under umbrellas. +They had quite a talk, and the gentleman was very anxious to know how +they found me--whether I wasn't really more uncomfortable than I +allowed, and what had become of me. + +We decided to move on to Sorrento and settle ourselves there for some +time. We also wanted to go to Capri, but the steamers had stopped +running, and we could only get over in a sailboat. The man of the hotel +advised us to go from Sorrento, it was shorter and a charming sail on a +bright day. The drive from Castellamare was beautiful; divine views of +the sea all the time and equally lovely when we came down upon Sorrento, +which seemed to stand in the midst of orange groves and vineyards. The +Hotel Sirena is perched on the top of a high cliff rising up straight +from the sea. We had charming rooms with a nice broad balcony, and at +our feet a little sheltered cove and beach of golden sand. There were +very few people in the hotel--the one or two English spinsters of a +certain age whom one always meets travelling, and two artists. We were +only about twelve people at table-d'hote; and as we were six that didn't +leave many outsiders. It was before the days of restaurants and small +tables. There was one long, narrow table--the padrone carved himself at +a smaller one, and talked to us occasionally. There was too much wind +the first days to think of attempting Capri, so we drove all over the +country, walked about in the orange groves and up and down the steep +hills, through lovely little paths that wound in and out of olive woods +along the side of the mountain, sometimes clambering up a bit of +straight rock, that seemed a wall impossible to get over--when it was +too stiff there would be steps cut out in the earth on one side, half +hidden by the long grass and weeds. + +Henrietta and I had discovered a pony trap with a pair of sturdy little +mountain ponies, quite black, and we drove ourselves all over. Mother +wouldn't let us go alone, so the stableman sent his son with us, aged 12 +years. He wasn't much of a protector! but he knew the ponies, and the +country, and everybody we met. He was a pretty little fellow--not at all +the dark Italian type, rather fair, with blue eyes, but always the olive +skin of the South. He invariably got off the little seat behind and took +a short cut up the hills when the road was very steep, though I don't +think his weight made any perceptible difference. + +The evenings were delicious. We sat almost always on the +balcony--sometimes with a light wrap when the breeze from the sea +freshened about 9 o'clock. How beautiful it was; the sea deep blue, the +islands changing from pink to purple, and as soon as it was dark +Vesuvius sending up its pyramid of fire. It looked magnificent, but very +formidable. Almost every morning we saw a party come and bathe in the +little cove at the foot of the cliff--a pretty little boat came around +the point with a family party on board--two ladies, one man and three +children. I think they were English, their installation was so +practical. They had a small tent, camp-stools, and table, also two toy +sailboats which were a source of much pleasure and tribulation, as they +frequently got jammed in between the rocks, or caught in the thick +seaweed, and there was great excitement until they were started afresh. +We made great friends with the sister of the man at the hotel. She was a +nun, such a gentle, good face--she came every morning to get flowers +for the little chapel of Maria--Stella del Mare--which was near the +house, standing high on the hill and easily seen from the sea. One day +she seemed very busy and anxious about her flowers, so we asked what was +happening, and she said it was their great fete, and they were going to +decorate the chapel and dress the Virgin--"should we like to see it?" +The Virgin had a beautiful dress--white satin with silver embroidery and +some fine jewels which some rich forestieri had given. We were delighted +to go, and went with her to the little chapel, which looked very pretty +filled with flowers and greens, one beautiful dark, shiny leaf which +made much effect. The Virgin was removed from her niche--her vestments +brought in with great care, wrapped in soft paper, and the good sister +most reverently and happily began the toilet. The dress was very +elaborate, had been the wedding dress of an Italian Principessa, and +there were some handsome pins and rings--a gold chain on her neck with a +pearl ornament. She was rather lamenting over the cessation of +gifts--when I suddenly remembered my ring--quite a plain gold one with +the cross (pax) one always sees in Rome, which had been blessed by the +Pope. I put it on with three or four other little ornaments one day when +we had an audience. I took it off, explained to her what it was, that it +had been blessed by the Saint Pere and that I should like very much to +give it to the Virgin, if she wasn't afraid of accepting anything from a +heretic. She was a little doubtful, but the fact of its having had the +Pope's blessing outweighed other considerations, and the ring was +instantly put on the Virgin's hand. She told us afterward that she had +told it to the priest, and he said she was quite right to accept it, it +might be the means of bringing me to the "true church." We grew really +quite fond of her. It was such a simple, childish faith, her whole life +was given up to her little chapel, cleaning and decorating it on feast +days. All the children in the country brought flowers and leaves, one +little boy came once, she told us, with a dead bird with bright feathers +that he found, quite beautiful. + +We made friends with the people at the table-d'hote and they were very +anxious we should come down to the reading-room at night and make +music--but our mourning of course prevented that. We used to hear the +piano sometimes and a man's voice singing, not too badly. + +At last the wind seemed to have blown itself out, and our landlord said +we could get easily to Capri. He could recommend an excellent boatman +who had a large, safe boat and who was most prudent, as well as his son. +With a fair wind we ought to go over in two hours. We wanted to stay +over one night, and he arranged everything. The boat would wait and +bring us back the next evening. We started early--about 9 o'clock--so as +to get over for breakfast. The boat was most comfortable, a big broad +tub, with rather a small sail, plenty of room for all our bags, wraps, +etc. The sea was divine, blue and dancing, but there was not much wind. +We progressed rather slowly, the breeze was mild, the boat heavy and the +sail small, but nobody minded. It was delicious drifting along on that +summer sea--just enough ripple to make little waves that tumbled up +against the side of the boat, and a slight rocking motion that was +delightful--couldn't have suggested sea-sickness or nervousness to the +most timid sailor. There were plenty of boats about (mostly fishermen) +of all sizes, some of them with the dark red sail that is so effective, +and several pleasure boats and small yachts. _They_ were almost as broad +and solid as our boat; hadn't at all the graceful outlines and large +sails that we are accustomed to. We were exactly three hours going over +though the breeze freshened a little as we got near Capri. We were quite +excited when we made out the landing-place ("Marina grande") and the +long, steep flight of steps leading up to the town. The last time we +were there we went by the regular tourist steamer from Naples. There +were quantities of people and a perfect rush for donkeys and guides as +soon as we arrived; also the whole population of Capri on the shore +chattering, offering donkeys, flowers, funny little bottles of wine, and +a troop of children running up the steps alongside of the donkeys and +clamouring for "un piccolo soldo." This time there was no one at the +landing-place, but the man of the hotel with a sedan chair for mother, +donkeys for us if we wanted them (we didn't--preferred walking) and a +wheelbarrow or hand cart of some kind for the luggage, which was +slight--merely bags and wraps. There were a good many steps, but they +were broad, we didn't mind. We found a very nice little hotel, kept by +an English couple. The woman had been for years maid in the Sheridan +family. She told us there was no one in the hotel but one Englishman--in +fact no foreigners in the island. We had a very good breakfast in a +nice, fairly large room with views of the sea in all directions, and +started off immediately afterward to see as much as we could. Mother had +her chair, but didn't go all the way with us. We passed through narrow, +badly paved little streets with low, pink houses, lots of people, women +and children, standing in the doorways--no men, I suppose they were all +fishing--and then climbed up to the Villa Tiberius--a steep climb at the +end, but such a view. Before we got quite to the top we stopped at the +"Salto di Tiberio," a rock high up over the water from which the guide +told us that monarch had his victims precipitated into the sea. We +dropped down stones (I remember quite well doing the same thing when we +were there before) to see how long it was before they touched the water, +which showed at what a height one was. The palace is too much in ruins +to be very interesting, but there was enough to show how large it must +have been, and bits of wall and arches still standing. We went on to the +chapel, drank some rather bad wine which the hermit offered us, bought +some paper weights and crosses made out of bits of coloured marble which +had been found in the ruins, and wrote our names in his book. We looked +back in the book to see if there were any interesting signatures, but +there was nothing remarkable--a great many Germans. + +We came home by another path, winding down through small gardens, +vineyards, and occasionally along the steep side of the mountain, all +stones and ragged rocks, with the sea far down at our feet. There were a +good many houses scattered about, one or two quite isolated near the +top. We had a running escort of little black-eyed brown children all +talking and offering little bunches of mountain flowers. The guides +remonstrated vigorously occasionally and they would disappear, but were +immediately replaced by another band from the next group of houses we +passed. + +We were rather tired when we got back to the hotel as the climbing was +stiff in some parts, and glad to rest a little before dinner. The +padrona came in and talked to us. It seemed funny to see an English +woman in that milieu with her brown hair quite smooth and plain and a +clean print dress. She said she liked her life, and the people of the +island. They were industrious, simple and easy-going. She talked a great +deal about the Sheridans, for whom she had of course the greatest +admiration, said one of the sons came often to Capri, and that his +cousin Norton had married a Capri fisher-girl. We had heard the story, +of course, and were much interested in all she told us. She said the +girl was lovely, an absolute peasant, had walked about with bare feet +like all the rest, but that she had been over to England, was taught +there all they could get into her head, and was quite changed, had two +children. I remember their telling us in Rome what a difficult process +that education was. She was willing and anxious to learn to read and +write, but her ambition and her capability of receiving instruction +stopped there--when they wanted to teach her a little history (not very +far back either) and the glories of the Sheridan name she was +recalcitrant, couldn't interest herself and dismissed the subject +saying, "ma sono morti tutti" (they are all dead). She always kept her +little house at Capri, in fact was there now, perhaps we should like to +see her. We said we should very much. + +We had nice, clean comfortable rooms and made out our plan for the next +day. We didn't care about the Blue Grotto--we had seen it before, and +besides they told us that at this season of the year it would be almost +impossible, one must have a perfectly still sea as the entrance is not +easy--very low--and a big wave would swamp the boat. We heard the wind +getting up a little in the night and we woke the next morning to see a +grey, cloudy sky, little showers falling occasionally, and a fine gale, +sea rough, no little boats out, one or two fishing boats racing along +under well-reefed sails, anything but tempting for a three hours' sail +in an open boat. Mother looked decidedly nervous; however the matter was +taken out of our hands, for the boatmen appeared saying they would not +go out, which was rather a relief; we didn't mind staying. There was a +fair library in the house, books that visitors had left, so we hunted up +a history of Capri (Baedeker was soon exhausted), and got through our +morning pretty well, some reading aloud, the others knitting or working. +We had all taken some sort of work in our bags, various experiences of +small hotels on rainy days having taught us to provide our own +amusement. + +It cleared in the afternoon though the wind was still very high and we +set off--on donkeys this time--and mother in her chair, to the other +side of the island. Two or three girls, handsome enough in their bright +skirts, bare brown legs and thick braids of hair, came with us to take +charge of the donkeys. As we were going up a steep flight of steps +(which the donkeys did very well and deliberately) they began to tell us +about Mrs. Norton and said we should pass her house. It was amusing to +hear them talk of her wonderful luck in being married to this "bel +Inglese"; "adesso fa la signora sta in camera tutto il giorno--colle +mani bianche" ("Now she does the lady, sits in her room all day with +white hands"). We passed several houses rather better than the ordinary +fisherman's cottage and then came upon a nice little white house, +standing rather high, with a garden and gate, which they told us was +Mrs. Norton's. We stopped a moment at the gate, looking at the garden; +mother's bearers put her chair down and gave themselves a rest, and we +saw a lady appear very simply dressed in something dark, who came to the +gate and asked us in very nice English with a pretty accent if we would +come in and rest, as the day was hot and we had had a steep climb. We +heard all the fisher-girls giggling and saying "Eccola la Signora." We +were half ashamed to have been seen gaping in at her garden, but the +invitation was simply and cordially given, and we accepted. Her manner +to mother was quite pretty, respectful to the older lady. We went into +a pretty little sitting-room quite simply furnished, with books and +photographs about. She showed us pictures of all her family, her husband +(regretting extremely that he was not there), her mother-in-law, Mrs. +Norton, and her children. She seemed very proud of her son, said he was +at school in England and didn't care very much for Capri. I asked her if +she liked England, and though she said "very much," I thought I detected +a regret for her old home, though not perhaps her old life. Her face +quite lighted up when we said how much we admired her island with its +high cliffs and beautiful blue sea. I didn't find her as handsome as I +expected, but the eyes were fine and her smile charming. Her manner was +perfectly natural, she showed us very simply all she had, and was not in +the least curious about us--asked us no questions, was evidently +accustomed to seeing foreigners and tourists at Capri. We stayed about +half an hour, and then went on our way. She shook hands with us all, and +looked most smilingly at mother; couldn't quite understand her black +dress and white cap--said we mustn't let her do too much, "she is not so +young as you, la mamma." + +Of course the fisher-girls were in a wild state of excitement when we +came out--all talked at once, stopping in the middle of the path, the +donkeys, too; when they had much to say, and telling the whole story +over again. I said to one of them, "Should you like to marry a 'bel +Inglese' and go and live in another country far away from Capri with no +sun nor blue sky?" She thought a moment, looking straight at me with her +big, black eyes and then answered, sensibly enough, my rather foolish +question--she had never thought about it--was quite happy where she was. +It was a curious meeting. + +When we got back to the hotel we asked our padrona about Mrs. Norton +and the life she led. She told us Mrs. Norton mere[25] had been in +despair when her son married the fisher-girl--he was very good-looking +and her favourite, and it was a great blow to her, but that she had been +very good to her and was fond of the boy. She didn't seem to think the +young woman had had a very happy life, but that she was always delighted +to get back to Capri. "Did she see any of her old friends?" "Not +much--that was difficult--she only came in the summer, the children +generally with her, and they fished and sailed and made their own life +apart." + +[25] The well-known poetess and beauty, nee Sheridan. + +We got back to Sorrento the next morning--the sea beautifully smooth and +calm--no trace of the great waves that had roared all night into the +numerous caves, throwing up showers of foam. + +My dear, I seem to have prosed on for pages about Naples, but once +started I couldn't stop. Tell Henrietta I feel rather like her when we +used to call her Mrs. Nickleby, because she never could keep to any one +subject, but always made long, foolish digressions. + + + Monday, April 13th. + +Last night we had a pleasant dinner at Mr. Hooker's, the American +banker. He still lives in one end of his apartment in the Palazzo +Bonaparte, but has rented the greater part to the Suzannets.[26] We were +a small party--ourselves, Schuylers, Ristori (Marchesa Caprannica), and +her charming daughter. Ristori is very striking looking--very large, but +dignified and easy in her movements, and a wonderfully expressive face. +The girl, Bianca Caprannica, is charming, tall, fair, graceful. Ristori +talked a great deal, speaks French, of course, perfectly. + +[26] Comte de Suzannet, Secretary of the French Embassy. + +She admires the French stage, and we discussed various actors and +actresses. I should love to see her act once, her voice is so full and +beautiful. Such a characteristic scene took place after coffee. We were +still sitting in the dining-room when we heard a carriage come in, and +instantly there was a great sound of stamping horses, angry coachman, +whip freely applied, etc. It really made a great noise and disturbance. +Ristori listened for a moment, then rushed to the window (very high +up--we were on the top story), exclaiming it was her man, opened it, and +proceeded to expostulate with the irate coachman in very energetic +Italian--"Che diavolo!" were these her horses or his, was he a Christian +man to treat poor brutes like that, etc.--a stream of angry remonstrance +in her deep, tragic voice. There was a cessation of noise in the +court-yard--her voice dominated everything--and then I suppose the +coachman explained and excused himself, but we were so high up and +inside that we couldn't hear. She didn't listen, but continued to abuse +him until at length Hooker went to the window and suggested that she +might cease scolding and come back into the room, which she did quite +smilingly--the storm had passed. + +This morning we have been to the Doria Gallery. The palace is enormous, +a great court and staircase and some fine pictures. We liked a portrait +by Velasquez of a Pope--Innocent X, I think--and some of the Claude +Lorraines, with their curious blue-green color. We walked home by the +Corso. It was rather warm, but shady always on one side of the street. +After breakfast Cardinal Bibra, the Bishop of Frascati, came to see us. +He was much disappointed that we had had such a horrid day for our +Frascati and Tusculum expedition, and wants us to go again, but we +haven't time. We want to go to Ostia and Albano if it is possible. He +and W. plunged into ecclesiastical affairs. It is curious what an +importance they all attach to W.'s being a Protestant; seem to think his +judgment must be fairer. He also knew about Uncle Evelyn having married +and settled in Perugia, and had heard the Pope speak about him. He spoke +about the Marquis de Gabriac (Desprez's predecessor) and regretted his +departure very much. I think he had not yet seen the new Ambassador. W. +told him Desprez would do all he could to make things go smoothly, that +his whole career had been made at the Quai d'Orsay, where every +important question for years had been discussed with him. + + + Tuesday, April 14th. + +We dined last night at the Black Spanish Embassy with the Cardenas. It +was very pleasant. We had two cardinals--Bibra and a Spanish cardinal +whose name I didn't catch; he had a striking face, keen and stern, +didn't talk much at dinner--Desprez and his son, the Sulmonas, Bandinis, +Primolis (she is nee Bonaparte), d'Aulnays, all the personnel of the +French Embassy, and one or two young men from the other embassies; quite +a small dinner. W. took in Princess Sulmona and enjoyed it very much. +Primoli took me, and I had Prince Bandini on the other side. Both men +were pleasant enough. All the women except me were in high dresses, and +Primoli asked me how I had the conscience to appear "decolletee" and +show bare shoulders to cardinals. I told him we weren't told that we +should meet any cardinals, and that in these troubled days I thought a +woman in full dress was such a minor evil that I didn't believe they +would even notice what one had on; but he seemed to think they were +observant, says all churchmen of any denomination are. Their life is +so inactive that they get their experience from what they see and hear. +I talked a few minutes to Princess Bandini after dinner, but she went +away almost immediately, as she had music (Tosti) at home. We promised +to go to her later--I wanted very much to hear Tosti. The evening was +short. The cardinals always go away early--at 9.30 (we dined at 7.30, +and every one was punctual). As long as they stayed the men made a +circle around them. They are treated with much deference (we women were +left to our own devices). W. said the conversation was not very +interesting, they talk with so much reserve always. He said the Spaniard +hardly spoke, and Cardinal Bibra talked antiquities, the excavations +still to be made in Tusculum, etc. I think they go out very little now, +only occasionally to Black embassies. Their position is of course much +changed since the Italians are in Rome. They live much more quietly; +never receive, their carriages are much simpler, no more red trappings, +nothing to attract attention--so different from our day. When Pio Nono +went out it was a real royal progress. First came the "batta strada" or +"piqueur" on a good horse, stopping all the carriages and traffic; then +the Pope in his handsome coach, one or two ecclesiastics with him, +followed by several cardinals in their carriages, minor prelates, +members of the household and the escort of "gardes nobles." All the +gentlemen got out of their carriages, knelt or bowed very low; the +ladies stood in theirs, making low curtseys, and many people knelt in +the street. One saw the old man quite distinctly, dressed all in white; +leaning forward a little and blessing the crowd with a large sweeping +movement of his hand. He rarely walked in the streets of Rome, but often +in the villas--Pamphili or Borghese. There almost all the people he met +knelt; children kissed his hand, and he would sometimes pat their little +black heads. We crossed him one day in the Villa Pamphili. We were a +band of youngsters--Roman and foreigners--and all knelt. The old man +looked quite pleased at the group of young people--stopped a moment and +gave his blessing with a pretty smile. Some of our compatriots were +rather horrified at seeing us kneel with all the rest--Protestants doing +homage to the head of the Roman Catholic Church--and expressed their +opinion to father: it would certainly be a very bad note for my +brother.[27] However, father didn't think the United States Government +would attach much importance to our papal demonstration, and we +continued to kneel and ask his blessing whenever we met His Holiness. He +had a kind, gentle face (a twinkle, too, in his eyes), and was always so +fond of children and young people. The contrast between him and his +successor is most striking. Leo XIII is tall, slight, hardly anything +earthly about him--the type of the intellectual, ascetic priest--all his +will and energy shining out of his eyes, which are extraordinarily +bright and keen for a man of his age. + +[27] General Rufus King, last United States Minister to the Vatican. + +[Illustration: Pope Pius IX.] + +We didn't stay very long after the cardinals left, as I was anxious to +get off to Princess Bandini. We found a great many people, and music +going on. Some woman had been singing--a foreigner, either English or +American--and Tosti was just settled at the piano. He is quite charming; +has very little voice, but says his things delightfully, accompanying +himself with a light, soft touch. He sang five or six times, principally +his own songs, with much expression; also a French song extremely well. +His diction is perfect, his style simple and easy. One wonders why every +one doesn't sing in the same way. They don't, as we perceived when a +man with a big voice, high barytone, came forward, and sang two songs, +Italian and German. The voice was fine, and the man sang well, but +didn't give half the pleasure that Tosti did with his "voix de +compositeur" and wonderful expression. He was introduced to me, and we +had a pleasant talk. He loves England, and goes there every season. A +good many people came in after us. I wanted to introduce W. to some one +and couldn't find him, thought he must have gone, and was just going to +say good-night to Princess Bandini when her husband came up, saying, +"You mustn't go yet--your husband is deep in a talk with Cardinal +Howard," and took me to one of the small salons, where I saw the two +gentlemen sitting, talking hard. The Cardinal was just going when we +came in, so he intercepted W. and carried him off to this quiet corner +where they would be undisturbed. They must have been there quite +three-quarters of an hour, for I went back into the music-room, and it +was some little time before W. found me there. Every one had gone, but +we stayed on a little while, talking to the two Bandinis. It is a funny +change for W. to plunge into all this clerical society of Rome; but he +says he understands their point de vue much better, now that he sees +them here, particularly when both parties can talk quite frankly. It +would be almost impossible to have such a talk in France--each side +begins with such an evident prejudice. The honest clerical really +believes that the liberal is a man absolutely devoid of religious +feeling of any kind--a dangerous character, incapable of real patriotic +feeling, and doing great harm to his country. The liberal is not quite +so narrow-minded; but he, too, in his heart holds the clergy responsible +for the want of progress, the narrow grooves they would like the young +generation to move in, and the influence they try to exercise in +families through the women (who all go to church and confession). With +the pitiless logic of the French character every disputed point stands +out clear and sharp, and discussion is very difficult. Here they are +more supple--leave a larger part to human weaknesses. + + + Thursday, April 16th. + +We have finally had our day at Albano, and delightful it was. W. and I +went alone, as Gert was not very well, and afraid of the long day in the +sun. We started early--at 8.30--though we had been rather late the night +before as Count Coello, Spanish Ambassador,[28] sent us his box for the +opera. It was Lohengrin--well enough given, orchestra and chorus good, +but the soloists rather weak. _Elsa_, a very stout Italian woman of +mature years, did not give one just the idea of the fair patrician +maiden one imagines her to be. The Italian sounded very funny after +hearing it always in German, and "Cigno gentil" didn't at all convey the +same idea as "Lieber Schwan." The tenor had a pretty, sympathetic voice +and looked his part well (rather more like _Elsa's_ son than her lover), +but one mustn't be too particular. The house was fairly brilliant--much +fuller than the last time we were there--and quantities of people we +knew. Hardly any one in full dress, which is a pity, as it makes the +salle look dull. One or two women in white (one very handsome with +diamond stars in her hair, whom nobody knew) stood out very well against +the dark red of the boxes. Del Monte came in and sat some time with us. +He is quite mad about Wagner--rare for an Italian. They generally like +more melody and less science. We invited him to come to Albano with us +and show us everything, and I think he was half inclined to accept, but +he was de service that day and it was too late to find any one to +replace him. + +[28] To the Quirinal. + +We finally decided to drive out after various consultations as to hours, +routes, etc. It is quicker by the railway and we should perhaps have +rather more time, but we both of us love the drive on the Campagna, and +W. was very keen to take the old Via Appia again and realize more +completely the street of tombs. It was a lovely morning and every minute +of the drive interesting, even when we were almost shut in between the +high grey walls which stretch out some little distance at first leaving +the Porta San Sebastiano. They were covered with creepers, pink roses +starting apparently out of all the crevices; pretty, dirty little +children tumbling over the broken bits into the road almost under the +horses' feet; every now and then a donkey's head emerging from an +opening, or a wrinkled old woman appearing at some open door smiling and +nodding a cheerful "Buon giorno!" to the passers-by. There was a long +string of carts with nothing apparently in them. They didn't take much +trouble about getting a little to one side to let the carriage pass; and +their drivers--some of them stretched out on their backs in the carts, +the reins hanging loosely over the seat--didn't at all mind the +invectives our coachman hurled at them, "pigs, lazy dogs, etc." Of +course we passed again Cecilia Metella, also two tombs said to be the +Horatii and Curatii; and the Casale Rotondo with a house and olive trees +on the top, but I cannot remember half the names, nor places. + +We were armed with our Baedeker, but it goes into such details of all +the supposed tombs and monuments that one gets rather lost. I don't know +that it adds very much to the interest to know the names and dates of +all the tombs. One feels in such an old-world atmosphere they speak for +themselves. The colours were beautiful to-day--the old stones had a +soft, grey tint. It is a desolate bit of road all the same--so little +life or movement of any kind. As we got further out we came upon the +long line of aqueducts, but there were apparently miles of plain with +nothing in sight--occasionally a flock of sheep in the distance, the +shepherd riding a rough, unkempt little pony, and looking a half-wild +creature himself--some boys on donkeys, and the shepherds' dogs, which +came barking and jumping over the plain toward the strangers. They are +sometimes very fierce. Years ago in Rome when we used to make long +excursions riding to Vei or Ostia, the gentlemen of the party always +carried good big whips to keep them off. They have been known to spring +on the horses, who are afraid of them. One sprang on Gert once, when we +were cantering over the Campagna, and almost tore her habit off. We +didn't meet any cart or vehicle of any description. I wondered where all +these were going that we passed on the road, and asked our Giuseppe, but +he merely shrugged his shoulders and said they were "robaccia" (trash). + +We stopped a few minutes at the Osteria della Frattocchie--the man +watered his horses (had a drink himself, too) and was very anxious we +should try some of the "vino del paese." We tasted it--a sour, white +wine, very like all the cheap Italian wines. The view from the Osteria +looking back toward Rome was very striking. Long lines of ruined, +crumbling tombs and arches--great blocks of stone, heads of columns, +mounds, wide ditches choked up with weeds, broken walls--all the dead +past of the great city. The sun was bright, but there were plenty of +little clouds, and the changing lights and shades on the great expanse +of the Campagna were beautiful. The hills seemed now so near that we +almost felt like getting out and walking, but the man assured us we had +still three or four miles before us, and a steep hill to climb--Albano +on the top. The road was shady--between two lines of trees. As we got +near the city we saw Pompey's tomb--a high tower with bits of marble +still on the walls. W. is rather sceptical about all the tombs; would +like to have time enough to investigate himself and make out all the +inscriptions, but it would take a life-time. + +We went at once to the hotel to order breakfast, and then strolled about +in the streets until it was ready. It looked more changed to me than +Frascati--more modern. They tell me many people go out there now for +their summer "villegiatura," principally English and Americans, bankers, +doctors, artists, etc., who are obliged to spend their summer in or near +Rome. There were many new houses, and in all the old palaces apartments +to rent. There were a few tourists walking about, but happily no Cook's +this time. When we went back to the hotel we told the landlord what we +wanted to see--Ariccia, Genzano and Nemi. He suggested donkeys, but that +we both declined, so he said he had a good little carriage which could +take us easily. The breakfast was good, we were both hungry, and after +coffee we walked about in the Villa Doria under the ilex trees. W. +smoked and was quite happy, and I wasn't sorry to walk a little after +having been so long in the carriage. We went to the gardens of the Villa +Altieri. It was there the Cardinal died in the cholera summer of '69 +when we were at Frascati. We could almost have walked to Ariccia, it is +so near, and such a lovely road, all ilex trees and great rocks, winding +along the side of the hill. The church and old Chigi Palace look very +grand and imposing as one gets near the gates of the little town. We +walked about the streets and went into the church, but there was not +much to see, and I thought it less effective seen near; then on to the +gardens of the Capuchin Convent, from where there are splendid views in +every direction, and always the thick shade of the ilex. We couldn't +loiter very much as we had the drive to Genzano before us. The road was +quite beautiful all the way; every turn familiar (how many times we have +ridden over it), and Genzano with its little, old streets straggling up +the hill looked exactly the same. I had forgotten the great viaduct +which one sees all the time on that road, it is splendid. We again got +out of the carriage and walked up a steep little path to have a view of +Lake Nemi. It lay far down at our feet--a little green pond (yet high +too), they say it was a volcanic crater. The water was perfectly +still--not even a shimmer of light or movement. Every way we turned the +view was beautiful--either down the valley where the colours were +changing all the time, sometimes quite grey, when the sun was under a +cloud (one almost felt a chill), and then every leaf and flower +sparkling in the sunlight--or toward the hills where the little towns +Rocca di Papa and Monte Cavo seemed hanging on the side of the mountain. + +The drive back to Albano by the "Galleria di Sotto" under the enormous +ilex trees was simply enchanting, the afternoon sun throwing beautiful +streaks of yellow light through the thick shade, and the road most +animated--groups of peasants coming in from their work in the fields; +old women tottering along, almost disappearing beneath the great bundles +of fagots they carried on their heads; girls with jet-black hair and +eyes, in bright-coloured skirts, and little handkerchiefs pinned over +their shoulders, laughing and singing and chaffing the drivers of the +wine carts, who usually got down and walked along with them, leaving +their horses, who followed quietly, the men turning around occasionally +and talking to them. In the fields alongside there were teams of the +splendid white oxen and quantities of children tumbling up and down the +banks and racing after the carriage. They spot the foreigner at once. I +had talked so much to W. about the beauty of the road, the Galleria in +particular, that I was afraid he would be disappointed; but he wasn't, +was quite as enthusiastic as I was. + +When we got back to Albano I tried to find some of the little cakes +(ciambelle) we used to buy when we rode over from Frascati; the little +package wrapped up in greasy brown paper and tied to the pommel of the +saddle; but the woman at the very nice baker's or confectioner's shop we +went into hadn't any, but said she could make a "plome cheke" (she +showed us the ticket with the name on it with pride), which was what all +the "Inglesi" took. + +The drive home was lovely--just enough of the beautiful sunset clouds to +give colour to everything; the air soft and the world so still that a +dog barking in one of the little old farms or shepherds' huts made quite +a disturbance. As the evening closed in we heard the "grilli" (alas, no +nightingales; it is still too early) and the bushes along the road were +bright with fire-flies. The road seemed much less lonely going back to +Rome; so many peasants were coming back from the fields, also boys on +donkeys with empty sacks--had evidently taken olives, cheese, or dried +herbs into the city--and always bands of girls laughing and singing. It +was an ideal day, and after dinner we were just tired enough to settle +in our respective arm-chairs and say how glad we were we had decided to +come and spend these months in Italy. + +The Schuylers came in for a cup of tea and Gert was rather sorry she +hadn't come, as her headache wasn't very serious. I think they will +take themselves out to Albano for a little stay as soon as the heat +begins. + + + Friday, April 17th. + +This morning we went for a last turn in the Vatican. That is what W. +likes best. There is so much to see in that marvellous collection. He +wanted to copy one or two inscriptions, so I wandered about alone and +talked to the custode, who has become an intimate friend of ours. He +hovers about W. when he is taking notes or examining things closely, and +is evidently much gratified at the interest he takes in +everything--quite like a collector showing off his antiquities. We saw a +little commotion at one end of the long gallery, and he came running up +to say "His Holiness" was walking in the garden, and if we would come +with him he would take us to a window from where we could see him quite +distinctly. This of course we were delighted to do, as one never sees +the present Pope, except in some great ceremony when he is carried in +the "sedia gestatoria," but so high over the heads of the people that +one can hardly distinguish his features. We walked down the gallery, +through two or three passages, up a flight of stairs, and came upon a +window looking down directly on the gardens. They are beautiful, more +like a park than a garden, and one can quite understand that the Pope +can get a very good drive there, the days he doesn't walk. The custode +says he only walks when it is quite fine, is afraid of the damp or wind, +but that he goes out every day. There is a wood, flowers, long alleys +stretching far away bordered with box and quite wide enough for a +carriage, various buildings, a casino, tower, observatory, etc., also +fountains and a lake (I didn't see a boat upon it). In the middle of one +of the alleys a little group was walking slowly in our direction--about +10 people I should think. The Pope, dressed always in white, seemed to +walk easily enough. He carried himself very straight, and was talking +with a certain animation to the two ecclesiastics who walked on each +side of him. He stopped every now and then, going on with his +conversation and using his hands freely. He was talking all the time, +the others listening with much deference. The suite seemed to consist of +three or four priests and two servants. I didn't see either a Suisse or +Garde-Noble, but they may have been following at a distance. Our glimpse +of him was fleeting, as he turned into a side alley before he got up to +our window--still it was enough to realize his life--think of never +going outside those walls, walking day after day in those same alleys, +cut off from all the outside world and living his life in the stillness +and monotony of the Vatican. However it certainly doesn't react in any +way upon his intellect. They say he is just as keen and well up in +everything as when he was Bishop of Perugia, and that his indomitable +will will carry him through. + +We thanked our old custode very warmly (and in many ways) for having +brought us to the window, and also said good-bye to him, as this of +course was our last visit to the Vatican. He begged us to come back, but +it must be soon, or _he_ wouldn't be there, as he was as old as the +Pope. + +When we got to the hotel we found Monsignor English in the salon with +the Pope's photograph, very well framed with a gilt shield with the +Papal arms on the top. It is exactly like him, sitting very straight in +his chair, his hand lifted a little just as if he were speaking, and the +other hand and arm resting on the arm of the chair. He is dressed in his +white robes, red cape and embroidered stole, just as we saw him; and his +little white cap on his head. He has written himself a few words in +Latin, of which this is a free translation: "The woman who fears God, +makes her own reputation. Her husband was celebrated in his country when +he sat with the Senators of the land." I am so pleased to have the +photograph--so many people told me I should never get it, that the Pope +rarely gave his picture to anybody and never signed one. Monsignor +English, too, was much pleased, as he had undertaken the whole thing. He +said again that the Pope was glad to have seen W., found him so +moderate, and yet very decided, too, about what the church mustn't do. +Leo XIII. has an awfully difficult part to play--the ultra-Catholics +disapprove absolutely his line--can't understand any concession or +compromise with Republican France, and yet there are very good religious +people on the liberal side, and he, as Head of the Church, must think +about all his children, and try to conciliate, not alienate. It is +wonderful that that old man sitting up there by himself at the top of +the Vatican can think out all those perplexed questions