ty. While we were
giving heed to the instructive discourse of Padre Machi, a mischievous
youth of the company came near to me and said in a low voice, "Has it
occurred to you that if our guide should suddenly die here of apoplexy,
we should never be able to find our way out?" This thought was dreadful
indeed, and I confess that I was very thankful when at last we emerged
from the depths into the blessed daylight.

Among the wonderful sights of that winter, I recall an evening visit to
the sculpture gallery of the Vatican, where the statues were shown us by
torchlight. I had not as yet made acquaintance with those marble shapes,
which were rendered so lifelike by the artful illumination that when I
saw them afterward in the daylight, it seemed to me that they had died.

My husband visited one day the Castle of St. Angelo, which was then not
only a fortress but also a prison for political offenders. As he passed
through one of the corridors, a young man from an inner room or cell
rushed out and addressed him, apparently in great distress of mind. He
cried, "For the love of God, sir, try to help me! I was taken from my
home a fortnight since, I know not why, and was brought here, where I am
detained, utterly ignorant of the grounds of my arrest and
imprisonment." This incident disturbed my husband very much. Of course,
he could do nothing to aid the unfortunate man.

We were invited, one evening, to attend what the Romans still call an
"accademia," _i. e._ a sort of literary club or association. It was held
in what appeared to be a public hall, with a platform on which were
seated those about to take part in the exercises of the evening. Among
these were two cardinals, one of whom read aloud some Greek verses, the
other a Latin discourse, both of which were applauded. After or before
these, I cannot remember which, came a recitation from a once famous
improvisatrice, Rosa Taddei. She is mentioned by Sismondi in one of his
works as a young person, most wonderful in her performance. She was now
a woman of middle age, wearing a sober gown and cap. The poem which she
read was on the happiness to be derived from a family of adopted
children. I remember its conclusion. He who should give himself to the
care of other people's children would be entitled to say:--

"Formai questa famiglia
Sol colla mia virtu."

"I built myself this family
solely by my own merit."

The performances concluded with a satirical poem give