From
November 1st 1863
To
December 31st 1863


November 1st 1863
We drove through the principal street of
Pióbesi with its gazing and greeting occupants about 4 o'
clock this
yesterday
afternoon & were welcomed by at the castle-door
by our whole household including Carlo with his arm in
a sling. He looks pale but is now quite free from fever
and makes good use of his right hand as our dinner proved
The poor fellow had the narrouest escape with his life, his
face having been severely singed, his hat blown half a cross
the garden, and fragments of the gun being hurled in every
direction. The Dr says he will not lose even a finger. Every
thing else has moved on prosperously. Our poor sick girl
has been carried safely to the Hospital & is said to be im
proving. Alex. also says that the mad Marchese prom-
ises the Casa d'Angennes for next thursday the 5th Nov.
[illegible]
We were so happy to be quietly at home
once more and to have found no bad news in store for us.
Our letters from home-friends were as cheerful as we
could have looked for. But we found so much writing
waiting for us. The sister of our poor hospital patient
came to us quite overcome by her gratitude. "I have no
words! I have no words!" said the good creature, "but
my sister will get well! she will get well!" I have
tried to save the family from disappointment by telling
them we did not expect her to get entirely well, only
to be made more comfortable.
Nov. 2nd Monday.
While Mr Marsh was Turin to-day - Carrie
having gone there also to make some combinations about
her friend Miss Tottenham's wedding. I received the syndic,
Lord mayor as A. calls him, of Pióbesi. He came to welcome
us back and brought an offering of choice fruits and


flowers. While talking with him & thanking him I
could help wishing our good N. E. farmers, artisans etc
would add to their other many virtues this one of
courtesy which gives such a charm to the common
life of Italy. Mr Marsh came back with Dr Monnet
who is now regarded with great admiration by the Piòbesans
I was surprised to learn from the Dr. that he thinks so
favourably of the case of our protegèe - he says she
will be nearly if not quite cured - that he saw her
eat nearly half a kilo of meat at once - that in fine she
is "bien decidèe à de se guerie". Our door was thronged
with people trying to get an opportunity to speak to the Dr.
Tuesday Nov 3d.
I went to Turin with Mr M. this morn.
expressly to see Mme Sartiges who, [illegible] we heard, was to
go with her husband & family to Paris before going to
Rome. To my satisfaction I found she is not to leave
for a week & I may hope to see her once more in
the Casa d'Angennes if our perverse landlady does not
play us some new trick. Mrs Sartiges is simple
& unaffected in manner & I am truly sorry they are
going away. It would be very pleasant to have two
of my country women in the D. corps, and Mrs S.
seems a true patriot & declares Mr S. is most
friendly to the cause of our Gov. We left C.
with the Tottenhams to help about the wedding prep.
and returned at mid-day. The Baroness passed the evening with
us, brought a beautiful bouquet and was as lovely as ever.


Wednesday 4th
We We began to take up carpets and make ourselves uncom-
-fortable today as the Dame d'Angennes still perseveres in saying the
inventory may be taken tomorrow & that we may take possession at
once. Alick sent especially to enquire for fear she might have changed
her mind and that he might make a trip to Turin for nothing. A
note was brought from the Baroness to Carrie today with the largest and
most beautiful bouquet of flowers I have ever seen. It was sent from
Genoa to the Baroness de Gautier whose fête it is today; and she was
kind enough to transfer it to our C. who bears the same christian name.
The bouquet was so large that we could not pass it through the door
which freely admits our crinoline, and we were obliged to open another
leaf! Thursday 5th
A. returned from Turin tonight bringing
back Carrie but in a high state of indignation against the Ghirardi
who really seems determined to try our patience beyond human en-
-durance. When he presented himself before her this morning
she exclaimed - "Ma perchè siete venuto? Io non sono pronta!
Mi bisogna la cucina ancor due giorni o di fini." A. said
"but Madam, I came at your orders to take the inventory. Even
yesterday you told our messenger you would be quite ready."
"Ah, Dio mio, si! Ma non sono pronta, vi dico, E poi - e poi
- ah, bisogna che
io
abbia fatto qualche gran peccato in
questo mondo per essere cosi tormentata!" She then went
on to rail about her workmen and I have no doubt she
has had trouble enough with them - and they not less
with her - and declared they had driven her mad and
that she should start for Sinigalia tomorrow without fail.
Qu'elle s'en aille vite! So here we are again. The witch


wont hear of the inventory till Sunday and we must make the
most of our bare brick floors in the meantime. We might
be pardoned for wishing that the mason who chased this
woman with his trowel the other day had laid her up
long enough for us to get settled. The Baroness again spent the
evening with us, and condoled us in our vexations. She
says all Turin is talking about the way we have been treated
from first to last & would wonder at our patience if it
were not well known how next to impossible it is to get a house
on any terms. Indeed we would renounce our bargain with
M. Ghirardi at once if we could do anything else, but we cannot
afford to pay 30,000 frs per annum. as it is said the Elliots do. By
the way, the English papers are still quarrelling about the facts as
to Sir James Hudson's recall, but I think few persons doubt, not-
withstanding Lord Russel's solemn & most emphatic denial,
that he was made to feel by the latter that his resignation
was expected. The king is to leave for Naples on saturday.
Mr Marsh would go if possible, but does not see how
he can, Clay will go at any rate.
Friday Nov. 6th
Gaetano brought from Turin this morning
a letter from the Contino, saying that his mad mother had
gone to Senigallia & had left him 'entierement libre' to do
as he liked about the house. He tells us we may have it
at once, so to-morrow we begin to send all boxes. What a
relief! May the old proverd [proverb] about the 3 days hoar-frost fail this
time - we should be sadly put out by a rain in the morning
or worse yet by its overtaking our boxes on their way.


Saturday Nov. 7th
Two cart-loads of books etc were started for Turin
this morning & A. & G. went down in our Piòbesi establishment
to receive them at the Casa d'Angennes. They returned in the
evening bringing as good a report as we could expect. Young
Gherardi d'Angennes was very amiable and really seems
to be trying to attone for his mother's vexatious behaviour.
The day has been a fine specimen of Indian summer
weather. Some packing & more work for the wedding
took up the whole day for C. & Myself.
Sunday Nov 8th
It is so bright and sunny, so calm & so
quiet here to-day that we shall feel doubly sad to exchange
all
to-morrow for the shade the noise and the hurry of the
town. I thought when we left Pegli last spring that we
could never hope for another period in our lives so quiet
as we had enjoyed there - and our summer has been
even more so. Now it seems to me as if we were about
to enter the busy world to find little repose from it
again until our life-work is ended - may this im-
pression prove as mistaken a one as did the former.
Monday Nov. 9th
After an early breakfast, & a hurried one at that
we left the castle for Turin, servants, except Gaetano, staying behind
to see to loading of last carts & shutting up. I left Mr M. at the Leg.
& drove with C. towards the Tottenhams - met them on the way, found
the wedding was actually to come off tomorrow - went back to Leg. &
took up Mr M - all went together to Casa d'Angennes.


And here we are again after fifteen months once more in our first
Italian home. It is improved in many respects but much of the
elegant furniture has been almost ruined, many a splendid
trifle broken & nearly all the show knicknacery that has
escaped destruction has been confiscated by the Gherardi & has
disappeared. The young Count came to ask if all was right
and we were glad to be able to y say, 'yes'. We shall
have
much, very
much to buy, but this was understood. As soon as Giachino
came from P. I took her out with me to get a bridal present
for Miss Tottenham - found a beautiful set of pale coral ear-
rings & a brooch for sixty francs - took them, left notes with
Madame Sartiges, returned, went over to Hotel Feder, all of
us to dine, had tea at home & went to bed too tired to sleep.
Tuesday Nov. 10th
All progress in getting settled was put a stop to by
the wedding. Both Giachino & Gaetano were given over to the
service of the bridesmaid. The carriage took her off at ten
and brought her back at 1/2 past 1. Bride said to have looked
very lovely - every thing to have gone right. The E. Legation
was filled with spectators - friends of course, but uninvited.
The bride & groom leave for Genoa to-night. After C's return
all hands were put to hard duty & we made advance in
clearing out boxes etc but we shall be in confusion for a month.
To-night when I went to bed Giachino told me of the joy my
gift of blankets & other flannels had caused to poor Marianne's
mother & the gardener's wife. She says she could hardly get
away from them. I am really ashamed that the very little we
could do, or rather did do, for the poor of Piòbesi, should have been
so noised abroad. Had we practiced a little more self denial we
might have really done something more effectual, but we indulged
ourselves in our journeys & when the autumn came, the salary
was gone - and yet they are so grateful for the little - may
Heaven forgive us that it was no more!


Wednesday Nov. 11th.
Wardrobes, writing-desks, tables, chairs, pictures &c have
been travelling about the house in the livliest way all the morn-
ing - some cases of collision, but no serious catastrophe. Mrs Sartiges
came in to say goodbye - not less in a hurry than ourselves as
she leaves town tomorrow morning. I am sorry, though it
must be admitted the grief of the Turinese is not great at the
departure of the count. There is a new story in circulation about his
meanness which has gone as far as England and come back again
in the E-journals - that he refused to pay for the injury done to
a carriage by collision, and applied
appealed
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Minister said he had nothing to do with it and referred him
to the prefet. The prefet denied that it was his concern. Whether
the count paid in the end or not does not appear.
With the help of the Revue des Deux Mondes and Madame
Collet's L'Italie des Italiens we managed to get through
with a long evening.
Thursday Nov 12th
Today we made the usual discoveries on taking
possession of a house that has been repaired - damp walls,
smoking chimney or no chimney at all. Mr Marsh was
completely driven out of his room, and the darkness of the
day helped to dispirit us. Alas! what can all this gilding,
all this painting, all these mirrors, all this satin, and
all this embroidery do to compensate for the glorious
sunshine and song of the open country. For my
part, thankful as I am that we are here
since we must come her, I already pine
for the light of heaven we left behind us.