and arrive at a +solution. They say he works it all out himself--rarely asks advice. I +daresay it wouldn't help him if he did, for of course there are +divisions, too, in the clerical party of Rome, even among the Cardinals, +where the difference of nationalities must have a very great influence. +I should think there was almost as much difference between an American +and an Italian Cardinal as between Protestants and Catholics. The +American must look at things from a different point of view. Monsignor +English quite understood that--said Americans were more +independent--still when a great question came they must submit like all +the rest. + +We then had a most animated discussion as to how far it was possible for +an intelligent man (or woman) to abdicate entirely his own judgment, and +to accept a thing which he was not quite sure of because the church +decided it must be. I think we should have gone on indefinitely with +that conversation, never arriving at any solution, so it was just as +well that breakfast put a stop to it. + +We went for a lovely drive in the afternoon, out of the Porta del +Popolo, across Ponte Molle, and then along the river until we came to +that rough country road, or lane, leading across the fields where we +have gone in so many times on horseback, to the Villa Madama. We drove +as far as we could (almost to the gate) and then walked up the hill to +the Villa itself. There everything was quite unchanged--the garden +neglected, full of weeds, and grass growing high. The oval stone basin +was there still, the sides covered with moss, and a few flowers coming +quite promiscuously out of walls, stones, etc. We went into the loggia +to see the paintings and frescoes, all in good condition, and then sat +some time on the terrace looking at the view, which was +divine--everything so soft in the distance, even the yellow Tiber looked +silvery--at least I saw it so; I don't know that W. did. He generally +finds it sluggish and muddy. We came home by the Porta Angelica and +drove through the Square of St. Peter's. There are always people on the +steps, not a crowd of course as on fete days, but enough to give +animation, priests, beggars, and the people lounging and looking at +whatever passes in the Square. It is so enormous, the Piazza, when one +sees it empty, one can hardly realize what it used to be in the old days +for the great Easter ceremony when the Pope gave his blessing from the +balcony of St. Peter's. I can see it now, packed black with people, the +French soldiers with their red caps and trousers making great patches of +colour, and Montebello (who commanded the French Armee d'Occupation in +Rome) with a brilliant staff in the centre of the Square--he and his +black charger so absolutely motionless one might have thought both horse +and rider were cast in bronze. There were all sorts of jokes and +chattering in the crowd until the first glimpse of the waving peacock +plumes, and banners, passing high, high up, and just visible through the +arches, showed that the Pope's procession was arriving on the balcony; +and when at last one saw distinctly the white figure as the old man was +raised high in his chair there was an absolute stillness in all that +great mass; every one knelt to receive the blessing, and the Pope's +voice rang out clear and strong (one could hear every word). As soon as +it was over cannon fired, bells rang, and there fluttered down over the +crowd a quantity of little white papers (indulgences) which every one +tried to grasp. It was a magnificent cadre for such a ceremony--the dome +of St. Peter's towering above us straight up into the blue sky, the +steps crowded with people, the red umbrellas of the peasants making a +great show, and women of all conditions and all nationalities dressed in +bright, gay colours; uniforms of all kinds, monks and priests of every +order; the black of the priests rather lost in all the colour of +uniforms, costumes, etc. The getting away was long--we might have had +our carriage with the American cockade in one of the back courts of the +Vatican, but we wanted to see everything and come home by the Ponte St. +Angelo. It was a great show all the way--the long line of carriages and +pedestrians streaming back to Rome, cut every now and then by a +detachment of troops. Everybody was cheered, from Charette and his +Zouaves to Montebello and his staff. The crowd was in a good humour--it +was a splendid day, they had had a fine show, and politics and "foreign +mercenaries" were forgotten for the moment. Everybody had a flower of +some kind--the boys and young men in their hats, the girls in their +hair. One heard on all sides "buona festa," "buona Pasqua." How we +enjoyed it all, particularly the first time, when we were fresh from +America and our principal idea of a fete was the 4th of July. That +seemed a magnificent thing in our childish days, when we had friends on +the lawn at Cherry Lawn, a torch-light procession with a band (such a +band) from the town, and father's speech, standing at the top of the +steps and telling the boys that if they worked hard and studied well, +any one of them might become President of the United States, which +statement of course was always received with roars of applause. + +[Illustration: Last Benediction of Pope Pius IX. from the Balcony of St. +Peter's.] + +We went back to the Piazza always at night to see the "Girandola" +fireworks, and there was almost the same crowd waiting for the first +silvery light to appear on the facade of St. Peter's. It was marvellous +to see the lines of light spread all over the enormous mass of stone, +running around all the cupolas and statues like a trail of silver, in +such quantities that the stone almost disappeared, and the church seemed +made of light--quite beautiful. The illumination lasted a long +time--gold light came after the silver, and I think it was perhaps more +striking when they began to go out one by one, leaving great spaces in +darkness--then one saw what an enormous edifice it was. + +I have written you a volume--but every turn here recalls old, happy +days--"Roma com'era"--and I must come back to the present and our +farewell dinner at the Noailles'. + +We were a small party--all the French Embassy, the Duc de Ripalda, the +Chilian Minister and his wife, Maffel, Visconti Venosta, and Lanciani. +W. and Noailles retired to the fumoir and talked politics hard. We shall +soon be back in the thick of it now, and W. will take his place again +in the Senate. It will seem funny to be quietly settled in the rue +Dumont d'Urville--riding in the Bois in the morning and driving over to +the Senate in the afternoon, with the boy, to get W. Ripalda and I had a +long talk. He tells me he still holds the same opinion about American +women--they are the prettiest and most attractive in the world. There is +something--he doesn't know what--that makes them different from all the +others. I asked him if he remembered Antoinette Polk; to which he +promptly replied, "Ah, qu'elle etait belle--une deesse." I must tell her +how she lives in his old memory. I always find Noailles pleasant--so +grand seigneur. + +We found all sorts of cards and invitations when we came in, and a +surprise for me from Father Smith which pleased me greatly, a silver +medal of Leo XIII. in a case. It is about the size of a five-franc +piece--rather larger if anything, and so like, the small head, and fine, +sharply cut features, such a nice note, too, from Father Smith; he was +very glad to be able to offer me something which he knew I would prize, +and that it wasn't necessary to be of the same religion to admire and +appreciate a great intellect and a good man. I am very proud of my two +pictures, and shall show them triumphantly to some of my Catholic +friends and relations who can't understand a Protestant and a heretic +caring for such souvenirs. + +We can't accept any more dinners as we leave on Monday, W. for Naples +and I for Florence. I wanted very much to go to Ostia, I should like W. +to see that desolate, sandy shore with the pines coming down almost to +the water's edge, and the old castle rising up in the distance; but it +is an all-day excursion and we haven't time. We will try and do Vei, +which is an easy afternoon's drive. I must stop now--W. is deep in +Baedeker, looking out Ostia and Vei, and must also write a note to +Geoffroy about something they want to see to-morrow. I shall go and see +something with Gert. + + + Sunday, April 19, 1880. + +Yesterday we had an enchanting day at Tivoli, W., Gert and I. Schuyler +was detained in Rome, much to his disgust, on business. He loves a day +in the country and is most amusing to go about with. He talks to +everybody, priests, peasants, soldiers, and always gets odd bits of +information about old customs, legends, family histories--all that makes +the story of a nation. Tomba gave us a light carriage and a pair of +strong horses (our little ones were not up to the long day). We started +at 8 in the morning and didn't get back until 8.30. There is a steam +tram now all the way out but we preferred driving, as we wanted to stop +at Hadrian's Villa. We went out by Porta San Lorenzo, crossed the Arno +(the river which makes the falls of Tivoli) at Ponte Mammolo, and had a +good two hours' drive (rather more, in fact) to Hadrian's Villa. I +didn't find that part of the Campagna very interesting (it was much +finer after one left the Villa). We left the carriage at the entrance of +a sort of lane (one doesn't see much before getting actually inside) +between high banks covered with every description of vine and creepers; +and wild flowers and weeds in a tangle at our feet (it was really +difficult walking sometimes), and found ourselves in an open space, with +ruins in every direction--a half-crumbling wall, weeds choking it up; +part of a theatre with broken columns and steps, a few bits of mosaic +but not much colour of any kind; some bas-reliefs very well preserved; +but one felt that everything of value had been taken away, and what was +left was so hidden in long grass and weeds that it was difficult to +understand all the former magnificence of the famous Villa. + +The custode was most conscientious, explained everything--the arena, +theatre, baths, temples, etc., but my impression was a mass of grey, +broken bits of stones and columns. There were one or two splendid stone +pines standing up straight and tall, looking like guardians of past +splendour, and in every direction the crooked little grey-green olive +trees and fields full of flowers. Gert and I sat on the wall in a shady +corner, while W. and the custode went off some little distance to look +at a fountain, and we were not sorry to have the rest. The last part of +the drive, winding up the hill to Tivoli, was beautiful--such splendid +views all the time, either toward Rome (St. Peter's standing out, a +faint blue dome at the end of the long, flat plains of the Campagna; or +on the other side the Sabine Hills, Soracte, Frascati, etc.). + +We went straight to the little old hotel of the Sybilla, which looks +exactly the same as in our day, and ordered breakfast. We were quite +ready for it, having had our "petit dejeuner" at 7.30. The padrone said +he wanted half an hour to prepare it, as the regular table-d'hote was +over. Of course the railway tourists got out much quicker than we did +and we met them all over the place, when we went out to see the famous +Temple of Vesta. It is perched on the top of the cliff, looking as if it +would take very little to precipitate it into the mass of rushing, +leaping water tumbling itself over the rocks far below at our feet. We +had a very good breakfast, capital trout for which Tivoli is famous, and +a most talkative landlord who came to superintend the meal and give us +any information we wanted. He said we must have donkeys to make the +"giro," which would take us about two hours, and we could finish at the +Villa d'Este, where the carriage would come and get us. + +We walked about a little in the town after breakfast through narrow, +dirty streets with curious old bits of architecture, and into the +church, or cathedral as they grandly call it, of San Francesco; but +there was really nothing to see; and at two we started for our tournee +to the grottoes of Neptune and the Sirena. We all walked at first, two +donkeys with the usual pretty little black-eyed boys at their heads +following (W. of course wouldn't have a donkey but took a cane which the +padrone of the Sybilla strongly recommended as the steps going down to +the grotto were steep and slippery). I wondered how the donkeys would +get on, but made no remarks as I knew I could always get off. We walked +through the little town under a nice old arch and up a path which was +pleasant enough at first, but when we wound round the side of the hill +Gert and I were glad to mount our beasts as the sun was very hot and +there wasn't an atom of shade. It was a beautiful excursion, always +something to see--ruins of old castles, temples, gateways--so much +really that one couldn't take in details. From certain "points de vue" +the Temple of Vesta seemed almost standing on air--one lost the cliff, +which disappeared in a sort of mist. As soon as we began to go down the +noise of the rushing water was quite overpowering; we couldn't hear +ourselves speak, and the glimpses we had of the quantities of little +falls leaping over big rocks and stones were quite enchanting. + +Our little donkeys were perfectly sure-footed and the path good though +steep. We dismounted before getting quite down to the grottoes and the +steps certainly were rough and slippery. The guide took charge of Gert, +and I followed in W.'s wake very carefully. It was icy cold when we got +all the way down. I am generally impervious to that sort of thing, but I +felt the cold strike me and didn't stay long. The chill passed entirely +as soon as we came out and began the ascent, leaving the dark, deep pool +behind us. + +The road back was, if possible, more beautiful; great ravines with olive +trees half way down their sides, mountain streams in every direction +making countless little cataracts, all dancing and sparkling in the +sun--rocks covered with bright green moss, and fields carpeted with wild +flowers. The guide pointed out various ruins--the Villa of Maecenas--a +great square mass on the top of a hill--but we didn't care to make a +long detour to go up to it. We were quite satisfied with all the natural +beauty we saw around us--one old bridge, the arches covered with moss +and flowers, and every now and then through the olive trees one had +glimpses of arches, columns, temples--quite beautiful. The only drawback +was the Cook's tourists who were riding and walking and talking all over +the place, making jokes with the guides and speaking the most execrable +Italian. However they had already _done_ the Villa d'Este, so we lost +them there, which was a relief. + +The Villa was enchanting after the heat and glare of the road, and at +first we sat quite quietly on a grassy bank and enjoyed the thick shade +of the enormous cypresses. The custode was very anxious we should make +the classic tour with him but we told him we knew the place--it was by +no means our first visit. I explained to him in Italian that I was a +"vecchia Romana" (old Roman), to which he replied with true Italian +gallantry, "non tanto vecchia--son to vecchio" (no, not at all old--I am +old), and old he was, his face all yellow and wrinkled like the +peasants who live on the Campagna and are poisoned with malaria. + +I should think, though, the Villa d'Este was healthy, it stands so high. +It is almost uninhabited, belongs now to Cardinal Hohenlohe, but they +tell me he never lives there, never sleeps--comes out for the day from +Rome and goes back at night. It is sometimes let to foreigners. The +garden is quite beautiful, perfectly wild and neglected but a wealth of +trees, fountains, statues, terraces--it might be made a paradise with a +little care. There are few flowers (like most Italian gardens) except +those that grow quite wild. There is still the same great arch at one +end of the terrace which just frames a stretch of Campagna, making a +beautiful picture. + +We had a delicious hour wandering about, stopping to rest every now and +then, and sitting on some old bit of wall or column--no one there but +ourselves and not a sound except the splashing water of the fountains. +W. was delighted, and we were very sorry to leave. The afternoon light +was so beautiful, penetrating through the black cypress avenue, however, +we had a long drive back, longer even than coming, as we wanted to make +a detour to look at the sulphur lakes. Our coachman was evidently +anxious to leave. We heard an animated parley at the gate of the Villa, +and the custode appeared to say the carriage was there and the coachman +said it was time to start if we wanted to get back to Rome before +nightfall. I think _he_ didn't want to be too late on the road. + +It was still warm when we started back, but we hadn't gone very far when +it changed completely and I was very glad to put on my jacket and a +shawl over it. It is a long, barren stretch of Campagna toward the +sulphur lakes; one smelt the sulphur some time before arriving. They +were not particularly interesting, looked like big, stagnant ponds, with +rather yellowish water. Our man was decidedly uncomfortable. The road +was absolutely lonely--not a person nor a vehicle of any kind in sight, +the long straight road before us, and the desolate plains of the +Campagna on each side. He fidgeted on his box, looked nervously from +side to side, whipped up his horses, until at last W. asked him what was +the matter, what was he afraid of. "Nothing, nothing, but it was late. +We were strangers and one never could be quite sure what one would +meet." It was not very reassuring, and when we saw once or twice a +figure looming up in the distance, a man or two men on horseback, who +might be shepherds or who might be bandits, we were not very comfortable +either; we seemed to feel suddenly that it was getting dark, that we +were alone in a very lonely road in a strange country, and we didn't +mind at all when the coachman urged his horses to a quick gallop, and +got over the ground as fast as he could. + +We didn't say much until the little twinkling lights of the first +"osterias" began to show themselves, and as we got nearer Rome and met +the long lines of carts and peasants, some walking, some riding, we felt +better and agreed that it wasn't pleasant to feel afraid, particularly a +vague fear that didn't take shape. + +When we drew up at the door of the hotel, after having deposited Gert at +her Palazzo, we asked the coachman what he had been afraid of--was there +any danger; to which he (safe on his box in the Piazza di Spagna) +replied with a magnificent gesture that a Roman didn't know what fear +meant, but he saw the ladies were nervous. It seems absurd now this +morning, sitting at the window with the Piazza full of people, that we +should have felt so uncomfortable. I asked W. if he was nervous. He +said rather, for from the moment of starting he saw the coachman didn't +want to take the side-road to the sulphur lakes, which was certainly +wild and lonely, also that he was most anxious to get on. If the +carriage had been merely stopped to rob us it would have been very +disagreeable as we had no means of defence, nothing but our parasols, +and of course nobody near to come to our rescue. I don't think our +Giuseppe would have made a very vigorous resistance. After all, +adventures do happen, and it would have been unpleasant to return to +Paris minus one ear or one finger or any other souvenir of a sojourn in +a bandit camp. + +As we didn't get home until nearly nine I proposed no dinner, but "high +tea" upstairs in our salon. W. demurred at first, like all men he +loathes that meal dear to the female mind, but upon reflection thought +it would be best. The gerant came up to speak about some boxes we want +to send to Paris direct from here, and we told him of our return and the +coachman's evident terror. He said he could quite understand it, that it +was a very lonely, unfrequented bit of road leading to the sulphur +lakes, and that we had chosen our time badly; all the tourists went +first to the lakes before going to Tivoli, and it would have been a +temptation to some of the wild shepherds and Campagna peasants to stop +the carriage and insist upon having money or jewels. He didn't think +there was any danger to our lives, nor even to our ears. They wouldn't +have made much of a haul--I had no jewels of any kind, except my big +pearl earrings--and W. very little money--three or four hundred francs. +It was a disagreeable experience, all the same. I don't like being +afraid, and I was. We went a swinging pace for about three-quarters of +an hour--the horses on a good quick gallop. + +I went to church this morning. It is a nice walk from here and the day +is enchanting--warm, but just air enough to make exercise pleasant. W. +was off early with Geoffroy. They put off yesterday's excursion until +to-day, as W. was very anxious to see Tivoli. + +The trunks are being packed, the gerant apparently superintending +operations, as I hear a great deal of conversation in the anteroom. +Madame Hubert has an extraordinary faculty for getting all she wants--an +excellent quality in a travelling maid. As you know she is very pretty, +which again carries out my favourite theory that beauty is the most +important gift for a woman. I daresay it won't bear discussion, and I +ought to say "goodness," but my experience points the other way. I have +so often heard father quote Madame de Stael (who was very kind to him +when he was a young man in Paris) who, at the very height of her triumph +as the great woman's intelligence of her time, said to him one evening +at a big party in Paris, looking at Madame Recamier, who was beautiful, +and surrounded by all that was most distinguished and brilliant in the +room, "Je donnerai toute mon intelligence pour avoir sa beaute." + +I am so sorry to go--though of course I shall be glad to see you all, +but we have enjoyed ourselves so much. I wonder when I shall see it all +again, and I also wonder what makes the great charm of Rome. It appeals +to so many people of perfectly different tastes. W. has been perfectly +happy and interested (and in many things, not only in inscriptions and +antiquities) and I am sure such an absolute change of life and scenes +was the best rest he could have after the very fatiguing life of the +last two years. + + + Sunday, April 19, 1880, 10 o'clock. + +We have just come in from our farewell dinner with Gert, our last in +Rome, or rather my last. I go to Florence to-morrow morning, but W. +stays on till Tuesday. He is going to dine at the Wimpffens to-morrow +night with some colleagues and political people. He has stopped +downstairs to finish his cigar and give directions about some books he +wants sent to Paris, and I will finish this letter. I have nothing to +do--the trunks are all packed, some already downstairs, and the salon +looks quite bare and uncomfortable, notwithstanding some flowers which +Mrs. Bruce and Trocchi have sent for good-bye. + +Gert and I had a nice afternoon. It was so beautiful that we went for a +last drive in the country, and I shall carry away a last summer +impression almost, all blue sky, bright flowers, deep shadows, and a +warm light over everything. It is wonderful how the Campagna +changes--almost from day to day (not only with the change of seasons), +quite like the ocean. To-day, for instance, was enchanting, the air soft +and mild, a smell of fresh earth and flowers everywhere, the old towers +and tombs standing well out, rising out of a mass of high grass and wild +flowers, and taking a soft pink colour in the warm sunlight--so clear +that one could see a great distance--and all the little villages made +white spots on the hills. It is quite different from the winter +Campagna, which stretches away--miles of barren, desolate plains; the +rocks look quite bare, the hills are shrouded in mist, and one has a +feeling of solitude and of dead nature which is curious. I suppose +history and all the old legends work upon the imagination and incline us +to idealize the most ordinary surroundings; but there are always the +long lines of ruined aqueducts, the square, massive towers, and great +memorial stones that one comes upon in most unexpected places; and an +extraordinary feeling of a great dead past which I don't think one has +anywhere else. + +We passed through the Piazza Montanara, and by the old theatre of +Marcellus on our way out. I wanted to see the little, dark, dirty corner +I was always so fond of. The fruit-stall was still there, jammed up +against the wall, half hidden by the great stones, remains of balconies, +and arched windows that jut out from the great black mass--all that +remains of the once famous theatre. The piazza was very full--peasants, +donkeys, boys selling fruit and drinks, and in one corner the "scrivano" +(public letter-writer) with his rickety little old table, pen, paper, +and ink, waiting for any one who needed his services. Thirty years ago, +it seems, he did a flourishing trade, Sundays particularly, and there +would be a long string of people patiently waiting their turn. Much +chaffing and commenting when some pretty girl appeared, smiling and +blushing, wanting to have a letter written to her sweetheart away with +his regiment in foreign parts or high up on some of the hills with his +sheep or cattle. To-day there was hardly any one--a wrinkled old woman +dictating something about a soldier and apparently not making it very +clear, as the writer (not the classic old man with a long beard, but a +youth) seemed decidedly impatient. We had quite time to take it all in, +as the people (donkeys too) were all standing in the middle of the +street and didn't hurry themselves at all to move apart and let the +carriage pass. We were evidently near the "Ghetto," as we saw some fine +types of Jewish women, tall, handsome creatures, carrying themselves +very well; quite unlike the men, who were a dirty, hard-featured lot, +creeping along with that cringing, deprecatory manner which seems +inherent in the race. + +We crossed the bridge and drove through part of the Trastevere, which +certainly looked remarkably dark and uninviting on this lovely summer +afternoon. There are of course fine buildings, churches, and old +palaces, some half tumbling down, and all black with dirt and age. The +streets were dirty, the children (quantities of them playing in the +streets) dirty and unkempt; clothes of all kinds were hanging out of the +windows, falling over sculptured balconies and broken statues, in what +had been stately palaces--every now and then flowers in a broken vase. +There were some fine old arched gateways with a rope across on which +clothes and rags were drying, and dreadful old men and women sitting +under them on dirty benches and broken chairs. There was a smell (not to +use a stronger word) of dirt and stale things, fruit and vegetables, +also a little "frittura," which one always perceives in the people's +quarter in Rome. I had forgotten how wretched it all was, and we were +glad to get away from the smells and the dirt and find ourselves on the +road along the river which leads to Ponte Molle. It was too late to +think of Vei, but we drove some distance along the road. The Campagna +looked quite beautiful, and every group we passed a picture in the soft +evening light. Sometimes a woman with a baby on her shoulder (the child +with a red cap) standing well out against the sky--sometimes one or two +shepherds on their shaggy mountain ponies seeming quite close to us, but +really far away on the plains (always wrapped in their long cloaks, +though it was a summer evening). Every now and then a merry band of +girls and soldiers. The "bersaglieri" with their long feathers and the +girls with bright, striped skirts swinging along at a great pace, always +singing and laughing; of course the inevitable old woman carrying a +heavy load of fagots or dried grass on her poor bent back; and equally +of course the man with her lounging along, a cigar in his mouth and +hands in his pockets, evidently thinking that to carry a heavy burden +was "lavoro di donna." Poor old women! I daresay they hardly remember +that they were once straight, active girls, singing and dancing in the +sunlight with no thought of old age nor fears for the future. + +As soon as we crossed the bridge going back there were many more people +on the road. There are "osterias," gardens, and small vineyards on each +side of the road almost up to the Porta del Popolo, and as it was +Sunday, the whole population was abroad. Many of the women carry their +babies perched on their shoulders (not in their arms) and steady them +with one hand. The little creatures, their black heads just showing out +of the sort of bag or tight bands they are wrapped in, look quite +contented--some of them asleep. + +[Illustration: St. Peter's from the Pincio.] + +We went up to the Pincio, to have a last look at St. Peter's and the +Doria pines before the sun went down. There were few people; it was +late, and we had the terrace to ourselves. The dome stood out, quite +purple, against a clear blue sky, and seemed almost resting on the +clouds. There was a slight mist, which detached it from the mass of +buildings. Rome hardly existed--we only saw the dome. I was sorry W. was +not there to have that last beautiful picture in his mind. Del Monte, +who was also lingering on the terrace, joined us and said he would walk +back with me along the terrace of the Villa Medici, so I sent Gert back +to her palazzo in the carriage and he and I strolled along and talked +over old times; so many recollections of things done together--rides on +the Campagna, hours of music of all kinds, particularly at the Villa +Marconi at Frascati. I asked him if he had ever gone back there since we +left. The villa was often let to forestieri. One year there was an +English family there, father, mother, _one_ son, and _eight_ daughters. +They used to go about always in three carriages. He said he had never +known any one there since us. He remembered so well all the music we did +in the big room. When it was a fine night all the mezzo ceto (petite +bourgeoisie) who were in "villegiatura" at Frascati would congregate +under our windows, whenever we were singing and playing. If they liked +our music they applauded; if they didn't (which happened sometimes, when +the strains were not melodious enough) they were too polite to express +disapproval, and would remain perfectly silent. We used to hear them +singing and whistling our songs when they went home. We amused ourselves +often trying them with music they couldn't possibly know--plantation +songs or amateur music which had never been published. We would sing +them one evening; the next they would come back and sing all our songs +perfectly well (no words, of course). They had an extraordinary musical +facility. Often when we stopped, or on some of the rare occasions when +we didn't do any music, they would sing some of their songs--many of +them ending on a long, sustained note quite charming. + +It was pleasant to recall all the "tempi passati." We lingered a few +moments at the top of the Spanish Steps, quite deserted at this hour of +the evening, and when he left me at the door of the hotel I had barely +time to talk a little to W. before dressing for dinner. He was rather +wondering what had become of me. He had had a delightful afternoon with +his friends. They had walked along the banks of the Tiber on the way to +Ostia. He says there are all sorts of interesting things to be found +there--tombs, bits of Roman wall and pavements, traces of old quays, and +subterraneous passages all mixed up with modern improvements. The City +of Rome is spending a great deal of money in building new quays, +bridges, etc., on a most elaborate and expensive scale. I should think +the sluggish old Tiber would hardly know itself flowing between such +energetic, busy banks. + +They drove out for some distance on the road to Ostia, but only got as +far as the Monte di San Paolo (I think), from where they had a fine view +of the sea, and the pine forests. I am sorry they hadn't time to go on, +but we must leave something for the next time. I wonder when it will be. + +Gert's dinner was pleasant--Mrs. Bruce, Comte Palfy, Father Smith, and +Mr. Hooker. They all talked hard. Mr. Hooker has lived so many years in +Rome that he has seen all its transformations; says the present busy, +brilliant capital is so unlike the old Rome of his days that he can +hardly believe it is the same place. It is incredible that a whole city +should have lived so many years in such absolute submission to the Papal +Government. In those days there were only two newspapers, each revised +at the Vatican and nothing allowed to appear in either that wasn't +authorized by the papal court; also the government exercised a paternal +right over the jeunesse doree, and when certain fair ladies with yellow +hair and elaborate costumes appeared in the Villa Borghese, or on the +Pincio, exciting great admiration in all the young men of the place (and +filling the mammas and wives with horror), it was merely necessary to +make a statement to the Vatican. The dangerous stranger was instantly +warned that she must cross the frontier. + +Palfy, too, remembered Rome in the old days, when the long drive along +the Riviera in an old-fashioned travelling carriage (before railways +were known in these parts) was a thing planned and arranged months +beforehand--one such journey was made in a life-time. He said the little +villages where they stopped were something awful; not the slightest idea +of modern comfort or cleanliness. The ladies travelled with a retinue of +servants, taking with them sheets, mattresses, washing materials (there +was a large heavy silver basin and jug which always travelled with his +family) and batterie de cuisine; also very often a doctor, as one was +afraid of fever or a bad chill, as of course any heating apparatus was +most primitive. The Italians sat in the sun all day and went to bed when +it was dark and cold. One saw the country and the people much better in +that way. Now we fly through at night in an express train, and the Rome +we see to-day might be Paris, Vienna, or any modern capital. I mean, of +course, inside the walls. As soon as one gets out of the gates and on +the Campagna one feels as if by instinct all the dead past of the great +city. + +I told them that in our time, when we lived one summer in the Villa +Marconi at Frascati, the arrangements were most primitive. The palace +was supposed to be furnished, but as the furniture consisted chiefly of +marble statues, benches, and baths--also a raised garden on a level with +the upper rooms, opening out of the music-room, the door behind an +enormous white marble statue of some mythological celebrity--it didn't +seem very habitable to our practical American minds. There were beds and +one or two wash-stands, also curtains in one room, but as for certain +intimate domestic arrangements they didn't exist; and when we ventured +to suggest that they were indispensable to our comfort we were told, "I +principi romani non domandono altro" (Roman princes don't ask for +anything more). + +Heavens, how funny all the pourparlers were. Fanny[29] did all the +talking, as we were still too new to the language to embark upon a +business conversation. Her mother, who was an excellent maitresse de +maison, gave all the directions, which were most particular and +detailed, as she was very anxious we should be comfortable, and very +doubtful as to the resources of the establishment. The agent was visibly +agace and impatient. Fanny had on a pair of tortoise-shell star +ear-rings, and the man told one of our friends afterward that "quella +piccola colle stellette" (the young girl with the little stars) was a +real "diavolo." It was funny to hear her beginning every sentence "Dice +la signora" (madame says), and saying exactly what her mother told her; +the mother, standing near, understanding every word, though she couldn't +say anything, and looking hard at the agent. He understood her, too. +However, we didn't get any more than the Roman princes had, and made our +own arrangements as well as we could, having out a large van of +furniture of all kinds from Rome. + +[29] Miss Fanny King, daughter of General Rufus King, United States +Minister to the Vatican, now Mrs. Edward Ward. + +Hooker remembered it all well, as he found the house for us and had many +misgivings as to how we should get along. He was always keeping us +straight in a financial point of view, as even then, before the days of +the enormous American fortunes, Americans were careless about money, and +didn't mind paying, and paying well, for what they wanted. In those +days, too, it was rather cheap living in Italy, and we were so surprised +often by the prices of the mere necessaries of life that we couldn't +help expressing our astonishment freely. Poor Hooker was much disgusted. +"You might as well ask them to cheat you." We learned better, however, +later, particularly after several visits to Naples, where the first +price asked for anything was about five times as much as the vender +expected to get. "Le tout c'est de savoir." + +Father Smith and W. got on swimmingly. It is too funny to see them +together. The father's brogue is delightful and comes out strong +whenever he talks about anything that interests him. He has such a nice +twinkle, too, in his eye when he tells an Irish story or makes a little +joke. I must say I am very sorry to go. It has been a real pleasure to +be back again in Rome and to take up so many threads of my old life. I +find Italians delightful to live with; they are so absolutely natural +and unsnobbish--no pose of any kind; not that they under-rate themselves +and their great historic names, but they are so simple and sure of +themselves that a pose would never occur to them. Father Smith asked us +a great deal about the German Crown Princess. He had never seen her, but +had the greatest admiration for her character and intelligence--"a +worthy daughter of her great mother"--thought it a pity that such a +woman couldn't have remained in her own country, though he didn't see +very well how it could have been managed. He doesn't at all approve of +royal princesses marrying subjects. I think he is right--certainly +democratic princes are a mistake. There should always be an idea of +state--ermine and royal purple--connected with royalties. I remember +quite well my disappointment at the first sovereign I saw. It was the +Emperor of Austria coming out of his palace at Vienna. We had been +loitering about, sight-seeing, and as we passed the Hof-Burg evident +tourists, some friendly passers-by told us to stop a moment and we would +see the Emperor, who was just driving out of the gates. When I saw a +victoria with a pair of horses drive out with two gentlemen in very +simple uniform, one bowing mechanically to the few people who were +waiting, I was distinctly disappointed. I don't suppose I expected to +see a monarch arrayed in ermine robes, with a crown on his head and a +sceptre in his hand, but all the same it was a disillusion. Of course +when one sees them at court, or at some great function, with brilliant +uniforms, grand cordon, and diamond stars, they are more imposing. I +don't know, though, whether that does make a difference. Do you remember +one of A.'s stories? He was secretary to the British Embassy at +Washington, and at one of the receptions at the White House (which are +open receptions--all the world can go) all the corps diplomatique were +present in the full glory of ribbons and plaques. He heard some one in +the crowd saying, "What are all these men dressed up in gold lace and +coloured ribbons?" The answer came after a moment's reflection, "I guess +it's the band." + +I don't think I can write any more to-night. I seem to be rambling on +without anything much to say. If I could tell you all I am doing it +would be much pleasanter. A pen seems to paralyze me and I feel a mantle +of dulness settle down on me as soon as I take one in my hand. You will +have to let me talk hard the first three or four days after I get home, +and be the good listener you always are to your children. + +It is a beautiful bright night, the sky almost as blue as in the day, +and myriads of stars. The piazza is quite deserted. It is early, not yet +10.40, but the season is over, all the forestieri gone, and Rome is +sinking back into its normal state of sleepiness and calm. How many +times I have looked out on the piazza on just such a night (from Casa +Pierret, our old house just next door)! It is the one place that hasn't +changed in Rome. I almost feel as if I must go to bed at once, so as to +be up early and in my habit for a meet at Cecilia Metella to-morrow +morning. I do start to-morrow, but not very early--at ten. I have a line +from Mary Bunsen this evening saying they will meet me at the station in +Florence to-morrow. I shall arrive for dinner. I am half sorry now I +didn't decide to go to Naples, after all. The weather is divine, and I +should have liked to have another look at that beautiful bay, with its +blue dancing water, and Capri and Ischia in the distance. We had had +visions of Sicily, prolonging our stay another fortnight, but W. is +rather worrying now to get home. He had a letter from Richard yesterday, +telling him to be sure and come back for the Conseil General. + +There were two amusing articles in the papers the other day, one saying +M. Waddington had been charged by the French Government with a delicate +and confidential mission to the Pope; two days after, in another paper, +a denial and most vicious attack on W., saying M. Waddington had +evidently inspired the first article himself, that he had been charged +with no mission of any kind, and they knew from private sources that he +would not even be received by the Pope. I daresay a great many people +believe both. W. naturally doesn't care--doesn't pay the least attention +to what any paper says. I am getting hardened, too, though the process +has been longer with me. I don't mind a good vicious article from an +opposition paper--that is "de bonne guerre"--but the little perfidious +insinuations of the so-called friendly sheets which one can't notice +(and which always leave a trace) are very irritating. + +W. has just come up. He lingered talking in the smoking-room with two +Englishmen who have just arrived from Brindisi, and were full of India +and all "the muddles _our_ government is making," asking him if he +wasn't disgusted as an Englishman at all the mistakes and stupidities +they were making out there. They were so surprised when he said that he +wasn't an Englishman that it was funny; and when he added that he was a +Frenchman they really didn't know what he meant. He didn't explain his +personality (I suppose the man of the hotel enlightened them afterward), +but stayed on talking, as the men were clever and had seen a great deal. +They had made a long tour in India, and said the country was most +interesting. The ruins--also modern palaces--on such a gigantic scale. + +Well, dear, I really must finish now. My next letter will be from +Florence. We shall stop at Milan and Turin, but not very long, I fancy, +unless W. finds marvels in the way of coins at Milan. I am quite sad to +think I shan't look out on the piazza to-morrow night. I think after all +these years I still hold to my original opinion that the Corso is the +finest street and the Tiber the finest river in the world. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + MILAN, HOTEL DE VILLE, + Thursday, May 6, 1880. + +Here we are, dearest mother, almost home--only 26 hours from Paris--so +if we are suddenly called back (and I earnestly hope we shan't be) we +can start at once. We made our journey most comfortably yesterday, +though it was long. We left Florence at 9 in the morning and didn't get +here until nearly 8. The Bunsens came with us to the station. I begged +them not to at such an early hour but they didn't mind. It would have +been nice to stay longer. They have just taken their villa on for +another month. Their gardener at Meingenuegen wrote them that it was +snowing and a cold wind--horrid weather; so they instantly decided to +stay on another month. My belle-mere is delicate and never could have +stood a cold, northern spring after this beautiful month of April here. +They tried to tempt us with all sorts of excursions--Vallombrosa, Pisa +(which I should like to see again, I have such a vivid recollection of +the Campo Santo and some of the extraordinary tombs, wide square courts +and painted windows). I don't remember if it was there or at Genoa, +where we saw such elaborate modern monuments; the marble carved and +draped in the most curious manner--a widow kneeling at her husband's +tomb, her skirts all embroidered and carved so finely, like lace, and a +lace veil--really extraordinary. + +We found a long train at the station--the night express from Rome. The +prefet had kept a compartment for us, and Ubaldino Peruzzi, the former +sindaco, a great friend of W.'s, went with us as far as Pistoja. +Minghetti was on the train, and he came into our compartment for about +an hour, but then adjourned to his own carriage as he was composing a +great political speech he makes at Bologna to-night. They are all much +excited over the elections, which take place Sunday week, so their time +is short. Minghetti has lived and fought through so many phases of +Italian history that he is most interesting. They say his memory is +extraordinary--so accurate. He never forgets a face or a speech. He says +whenever he has an important speech to make he goes for a drive or a +long walk--the movement helps him. W. is just the contrary. His great +speeches (and they were not many) have always been composed sitting in +his big arm-chair smoking the beloved old cherry-wood pipe Segur brought +him from Jersey. When he had got his speech quite in his head, he wrote +it, and then it went straight on--never a correction or an erasure. I +asked Minghetti if he was nervous. He said not in the least--he was +always ready for the fray, and the more he was interrupted the better he +spoke, as that proved they were listening to him. + +I remember so well one of the first days I went to the Assemblee +Nationale years ago. Somebody was speaking--apparently well--on some +question of the day, and nobody was listening. The deputies were walking +about, talking, writing letters, just as if there was nothing going on. +I looked down to see if W. was listening, but he was talking cheerfully +to Leon Say. It seemed to me incredible that the orator could continue +under such circumstances, but W. explained it to me. He was speaking for +his electors in the country and for the "Journal Officiel," which would +publish his speech _in extenso_ the next day. + +It was most interesting making the journey with these gentlemen as they +had their history at their finger ends. All that part of the country had +been so fought over--oceans of blood shed in the fierce struggle against +Austrian tyranny--particularly as we got near Milan. It seems incredible +what a hard iron rule theirs was--especially if one knows Austria and +the Austrians a little. They seem such an easy-going, happy people. All +their little villages look clean and prosperous, the peasants cheerful +and singing and civil to all strangers and travellers. + +The country we passed through to-day looked green and smiling, but their +idea of work is still primitive, even in Northern Italy. Wherever we +passed the people in the fields all stopped and looked at the +train--many came running up the bank. If they do that for every train +they must lose a considerable amount of time. We were very sorry when +our companions departed, but at every station almost Minghetti met +friends, and it was evident that he had his head full of politics. It is +a long time since I have met any one so interesting. It is such a quick +intelligence and he touches every subject so lightly, apparently, only +one feels he knows all about it. + +We made a fair stop at the Bologna station and had a very good +breakfast. It recalled so vividly old times and our first journeys to +Rome. Even the buffet looked exactly the same. I could have sworn there +was the same "fricandeau de veau." The buffet was crowded--it seems +there were a lot of Indian officers arriving with their families from +Brindisi, with dark turbaned servants and ayahs always in white. However +the Indian nurses didn't look so miserable as they used to in winter +when we first made the journey down. They were rather bewildered all the +same in such a jostling, hurrying crowd. It is funny to see how they +cling to their charges, holding the babies tight with one hand and +guiding one or two others half hidden in their long white draperies, +with the other. I am sure they are excellent, faithful nurses. + +Our last days in Florence were very full. Tuesday was the day of the +races--bright, beautiful weather--and we drove out to see the retour, +stationing ourselves at the entrance of the Cascine until 7 o'clock. +There was not much to see in the way of equipages--nothing like the +Roman turn-outs--but there were some pretty women. The Comtesse +Mirafiori (nee Larderel), I daresay you will remember the name, was +about the prettiest. Her victoria was very well appointed, handsome +horses stepping perfectly; and she looked a picture, all in white with a +big hat turned up with dark blue and long blue and yellow feathers. I +think a woman never looks better than in a victoria--it shows off the +dress and figure so well. Lottie, too, looked very well, but she passed +so quickly I couldn't see what she had on. I had an impression of white +with some pink in her hat. Almost all the women were in white. Of course +the Lungarno was crowded--all the loungers taking the most lively +interest in the carriages; and when there was a stop criticising +freely--but I must say with their natural Italian politeness, confining +themselves to expressions of admiration more or less pronounced--never +anything disagreeable. + +We had a mild reception in the evening. Various friends came to say +good-bye--Maquays, Peruzzis, Miss Forbes and one or two men. A +scientific German--I forget his name--who told W. it would take weeks to +see all the coins and interesting things of all kinds at the Milan +Museum. We are very comfortable here; the hotel is old-fashioned with a +nice open court, and the rooms good. We have a pretty apartment on the +front, and as it is on the main thoroughfare, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, +we see all that goes on. There is a church opposite--San Carlo, I +believe--and we are not far from the Piazza del Duomo. + +We went for a little stroll last night after dinner, just for W. to +smoke his cigar. The Cathedral looked splendid--a gigantic white mass in +the midst of the busy square, quantities of people in the streets and +sitting at all the cafes, of which there are hundreds--quite like the +Paris boulevards on a summer night--everybody talking and laughing and a +cheerful sound of clinking glasses. I think they were almost all +drinking beer--a great many uniforms--I suppose there is a large +garrison. There seemed very few foreigners--we heard nothing but Italian +spoken--so unlike Rome and even Florence where one heard always so much +English in the streets and the shops. They told me in Florence that +there was a large English colony there, living quite apart from the +fashionable world--children learning music, or some of the family +delicate, needing a mild climate and sunshine--more perhaps in the +villas close to the gates than in the town itself. I should think the +cutting wind that sweeps the Lungarno would be mortal to weak chests; +but up in the hills sheltered by the high walls and olive groves one +would be quite protected. Certainly the other day on the terrace of +Castello the sun was divine and the air soft and balmy, not a sign of +chill or damp--but it was the month of May--the month for Florence. + +This morning I have been unpacking--or rather Madame Hubert has--and +settling myself in my salon, making the two corners--feminine and +masculine--as I did in Rome. I have no convenient Palazzo Altemps to +help me out with cushions, screens, etc., but I found lovely flowers +which the landlord (who received us in dress clothes and his hat in his +hand) put there, and as he was very civil and pleased to have the +"Excellenza" and hoped I would ask for anything I wanted, I have asked +for and obtained an arm-chair, and suggested he should give me a simple +table-cover instead of the beautiful green velvet one, embroidered with +pink roses, which now ornaments my salon. With my careless way of +writing and facility for putting ink all over myself, even in my hair, I +am afraid that work of art would be seriously deteriorated. He sent up +this morning to know if I wanted my breakfast upstairs--if I would come +down he would reserve me a small table in the window. I shall go down--I +hate meals in a sitting-room and I should like to see what sort of +people there are in the hotel. + + + 10 o'clock. + +I will go on to-night while W. is putting his papers in order. I +breakfasted alone downstairs about 12. The dining-room is a large, +handsome room across the court. There were very few people--not more +than four tables occupied--a large English family with troops of +fair-haired children--girls in white frocks and long black stockings and +boys in Eton coats. They all looked about the same age, but I suppose +they weren't. They were very quiet and well-behaved, quite unlike any of +our small relations. I have vivid recollections of travelling with some +of them--all talking at once at the top of their lungs, "Pa, give me a +penny," "Pa, give me a cake," "Pa, what's that for?" etc. + +The reading-room opened out of the dining-room, so I went in to have a +look at the papers--found a "Debats" and the "Times," and read up all +that was going on in the fashionable and political world. W. came in +about 4--he had ordered a carriage for 4.30, and as it was a lovely +afternoon we thought we would drive about the streets a little and out +into the country. He had had a delightful morning--says the Museum is +most interesting--the cabinet de medailles a marvel. He has arranged to +go there every day at 10 o'clock--will work there until 3, then come +back for me and we shall have our afternoon. He is much pleased with +this arrangement but he doesn't think the employees of the cabinet de +medailles will find it quite so satisfactory, as some one must always be +with him. They never leave any one alone in these rooms. He thinks there +are only two people for this service, and they will naturally hate +spending a long day doing nothing while he studies and copies. + +The Directeur received him to-day most enthusiastically--knew all about +his collection of coins. + +We started out about 5 and went first to have a cup of tea at the cafe +the padrone recommended--Cova, I think--and then told the man to drive +about the streets and pass the principal buildings. We saw the Duomo +again, the Scala (theatre)--if it is open we shall go one night; the +great Galerie Victor Emmanuel, full of shops; and quantities of +churches, Santa Maria delle Grazie, of course, where is the famous +"Cenacolo" of Leonardo da Vinci, but the outside merely. The fresco is +only visible until 4--so we shall see the inside of the church another +day. We made a turn in the public gardens or promenade where there were +quite a number of handsome carriages and saddle horses--many officers +riding. It was rather late to attempt a country drive (we had said we +would dine downstairs at 7.30), for the turning and twisting about in +the streets and stopping every now and then had taken up a good deal of +time. We had a nice little victoria with a pair of horses, not unlike +the carriage Tomba gave us in Rome. + +We went down about a quarter to eight. The padrone in his dress clothes +was waiting at the foot of the stairs and conducted us with much pomp +into the dining-room, where we found a nice round table in the window. +The room was quite full--many more people than in the morning, and I +should think almost all Italians. They looked at us naturally with much +curiosity, as such a fuss was made with us. W. smoked a cigar in the +court after dinner and talked to the man of the house who told him about +all the distinguished people he had had in his hotel. I found papers and +a "Graphic" in the reading-room and was quite surprised when they said +it was 10 o'clock. + + + May 7th. + +It has been pouring all day--straight down. I think it has stopped a +little since dinner. We didn't stay long in the reading-room as W. is +fairly launched in his coins now and puts his notes in order in the +evening. I prowled this morning with Madame Hubert. Before breakfast we +went to the Brera. It was almost empty but we found a nice guide, a +youngish man, speaking such beautiful Italian that it was a pleasure to +hear him, and well up on all the pictures. There are beautiful things, +certainly. I was so glad to see some old friends. I was always so fond +of the "Amanti Veneziani" of Paris Bordone. The "sposo" looks so young +and straight and proud, and the girl's attitude is charming, her +brown-gold head drooping on her lover's shoulder as she holds out her +hand for the ring he is putting on her finger. Even the inferior +pictures of the Paul Veronese school are fine--there is such an +intensity of colour. The whole room seemed filled with light and warmth. +I think I like the backgrounds and accessories almost as much as the +figures. The draperies are so wonderfully done, one can almost touch the +gorgeous stuffs, heavy with gold and silver embroidery; and there are +one or two high-backed, carved arm-chairs which are a marvel. The +beautiful fair women with strings of pearls in their golden hair, and +white satin dresses, sitting up straight and slight in the dark wooden +chairs, are fascinating; and there are quantities, for Paul Veronese and +all his pupils have always so many people in their pictures. + +We saw of course the "Sposalizia" in a small room quite by itself. The +Virgin is a beautifully slight ethereal figure with the marvellous pure +face that all Raphael's Madonnas have; but the St. Joseph looks younger +than in most other pictures. Our guide was most enthusiastic over the +picture. It was a treat to hear him say--"morbidezza" and "dolcissimo." +We were there about an hour and a half, and that was quite long enough. +One's eyes get tired. We saw splendid portraits of princes and warriors +as we passed through the rooms--Moretto, Leonardo da Vinci and others. + +It was still raining when we came out so we thought we wouldn't attempt +any more sight-seeing, and walked up to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele +where we were under cover. The Cathedral looked splendid--all the white +pinnacles and statues standing out from the dark grey sky. We looked in +at all the shop windows, but didn't see anything particularly striking +or local except the black lace veils which so many women (not the upper +classes) wear here. Madame Hubert being young and pretty was most +anxious to adopt that fashion--thought it would be more suitable for +Madame as all the suivantes here wore the veil--she would be less +remarked going about with Madame--but Madame decidedly preferred the +plain little black bonnet of the Parisian femme de chambre. It seems +there is a swell Italian woman in the hotel--a Princess--whose maid +always wears a veil when she accompanies her mistress in her walks +abroad. + +I was decidedly damp when I got back to the hotel. I breakfasted alone +at my little table, and in fact was almost alone in the +dining-room--there were only two other tables occupied. The head waiter +was very sympathetic about the weather--they always had sun in Milan, +just a mauvaise chance to-day. I had the reading-room also to myself, +and found plenty of papers in all languages. I have rather a weakness +for the "Koelnische Zeitung" (Gazette de Cologne). It is very +anti-French, or I might really say anti-everything, as it is always +pitching into somebody, but there is a good deal of general information +in it. + +W. came in about 3.30, having worked steadily since 9. It was getting +too dark to see much more and his attendant beamed when he saw him +putting up his papers and preparing to leave. He says the man is bored +to death--wants to talk at first and explain things to him, but he soon +realizes that W. is bent on serious work, so he desists and reads a +paper and walks about the room and fidgets generally. + +We waited until 4.30 hoping the rain would stop. It didn't, but the +clouds lightened a little and we thought we would go and see the Duomo. +I had forgotten how beautiful it is--those great wide aisles quite +bare--no chairs, nothing to break the line until quite at the high +altar, and the light from the old glass windows coming from so high over +our heads it seemed straight from heaven. We sat some little time in one +of the side chapels. It looked vast and mysterious--one had such an +impression of space and height. Various guides came up and supposed we +would not care to go up on the roof on such an afternoon. We told them +we would come back the next day if it was fine. They looked so +disappointed at having nothing that we finally went down into the crypt +to see the tomb and body of San Carlo Borromeo. We had both seen it +before but I didn't mind reviving my souvenirs. We had tapers of course +as it was quite dark, but we saw quite well the coloured marbles and +precious stones of the little chapel--also the body of the Saint, +marvellously preserved. It looked very small--hardly the size of a grown +man. The guide of course wanted to show us all sorts of relics, and the +tresor of the Cathedral, but we preferred going up again to the church, +and wandered about looking at the marble tombs and monuments--there are +not many, and they are quite lost in the enormous building. Quite down +at the bottom of the church, near the door under a baldaquin, is a font +in porphyry, said to be the sarcophagus of some saint. The church looked +immense as it grew darker and the light gradually faded, leaving deep +shadows everywhere. When we turned back, just as we were going out, to +have a last glimpse, the high altar seemed far away, and the tall +candles looked like twinkling lights seen through a mist or veil. + +We walked about a little under the arcades. W. wanted some cigars and I +an Italian book Minghetti had recommended to me, "Sketches of Life in +Milan and Venice under the Austrian Occupation." I have been reading it +a little to-night--what an awful life for Italians--a despotic, iron +rule, police and spies everywhere, women even making their way into the +great Italian houses and reporting everything to the police--the +children's games and little songs, the books and papers the family read, +the visits they received. The most arbitrary measures prevailed--no +young man allowed to leave the city--no papers nor books allowed that +were not authorized by the government--and when arrests were made, the +prisoners, men or women, treated most cruelly. The Austrians must have +felt the hatred and thirst for vengeance that was smouldering in all +these young hearts. It seems all the girls and young women, even of the +poorest classes, made themselves flags (tricolour) out of bits of +anything (paper when they couldn't get anything better) and gave them to +all the men, preparing for the "Cinque giorni" when many of them went +down under the Austrian bayonets, giving their lives cheerfully and +proudly for their country. Radetzsky must have been a monster of +cruelty. How they must hate the white uniform and the black and yellow +flag. + +The city is quiet enough to-night. I suppose it is not an opera night. +It is only half-past ten and we are on one of the principal +thoroughfares, but nothing is passing in the street. The hotel, too, is +quiet, one doesn't hear a sound. I fancy most travellers go to the new +hotel--the Cavour. We are quite satisfied here, and are most +comfortable--the landlord very attentive. He and W. are becoming great +friends--they talk politics (Italian) every night while W. smokes. + + + Friday 7th. + +I see I shall always write at night. After coffee and half an hour in +the reading-room (I always go and have a look at the papers while W. +smokes) we come upstairs. W. plunges at once into his notes, and I read +and write. It has been lovely to-day and we have had a nice afternoon. +W. came home to breakfast at 1, as he wanted to see the Brera and +"Cenacolo" once again; and it is of course too late when we start for +our afternoon drive at 4.30. We walked to the Brera--it isn't far--and +were there a long time. We made a long stop in the vestibule looking at +the Luini frescoes--all scenes in the Virgin's life--Madonnas, angels, +saints--quantities of figures, and colours and accessories of all +kinds--wonderful trees and buildings and clouds with angels and seraphim +rising out of them. They must have had marvellous imaginations, those +early Italian painters. They never saw anything to suggest such pictures +to them, and of course never read anything--there were no books to +read--merely written manuscripts difficult enough for scholars to +decipher. All the wonderful scenes--Nativity, Coronation, etc.--evoked +out of their own brains. I think I like the Annunciation the best of +all the scenes of the Virgin's life. There is a beautiful one in the +Pitti--I forget now by whom--the Virgin just risen from her chair with a +half-dazed, half-triumphant look, and the angel kneeling before her with +his lily. I like some of the German ones, too, but they are much more +elaborate--the Virgin often standing in a wide arch--a portico--more +figures in the background--and the Virgin herself quite a German +girl--not at all the lovely, spiritual head of the Italian masters. + +We walked through all the rooms. The Venetian pictures (Paul Veronese +school) looked beautiful. W., too, was struck with the splendid +colouring. Some of the names quite unknown, and if one looked too +closely there were perhaps faults of drawing and exaggeration of colour, +but the effect was extraordinary. He admired the men's portraits +excessively, by Titian, Tintoretto, Moroni, etc. They are very +fine--sometimes a soldier with keen, hard eyes, clad in complete +armour--often a noble, some grand seigneur of his time, in black velvet +and fur with jewelled cap and chain, a fine patrician head and +thoughtful face. We didn't see the young guide who went about with me--I +was rather sorry--I wanted W. to hear his beautiful Italian. + +We stayed so long looking at everything (Luini's pictures are most +interesting, too--he must have had an extraordinary capacity for work) +that we had just time to get a cab and drive over to Santa Maria delle +Grazie to see the "Cenacolo" as it shuts at 4. The Saviour's head, St. +John, and some of the other faces are beautiful--but it is so faded (and +on the other hand has been touched up a little) that I was disappointed. + +It was a beautiful bright afternoon and we saw as well as possible, but +really "decay's effacing fingers" have been allowed too much sway. They +told us it was impossible to guard against the damp, and that eventually +the whole thing would be blotted out. However, it has stood the test +pretty well through all these years. + +We went into the church, which was quite empty, except one figure in +black, absorbed and motionless, kneeling on the stone pavement. Poor +woman, I hope she got what she was praying for so earnestly. From there +we went to the church of St. Ambrogio, which is a fine old building--the +frescoes and inscriptions much faded. The iron crown used to be kept +there (they told us the Kings and Emperors came there to be crowned) but +it is now at Monza. I declined any more churches and regular +sight-seeing after that--so we went back to the hotel where the carriage +was to meet us, went for our cup of tea to Cova's, and then started for +a drive. + +The country quite around the city is not particularly interesting--much +cultivated, but flat--vineyards, corn and rice fields all intersected +with numberless little canals. Though it was late, 6 o'clock, people +were still working in the fields and seemed to keep to their work much +more steadily than the peasants about Rome and Florence who were always +stopping to talk or look at whatever was passing. We met bands of them +trooping along the road--they were generally tall, broad-shouldered, +strong men--quite the northern type. We crossed some soldiers, +too--cavalry and infantry--quite a big detachment--all had their kits, +and baggage wagons following. They were evidently changing garrison. I +didn't think the troops looked very smart. The horses were small and +very thin, and the men (infantry particularly) dragged along and were +rather dirty. Just as they passed us the music struck up a sort of quick +march, and it was curious to see the instantaneous effect. The men +straightened themselves up, moved more quickly and lightly--it was +quite different. + +I hoped we should get a view of the mountains, but the sunset, though +beautiful, was rather misty--however the coachman told us that meant +fine weather for to-morrow which will be nice as we are going up on the +top of the Cathedral. I was glad to have a little rest before dinner. I +plunged again into my book, which is madly interesting--but such +horrors--a long imprisonment like Silvio Pellico's was merciful compared +to some of the tortures and cruelties--and it seems the Emperor himself +was the hardest of all--never forgetting nor pardoning nor listening to +any petition or prayer for mercy--no wonder the people were +infuriated--mad with rage--women and children working at the barricades +during the "five days"; and the old ones, too infirm to take an active +part, at the windows pouring down boiling water and oil on the Austrian +soldiers. However, I suppose it is the history of all street fighting. I +remember the hideous tales they told us of the Paris Commune, when we +went back there after the war--how maddened the Versaillais were at the +shots, missiles and boiling water which came from all the windows upon +them. The reprisals were terrible when the regular troops finally got +the upper hand--and I suppose no one will ever know how many innocent +people were shot in the first flush of success. + +I read out bits of my book to W. He said he didn't think the account +exaggerated--of course they had chosen all the worst cases. He was at +Versailles during the Commune, and saw the first batches of prisoners +brought in--such awful looking people--many young, very young men, with +wild reckless faces. They probably didn't know, half of them, what they +had been fighting for--a vague idea of patrie and liberty, and the +natural love of the Parisian gamin for a row and a barricade. + + + _To H. L. K._ + + MILAN, HOTEL DE VILLE, + May 9, 1880. + +We have had an awful day, dear mother, pouring steady rain since early +morning--clouds grey and low shutting out the city entirely; really so +dark I could hardly see to dress--and the streets apparently deserted. +W. didn't mind, and was off as usual to his coins at 9 o'clock. He did +have a remords de conscience at leaving me all alone all day shut up in +a little hotel salon, and said if I would come and get him about 3 we +would try and see something. + +I wrote two letters which will rather amuse the family as they say I +only write when I am boring myself in the country or having a series of +rainy days--Janet always calls them my rain letters. However, when I had +written two my energy in that line was exhausted, and I felt I couldn't +sit another moment in that dark salon, so I summoned Madame Hubert (I +don't generally care to have a maid for a companion but I didn't like to +walk about the streets of a foreign city alone) and we started off with +short skirts and umbrellas. The gerant nearly fell off his high stool in +the bureau when he saw me preparing to go out--wanted to send for a +carriage, a fiacre, anything--but I told him I really wanted to walk, +which filled him with amazement. Italians as a rule don't like walking +at all, and he thought I was quite mad to go out deliberately, and for +my pleasure, on such a day. + +It wasn't very pleasant in the streets--everybody's umbrella ran into +me, and the pavements were wet and slippery. We finally took refuge +under the arcades, but there we got quite as much jostled, for everybody +who was out, was there; and the sudden gusts of wind and rain around the +corners and through the arches were anything but pleasant. I wasn't at +all happy, but I liked it better than sitting in the room at the hotel. +I was so draggled and my boots so covered with mud that I was rather +ashamed to cross the big hall of the hotel when I came in. + +I found a letter from Gert saying she was so glad we had such delightful +weather for Milan. I wish she could look out of my window at this +moment. She wouldn't know if she were in Milan or Elizabethtown. The +clouds are very low on the roofs of the houses--the city has disappeared +in a mist, I can just see across the street. The pavements are +swimming--quite rushing torrents in the gutters, and I look down upon a +sea of umbrellas. + +I started out again about 3--in a carriage this time--and went to get +W.--extract him from his coins if I could. There was no one, apparently, +in the Museum, but a smiling concierge took me to the antiquity and coin +rooms where I found W. very busy and happy; quite insensible to rain or +any outside considerations. He said the light wasn't very good. A musty +old savant with a long ragged beard and very bright black eyes was +keeping him company. _He_ was delighted to see me, for he knew that +meant stopping work for that afternoon. I talked to him a little while +W. was putting his papers in order, and it was evident he had never seen +any one with such a capacity for steady work. He encouraged us very much +to go and see something (anything that would take us out of the coin +room) but we really didn't know what to do with ourselves--a country +drive wasn't inviting and it was too dark and late for pictures--all the +galleries close at 4. The padrone had recommended the flower show to us +in the public gardens, so we thought we would try that. The flowers were +all under glass and tents, so we were dry overhead, but the ground was +wet and muddy--a general damp, chilly feeling everywhere. I am sure the +place is lovely on a bright summer day. There are fine trees, splendid +horse chestnuts, pretty paths and little bosquets. The poor flowers +looked faded and drooping, even under cover. The roses were +splendid--such enormous ones with quantities of leaves, very full. The +finest were "Reine Marguerite," "Marguerite de Savoie," "Princess de +Piemont." I asked one of the gardeners if the Queen was very fond of +flowers--the "Marguerite de Savoie" was a beautiful white rose. "Oh, +yes," he said, enthusiastically, "the Queen loves flowers and everything +that is beautiful." I thought it such a pretty answer. He showed us, +with great pride, a green rose. I can't say I admired it, but it is so +difficult and so expensive to produce that I don't think we shall see +many. We walked about and looked at all the flowers. Some of the +variegated leaves were very handsome. There was a pink broad leaf with a +dull green border and an impossible name I should have liked to take +away, but the man said it was an extremely delicate plant raised under +glass--wouldn't live long in a room (which was what I wanted it for). We +thought we would go back and have tea in a new place under the +arcades--in the Galleria. The tea was bad--had certainly never seen +China--as grown, I daresay, in the rice fields near the city, so we +declined that and ordered chocolate, which was very good, and panettoni. +W. was rather glad to have something to eat after his early breakfast. +It was pouring, but we were quite sheltered in the corner of the +veranda; so he smoked and we looked at the people passing and sitting +near us. They were certainly not a very distinguished collection--a +good many officers (in uniform), loungers who might be anything--small +functionaries, I should think--few women of any description, and no +pretty ones. The peasant woman coming out of the fields was much +better-looking than any we saw to-day. + +W. had had visitors in the coin room this morning. The Director, who +came, he thinks, out of sheer curiosity to see how any one, for his +pleasure, could work five or six hours at a time. He brought with him a +Greek savant--a most intelligent young man who apparently knew W.'s +collection almost as well as he did--and all the famous collections of +Europe. They had a most interesting talk and discussion about certain +doubtful coins of which 3 Museums--London, Petersburg and Milan--claim +to have the only originals. We talked over our plans, but I think we +have still two or three more days here. We want to go to Monza. They say +the old town and church are most interesting, as well as the Royal +Villa. + +It was rather amusing in the reading-room after dinner. There were many +more people--women principally, and English. Some of them had been +buying things at the two famous bric-a-brac shops, and they were very +much afraid they had paid too much, and been imposed upon. They finally +appealed to me (we had exchanged papers and spoken a few words to each +other) but I told them I was no good, nothing of a connoisseur for +bric-a-brac, and particularly ignorant about lace. They showed it to me, +and it looked very handsome--old Venetian, the man had told them. They +had also some silver which they had bought at one of the little shops in +the Piazza dei Mercanti. I think I will go and see what I can find +there. + +I found W. deep in his Paris courrier when I got upstairs. There was a +heap of letters and papers, also Daudet's book "Souvenirs de la +Presidence du Marechal de MacMahon" which l'Oncle Alphonse had sent us, +said everybody was reading it at the clubs. W. figures in it +considerably, not always in a very favourable light, as judged by +Monsieur Daudet; but facts speak for themselves, even when the criticism +is not quite fair. I suppose it is absolutely impossible for a Royalist +to judge a moderate Republican impartially. I think they understand the +out-and-out Radical better. The book is clever. I read out bits to W. +(which, by the way, he hates--loathes being read to). It was interesting +to read the life we had just been leading described by an outsider. + +I think W. will give himself a holiday to-morrow if it is fine (at the +present moment, with the wind and rain beating against the windows, that +seems a remote possibility). He will come back to breakfast and we will +have our afternoon at Monza. I have finished my book of the Austrian +rule, and I am really glad--the horrors quite haunted me. It seems +incredible that in our days one Christian nation should have been +allowed to treat another one so barbarously. I should like to go back to +my childish days and read "Le mie Prigioni," but I found a life of +Cavour downstairs in the hotel library, so I think I shall take that. + + + May 10th. + +It is lovely this morning (though when the weather changed I don't know, +as it seemed to me I heard a steady downpour every time I woke in the +night), however, at 9 o'clock it was an ideal summer day, warm, a bright +blue sky, no grey clouds or mist, one could hardly believe it was the +same city. The atmosphere is so clear that the snow mountains seem +almost at the bottom of the street. I went for a walk with Madame Hubert +through the old parts of the city--such curious, narrow, twisting +little streets. We went into the Duomo for a moment, it looked +enormous--cool and dark except where a bright ray of sunshine came +through the painted windows, but so subdued that it didn't seem real +sunlight seen through all the marvellous coloured glass. There were a +few people walking about in little groups, but they were lost in the +great space. One didn't hear a sound--the silence was striking--there +wasn't even the usual murmur of priest or chorister at the altar as +there was no mass going on. + +We asked the way to the Piazza dei Mercanti on the other side of the +Duomo. It is a curious old square--a very bad pavement, grass growing in +places between the stones, and all sorts of queer, irregular buildings +all around it--churches, palaces, porticos, gateways--a remnant of old +Milan. At each end there were little low shops where many people were +congregated. I don't know if they were buying--I should think not as +they seemed all rather seedy, impecunious individuals judging by their +shabby, not to say worn-out garments--all Italians--I think we were the +only foreigners in the Piazza (yet it is one of the sights of Milan, +mentioned in the guide books). We went, too, and looked at some of the +things spread out for sale--many old engravings, carved wooden frames, +gold and silver ornaments, and some handsome cups and flagons very +elaborately worked--also some bits of old stuff, brocade, and a curious +faded red velvet worked in gold, but all in very bad condition. I +couldn't find a good piece large enough to make an ordinary cushion. In +one corner, squatting in the sun, were two big, dark men with scarlet +caps on their heads (they looked like Tunisians). They had muslins, +spangled with gold and silver, crepe de Chine, and nondescript +embroidered squares of white, soft silk with wonderful bright embroidery +and designs--moons, and ships and trees. We spoke to them in French, but +they didn't understand, and answered us in some unintelligible +jargon--half Italian, with a few English words thrown in. + +Some of the old palaces are fine, one in particular which seems to be a +sort of bourse now. The portico was crowded with men, all talking at the +top of their voices. We had glimpses through the crowd of a fine +collection of broken columns, statues, tablets and bas-reliefs inside, +but we didn't attempt to get in; though a friendly workman in the +street, seeing us stopping and looking, evident strangers, told us we +ought to go in and see "le bellezze" (the beautiful things). There is an +equestrian statue on one side of the palace--I couldn't quite make out +the name, but the inscription says that among other great deeds he +"burnt many heretics." I don't suppose they gave him his statue +exclusively on that account, but the fact was carefully mentioned. We +wandered about rather aimlessly, leaving the Piazza, and finally found +ourselves in a wide, handsome street--large palaces on one side and the +canal running through the middle. The canal is really very +picturesque--the water fairly clear, reflecting the curious, high, +carved balconies and loggias (some of them covered with creepers and +bright coloured flowers) that hang over the canal. They seemed all large +houses, with the back giving on the canal; some of the low doors opening +straight out on the water were quite a reminder of Venice; and when +there was a terrace with white marble balustrade and benches one could +quite imagine some of Paul Veronese's beautiful, fair-haired women with +their pearls and gorgeous red and gold garments disporting themselves +there in the summer evenings. The palaces on the other side of the +street are fine, stately mansions--large doors open, showing great +square courts, sometimes two or three stretching far back--sometimes a +fountain and grass plot in the middle--sometimes arcades running all +around the court, with balconies and small pointed windows--coats-of-arms +up over the big doors, but no signs of life--no magnificent porters such +as one sees in Rome in all the great houses. They all looked in perfectly +good condition and well cared for. I wonder who lives in them. + +We came out at the Place Cavour and had a look at the statue, which is +good--in bronze--an energetic standing figure with a fine head, very +like--one would have recognised it anywhere from all the pictures one +has always seen of Cavour. There is no group--he standing alone on a +granite pedestal--a woman (Fame) kneeling, and writing his name on a +scroll. I liked it very much--it is so simple, and we have seen so many +allegorical groups and gods and goddesses lately that it was rather a +relief to see anything quite plain and intelligible. + +I wasn't sorry to get back to the hotel and rest a little before +starting again this afternoon. I liked walking through the little old +crooked streets--they were not empty, there were people in all of them, +but decidedly of the poorer classes. They are a naturally polite, +sympathetic race--always smiling if you ask anything and always moving +to one side to let you pass--unlike the stolid German who calmly and +massively takes the middle of the pavement and never dreams of moving to +one side, or considering anybody else. I have just been jostled by two +stout specimens of the touring Vaterland--they are anything but good +types. If they didn't understand the language in which Madame Hubert +expressed her opinion I think the tone said something to them, for one +man muttered a sort of excuse. + +If I can keep my eyes open long enough I will finish this letter +to-night. We have had a lovely afternoon--didn't get back until 8.30 and +have only just come upstairs from dinner. We started a little after +three, in a light victoria and a capital pair of small strong +post-horses who went at a good, steady, quick trot. The drive is a short +hour and a half--not very interesting country--flat