570 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-VI 



entine visits since those days a friendship not only with 

 him, hut with his gifted and charming wife. 



This reminds me that at Rome the name of the eminent 

 professor once brought upon me a curious reproof. 



I had met at various times, in the Eternal City and else 

 where, a rising young professor and officer of Harvard 

 University; and, heing one morning in Loescher s famous 

 book-shop on the Corso, with a large number of purchases 

 about me, this gentleman came in and, looking them over, 

 was pleased to approve several of them. Presently, on 

 showing him a volume just published and saying, There 

 is the new volume of Villari s history,&quot; I pronounced the 

 name of the author with the accent on the first syllable, as 

 any one acquainted with him knows that it ought to be 

 pronounced. At this the excellent professor took the book, 

 but seemed to have something on his mind; and, having 

 glanced through it, he at last said, rather solemnly, i Yes ; 

 Villari&quot; accenting strongly the second syllable &quot; is an 

 admirable writer. I accepted his correction meekly and 

 made no reply. A thing so trivial would not be worth re 

 membering were it not one of those evidences, which pro 

 fessors from other institutions in our country have not 

 infrequently experienced, of a &quot;certain condescension&quot; 

 in sundry men who do honor to one or two of our oldest 

 and greatest universities. 



Of all people at Rome I was most impressed by Marco 

 Minghetti. A conversation with him I have given in an 

 other chapter. 



Reminiscences of that first official life of mine at Berlin 

 center, first of all, in Bismarck, and then in the two great 

 rulers who have since passed away the old hero, Em 

 peror William I, and that embodiment of all qualities 

 which any man could ask for in a monarch, the crown 

 prince who afterward became the Emperor Frederick III. 



Both were kindly, but the latter was especially winning. 

 At different times I had the pleasure of meeting and talk 

 ing with him on various subjects; but perhaps the most 

 interesting of these interviews was one which took place 