Friday Nov. 13th
Another day of household discomfort. Even telegrams
from America and European Congresses lose something of their interest at such
a time. Those however who are not putting up stoves and putting down carpets
are very full of the Emperour's project, and even we find time to wonder a little
what he will say to Sénor Romero's reception at Washington. The
weather is as glum without as within today.
Saturday Nov 14th
This morning I sent for Madame Ghirardi's
cameriera to consult about the carpet. She came, and lo,
"a woman with a peard" such as I never beheld before! She
is about thirty with the moustache of a young man of twenty two,
and a beard which a young man of twenty five would be
proud of. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that few men
can boast a blacker or a thicker one. It was cut close &
half concealed by a muffler, but could not be hid entirely. The
girl is otherwise goodlooking, and her features are not masculine.
This evening we began Paris en Amérique, and were
greatly diverted.
Sunday Nov. 15th
Young Luigi Kossuth came in this
morning while we were deep in Janet's article on German
materialism, in the August number of the Revue des
Deux Mondes. We talked Poland and Hungary of course &
had another laugh at the expense of poor old King Arpad
alias, Chuy-chanel, who has lately sued the Duke of
Modena for assuming one of his (Arpad's) titles, Duke
of Este. Among the other discoveries made by this


claimant of the Hungarian throne is this - that the
first wife of Julius Ceasar was a Kossuth, daughter
of Lucius Kossucius, consul etc. We finished Janets
article after our visiter left us, and liked it much. It
is wonderful how superior the French are to the English
in this species of writing.
Monday Nov. 16th
As soon after breakfast as innumerable interruptions
would permit us we drove out in search of carpets &c. - managed to
spend a good deal of money in the course of an hour - though grudgingly -
I returned with Mr Marsh, and, though feeling very unwell, took
up C__. and G__. and proceeded to get Carrie's winter outfit. At one
of the shops they persisted in showing nothing but English goods, and
when I asked for French fabrics they said - "But all our newest
and best things are English - nobody buys anything but what is English
- in short the whole nation is going Protestant.' On our return I
told Mr and Mrs Tottenham when they came in what I had
heard, and though I do not suppose they took the shopman's words
literally, they were evidently pleased. They, at least, are not sorry
for the late change in the English Embassy, though I do not know
whether they take the side of Sir James or Lord Russell on the
question between them. - The illness of the King of Denmark
excites much anxiety among the friends of that country, as his
death might have a very unfavorable effect on the Schleswig-
Holstein dispute. Mr Elliot writes that the reception of our King
at Naples was everything a King could desire, and I hope his
visit there may do good. - Poor Miss Arbesser has just received
news of the death of her father as she tells me in reply to my note
sent with patterns from England for the Principe [Princess] Marguerite


Tuesday Nov. 17th
The morning was consumed in superintending the matching
of carpet patterns, selection of rugs, writing notes &c. Mr Artoni
spent the evening with us. I told him that Mr Marsh had
found a new word for a secularized priest - un prete spretato -
he laughed and said 'you know that Garibaldi says - 'bisogna
snapoleonizzare l' Italia.' The death of the king of Denmark
is announced today. Great sorrow and anxiety, even alarm, is
said to prevail in Copenhagen. The late King was not well spoken
of when he came to the throne and his domestic life would indicate
something wrong, but he has succeeded in making himself a popular
King. His uncle Frederic-Ferdinand, who succeeds him has
still more doubtful rights in Schleswig-Holstein, and trouble is
feared. The Congress, to judge from newspaper discussions, is not
rising in public favour. Another subject of much debate and
quarrelling is the Suez-canal which Lesseps declares will go
on in spite of the opposition of the pasha stirred up as everybody
believes him to be by English intrigues. England seems really
in a fair way not only to be hated by the whole world as a power
but to bring upon herself such a storm of indignation as
will greatly affect her influence, if it does not injure her
material prosperity.
Wednesday 18th
Mr Clay made his appearance this morning
after a ten days absence, and we were not a little surprised
to find he had been to Caprera to see Garibaldi. He is
much pleased with his visit, the day he spent with the
general compensating fully for three days of grievous sea-
-sickness and two days among the miserable fishermen


Garibaldi's letter to some friends in the Neapolitan
province who are trying to get up a monument for
him, is most characteristic. The substance is 'while
two foreign armies are encamped on the soil of Italy,
while the blood of her sons shed by brigands is reddening
her highways, while Italian peasants suffer hunger and
Italian children are without schol schools let me not
hear of monuments - least of all, a monument to me.'


of the Maddalena. He gives the same account of this most
remarkable man on his sea-rock as other visitors have done.
His rude fare and rough companions - his hospitality in offering
all he has, - his wonderful symplicity of manner and character
- his cheerfulness combined with a dignity that never forsakes
him, - and above all that rather absence of all thought of
himself which cannot fail to impress even his enemies. His
companions are old fellow-soldiers in their red shirts; (, he himself
wore a grey one when Mr Clay saw him with a kind
of poncho over his shoulder) they cook their messes in
turn, and coarse fare it is too - a huge platter of salt
fish - a large dish of black beans - these seemed to be
the principal delicacies. Boxes of nice dried fruits sent
Garibaldi by distant friends arrived while Mr Clay was
there but they all went into the common store-room. The
hero cares for none of these things. Clay says he expressed
great interest in the Mexican question, and believes in the
day when we shall be in a position to dictate to the
Emperour Napoléon the course he is to pursue with regard
to that country. His sons are now both with him - the eldest
Menotti - Mr Clay says is a noble fellow physically, and
adored by the fishermen of Maddalena and the coast,
whom he hugs and kisses in a most fraternal and Italian
way. We were obliged to descend very abruptly
from the region of Garibaldi to the atmosphere of an old
Jewess who came to make a carpet, and who demanded
fifteen francs for what work that any "faculized" Yankee
dame would have undertaken to do in a day. I sent the
witch off and Carrie sat down to do the work. Then followed


carpenters &c all ready to come and do a little job three
days hence, but nobody to be got now. For the whole of the
rest of the day we were all through other, as the Pennsyl-
-vania Duchman says.
Thursday Nov. 19.
We make so little progress in settling our house
in order that I am afraid even the end of the month will
not find us quieted down for the winter. Driven from room to
room now by a carpenter, now by a fumista, we wander
about like troubled spirits, losing our time and trying not
to lose our tempers. The abbé Baruffi called at the
door this evening, left a very neat copy of th his Campo Santo
di Torino for us with a promise to come in and pass the
evening with us very soon. After tea we read the article
in the Revue des Deux Mondes on the propossed Congress
and then went on with Paris en Amérique.
Friday Nov. 20th
The sister of our hospital patient
brought us some fine fresh fish this morning and a
huge basket of 'red apples,' evidently selected with great
care. I enquired how her sister was - 'Beng-beng," said
she clasping her hands with a delighted expression. She
walks all about the hospital, and has already begun
to make gloves. A greater miracle than this was never
performed even by the famous Dr Nelson of Boston memory.
We had no interruptions during the day except from
workmen who still keep the house topsy-turvy. In the
evening our always welcome friend the abbé spent a
couple of hours with us and we had a great deal to


say on both sides. Since we saw him he has been at
Chambery at the scientific gathering, at Paris, at
Frankfurt at the time of the congress of the German
States, at Aix-le-Bain when Rattazzi and Rattazzi-
Solmes-Bonaparte were there together, and he promises
us some choice gossip when he comes in again. He
is very far from ill natured, and never tells an unfavourable
story except of those who have become public property &
whose doings and sayings have something like historic
interest. For the first time he admits that the affairs
of the Suez-canal company are in a bad way, and lays
the blame, as does everyone else, entirely on the English
Meeting one day in Paris the secretary of the pasha
of Egypt the young man said to him: "You are
a friend of the President of the company and you could
not do him a greater service than to pursuade him to re-
-nounce for the company their claim to the lands adjacent
to the canal." Soon after he met Mr Lesseps at a re-
-ception of Day Drouyn de Lhuys, and taking him into a
window recess told him what the Bey had said. Upon
this Lesseps declared in a loud and excited tone that they would
never give up one inch. Drouyn de Luys
Lluys [Lhuys]
himself was
standing near enough to hear this declaration, inquired into
the cause of his excitement, and then took him quite apart
and held a half-hour's talk with him. The Abbé thinks
the Emperour will not give up the question, and in this
instance at least I wish he may have a triumph.
England has no right to set herself against the con-
-venience and advantage of the whole world. If she


pushes matters too far France may say to Russia
- 'Take Constantinople if you like provided you will
let me do what I please with Egypt,' and England
would thus find herself left out in the cold. I
asked the Abbé what he heard of the congress and what
he heard said of it. "Oh, I suppose everybody believes it
to be an expedient on the part of the Emperour to divert
public attention from matters that more immediately
concern France. We talked of Mondovi and our disap-
-pointment in not having fine weather when there, and
our old friend told us many interesting things about
old palaces in the neighborhood &c. and we settled to
go there with him in the spring. We asked after the
great old Plana and he tells us that his hearing is
almost entirely gone, but he works on at his profound
problems with as much zeal and success as when he
was twenty years younger. There was too little time how-
-ever to enquire after half our acquaintance. La Pomposa
he says in very poor health, but we did not enter upon
the fashionable world in general.
Saturday Nov. 21st
The new chargé from Brazil Monsieur de Britto
paid us a first visit this morning. He seems a quiet little
man of forms - very gentlemanly and very conventional. The
Gajani's came towards evening and we talked America. -
In the evening we finished Paris en Amérique and clapped
it vigorously at the close. I intend to get another copy to
use for missionary purposes. I have see no book likely
to do us more good.