rice fields and the +same numerous little canals one sees all over Lombardy. Monza is quite a +large town--looks very old and Italian. The Cathedral was begun in the +sixth century, but rebuilt in the fourteenth. There are all sorts of +curious frescoes and relics. We saw, of course, the iron crown which all +Austrian Emperors are supposed to wear at their coronation. The last two +to wear it were Napoleon and Ferdinand I. It is really a large gold +circle with a smaller iron one inside, and studded with precious +stones--very heavy. It was shown to us with much pomp, lighted tapers, +and a priest in his vestments. He told us the iron band inside was made +out of a nail that had been taken from the Saviour's cross. He handled +it very reverently, and would hardly let me lift it to see how heavy it +was. He showed us many curious things, among others a fan of Queen +Theodolinda's, made in the 6th century. It was small, made in leather, +and really not too faded, though one had to look closely and with the +eyes of faith to see the roses the old priest pointed out. + +While we were looking at the relics a French pelerinage came up--quite a +long procession; many very nice-looking women. They were all dressed in +black, and most of them wore bonnets--some few had black veils--priests +of course, and a fair amount of men of all ages. They passed in +procession up the aisle, chanting a psalm, which sounded very well, full +and solemn. One or two stragglers, two young men and a woman stopped to +see what we were looking at, and we had a little talk. They had just +arrived over the St. Gothard, hadn't much time, and were very keen to +see everything. They said it was very cold crossing the mountain--the +heavy rain we had had at Milan had been deep snow on the pass. We went +to look at Queen Theodolinda's tomb in one of the side chapels, and then +started for the "Casa Reale" as they call the Royal Villa. It has no +pretensions to architecture; is a large square building with long, +rambling wings. We could only see the great hall and some of the +reception rooms downstairs, as they were painting and cleaning upstairs. +The rooms had no particular style--large, high ceilings, great windows +looking on the park; just what one sees in all Royal Palaces. All the +furniture was covered with housses--the gardien took one off an +arm-chair to show us the red velvet. The lustres also were covered--the +mirrors were handsome. The park is delightful--quantities of trees of +all kinds, lovely shady walks, and bosquets. There seemed to be a great +deal of game--deer and pheasants walking about quite tame and +undisturbed in all directions. The communs and dependances are enormous, +quite a little colony of houses scattered about--regisseur, head-keeper, +head-gardener, all with good gardens. + +We had a nice talk with a half-gardener half-guide who went about with +us and showed us all the beauties. The place is low--I should think +would be very warm in summer, for even to-day the shade was pleasant and +the low afternoon sun in our faces rather trying. There were splendid +views every now and then of the distant Alps. The gardener, like every +one else who has ever been thrown with her, apparently adored the +Queen--said she knew all about the place, and trees, and flowers, and +was so beloved in the town. I remember Peruzzi telling me how fond she +was of Monza--happier there than anywhere. They certainly love their +"Margherita di Savoia." There are pictures of her everywhere, and some +one told us that all the girls in Monza are called Margherita. + +When we were starting back we met the pilgrims again, still walking and +chanting on their way to the station. They had a white banner with them, +but I couldn't see what the inscription was. The drive home was lovely, +even along the long straight road bordered with poplars (quite like a +French country road). The evening was delicious, a little cool driving, +as we went a very good pace. I was glad to put a light wrap over my +shoulders. The sunset clouds were gorgeous, and every now and then +glimpses of the snow mountains. I love to see them--those beautiful +white peaks, half clouds, half snow--they seem so mysterious, so far +away from our every-day life and world. The road was dull, very little +passing until we got near Milan. There we met bands of peasants coming +in from their work in the fields, and country carts loaded with +people--all the young ones singing and talking, and the wrinkled old +women looking on smiling. We noticed again what a fine, strong race they +are--both men and women--such broad shoulders, and holding themselves so +straight. They must have been nasty adversaries when their time came and +they shook off the hated Austrian yoke; but they were not cruel victors +(so says my book), the wives and daughters of men who had fallen under +Austrian cannon nursing and tending their sick and wounded enemies. + +We met three or four handsome private carriages, also a young man +driving a phaeton with a pair of handsome steppers. Our coachman pointed +him out proudly to us as the Marchese ----, some name I didn't catch, +but he was evidently a swell. I suppose there are villas in the +neighborhood, but we didn't see any, nothing but trees, rice fields and +little canals and ditches. + +I think we shall get off the day after to-morrow. W. thinks one more +morning with the coins will be enough for him, he wants now to get back. +I think he is homesick for the Senate and politics generally, but he +won't allow it. We had thought of going to Como for two days, it is so +easy from here, but he wants to stop at Turin, so we must give it up. I +suppose it won't be as cold at Turin now as we always used to find it +crossing in winter. Do you remember one of the first years, coming over +the Mount Cenis, how bitterly cold it was, and how we shivered in the +big, high rooms of the hotel--a mosaic pavement, bits of thin carpet on +the floor, and a fire of shavings in the chimney. We will write and +telegraph, of course, from there. I don't think we shall stay more than +one night. + + + May 11th. + +We are really leaving to-morrow morning, get to Turin for dinner. As we +telegraphed yesterday the address I hope we shall find letters. It has +been lovely again all day, so our last impressions are good. I have +quite forgotten the rain and dark of the other day. The padrone has just +informed us, with much pride, that the Crown Princess of Germany arrives +to-night in this hotel from Vienna. I wish she had come yesterday--I +should have liked to see her again. I have been out shopping this +morning, but it is difficult; there is not much to buy, at least not in +the nice big shops of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and I am a little +afraid of the antiquities--I know so little about bric-a-brac (au fond +like modern things just as well, but other people don't, and would much +rather have a really ugly, queer-shaped old cup or glass than the most +graceful modern creation). + +The padrone gave me the address of a good antiquity shop, and said I +could be perfectly sure in taking anything they said was old, and I need +only say he had recommended me to go there. I found beautiful things, +but all large, cassoni, high-backed, carved arm-chairs and Venetian +mirrors, but the prices were awful and the things much too big. I wanted +something smaller that I could put into my trunk. We went back to the +Piazza dei Mercanti and, after looking about at many of the little +shops, I did find some rather curious silver spoons and boxes. The +spoons have quaint, long handles ending in a head, not apostles, but +soldiers and women with veils and crowns. The boxes are most elaborately +carved--on the cover of one there are 21 figures--a sort of vintage with +bunches of grapes. As usual there were many people lounging about and +stopping at all the shops--some of them wildly interested in my +purchases. One funny little old man with a yellow face and bright eyes +was apparently much pleased with the box I chose--nodded and smiled at +me, saying: "Una bellezza questa" (this is a beauty). On our way back we +went into the great court-yard of the Ospedale Maggiore, an enormous +brick building with fine facade and high pointed windows; the walls +covered with medallions and ornaments in terra-cotta. I believe it is +one of the largest hospitals that exist and certainly once inside those +great courts one would feel absolutely cut off from the outside world. +There seemed to be gardens and good trees at the back--we saw the green +through the cloisters, and there was a fine loggia overlooking the +court. It was as sleepy and quiet as possible to-day--no sign of life, +no concierge nor porter, nor patient of any kind visible. If we had had +time and wanted to go over the hospital I don't know whom we could have +applied to. + +It was very warm walking home. Happily our way lay through narrow +streets, with high houses on each side, so we had shade. I found cards +and a note from the Murrays (English friends we had met in Rome). They +are staying at the Cavour, but will come and dine at our hotel to-night. +They are off to the Lakes to-morrow, and as we leave too early it will +be our only chance of meeting. It will seem quite strange to see any one +we know--we have lived so entirely alone these few days in Milan. I told +W. last night I found him a most agreeable companion. We haven't talked +so much to each other for years. He is always so busy all day in Paris +that except for the ride in the morning, I don't see much of him--and of +course in Rome and Florence we were never alone. + +It is rather late but I will write a few lines and send them off +to-morrow morning. W. came home about 4, fussed a little over trunks and +interviewed the porter about our tickets, places, etc., and then we +started off for the Duomo. There was a party going up just as we got to +the door, so we joined forces--about 8 people. The ascent was very +fatiguing, quite 500 steps, I should think, mostly inside the tower, +with openings giving fine views over the city and Lombard plains. We all +halted every now and then--I was the only lady. There were two +Englishmen with whom we fraternized. They were making a walking tour +through the North of Italy--Piedmont and Lombardy. They addressed W. by +name, which surprised him extremely, so much so that he said: "I don't +remember, but I suppose we must have met before." "Not at all," they +said, "we recognised you from all the pictures we had seen of you in +the illustrated papers." What it is to be a celebrity! + +We did finally, with many stops, get up on the roof, and were well +repaid, for the view was enchanting--Milan so far below us we could +hardly believe it was a big city, but the mountains quite beautiful. +There was a man with a telescope on top, and he pointed out the +principal peaks. Monte Rosa was magnificent--stood out splendidly, a +round snow peak; Mt. Cervin, Mt. Cenis, the Bernese far away, +disappearing in the clouds; and various others whose names I forget, +nearer. I couldn't see the Chartreuse of Pavia, though they said it was +quite visible, and just the Superga of Turin. Nearer these were various +churches and monasteries standing high on hills nearer the town, but I +couldn't look at anything but the snow mountains. You can't imagine how +divine they were, with the beautiful, soft afternoon sun on them. One +couldn't really tell which was cloud and which was mountain--they seemed +to be part of the sky. + +I found the going down more disagreeable than coming up. It was darker, +the steps were a little broken at the edge and decidedly slippery; +however, we arrived without any adventures. Just as we got to the hotel +we saw three or four carriages drive up, and as we went in the porter +told us the German Crown Princess with her daughters and a large suite +was arriving. We stood in the court to see them pass--but the Princess +was not there, only her daughters (3). They were tall, fair, very +German-looking, each one with a large bouquet. There seemed any number +of ladies and gentlemen in attendance, and a great deal of bowing and +deferential manners. + +We went downstairs about a quarter to eight. We had given the Murrays +rendezvous in the reading-room, but they came in just as we crossed the +court, and we went straight to the dining-room. They told us the Crown +Princess only comes to-morrow. They had gone to the station to meet her +(they had seen her in Venice), but there were only the young Princesses. +We had a pleasant dinner. They are a nice couple (Scotch). He is very +clever, a literary man, rather delicate, can't stand the English winter, +and always comes abroad. He knows Italy well and is mad about Venice. +She is clever, too, but is rather silent--however, we didn't either of +us have a chance to-night, for the two gentlemen talked hard, politics, +which Mr. Murray was very keen about. He had a decided thirst for +information, and asked W. so many questions about France, the state of +politics, the influence of the clergy, etc., that I was rather anxious, +as in general there is nothing W. hates like being questioned. However, +he was very gracious to-night, and disposed to talk. When he doesn't +feel like it wild horses couldn't drag anything out of him. + +They stayed till ten o'clock, and now I have been putting the last +things in my small trunk. The big trunks go straight through from here, +and we will pick them up at the Gare de Lyon. The padrone has just been +up to ask if we were satisfied with the hotel, and would we recommend +him. + + + _To G. W. S._ + + TURIN, HOTEL DE L'EUROPE, + May 13, 1880. + +This will be my last letter from Italy, dear. I am sorry to think I am +turning my back on this enchanting country. To-day has been perfect; +everything, sky, sun, mountains, ugly yellow palaces, grim, frowning +buildings, look beautiful--a perfect glow of light and colour. I can +scarcely believe it is the same city we used to freeze in, when we +passed through it often in old times going down to Rome. Heavens--how +cold it was everywhere--a wind that seemed to come straight from the +glaciers cutting one in two when there was a great square to be crossed, +or whistling through the arcades when we wished to loiter a little and +see the shops and curiosities. I can't remember if we stayed at this +hotel--I don't think so, as it is very comfortable and that was by no +means my recollection of the one we always went to on our way down so +many years ago. The rooms are high--we have a nice apartment on the +first floor, well furnished--quite modern. + +We got here yesterday quite early in the afternoon. It is only about 4 +or 5 hours by train. We had a most festive "send-off" from Milan. I was +well "bunched" as some of our compatriots would say. The padrone gave me +a beautiful bouquet of roses when we came downstairs to the carriage, +also a nice little basket of fruit which he thought might be acceptable +on our journey. He had seen about our carriage--so that was all +right--and we found the Director of the Museum, and the Greek friend at +the station--also with a bouquet. All our bags and wraps were stowed +away in the carriage, and the Director of the Museum (I have never known +his name) had also put papers--some illustrated ones--on the seats. I +felt rather like a bride starting on her wedding journey. + +The road wasn't very interesting. We had glimpses of the Alps +occasionally, and the day was beautiful, making everything look +picturesque and charming. It was rather a relief to get out of the rice +fields and little canals. We stopped some little time at Novara--where +we had a good cup of coffee. As we got near Turin everything looked very +green. There seemed to be more trees and little woods than in the +neighbourhood of Milan. The hotel porter was waiting for us at the +station with a carriage--so we drove straight off, leaving Madame Hubert +in charge of the porter, who spoke French perfectly, to follow with the +trunks. + +The hotel is on the great Place du Chateau, faces the Palazzo Madama. +They have given us a nice apartment, with windows and a good balcony +looking out on the Place. We went upstairs immediately to inspect the +rooms--the padrone himself conducting us. There were flowers on the +table, nice lounging chairs on the balcony. It looked charming. He +wanted to send us tea or coffee--but we really couldn't take anything as +it wasn't more than two hours since we had had a very fair little gouter +at Novara. We said we would dine in the restaurant about 8. He was +rather anxious we should have our dinner in the anteroom which was large +and light--often used for a dining-room--but we told him we much +preferred dining downstairs and seeing the people. + +We brushed off a little dust--it wasn't a very dirty journey--and +started off for a stroll across the Piazza Castello. It is a fine large +square, high buildings all around it, and the great mediaeval pile +Palazzo Madama facing us as we went in. It looked more like a fortress +than a palace, but there is a fine double staircase and facade with +marble columns and statues--white, I suppose, originally, but now rather +mellowed with years and exposure and taking a soft pink tint in the +waning sunlight. It was inhabited by the mother of one of the kings, +"Madama Reale," hence its name. There is a monument to the Sardinian +army in front of the palace with very elaborate bas-reliefs. They told +us there was nothing to see inside, so we merely walked all around it, +and then went over to the Palazzo Reale, which is a large brick +building, with no pretensions to architecture. They say it is very +handsome inside--large, high rooms, very luxuriously furnished. Somehow +or other luxuriously furnished apartments don't seem to go with Princes +of the House of Savoy. One can't imagine them reclining in ladies' +boudoirs on satin cushions, with silk and damask hangings. They seem +always to have been simple, hardy soldiers, more at home on a +battle-field than in a drawing-room. We asked at the entrance if the Duc +d'Aoste was here. He told us when he was in Paris that if ever we came +to Turin we must let him know--that he always received twice a week in +the evening when he was at home and that he would be delighted to see us +(I had put an evening dress in my trunk in case we should be invited +anywhere)--however he isn't here, away in the country for three or four +days on some inspection--so we wrote ourselves down in the book that he +might see that we intended to pay our respects. + +We walked through some of the squares--Piazza Carignano, with the great +palace Carignano which also looks grim and frowning, more like a prison +than a stately princely residence. I wonder if there are any what we +should call comfortable rooms in those gaunt old palaces. I have visions +of barred windows, very small panes of glass, brick floors, frescoed +ceilings black with age and smoke, and straight-backed, narrow carved +wooden chairs. However a fine race of sturdy, fighting men were brought +up within those old walls--perhaps Italy would not have been "unita" so +soon if the pioneers of freedom had been accustomed to all the luxury +and gaiety of the present generation. + +We wandered back through more squares and saw numberless statues of +Princes and Dukes of Savoy--almost all equestrian--the Princes in +armour, and generally a drawn sword in their hand--one feels that they +were a fighting race. + +The hills all around the city are charming, beautifully green, with +hundreds of villas (generally white) in all directions; some so high up +one wonders how the inhabitants ever get up there. In the distance +always the beautiful snow mountains. The town doesn't look either very +Italian or very Southern. I suppose the Piedmontese are a type apart. + +We had a table to ourselves in the dining-room, which was almost +empty--evidently people dine earlier than we do--and yet it is tempting +to stay out on a lovely summer evening. There were several officers in +uniform at one table--evidently a sort of mess--about 10. They were +rather noisy, making all sorts of jokes with the waiters, but they had +nearly finished when we came in and soon departed with a great clatter +of spurs and swords. We went for a few moments into the reading-room, +which was also quite deserted--only two couples, an English clergyman +and his wife both buried in their papers--and a German menage discussing +routes and guides and prices for some excursion they wanted to make. + +I had kept on my hat as we thought we would go out, take a turn in the +arcades and have a "granita." The padrone told us of a famous cafe where +the "granita" was very good, also very good music. W. is becoming such a +flaneur, and so imbued with the dolce far niente of this enchanting +country that I am rather anxious about him. I think he will want to go +every evening to the "Ambassadeurs" when we get back to Paris. + +We strolled about for some time. It was cool and there were not too many +people. Everybody sitting out, smoking and drinking. We got a nice +little table--each took an ice (they were very good--not too sweet), and +the music was really charming--quite a large orchestra, all guitars and +mandolins. Whenever they played a well-known air--song or waltz--the +whole company joined in. It sounded very pretty--they didn't sing too +loud, and enjoyed themselves extremely. We stayed some time. + +I am writing as usual, late, while W. is putting his notes in order. He +found a note, when he came in, from the Director of the Museum, saying +he would be delighted to see W. at the Museum to-morrow morning at 9 +o'clock, and would do the honours of the cabinet de medailles--also the +card of a Mr. Hoffman who wants very much to see W. and renew his +acquaintance with him after many years. He is in this hotel and will +come and see us to-morrow. W. has no idea who he is, but of course there +are many Hoffmans in the world. I suppose the gentleman will explain +himself. If it is fine we shall drive to the Superga to-morrow +afternoon, and start for Paris the next evening. W. says three seances +(and his are long) will be all he wants in the Museum. + + + May 14th. + +It has been again a lovely summer day--not too hot, and a delicious +breeze as we drove home from La Superga. I have been out all day. W. was +off at 9 to meet his Director, and I started at 10 with Madame Hubert to +flaner a little. We went first to the arcades where are all the best +shops, but I can't say I was tempted. There was really nothing to +buy--some nice blankets, half silk, half wool--not striped like the Como +blankets, a plain centre, red or blue, with a bright border--but it was +not a day to buy blankets, with the sun bright and strong over our +heads. There was a good deal of iron work, rather nice. I didn't care +for the jewellery. I didn't see myself with a wrought-iron chain and +cross, but I did get a large ring--strong and prettily worked, which the +man said many people bought to put in a hall and hang keys on. There +were plenty of people about. I didn't think the peasants were any +particular type--the men looked smaller than those about Milan--slight, +wiry figures. A good many were evidently guides, with axes and coils of +rope strapped on their backs. They told us in one of the shops (where as +a true American I was asking questions, eager for information) that +there were several interesting excursions to be made in the +neighbourhood. + +We went again to the Piazzo Castello which is so large that it is a very +fair walk to go all around the square--and went into the hall to see the +statue (equestrian of course) of Victor Amadeus the First. The horse is +curious, in marble. Then we went to the Cathedral, which is not very +interesting. The sacristan showed us a collection of small, dark +pictures over the altar which he said were by Albert Duerer; but they +were so black and confused I couldn't see anything--a little glimpse of +gilding every now and then that might be a halo around a saint's head. +What was interesting was the "Cappella del S. S. Sudario," where the +linen cloth is kept which is said to have enveloped the body of our +Saviour. It is kept in an urn, and only shown by special permission. +This, however, the sacristan obtained for us. He disappeared into the +sacristy and soon returned bringing with him a nice fat old priest in +full canonicals and very conversationally disposed. He lifted off the +top of the urn and drew out the linen cloth most carefully. It is very +fine linen, quite yellow and worn--almost in holes in some parts. He +spread it out most reverently on a marble slab, and showed us the +outlines of a man's figure. Marks there were certainly. I thought I saw +the head distinctly, but of course the imagination is a powerful factor +on these occasions. The chapel was dimly lighted, a few tapers burning, +and the old priest was so convinced and reverent that it was catching. I +suppose it might be possible--certainly all these traditions and relics +were an enormous strength to the Catholic Church in the early days when +there were no books and little learning, and people believed more easily +and simply than they do now. The chapel is a rather ugly, round +building, almost black, and with a quantity of statues (white) which +stand out well. It is the burial chapel of the House of Savoy, and there +are statues apparently to every Emmanuel or Amadeus that ever +existed--also a large marble monument to the late Queen of Sardinia. Do +you remember when Prince Massimo, in Rome, always spoke of Victor +Emmanuel, when he was King of Italy, and holding his court in Florence, +as the King of Sardinia? + +We had walked about longer than we thought, but everything is close +together, and it was time to get back to the hotel for breakfast. I had +the dining-room almost to myself--my table was drawn up close to the +open window, a vase of roses upon it, and one or two papers--English, +Italian, and the "Figaro." Paris seems to be amusing itself. Henrietta +writes that the Champs Elysees are enchanting--all the horse chestnuts +in full bloom. Here there is abundance of flowers--one gets glimpses of +pretty gardens through open gates and openings in railings and walls. +There are plenty of street stalls, too, with fruits and flowers, but one +doesn't see the wealth of roses and wistaria climbing over every bit of +wall and up the sides of houses as in Florence. The city is perfectly +busy and prosperous, but has none of the delightful look of laziness and +enjoyment of life and the blue sky and the sunshine that one feels in +Rome and Florence. + +W. came in about 3, having had a delightful morning in the cabinet des +medailles. The Director, a most learned, courteous old gentleman, was +waiting for him, and though he knew W. and his collection by reputation, +he was quite surprised to find that W. knew quite as much about his +coins and treasures as he did himself. He hadn't supposed it possible +that a statesman with so many interests and calls upon his time could +have kept up his scientific work. + +We shall leave to-morrow night, and before we started for our drive we +sent off letters and telegrams to Paris. I can hardly believe it +possible that Friday morning I shall be breakfasting in Paris, going to +mother to tea in the afternoon, and taking up my ordinary life. +Henrietta writes that she has told Francis we are coming home, but +frankness compels her to say that he has received that piece of +information with absolute indifference. He has been as happy as a king +all the months we have been away--spoiled to his heart's content and +everybody in the two establishments his abject slaves. + +We started about 4 for La Superga in a nice light basket carriage and +pair of strong little horses. It was rather interesting driving all +through the town, which is comparatively small--one is soon out of it. +The streets are narrow, once one is out of the great thoroughfares, with +high houses on each side. Every now and then an interesting cornice with +a curious round tower and some funny old-fashioned houses with high +pointed roofs and iron balconies running quite around the house, but on +the whole it is much less picturesque and colder looking than the other +Italian cities. The road was not very animated--few vehicles of any +description, a few fiacres evidently bound for the Superga like us. +There were not many carts nor many people about. What _was_ lovely was +the crown of green hills with little chestnut groves--some of the little +woods we drove through were quite charming, with the long slanting rays +of the afternoon sun shining through the branches--just as I remember +the Galleria di Sotto at Albano--the chestnuts grow high on all the +hillsides. We had quite a stiff mount before we got to the church (but +the little horses trotted up very fairly) and a good climb after we left +the carriage. One sees the church from a long distance. It has a fine +colonnade and a high dome which lifts itself well up into the clouds. We +followed a pretty steep, winding path up to the top, quantities of wild +roses, a delicate pink, like our eglantine at home, twisting themselves +around the bushes. There is nothing particularly interesting in the +church. It is the burial place of the Kings of Savoy, and their vault is +in the crypt. The last one buried there was Charles Albert. Victor +Emmanuel is buried in the Pantheon in Rome. We found a nice old +sacristan who took us about and explained various statues to us--also +all the glories of the Casa di Savoia, winding up with an enthusiastic +eulogy of Queen Margherita--but never as Queen of Italy, "nostra +Principessa." She has certainly made herself a splendid place in the +hearts of the people--they all adore her. We climbed up to the roof, and +what a view we had, all Turin at our feet with its domes and high, +pointed roofs, standing in the midst of the green plain dotted all over +with villas, farms, gardens, little groves of chestnuts, the river +meandering along through the meadows carpeted with flowers, and looking +in the sunlight like a gold zig-zag with its numerous turns--always the +beautiful crown of hills, and in the background the snow peaks of the +Alps. It was very clear--they looked so near, as if one could throw a +stone across. Our old man pointed out all the well-known peaks--Monte +Rosa, Mont Cenis, and many others whose names I didn't catch. He said he +had rarely seen the whole chain so distinct. It reminded me of the view +we had of the Bernese Oberland so many years ago--the first time we had +seen snow mountains. On arriving at Berne we were hurried out on the +terrace by the padrone of the hotel as he said we might never again see +all the chain of the Alps so distinctly. Beautiful it was--all the snow +mountains rolling away in the distance; some of them straight up into +the sunset clouds, others with little wreaths of white soft clouds half +way up their summits, and clouds and snow so mingled that one could +hardly distinguish which was snow. I thought they were all +clouds--beautiful, airy intangible shapes. + +We loitered about some time on the terrace after we came down, watching +the lights fade and finally disappear--the mountains looking like great +grey giants frowning down on the city. The air was decidedly cooler as +we drove home, but it was a perfect summer evening. There were more +people out as we got near Turin--all the workers getting a little breath +of air after the toil of the day. + + + May 15th. + +I will send this very long letter off this evening. Our trunks are +packed and downstairs, and I will finish this while we are waiting for +dinner. We have had a nice day. Madame Hubert and I strolled about this +morning and went to see the house where Cavour was born, and also to the +Giardino Pubblico. The grounds are handsome, but not particularly +interesting at that hour in the morning, and there wasn't a creature +there but ourselves. There are various monuments--one of Manin with a +fine figure of the Republic of Venice. + +I breakfasted as usual alone, and at 3 W. came in, having quite finished +his work at the Museum. He had given rendezvous to Mr. Hoffman for 3.30, +and while we were sitting talking waiting for him the padrone came up +and said an officer "de la part du Duc d'Aoste" wanted to see us. We +begged him of course to send him up, and in a few minutes a very +good-looking young officer in uniform made his appearance. He named +himself--Count Colobiano I think--but we didn't catch the name very +distinctly; said he had had the honour of dining with us at the Quai +d'Orsay with his Prince, and that the Prince was "desole" not to be in +Turin these days and had sent him to put himself at our disposition. He +proposed all sorts of things--the opera, a drive (or a ride if we +preferred) to a sort of parade ground just outside the gates where we +would see some cavalry manoeuvres. He knew I rode, and could give me a +capital lady's hack. I was rather sorry he hadn't come before--it would +have amused us to see the manoeuvres, and also to ride--but that would +have been difficult as I had no habit with me. However, as we are +leaving this evening there was nothing to be done. He was very civil and +I think rather sorry not to do us the honours of his city. He said there +were beautiful excursions to be made from Turin, and asked us if we had +seen anything. We said only the Superga which he evidently didn't +consider very interesting. He said the Duke was very sorry to have +missed us, and that he thought I would have enjoyed an evening at the +Palace, as the receptions were very gay and informal. I cannot imagine +(I didn't tell him that) anything gay with the Duc d'Aoste. He is very +sympathetic to me, but a type apart. A stern, almost ascetic appearance, +very silent and shy, but a beautiful smile. He looks exactly as one +would imagine a Prince of the House of Savoy would. We saw him often in +Paris, and his face always interested me--so grave, and as if he were +miles away from the ordinary modern world. It was just after he had +given up his Spanish throne, and although I didn't think that crown +weighed very heavily on his brow he must have had some curious +experiences and seen human nature in perhaps not its best form. The +young aide-de-camp paid us quite a visit, and we made him promise to +come and see us if ever he came to Paris. We sent all sorts of messages +and regrets to the Duke. Just as he was going out Mr. Hoffman appeared +and he sat an hour with us. He was delightful, has lived almost all his +life in and near Turin, and had all the history of Piedmont at his +fingers' ends. He seems to have met W. years ago at a dinner in London +and has always followed his career with much interest. It was most +interesting to hear him talk. He admires Cavour immensely--said his +death was a great calamity for Italy--that he hadn't given half of what +he could, and that every year he lived he grew in intellect and +knowledge of people. He also said (as they all do) that he mistrusted +Louis Napoleon so intensely, and through all their negotiations and +discussions as to Italy's future he was pursued by the idea that the +Emperor would go back upon his word. He said the Piedmontese were a race +apart--hardly considered themselves Italian, and that even now in the +little hamlets in the mountains the peasants had vague ideas of +nationality, and never spoke of themselves as Italians, or identified +themselves with Italian interests and history--that in the upper classes +traces of French occupation and education, superstition and priestly +rule were just getting effaced. For years in the beginning of the +century the priests (Jesuits) had it all their own way in Turin. The +teaching in the schools was entirely in their hands, and most +elementary; and numerous convents and monasteries were built. Cavour as +a very young man soon emancipated himself from all those ideas, and if +he had lived, Hoffman thinks, much trouble would have been averted, and +that he would certainly have found some means of coming to a better +understanding with the Vatican, "the most brilliant and far-seeing +intellect I have ever met." + +He wanted to take us to some palace where there are some very curious +and inedites letters of Cavour's to the owner, who was one of his +friends, and always on very confidential terms with him; but of course +we couldn't do that as we are off in a few hours. + +Hoffman would never have gone, I think, if the padrone hadn't appeared +to say dinner was ready. I left him and W. talking while I went to give +some last instructions to the maid, and when I got back to the salon +they had drifted away from Cavour and Piedmont and were discussing +French politics, the attitude of Germany and the anti-religious feeling +in France. + +I shall miss all the talk about Italy and her first struggles for +independence when I get home. French people, as a rule, care so little +for outside things. They travel very little, don't read much foreign +literature, and are quite absorbed in their own interests and +surroundings. Of course they are passing through a curious phase--so +many old things passing away--habits and traditions of years upset, and +the new regime not yet sufficiently established nor supported by all +that is best in the country. I think W. has been impressed and rather +surprised at the very easy way in which all religious questions are +disposed of in Italy, and yet the people are certainly superstitious +and have a sort of religious feeling. The churches are all full on great +feast days, and one sees great big young peasants kneeling and kissing +relics when they are exposed; and several times even here about Turin we +have seen men and women kneeling at some of the crosses along the road. +I have rarely seen that in France--but then the Italians are a more +emotional race. They are difficult problems--a country can't live +without a religion. + + + RUE DUMONT D'URVILLE. + +We got back yesterday morning early. Hubert and the big mare were +waiting for us, and we were whirled up to the house in a very un-Italian +manner (for the horses in Italy are just as easy-going as the people and +never hurry themselves nor display any undue energy). Francis and +"nounou" were waiting at the door--he really quite excited and pleased +to see us--and the sisters appeared about 11. We talked a little and +they helped me unpack; and I went to see mother directly after breakfast +and stayed there all the afternoon. This morning I am writing as usual +at the window and hearing all the familiar Paris sounds. The goat-boy +has just passed with his 6 goats and curious reed pipe, the marchande de +cressons with her peculiar cry advertising her merchandise, and ending +"pour la sante du corps" on a long shrill note--the man who sits on the +pavement and mends china. He is just at our door, and has a collection +of broken plates and cups around him. I suppose some are ours. The +"light lady" next door is standing at her door in her riding habit, the +skirt already very short and held well up over her arm displaying a fair +amount of trousers and high boots. She is haranguing in very forcible +language the groom who is cantering the horse up and down the street, +and of course even in our quiet street there are always badauds who stop +and ask questions, and hang around the porte-cocheres to see all that is +going on. W. has just started on horseback and that is a most +interesting moment for the street, for his big black "Paddy" has a most +uncomfortable trick. From the moment he takes the bridle in his hand and +prepares to mount, the horse snorts, and stamps and backs, making such a +noise in the little court-yard you would think he was kicking everything +to pieces. As soon as the big doors are opened and he can get out he is +as quiet as a lamb. + +It is a beautiful morning and Paris looks its best--all the +horse-chestnuts in full bloom, the sky a bright blue, and quantities of +equipages and riders streaming out to the Bois. I suppose I shall ride +too in a day or so, and by the end of the week Italy will be a thing of +the past, and I shall be leading my ordinary Paris life. + +There was a procession of people here all the afternoon yesterday to see +W., and now he is quite au courant of all that has taken place in his +absence, and I think in his heart he is delighted to be back and in the +thick of the fight again. He is going to the Senate this afternoon. + +We had a most comfortable journey from Turin--a lit-salon to ourselves, +the maid just behind us. All the first hours were charming as long as we +could see as all the country about Turin is so lovely. We passed +Moncalieri which stands high on the hills--a long low building, and one +or two other fine old castles, all perched high on the slope of the +mountains. I always sleep so well in a train that I was hardly awake +when we passed at Modane, though I was dimly conscious of the stop, the +lanterns flashing along the train and a great deal of conversation. +Nobody disturbed us as we had given our "laissez-passer" to the garde, +but I fancy we made a long halt there as the train was very crowded. We +had our coffee at Dijon very early in the morning. It was quite pleasant +to see the regular little French brioche again. + +I went to tea with Mother and afterward we went for a turn in the Bois, +which looked beautiful--so green--all the horse-chestnuts out (the road +from Auteuil to Boulogne with the rows of red horse-chestnuts on each +side quite enchanting); the hills, St. Cloud and Mont Valerien blue and +standing out sharply against the sky, but I missed the delicious soft +atmosphere of Italy and the haze that always hung around the hills and +softened all the outlines. The Seine looked quite animated. There really +were one or two small boats out, and near Puteaux (the club) some women +rowing, and of course the little river steamers flying up and down, +crowded. + +We are dining with l'Oncle Alphonse who will give us all the news of the +day, and the opinion of the "Union." + + + + +PART II + +ITALY REVISITED + + + _To H. L. K._ + + ROME, Friday, February 12, 1904. + +It seems so strange to be back here, dear, after twenty-four years, and +to find Rome so changed, so unchanged. The new quarter, an absolutely +new modern city, might be Wiesbaden, or Neuilly, or any cheerful resort +of retired business men who build hideous villas with all sorts of +excrescences--busts, vases, and plaques of bright-coloured majolica--and +the old city with the dirty little winding streets going toward St. +Peter's exactly the same; almost the same little ragged, black-eyed +children playing in the gutters. + +We had a most comfortable journey down. Hardly any one in the +sleeping-car but ourselves, so we all had plenty of room. It was a +bright, beautiful morning when we got to Modane--the mountains covered +with snow, and the fresh keen wind blowing straight from the glaciers +was enchanting after a night in the sleeping-car. They are frightfully +overheated. I