422 SUNDRY JOURNEYS AND EXPERIENCES -III 



to Niagara, had found so good that he had shipped a 

 quantity of it to Florence. 



A very interesting man I found in the Marquis Alfieri 

 Sostegno, vice-president of the Senate, a man noted for 

 his high character and his writings. He is the founder 

 of the new &quot;School for Political and Social Studies,&quot; 

 and gave me much information regarding it. His fam 

 ily is of mediaeval origin, but he is a liberal of the Cavour 

 sort. Preferring constitutional monarchy, but thinking 

 democracy inevitable, he asks, Shall it be a democracy 

 like that of France, excluding all really leading men 

 from power, or a democracy influenced directly by its 

 best men?&quot; In his school he has attempted to train 

 young men in the practical knowledge needed in public 

 affairs, and hopes thus to prepare them for the inevi 

 table future. This college has encountered much oppo 

 sition from the local universities, but is making its way. 



Another man of the grand old Italian sort was Peruzzi, 

 syndic of Florence, a former associate of Cavour, and 

 one of the leading men of Italy. Calling for me with 

 two other senators, he took me to his country villa, which 

 has been in the possession of the family for over four 

 hundred years, and there I dined with a very distin 

 guished company. Everything was large and patri 

 archal, but simple. The discussions, both at table and 

 afterward, as we sat upon the terrace with its wonder 

 ful outlook over one of the richest parts of Tuscany, 

 mainly related to Italian matters. All seemed hopeful 

 of a reasonable solution of the clerical difficulty. Most 

 interesting was his wife, Donna Emilia, well known for 

 her brilliant powers of discussion and her beautiful 

 qualities as a hostess both at the Peruzzi palace in Flor 

 ence and in this villa, where one meets men of light 

 and leading from every part of the world. 



From Florence we went on to the Italian lakes, staying 

 especially at Baveno, Lugano, and Cadenabbia. Espe 

 cially interesting to me were the scenes depicted in the 

 first part of Manzoni s &quot;Promessi Sposi.&quot; An eminent 