Sunday 22 Nov.
We all went to church this morning, had a fair
sermon from Mr Tottenham whose congregation for the most part
was made up of diplomats actual or en inactivité. The Elliots
the Hochschilds, the Solvyns, the Browns, Mr Clay.
After service & a shaking of hands with our friends we
drove to the Piazza d'armi before returning home
to see the mountains in their winter glory. A few minutes
after we returned we were surprised and pleased by a visit
from dear old Plana. The Abbé had told us that he went no
where now, being too deaf to hear anything, and suffering con-
-stantly from a painful affection of the mouth and throat.
His first words after his welcome were: "Je vais mourir et je
suis venu pour vous revoir encore une fors." I protested by remind-
-ing him that he was still looked in excellent health, that he walked
almost with the ease of a young man, and that he was still able to
perform an amount of mental labour the thought of which would
appal most of us. I could not make him hear however except
now and then a single word, and Mr Marsh did not succeed better
till he took out his trumpet and then we got on pretty well.
He brought with him his last work on Polar heat to be sent to
the Washington Observatory. Our great object was to make him talk
of course and the mention of the proposed Congress roused him
sufficiently. He poured out a torrent of epithets on the French Emperour.
the mildest of which was fourbe and ended by b expressing the
hope that he would finish worse than his uncle had done. As to
Mexico he said - 'Vous le chasserez, vous autres, vous le chasserez
n'est-ce-pas?' He then broke out into a sort of apostrophe
to the Emperour seizing in his enthusiasm sometimes Mr Marsh's


From the piazza of the Monte dei Capucini Mr Marsh
saw this morning the famous spectre of the Brocken.
It was so distinct that he could distinguish his hat
and even his cane as he raised it or let it fall.


hand, sometimes mine, and finished by saying - 'so I would
speak to the Emperour if I could be but a member of that
Congress.' When he bid us goodbye he promised to come again
if he lived long enough, and to Carrie he said "Adieu, Madam-
-oiselle, je vous prends dans mes bras." Poor old man.
He evidently feels that his is a setting sun, and he is much grat-
-ified by marks of respect and admiration now rarer than once
no doubt. - After the Baron left us we took up Samuel
Vincent's Méditations Religieuses which promises to be a book
of great interest. Mr Clay and Mr Artoni dined with us.
Monday Nov 23
C. and I lost nearly the whole day from
having no room in which we could sit down with a
fire. Our own cabinet was in the hands of a chimney-sweep
and a fumista - the drawing room was being swept
and garnished, the chimney in my own bedroom smoked
too intolerably to allow of a fire - Carrie's bedroom had
a stove-pipe connected with our working cabinet and
shared the confusion of the latter - Mr Marsh's room
is still so damp that there is little comfort in it, and be-
-sides carpenters or paperers or fumisti or tailors are per-
-petually coming and going there. Altogether it was an
evil day and we went to bed with the mournful
reflection that not a single room was yet in thorough order
Tuesday Nov 24
I was driven out of my room earlier
than usual by the announcement that a paperer
wanted admission - went into Mr Marsh's room
and found the enemy there, begged that a


fire might be put in the drawing-room, was
told that Susanne was there washing the doors - 
that the fumista was expected every moment to finish
his work in our waiting room &c &c. I resigned my-
-self and sat down by Mr Marsh while the paperer
went on with his operations. To soothe my nerves,
made even more than ordinarily sensitive by a Dover's
powder last night, Mr Marsh read me the Saturday
Review criticism on Longfellow's last poems.
Without having read these poems the mean-spiritedness
weakness and ignorance of the critic are sufficiently
apparent. One thing amused us particularly - The burthen
of one of the songs; 'Dead rides &c' the writer says does
not seem to have anything to do whatever with the
rest of the poem, for aught he can see it might as
well have been: Alive walks Mr Smith &c'! At the
same time he gravely adds that no doubt it does
mean something, and that Mr Longfellow ought to
have explained it! He thinks Mr Longfellow should
not have selected those old Norse subjects because
he, (the Critic) does not know anything about them, &
he also thinks that Mr L__. should not have made
allusions to a mythology equally unknown to the
learned men of England. He admits that Tennyson
has made use of old legends, but then the scene of these
was in the British Isles about which everybody knows
everything - or ought to. - While Valerio from Genoa
was telling us his various troubles with his countrymen
and his government, his unsuccessful efforts to bring them up


a little, the youngest
eldest
Kossuth came in. He was well posted up
in affairs American and European, and like his brother is
remarkably gifted. The Solvyns came later - The Abbé
sent Carrie while we were at the dinner table Madame
Gasparin's last book from which we read in the evening
with much admiration. Les Tristesses Humaines like
all her other books is full of profound thought and lighted
up by unmistakable flashes of the highest genius.
Wednesday 25th Nov.
Our first news today was sad enough. The
Pulszkys have lost their Gyula - a most promising boy
of fifteen. We had not even heard of his illness. I hope this
is not the fruit of the parents' ambition - they are generally thought
to press their children very hard in their studies.
Judge Dyer and Dr Davisson of Chicago presented themselves
about eleven and I had an hour's talk with them before
Mr Marsh came in. They are plain sensible men - out-
-spoked christians, and hearty patriots - just such men
as Dr Lefebvre met in his eight days in America. One
of Judge Dyer's replies in answer to some complaints of mine
against the administration for want of energy diverted
me immensely. "Madam." said he, - "you may depend
upon it, the Lord runs Lincoln! I have watched the
course of events during this war and I am sure of it - the
Lord runs Lincoln!" I am not certain but that he quoted
the phrase as having been used first by some one else,
but original or not it struck me as very droll. Among
other things we learn from them was the presence of
Mrs Lincoln on this side the water. If I had one of


Johnathan Dream's pills
to dispose of
she would find herself in
the heart of Australia when she wakes tomorrow morning.
They told an anecdote of her quite in accordance with
those told by our friend Larned. Senator Foot being at
the head of a committee of arrangements for the Inauguration
called on Mrs Lincoln to inquire how many seats she
would like reserved for herself and friends. "Sir" replied
the amiable lady "I guess I've wit enough to find my
way to the capitol without any help of yours!" Mr
Foot was confounded of course, told the story to Trumball
and asked what it could mean. "It means" said Trumball
that she is a __ fool." Mrs Monnet was our next vis-
-itor. We talked of new American books, abused the Em-
-perour Napoleón, and were interrupted by the entrance
of Madame de Rothan wife of the French Chargé.
I was glad Mr Marsh happened to be present that he
might see for himself whether there was occasion for the
sudden admiration I felt for this last lady. - Handsome
graceful, intelligent and simpathique as the phrase is,
I felt at once as if I had known her half my life. She did
not hesitate to express the warmest sympathy for the North
in its struggle for the life of the Nation, knew Gasparin's
books on the subject, spoke of Madame Gasparin with
the greatest admiration, and had enjoyed Paris en
Amérique as much as we ourselves. I hardly need
take the trouble to say after that she is a Protestant. As
to our American writers I am afraid she is more familiar
with them than I am. - Mrs Tottenham with her
son and daughter came in as soon as Madame de Rothan


left, and confirmed the favourable opinion I had
formed of my visitor. Poor Mrs Tottenham was
shocked and overcome to hear of young Pulszky's
death. Her own great grief is so fresh that she cannot
fail to feel acutely for her friends who are suffering like
herself. Mr Marsh found time to pay a few visits
today and among others went to see Gorresio. He
found him with a pile of Sanscrit manuscripts
before him, beautifully written out on palm leaves, one
of which he was copying. He was courteous enough to
say that he had been reading Mr Marsh's books lately
with the greatest pleasure and profit, and then went
into a more detailed and still more flattering criticism
of them. Mr Marsh was satisfied however that it was
Max Müller who had excited the learned librarian's
curiosity, and that but for him he would probably never
have read them. This is certainly not strange when one
considers how little time he can have for any thing
out of his own immediate sphere of occupation.
Thursday Nov. 26th
Our domestic disorder increases rather
than diminishes. The running to and fro, this morning,
of carpenters, fumisti &c with all their arnese has com-
-pletely upset the small quantity of brains left intact by
a terrible cold. Poor husband was entirely dislodged and
went out to make visits leaving a palsied old carpenter
at work in his cabinet who had spent three hours in
measuring the length of a single shelf and in sawing


off the two ends. In the course of his visits he learned
some curious facts with regard to Sir James Hudson
and the late English Legation generally. An English
gentleman very friendly to Sir James personally
and recognizing some very important services
rendered by him to Italy, declares that there were
several causes united which occasioned his removal.
That Lord Russell was glad to have an opportunity
to provide for a connection he admits, but he says
that the grossly immoral life led by Sir James and
his suite had become so notorious as to be complained
of by almost every respectable Englishman who visited
Turin, that even the common city police had brought
complaints against the Embassy. As to the services
rendered Italy by Sir James this gentleman thinks
they have been greatly exaggerated by letter writers
who found their flattery paid well. He alluded
to one circumstance, or rather one statement
often repeated by the English journals with regard
to the friendships existing between Sir James and
Cavour - that Sir James was with the Minister
almost constantly during his last illness and
that he died in his arms. Mr Marsh's in-
-formant says that Sir James himself told him
that he never saw Cavour from the time they
dined together on a fine fish the day before
Cavour became seriously ill - and for the best
of reasons, namely that he left town immediately


after this dinner and returned only when it was
too late. The English gentleman claims for Sir James
the most manly political creed and practice, but
says his private life was a most pernicious exam-
-ple to Italy, and a disgrace to England. Alas, alas,
alas for appearances, and whom can one believe
and trust in this so-called high life!
We had Judge Dyer and Mr Davisson, the Gajanis,
Clay and Artoni to dine with us by way of
keeping the national Thanksgiving. It was very
pleasant in spite of a little smoke and the absence
of the mince-pies and pumpkin-pies. The two travellers
had much to tell us of their own personal expe-
-riences and that of their friends in the dreadful
scenes through which our country had passed
since we left it. Dr Davisson told me he had,
or had had, thirty three relatives in the Army,
many of whom had already laid down their
lives, and he gave me some most touching
incidents connected with some of them. His
account of a couple of hours spent in a Church
filled with wounded soldiers from the rebel army
was very moving. Judge Dyer has thirteen or
fifteen nephews, I am not quite sure which,
now in the army. He had many interesting
things to tell us of what he had witnessed on
the African coast, and he assured us that the
hanging of Gordon had produced a shock among