had some difficulty in persuading the attendant to open my +window for the night; however, as I was alone in my compartment, he +finally agreed, merely saying he would come and shut it when we passed +through the great tunnel. We dined at the buffet at Genoa, and it didn't +seem natural not to ask for the Alassio train. The station was crowded, +the Roman train too--they put on extra carriages. We got to Rome about +9.30. I had been ready since 6.30, eagerly watching to get a glimpse of +St. Peter's. I had visions of Civita Vecchia and running along by the +sea in the early morning. + +I was quite awake, but I didn't see St. Peter's until we were quite near +Rome. We ran through long, level stretches of Campagna, with every now +and then a great square building that had been probably a mediaeval +castle, but was now a farm--sheep and cattle wandering out of the old +gateway, and those splendid big white oxen that one sees all over the +Campagna--some shepherds' huts with their pointed thatched roofs dotted +about, but nothing very picturesque or striking. We passed close to San +Paolo Fuori le Mura, with the Testaccio quite near. We paid ourselves +compliments when we arrived at the station for having made our long +journey so easily and pleasantly. No one was tired and no one was bored. +Between us all (we were four women) we had plenty of provisions and +Bessie[30] and Mme. de Bailleul were most successful with their afternoon +tea, with delicious American cake, that Bessie had brought over in the +steamer. + +[30] Marquise de Talleyrand-Perigord, nee Curtis. + +After all, Josephine[31] finds she has room for me and my maid, which of +course is infinitely pleasanter for me than being at the hotel. Her +house is charming--not one of the old palaces, but plenty of room and +thoroughly Italian. The large red salon I delight in; it couldn't exist +anywhere else but in Rome, with its red silk walls, heavy gilt +furniture, pictures, and curious bits of old carving and majolica. It +opens into a delightful music-room with fine frescoes on the walls (a +beautiful bit of colour), and beyond that there is a small salon where +we usually sit. + +[31] Princess di Poggio-Suasa, nee Curtis. + +She has a picture there of her husband, Don Emanuele Ruspoli (late +syndic of Rome), which has rather taken possession of me. It is such a +handsome, spirited face, energetic and rather imperious--he looks a born +ruler of men, and I believe he was. They say Rome was never so well +governed as in his time. He was one of the first of the young Roman +nobles who emancipated themselves from the papal rule. As quite a youth +he ran away from college and entered the Italian army as a simple +soldier, winning his grade as captain on the battle-field. He was a +loyal and devoted servant of the House of Savoy, and took a prominent +part in all the events which ended in proclaiming Victor Emanuel King of +Italy, with Rome his capital. + +This quarter, Piazza Barberini, is quite new to me. It used to seem +rather far off in the old days when we came to see the Storys in the +Barberini Palace, but now it is quite central. The great new street--Via +Veneto--runs straight away from the Piazza, past the Church of the +Cappucini--you will remember the vaults with all the dead monks standing +about--the Palace of the Queen Mother, and various large hotels, to +Porta Pinciana. Just the other side of the road is the new gate opening +into the Villa Borghese. I rather lost myself there the first day I +prowled about alone. It was raining, but I wanted some air, and turned +into the Via Veneto, which is broad and clean. I walked quite to the +end, and then came to the Porta Pinciana, crossed the road, and found +myself in a beautiful villa. I didn't come upon any special landmark +until I got near the Museum, which, of course, looked quite familiar. +However, I was bewildered and hailed a passing groom to inquire where I +was, and even when he told me could scarcely believe it. I had never +gone into the Villa Borghese except by the Piazza del Popolo. They have +made extraordinary changes since the Government has bought it--opened +out new roads and paths, planted quantities of trees and flowers, and +cleaned up and trimmed in every direction. It will be a splendid +promenade in the heart of the city, but no longer the old Villa Borghese +we used to know, with ragged, unkempt corners, and little paths in +out-of-the-way places, so choked up with weeds and long grass that one +could hardly get through. + +I haven't quite got my bearings yet, and for the first three or four +mornings I took myself down to the Piazza di Spagna, and started from +there. There, too, there are changes--new houses and shops (I was glad +to see old Spithoever in the same place) and a decided look of business +and modern life. There were not nearly so many people doing nothing, +lounging about, leaning on the "barca," or playing mora on the Spanish +Steps. All the botte were still standing in the middle of the street, +the coachmen smiling, cracking their whips, and making frantic little +dashes across the piazza whenever they saw an unwary stranger who might +want a cab. + +The Spanish Steps looked beautiful, glowing with colour--pink, yellow, +and that soft grey tint that the Roman stones take in the sunlight. All +the lower steps are covered with flower stalls (they are not allowed any +longer scattered all over the piazza), and most picturesque they +looked--daffodils, mimosa, and great bunches of peach-blossoms which +were very effective. There were very few models in costume sitting +about; a few children playing some sort of game with stones, which they +interrupted to run after the forestieri and ask for a "piccolo soldo" (a +penny), and one or two old men with long white beards--might have done +for models of the apostles or Joseph in the flight into Egypt--wrapped +in their wonderful long green cloaks, sitting in the sun. There is one +novelty--an "ascenseur." I haven't been in it yet, but I shall try it +some day. One must get accustomed to many changes in the Rome of to-day. + +I recognised some of the houses at the top of the steps--the corner one +between Vias Sistina and Gregoriana, where the Rodmans used to live one +year, and where we have dined so often, sitting on the round balcony and +seeing the moon rise over the Pincio. + +I walked home the other day by the Via Sistina to the Piazza Barberini, +and that part seemed to me absolutely unchanged. The same little open +mosaic shops, with the workmen dressed in white working at the +door--almost in the street. In one shop they were just finishing a +table, putting in countless bits of coloured marble (some of them very +small). It was exactly like the one we brought from Rome many years ago, +which stands now in Francis's smoking-room. There was of course the +inevitable jeweller's shop, with crosses and brooches of dull yellow +Roman gold and mosaic, and silk shops with Roman silk scarfs, and a sort +of coarse lace which I have seen everywhere. In the middle of the street +a miserable wrinkled old woman, her face mahogany colour, attired in a +red skirt with a green handkerchief on her head, was skirmishing with a +band of dirty little children, who had apparently upset her basket of +roast chestnuts, and were making off with as many as they could find, +pursued by her shrill cries and "maledizioni." + +We went out in the open carriage yesterday, and drove all around Rome +leaving cards--finished with a turn in the Villa Borghese and Pincio. It +was too late for the Villa--almost every one had gone, and one felt the +chill strike one on going into the thick shade after coming out of the +bright sun in the Piazza del Popolo. We crossed Queen Margherita at the +gate. She looked so handsome--the black is very becoming and threw out +well her fair hair and skin. She was driving in a handsome carriage--the +servants in mourning. One lady was with her--another carriage and two +cyclists following. All the people bowed and looked so pleased to see +her, and her bow and smile of acknowledgment were charming. + +We made a short turn in the Villa and then went on to the Pincio, which +was crowded. There were some very handsome, stately Roman equipages, +plenty of light victorias, a few men driving themselves in very high +phaetons, and the inevitable botta with often three youths on the one +seat. The carriages didn't draw up--the ladies holding a sort of +reception as in our days, when all the "gilded youth" used to sit on the +steps of the victorias and surround the carriages of the pretty women. +They tell me the present generation comes much less to the Villa +Borghese and Pincio. They are much more sporting--ride, drive +automobiles and play golf. There are two golf clubs now--one at Villa +Pamphili Doria, the other at Aqua Santa. Every time we go out on the +Campagna we meet men with golf clubs and rackets. + +Monday I prowled about in the morning, always making the same round--Via +Sistina and the Spanish Steps. The lame man at the top of the steps +knows me well now, and we always exchange a cheerful good morning. +Sometimes I give him some pennies and sometimes I don't, but he is +always just as smiling when I don't give him anything. + +In the afternoon Madame de B. and I went for a drive and a little +sight-seeing. She wanted a bottle of eucalyptus from the monks at Tre +Fontane, so we took in San Paolo Fuori le Mura on our way. The drive out +is charming--a few dirty little streets at first--past the Theatre of +Marcellus, which looks blacker and grimmer, if possible, than when I +last saw it--and then some distance along the river. There are great +changes---high buildings, quays, boats, carts with heavy stones and +quantities of workmen--really quite an air of a busy port--busy of +course in a modified sense, as no Roman ever looks as if he were working +hard, and there are always two or three looking on, and talking, for +every one who works--however, there is certainly much more life in the +streets and the city looks prosperous. + +The great new Benedictine Monastery of Sant' Anselmo stands splendidly +on the heights (Aventine) to the left, also the walls and garden of the +Knights of Malta. The garden, with its long shady walks, between rows of +tall cypress trees, looked most inviting. We left the Testaccio and +Protestant Cemetery on our right and followed a long file of carriages +evidently going, too, to San Paolo. That of course looked exactly the +same--an enormous modern building with a wealth of splendid marble +columns inside. The proportions and great spaces are very fine, and +there was a brilliant effect of light and colour (as every column is +different). Some of the red-pink was quite beautiful, but it is not in +the least like a church--not at all devotional. One can't imagine any +poor weary souls kneeling on that slippery, shining marble pavement and +pouring out their hearts in prayer. It is more like a great hall or +academy. We went out into the quiet of the cloisters, which are +interesting, some curious old tombs and statues, but small for such a +huge basilica--always the square green plot in the centre with a well. + +We had some difficulty in making our way to the carriage through a +perfect army of boys and men selling photographs, postal cards, mosaic +pins with views of the church, etc., also bits of marble, giallo +antico, porphyry and a piece of dark marble, almost black, which had +come from the Marmorata close by. + +We went on to the Tre Fontane, about half an hour's drive--real country, +quite charming. We didn't see the churches until we were quite close to +them--they are almost hidden by the trees. I never should have +recognised the place. The eucalyptus trees which the monks were just +beginning to plant when we were here before have grown up into a fine +avenue. They were cutting and trimming them, and the ground was covered +with great branches making a beautiful green carpet with a strong +perfume. Various people were looking on and almost every one carried off +a branch of eucalyptus. We did too, and one is now hanging over the bed +in my room. It is supposed to be very healthy. It has a very strong +odour--to me very agreeable. + +A service was going on in one of the churches, the monks singing a low +monotonous chant, and everything was so still; one was so shut in by the +trees that the outside world, Rome and the Corso might have been miles +away. We went into the church to see the three fountains built into the +wall. Tradition says that when St. Paul was executed his head bounded +three times and at each place a fountain sprang up. A tall young monk +was going about with some seminarists explaining the legend to them. +They were listening with rapt attention and drinking reverently at each +fountain. + +We went into the little farmacia and found there a German monk who was +much pleased when he found we could speak German. He told us there were +90 monks there, and that the place was perfectly healthy--not as when +they began their work, when many died of fever. We each bought a bottle +of eucalyptus, and were sorry to come away. The light was fading--the +eucalyptus avenue looked dark and mysterious, and the low chant of the +monks was still going on. + +We went to a beautiful ball in the evening at the Brancaccios'. They +built their palace--which is enormous--has a fine marble staircase +(which showed off the women's long trailing skirts splendidly) and +quantities of rooms filled with beautiful things. I didn't take them all +in as I was so much interested in the people, but Bessie has promised to +take me all over the palace some morning. + +To-day we have been to the Brancaccio garden. It was a beautiful bright +morning, so Bessie Talleyrand proposed we should drive up and stroll +about there. We telephoned to Brancaccio, who said he would meet us in +the garden. You can't imagine anything more enchanting than that +beautiful southern garden in the heart of Rome. We drove through the +court-yard and straight up the hill to a little bridge that connects the +garden with Mrs. Field's old apartment. Mrs. Field really made the +garden (and loved it always). When they bought the ground it was simply +an "orto" or field, and now it is a paradise filled with every possible +variety of trees and flowers. It seems that wherever she saw a beautiful +tree she immediately asked what it was and where it came from, and then +had some sent to her from no matter where. Of course hundreds were +lost--the journey, change of soil, transplanting them, etc., but +hundreds remain and the effect is marvellous. Splendid tall palms from +Bordighera, little delicate shrubs from America and Canada all growing +and thriving side by side in the beautiful Roman garden. There is a fine +broad allee which goes straight down from the winter garden to the end +of the grounds with the Colosseum as background. It is planted on each +side with green oaks, and between them rows of orange and mandarin +trees--the branches heavy with the fruit. We picked delicious, ripe, +warm mandarins from the trees, and eat them as we were strolling along. +It was too early for the roses, of which there are thousands in the +season--one saw the plants twining around all the trees. There are all +sorts of ruins and old walls in the garden, baths of Titus, Sette Celle, +and one comes unexpectedly, in odd corners, upon fine old bits of +carving and wall which have no name now, but which certainly have had a +history. + +The sky was a deep blue over our heads, and the trees so thick, that the +ugly new buildings which skirt one side of the garden are almost +completely hidden. It was a pleasure just to sit on a bench and +live--the air was so soft, and the garden smell so delicious. + +[Illustration: The Barberini Palace. + +The residence of the Storys.] + +After breakfast I went out early with Josephine--leaving of course some +cards first--after that we took a turn on the Pincio, which was basking +in the sunshine (but quite deserted at that hour except by nurses and +children), and then drove out toward the Villa Pamphili. The road was so +familiar, and yet so different. The same steep ascent to the Janiculum +with the beggars and cripples of all ages running alongside the carriage +and holding out withered arms and maimed limbs--awful to see. The road +is much wider--more of a promenade, trees and flowers planted all along. +The fountains of San Pietro in Montorio looked beautiful--such a rush of +bright, dancing water. We drove through the Villa Corsini--quite new +since my time--a beautiful drive, and drew up on the terrace just under +the equestrian statue of Garibaldi from where there is a splendid +view--the whole city of Rome at our feet, seen through a warm, grey mist +that made even the ugly staring white and yellow houses of the new +quarter look picturesque. They lost themselves in a charming +ensemble. St. Peter's looked very near but always a little veiled by the +haze which made the great mass more imposing. We looked straight across +the city to the Campagna--all the well-known monuments--Cecilia Metella, +aqueducts and the various tombs scattered along the Via Appia were quite +distinct. The statue of the great revolutionary leader seemed curiously +out of place. I should have preferred almost the traditional wolf with +the two little boys sucking in her milk. We couldn't stay very long as +we had a tea at home. We met many people and carriages going up as we +came down, as it was the day for the Villa Pamphili, which is open to +the public twice a week. + +We went to a ball at the Storys' in the evening, and as we went up the +great staircase of the Barberini Palace (the steps so broad and shallow +that one could drive up in a light carriage) finishing with the steep +little flight quite at the top which leads directly to the Story +apartment, I could hardly realize how many years had passed since I had +first danced in these same rooms, and that I shouldn't find the +charming, genial maitre de maison of my youth who made his house such an +interesting centre. I think one of Mr. Story's greatest charms was his +absolute simplicity, his keen interest in everything and his sympathy +with younger men who were still fighting the great battle of life which +he had brought to such a triumphant close. His son, Waldo Story,[32] who +has inherited his father's talent, keeps up the hospitable traditions of +the house. + +[32] The well-known sculptor. + +The ball was very animated--all the young dancing Rome was there. + + + Monday, February 15th. + +I am alone this morning--the others have gone to the meet at Cecchignola +fuori Porta San Sebastiano. I should have liked to go for the sake of +old times, but I was rather tired, and have the court ball to-night. + +Last night I had a pleasant dinner at Count Vitali's. He has bought the +Bandini palace, and made it, of course, most comfortable and modern. The +rooms are beautiful--the splendid proportions and great space one only +sees now in Rome in the old palaces. The dinner was for M. Nisard +(French Ambassador to the Vatican), but it wasn't altogether Black. +There were one of the Queen's ladies and one or two secretaries from the +Quirinal embassies. The line between the two parties is not nearly so +sharply drawn as when I was here so many years ago. A few people came in +the evening. Among the first to appear was Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli, +whom I was delighted to see again. It is long since I have seen a +cardinal in all the bravery of his red robes and large jewelled cross, +and for the first time I felt as if I were back in old Rome. We had a +nice talk and plunged into Moscow and all the coronation festivities. I +told him I was very anxious to see the Pope, which he said could easily +be arranged. Nisard, too, was charming--said I should have an audience +speciale as ancienne ambassadrice. I waited to see the cardinal go with +all the usual ceremonies for a prince of the Church. Two big footmen +with flambeaux and tall candles escorted him to his carriage. The +cardinal came alone, which surprised me. I thought they always had an +attendant--a sort of ecclesiastical aide-de-camp. + +Saturday Marquise de Bailleul and I were received by the Queen. Our +audience was at four. I went for her a little before. We drove straight +to the Quirinal, the great entrance on the piazza. Two swell porters +were at the door, but no guards nor soldiers visible anywhere. We went +up the grand staircase, where there was a red carpet and plenty of +flowers, but no servants on the steps. The doors of a large anteroom at +the top of the stairs were open, and there were four footmen in powder, +culottes, and royal red liveries, and three or four men in black. We +left our wraps. I wore my grey velvet and Marquise de Bailleul was in +black with a handsome sable cape (which she was much disgusted at +leaving). We went at once into a large room, where the dame de palais de +service was waiting for us. She had a list in her hand, came forward at +once and named herself, Duchesse d'Arscoli, said she supposed I was +Madame Waddington. I introduced Marquise de Bailleul. The gentleman also +came up and said a few words. There were one or two other ladies in the +room, evidently waiting their turn. In a few minutes the door into the +next room opened and two ladies came out. The duchess went in, remained +a second, then coming back, waved us in. She didn't come in herself, +didn't announce us, and shut the door behind us. We found ourselves in a +large, rather bare room, with no trace of habitation--I fancy it is only +used for official receptions. The Queen was standing at a table about +the middle of the room. She is tall, dark, with fine eyes and a pretty +smile. We made our two curtseys--hadn't time for the third, as she +advanced a step, shook hands, and made us sit down. The visit didn't +last very long. I fancy she was rather tired, as evidently she had been +receiving a good many people, and was probably bored at having to make +phrases to utter strangers she might never see again. We had the usual +royal questions as to our children. As I only had _one_ child my +conversation on that subject soon came to an end, but Marquise de +Bailleul has three small ones, so she got on swimmingly. The Queen +talked very prettily and simply about her own children, and the +difficulty of keeping them natural and unspoiled; said people gave them +such beautiful presents--all sorts of wonderful mechanical toys which +they couldn't appreciate. One thing she said was rather funny--that the +present they liked best was a rag doll the American Ambassadress had +brought them from America. + +As soon as we came out other people went in. I fancy all the strangers +asked to the ball had to be presented first to the Queen. I think the +London rule was rather simpler. There the strangers were always +presented at supper, when the Princess of Wales made her "cercle." + +We went to a ball in the evening at Baron Pasetti's (Austrian Ambassador +to the Quirinal). They have a fine apartment in the Palazzo Chigi. I +remembered the rooms quite well, just as they were in the old days when +Wimpffen was Ambassador. The hall was most brilliant--all Rome there. +The Pasettis are going away, and will be much regretted. I think he is +rather delicate and has had enough of public life. I hadn't seen him +since Florence, when we were all young, and life was then a succession +of summer days--long afternoons in the villas, with roses hanging over +the walls, and evenings on the balcony, with nightingales singing in the +garden and the scent of flowers in the air, "der goldener Zeit der +jungen Liebe" (the golden days of young love). + +Sunday Bessie and I went to the American church. Dr. Nevin is still +away. The church is large, but was quite full--there are evidently many +Americans in Rome. The great mosaics over the altar were given by Mrs. +Field. + + + Wednesday, February 17th. + +Monday night we went to the court ball. It was very amusing, but +extraordinarily simple, not to say democratic. Bessie and I went +together early, so as to get good seats. If I hadn't known we were going +to the palace I should have thought we had made a mistake in the house. +The square of the Quirinal was so quiet, almost deserted--no troops nor +music, nor crowd of people looking on and peering into the carriages to +see the dresses and jewels--no soldiers nor officials of any kind on the +grand staircase. Some tall cuirassiers and footmen in the anteroom--no +chamberlains nor pages--nothing like the glittering crowd of gold lace +and uniforms one usually sees in the anteroom of a palace. We walked +through two or three handsome rooms to the ball-room, where there were +already a great many people. The room is large, high, but rather too +narrow, with seats all round. There was no raised platform for the +court--merely a carpet and two large gilt arm-chairs for the King and +Queen and a smaller one for the Comte de Turin. It was amusing to see +all the people coming in, the different uniforms and jewels of the women +giving at once an air of court. The entrance of the royal cortege was +quite simple. They played the "Marcia Reale," which I don't at all care +for. It is a frivolous, jumpy little tune, not at all the grave, +dignified measure one would expect on such an occasion. There were no +chamberlains walking backward with their great wands of office in their +hands. The master of ceremonies, Count Gianotti, looking very well in +his uniform and broad green ribbon, came first, and almost immediately +behind him the King and Queen, arm in arm, the Count of Turin, and a +small procession of court functionaries. The Queen looked very well in +yellow, with a splendid tiara. She took her seat at once; the King and +Comte de Turin remained standing. What was charming was the group of +young court ladies who followed the Queen--tall, handsome women, very +well dressed. There was no "quadrille d'honneur," none of the royalties +danced. The dancing began as soon as the court was seated--any little +couple, a young lieutenant, an American, any one, dancing under the nose +of the sovereigns. The Queen remained sitting quite alone, hardly +speaking to any one, through three or four dances; then there was a +move, and she made her "cercle," going straight around the room, and +speaking to almost every one. The King made no "cercle," remained +standing near the "corps diplomatique," who were all massed on one side +of the thrones (or arm-chairs). He talked to the ambassadors and +etrangers de distinction (men--they say he rarely speaks to a woman). We +all moved about a little after the Queen had passed, and I found plenty +of old friends and colleagues to talk to. Neither the Russian +Ambassador, Prince Ourousoff, nor any of his staff were present, on +account of the war. + +Tuesday it poured all the morning, so I didn't get my usual walk, and I +tried to put some sort of order in our cards, which are in a hopeless +confusion. The unfortunate porter is almost crazy. There are four of us +here (as Madame de Bailleul's cards and invitations also come here), all +with different names, and it must be impossible not to mix them. + +[Illustration: Victor Emanuel III., King of Italy.] + +It stopped raining in the afternoon and Josephine and I walked up to +Palazzo Brancaccio after tea, to ask about Bessie, who has been ill ever +since her ball. The streets were full of people, a few masks (as it was +Mardi Gras), but quite in the lower classes. I should think the +Carnival was dead, as far as Society is concerned. We got very little +information about Bessie--the porter would not let us go upstairs, said +the Princess was in the country, or perhaps in Paris. It seems he is +quite a character, well known in Rome. When Mr. Field was ill, dying, of +course everybody went to inquire, which seemed to exasperate him, as he +finally replied, "ma si, e malato, va morire, ma lasciarlo in +pace--perche venir seccar la gente?" (yes, yes, he is ill, dying, but +leave him in peace--why do you come and bore people?). + +We stepped in at a little church on our way back, where a benediction +was going on. It was brilliantly lighted, and filled with people almost +all kneeling--princesses and peasants--on the stone floor. It was a +curious contrast to the motley, masquerading crowd just outside. + + + Thursday, 18th. + +It is still showery and the streets very muddy to-day. This morning I +made a solitary expedition to St. Peter's--armed with an Italian +guide-book M. Virgo lent me (it was red, like Baedeker, so I looked +quite the tourist). I went by tram--M. Virgo and the children escorted +me to the bottom of the Via Tritone, and started me. The tramway is most +convenient. We went through the Piazza di Spagna, across the Piazza del +Popolo, and turned off short to the left. It was all quite different +from what I remembered--a fine broad road (Lungo Tevere) (along the +Tiber) with quantities of high, ugly modern buildings, "maisons de +location," villas, and an enormous Ministere, I forget which one, Public +Works, I think, which could accommodate a village. Some of the villas +are too awful--fancy white stucco buildings ornamented with cheap +statues and plaques of majolica and coloured marble. The tram stopped +at the end of the piazza facing the church, but one loses the sense of +immensity being so near. I saw merely the facade and the great stone +perron. I wandered about for an hour finding my way everywhere, and +recognising all the old monuments--Christina of Sweden, the Stuart +monuments, the Cappella Julia, etc. There were quite a number of people +walking about and sitting on the benches, or in the stalls of the little +side chapels, reading their Baedekers. I came home in a botta for the +sum of one franc. I wanted to cross the St. Angelo Bridge and see the +crooked dirty little streets and low dark shops I remembered so +well--and which will all disappear one day--with new quarters and all +the old buildings pulled down. They were all there quite unchanged, only +a little dirtier--the same heaps of decayed vegetables lying about in +the corners, girls and women in bright red skirts and yellow fichus on +their heads, long gold earrings, and gold pins in their hair, standing +talking in the doorways, children playing in the gutter, a general smell +of frittura everywhere. The little dark shops have no windows, only a +low, narrow door, and the people sit in the doorway to get all the light +they can for their work. + +We paid some visits in the afternoon, winding up with Princess +Pallavicini. Her beautiful apartment looked just the same (only there, +too, is an ascenseur) with the enormous anteroom and suites of salons +before reaching the boudoir, where she gave us tea. I remembered +everything, even the flowered Pompadour satin on the walls, just as I +had always seen it. + + + Saturday, February 20th. + +These last two days have been beautiful--real Roman days, bright blue +sky, warm sun, and just air enough to be pleasant. Yesterday I trammed +over again to the Vatican (a trolley car is an abomination in Rome, but +so convenient). I wanted to see the statues and my favourite Apollo +Belvedere, who hasn't grown any older in 24 years--the same beautiful, +spirited young god. As I was coming downstairs I saw some people going +into the garden from a side door, so I stepped up to the gardien, and +said I wanted to go too. He said it was quite impossible without a +permesso signed by one of the officers of the Pope's household. I +assured him in my best Italian that I could have all the permessi I +wanted, that I knew a great many people, was only here de passage and +might not be able to come back another day, and that as I was alone he +really might let me pass--so after a little conversation he chose a time +when no one was passing, opened the door as little as he could and let +me through. There were two or three parties being conducted about by +guides, but no one took any notice of me, and I wandered about for some +time quite happy. It is a splendid garden--really a park. I seemed to +have got out on a sort of terrace (the carriage road below me). There +were some lovely walks, with cypress and ilex making thick shade, and +hundreds of camellias--great trees. The view toward Monte Mario was +divine--everything so clear, hardly any of the blue mist that one almost +always sees on the Campagna near Rome. The sun was too hot when I had to +cross an open space, and I was glad to get back to the dark cypress +walks. It was enchanting, but I think the most beautiful nature would +pall upon me if I knew I must always do the same thing. I am sure Leon +XIII. must have pined often for the green plains and lovely valleys +around Perugia, and I don't believe the most beautiful views of the +Alban hills tipped with snow, and pink in the sunset hues, will make up +to the present Pope for the Lagoons of Venice and the long sweep of the +Grand Canal to the sea. + + + Tuesday, 23d. + +Yesterday Josephine and I drove out to the meet at Acqua Santa, out of +Porta San Giovanni. There were quantities of carriages and led horses +going out, as it is one of the favourite meets--you get out so soon into +the open country. There was such a crowd as we got near that we got out +and walked, scrambling over and through fences. It was a much larger +field than I had ever seen in Rome--many officers (all in uniform) +riding, and many women. The hounds broke away from a pretty little olive +wood on a height, and stretched away across a field to two stone walls, +which almost every one jumped. There were one or two falls, but nothing +serious. They were soon out of sight, but we loitered on the Campagna, +sitting on the stone walls, and talking to belated hunters who came +galloping up, eager to know which way the hunt had gone. + +Sunday we had a party and music at the French Embassy (Vatican). Diemor +played beautifully, so did Teresina Tua. When they played together +Griegg's sonata for piano and violin it was enchanting. All the Black +world was there, and a good many strangers. + + + Thursday, February 25th. + +We dined last night at the Wurts', who have a charming apartment in one +of the finest old palaces (Anticci Mattei) in Rome. The staircase +beautiful, most elaborately carved, really reminded me of Mont St. +Michel. Their rooms are filled with all sorts of interesting things, the +collection of years. The dinner was very pleasant--half Italian, half +diplomatic. + +I have just come in from my audience with the Pope. I found the +convocation when I got home last night. Bessie was rather disgusted at +not having received hers, as we had planned to go together; but she said +she would come with me. She would dress herself in regulation +attire--long black dress and black veil--and take the chance. We had a +mild humiliation as we got to the inner Court. The sentries would not +let us pass. We had the small coupe, with one horse, and it seems +one-horse vehicles are not allowed to enter these sacred precincts. We +protested, saying we had a special audience, and that we couldn't get +out on the muddy pavement, but it was no use; they wouldn't hear of our +modest equipage going in, so we had to cross the court--quite a large +one, and decidedly muddy--on foot, holding up our long dresses as well +as we could. + +It seemed so natural to go up the great stone staircase, with a few +Swiss guards in their striped red and yellow uniform standing about. We +spoke to one man in Italian, asking him the way, and he replied in +German. I fancy very few of them speak Italian. We passed through a good +many rooms filled with all sorts of people: priests, officers, gardes +nobles, women in black, evidently waiting for an audience, valets de +chambre dressed in red damask, camerieri segreti in black velvet +doublets, ruffs and gold chains and cross--a most picturesque and +polyglot assemblage; one heard every language under the sun. + +We were passed on from one room to another, and finally came to a halt +in a large square room, where there were more priests, one or two +monsignori, in their violet robes, and two officers. I showed my paper, +one of the monsignori, Bicletis (maestro di Casa di Sua Santita), came +forward and said the Pope was expecting me; so then I presented Bessie, +explained that her name had been sent in at the same time with mine, and +that if she could be admitted (without the convocation) it would be a +great pleasure to both of us to be received together. He said there +would be no difficulty in that. + +While we were talking to him the door into the audience chamber was +opened, and a large party came out--the Comte and Comtesse d'Eu and +their sons, with a numerous suite. We had barely time to exchange a few +remarks, as Monsignor Bicletis was waiting for us to advance. We found +the Pope standing in the centre of rather a small room. The walls were +hung with red damask, the carpet also was red, and at one end were three +gold chairs. We made low curtseys--didn't kneel nor kiss his hands, +being Protestants. He advanced a few steps, shook hands, and made us sit +down, one on each side of him. He was dressed, of course, entirely in +white. He spoke only Italian--said he understood French, but didn't +speak it easily. He has a beautiful face--so earnest, with a fine upward +look in his eyes; not at all the intellectual, ascetic appearance of Leo +XIII., nor the half-malicious, kindly smile of Pius IX., but a face one +would remember. I asked him if he was less tired than when he was first +named Pope. He said, oh, yes, but that the first days were very +trying--the great heat, the change of habits and climate, and the change +of food (so funny, one would think there needn't be any great change +between Rome and Venice--less fish, perhaps). He talked a little--only a +little--about France, and the difficult times we were passing through; +knew that I was a Protestant and an "old Roman"; asked how many years +since I had been back; said: "You won't find the old Rome you used to +know; there are many, many changes." + +[Illustration: Pope Pius X.] + +He was much interested in all Bessie told him about America and the +Catholic religion in the States--was rather amused when she suggested +that another American cardinal might perhaps be a good thing. He asked +us if we knew Venice, and his face quite lighted up when we spoke of all +the familiar scenes where he had spent so many happy years. He was much +beloved in Venice. He gave me the impression of a man who was still +feeling his way, but who, when he had found it, would go straight on to +what he considered his duty. But I must say that is not the general +impression; most people think he will be absolutely guided by his +"entourage," who will never leave him any initiative. + +As we were leaving I said I had something to ask. "Dica, dica, La prego" +(Please speak), so I explained that I was a Protestant, my son also, but +that he had married a Catholic, and I would like his blessing for my +daughter. He made me a sign to kneel and touched my head with his hand, +saying the words in Latin, and adding, "E per Lei et tutta la sua +famiglia" (for you and all your family). He turned his back slightly +when we went out, so we were not obliged to back out altogether. + +We talked a few moments in the anteroom with Monsignor Bicletis, but he +was very busy, other people going in to the Pope, so we didn't stay and +went down to Cardinal Mery del Val's apartment. He receives in the +beautiful Borgia rooms, with Pinturicchio's marvellous frescoes (there +was such a lovely Madonna over one of the doors, a young pure face +against that curious light-green background one sees so often in the +early Italian masters). The apartment was comparatively +modern--calorifere, electric light, bells, etc. While we were waiting +the Comte and Comtesse d'Eu and their party passed through. + +The Cardinal received us standing, but made us sit down at once. He is a +tall, handsome homme du monde, rather English looking, very young. He +told us he was not yet forty years old. He speaks English as well as I +do (his mother was English), and, they tell me, every other language +equally well. He seemed to have read everything and to be au courant of +all that was said and thought all over the world. He talked a little +more politics than the Pope--deplored what was going on in France, was +interested in all Bessie told him about America and Catholicism over +there. They must be struck with the American priests and bishops whom +they see in Europe, not only their conception, but their practice of +their religion is so different. I had such an example of that one day +when we asked a friend of ours, a most intelligent, highly educated +_modern_ priest, to meet Monsignor Ireland. He was charmed with +him--listened most intently to all he said, particularly when he was +speaking of the wild life out West, near California, and the difficulty +of getting any hold over the miners. (He started a music hall, among +other things, to have some place where the men could go in the evenings, +and get out of the saloons and low drinking-shops.) Our friend perfectly +appreciated the practical energy of the monsignor, but said such a line +would be impossible in France. No priest, no matter how high his rank, +would be allowed such initiative, and the people would not understand. + +He didn't keep us very long, had evidently other audiences, and not time +to talk to everybody. I am very glad to have seen him. He is quite +unlike any cardinal I have ever met--perhaps because he is so much +younger than most of them, perhaps because he seemed more homme du monde +than ecclesiastic; but I daresay that type is changing, too, with +everything else in Rome. We had a most interesting afternoon. After all, +Rome and the Vatican are unique of their kind. + + + Friday, February 26th. + +I had my audience from Queen Margherita alone this afternoon. Bessie and +Josephine have already been. Her palace is in the Veneto (our quarter) +and very near. It is a large, fine building, but I should have liked it +better standing back in a garden, not directly on the street. However, +the Romans don't think so. There are always people standing about +waiting to see her carriage or auto pass out--they wait hours for a +smile from their beloved Regina Margherita. I went up in an +ascenseur--three or four footmen (in black) and a groom of the chambers +at the top. I was ushered down a fine long gallery with handsome +furniture and pictures to a large room almost at the end, where I found +the Marquise Villa Marina (who is always with the Queen), the Duchesse +Sforza Cesarini (lady in waiting), and one gentleman. There were three +or four people in the room, waiting also to be received. Almost +immediately the door into the next room opened, and the Duchesse Sforza +waved me in (didn't come in herself). I had at once the impression of a +charming drawing-room, with flowers, pictures, books, bibelots--not in +the least like the ordinary bare official reception room