present. Now the actual life here is
over, I am going to Rome, and expect to see that fane of thought the
last day of this week.

At Genoa and Leghorn, I saw for the first time Italians in their
homes. Very attractive I found them, charming women, refined men,
eloquent and courteous. If the cold wind hid Italy, it could not the
Italians. A little group of faces, each so full of character, dignity,
and, what is so rare in an American face, the capacity for pure,
exalting passion, will live ever in my memory,--the fulfilment of a
hope!

We started from Leghorn in an English boat, highly recommended, and as
little deserving of such praise as many another bepuffed article.
In the middle of a fine, clear night, she was run into by the mail
steamer, which all on deck clearly saw coming upon her, for no reason
that could be ascertained, except that the man at the wheel said _he_
had turned the right way, and it never seemed to occur to him that
he could change when he found the other steamer had taken the same
direction. To be sure, the other steamer was equally careless, but as
a change on our part would have prevented an accident that narrowly
missed sending us all to the bottom, it hardly seemed worth while to
persist, for the sake of convicting them of error.

Neither the Captain nor any of his people spoke French, and we had
been much amused before by the chambermaid acting out the old story of
"Will you lend me the loan of a gridiron?" A Polish lady was on board,
with a French waiting-maid, who understood no word of English. The
daughter of John Bull would speak to the lady in English, and, when
she found it of no use, would say imperiously to the _suivante_, "Go
and ask your mistress what she will have for breakfast." And now when
I went on deck there was a parley between the two steamers, which the
Captain was obliged to manage by such interpreters as he could
find; it was a long and confused business. It ended at last in the
Neapolitan steamer taking us in tow for an inglorious return to
Leghorn. When she had decided upon this she swept round, her lights
glancing like sagacious eyes, to take us. The sea was calm as a lake,
the sky full of stars; she made a long detour, with her black hull,
her smoke and lights, which look so pretty at night, then came round
to us like the bend of an arm embracing. It was a pretty picture,
worth the stop and the fright,--perhaps the loss of twenty-four hours,
though I did not thin