the Slave dealers that had extended as far as
Timbuctoo, and that it had done more towards
putting down the Slave trade than a dozen fleets
could have done. With Gajani we talked over
the Congress and the new coast treaty with France
Mr Marsh expresses his astonishment to every
Italian he meets at the obsequiousness of this
government towards the Emperour. It is really
sad to see it drifting completely under his guns.
Everybody believes that the Congress is a great
hum, but the Denmark question looks blacker
every day. I had a nice talk with Mrs Gajani
about old friends, and learned from her many
interesting little items. Mr & Mrs Gajani go to
the Waldensian Church and propose to become
communicants in it. Mr Artoni had a very
unpleasant story to tell us of an American
calling himself Thompson who with his wife
mother and very beautiful sister who had been
living for two months in private lodgings in the
via Dora Grossa, and had just left, leaving not
only rent unpaid, but having actually borrowed
money of his landlady. As people of this stamp
very naturally do not come to the Legation we
had heard nothing of them when the injured land-
lady brought in her complaint.
Friday Nov. 27th
Mr Marsh diverted us not a little this
morning by giving us the Tuscan word implying


the attendant of a young lady when she goes out - Il suo
decoro! The day is damp and foggy, and at half past
two we can hardly
no longer
see. My detestation for town-life increases
every day. The abbé Baruffi spent the evening with us, so
that it did not seem long. He gives a bad account of the poor
Marchesa Doria, for whom, by the way, our phoenix of a foot-
-man, Gaetano, has been to enquire in my name and without
any order from me every day. I should have given him the
order certainly, had he not had enough work to do for two
since we came here.
Saturday Nov. 28th
Our ancient friend Dr Péters whom we
first saw in Constantinople, afterwards in various parts of
Europe and finally in America presented himself quite
unexpectedly this morning. Mr Marsh asked him to dinner
which dismayed me a little at first remembering what
a bore he had been to me in other years. Plana took him
in charge through the day as a brother-cipherer, and when
dinner was over and we were discussing Bache and his
clique over a cup of tea I could not help saying to myself
"the man isn't really so bad, after all!" He said some
very good things about the new scientific association - and
actually made us laugh heartily by his account of the Phil.
adelphian who was struck with the brilliant idea that
he might go to China by raising himself in a balloon
to some little height in the air, and waiting there, till,
in the natural order of things, China should be directly
under him, at which à propos moment he would let himself


down upon the celestial Empire! Péters declares that
this philosopher actually tried to raise funds wherewith
to try the experiment, but the benighted population of
Philadelphia, who had not yet learned the great fact
that the world turns around, refused to aid him!
Sunday Nov. 29th
England they say has definitely refused
to have anything to do with the Emperour's Congress,
and thereupon the Paris papers rail, and the Italian
journals join in the chorus. One does not know what
to believe about the Empress' letter to the Pope, but many
persons think she has actually written in a tone that
leads the pope to believe he may hope to be reinstated
in all his lost provinces, that he may see the Bourbon
once more in Naples, and the ex-dukes lording it over
their former heritages. Are we really come to this, that such
a woman as this Eugénie holds in her hands the destinies
of peoples? I sat down when the rest had gone to Church
looking for a precious quiet hour to myself, but had hardly
thrown myself on the sofà in the Library when Mr Wheeler
was announced - a good man and welcome, but alas!,
how time flies. Among Mme Gasparin's Tristesses Humaines
is there a sadder one than this - never to be sure of a moment
to dispose of at one's will. We talked over the bad news
from Burnside and other political matters, then those of
a more personal nature, till Mr Marsh came in from
Church, on which I retired to the drawing-room having
learned from C. that the Baroness de Hochschild was coming
in, Luigi Kossuth was announced almost immediately


and after him the Hochschilds, then Rustem Bey. Speaking
of the Congress Kossuth quoted what is said to have been the
Emperor's direction with regard to the sense in which an edito-
rial was to be written for La France - "Si le congrès se fait c'est
bien, si le congrès ne se fait pas, eh, bien, tant mieux!" Hochschild
does not like to talk about the cloud in the North, hopes it won't
be much of a shower &.. Alluding to the subserviency of Italy to
France at this time he said 'I consider the Italians a nation of
snobs, and if they go on in this way they will soon be unfit
for the society of gentlemen.' I found the bold Baron's tone, though
he has never been a partisan of the South, much more hopeful
with regard to our affairs, and he dwelt energetically on the
insanity of the rebels. Our great guns have produced a prodigious
effect on public opinion in Europe. But my quests did not
confine themselves to national topics. The poor Doria was
spoken of as very ill. Thereupon Mme de Hochschild declared
it was no wonder, with her late hours, her receptions in her
bedroom where her visitors smoked ad libitum, and where
neither fresh air or fresh water were ever admitted, the Mar-
-chesa being known to have a very doggish aversion to cold
water. The Baroness however wound up her remarks by
some apologetic suggestions in favour of the Marchesa, and
by declaring that she was on the whole kind-hearted, and that
she was almost the only Turinese lady who received strangers
or showed them any civilities. "For my part" said her husband,
"I don't think she is a good woman, and I wish she never had
received, and I'm glad she's ill!" Of course the Baron
said this by way of joke, but he has never made a secret of
not liking her, and the antipathy has been reciprocal.


Rustem Bey threw in his little word of dénigrement - 
The Marchese had a visitor at her country-seat last summer
who was troublesome because he rang his bell so often for
water. At last she lost her patience and complained to other
friends - "I never use more than a glass of water to make
my toilette, and I don't see why he needs more". It is
so easy to see that this story has passed through several mouths
that it needs no comment. It gave me almost a shudder
as I listened to this talk when I recollected the homage I
had seen paid to this lady by Rustem Bey and the like in
the days when she was a social leader here, and which would
be paid again if she were to recover and open her sala once
more. Mr Wheeler dined and passed the evening with
us - a rational human creature whose heart has not been
annihilated to make room for a compass.
Monday Nov. 30
C. and I wrote notes and letters all the
morning. Our only visitor was the Countess de Marini. Poor
old thing! Old age and ill health have at last used up the little
remnant of brains that the haute société had left her. I felt
ashamed after she left that I had allowed the conversation
to turn only on the prospects of the winter, as to balls, theatres
parties etc., but I saw no chance of making myself under-
-stood even if I had tried to give it another direction. So
melancholy an old age I have seldom seen in any class
of society. Mr Wheeler dined with us and hurried
off for Genoa. In the evening we were uninterrupted by
visitors, read La Boulaye's preface to his Liberté Religieuse,
something from Mme de Gasparin, and finished the evening


with the admirable criticism of Buckle in the January
'63 number of the Atlantic Monthly.
Tuesday December 1st
Before I could get through with a short
morning's work and finish dressing, Mr Tottenham and
his son came in, and Mr Solvyns soon after. Young
Tottenham whose officer-life has been for the most part
in China, laments the course of his government in changing
sides in the Chinese civil war, and taking the part as
they now do, of the Emperor. He thinks the only chance of
progress for China is the success of the revolutionary party.
It is bad enough he admits, but under its rule, improvement
would be possible. Mr Solvyns commends warmly
Lord Russell's part of the correspondence between the
French and English governments on the subject of the
Congress. The last letter is very good certainly, but the
first does not strike me as very able. Why did he not
confine himself simply to an expression of the confidence
of his government in the good intentions of the Emperor
and to the questions what were to be the subjects dis-
-cussed, and how far were the decisions of the Congress
to be binding, and by what means were they to be carried
out? Instead of this, he in the first place argues against
the Congress, betrays an evident intention to have nothing
to do with it, and then puts these questions. It seems
to me the other course would have been much simpler
and given less occasion to the bitter outcry which the
refusal has brought upon England from so many
quarters. I did not however express this opinion to


Mr Solvyns as with even so enlightened a man
as he, it is wiser for a woman not to venture criticisms
in such cases. The war prospect was of course dis-
-cussed. Everybody hopes it may be avoided, nobody sees
how. The Minister of Foreign Affairs told Mr Marsh
yesterday that the United States had proposed to the Italian
Government to buy the two frigates built for the latter
by Webb, but that, while they were anxious for our
success, and desirous to oblige us if possible, yet to
give up these two frigates would be as serious an evil
to them as if we were to send 'twenty thousand men
to the Dalmatian coast to aid Austria in its defence.'
He evidently meant to be understood that Dalmatia
was the point to which the Italians were now looking.
In the evening we had the Monnets, and enjoyed
their visit very much. They are so intelligent and so
much in earnest.
Wednesday Dec. 2nd
Mrs Tottenham and girls called this
morning and took Carrie to the Vaudois fair, - like all
the fairs here, the poorest of shams compared with ours,
but the people give and they accomplish their ends.
It snowed quite fast most of the day, always melting
in the streets but resting on the roofs. Madame de
Castro came in towards evening and sat half an hour.
She is more than amiable, she is sensible and bright,
and yet all we had to say to each other were friendly
words of enquiry about health &c. then the
a
little talk
about the young Queen of Portugal, her beau garçon


of a husband, their domestic happiness, and the fêting
tour on which they now are; After this followed a
history of the Diplomatic ladies who had gone and come
since we met, the number of court balls given last
winter and the number that probably would be given
this, then a goodbye with a resolution to talk English
when we met again - and then the good lady went
off to her carriage, sighing to herself I dare say - 'now
I must go somewhere else in all this miserable weather
to say over the same things I have said here,' while I
sighed too to think that we two who might really
have heartily loved each other under certain circumstances
should probably never know any or care any more
about each other than we now do though we may
meet once a week for a twelve-month.
Thursday 3rd
I have about resigned myself to
consider the winter as thrown away as to any special
purposes of my own. The chimney of my woking [working?] cabinet
proves incorrigible, Mr Marsh is always [illegible] exposed to
visitors, often business ones, and I am never safe in his
study for a moment, the dining room is a thoroughfare
to his apartments, as is the little boudoir, and I cannot
be in the drawing room except when dressed, and besides it
is so dark then that knitting-work is the only work possible.
I grumbled the day away - in the evening we had a
pleasant reading till nine o'clock, then talked with
Miss Arbesser till eleven. With all her fine
intellect and varied reading I see the wretched effects