where Queen +Elena received us. The Queen, dressed in black, was sitting on a sofa +about the middle of the room, and really not much changed since I had +seen her twenty-four years ago at the Quirinal, when the present King +was a little boy, dressed in a blue sailor suit. She is a little +stouter, but her blonde hair and colouring just the same, and si grand +air. She was most charming, talked in French and English, about +anything, everything--asked about my sister-in-law, Madame de Bunsen, +and her daughter Beatrice, whom she had known as a little girl in +Florence. She is very fond of automobiling, so we had at once one great +point of sympathy. She had read "The Lightning Conductor" and was much +amused with it. We talked a little about the great changes in Rome. I +told her about our visit to the Pope, and the impression of simplicity +and extreme goodness he had made upon us. I can't remember all we talked +about. I had the same impression that I had twenty-four years ago--a +visit to a charming, sympathetic woman, very large-minded, to whom one +could talk of anything. + + + Sunday, 28th. + +It has poured all day, but held up a little in the afternoon, so we went +(all four) to see Cardinal Mathieu, who lives in the Villa Wolkonsky. He +had asked us to come and walk in his beautiful garden (with such a view +of the Aqueducts) but that was of course out of the question. He is very +clever and genial, and was rather amused at the account we gave him of +our discussions. We are two Catholics and two Protestants, and argue +from morning till night--naturally neither party convincing the other. +He told us we should go to the Vatican to-morrow--there was a large +French pelerinage which he presented. We would certainly see the Pope +and perhaps hear him speak. + + + Monday. + +We had a pleasant breakfast this morning with Bebella d'Arsoli,[33] in +their beautiful apartment in his father's (Prince Massimo's) palace. +The palace looks so black and melancholy outside, with its heavy portico +of columns (and always beggars sitting on the stone benches under the +portico) that it was a surprise to get into their beautiful rooms--with +splendid pictures and tapestries. The corner drawing-room, where she +received us, flooded with light, showing off the old red damask of the +walls and the splendid ceiling. We went to see the Chapel after +breakfast, where there are wonderful relics, and a famous pavement in +majolica. + +[33] Princess d'Arsoli, nee Bella Brancaccio, granddaughter of Hickson +Field. + +About 3 we started off for St. Peter's. We had all brought our veils +with us, and retired to Bebella's dressing-room where her maid arranged +our heads. We left a pile of hats which Bebella promised to send home +for us, and took ourselves off to the Vatican, taking little Victoria +Ruspoli with us, who looked quite sweet in her white dress and veil--her +great dark eyes bright with excitement. We found many carriages in the +court, as we got to the Vatican, and many more soldiers on the stairs, +and about in the passages. The rooms and long gallery were crowded--all +sorts of people, priests, women, young men, children (some very +nice-looking people) all speaking French. We went at first into the +gallery, but there was such a crowd and such a smell of people closely +packed that we couldn't stay, and just as we were wondering what to do, +Monsignor Bicletis came through and at once told us to come with him. He +took us through several rooms, one large one filled with people waiting +for their audience, into the one next the Pope's, who he said was with +Cardinal Mathieu, and would soon pass. We were quite alone in that room, +except for three or four priests. In a few moments the Pope appeared +with Cardinal Mathieu and quite a large suite. The Cardinal, who had +promised to present Madame de B. (there had been some delay about her +convocation), came up to us at once. We all knelt as the Pope came near, +and he named Madame de B. and little Victoria, who asked for his +blessing for her brothers. He recognised me and Bessie, and said we were +welcome always at the Vatican. He only said a few words to Madame de B. +as he had a long afternoon before him. Cardinal Mathieu told us to +follow them, so we closed up behind the suite, and followed the Pope's +procession. + +There must have been over a hundred people waiting in the next room, and +it was an impressive sight to see them all--men, women, and +children--kneel as the Pope appeared. Some of the children were quite +sweet, holding out their little hands full of medals and rosaries to be +blessed--almost all the girls in white, with white veils, like the +little first communiantes in France. The Pope made his "cercle," +speaking to almost every one--sometimes only a word, sometimes quite a +little talk. We followed him through one or two rooms to the open +loggia, which was crowded. We were very hot, but he sent for his cloak +and hat. We waited some little time but the crowd was so dense--he would +have spoken from the other end of the loggia--and we couldn't possibly +have got through--so we came away, having had again a very interesting +afternoon. + +It is most picturesque driving around the back of St. Peter's and the +Vatican. There are such countless turns and courts and long stretches of +high walls with little narrow windows quite up at the top. Always people +coming and going--cardinals' carriages with their black horses, fiacres +with tourists looking eagerly about them and speaking every possible +language, priests, women in black with black veils, little squads of +Papal troops marching across the squares--and Italian soldiers keeping +order in the great piazza. A curious little old world in the midst of +the cosmopolitan town Rome has become. + + + ROME, March 2d. + +Yesterday Madame de B. and I made an expedition to the Catacombs of San +Calisto fuori Porta San Sebastiano. It was decidedly cold and we were +very glad we hadn't taken the open carriage. The drive out was +charming--first inside the gates, passing the Colosseum, the two great +arches of Constantine and Titus, and directly under the Palatine Hill +and Baths of Caracalla, and then going out through the narrow little +gateway, and for some little distance through high stone walls, we came +upon the countless towers, tombs and columns standing alone in the +middle of the fields, having no particular connection with anything, +that mark the Appian Way, and make it so extraordinarily interesting and +unlike any other drive in the world. I was delighted when we came upon +that funny little stone house, built on the top of a high circular +tomb--I remembered it perfectly. + +The Catacombs stand in a sort of garden or vineyard. There were people +already there, and a party just preparing to go down as we appeared. +They had asked for a guide who spoke French, as they knew no Italian, +and a nice-looking, intelligent young monk was marshalling his party and +lighting the tapers. I thought _they_ were rather short (I am rather +nervous about subterraneous expeditions and one has heard gruesome tales +of people lost in the Catacombs, not so very long ago) but they lasted +quite well. + +It was curious to see all the old symbols again--the fish, the pax +(cross) and to think what they represented to the early bands of +Christians, when the mere fact of being a Christian meant persecution, +suffering, and often a terrible death in the arena of the Colosseum. + +Some of the frescoes are wonderfully preserved--we saw quite well the +heads of saints, martyrs, and decorations of wreaths of flowers or a +delicate arabesque tracery; the most favourite subjects were Jonah and +the whale, a shepherd with a lamb on his shoulders, and kneeling women's +figures. The ladies in our party were wildly interested in the mummies +(terrible looking things), particularly one with the hair quite visible. +We saw of course the niche where the body of Ste. Cecilia was found--but +the body is now removed to the church of Ste. Cecilia in the Trastevere. +They have put, however, a model of the body, representing it exactly, in +the niche, so the illusion is quite possible. + +We walked about for an hour, following quantities of narrow passages, +coming suddenly into small round rooms, which had been chapels, and +still seeing in some of the stone coffins bits of bones, and +inscriptions on the walls. It was rather weird to see the procession +moving along, Indian file, holding their tapers, which gave a faint, +flickering light. The guide had rather a bigger one--on the end of a +long stick. We stopped at San Clemente on our way back, hoping to see +the underground church, but it was too late. The sacristan said we +should have come yesterday--there was a fete, and the two churches were +illuminated. + + + Friday, 4th. + +It has been another beautiful day. I trammed over to the Vatican to see +the Sistine Chapel this time and the Stanze and Loggie of Raphael. It is +a good pull up to the Sistine Chapel, by a rather dark staircase, but +the day was so bright I saw everything very well when I once got there. +The Vatican was very full--people in every direction--almost all English +and German--I didn't hear a word of French or Italian. Two young men +were stretched out flat on their backs on one of the benches, trying to +get a good look at the ceiling through their glasses. I was delighted to +see the Stanze again with many old friends. Do you remember the "Poesia" +on the ceiling of one of the rooms--a lovely figure clad in light blue +draperies, with a young, pure face? I wandered up and down the Loggie, +but I think I was more interested looking down into the Court of San +Damaso, filled with carriages, priests, women in black with black veils +coming and going (I should think the Pope would be exhausted with all +the people he sees) and the general little clerical bustle. The striped +Swiss guard were lounging about in the gateway, and a fine stately +porter in cocked hat and long red cloak at each door. + +Josephine had a dinner in the evening--Cardinal Mathieu, the Austrian +Ambassador to the Vatican and his wife, and other notabilities. There +was quite a large reception after dinner, among others the Grand Duchess +of Saxe-Weimar, who is very easy, charming--likes to see everybody. When +I came downstairs to dinner I found all the ladies with lace fichus or +boas on their shoulders, and I was told that I was quite incorrect--that +one couldn't appear decolletee in a cardinal's presence. I could find +nothing in my hurry when I went back to my room, but a little (very +little) ermine cravat, but still even that modified my low body +somewhat, and at least showed that my intentions were good. The big red +salon looks charming in the evening and is a most becoming room--the +dark red silk walls show off the dresses so well. The cardinal had his +whist, or rather his bridge, after dinner, for even the Church has +succumbed to the universal craze--one sees all the ecclesiastics in +Black circles just as intent upon their game and criticising their +partner's play quite as keenly as the most ardent clubmen. I suppose +bridge is a pleasure to those who play, but they don't look as though +they were enjoying themselves--their faces so set and drawn, any +interruption a catastrophe, and nobody ever satisfied with his partner's +play. + +We had very good music. An American protege of Josephine's with a good +high barytone voice sang very well, and the young French trio (all +eleves du Conservatoire de Paris) really played extremely well. The +piano in one of Mendelssohn's trios was quite charming--so sure and +delicate. It was a pleasure to see the young, refined, intelligent faces +so absorbed in their music, quite indifferent to the gallery. The young +violinist played a romance (I forget what--Rubinstein, I think) with so +much sentiment that I said to him "Vous etes trop jeune pour jouer avec +tant d'ame," to which he replied proudly, "Madame, j'ai vingt ans." +C'est beau d'avoir vingt ans. I wonder how many of us at fifty remember +how we thought and felt at twenty. Perhaps there would be fewer +heart-burnings in the world if we older ones did remember sometimes our +own youth. + + + Sunday, March 6th. + +Yesterday I walked up to Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in +Laterano. I took the Scala Santa on my way to San Giovanni. Several +people were going up--some priests, Italian soldiers, two or three +peasants and two ladies--mother and daughter, I should think, their long +black cloth dresses very much in their way evidently. I watched them for +some time. I wonder what it means to them, and if they really believe +that they are the steps from Jerusalem which our Saviour came down. I +stayed some little time in San Giovanni. It is magnificent certainly, +but there is too much gilding and mosaic and modern decoration. The view +from the steps was enchanting when I came out; the air was delicious, +the sun bright in a bright blue sky, and the mountains soft and purple +in the distance. + +We had an interesting breakfast--two Benedictine monks from the great +abbaye of Solesmes. They talked very moderately about their expulsion, +and the wrench it was to leave the old monastery and begin life again in +new surroundings. The older man especially seemed to feel it very much. +I suppose he had spent all his life inside those old grey walls--reading +and meditating and bound up in the interests and routine of his order. +They had come to Rome to see the Pope, and consult with him about +suppressing secular music in the churches, and substituting the +Gregorian chants everywhere. It is a very difficult question; of course +some of the music they have now in the churches is impossible. When you +hear the "Meditation de Thais" played at some ceremony, and you think +what Thais was, it is out of the question to admit such music in a +church--on the other hand the strict Gregorian chant is very severe, +particularly sung without any organ. I daresay educated musicians would +prefer it, but to the ordinary assemblage, accustomed to the great peal +of the organ with occasionally, in the country for instance at some +festa, the national anthem or some well-known military march being +played, the monotonous, old-world chant would say nothing. We shall hear +them at the great festival at St. Peter's for San Gregorio. + + + Thursday, 10th. + +It was warm and lovely Tuesday. Bessie, Josephine and I walked down to +J.'s work-room in the Convent of St. Euphemia, somewhere beyond +Trajan's Forum, before breakfast. It was too warm walking along the +broad street by the Quirinal. We were thankful to take little dark +narrow side streets. The "ouvroir" (work-room) was interesting--quantities +of women and girls working--some of the work, fine lingerie, lace-mending, +embroidery beautifully done. It is managed by sisters, under Josephine's +direction, who gives a great deal of time and thought to her work. They +take in any child or girl from the street, feed them and have them taught +whatever they can do. It was pretty to see the little smiling faces and +bright eyes as Josephine passed through the rooms. + +We went to a pleasant tea in the afternoon at Countess Gianotti's (wife +of Count Gianotti, Master of Ceremonies to the King). There were quite a +number of people--a very cosmopolitan society (she herself is an +American) and she gave us excellent waffles. + +Yesterday we had a delightful excursion with Countess de Bertheny in her +automobile. She came to get me and Bessie about 11. We picked up two +young men and started for Nemi and the Castelli Romani. We drove +straight out from Porta San Giovanni to Albano. It was quite lovely all +the way, particularly when we began the steep ascent of Albano, and +looked back--the Campagna a beautiful stretch of purple, the aqueducts +standing well out all around us, and the statues of San Giovanni just +visible and looking enormous, in the mist that always hangs over Rome, +St. Peter's a great white spot with the sun full upon it. We rattled +through Albano. The streets looked animated, full of people, all getting +out of our way as fast as they could. + +The door into the Doria Villa was open; we just had a glimpse of the +garden which looked cool and green, with a perspective of long walks, +ending in a sort of bosquet, but we passed so quickly that it was +merely a fleeting impression. We drove through Ariccia to Gensano--a +beautiful road, splendid trees, making a perfect shade, the great Chigi +Palace looking just the same, a huge grim pile--quite the old chateau +fort, built at the entrance of the little village to protect it from +invading enemies. If stones could speak I wonder what they would say to +modern inventions, automobiles, huge monsters certainly, but peaceful +ones, rushing past, trains puffing and smoking along the Campagna, great +carts drawn by fine white oxen going lazily along, the driver generally +asleep under his funny little tent of red or blue linen, and nobody +thinking of harm. + +We drove through Gensano, then turned off sharp to the left to Nemi--a +fairly good road. We soon came in sight of the lake, which looked +exactly as I remembered it--a lifeless blue, like a deep cup surrounded +by green hills. They used to tell us, I remember, that there were no +fish, no living thing in the lake, but Ruspoli says there are plenty +now--very good ones. + +We followed a beautiful winding road up to Nemi, which is a compact +little village on the top of a hill--the great castle standing out well. +It has just been bought by Don Enrico Ruspoli, and he and his charming +American wife are making it most picturesque and livable. We breakfasted +at the little Hotel de Nemi--not at all bad--the dining-room opening on +a terrace with such a view--at our feet the Campagna rolling away its +great waves of blue purple to a bright dazzling white streak, the +sea--on one side a stretch of green valley leading to all the different +little villages; on the other the lake with its crown of olive-covered +hills. + +Just as we were finishing breakfast Ruspoli appeared to ask us if we +would come and see the castle. We entered directly from the little +square of the town--the big doors face the church. There is a fine stone +staircase, and halls and rooms innumerable. They have only just begun to +work on it--have made new floors (a sort of mosaic, small stones, just +as I remember them at Frascati in Villa Marconi) and put water +everywhere, but there is still a great deal to do. The proportions of +the rooms are beautiful, and the view divine. As in all old Italian +castles some of the village houses were built directly into the wall of +the castle. They have already bought and knocked down many of these +(giving the inhabitants instead comfortable, clean, modern houses which +they probably won't like nearly as well) and are arranging a beautiful +garden in their place. They have also a terrace planted with trees about +half-way down the slope to the lake, which would be a divine place to +read or dream away a long summer's day. I don't think there are ten +yards of level ground on the place. + +[Illustration: Great New Bridge from Albano to Ariccia. + +Built by Pope Pius IX.] + +We couldn't stay very long as we were going on to Frascati and Castle +Gondolfo. They gave us tea, and when we came out on the piazza we found +the whole village congregated around the automobiles (another had +arrived from Rome--I am so cross I didn't bring mine with Strutz, it +would have been so convenient for all the excursions). It is a wild +beautiful spot, but I should think lonely. We went back to Albano, saw +the great bridge built by Pio Nono, with its three tiers of arches, the +famous tombs--Horatii, Curiatii and Pompey, and then drove along the +beautiful "galeria di sotto" to Castle Gondolfo, the old crooked ilex +trees nearly meeting over our heads, and the Campagna with lovely lights +and shades flitting over it, far down at our feet. There everything +looked exactly as I remembered it. It seemed to me the same priests were +walking about under the trees, the same men riding minute donkeys, +with their legs nearly touching the ground; the same great carts, +lumbering peacefully along, the driver usually asleep until the horn of +the automobile close behind him roused him into frantic energy; however +they were all most smiling, evidently don't hate the auto as they do in +some parts of France. + +We stopped at the Villa Barberini at Castle Gondolfo--such a beautiful +garden, but so neglected--great long dark walks, trees like high black +walls on each side, and big bushes of white and red camellias almost as +tall as the trees, roses just beginning. In every direction broken +columns, vases, statues (minus arms and legs) carved benches, all +falling to pieces. We went into the Villa which is usually let to +strangers, but it was most primitive--brick floors everywhere (except in +the salons, where there was always the mosaic pavement), and the +simplest description of furniture--ordinary iron bed-steads, and iron +trepieds in the master's bed-rooms, but a magnificent view of sea and +Campagna from the balcony, and a beautiful cool, bracing air. + +We drove on through Marino and Frascati. We passed the little chapel on +the road where we used to see all the people praying the great cholera +year. It was open, and one or two women were kneeling just inside. The +atmosphere was so transparent that Rocca di Papa and Monte Cavo seemed +quite near. The Piazza of Frascati was just the same, the Palazzo +Marconi at one side with the great Aldobrandini Villa overtopping it and +the Villa Torlonia opposite. We didn't go into the town, but took the +steep road down by the railway station. There everything is changed--it +didn't seem at all the Frascati we had once lived in--quantities of new, +ugly villas, and an enormous modern Grand Hotel. + +We got home about 6.30--the Campagna quite beautiful and quiet in the +soft evening light. There were very few people on the road, every now +and then a shepherd in his long sheepskin cloak, staff and broad-brimmed +hat appearing on the top of one of the many little mounds which are +dotted all over the Campagna, and occasionally in the distance a dog +barking. + + + March 17th. + +Bessie and I have just come in from the last meet of the season at +Cecilia Metella. It is such a favourite rendezvous that there is always +a great crowd, almost as many people walking about on the Campagna as +riding. It was a very pretty sight. There were quantities of handsome +horses, but I don't know that it was quite comfortable walking when the +hunt moved off. Some of the young men--principally officers--were taking +preliminary gallops in every direction, and jumping backward and forward +over a large ditch. One of them knocked down an Englishwoman--at least I +don't think he really knocked her, but he alighted so near her that she +was frightened, and slipped getting out of his way. We stopped to speak +to her, but she said she wasn't at all hurt, and had friends with her. +The master of the hounds--Marchese Roccagiovine--didn't look very +pleased, and I should think a large, motley field, with a good many +women and careless riders, would be most trying to a real sportsman, +such as he is. Giovanni Borghese told me there were two hundred people +riding, and I can quite believe it. + +[Illustration: Roman Huntsmen on the Campagna. + +Ancient Roman aqueduct in the background.] + +We had a delightful day yesterday, but rather a fatiguing one--I am +still tired. We made an excursion (a family party--Bessie, Josephine, +her two children, Mr. Virgo and two of his friends--a Catholic priest +and a student preparing for orders--all Englishmen). We went by train +to Frascati, and from there to Tusculum, carrying our breakfast with us. +We passed the little Campagna station (Ciampino) where we have stopped +so often. Do you remember the old crazy-looking station, and the +station-master, yellow and shivering, and burned up with fever. Now it +is quite a busy little place, people getting on and off the trains and +one or two brisk porters. The arrival at Frascati was a sight. We were +instantly surrounded by a crowd of donkey-boys and carriages--nice +little victorias with red flowers in the horses' heads and feathers in +the coachmen's hats--all talking at the top of their voices; but between +Mr. Virgo and Pietro, Josephine's Italian footman, who had charge of the +valise with the luncheon, we soon came to terms, and declined all +carriages, taking three or four donkeys. + +It isn't a long walk to Tusculum, and Josephine and I both preferred +walking--besides I don't think I should have had the courage to mount in +the piazza with all the crowd looking on and making comments; however, +Bessie did, and she sat her donkey very lightly and gracefully, making a +great effect with her red hat and red parasol. Perhaps the most +interesting show was Pietro. He was so well dressed in a light grey +country suit that I hardly recognised him. He stoutly refused to be +separated from his valise, put it in front of him on the donkey, sat +well back himself and beamed at the whole party. He is a typical Italian +servant--perfectly intelligent, perfectly devoted (can neither read nor +write), madly interested in everybody, but never familiar nor wanting in +respect. I ask him for everything I want. He does it, or has it done at +once, better and cheaper than I could, and I am quite satisfied when I +hear his delightful phrase "Ci penso io"--I am sure it will be done. + +We went up through the Aldobrandini garden. It looked rather deserted; +no one ever lives there now, but it is let occasionally to strangers. +Men were working in the garden; there were plenty of violets and a few +roses--it is still early in the season for them. In a basin of one of +the fountains a pink water-lily--only one--quite beautiful. The +fountains were lovely--sparkling, splashing, living--everything else +seemed so dead. + +As we wound up the steep paths we had enchanting views of the Campagna, +looking like a great blue sea, at our feet, and Rome seemed a long, low +line of sunlight, with the dome of St. Peter's hanging above it in the +clouds. The road was very steep, and decidedly sunny, so I mounted my +donkey, Father Evans walking alongside. Monte Cavo, Rocca di Papa, the +Madonna del Tufo, all seemed very near, it was so clear and the air was +delicious as we got higher. I recognised all the well-known places, the +beginning of the Roman pavement, the Columbarium, Cicero's house, etc. + +We were quite ready for breakfast when we got to Tusculum, and looked +about for a shady spot under the trees. There are two great stones, +almost tables, in the middle of the "amfiteatro," where people usually +spread out their food, but the sun was shining straight down on them; we +didn't think we could stand that. We found a nice bit of grass under the +trees and established ourselves there. It was quite a summer's day, and +the rest and quiet after toiling up the steep paths was delightful. + +[Illustration: Waiting for the Hounds.] + +After breakfast Josephine and I walked quite up to the top of the hill, +the trees making a perfect dome of verdure over our heads. There was no +sound except our own voices, and the distant thud of horses' feet +cantering in a meadow alongside, an absolute stillness everywhere. Such +a view! Snow on the Sabine Mountains, sun on the Alban Hills, the +Campagna on either side blue and broken like waves, and quite +distinct, a long white line, the sea. + +While we were walking about we noticed two carabinieri, very well +mounted, who seemed to be always hovering near us, so we asked them what +they were doing up there. They promptly replied, taking care of the +"societa." We could hardly believe we heard rightly; but it was quite +true, they were there for us. They told us that when it was known that a +number of people were coming up to Tusculum (there were two other +parties besides us) they had orders to come up, keep us always in sight, +and stay as long as we did. We gave them some wine and sandwiches, and +they became quite communicative--told us there were brigands and +"cattiva gente" (wicked people) about; that at Rocca di Papa, one of the +little mountain villages quite near, there were 500 inhabitants, 450 of +whom had been in prison for various crimes, and that people were +constantly robbed in these parts. I wouldn't have believed it if any one +had told us, but they always kept us in sight. + +We decided to go home through the Villa Ruffinella. Donkeys are not +allowed inside, and we thought probably not horses either, but the +carabinieri came in and showed us the way down. The grounds are +splendid--we walked first down through a beautiful green allee, then up, +a good climb. The villa is enormous--uninhabited and uncared for--a +charming garden and great terrace with stone benches before the house +looking toward Rome. The garden, of course, wild and ragged, but with +splendid possibilities. Just outside the gate we came upon a little +church. Three or four girls and women with bright-coloured skirts and +fichus and quantities of coarse jet-black hair were sitting on the steps +working at what looked like coarse crochet work and talking hard. The +carabinieri were always near, opened two or three gates for us, and only +left us when we were quite close to the town, well past the gates of the +Aldobrandini Villa. + +As we had some little time before the train started, I went off with +Bessie to have a look at Palazzo Marconi. It is now occupied by the +municipio and quite changed. We found a youth downstairs who couldn't +imagine what we wanted and why we wanted to go up; however, I explained +that I had lived there many years ago, so finally he agreed to go up +with us. The steps looked more worn and dirty--quite broken in some +places--and the frescoes on the walls, which were bright blue and green +in our time, are almost effaced. It was all so familiar and yet so +changed. I went into father's room and opened the window on the terrace, +where we had stood so often those hot August nights, watching the mist +rise over the Campagna and the moon over the sea. There was very little +furniture anywhere--a few chairs and couches in the small salon that we +had made comfortable enough with our own furniture from Rome. The great +round room with the marble statues has been turned into a salle de +conseil, with a big writing-table in the middle, and chairs ranged in a +semicircle around the room. There was nothing at all in our old +bed-rooms--piles of cartons in one corner. The marble bath-tub was black +and grimy. We couldn't see the dining-room, people were in it, but we +went out to the hanging-garden--all weeds, and clothes hanging out to +dry. The fountain was going at the back of the court, but covered with +moss, and bits of stone were dropping off. It all looked very +miserable--I don't think I shall ever care to go back. There seemed just +the same groups of idle men standing about as in our time--dozens of +them doing nothing, hanging over the wall looking at the people come up +from the railway station. They tell me they never work; even when they +own little lots of land or vignas they don't work themselves--the +peasants from the Abruzzi come down at stated seasons, dig and plant and +do all the work. One can't understand it, for they look a tall, fine +race, all these peasants of the Castelli Romani, strong, well-fed, +broad-shouldered. I suppose there must be a strong touch of indolence in +all the Latin races. + +It was after six when we got back to Rome. We had just time to rush +home, get clean gloves and long skirts, and start for the Massimo Palace +to see the great fete. Once a year the palace is opened to the general +public, and the whole of Rome goes upstairs and into the chapel. It is +on St. Philippe's day, when a miracle was performed in the Massimo +family, a dead boy resuscitated in 1651. There was a crowd assembled as +we drove up, tramways stopped, and the getting across the pavement was +rather difficult. The walls of the palace and portico were hung with red +and gold draperies, the porter and footman in gala liveries, the old +beggars squatted about inside the portico, the gardes municipaux keeping +order, and a motley crowd struggling up the grand staircase--priests, +women, children, femmes du monde, peasants, policemen, forestieri, two +cooks in their white vestons, nuns, Cappucini--all striving and jostling +to get along. We stopped at Bebella's apartment, who gave us tea. She +had been receiving all day, but almost every one had gone. We talked to +her a few moments, and then d'Arsoli took us upstairs to the chapel (by +no means an easy performance, as there were two currents going up and +coming down). The chapel was brilliantly lighted, and crowded; a +benedizione was going on, with very good music from the Pope's +chapel--those curious, high, unnatural voices. All the relics were +exposed, and Prince Massimo, in dress clothes and white cravat, was +standing at the door. It was a most curious sight. D'Arsoli told us that +people had begun to come at seven in the morning. When we went home +there was still a crowd on the staircase, stretching out into the +street, and a long line of tram-cars stopped. + + + Friday, March 18th. + +It rained rather hard this morning, but we three got ourselves into the +small carriage and went down to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia to hear +the Benedictine monk Don Guery try the Gregorian chants with the big +organ. The organ is a fine one, made at Nuremberg. An organist arrived +from St. Anselmo to accompany the chants. They sounded very fine, but I +thought rather too melodious and even modern, but Don Guery assured me +that the one I particularly noticed was of the eleventh century. + + + Tuesday, 22d. + +We seem always to be doing something, but have had two quiet evenings +this week. Friday night we went to the Valle to see Marchesa Rudini's +Fete de Bienfaisance. The heat was something awful, as the house was +packed, and as at all amateur performances they were unpunctual, and +there were terribly long intervals. The comedie was well acted, a little +long, but the clou of the evening was the ballet-pantomime, danced by +all the prettiest women in Rome. The young Marchesa Rudini (nee +Labouchere) looked charming as a white and silver butterfly, and danced +beautifully, such pretty style, not a gesture nor a pas that any one +could object to. The rest of the troop too were quite charming, coming +in by couples--the Princess Teano and Therese Pecoul a picture--both +tall, one dark, one fair, and making a lovely contrast. I should think +they must have made a lot of money. + +Saturday I had a pleasant afternoon at the Palazzo dei Cesari with Mr. +and Mrs. Seth Low. He is an excellent guide, had already been all over +the palace with Boni and knew exactly what to show us. It was a +beautiful afternoon and the view over Rome, the seven hills, and the +Forum was divine. These first Roman Emperors certainly knew where to +pitch their tents--what a magnificent scale they built upon in those +days. The old Augustus must have seen wonderful sights in the Forum from +the heights of the Palatine. + +Josephine had a large dinner in the evening for the Grand Duchess and +Cardinal Vannutelli. It was very easy and pleasant, and we all wore our +little fichus most correctly as long as the Cardinal was there (they +never stay very long), but were glad to let them slip off as soon as he +went away, for we had a great many people in the evening and the rooms +were warm. I had rather an interesting talk with an old Italian friend +(not a Roman) over the tremendous influx of strangers and Italians from +all parts of Italy to Rome. He says au fond the Romans hate it--they +liked the old life very much better--they were of much more importance; +it meant something then to be a Roman prince. Now, with all the Northern +Italians, Court people and double Diplomatic Corps Rome has become too +cosmopolitan. People amuse themselves, and dance and hunt, and give +dinners at the Grand Hotel and trouble themselves very little about the +old Roman families (particularly those who have lost money and don't +receive any more). The Romans have a feeling of being put aside in their +own place. + +It was beautiful this morning, so I took my convenient tram again and +went over to see the pictures of the Vatican. Such a typical peasant +couple were in the tram, evidently just down from the mountains, as they +were looking about at everything, and were rather nervous when the tram +made a sudden stop. The woman (young and rather pretty) had on a bright +blue skirt, a white shirt with a red corset over it, a pink flowered +apron, green fichu on her head, and long gold ear-rings with a coral +centre. The man, a big broad-shouldered fellow, had the long cloak with +the cape lined with green that the men all wear here, and a slouched hat +drawn low down over his brows. They got out at St. Peter's and went into +the church. I went around by the Colonnade as I was going to the +pictures. There were lots of people on the stairs. It certainly is a +good stiff pull up. + +I stayed about an hour looking at the pictures--all hanging exactly +where I had always seen them, except the Sposalizio of St. Catherine, +which was on an easel near the window; some one evidently copying it. I +was quite horrified coming back through the Stanze by some English +people--three women--who were calmly lunching in one corner of the room. +They were all seated, eating sandwiches out of a paper bag, and drinking +out of a large green bottle. Everybody stopped and looked at them, and +they didn't mind at all. The gardien was looking on like all the rest. I +was so astounded at his making no remarks that I said to him, surely +such a thing is forbidden; to which he replied smilingly: "No--no, non +fanno male a nessnno--non fanno niente d'indecente" (No, they are doing +no harm to any one, they are doing nothing indecent). That evidently was +quite true; but I must say I think it required a certain courage to +continue their repast with all the public looking on, giggling and +criticising freely. + +I dined this evening with Malcolm Kahn--Persian Minister--and an old +colleague of ours in London. It was very pleasant--General Brusatti, one +of the King's Aides-de-Camp, took me in, and I had Comte Greppi, ancien +Ambassadeur, on the other side. Greppi is marvellous--really a very old +man, but as straight as an arrow, and remembering everybody. Tittone, +Minister of Foreign Affairs, was there, but I wasn't near him at table, +which I regretted, as I should have liked to talk to him. + + + Palm Sunday, March 27th. + +Bessie and I went to the American church this morning, and afterward to +the Grand Hotel to breakfast with some friends. The restaurant was +crowded, so many people have arrived for Easter, and it was decidedly +amusing--a great many pretty women and pretty dresses. It poured when we +came away. We had all promised to go to an amateur performance of the +Stabat Mater at the old Doria Palace in Piazza Navona. It was rather +damp, with draughts in every direction, so Mrs. Law and I decided we +would not stay to the end, but would go for a drive until it was time to +go back to tea at the Grand Hotel (it is rather funny, the first month I +was here I never put my foot in the Grand Hotel, and I was rather +disappointed, as tea there in the Palm Garden with Tziganes playing, is +one of the great features of modern Rome, and now I am there nearly +every day). It was coming down in torrents when we came out of the +concert, and a drive seemed insane, so I suggested a turn in St. Peter's +(which is always a resource on a rainy day in Rome). That seemed +difficult to accomplish, though, when we arrived at the steps--we +couldn't have gone up those steps and across the wide space at the top +without getting completely soaked. However I remembered old times, and +told the man to drive around to the Sagrestia. He protested, so did all +the beggars around the steps, who wanted to open the door of the +carriage. We couldn't get in--the door was shut, etc., but I thought we +would try, so accordingly we drove straight to the Sagrestia. The door +was open--a man standing there who opened the carriage door and told the +coachman where to stand. I don't think I ever saw rain come down so +hard, and so straight. It was very interesting walking through all the +passages at the back of St. Peter's, and into the church through the +sacristy, where priests and children were robing and just starting for +some service with tapers and palms in their hands. We followed the +procession, and found ourselves just about in the middle of the church. +There were still draperies hanging on the columns and seats marked off. +There had been a ceremony of some kind in the morning, and a great many +people were walking about. We stopped some little time at the great +bronze statue of St. Peter. I was astounded at the quantity and quality +of people who came up and kissed the toe of the Saint. Priests and nuns +of course, and old people, both men and women, but it seemed +extraordinary to me to see young men, tall, good-looking fellows, bend +down quite as reverently as the others and kiss the toe. They were +singing in one of the side chapels--we listened for a little while--and +all over the church everywhere people kneeling on the pavement. + +We went back to the Grand Hotel for tea, and dined with the young +Ruspolis, who have a handsome apartment in the Colonna Palace. The +dinner was for the Grand Duchess, and was pleasant enough. There was a +small reception in the evening, and almost every one went afterward to +Princesse Pallavicini's who receives on Sunday evening. I like the +informal evening receptions here very much. It is a pleasant way of +finishing the evening after a dinner, and so much more agreeable than +the day receptions--at least you do see a few men in the +evening--whereas they all fly from afternoons and teas. As every one +receives there is always some house to go to. + + + Monday, March 28th. + +I have had a nice solitary morning in the Forum, with my beloved Italian +guide book, a little English brochure with a map of the principal +sights, and occasional conversations with the workmen, of whom there are +many, as they are excavating in every direction, and German tourists. +The Germans, I must say, are always extremely well up in antiquities, +and quite ready to impart their information to others. They are a little +long sometimes, but one usually finds that they know what they are +talking about. + +There are of course great changes since I have seen the Forum. They are +excavating and working here all the time. The King takes a great +interest in all that sort of work, and often appears, it seems, early in +the morning and unexpectedly, when anything important is going on. The +Basilica Julia (enormous) has been quite opened out since my day; and +another large temple opposite is most interesting, with splendid bits +left of marble pavement--some quite large squares of pink marble that +were beautiful; and in various places quantities of coins melted and +incrusted in the marble which looks as if the temple had been destroyed +by a fire. + +There was little shade anywhere. I hadn't the courage to walk in the sun +as far as the Vestals' house, which is really most interesting. The +recent excavations have brought to light so many rooms, passages, +frescoes, etc., that the ordinary, every-day life of the Vestal Virgins +has been quite reconstructed. One could follow them in their daily +avocations. From where I was sitting I could see some of the great +statues--some of the figures in quite good preservation, two of them +holding their lamps. I found a nice square stone, and sat there lazily +taking in the enchanting views on all sides--the Palatine Hill behind +me, the Capitol on one side, on the other the three enormous arches of +the Temple of Constantine; at my feet the Via Sacra running straight +away to the Colosseum, the sky a deep, soft blue throwing out every line +and bit of sculpture on the countless pillars, temples and arches that +spring up on all sides. From a height, the Palatine Hill, for instance, +the Forum always looks to me like an enormous cemetery--one loses the +impression of each separate building or ruin. It might be a street of +tombs rather than the busy centre of a great city. + +There were plenty of people going about--bands of Cook's tourists being +personally conducted and instructed. If the gentleman who explains Roman +history gives the same loose rein to his imagination as the one we used +to hear in Versailles conducting the British public through the +Historical Portrait Gallery, the present generation will have curious +ideas as to the deeds of daring and wonderful rule of all the Augustuses +and Vespasians who have made the Palace of the Caesars the keystone of +magnificent and Imperial Rome; and again "unwritten history" will be +responsible for many wonderful statements. However, I wasn't near enough +to hear the explanations. People were still coming in when I left, and +all the way home I met carriages filled with strangers. + +We went out again rather late. I went for tea to Marchesa Vitelleschi, +and before I came away Vitelleschi came in. I wanted to see him to +thank him for sending me his book, a Roman novel, "Roma che se ne +va."