ated, high and straight-backed, black haircloth covered chair,
on which were piled books almost to the top of the back, which most
effectually excluded any one from the honor of sitting in it.

"When showing me 'The Book,' he called my attention to passages in the
Latin portion of it--the arguments of the two lawyers, Bottinius and
Hyacinthus de Archangelis, and I was struck with the way in which he
translated them, the rapid and close recasting of the thought in
English, a rare gift even with the best Latin scholars. I had
occasions to discover, in subsequent visits, that he read the Greek in
a genial way and with less grammatical consciousness than do many
Greek professors. His scholarship was extensive and, I would add,
_vital_, it not having been imposed upon him at a public school and a
university, and he having had what must have been Shakespeare's power
of acquiring and absorbing knowledge of all kinds. On some subsequent
visit, I don't remember what we had been talking about that led to the
remark, he said to me, in his rapid mode of speech, 'I never could
have done much at a public school,' meaning, of course, an endowed
foundation school, such as Eton and others, in which there is a
special preparation for the Universities. After a pause, he added,
'no, nor at a university either. Italy was _my_ university.' In his
'De Gustibus----' he says:

'Open my heart and you will see
Graved inside of it, Italy.'

"While he was showing me 'The Book,' I asked him about a passage in
'The Ring and the Book.' He replied, 'I don't remember the passage. It
has been some time since I read the poem, and I haven't a copy of it
in my house!'

"He showed me many of Mrs. Browning's books--nearly all of them 24mo
editions--said she couldn't hold big books--English, French, Italian,
Latin, and Greek books; a Hebrew Bible which had belonged to a
distinguished English bishop, whose name I've forgotten. 'Did Mrs.
Browning read Hebrew?' I asked. 'Oh, yes,' he replied, and added with
a sigh, 'she was a wonderful woman.'"

[Illustration: CHURCH OF SAN LORENZO, FLORENCE

"_June was the month, Lorenzo named the Square._"

The Ring and the Book.]

The succeeding summer found the Corsons again in London, and the following
invitation from Browning particularly pleased them in its assurance that
"n