Matteucci and Bonghi have had a difficulty,
Bonghi having made some public charges against
the former. Matteucci who, great man as he is, has
a very undignified sensibility to trifles, felt himself
greatly aggrieved and told a friend the he was
going to write a letter to be published in one of the
Turinese Journals to justify himself, and to disgrace
Bonghi. His friend advised him by all means to
do it, waited while he wrote it, then read and approved
it warmly, after which he threw it into the fire saying: "Now
you have thoroughly relieved your mind, it is well, but you
must not do so undignified a thing as to get into a personal
altercation in the newspapers. Matteucci yielded with rather
a bad grace, but the course of his friend the Marchesa Arconati,
when she heard of his affront must have consoled him.
She is said to have written the following note to Bonghi.
"Mon cher Bonghi. Vous avez attaqué mon ami
Matteucci - il s'en trouve blessé, et désormais il vous
verra mal volentiers [volontiers]. Comme je préfère Matteucci à
vous, je me trouve dans la nécessité de vous prier
de ne plus venir chez moi." To explain this note one
should know that both these gentlemen have been in
the habit of frequenting Mme Arconati's soirées.


of the European system of education on both her head
and her heart. It is now about fifteen days since she
heard of her father's sudden death, and she now asks me
for amusing books, "for," says she, while the tear gathers in
her eye "I cannot read grave books now; I really cannot,
they make me too sad. I have been reading Lichtenbergs
satires since this blow came upon me - they are really very
funny!" - Ohimè! I must not forget to mention
that poor little
Mrs
feeble-mind De Zeyck came here this
morning to get some advice from husband about her estate.
She brought a paper from her agent showing that since her
mother's death (about two months ago) that most consumate
of rascals Daïnese has laid claim to Mrs De Zeyck's por-
-tion of the inheritance and is likely to get it. The only
advice to be given her was to hurry home as soon as
possible, and there consult able counsel. I hope it
is not already too late. Hitherto I have only judged of
this woman from report - now I am satisfied that great
mental weakness and an utterly untutored conscience,
or rather a conscience overlaid by a thoughtless life and
the thoughtless example of those about her, explain all
the mysteries of her conduct. But she is very pitiable.
Friday 4. Dec.
Miss Rosazza came with her governess
to settle about the dancing lessons, then followed a visit
from old Peter Browne, who was always
stone
dead mentally
and has become partially so physically. He is a good
old soul, but grows more and more disagreeable to
me as I see more and more of his Irish impudence


and his Irish blarney. The Countess de Rocci with
her remaining pretty daughter followed Peter, or
rather routed him to my great satisfaction. The good
mother's first words after being seated were - 'J'ai
marié une de mes filles Madame depuis que je
vous ai vue', and the joy and the triumph of her eye
was delightful. I was glad to tell her that I knew
all about it, and also that she was a nonna. As
I looked at the beautiful girl at her side and remembered
how necessary her poverty made matrimony, I could not
help wishing for her sake that she had been born in
a country where unmarried women if still dependent
are at least less dependent. Later the Viscomtesse de
Castro brought in and presented little Madame de Guerra
the wife of the Portuguese secretary, a pretty little poupée
with manners and phrases as artificial as one of
Maelzel's old autometa. She liked Turin because
the society was aristocratic, and distinguished for high
breeding, but Genoa she could not bear - it was a
commercial town and vulgar in consequence. In
the evening we finished Madame de Gasparin's
Tristesses Humaines - every page of which is replete
with vigourous thought, and impressed with the seal
of a splendid genius. Mr Clay gave us an hour of
his good company, and with a little help from
La Boulaye afterwards the evening passed quickly.
Saturday 5th Dec.
Mrs Monnet brought the Signorina Piria


to see Carrie this morning. She is the daughter of a
Neapolitan senator, an accomplished girl everyway, and
a decided artist. The Abbé came in at tea-time, and
told us rather an amusing story of the evening before - A man
went up to a sentinel in front of the royal palace and said
the King had sent him for the royal standard. This
man was in his shirt-sleeves, and held a bust of the
King under one arm. The sentinel appears to have been
rather green at his duty, and to have entertained odd
ideas of royal etiquette, for he surrendered the flag at
once without any further authority. The fellow who
had obtained it then marched down the via Dora Grossa
and soon had a troop at his heels. When at last he
came in front of one of the royal officers he was arrested
by the officer on guard, found to be madman and sent
to the manicomia, but the sentinel will probably re-
-ceive a lesson, and the officer whose duty it was to
have had the royal standard under lock and key
at that hour will no doubt be dismissed the
service; but the unfortunate flag was somehow to be
taken back to its former position, and the question was
how. The officer who took it refused to give it up on
the first demand, declaring that military etiquette
did not allow it to be taken back in that way,
and the whole regement had to be mustered
before it was surrendered, and then it was borne
back in triumph mnsigue [consigue] en tête. The abbé
had also just received a letter from the sister
of Lesseps who, speaking of the Suez canal, writes


"Fédérique a triomphé comme il le devait." She
explains no further. After the abbé left the
Gajanis came and passed the evening with us.
They are a really valuable addition to our social
resources. Sunday Dec. 6th
We had an electric shock
this morning in the shape of a letter from brother
Charles saying he should sail the week after its date,
so that we may now look for him almost every day.
Nothing could have astonished us more than his under-
-taking the voyage at this season, but we shall be too happy
if he gets here safe and sound. Carrie and I went to
Church, had a good sermon from Mr Tottenham, but a small
congregation to listen to it. As kindly old Peter handed
me into the carriage my conscience smote me for my
sub-illnature to him Friday, and I remembered that
he wasn't to blame for his race or his birth-place. In the
afternoon we read Vincent's Méditations Religieuses,
and had no visitors except Count Miniscalchi. He com-
-plimented Mr Marsh's first book on English most warmly
but has not yet read the second. We have promised to
pay them a visit at their country-seat on Lago di Garda
next summer. The telegram this evening brought us
good news from America once more - a glorious victory
of Grant over Bragg. May it not prove a mistake.
Monday Dec 7th
The whole morning, with the
exception of a little time after breakfast given to the
papers, was spent in letter-writing, and that too of letters


of mere dull routine. Besides having a visit from the
Gilettas we found a few minutes for German, and then
it was three o'clock and dark. A certain Mr Grey, who
professed to have important matters of concern to the
government to talk over with Mr Marsh got fifty
francs from him by way of helping him on to Paris.
He states that he has been employed by Mr Adams
in London and also by Mr Morse the consul, but
Mr Marsh thinks him partially insane. In the evening
a naturalized America, Italian born, came for a passport with
his wife and child. He brought away from the battle of Bull
Run a ball in his shoulder, returned to Italy with his
American wife, and remained here till his severe wound
was thoroughly healed. He now starts again for America
with his handsome wife and beautiful child, and intends
to go into the service of the government once more. He is an
engineer by profession. Mr Artoni took tea with us.
He does not think the civil marriage bill will be passed
this year, but says the public opinion is going on rapidly in
the right direction.
Tuesday 8th
We had no visitors today except Francesco
Kossuth and the Di Guerras, and I felt too unwell
to see even them, though I did so.
Wednesday 9th
Every fresh telegram makes General
Grant's victory over Bragg more and more important,
and it really does seem as if the rebellion was nearly
finished off. A few more energetic strokes


We were glad to hear from Miss Arbesser that
H.R.H. of Genoa has taken possession of Paris
en Amérique which I lent Miss A__, and is much
amused with it. 'Oh, what a nice book!' she said to
Miss A__ after she had read in it one evening.


would do the work. The Marchesa Arconati on her
visit this morning expressed the strongest interest in
the triumph of our government, but she has evi-
-dently been biased by the English Times so far as to
half believe its declarations that the reconstruction of
the Union is impossible. She is a noble woman &
an honour to any country. Miss Arbesser came with
her. Mrs Solvyns came in to compare visiting-
-lists with me and to give me what information she
could as to social changes in the last fifteen months.
But night overtook us before we could make much
progress in the terrible roll. I was much pleased
to find that Mrs Solvyns could be otherwise than
stiff and solemn. Piòbesan Molina spent the
evening with - came with the double purpose, or rather
triple
one
of paying his respects, selling his library to
Mr Marsh, and renting his country-seat to him next
summer. His pronounciation of French is very diverting.
Under all circumstances he gives ch the sound of
s - une charmante chanson is, with him une sarmante
sanson - Thursday 10th.
This is the quietest day we
have had since we left Piòbesi - no visits at all. C__
paid a few among her young friends.
Friday 11th
Mrs Tottenham came and
gave me news of the Pulszkys, and a good many
other little items that I was glad to know. In the
evening the Abbé Baruffi brought in the great ruin