[34] It is very cleverly written, and an excellent picture of the +Rome of 35 years ago, as we first knew it. I should think it would +interest English and Americans very much, I wonder he hasn't translated +it. + +[34] Rome which is disappearing. + +I found quite a party assembled in the little green salon when I got +back--Don Guery, the Benedictine monk, who wishes to arrange a concert +with Josephine for her charities, and M. Alphonse Mustel, who has just +come from Paris with his beautiful organ. He arrived this morning early +and hadn't yet found a room anywhere--all the hotels crowded. They say +that for years they haven't had so many strangers for Holy Week. He is +coming to play here Thursday afternoon. + +We had a quiet evening, and after dinner Mr. Virgo read to us the book I +am so mad about, "The Call of the Wild." He read extremely well, and I +liked the book even better hearing it read. It is a marvellous +description of that wild life in the Klondyke, and a beautiful poetical +strain all through. The children listened attentively, were wildly +interested, particularly when poor Buck was made to drag the sledge so +heavily loaded, for his master to win his bet. We also want to read +Cardinal Mathieu's article in the "Revue des Deux Mondes," "Les derniers +jours de Leon XIII."; but we have so rarely a quiet evening, and in the +daytime every one is out in the beautiful Roman sunshine. + +We have all come upstairs early (ten o'clock) so I am profiting of a +quiet hour to write, as I can't go to bed so early. This street is +rather noisy. It is on the way to the station and some of the big +hotels. Cabs and big omnibuses go through it all day and all night. I +don't mind the noise. I rather like the roar of a big city--it means +life. + + + Thursday, March 31st. + +It is pouring to-day, and we have been out all day. I went to church +this morning, but didn't get too wet with a thick serge dress and +umbrella; then to breakfast at the Grand Hotel with some friends, and an +excursion to the Palace of the Caesars in prospect, under the guidance of +Mr. Baddeley, who is an authority on all Roman antiquities and a great +friend of Boni's. It rained so hard when we were sitting in the Palm +Garden for coffee, that it seemed impossible the drops shouldn't come +through, and we looked to see if little puddles were not forming +themselves on the floor under our chairs, but no, it was quite dry. + +We started in shut carriages, thinking we would try for the Palace of +the Caesars, where we could get refuge, but it was shut, so we went on to +San Giovanni in Laterano, and had an interesting hour wandering about +the church. Our guide had old artistic Rome at his fingers' ends, and it +certainly makes all the difference in seeing the curious old tombs and +monuments when one has some idea as to who the people were, and what +sort of lives they led. Mr. Baddeley said, like all the people who +really live in Italy, that the summer was the time to see Rome; that no +one could imagine what a Roman "festa" was unless he had seen one in the +height of summer, when the whole population was out and in the streets +all day and all night, in a frenzy of amusement. No priests were in the +streets; a sort of tacit concession, or tolerance for just one or two +occasions. + +We came back here for tea, as M. Mustel had promised to play for us this +afternoon, and Josephine had asked some of her friends. The organ +sounded splendidly in her big music-room, where there is little +furniture and no draperies to deaden the sound. He played of course +extremely well, and brought out every sound of his instrument. Two +preludes of Bach were quite beautiful; also the prelude of +"Parsifal"--so much sound at times that it seemed an orchestra, and then +again beautifully soft. We were all delighted with it. + +People stayed rather late, but Bessie and I and Sir Donald Wallace, who +had come to tea, started off to St. Peter's. It is the tradition in Rome +to go to St. Peter's on Holy Thursday. In our time the whole city +went--it was quite a promenade de societe. I believe they do still, but +we were rather late. The church looked quite beautiful as we drove +up--brilliantly lighted, the big doors open, quantities of people going +up the steps and through a double line of _Italian_ soldiers into the +church. The "Miserere" was over, but the chapel was still lighted, a +good many people kneeling at the altar. The church was crowded, and +every one pushing toward the grand altar, which was being washed. They +were also exposing the relics from the two high balconies on each side +of the altar. Many people were kneeling, and every now and then a +procession came through the crowd of priests and choir-boys with +banners, all chanting, and kneeling when they came near the altar--of +course there was the usual collection of gaping, irreverent tourists, +commenting audibly, and wondering if anybody really believed those were +the actual nails that came out of the cross, or the thorn out of the +Crown of Thorns, etc., etc., also "why are they making such a fuss +washing their altar--why couldn't they do it this morning when no one +was in the church." + +We had some little difficulty in getting away, as the crowd was +awful--getting worse every moment. It was beautiful when we did get +out--the great Piazza quite black, a steady stream still pouring into +the church. The lights from inside threw little bright spots on the +gun-barrels and belts of the soldiers--the great mass of the Vatican +quite black, with little lights twinkling high up in some of the +windows. + +I am decidedly tired and stiff--I think being rained upon all day and +standing on damp pavements and in windy corners is rather a trial to any +one with rheumatic tendencies--but I have enjoyed my day thoroughly, +particularly the end at St. Peter's. It so reminded me of old times when +we used to go to all the ceremonies, beginning with the "Pastorale" at +Christmas time and finishing with the Easter Benediction and +"Girandola." + +We finished "The Call of the Wild" this evening, and now we must take +something else. I should like the "Figlia di Jorio" of d'Annunzio. They +say the Italian is quite beautiful, but the morals, I am afraid, are not +of the same high order. I shall try and see it. + + + ROME, Saturday, April 2, 1904. + +It was bright yesterday, but cold. The snow was quite thick on the +Sabine Hills--they looked beautiful as we drove out into the country +through Porta San Giovanni before going to the church of Santa Croce in +Jerusalemme, where Prince Colonna had asked us to come and see a curious +ceremony--he himself carrying a cross at the head of a procession. +Bessie and I with the two children and the dog (we would have left him +in the carriage) tried to see some of the churches and hear some music, +but there were such crowds everywhere that we couldn't get in, so we +took a drive instead. There was such a crowd at Santa Croce that we +couldn't have got anywhere near the altar if we hadn't had a card from +Colonna; that took us into the Sagrestia where they gave us chairs, and +we sat there some little time watching all the "neri" (Blacks) assemble. +They proposed to show us the relics to while away the time, so we were +taken up a very steep staircase, along a narrow short passage to a small +room where they are kept. The priest lighted tapers, made his little +prayer, and then unveiled his treasures. There were pieces of the Cross, +a nail, St. Thomas's unbelieving finger, and the inscription on a piece +of wood that was over the Cross, "Jesus King of the Jews." It was an +old, blackened, almost rotten square, with the inscription in Latin, +hardly legible, but the priest showed us some letters and numbers that +were quite distinct. + +When we got back again to the sacristy the procession was forming--a +number of gentlemen dressed in black, with gold chains and crosses +around their necks, and a long procession of monks, priests, and +choristers. Colonna himself at the head, carrying quite simply a rather +large wooden cross; all with tapers and all chanting. As soon as they +had filed out of the sacristy we went upstairs again to a high balcony, +from which we had a fine view of the church. It was packed with people, +the crowd just opening enough to allow the procession to pass, which +looked like a line of fire winding in and out. There was a short, simple +service, and then all turned toward the balcony from where the relics +were shown, every one in the church kneeling, as far as I could see. We +came away before the end, and had great difficulty in getting through +the crowd to our carriages. + +This morning it was beautiful so we all started off early to the Wurts' +Villa (old Sciarra Villa) on the Janiculum. Just as we crossed the +bridge the bells rang out the Hallelujah (the first time they had rung +since Wednesday). They sounded beautiful, so joyous, a real Easter +peal. We had a delightful hour in the garden of the Villa. There were +armies of workmen in every direction, and the place will be a perfect +Paradise. There are fine trees in the garden, masses of rhododendrons, +every description of palm, and of course flowers everywhere. The views +were divine to-day--the Sabine Mountains with a great deal of snow, +Soracte blue and solitary rising straight out of the Campagna, and the +Abruzzi snow-topped in the distance. Mr. and Mrs. Wurts were there and +showed us all the improvements they intend making. + +After breakfast I walked about in the Via Sistina looking for some +photographs. I wanted to find some of old Rome (at least Rome of 24 +years ago) but that seemed hopeless. My artist friend had promised to +look in some of his father's old portfolios and see what he could find, +but he was not in a business frame of mind this afternoon. He was eating +his dinner at his counter, his slouched hat on his head, which he didn't +remove while I was talking to him. A young woman with her face tied up +in a red fichu was stretched out on the floor behind the counter, sound +asleep, her head on a pile of books; another over at the other end of +the shop, her chair tilted back, talking sometimes to him and sometimes +to people in the street. I suppose my eyes wandered to the one who was +asleep, for he instantly said, "She is ill, tired, don't disturb her." +He said he hadn't found any old photographs, only one rather bad and +half-effaced of Pio IX. I said I wanted one of Antonelli. "E morto lui." +I said I knew that, but he _had_ lived however once, and not so very +long ago, and had been a person of some importance. He evidently didn't +think it worth while to continue that conversation, and had certainly no +intention of looking for any photographs for me that day. It was +"festa"--Easter Eve--and work was over for him until Monday morning, so +I was really obliged to go, he wishing me "buon giorno" and "buona +Pasqua" quite cheerfully, without getting up or taking off his hat. + +I came in to tea, as Mustel was to play. We had about 40 people, and he +was much pleased at the way in which every one listened, and appreciated +his instrument. Of course he plays it divinely and brings out every +sound. Josephine had asked the Marquise Villa Marina to come and hear +him. He naturally wants very much to play for Queen Margherita (who is a +very good musician and plays the organ herself), and if the Marquise +makes a good report the Queen will perhaps send for him to play for her. + + + Easter Sunday, April 3d. + +It has been a beautiful day. Bessie and I went to the English church, +which was crowded. We could only find seats quite at the bottom of the +church, and those were chairs which had been brought in at the last +moment. We went afterward to breakfast with the Wurts in their beautiful +apartment. They had flowers everywhere (from their villa) and the rooms +looked like a garden. We were quite a party--16--and stayed there +talking and looking at everything until after three. Then we started for +a drive. I wanted to go to the Protestant Cemetery and see the little +mortuary chapel we built after father's death. Some one told me it was +utterly uncared for, going to ruin. The gates were open as we drove up, +a good many carriages waiting, and plenty of people walking about +inside. It is a lovely, peaceful spot, so green and still, many fine +trees, quantities of camellias, and violets on almost every grave. The +chapel stood just as I remembered it--in the middle of the cemetery. It +is in perfectly good order, and had evidently been used quite lately as +there were wooden trestles to support a coffin, and bits of wreaths and +stalks of flowers lying about. The two inscriptions, Latin on one side +and English on the other, are both quite well preserved and legible. I +wanted very much to see a guardian or director of the cemetery, but +there was only a woman at the gate, who knew nothing, hadn't been there +very long, in fact she knew nothing about the chapel, and showed me a +room opening into the old cemetery (where Keats is buried) which looked +more like a lumber room than anything else. There are some interesting +monuments, one to Mrs. Story, quite simple and beautiful, an angel +kneeling with folded wings. It was done by her husband, the last thing +he did, his son told me. The old cemetery looks quite deserted, close +under the great pyramid of Caius Cestius, the few graves quite uncared +for, a general air of neglect, a fitting resting-place for the poor +young poet whose profound discouragement will go down to posterity. +Every one goes to the grave and reads the melancholy inscription, "Here +lies one whose name was writ in water." + +It was such a lovely afternoon that we drove on to Tre Fontane. There, +too, there were people. The churches were open, but there was no service +going on; however the place has always a great charm. The tops of the +eucalyptus trees were swaying in a little breeze, and the smell was +stronger and more aromatic than when we were there the other day. + +We have had a quiet evening, all of us, children and grown-ups, +Protestants and Catholics, singing the English Easter Hymns. Josephine, +who is a very strict Catholic, loves the English hymns, and certainly we +can all sing "Christ the Lord is Risen To-day," for Easter is a fete for +all the world. I am sorry I didn't go to St. Peter's this morning. I +don't know that there was any special ceremony, but for the sake of old +times I should have liked to have had my Easter and Hallelujah there. + +I am writing rather under difficulties as the telephone is ringing +furiously (it goes all day, as every one in the house uses it for +everything). At the present moment Josephine seems conversing with "all +manner of men"--the Marquise Villa Marina from the Queen's Palace, the +padrone of the hotel where Mustel is staying, and one or two others. It +seems Queen Margherita would like to have Mustel and his organ to-morrow +night at the Palace; and has asked us three, Bessie, Josephine and me, +to come. I am very glad for Mustel who wants so much to be heard by the +Queen. He hopes to sell some of his organs here. They are not expensive, +but so few people care about an organ of their own. + + + Wednesday, April 6th. + +We had an interesting evening at the palace on Monday. I couldn't get +there for the beginning, as I had a big dinner, and a very pleasant one, +at the Iddings'. When I arrived I heard the music going on, but the +Marquise de Villa Marina came to meet me in the corridor, and we walked +up and down talking until the piece was over. I found a small party--the +Queen, her mother, the Duchess of Genoa, and about fifteen or twenty +people. The Queen was in black, with beautiful pearl necklace. She +received me charmingly and was most kind and gracious to Mustel, saying +she was so pleased to see a French artist, and taking great interest in +his instrument. He played several times: Handel's grand aria, Bach, and +the Marche des Pelerins from "Tannhaeuser," which sounded +magnificent--quite an effect of orchestra. + +About 11.30 there was a pause. The Duchess of Genoa came over and +talked to me a little, saying she had known my husband and followed his +career with great interest, his English origin and education making him +quite different from the usual run of French statesmen. She also spoke +of my sister-in-law, Madame de Bunsen, whom she had known formerly in +Florence. She exchanged a few words with the other ladies, and then +withdrew, the Queen and her ladies accompanying her to her apartments. +We remained talking with the other guests until Queen Margherita came +back. She asked Mustel to play once more--and then we had orangeade, +ices, and cakes. There was a small buffet at one end of the +drawing-room. It was quite half-past twelve when the Queen dismissed us. +We had a real musical evening, pleasant and easy. + +[Illustration: Cardinal Antonelli. From a picture painted for the Grand +Duke of Saxe-Weimar. + +From a photograph given to Madame Waddington by the Hereditary Grand +Duchess of Saxe-Weimar at Rome.] + +It was beautiful this morning, so I went for a turn in the Villa +Borghese, which is a paradise these lovely spring days; only the getting +to it is disagreeable. It is a hot, glaring walk up the Via Veneto, not +an atom of shade anywhere until one gets well inside the grounds. I was +walking about on the grass quite leisurely, and very distraite, not +noticing any one, when I heard my name. I turned and saw two ladies +making signs to me from the other side of the road, so I squeezed +through a very narrow opening in the fence, and found myself with the +grand duchess and her lady-in-waiting, who were taking their morning +walk. We strolled on together. She asked me if I always came to the +villa in the morning. I said "No," I often went shopping in the morning, +and told her about my photographer of the Via Sistina and the difficulty +of getting a photograph of Antonelli. She instantly said: "Oh, but I can +help you there, if you really would like a photograph of Antonelli. I +have a fine portrait of him that was painted for my beau-pere. It is in +the palace at Weimar, and I will give orders at once for the court +photographer to go and copy it." I was much pleased, as I _do_ want the +photograph and was rather in despair at not having found one. It seemed +incredible to me, until I had asked a little, that there should be +nothing of Antonelli. After all, it isn't very long since he played a +great part here, so it was a most fortunate rencontre for me this +morning. We parted at the gate--I walked home and she got into her +carriage. + + + Friday, April 7th. + +We made a pleasant excursion yesterday to San Gregorio, the Brancaccios' +fine place beyond Tivoli. The day unluckily was grey, looked as if it +would pour every minute, we had none of the lovely lights and shades +that make the Campagna and the hills so beautiful. We went out in +Camillo Ruspoli's automobile, a Fiat, Italian make, strong and fast. The +road is not particularly interesting until one begins the steep ascent +to Tivoli; then looking back the view of course was beautiful. We didn't +have much time to admire it, for the auto galloped up the steep hill as +if it were nothing. After Tivoli the road goes straight up into the +Sabine hills, winding and narrow, with very sharp corners, which we +swung round quite easily certainly, as Ruspoli managed his carriage +perfectly--but still the road _was_ narrow and steep--hills rolling away +on one side, a precipice and deep valley on the other, no wall nor +parapet of any description, and it was absolutely lonely. If anything +had broken, or an animal crossed our road suddenly, and made us swerve, +I don't think anything could have saved us. + +The castle looked very imposing as we came up to it, an enormous mass, +the village built into the castle walls, standing high on the top of a +hill. The flag was flying, all the population, wildly excited (another +automobile had arrived before us), were massed at the gates, the +drawbridge down, and Bessie and her husband waiting for us, also the +Bishops who had come in their auto. We took off some of our coats, but +not all, as the rooms are so enormous that it was cold, notwithstanding +a great fire in the big hall. We had an hour before breakfast, so they +showed us the house which is magnificent, with the most divine views on +all sides from all the balconies, corner windows, etc. It is beautifully +furnished, perfectly comfortable. I couldn't begin to describe it--one +couldn't take it all in in a flying visit. There are several complete +apartments with dressing-rooms, bath-rooms, etc., so curious to see so +much modern comfort and luxury inside this grim old castle on the top of +a rock far back in the Sabine hills. + +It was very cold--I kept on my thick coat. There are balconies and +little bridges connecting towers, high terraces, staircases in every +direction--quite bewildering. We breakfasted in the large dining hall, +and it was pleasant to see the enormous logs, and to hear the crackling +and spluttering of a big fire. There are some fine Brancaccio portraits, +in the curious old-world court dress of the Neapolitan ladies of the +last century. They gave us an excellent breakfast, with a turkey bred +and fattened at the olive farm (it seems these olive-fed turkeys are +their specialty). We did some more sight-seeing after breakfast, +bachelor apartments principally, such curious old niches and steep, +narrow little staircases (we could only pass single file) cut in the +thick walls, and then started off to drive and walk in the park. They +had two nice little two-wheeled carts, with stout ponies, just the thing +for rough wood driving. The park is charming--long green alleys with +beautiful views--the country all around rather stony and barren, no +shade as there are few trees. We hadn't time to go to the olive farm, +which I was sorry for, as the people were all working there picking the +olives. I should have liked to see the women with their bright skirts +and corsets making a warm bit of colour in the midst of the grey-green +olive groves. + +We started home rather sooner than we had intended, as the sky was +getting blacker, and a few drops already falling. We were in an open +automobile, and should have been half drowned going home if it had begun +to rain hard. We went back at a frightful pace. If I found the coming up +terrifying you can imagine what the descent was, flying around the +corners, and seeing the steep road zigzagging far down below us. I heard +smothered exclamations ("Oh, mon petit Camillo, pas si vite") +occasionally from Bessie, and I think Josephine was saying her +prayers--however we did get home without any accident or "panne" of any +kind, and Ruspoli assured us he had _crawled_ out of consideration for +us. + +This morning Josephine and I have been out to the new Benedictine +Monastery of St. Anselmo, which stands high on a hill overlooking the +Tiber. She had business with the Director, so I went into the chapel +which is fine (quite modern with splendid marbles) and walked about a +little in the garden (they wouldn't let me go far). We went afterward +into the Villa Malta. There is an extraordinary view through the +key-hole of the door--one looks straight down a long, narrow avenue with +high trees on each side, to St. Peter's--a great blue dome at the end. We +couldn't make out at first what the old woman meant who opened the door +for us, she wouldn't let us come in, but pointed to the key-hole, +mumbling something we couldn't understand. At last we heard "veduta" +(view), and divined what she wanted us to do. It was most curious. The +gardens are lovely still, green, cool. We went over the house, but +there is nothing particularly interesting--portraits of all the "Grands +Maitres de l'Ordre de Malte." It was so lovely that we didn't want to +come home, so we drove out as far at St. Paul's Fuori le Mura, and +walked around the church to the front where they are making a splendid +portico--all marble and mosaic. I should have liked it better without +the mosaic--merely the fine granite and marble columns. + + + Tuesday, April 12th. + +Yesterday we had a splendid ceremony at St. Peter's, the 13th +anniversary of Pope Gregorio Magno. We started early, Josephine and I +leaving the house together at 8, dressed in the regulation black dress +and veil. I had on a short cloth skirt, which I regretted afterward, but +as we had asked for no particular places, and were going to take our +chance in the church with all the ordinary sight-seers, I hadn't made a +very elegante toilette. We got along pretty well, though there were +streams of carriages and people all going in the same direction, until +we got near the St. Angelo bridge--there we took the file, hardly +advanced at all, and met quantities of empty carriages coming back. I +fancy most people started much earlier than we did. The piazza was +fairly crowded (but not the compact mass we used to see in the old days +when the Pope gave the Easter blessing from the balcony), all the +Colonnade guarded by Italian troops, carabinieri and bersaglieri. We +went round to the Sagrestia, and found our way easily into the church, +and into our Tribune A, but we might just as well have remained at home, +if we had wanted to see anything. We were far back, low, and could have +just seen perhaps the top of the Pope's tiara when he was carried in his +high chair in procession--however it was our own fault, as we had asked +too late for our tickets. I was interested all the same seeing the +different people come in (the church was very full). We sat there some +little time, rather disgusted au fond at having such bad places, +particularly when we saw some people we knew being escorted with much +pomp past our obscure little tribune, toward the centre of the church. +Finally one of the camerieri segreti in his uniform--black velvet, ruff +and chain--recognised Josephine, and insisted that she should come with +him and he would give her a proper place. She rather demurred at leaving +me, but I urged her going, as I was sure she would find a seat for me +somewhere. In a few minutes the gentleman returned, and put me first in +the same tribune with her, a little farther back, but eventually +conducted me to the Diplomatic Tribune, d'Antas, the Doyen, Portuguese +Ambassador to the Quirinal, and an old colleague of ours in London, +having said he would gladly give a place in their box to an ancienne +collegue. That was the moment in which I regretted my short skirt. I had +to cross the red carpet between rows of gardes-nobles and gala uniforms +of all kinds and colours, and I was quite conscious that my dress was +not up to the mark, a sentiment which gathered strength as I got to the +Diplomatic Tribune, and saw all the ladies beautifully dressed, with +long lace and satin dresses, pearl necklaces, and their veils fastened +with diamond stars. However, it was a momentary ennui, and I could only +hope nobody looked at me. Wasn't it silly of me to wear a plain little +skirt--I can't think why I did it. Almost all the bishops and sommites +of the clerical world were already assembled and walking about in the +great space at the back of the altar. Just opposite us was the Tribune +of the patriciat Romain. All the tribunes and columns were covered with +red and gold draperies. A detachment of gardes-nobles, splendid in +their red coats, white culottes and white plumes, surrounded the altar. +There were two silver thrones for the Pope, one at one side of the +church where he sat first, directly opposite to us, another quite at the +end of the long nave behind the high altar. The entrance of the +cardinals was very effective. They all wore white cloaks trimmed with +silver, and silver mitres, each one accompanied by an attendant priest, +who helped them take off and put on their mitres, which they did several +times during the ceremony. The costumes were splendid, some high +prelates, I suppose, in red skirts with splendid old lace; some in white +and gold brocaded cloaks, also grey fur cloaks; and an Eastern bishop +with a long beard, in purple flowered robes, a pink sash worn like a +grand cordon over his shoulder, and purple mitre. It was a gorgeous +effect of colour, showing all the more between the rows of tribunes +where every one was in black. + +We divined (as we were too far back to see) when the Pope's cortege +entered the church. There was no sound--a curious silence--except the +trumpets which preceded the cortege (they played a "Marcia pontificale," +they told me). At last we saw the "sedia gestatoria" with the peacock +fans appearing, and the Pope himself held high over the heads of the +crowd (it seems he hates the sedia and hoped until the last moment not +to be obliged to use it, but it is the tradition of St. Peter's, and +really the only way for the people to see him). We saw him quite +distinctly. He looked pale certainly, and a little tired, even before +the ceremony began, but that may have been the effect of the swaying +motion of the chair. There was the same silence when he was taken out of +his chair and walked to the throne, not even the subdued hum of a great +crowd. There was a little group of officiating priests and cardinals on +the dais surrounding the throne. The Pope wore a long soutane of fine +white cloth, white shoes, a splendid mantle of white and gold brocade, +and a gold mitre with precious stones, principally pearls. He began his +mass at once, a bishop holding the big book open before him, a priest on +each side with a lighted taper. His voice sounded strong and clear, but +I don't think it would carry very far. I was disappointed in the +Gregorian chants. There were 1,500 voices, but they sounded meagre in +that enormous space. The ceremony was very long. I couldn't follow it +all, and at intervals couldn't see anything, as the priests stood often +directly in front of the Pope. It was interesting to make out the +various cardinals--Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli sat almost directly +opposite to us, his tall figure standing out well. His brother Cardinal +Serafino was always close to the Pope. I asked d'Antas to show me +Cardinal Rampolla, who has a fine head and dignified carriage, rather a +sad face. It was very impressive when the Pope left his throne by the +altar and walked across the great space to the other one at the end of +the nave. Every one knelt as he passed, the cardinals, bishops, +gardes-nobles, everybody in the tribunes (at least everybody in the +front row, I won't answer for the young ones behind, but they stood if +they didn't kneel). There again the ceremonies were very long. When the +Pope had taken his seat, many of the cardinals sat too on the steps of +the dais. It was very picturesque, and the Eastern prelate stood out +well from the group of white-robed Cardinals in his bright flowered +garments. The Evangile was read in Latin and in Greek--a great many +things and people were blessed, every one kneeling at the foot of the +dais, and again when they got close up to the Pope; some quite +prostrated themselves and kissed his slipper (a very nice white one) +which they say he hates. Prince Orsini, premier assistant of the Saint +Siege, officiated, and looked his part to perfection. He is tall, with a +long white beard, and his short black velvet cloak, with a long white +and silver mantle over it, was most effective. I don't know exactly what +he did, but he appeared various times at the foot of the dais, knelt, +and sometimes presented something on a platter. He was always +accompanied (as were all who took any prominent part in the ceremony) by +two priests, one on each side of him; sort of masters of ceremony who +told him when to kneel, when to stand, etc. On the whole all the music +disappointed me. The Gregorian chants were too thin; the Sistine choir +didn't seem as full and fine as it used to be, and the silver trumpets +absolutely trivial. + +It was most impressive at the moment of the elevation, almost the whole +assembly in that enormous church kneeling, and not a sound except the +silver trumpets, which had seemed so divinely inspired to me in the old +days. I remember quite well seeing Gounod on his knees, with tears +streaming down his face, and we were quite enchanted, lifted out of +ourselves and our every-day surroundings. This time I was perfectly +conscious of a great spectacle of the Catholic Church with its +magnificent "mise-en-scene," but nothing devotional or appealing to +one's religious feelings. + +I should have liked to hear a great solemn choral of Bach, not an +ordinary melodious little tune; and yet for years after those first days +in Rome I never could play or hear the music of the silver trumpets +without being strangely moved. + +I thought the Pope looked very pale and tired as he passed down the long +nave the last time and was finally carried off in his chair with his +peacock fans waving, and a stately procession of cardinals and prelates +following. I think he regrets Venice and the simple life there as pastor +of his people. + +We saw plenty of people we knew as we were making our way through the +crowd to the carriage. Some of the ladies told us they had left their +hotel at 5.30 in the morning, they were so anxious to get a good place. +I told d'Antas I was very grateful to him, for I saw everything of +course perfectly, and took in many little details which I never could +have seen if we hadn't been so near. I also apologized to Madame d'Antas +for my modest, not to say mesquin attire; but she said as long as I was +all black, and had the black veil, it was of no consequence. There were +two or three ladies in the Royal Tribune--Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar +and Duchess Paul of Mecklenburg. We were a long time getting home, but +it was an interesting progress; all Rome out, a good many handsome +carriages, and I should think people from every part of the world, Rome +is so full of strangers. + + + Thursday, April 14th. + +I never had a moment yesterday as it was the children's ball, and we +were all taken up with the preparations. It went off very well, and was +one of the prettiest sights I ever saw. The children danced extremely +well, though even at the last repetition things didn't go perfectly; but +evidently at all ages there is a sort of amour propre that carries one +through, when there is a gallery. The dresses were Louis XVI., paniers +and powder for the girls (and sweet they looked--Victoria quite a +picture with her large dark eyes and bright colour), embroidered coats, +long gilets, tricorne hats and swords for the boys. There were eight +couples, and very good music--4 violins playing Boccherini's minuet. +Bessie had arranged a very pretty "rampe" with white azaleas and pink +and yellow ribbons, separating the upper part of the ball-room, and the +space for the dancers was kept by 4 tall footmen in yellow gala liveries +and powder, who stood at each corner of the square, in their hands tall +gilt canes held together by bands of pink ribbon. It made a charming +"cadre"--you can't imagine how pretty the little procession looked as +they all filed in, the small ones first. I think perhaps the quite small +ones were the best; they were so important, took much trouble and +weren't as distracted by the spectators as the bigger ones. They were +much applauded, and were obliged to repeat the minuet after a little +rest. In an incredibly short time all the seats and various accessories +were taken away, and the ball began, ending with a very spirited +cotillon led by the son of the house, Don Camillo Ruspoli, and one of +his friends, the Marquis Guglielmi. They kept it up until dinner time, +when the various mammas, quite exhausted with the heat and the emotion +of seeing their children perform in public, carried them off; but the +children (ours certainly) were not at all tired. + + + Saturday, April 16th. + +It is real summer weather--too hot to walk in the morning, particularly +from here, where we have to cross the open piazza before we can get +anywhere. Thursday we went to the races with the Brancaccios, on their +coach. It was most amusing, the road very animated all the way out from +Porta San Giovanni to Campanelle; every one making way for the coach as +they do in England. There was every description of vehicle, and +quantities of police and soldiers--the road very strictly guarded, as +the King and Queen were coming. It looked very pretty to see a patrol of +cuirassiers suddenly appearing from under an old archway, or behind a +bit of ruined wall, or from time to time one solitary soldier standing +on the top of a high mound. It was very hot, the sun too strong on our +heads, but we didn't go very fast; couldn't, in such a crowd, so we were +able to hold our parasols. + +The course and all the tribunes were crowded; the women almost all in +white or light dresses. The King and Queen came in an open carriage with +four horses--no escort. We had a pleasant day, meeting quantities of +people we knew. We had rather a struggle for tea; there were not nearly +enough tables and chairs for so many people; but we finally got some +under difficulties, two of us sitting on the same chair and thankful to +get it. + +The drive home was lovely, cool, and very little dust. Rome looked soft +and warm in the sunset light as we got near, and the statues on San +Giovanni Laterano almost golden as the light struck them. It was +interminable when we got into the file, and Brancaccio had some +difficulty in turning into his court-yard. + + + Monday, April 18th. + +It is enchanting summer weather, but too hot for walking. I have had two +charming auto expeditions with Mr. and Mrs. Bishop. Saturday we started +after breakfast to Civita Vecchia. The country is not very interesting +near Rome, but it was delightful running along by the sea--the road low +and so close to the water that the little waves came nearly up to the +wheels. Civita Vecchia looked quite picturesque, rising up out of the +sea. We didn't stop there, merely drove through the town, and came home +another way inland, through the hills, quite beautiful, but _such_ sharp +turns and steep bits. We climbed straight up a high hill (2,000 feet) +soon after leaving Civita Vecchia, and had for some time a divine view +of sea and coast; then plunged at once into the mountains, great barren, +stony peaks with little old grey villages on top; hills rolling away on +each side, a wild, desolate country. The road was very lonely, we met +only a few carts; the peasants frantic with terror as the big auto +dashed by. + +We passed Bracciano, the great feudal castle of the Odescalchi, with the +beautiful little blue lake at the bottom of the hill. It is a fine old +pile, square and grey, with battlements running all around it--more +imposing than attractive. After leaving Bracciano we flew--the road was +straight and level--and got back to Rome by Ponte Molle and Porta del +Popolo. + +Sunday we made a longer expedition to the Falls of Terni. There were +three autos--quite a party. The road was very different, but quite +beautiful, green fields and olive woods, and lovely effects of light and +shade on the Campagna. The day was grey, the sun appearing every now and +then from behind a cloud, at first; later, when we stopped on the high +road, with not a vestige of tree or bit of wall to give us shade, we +longed for the clouds. + +We soon began to climb, then down a long, winding hill to Civita +Castellana, an old fortified town, walls all around. We drove in through +the gate, and along a narrow steep street filled with people, as it was +Sunday, and asked if they had seen another auto. They told us yes, in +the piazza, so we went on, making our way with difficulty through the +crowded streets; every one taking a lively interest in the auto. The +square, too, was crowded, all the women in bright skirts and fichus, and +a fair sprinkling of uniforms; little carts with fruit and vegetables, +and two or three men with mandolins or violins (a mild little music) but +no signs of an auto. A splendid gentleman in uniform with waving plumes +and a sword (mayor, I suppose) came up and interviewed us, and told us +an auto had been there, coming from Rome, but had left about ten minutes +before; so we started off again, and had a beautiful drive to Terni. We +passed Narni, which stands very well on the top of a rock, high above +the little river which runs there through a narrow gorge to the Tiber. +We crossed a fine large bridge, then down a hill to Terni, where we +breakfasted. After breakfast we started for the Falls, about four miles +further on, and quite