- Plana - once more. The old man heard better than
when I saw him last, and if he were not so impatient
with his trumpet one might still talk with him
very well, but his mind, which is still most wonderfully
rapid, cannot wait to take an impression in this
slow way, and he drops the trumpet and begins to
talk of something else rather than wait for a reply
to his own question. It is difficult to judge from these
short interviews how far his intellect is unimpaired, but
his memory at least seems perfect, for he recalls what
was said the last time we met with the same ease
as he repeats anecdotes of his intercourse with Murat
at Naples. He says he has consulted Moleschott about
his difficulty in the head and throat, and that he told
him he must give him something that would either
cure him or send him off in peace. Moleschott told him
he could not cure him though he might relieve him
somewhat. The old man complains most of all that
he cannot sleep at night, "but I can work" he added,
"I can work then - Dieu merci, je ne suis pas encore imbécile.
The abbé is much disturbed at the position of Lesseps.
If one were to judge from the government papers, the
Emperour means to sacrifice him if not his canal as well,
but no one can tell anything about this juggler. While
he is pretending to blame the management of the company
etc, he may at this moment be saying to the Pasha,
'You will fulfil the engagements of your predecessor
or abide the chance of war.' - Baruffi"s Piedmontese


translation of the Latin proverb "Qui capere potest
capiat - Chi peu ciapé, ciap. By the way this libero-
-conservato priest is so delighted with Paris en Amérique
that he says he shall buy a copy expressly to circulate
among his acquaintance! -
Saturday 12.
The Countess Menabrea and daughter
were scarcely seated with us this morning when
Deputato Levi was announced. For a moment I
felt a real disappointment as I wished to have our
first visitors by themselves, but it went off very well
as the Countess managed with great tact to show
neither political nor religious aversion to the opposition
-Jew-deputy. We talked a little of spiritism after
having first discussed the late American news, and
I was really struck to find the Countess so well able
to hold up the absurdity of these falsest of all pretenders.
The ladies left first, and after a well-merited tribute to
the beauty and grace of both mother and daughter,
Levi said 'and the Countess is thoroughly liberal too
while Menabrea himself is a bit of a Jesuit.' He then
handed me a book he has just published - Democrazia
e Papismo. - After this we talked of the late excitement
in Parliament, the difficulties between Bixio and Crispi,
the troubles in the southern provinces &c, and in gen-
-eral he sustained the government. He then told me
of the rapid progress of the new religious society whose
members are Known as the Pauliti, and states that
Gen Menabrea has the name of being at the head of


this second edition of Jesuitism. I do not believe a
word of this. I then mentioned Madame Gasparin's
book: Corporation religieuse au sein du Protestantism
and asked him if he knew it. What was my surprise
to hear this Ebrew Jew, and supposed to be an infidel
besides break out in the warmest expressions of admiration
and respect towards this Genevan Calvinist. 'Madame
 di Gasparin! qui ne la connais pas? C'est le plus
noble coeur de l'Europe. C'est une intelligence des
plus hautes.'
Sunday Dec 13.
We had no visitors today
except the English Minister Mr Elliot and the
brothers Kossuth. The former has the air of a
frank gentleman, but does not convey the idea of a
very great man. The two latter amused us not a
little by telling us that they had lately seen an
account of an American surgeon who declared that
by means of a certain bleaching process a negro might
be transformed into a white man in about three weeks.
and they wished to know if this were a fact. We
laughed of course without moderation and then tried
to explain to them that our people were in the habit
in this way of experimenting upon the credulity of
Europeans, when one of the young men asked with
the most astonishing naïveté: "But why do they
say such things if they are not true?," and yet,
these young men are highly cultivated, and very
wide-awake. When we were by ourselves


Mr Marsh read to me from Vincent.
Monday 14th
No visits or other events of interest
today. Mr Marsh was not well enough to go to Count
Sclopis s in the evening with the abbé Baruffi as had
been arranged. Tuesday 15 -
Mr Marsh
went at eleven Vegezzi-Ruscalla lecture on
Wallachian literature, and had a long talk with
him after the lecture was over. He is a man of rare
learning. I shall try to go to the next lecture myself.
About one o'clock Mr George W. Hodges & family
came in. They are on their way to Rome, and I
intrust to them the daguerreotype of our idolized Florence
from
which Mr Stillman promises to do what he can. Madame
Giletta called to see about providing Mrs De Zeyck
with a maid to go with her to America.
Wednesday 16th
After the drawing-lesson this
morning we had scarcely more than time to be
ready for the dancing-master. Madame Giletta
came with her daughter, the Gigliuccis and Miss
Rosazza with their governesses. The young people
did very well, and I hope the school will prove
a success. Mr Meille paid us a visit in the course
of the afternoon. Mrs Mayhew also came in before
the girls were off, and Baron Plana's daughter
was announced while Mrs Mayhew was still
with me. The latter has been much in India


and I should think might prove rather an agreeable
acquaintance. Plana's daughter was less explosive
than when I saw her last, but it was plain
enough that only light ashes covered the fire.
Miss Arbesser spent the evening with us and
was full of interesting matter. She is delighted
with Paris en Amérique and seems to be getting
to have some idea that many of the stories Americans
tell of themselves are not to be taken quite literally,
but are rather intended to practice upon European
credulity. She confessed that she took the account
of the gas headdress au pied de la lettre, and that
she heard gentlemen gravely asserting that such
a thing about be altogether too dangerous!!
Speaking with her about Ruscalla's Lectures led
her to say that she knew Wallachia somewhat,
having spent three months there with her mother,
when she was a child of thirteen. The description
she gave of the strange mixture of refinement and
barbarism to be witnessed there was odd enough, and
she finished her tale by an account of the affair of the
Princess Bibesca and her governess. She states
that her mother, being a personal friend of the princess;
(whom however she had known only in Vienna) procured
a governess highly recommended by the French Ambas-
sador, to go with her to Wallachia to take charge
of her children. In less than a month after her
arrival in the country the governess had the mis-
-fortune to give some offense to the princess,


who scolded her with great severity, winding up
her harangue with - "why do you not tremble
before me?" "Your Highness," said the governess,
"I tremble before none but my God." "We will
see!", cried the enraged princess, and instantly
summoned two savages whom she directed to
seize and whip the governess, which was done
in her presence! The unfortunate woman managed
to escape soon after, and took refuge with the
English Consul, who caused a statement of the shame-
-ful deed to be published in most of the leading
European journals. This princess is the mother of
the Marquise Rasponi, a beautiful young woman
much in Turin, though her home is at Ravenna,
and who, common rumour says, beats her maids herself
for want of serfs to do it for her; and yet before the
world she is as gentle as a dove. Miss Arbesser
agrees with Mrs Wyse, that there is still a
lurking savage in the breast of every Sclavonian,
however refined may be his exterior.
Thursday 17th
The De Zeycks were here
early this morning for passports - Mrs De Zeyck
having decided to go to America at once by way of Havre.
Her husband goes with her to see her embarked. I
supposed they had come to us for money to pay travelling
expenses but they seemed to want for nothing. I pitied
them both however profoundly when I saw how helpless
they were, and how incapable they were of learning


anything from experience. The poor mother is in delicate
health, and take with her four children - twins of five
years old, one of three, and another of fifteen months.
She wished to take a nurse from here, but we advised
her to get on if she could with Mr De Zeyck's help as
far as Havre, rather than take an entire stranger of
whom the children would be afraid, who could conse-
-quently be of little use to her, and who would insist
on having her return expenses paid as well. She assented
at once to the propriety of this proposal, and said she
knew from experience that a nurse would be of little
use to her on such a journey. Still, I feel very anxious
about the poor woman and the children too. The
abbé helped away our long evening by his lively and
intelligent conversation. Among other things he quoted
the famous sonnet of Beretti in which he justifies
a three years absence from church by declaring that
he so hated Pilate for the odious part he took in
the great Christian tragedy
"Che io non vado più a messa
Per non udir il suo nome nel credo."
The trouble about the Suez Canal has roused a
stronger
anti-
English feeling than I had supposed the good
abbé was capable of - "Ces philantropes! ils font [illegible]
rappelez
l'étymologie française filoux en troupes.
I should have mentioned that Dr Eaton of Hamilton
College was here this morning, and was a good deal
startled by hearing of the serious illness of President
Lincoln, news which has disturbed us too not a little.


Friday 18th
We had scarcely more than five hours of day-
light today, and very dim daylight at that. Of course one
can do nothing, with the constant interruptions we are
subject too when the days are so short. Dr Eaton used
up the latter part of the day for us, and before he left Prof.
Capellini of Bologna
(geologist)
presented himself, fresh from a
three month's collecting tour in America. He brought letters
from Agassiz. He is certainly of igneous origin himself, still
in an state of white heat - his eyes flamed like stars
when he talked of anything professional. He says his
collection will be superiour to any in Europe except that
of the Jardin des Plantes. He came to us from Prince Amadeo
to whom he had taken care to say that as he had made his
collection at his own private expense he intended to keep
it to himself for the present, giving the public the benefit
of it of course.
Saturday 19th
Mr Marsh went off early this morning
with the other gentlemen of the Diplomatic Corps to hunt
at Racconigi. His little practice of two or three times a year
is quite bringing him up again as a marksman. He brought
down four pheasants and two hares, and his attendant got
seven pieces more, though I do not remember the proportion
of hares and pheasants. In the division of the game however
eight pieces only were sent to us, as so many of the gentlemen
were unfortunate enough to bag nothing, and had to be
provided for out of the common treasury. Mr Marsh
took the measure of Mr Elliot today, and does not


think him a giant. C. and I had no interruptions
except visits from the Tottenhams and from the Solvyns
Sunday Dec. 20th
I put on my hat this morning for church
though I felt little like making the effort after a second
long night of pain. The carriage through some mistake
came too late. Mr Marsh and Carrie walked, and I
betook myself to my sofa. When C. returned I wrote
a hurried letter to Lucy, and then Mr Marsh and I
sat down to one of Vincent's méditations - Let us eat
and drink for tomorrow we die, was the subject,
and a magnificent discourse it is - so is also the one that
follows. I sent Carrie over to the Menabreas when we
sat down to read, and before we had finished Madame
Peruzzi came in - She returned from Florence only last
night, but showed no signs of fatigue. I have never in
my life seen such a feminine volcano. The marvel is, how
any frame of flesh and blood can endure such wear and
tear. I speak without exaggeration in saying that she has a
chronic hoarseness from loud and incessant talking, but
she never utters a weak or a malicious sentence. The
great interests of Italy and the world at large are uppermost
in her conversation, and her readiness to serve others in every
way is admirable, but for two things she w her society
would be invaluable to me here in Turin - the
first she everybody makes so many demands upon
her, and she takes so much upon herself to do, that
she has little time to give to any one person - the
second, that her stormy vivaciousness of manner


oppresses and tires me. After she has left me I feel
as I fancy a man does after a balloon ascension which
has not turned out very successful, and was terminated
by being alternately swept over the tree-tops by the hur-
-ricane, and bounding like an india-rubber ball against
the earth's surface.
Madame P__. gives glowing accounts
of the progress of Naples, says that of the 14,000 beggars that
used to swarm the streets, all are provided for in
some way, and no more harass and distress the stranger
who visits the city. There is plenty of work for all who will
work, plenty of schools for young and old. She herself went
over these schools with one of the inspectors. The railroads
she thinks are advancing with wonderful rapidity, and this
is proved by all their reports. She has also been in Rome,
in Pisa, and Florence, and would have had a vast
deal to tell me about many other things, had we not been
most unfortunately interrupted by the Spanish minister
Duro, and his secretary. She took her leave soon after
they came in, with a lively promise to come back very soon.
With the gentlemen I went through with the ordinary common-
-places, then talked a little of American affairs in answer
to their questions, and assented to a little abuse of the
English which they plainly enough intended as a sweet
morsel for me; Duro, speaking of our army and navy
said that what we had done was prodigieux, -
colossale, and said, "I suppose you will keep them
up now by the way of a rod over the heads of the


rest of us!"
Monday 21st.
Nearly the whole day was used up in
making out lists and distributing cards. Carrie and I left
about seventy between two and five. The weather was most
lovely, and yet damp from a fog which rose a few feet
above the earth's surface. The sun was almost scorching
and from the effect of the moisture in the atmosphere
the whole circle of the horizon was as rosy at three
o'clock as is the western sky at a summer-sunset.
We missed a few visitors by being out, - The Danish Min-
-ister among others, but I dare say this gentleman enjoyed
more his talk in Danish with Mr Marsh than he would
have done had we been present.
Tuesday 22nd
We went this morning, taking Ms Gajani,
to the university, expecting to hear one of Ruscalla's lectures. After
waiting half an hour beyond the appointed time we were
surprised and amused by the entrance of a procession
formed of the "chiarissimi dottori dell' Universita' in
their professional gowns and badges and headed by a
quaint old beadle with his huge mace of office. They
escorted a young man up to a sort of pulpit which he
ascended in white kid gloves and white neckcloth. The
professors then took their seats in a line in front of the pulpit
with a long desk before them, on which were writing-
materials, etc. We were then presented with a brochure
which explained what was about to take place - the
young gentleman in the pulpit was to be examined


Mr Marsh dined at the Ministero this evening
He tried to bring to the notice of Venosta what he had
previously done to that of Sella - the fact that the
sugar-cane was once so successfully cultivated in Sicily,
and that there was no apparent reason why it should
not be grown there now and most profitably. He also
tried to stir up Count Sclopis to the importance of
making some good roads on the Collina. This is the
first time he has met Amari, and the impression
he made was agreeable. Cibrario he has never liked.


for the degree of Dr. of Laws. The examination consisted
in the discussion of certain propositions, or theses. Some
one of the professors announced the proposition which
he declared himself ready to defend against the young
candidate who said what he could on the other side.
The whole thing had evidently been carefully studied
up by all parties beforehand. The young man had even
his references to different sections of the Code all turned
down at the right page, such references being his answers
to the supposed extempore [illegible] arguments of his opponent -
On the whole it was a decided farce, for us of the laity
at least, and I think it was little better in the opinion
of all present. I would have liked immensely however
to have carried off a good photograph of that row of
professors with the solemn beadle in front of them
making a profound reverence now to one, now to another
according as it was time for the one to end his speech
and another to begin. Some of these professors were young
spirited-looking fellows, but the larger proportion were
passed middle age, and had the most comical phizes
I have ever seen. We were glad to get out at the end
of the hour, for our stock of gravity was by that time
quite exhausted. We brought away the brochure for
the diversion of some of our legal friends at home.
After a drive around the Piazza, I returned in
time to receive Mr Astengo, and settle with him about
his daughter's joining Carrie's dancing-class. Later
Mr Sella came in, and we were glad enough to


have a nice long talk with this gifted and very
intelligent man. He is to go down with Giorgini
in a few days to pay a visit to Ricasoli, who wants
them to witness the working of some of his newly-
imported steam-machines, intended to be used for
agricultural operations on the Maremme.
Wednesday 23rd.
The dancers with mammas and nurses
made their appearance before C- and I were really ready
for them though we had been hurrying matters all the
morning. The Countess Gigliuicci (Clara Novello)
was among the first, and after an hours talk with
her I decidedly came to the conclusion that she is an
acquaintance worth cultivating. She is a little positive
in her conversation, and does not feel her way as to
the opinions of her interlocutor, but she is frank, and
fearless, and clear-headed, and witty. She says she
has been devoting herself for a year or two past chiefly
to German literature, and the conclusion she has
arrived at are not very flattering to the Teutons. She
declares Göthe to be a colossal wind-beutel filled with
vanity and humbug. I asked what she had read of
Göthe and found she had made very unfortunate
selections so far as English and American taste is
concerned. I begged her to read some of his tragedies
and certain other poems before she renounced him and
denounced him altogether. She talked much of
her sister Mrs Cowden Clark in whom she feels great
pride. When Mr Astengo came in with his beautiful


young daughter, the conversation of course became
Italian, and she grew very sprightly. In talking
of the ages of the girls who composed the class Madame
Gigliucci spoke of her own early companions and of
such as were of her own precise age. These last she
declares fell several years behind her before she was
thirty, that on arriving at that age she resolved to
wait for the others to come up - ed io ci sto benissimo!
I am told her voice has lost little or nothing of its
early magic, and I hope we may hear us sing before
the winter is over. The Countess Castagnetto came
soon after the dancing began with her two daughters who
wished to see Carrie. I was very sorry to be obliged to excuse
her I am anxious to have her see all she can of the
young people here, and the rank and manners of the
Castagnets make them very instructive companions.
The Countess herself is as simple and unassuming as
a child - perhaps her pecuniary misfortunes have not
been without influence. Dear, sweet Mme de Gautier
came in as the Castagnets went out. It was a little odd,
for we had just been speaking of her, and my guests
had bestowed the warmest encomiums on her person,
manners, and character. I never see her without increased
admiration. The misfortune of the Miniscalchi's in
the loss of their lovely daughter - Teresina - seemed to have
brought back her own great sorrow with overpowering
freshness and she controlled herself with much difficulty
in alluding to it. The Avezzanas followed her
and by the time their visit was over the two hours'


dancing-lesson was at an end too. I must not
forget to mention that I had
had
in the meantime another
visiter, Baron Tecco, who has just come back from
another visit to Constantinople, and with whom we
talked about the East with great pleasure.
Thursday 24 -
Gaetano went this morning to bear a
torch in the funeral procession. The Count and
Countess Miniscalchi with all their family and servants
set out for Verona before the ceremony, and no persons
followed the body to the church except servants of the
royal household, of a few other families, and our own.
All this seems so strange to us. It is true the remains
of their daughter are to be sent to rest with their ancestors
at Verona, but the arrangements at the funeral would
have been precisely the same had she been buried
in the cemetery here. In this country no relative or
friend sees the lost one laid in the grave. All this
is left to priests and monks, and nuns, and servants
who carry aloft the family scutcheon.
I felt too unwell to get up till noon today, but Carrie
and I spent the morning in making out lists of visits to
be paid, and we had scarcely finished when the carriage
was declared ready, and Mr Marsh and C - set off to do
the disagreeable work. I was scarcely stretched on my sofa
in the drawing room when Peter Browne was shown
in. I really dont know whether he is a canting old [illegible]
hypocrite, or a brainless anglo-Irishman with all the
stupid prejudices that belong to his class, with the


addition of that proportion of malice towards our country
which marks so many of them. He had not talked
with me five minutes before I saw what was uppermost
in his mind. The late good news from America had
disappointed and vexed him, and he came expressly to
tell me that we were making altogether too much of it
and that neither he nor any other sensible man on this
side the water dreamed there was anything left for us
but inevitable separation and ultimate ruin as a nation.
These were not his words, but they are fairly the
substance of what he said. I told him that we, on
the contrary, felt perfectly secure of a very different result,
and no intelligent American, or intelligent and candid
European on our side the water doubted for a moment
but that in less than five years we should be in a
condition to give law to the world if we thought it worth
our while, and I said that not the least of our gains
from this war war was the unmasking of our enemies -
We talked for half an hour at least on American affairs,
and at almost every sentence I was obliged to correct
the old gentleman, and assure him of the falsehood
of some statement he had quoted from the Times, until
at last I told him I begged to be spared quotations
from that journal on the subject of our affairs as
it almost never uttered a syllable of truth with
reference to it. This brought on a spirited defence of
the Times on his part, and as a proof of its power and
respectability in England he referred to its late contro-
-versy with Mr Cobden. I said, 'I am sorry to


hear you admit what I am afraid is too true, but
what I have tried to disbelieve on the authority of some
of your own most eminent men. I have been assured
sometimes that this paper is not the true exponent of the
British sense of honor and of justice. As to the contro-
-versy with Cobden, I must say, in justice to England,
that there were men there, and great men too, who had
dared to stigmatize it as it deserved. I then referred
him to the Daily News, to the very able editorial articles
on the controversy, to the indignant utterances from
persons who did not fear to sign their names to their
communications, and to extracts from other English journals
severely condemning the course of the Times. Father
Browne then broke out in no measured terms against
Mr Cobden, declared he had not a particle of influence
in England, but that if he had his reckless policy would
through [throw] the Kingdom into anarchy. As to voters he
declared that every man in England who was not a
scoundrel or a fool (I quote his very words) had the
right to vote. To this tirade I replied. "I have not
the presumption to defend or condemn Mr Cobden's
statesmanship, of which you, as an Englishman, ought
to be a better judge than I am, but excuse me Mr Browne,
if I say you have yourself now said the most severe
thing I have ever heard uttered with reference to England.
According to your own statistics you have five or
six millions of men in the British Kingdom of the
proper age to vote. Out of these only one million
have the legal right to do so - and you tell me


that all the remainder are scoundrels or fools!" My
antagonist winced so pitiably under this that I
laughingly added, 'I sha'n't take you literally Mr Browne,
I can't think so badly of England as that.' We were
interrupted here, perhaps fortunately by the entrance of
Colonel and Mrs Mayhew - very nice people but a little
priggish both. Amoriondo, chief judge of the courts
here, and his pretty wife, a niece of the countess of Castagnet
came in just after our tea, and made a short visit -
Refined people, and interesting I dare say if we should
ever get beyond the conventionalities of first acquaintance.
Miss Arbesser came a little after nine and informed
us that the Duchess had coolly appropriated our Paris
en Amérique, - confiscated it for her own uses! This
is an odd proceeding certainly, but I hope Majesty itself
will get the reading of it by this means. Miss A__ says
she has found another copy for us which she promises
to send back speedily. I hope she will for the demand
for it increases, and Mr Marsh means to get two copies
more for circulation. Miss A__'s letters from Vienna she
tells us are very desponding - the expectation of war in
the Spring is so strong that their already disturbed finances
are growing worse every day, and great anxiety and
alarm prevails. She has just seen De Bunsen who
admits that it is the probability of the withdrawal of
the Prussian Legation from Turin in the Spring which
has prevented Usudom from establishing himself
here, and decided him to encamp temporarily at
Pegli. The liberality which Miss Arbesser, as an