beautiful they are, a great rush of sparkling +water falling from a height and breaking into countless little falls +over the green moss-covered rocks below. It was delicious to hear the +sound of running water, and to feel the spray on our faces after our hot +ride. + +We didn't get out. We shouldn't have seen the Falls any better, and +would have had to scramble over wet, slippery stones. There was the +usual collection of guides, beggars, etc., offering us pieces of +petrified stone, and of course post-cards of the Falls. Just around +Terni the hills are very green, the slopes covered with olive trees, and +quantities of white villas scattered about on the hillside, little +groups of people loitering about, women and girls making pretty bits of +colour as they strolled along. They love bright colours, and generally +have on two or three, red or blue skirts, yellow fichus on their heads, +or over their shoulders, coloured beads or gold pins. Some of them +carried such heavy loads on their heads or backs, great bundles of +fagots, or sacks of olives, old women generally. They are given that +work as a rest when they are too old to do anything in the fields. + +We came home by another road, always the same wild mountain scenery, +always also the same sharp curves and steep descents. It is certainly +lovely country, green hills breaking away in every direction. As we got +higher, great stony, barren peaks, torrents rushing along at our feet, +and always on the top of a rock, rising straight up out of the hills, a +little old grey village (with usually a steeple and sometimes an old +square castle). Some of the villages were stretched along the +mountain-side about half-way up. They all looked perfectly lonely and +inaccessible, but I suppose life goes on there with just as much +interest to them, as in ours in the busy world beneath. + +We raced up and down the hills, through beautiful country, scarcely +slackening when we passed through some little walled towns (hardly more +than one long crooked street), in at one gate and out at the other, +people all crowding into the piazza, smiling and taking off their hats. +Once or twice one heard them say "la Regina" evidently thinking it was +Queen Margherita, who loves her auto, and makes long country excursions +in it. It was a curious, fantastic progress, but enchanting. + +The other autos had started some time ahead of us. We saw an object +(stationary) as we were speeding down a steep hill, which proved, as we +got near, to be one of them, stuck in a little stream, quite firmly +embedded in the sand, and looking as if nothing would ever get it out. +About 15 or 20 men were pulling and hauling, but it seemed quite +hopeless. It wasn't a very pleasant prospect for us either, as our auto, +too, was big and heavy, and we had to get across. It would have been too +far to go back all the way round. However, Mr. Bishop's chauffeur was +not in the least concerned, said he would certainly take _his_ carriage +over, and he did, Mrs. Bishop and me in it. We waited to see the other +one emerge from its bed of sand. The men pulled well, and talked as hard +as they pulled, and finally the great heavy machine was landed on the +other side. + +We had a long level stretch, about 20 kilometres, before we got into +Rome, and we raced the train, all the passengers wildly excited. It is +curious to see how one gets accustomed to the speed when the carriage +rolls smoothly. It seemed quite natural to me to fly past everything, +and yet when Strutz has occasionally whirled us in to La Ferte to catch +the express I haven't been comfortable at all. + + + April 22, 1904. + +Yesterday afternoon Bessie and I went to the reception at the Villa +Medicis, which was pleasant. We liked the music of the I^{er} Prix de +Rome, and it was interesting to see the pictures and sculpture. I think +the faces of the young men interested me, perhaps, more than their +work--they looked so young and intelligent and hopeful, so eager for the +battle of life; and yet so many find it such a struggle. There is so +much concurrence in everything, and an artist's life is precarious. The +very qualities which make their genius unfit them so for all the cares +and worries of a career which must always have ups and downs. + +We went late for a drive in the Corso and Via Nazionale to see all the +preparations for Loubet's arrival. They are certainly taking no end of +trouble--flags, draperies, and festoons of flowers, in all the principal +streets. The garden they are making in Piazza Colonna is quite +wonderful--quite tall trees, little green lawns, and the statue of a +Roman emperor. Quantities of people looking on at the workmen and +walking about in the piazza. The Via Nazionale, too, is gorgeous with +draperies, shields, and large medallions with French and Italian colours +entwined. + +This afternoon I went off alone and did some sight-seeing. We shall go +in a few days, and I haven't seen half I wanted to. I went straight over +to the Trastevere; first to Santa Maria, with its queer old mosaic +facade, looking more Byzantine than Italian; then on to Santa Cecilia, +where a nice old sacristan took me all over, showed me the chapel +supposed to be directly over Santa Cecilia's bath-room (the church is +said to be built on the very spot where her house stood), and of course +the tomb of the saint. Then, as I had nothing particular to do, I drove +out toward Monte Mario, which is a lovely drive in the afternoon, the +view of Rome looking back is so beautiful. It is a long steep hill, with +many turns, so one gets the view on all sides. The Cork Valley was green +and lovely, and the road was unusually quiet. I think everybody is on +the Corso looking at the festal preparations. I went back to the house +to get Bessie, and we went to tea with the Waldo Storys, in his studio. +He has some beautiful things--two fountains in particular are quite +charming. + +We all dined out, Bessie and Josephine with Cardinal Mathieu, I at the +American Embassy with the Meyers. We had a pleasant dinner--four or five +small tables. They have Mrs. Field's apartment in the Brancaccio +Palace--entertain a great deal, and are much liked in Rome. + +[Illustration: The Dining-room in the Brancaccio Palace.] + +We came home early, and I am finishing this letter to-night. It is very +warm, the windows open, and the street sounds very gay. To say that we +have heard the Marseillaise these last days but faintly expresses how we +have been pursued by the well-known air. Everybody sings or whistles it, +all the street musicians, hand-organs, guitars, accordions, and brass +bands play it all day and all night; and we hear the music of a +neighbouring barrack working at it every morning. At this present moment +a band of youths are howling it under the window. I think they are +getting ready to amuse themselves when the President arrives. + +It was most amusing in the streets this morning, flags flying, draperies +being put up everywhere, troops marching across the Piazza di Spagna, +musique en tete, to exercise a little on the review ground before the +great day--quantities of people everywhere. They say all the hotels will +be crowded to-morrow, and with French people, which rather surprises me, +but they tell me there are deputations from Avignon, Marseilles, and +various other southern towns. They are beginning to arrange the Spanish +Steps quite charmingly--a perfect carpet of flowers (if only it doesn't +rain). + + + Saturday, April 23d. + +It poured this morning, and all night I heard the rain beating against +the window every time I woke. The clouds are breaking a little now, at +three o'clock, so perhaps it has rained itself out, and the President +may have the "Queen's weather" to-morrow. Our Loubet invitations are +beginning to come--a soiree at the Capitol; great ricevimento, all the +statues illuminated with pink lights; a gala at the opera; another great +reception at the French Embassy (Quirinal); and the review. + +Josephine and I have been dining with the grand duchess at her hotel. We +were a small party, and it was pleasant enough. She talks easily about +everything, and loves Rome. The evening was not long. We all sat in a +semicircle around her sofa after dinner. Every one smoked (but me), and +she retired about ten. + +We have been talking over plans since we got back. Bessie will start +to-morrow night. She is not keen naturally about the Loubet fetes, and +Palma[35] wants her to stay over two or three days with her in the +country somewhere near Ancona. She will meet me in Turin, and we will +come on together from there. It is still raining--I hope it will stop. + +[35] Princesse di Poggio Suasa, nee Talleyrand-Perigord. + + + Tuesday, April 26th. + +I had no time to write Sunday, as we were going all day. Bessie and I +went to church in the morning, and then I left some P. P. C. cards on +Cardinals Vannutelli, Mathieu, etc., also a note to the grand duchess to +thank her for the photographs of Antonelli which she sent me last +night--two very good ones, with a nice little note, saying she thought I +would perhaps keep the big one for myself "as a souvenir of old times +and new friends." + +The Corso looked quite brilliant as we drove through--the bright sun +seemed to have completely dried the flags and festoons and the streets +were full of people, all gaping and smiling, and in high good-humour. +The Spanish Steps were charming, the great middle flight entirely +covered with flowers, looking like an enormous bright carpet. + +We had some visits after breakfast, and started about three to the +Countess Bruschi's, who has an apartment with windows looking directly +over to the "Esedra di Termine," where the syndic, Prince Prosper +Colonna, was to receive the President. There was such a crowd, and there +were so many people going to the same place, that we thought that would +be hopeless, so we returned and made our way with difficulty, as the +streets were crowded, to the Via Nazionale, where a friend of +Josephine's had asked us to come. She established us on a balcony, and +there we saw splendidly. The street is rather narrow, and the balcony +not high. The crowd was most amusing, perfectly good-natured, even at +times when a band of roughs would try to break the lines, pushing +through the rows of screaming, struggling women and children, and +apparently coming to a hand-to-hand fight with the policemen; but as +soon as the soldiers charged into them--which they did repeatedly during +the afternoon--they dispersed; nobody was hurt (I never can imagine why +not, when the horses all backed down on them), nobody protested +violently, and the crowd cheered impartially both sides. These little +skirmishes went on the whole afternoon until we heard the Marcia Reale, +and saw the escort appearing. A troop of cuirassiers opened the march. +The royal carriages with the red Savoie liveries were very handsome--all +the uniforms making a great effect--the King and President together, +both looking very happy, the King in uniform, the President in plain +black with a high hat, returning all the salutations most smilingly. He +was enthusiastically received, certainly--there were roars of applause, +which became frantic when some of the military bands played the +Marseillaise. As soon as the cortege had passed the crowd broke up, +quantities of people following the carriage to the Quirinal, where the +great square was crowded. There, too, they were so enthusiastic that the +President had to appear on the balcony between the King and Queen. + +We started out again after dinner, and wanted to see the torch-light +procession, but didn't, as our movements were a little complicated. We +took Bessie to the station, and waited to see her start. When we came +out the procession had passed, but the streets were still brilliantly +lighted and very gay, quantities of people about. + +Yesterday we had a delightful expedition to Porta d'Anzio and +Nettuno--two autos--and some of the party by train. We were really glad +to get out of the streets and the crowd of sight-seers. Quantities of +people have come from all parts of Italy to see the show, and are +standing about all day in compact little groups, gaping at the festoons +and decorations. It is frightful to think of the microbes that are +flying about. + +We started early, at 9.30, went straight out toward Albano, to the foot +of the hill, then turned off sharp to the right, taking a most lovely +road, chestnut trees on each side, and hedges white and fragrant with +hawthorn. As we got near Porta d'Anzio we had a beautiful view of a +bright blue summer sea. The first arrivals had ordered breakfast in +quite a clean hotel, evidently other people had thought too that it +would be pleasant to get out of Rome to-day, as there were several +parties in the dining-room, which was large and bright, but no view of +the sea. + +After breakfast we all wandered out to the shore, and walked about a +little, but the sun was hot and the glare very trying--the sea like a +painted ocean, all the sails of the little pleasure boats, and even +fishing boats further out, hanging in folds, the boats just drifting +with the tide. The place is enchanting, and the little point of Nettuno +quite white in the sun, stretching out into the blue sea, was +fairy-like--the colours almost too vivid. The various boatmen lounging +about in bright coloured shirts and sashes were very anxious we should +sail or row to Nettuno, but the sea, though beautiful, looked hot, and +we were rather sceptical about the breeze which they assured us always +got up after 12. + +We went off in the auto to the Villa Borghese, about half-way between +Porta d'Anzio and Nettuno, which is a Paradise. It stands high, in a +lovely green park and looks straight out to sea. The drive through the +park by the galleria, trees meeting over our heads, and the road winding +up and down through the little wood was delightful, so shady and +resting to the eyes after the glare and sun of the beach. All the way to +Nettuno there are quantities of villas, fronting the sea, some very high +with terraces sloping down to the water, all with gardens. Nettuno +itself is an interesting little place with a fine old feudal castle. +Some of the party had chosen to sail from Porta d'Anzio to Nettuno, and +we saw their boat, full of children, just moving along close to the +shore. + +We had tea on the shore, made in Countess Frankenstein's tea-basket, and +it was delicious sitting there, seeing the little blue waves break at +our feet, and the beautiful clear atmosphere making everything look so +soft and near. + +The coming home was enchanting, very few people on the road, so we could +come quickly, and the flying through the air was delightful after the +heat and fatigue of the day. The Campagna is beautiful at the end of the +day; so quiet, long stretches of green just broken here and there by the +shepherds' huts, and the long lines of aqueducts, curiously lonely so +close to a great city. + +We had just time to dress and dine, and start for the gala at the opera. +The theatre (Argentina) is small, and stands in a narrow street. There +was a long file of carriages, and so little space in front, that there +could be no display of troops, music, etc., as one has always in Paris +for a gala night at the Opera. Inside, too, all is small, the entrance, +corridor, staircase, etc. Once we had got to our box the coup d'oeil was +charming. The whole house is boxes, tier upon tier, all dark red inside, +which threw out the women's dresses and jewels splendidly. They were +almost all in white with handsome tiaras, the men in uniform, at least +the diplomatists and officers. The peuple souverain, senators, deputies, +etc., in the parterre were in black. The heat was something awful. The +Court came very punctually--the Queen looked handsome with her beautiful +tiara, the King of course in uniform, the President between them in +black with no decoration. The house went mad (every one standing of +course) when they played the Marseillaise, all the parterre cheering and +waving hats and handkerchiefs; equally mad when they stopped that and +played the Marcia Reale. The King, who is generally quite impassive, +looked pleased. The performance, like all gala performances, was long, +but the Royal party didn't look bored, and seemed to talk to each other, +and to Loubet quite a good deal. The King has a serious, almost stern +face, with a keen, steady look in the eye. I should think he saw +everything. The end of the ballet was a fine potpourri of French and +Italian flags, Marseillaise and Marcia Reale, and the Court left in a +roar of cheers. The Queen bowed very graciously and prettily right and +left as she turned to go. + +The getting away was difficult and disagreeable, the narrow street was +crowded with royal carriages, all the horses prancing and backing, and +no one paying attention to anything else. However, it was a fine, dry +night, and once we had got across the street we found our carriage +(guided by the faithful Pietro) without any trouble. + +This morning the Piazza is most interesting. Evidently the King and +President pass at the foot of the square, as there are troops +everywhere, and a double line of soldiers stretching across the top of +the Tritone. Every description of vehicle, omnibuses, fiacres, peasants' +carts, people on horseback, all ranged close up behind the soldiers; +groups of carabinieri with their red plumets are scattered about the +Piazza; a long line of red-coated German seminarists crossing at one +end, two or three Cappucini with their sandals, bare feet, and ropes at +their waists, coming out of their church, but not stopping to see the +show. + +I am writing as usual at the window, and a fine smell of frittura comes +up from the shop underneath. A most animated discussion is going on just +under the window between a peasant, sitting well back on his donkey's +tail, two baskets slung over his saddle, strawberries in one, nespoli +(medlars) in the other, and a group of ragged, black-eyed little imps to +whom some young Englishmen have just given some pennies. They all talk, +and every now and then some enterprising boy makes a dive at the +baskets, whereupon the man makes his donkey kick, and the children +scatter. All the people in the street, and the coachmen of the little +botte (there is a station in the Piazza Barberini) take a lively +interest in the discussion; so do I from the window, but the police are +arriving and the man will be obliged to come to terms. The coachmen of +the botte are a feature of Rome, they spot the foreigner at once, and +always try to get the better of him. I took a carriage the other day to +go and breakfast with Mrs. Cameron in the Piazza di Spagna, about two +minutes' drive, and asked our porter what I must give the coachman. He +said one lira (franc). When we arrived I gave my franc, which he +promptly refused to receive; however I told him I knew that was the +tariff and I wouldn't give any more. He protested energetically, giving +every possible reason why I should give more--his carriage was the best +in the piazza, the road (Via Tritone) was very bad, down hill and +slippery, he had waited some time in the piazza for me, etc.; however I +was firm and said I would only give him one franc. Two other coachmen +who were standing near joined in the discussion and told him he was +quite wrong, that a franc was all he was entitled to. He instantly +plunged into an angry dispute with them, and in the meantime Mrs. +Cameron's door opened, so I put the franc on the cushion of the +carriage, he in a frenzy, telling me he wouldn't go away, but would stay +there with his carriage until I came out. That I told him he was at +perfect liberty to do, and went into the house. He and the others then +proceeded to abuse each other and make such a row that when I got up to +Mrs. Cameron's rooms she said she couldn't think what was going on in +the street, there was such a noise and violent quarrelling--so I told +her it was all me and my botta. + + + Thursday, April 28th. + +Well, dear, the fetes are over, the President has departed, and the +Piazza Barberini has at once resumed its ordinary aspect; no more +carabinieri, nor police, nor carriages full of people, waiting all day +in the square in the hope of seeing King or President pass. I wonder +what the old Triton sitting on his shell with his dolphins around him +thinks of this last show. He has sat there for centuries, throwing his +jet of water high in the air, and seeing many wonderful sights. + +The reception at the Farnese Palace was most brilliant last night. We +got there too late to see the King and Queen and President receiving; +there was such a crowd in the streets, which were all illuminated, that +we couldn't get across the Corso, and were obliged to make a long +detour. The Farnese Palace looked beautiful as we came up, the rows of +lights throwing out the splendid facade, the big doors open, quantities +of handsome carriages, people in uniform and ladies in full dress and +jewels who had got out of their carriages, crowding into the grand old +court. The royal carriages were all drawn up inside the court, and the +group of footmen in their bright red liveries made a fine effect of +colour at the foot of the stairs. It was an interesting assemblage, all +Rome (White) there, and all most curious to see the President. I didn't +see either King or Queen. They were already making their progress +through the rooms, which were so crowded that it was impossible to pass. +The famous Carracci Gallery looked magnificent lighted. The Ambassador +and Madame Barrere received their numerous guests most courteously, and +didn't look tired, but I fancy it was a relief to them when the fetes +and their responsibility were over. + +We have had to put off our journey until Saturday. They wouldn't +undertake to keep us reserved compartments, not even sleeping, until +Saturday, there would be such a crowd. I don't exactly know why, for the +President left this morning, going south, and we, of course, are coming +north, but every one told me not to go, so we have telegraphed to the +Ruspolis to say we would go out and breakfast with them at Nemi. + +There were quantities of affiches posted everywhere this morning which I +shouldn't think would please either the King of Italy or the French +President: "Viva Loubet--Viva Combes--Viva la France anticlericale." + +Josephine and I went for a drive. It had rained all the morning, and was +grey and damp, but we didn't mind. We both of us love the Campagna in +all its varying aspects. We walked about for some time, but had +difficulty in choosing our ground, on account of the shepherds' dogs, +which are very fierce sometimes, and the troops of buffaloes. Josephine +had a disagreeable experience one day with the buffaloes. She was +walking on the Campagna with her small children and her Italian footman, +when suddenly a troop of these wild creatures charged down upon her at a +headlong pace. There was no refuge of any kind near; the footman, +frightened to death, promptly ran away. She was terrified, but didn't +lose her head. She stood quite still, the children clinging to her +skirts, and the herd divided, passing by on either side; but she might +have been trampled to death. Naturally she has given them a wide berth +since. + + + Friday, April 29th. + +I will finish to-night dear, as we have come upstairs early after a long +day in the country. The trunks are all ready, some of them downstairs, +and we start early to-morrow morning. They say the confusion yesterday +at the station, when the President departed, was awful, +people--ladies--rushing about distractedly trying to find places, no +footmen allowed inside, not enough porters to carry the heavy +dressing-bags and rouleaux. Some people couldn't get any places, could +only start last night. + +We had a pleasant day at Nemi. We went out by train. There were a good +many people, evidently starting for the regular round of Castelli +Romani, principally English and Americans, and principally women, very +few men, but large parties, six and seven, of women and girls. It is a +pretty road across the Campagna and up the steep hill to Albano, and as +our speed was not terrifying we had ample time to see everything. The +Ruspoli carriage was waiting for us, and we had a beautiful drive to +Nemi. It is really a lovely little place--the deep blue lake at the foot +of the hills, and all the country about us green. Our hosts were waiting +for us in one of the numerous salons, and we had time to go over the +castle a little before breakfast, which we had in a charming +old-fashioned room, with wonderful frescoes on the walls. They have +already done wonders in the old feudal castle, and I should think it +would be a charming summer residence, as no heat could penetrate these +thick walls. The view from the balcony was divine, over green slopes and +little woods to the lake. + +We missed our train at Albano, so drove on to Castel Gandolfo and waited +there for the next one. We had gouter in a lovely little pergola +overlooking the lake of Albano, with the great papal villa opposite. It +is not very interesting as to architecture, a large square pile. No Pope +has lived there since Pio Nono. I believe some French nuns are settled +there now. + +It was very warm walking about the little old town, which looked as if +it had been asleep for years--no one in the streets, no beggars even, no +movement of any kind. Just as we were starting for the station three or +four carriages filled with tourists rattled through. It is curious to +see how life seems to go on in just the same grooves in all these little +towns. Rome has so changed--changes so all the time--is getting +cosmopolitan, a great capital; but all these little mountain villages +seem quite the same as in the old days of Savellis, Colonnas, and +Orsinis, when most of the great feudal chiefs were at daggers drawn and +all the country fought over, and changing hands after each fierce +encounter. The few people one meets look peaceful enough, but on the +smallest provocation eyes flash, tones and gestures get loud and +threatening, but apparently they calm down at once and are on the whole, +I fancy, a lazy, peaceable population. + +It is warm to-night, the windows are open and the Marseillaise still has +the honours of the night--one hears it everywhere. + + + + +INDEX + + +Albano, 30 + +Alberti, 20-21 + +Alfieri, 105 + +Allessandri, Carlo, 27, 35 + +Altieri, Cardinal, death of, 30 + +Angelico, Fra, 39 + +Antonelli, Cardinal, 61, 284, 288, 306 + +d'Aosta, Duke, 223 + +Apponyi, Count, 73 + +Arbuthnot, Miss, 26 + +d'Asoli, 271 + +d'Asoli, Princess, 254 + +d'Aubigny, M. and Madame, 45 + +d'Aulnay, 62, 116 + +d'Aulnay, Comtesse, 57 + +Austria, Emperor of, 177 + +d'Autas, 295 + + +Baddeley, Mr., 280 + +Bailey, Mrs., 76 + +Bailleul, Madame de, 230; + received by the Queen, 240, 244, 257 + +Bandini, Prince, 144 + +Bandini, Princess, 51, 54, 63, 69, 145; + gives musicale, 146 + +Beauharnais, Comtesse de, 116 + +Bertheny, Countess de, 262 + +Bibra, 62, 69, 143, 145 + +Bicletis, Monsignor, 249, 250, 251, 255 + +Bishop, Mr. and Mrs., 299 + +Bonghi, 105 + +Borghese, Giovanni, 266 + +Brancaccio, Princess, 93 + +Brandt, Otto, 102 + +Brinquant, 21 + +Bruce, Mrs., 41, 50, 51; + gives dinner, 68-69, 89, 106, 169, 174 + +Brusatti, General, 275 + +Bruschi, Countess, 306 + +Bunsen, Charles de, 14, 34; + arrives at Rome, 108, 110, 114, 118; + returns to Florence, 119, 180 + +Bunsen, Madame de, 14, 15, 34, 179, 180, 254, 288 + + +Cabat, M., 117 + +Cabriac, Marquis de, 71 + +Cairoli, 45, 52, 64, 80; + speaks in Chamber, 83; + gives dinner, 96-98 + +Cairoli, Madame, 45, 51, 64, 68; + gives dinner, 96-98 + +Calabrini, 51, 56, 62, 63, 67, 81 + +Calice, Countess, 67 + +Cameron, Mrs., 311 + +Caprannica, Bianca, 142 + +Caprannica, Marchesa, 142 + +Cardenas, the, give dinner, 144 + +Cavaletti, Maurizio, 69 + +Cavour, 84, 223, 224 + +Celleri, Countess, 80, 99 + +Cenci, 54 + +Cesarini, Marquise Villa, 253 + +Chambord, Comte de, 117 + +Charles Albert, King of Savoy, 220 + +Charette, 120 + +Chigi, Marquise, 89 + +Cialdini, 67 + +Coello, Count, 148 + +Colobiano, Count, 222 + +Colonna, Prince, 282, 283, 306 + +Colonna, Princess, death of, 30 + +Comandi, 29 + +Cook, 91, 95 + +Crosby, Schuyler, 37 + +Curtis, Bessie, 61, 230 + + +Daudet, M., 200 + +Del Monte, 108, 148; + walk with, 172 + +Despretis, Madame, 51 + +Desprez, 45, 55, 57, 71, 92, 144 + +Diemor, 248 + +Director of Museum at Milan, 186, 199, 212, 216 + +Doria, 100 + +Doria, Gwendoline, 81 + + +Edwards, Mrs., 65 + +Edwards, Hon. Sylvia, 65 + +Elena, Queen of Italy, gives audience, 240-242; + at the court ball, 243, 253, 299; + at the opera, 310; + gives reception in honour of President Loubet, 312 + +English, Monsignor, 63, 66, 79; + brings Pope's photograph, 155 + +d'Eu, Comte and Comtesse, 250 + +Evans, Father, 268 + + +Field, Mr., 245 + +Field, Mrs., 237, 305 + +Forbes, Misses, 26, 184 + +Frankenstein, Countess, 309 + +Freycinet, 5, 60 + +Freycinet, Madame de, 6 + +Fua, Teresina, 248 + + +Gabriac, Marquis de, 144 + +Garibaldi, 120, 122 + +Genoa, Duchess of, 287, 288 + +Geoffroy, 62, 63, 64, 89, 117, 168 + +Geoffroy, Madame, 117 + +Germany, Crown Princess of, 101, 104, 108, 109, 207; + daughters of, 210 + +Gianotti, Count, 243, 262 + +Gianotti, Countess, gives afternoon tea, 262 + +Gittone, 275 + +Gosselins, 108, 109 + +Gounod, 296 + +Grants, 51 + +Gravina, 96 + +Greppi, Comte, 275 + +Grevy, Madame, 9, 11 + +Guadagni, Madame, 34 + +Guery, Don, 272, 279 + +Guglielmi, Marquis, 298 + + +Helena, Queen of Italy, see Elena + +Hoffman, Mr., 216, 222, 223 + +Hohenlohe, Cardinal, 165 + +Hooker Mr., 51, 66, 120; + gives dinner, 142, 174; + recollections, 176 + +Howard, Cardinal, 50, 61, 70, 75, 109, 147 + +Hubert, 225 + +Hubert, Madame, 13, 47, 58, 63, 71, 168, 185, 188, 196, 200, 203, 216, 221 + +Humbert, King of Italy, 65, 66; + birthday, 76, 79, 91 + + +Ireland, Monsignor, 23 + +Ismail, Pasha, ex-Khedive of Egypt, 76 + + +Kahn, Malcolm, 275 + +Keats, John, 286 + +Keudell, 101-103, 106, 108 + +Keudell, Madame, 102, 103, 108 + +King, Charles, 30; + death of, 119-120 + +King, Fanny, 176 + +King, Henrietta, 124, 134, 218 + +King, Mrs., 123, 132, 134, 137, 139 + +King, William, 124, 132 + +Kruft, 5 + + +Lanciani, 44, 63, 88, 89, 159 + +Landi, Madame, 40 + +Law, Mrs., 275 + +Leuchtenberg, Duke of, 116 + +Loubet, President, 305; + reception of, 306-307; + at the opera, 309-310; + at the reception at the Farnese Palace, 312, 314 + +Lovatellis, 51, 94 + +Low, Mr. and Mrs. Seth, 273 + +Lucchesi-Palli, 117 + +Lyons, Lord, 7 + + +MacMahon, Madame de, 10, 11 + +MacMahon, Marshal, 10, 73 + +Maffei, 64, 97, 108, 159 + +Malatesta, Felice, 59, 61, 86, 94, 108 + +Malatesta, Countess, 75 + +Maquay, George, 32, 35, 184 + +Maquay, Louisa, 36, 184 + +Maquay, Nina, 36, 184 + +Marcello, Comtesse, 93, 95, 98 + +Margherita, Queen of Italy, 220, 234; + gives audience, 253, 285, 287 + +Marina, Marquise Villa, 253, 285, 287 + +Massari, 87, 105 + +Massimo, Prince, 74, 218, 255, 272 + +Mathieu, Cardinal, 254, 255, 304, 306 + +Medici, Catherine de', 33 + +Menabrea, 67 + +Meyers, the, give dinner, 304 + +Michelangelo, 59 + +Minghetti, 52, 56, 69, 81, 105, 181-183 + +Minghetti, Madame, 51, 52, 56, 57, 69, 81; + receives, 105, 108 + +Mirafiori, Comtesse, 183 + +Mohl, Madame, 50 + +Murrays, 209, 210-211 + +Mustel, M. Alphonse, 279, 280, 285; + plays before Queen Margherita, 287 + + +Naples, Prince of, 86, 94 + +Napoleon, Louis, 84, 223 + +Nassau, Duke of, 28 + +Nevin, Dr., 48, 88, 242 + +Nina, Cardinal, 61, 80 + +Nisard, M., 240 + +Noailles, Marquis de, 45, 48, 87, 98 + +Noailles, Marquise de, 48, 51, 56, 57; + gives dinner, 64, 87, 96, 100; + receives, 107, 108; + gives farewell dinner to the Waddingtons, 159 + +Norton, Mrs., 139-142 + + +Orloff, Prince, 10 + +Orsini, Prince, 295 + +"Ouida," 27; + description of, 28 + +Ouronsoff, Prince, 244 + + +Paget, Sir Augustus, 51, 64, 82, 102, 109 + +Paget, Lady, 51, 57, 64; + receives, 89, 102, 109 + +Palfy, Count, 52, 70, 92; + conversation with, 174 + +Pallavicini, Princess, 51, 54, 67; + gives reception, 86-87, 246; + receives, 277 + +Pannissera, Madame, 107 + +Pasetti, Baron, 242 + +Paul, Duchess of Mecklenburg, 297 + +Pecoul, Therese, 273 + +Perret, 68 + +Peruzzi, Edith, 18, 36, 108, 184 + +Peruzzi, Ubaldino, 181, 206 + +Pierson, 4 + +Pietro, 267, 310 + +Pietro, Cardinal di, 79 + +Poggio-Suasa, Princess di (nee Curtis), 230, 238, 244, 248; + gives dinner, 259, 262, 266; + gives dinner, 273, 285, 286, 291, 292, 294, 304, 305, 313 + +Poggio-Suasa, Princess di (nee Talleyrand-Perigord), 305 + +Polk, Antoinette, 160 + +Pontecoulant, Comte de, 8, 12 + +Pope Leo XIII, 58; + audience with, 59; + described, 59, 60, 71, 146; + in his garden, 155, 156, 250 + +Pope Pius IX, 56, 58, 59, 69; + how he was received in the streets when he rode out, 146; + description of the blessing from the balcony of St. Peter's, + 157-158, 250, 264, 315 + +Pope Pius X, audience with, 249-251; + description of, 250 + +Primoli, 144 + + +Queen of Naples, Dowager, death of, 30 + + +Ramee, Mlle. de la, 27 + +Rampolla, Cardinal, 295 + +Recamier, Madame, 168 + +Rignano, Madame, 99 + +Ripaldi, Duke di, 57, 100, 159 + +Ristori, Madame, 142 + +Roccagiovine, Marchese, 266 + +Rodmans, 233 + +Rossi, de, 89 + +Rothschild, Madame Alphonse, 99 + +Rudini, Marchesa, gives fete, 272 + +Ruspoli, Camillo, 289, 291, 298 + +Ruspoli, Don Emanuele, 231, 263 + +Ruspoli, Victoria, 255; + gives dinner, 276, 315 + + +St. Asilea, 87, 98 + +Sand, George, 38 + +Sant' Onofrio, Madame de, 96 + +Savonarola, 39 + +Savoy, Princes of, 94 + +Saxe-Weimar, Grand Duchess, 259, 297 + +Say, Leon, 60 + +Schuyler, Eugene, 35, 41, 42, 44, 56, 69, 77, 110, 112, 142 + +Schuyler, Mrs. Eugene ("Gert"), 35, 41, 42, 44, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67, 69; + trouble with maid, 76-78, 79, 80, 82, 89, 92, 108, 110, 113, 118, 124, + 132, 142; + at Tivoli, 161; + gives farewell dinner, 174, 197 + +Sciarra, Princess, 49, 89 + +Seckendorff, Count, 103, 105, 108 + +Sella, 81, 84, 105 + +Sermoneta, Duke of, 54 + +Serristori, 35 + +Sibbern, Madame, 5 + +Smith, Father, 55, 79, 87, 91; + presents a medal, 160, 174; + conversations with, 177 + +Somaglia, Countess, 81, 87, 98, 117; + her daughters, 117 + +Spencer, Mrs. Lorillard, 83 + +Stael, Madame de, 168 + +Stanley, Dean, 50 + +Stanley, Lady Augusta, 50 + +Sternberg, Mlle. de, 15, 18 + +Story, Mrs., 286 + +Story, Waldo, 239, 304 + +Story, W. W., 18, 109, 239 + +Sulmona, 72-73 + +Sulmona, Princess, 73, 87, 144 + +Sutteroth, M. Alphonse, 5, 8, 200, 227 + + +Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles de, 26 + +Talleyrand-Perigord, Madame de, 27, 61 + +Talleyrand-Perigord, Marquise de (nee Curtis), 230, 237, 242, 244; + audience with the Pope, 249-251, 262, 266, 267, 275, 285, 290, 302, 304; + leaves Rome, 307 + +Tchaitcheff, Madame de, 16, 25 + +Teano, Prince, 51, 54, 56, 105 + +Teano, Princess, gives ball, 99, 272 + +Theoduli, Marchesa, 83 + +Thomar, 71 + +Thurn, Princess de, 54 + +Tosti, 145; + described and criticised, 147 + +Townshend, Mrs. Charles L., 95 + +Trocchi, 48; + sends flowers, 169 + +Troubetzkoi, Princess Lise, 98 + +Turin, Comte de, 243 + +Turkam, Pasha, 76, 101 + + +Uffizi, 36 + +Uxkull, 64, 81 + + +Val, Cardinal Mery del, audience with, 251-252 + +Valery, Dr., 30, 77, 120 + +Van Loo, 62 + +Vannutelli, Cardinal Serafino, 295 + +Vannutelli, Cardinal Vincenzo, 240; + dinner given for, 273, 295, 306 + +Van Rensselaer, Mrs., 67, 118 + +Van Schaick, Lottie, 16, 17, 35, 40, 184 + +Venosta, Visconti, 52; + speaks in Chamber, 80, 83, 105, 159 + +Venosta, Madame Visconti, 64, 81, 89, 107 + +Vera, 108 + +Vicovaro, Princess, 83, 85 + +Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, 218, 220, 231 + +Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, at the court ball, 243, 277, 299; + receives President Loubet, 306-307; + at the Opera, 310; + gives reception in honour of President Loubet, 312 + +Villamarina, Marquis de, 81, 87 + +Virgo, M., 245, 266, 279 + +Visconti, 89 + +Vitali, Count, gives dinner for French Ambassador, 240 + +Vitelleschi, 67, 69, 87, 279 + +Vitelleschi, Marchesa, gives tea, 278 + + +Waddington, Evelyn, 61 + +Waddington, Francis, has Christmas tree, 5; + left in Paris, 12, 108, 225, 251 + +WADDINGTON, Madame, leaves Quai d'Orsay, 3-4; + calls on Madame de Freycinet, 6; + formal receptions, 8; + receives Mesdames Grevy and MacMahon, 11; + arrives at Florence, 12; + arrives at M. de Bunsen's, 14; + atypical Florentine party, 18; + a visit from Alberti, 20; + recalls picnic at Segna, 20-22; + visits the Ponte Vecchio, 24; + drives to Santa Maria Novella, 25; + tea at Camerata, 26; + dines with Talleyrand-Perigord, 26; + takes tea with "Ouida," 27; + impressions of "Ouida," 28; + drives to Villa Careggi, 31; + drives to the Certosa and Casa Guadagni, 34; + decides to go to Rome, 35; + Maquay dinner, 35; + drives out Fiesole way, 37; + visits Fra Angelico's and Savonarola's cells at San Marco, 39; + musical evening with the Landis, 40; + arrives at Rome, 41; + her father's illness, 42; + calls on Eugene Schuyler, 44; + invitations from Embassies, 44; + drives along the Via Appia, 45; + visit to the Vatican, 47; + visit from the Marquis de Noailles, 48; + Princess Sciarra's ball, 49; + recollections of Dean Stanley and Cardinal Howard, 50; + reception at the Schuylers', 51; + reception at Princess Pallavicini's, 54; + pointed out as distinguished strangers, 55; + dinner at the Teanos', 56; + breakfast at the Noailles', 57; + audience with the Pope, 58-60; + dinner at the of, 63; + dinner at the Noailles', 64; + attends the opera, 69; + dines at the Portuguese Embassy, 71-74; + dines with the Pagets, 81; + dinner at the Calabrinis', 84; + attends American Church, 88; + walk on Good Friday, 90; + service at St. Peter's, 90; + service at St. John Lateran, 91; + note from the Quirinal, 92; + audience with the Queen of Italy, 92-95; + meets the Prince of Naples, 94; + breakfast with the Noailles, 95; + sees Farnese Palace, 95; + visits the Bakers' tomb, 96; + dines with the Cairoli, 96-98; + day at the races, 98-99; + protests against "valise" regulations, 98; + attends Teano ball, 99; + visits the Trevi Fountain, 100; + tea with the Duke di Ripaldo, 100; + dines at German Embassy and meets German Crown Princess, 102-105; + attends reception at the Noailles', 107; + musical evening at the Schuylers', 108; + dinner with the Wimpffens, 108; + meets Crown Princess again, 109; + excursion to Frascati, 110; + fails to visit Tusculum, 112, 113; + trip to the Vatican, 114-115; + ball at the British Embassy, 116; + dinner at Villa Medici, 117; + recollections of 1867, 119; + goes to Naples, 119; + sees Vesuvius in eruption, 123; + ascends Mt. Vesuvius, 124-125; + a long wait at an inn, 126-130; + fete at the Stella del Mare, 135; + the nun, 135; + sail to Capri, 136; + Capri, 137; + a Capri fisher-girl, 139-141; + dinner at Mr. Hooker's, 142; + visit to the Doria Gallery, 143; + dines at the Spanish Embassy, 144; + musicale at Princess Bandini's, 146; + hears Lohengrin in Italian, 148; + drives to Albano, 149-153; + last turn in the Vatican, 154; + receives the Pope's photograph, 155; + drives to the Villa Madama, 157; + farewell dinner at the Noailles', 159; + a day at Tivoli, 161-165; + a lonely road, 167; + last drive in the country, 169; + walk with Del Monte, 173; + arrives at Milan, 180; + attends the races, 183; + holds small reception, 184; + a drive about Milan, 187; + a visit to the Brera, 188-189; + visit to the Duomo, 190; + a second visit to the Brera, 192-193; + describes the Piazza dei Mercanti, 201, 202; + an afternoon at Monza, 204-206; + leaves Milan and arrives at Turin, 211; + trip to La Superga, 219-221; + returns to Paris, 225; + Rome revisited, 229; + attends a ball at the Storys', 239; + dinner at Count Vitali's, 240; + received by the Queen, 240-242; + attends the court ball, 243-244; + in the garden of the Vatican, 247; + music at the French Embassy, 248; + audience with the Pope, 249-251; + audience with Cardinal Mery del Val, 251-252; + audience with Queen Margherita, 253; + breakfast with Princess d'Arsoli, 254; + at the Pope's audience, 255-256; + an expedition to the Catacombs, 257; + dines with Princess Poggio-Suasa, 259; + automobile excursion with Countess de Bertheny, 262-265; + trip to Tusculum, 267; + special guards, 269; + fete at the Massimo Palace, 271; + fete given by Marchesa Rudini, 272; + dines with Malcolm Kahn, 275; + dines with the Ruspolis, 276; + Holy Thursday at St. Peter's, 281; + visits her father's grave, 285; + a musical evening at the Palace, 287-288; + excursion to San Gregorio, 289-291; + attends ceremony at St. Peter's, the 13th anniversary of Pope Gregorio + Magno, 292-296; + children's ball, 297-298; + auto trips with the Bishops, 299-301; + reception at the Villa Medicis, 303; + dines with the Meyers, 304; + dines with the Grand Duchess, 305; + reception of President Loubet, 306-307; + attends gala night at the opera, 309-310; + reception at the Farnese Palace, 312-313 + +_Waddington_, M. William H., resigns as Premier, 3; + refuses London Embassy, 6; + leaves Paris and arrives at Florence, 12; + arrives at M. de Bunsen's, 14; + attends the Peruzzis' party and meets Bentivoglio, 18; + dines with Talleyrand-Perigord, 26; + calls on Madame Guadagni, 34; + arrival at Rome, 41; + talks with Eugene Schuyler, 44; + various invitations from Embassies, 44; + visit to the Vatican, 47; + visit from Marquis de Noailles, 48; + reception in his honour at the Schuylers', 51; + pointed out as a celebrated man, 55; + has audience with the Pope and converses about politics, 50-60; + the Pope's opinion of him, 63; + dinner at the Noailles', "Cotelettes a la Waddington," 64; + has audience with King Humbert, 65-66; + meets Cardinal Howard, 70; + curiosity to meet him, 75; + attends the Chambre des Deputes, 80; + second visit to the Chambre des Deputes, 83; + goes to San Clemente, 87; + walk on the Campagna, 88; + audience with the Queen of Italy, 92-95; + insists on "valise" reform, 98; + delighted with di Ripalda's frescoes, etc., 101; + conversation with Turkam Bey, 101; + received by the German Crown Princess, 103; + dines with de Rossi, 118; + change of mental atmosphere, 147; + trip to Albano, 149-153; + last visit to the Vatican, 154; + conversation with Father Smith, 177; + speech-making, 181; + visits the cabinet de medailles at Milan, 186; + a visit to the Brera, 192-193; + receives Mr. Hoffman, 223-224; + arrives in Paris, 225 + +Wales, Princess of, 242 + +Wallace, Sir Donald, 281 + +Weling, Mlle. de, 28 + +Westenberg, Madame, 68 + +Wilbrahams, the, 69 + +Wimpffen, Count, 64, 81, 89, 107, 242 + +Wimpffen, Comtesse, 56; + gives dinner, 62, 64, 68, 83; + gives reception, 84-87, 89, 98, 105; + dinner to German Crown Princess, 108-109 + +Wurts, Mr. and Mrs., 69; + give dinner, 248, 284, 285 + + +Zuylen, Cornelie, 83 + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Spelling has been made consistent throughout but reflects the +author's preference. 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