Austrian, shows towards Italy is most creditable to her.
"With all my heart" she says "I wish this noble people
may get their United Italy, they have earned it so
well and at such a heavy price." Her dislike
to the French in general and to the Emperor in
particular is edifying. De Bunsen told her a story
which professes to be one of the mischiefous Hume's
late tricks upon Napoleon. At a recent private
séance of the Emperor and a few of his friends, the
former felt something very like a violent kick in
the back. "Who is that?" said the Emperor to Hume.
"Louis Philippe, sire" was the prompt reply. This is
rather too good to be true.
Friday 25th Christmas
Our merry Christmas turned out
rather sorry, than merry. We had been obliged to warn
off our Christmas dinner-guests because I could not
sit up long enough to be at the table, and this morning
Mr Marsh found himself very feverish from a fresh
cold, and Carrie was unable to lift up her head from
her pillow from a disagreeable billious attack. We
saw no visitors except the Kossuths whom Mr Marsh
received by himself -
Saturday 26th
Carrie was able to be out again
today, went to pay a visit to the Castagnets, and leave
sundry cards for me. Unluckily she missed a visit
from Miss Menabrea and Miss Bert both of whom
came during her absence. After the Berts left I


had an hour and a half's visit from Count Gigliucci,
a man of sense and spirit, but scarcely a match
for his wife in these respects. We talked almost ex-
-clusively of Italian and American affairs. I asked him
if we should have a European war in the Spring.
"Temo, temo," was his answer, "but for us it would
be better if we could wait one more year."
During our evening reading occurred the word
scuriosirsi which amused us all, and made Mr
Marsh remember a passage he had been reading during
the day from Guliani's, Vivente Linguaggio della
Toscana.
page 200, second edition
I quote it here, saying first that the oc-
-casion of the prayer referred to, was a plague of beetles
which were devouring the young chestnuts. When the
pious procession formed to exorcise if possible these
little evil spirits had arrived at the appointed place
on the mountains the priest. 'fece una predica che tutti
tremevamo; gridava con una voce più forte del tuono:
"Mio Dio, mio Dio, Salvatemi il mio popolo, venga il
gastigo addosso a me che sono il peccatore...mandate
solo a me il vostro flagello. Se portate rispetto a questi
sacri panni, ecco che io me ne spoglio", e si levò la
stola e il camice. Misericordia! allora la gente ur-
-lavano con dei pianti che spietravano i sassi...certe
grida si sentivano rintronare per le selve che facevano
pietà anco alle piante. O, che vuole? come s'era tornati
a piè del monte il bruechi maledetti si staccavano
dalle piante, facendo come de' fili di seta. Cascarono
tutti, brulicavano in terra, che parea un mondo di formiche


Si vide subito che il Signore Benedetto ci aveva fatto
la grazia. I castagni quell'anno si rivestirono più
belli; e fecero una moltitudine di castagne, che non
se ne videro mai tante. Negli anni dopo, non com-
-parve più quel malanno. Creda, quel sacerdote
ira proprio un vomo di Dio, faceva del bene assai.'
Sunday 27th.
We none of us went to church this
morning all having bad colds or otherwise half laid up.
Mr Marsh read two or three of Vincent's discourses and
just at evening the Baroness Todros came in, Baron
Poerio soon after. Mme Todros gave an amusing
account of a dinner given by Mme Wyse Bonaparte
in Paris at a time when her funds were low. Among
other things the number of coffee-cups did not hold out,
and coffee was served to some of the company in the
lady's emptied pomatum-jars! Baron Poerio looks
feeble and worn. His hardships as a captive begin to
tell very decidedly on him, though for the first few
years after his release the joy of freedom kept him
bouyant and hid, temporarily the ravages his
imprisonment had made on his constitution. He
congratulated us so warmly on our brightened prospects
that one could not doubt that it came from his heart.
He told us that the Marchesa Doria (who has been at
death's door within six weeks, and only within the
last ten days has been rolled in an arm-chair from
her bedroom to her drawingroom) was actually carried


by her servants to her box at the Teatro Regio on
Christmas night! 'C'était l'evenement de la semaine'
said Poerio with a smile that the lady could not
have interpreted as a compliment.
Monday 28th
Mrs Tottenham brought Lucy early to
spend the day, and, like a good kind friend as she is,
gave me some very valuable hints about some persons
we are likely to be thrown in with frequently this winter.
With regard to one of the persons, the only one I have
yet met, a single interview had brought me to pre-
-cisely Mrs Tottenhams conclusions, and I had already
put Mr Marsh and Carrie on their guard. / The Countess
Ghirardi made me a most gracious visit, and brought the
key of the box that we might hear the Opera tonight by
passing through our own apartment into it as we used
to do the first winter we were here. She gave me a long
history of her vexations in trying to keep up the wealth
and glory of the d'Angennes family, and would have
talked till evening had not the Baron Visconti come
in and cut her short. The old soldier, now in his 74th
year is as erect and elastic as a ordinary man of 40. I
had a long and pleasant talk with him, and after he
left, had only time to go to the Library and tell Mr Marsh
of the old gentleman's visit when the Baroness Gautier
was announced with her two nieces. The Baroness
herself never looked or appeared more lovely, but she was
suffering much from debility, especially from pain in her
eyes - those most beautiful of eyes. The young


Went to the Opera this evening at the D'Angennes
theatre, Mme Ghirardi having most amiably sent
us the key to our old box, but we were late being
detained by the abbé, whose visits, however, are far
more entertaining than such an Opera as we witnessed.


people talked English with each other, and the Gautiers
did wonderfully well considering the long short time
they have been taking lessons. While the Baroness
was still with me Mme de Rothan came in, and
I was glad to have two such women meet - a Protest-
a Protestant and a Catholic, it would be difficult to
find a more favourable specimen of each religion. Perhaps
Mme de Gautier might once have had more personal
beauty, but Mme Rothan has the advantage of youth
and a far better education. The former is remarkably
intelligent, has read considerable, and keeps up with
the great political interest of the day, the latter adds
to a first rate education that perfect intellectual balance
which ought always to be the result of it, but so
often is not. Her familiarity with the great writers
of our day on Theology, Biblical Criticism & metaphysics
made me ashamed of my own shortcomings, but
all she said was so free from every thing like a
consciousness of knowing more than others, so evidently
the result of a deep sense of the infinite importance
of the great questions discussed, of long & patient thought,
of an earnest and almost enthusiastic looking forward
to a new era for Christianity, an era which was
to show it forth more gloriously than ever before,
that one forgot her in her subject as she forgot
herself. I am indeed happy to have made such
an acquaintance - oh how unlike the English
& American idea of a French woman!


Tuesday 29th. We had such a day of hurry & confusion,
servants to be sent in so many directions &c &c. I
shall be too thankful when these melancholy days
are over. Surely our great Poet forgot Christmas
& N. Years when he called our Autumn days 'the
saddest of the year'! The dear old Marchese
d'Arconati was almost the only visitor with whom
I could have sat quietly for an hour as I did to-day
without showing my impatience. Madame Piria &
daughter took her place when she left, but did not
stay long enough to wear off the charm of their delight-
ful Italian, so I held out. Mr M. & C. went to a
party at the Mayhews in the evening & alas, brought
home a fresh list of visits to
be
made.
Wednesday 30th
The dancing-lesson was less well attended to
day, the girls being tired out with last nights gaiety.
Mad. Solvyns took C. to the Countess Calobriano's
Fair to make my apology & take my donation to
the Countess Salmour. The Countess Gigliucci
sat with me during the dancing, and we had a
nice talk. My first favourable impression of her is
rather confirmed than shaken. She professes to be a
very stiff Catholic, but at the same time ridicules the
idea of what her Church calls unity, declares it to be
not only impossible but undesirable, and thanks God
that there are all sorts of dissenters! In fact I am
afraid her catholicism wold
would
hardly save her from


the inquisition if that blessed institution were in
full blast. I wish I had time to put down some of
the many curious anecdotes she told me today, but at least
I must record her testimony (, which is by no means the first
one I have heard, and that from the best of sources) to the
admirable character of the Hon. Mrs Norton, and her most
unreserved conviction of her entire innocence of all the
charges ever brought against her. She declares that this
splendid woman was sacrificed by a brutal husband to the
most vile and disgraceful of political intrigues. Dr Monnet
came in in the evening and told us he had secured for our
Piòbesan protégée another month at least in the hospital,
that she is now well and wants nothing but a nutritious
diet which she cannot have at home. The Dr is a
jewel. Thursday.
The Marquis Arconati and Melegari
were among my afternoon visitors - both most hearty
in their congratulations on the brightening prospects of
our country. I have felt very ill all day and
conclude now that Carrie is dressed for the Giletta
party to take a Dover's powder, or good Mme Rocci's
syrup, and go at once to bed.