JOSEPH SEVERN, the artist and the friend of artists and poets, during his long service as English consul at Rome kept a record of his observations and reflections in a leisurely diary. I have I have selected a number of passages from it, choosing especially those which relate to the momentous period of the last years of the papal temporal dominion (1861 to 1870), but at the same time have not attempted any sequent narrative, or even aimed at any manner of consistency in selection. Words written at the time when great events are happening have a freshness of appeal which no historical essay can so adequately afford; and often they gain by isolation. In a word, I have given here a varied series of excerpts from Severn's Roman journals, taken, in a sense, haphazard, but calculated to interest all readers. To those who love Italy, his devotion to that country and his belief in her high destinies will alone win for him respectful heed.

The consular diaries begin with a quotation of the letter of recommendation from Baron Bunsen to Lord John Russell, which was one, at least, of the most potent pleas for the bestowal of the Roman consulship upon Joseph Severn. To the last moment the latter had not ventured to believe in his success, for there were in all about a hundred and twenty candidates for the post, and he feared that his sixteen testimonials would be of little service among the host of recommendations. In later life, he was always wont to maintain that Baron Bunsen's letter, dictated by that statesman on his deathbed, secured for him the coveted office. "I begged Lord John Russell to permit me to have it," Severn writes, " as a memorial of a friendship of thirty-five years." The close of Baron Bunsen's letter consists of the following notable words (written, it must be remembered,

in the early autumn of 1860): “I cannot let this opportunity pass without expressing my sense of gratitude, as a statesman, a Christian, and a man, to you and Lord Palmerston for not only having proclaimed, but also enforced the principle of non-intervention in Italy. I am sure you agree with me that Venetia cannot, in the long run, be withheld from Italy, but at the same time that it would be a disgrace to Europe if the question could not be solved without the aid of arms and the danger of a general European conflagration. I believe that not only the enlightened public all over Europe, but also a large proportion of public opinion in Austria, which is even represented in the council of the Emperor, would hail such a solution with the greatest satisfaction, supposing that the financial interests of Austria and the honor of the imperial house were insured."

Severn's consular troubles began with the escapade of certain enthusiastic but foolish countrymen.

March 7, 1861. Cavaliere Severi came to me from the Bureau of the Roman Police to complain of three mad Englishmen.' They were not so mad as foolish. It was a time of great anxiety in Rome, and to the satisfaction of all, nationalists and adherents of the papal régime alike, there was a temporary truce to outward enmities. Every one was hoping that the match would not fall near the gunpowder for some time to come. Suddenly these three Englishmen were possessed by the idea of going to and fro in Rome clad in Garibaldian costume, and conducted themselves altogether in a manner singularly offensive to the populace. Even the Garibaldians were angry; for Italians, and Romans in particular, are the last people to appreciate foreign interference. Cav. Severi

conveyed to me the request of Monsignore Mateucci, the governor of Rome, that I should at once persuade them to desist from their dangerous folly. Without delay I sought them to this end, and obtained their promise to offend no more. Too much ill feeling had been aroused, however, and Monsignore Mateucci insisted that they should leave Rome. The governor was anxious to treat the matter as a mere indiscretion, and his communication was couched most courteously: he begged the favor of me that I would try and persuade them to quit Rome. This I also did; for their conduct was very offensive to the Romans, who were conducting themselves with gravity and decorum."

A short time after, Severn had an interview with the famous Cardinal Antonelli. "At ten o'clock [March 20] I was received very graciously. The cardinal is, to all appearance, the reverse of the scheming, unscrupulous prelate he is so often depicted by his political and other enemies. He impressed me as simple and easy in his manners, and with a quick and sympathetic apprehension in conversation. He has a fine countenance, of the strong and yet refined old Italian type; dark, with speculative black eyes, sometimes inscrutable and profound, but oftener lit as by a playful vivacity. He complimented me on my appointment, with some pleasant words about my earlier sojourn in Rome, and assured me that the former was very acceptable to the government authorities. Possibly there was arrière-pensée in this courtesy ; certainly Antonelli has the reputation of never losing an opportunity of gaining a friend or of discrediting an enemy. He is a remarkable man, and will become an even greater power than he is, in all probability. He is generally either the prelate, or the courtier, or the diplomatist, but every now and then one may recognize in him, for a fugitive moment, the man of the iron hand in the velvet

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glove. He asked me if I had seen his recent letter to the nuncio in Paris, explaining and defending the present papal position. Fortunately I had read it with close attention, and thought the logic of it admirable. I told Cardinal Antonelli so, but added that sound logic and a potent plea were sometimes of no avail, as in the case of Columbus and his mariners, where everything pointed to the rightness of the seamen's standpoint, and yet where their attitude seemed ignorant folly to the superior wisdom of the great discoverer. Ah, but then Columbus was certain of his New World,' remarked the cardinal, with a smile. And his mariners,' I ventured to add, were not aware of it even when they were really there. It was simply a new country to them, not a new world.' Ma!' exclaimed his Eminence, with that penetrating, half-mocking look that so often came into his eyes, we have no Americas here — before us—in the Old World!' 'That is just where the serious and indeed fatal omission of your nuncio letter is, monsignor,' I urged earnestly. He gave a peculiar, almost a startled glance at me, and with a characteristic gesture signed to me to be more explicit. The omission,' I went on, is simply the lack of recognition of the fact that we, here, all of us, the civilized world, are in very truth living in the New World.' Antonelli seemed strangely struck by my remark; for he knew at once what I meant. After a little he confessed that I was right so far, but added that such a statement could not have been incorporated by him in his letter. He then went on to lament the utilitarian tendency of things (no doubt a clever move on his part to evade a perilous subject), and asked me if in this respect I did not find Rome very much changed. Improved, I said, in the many public buildings erected by the Pope; but that the shops alarmed me with their showiness in common with those of other capitals, whereas I would

new.

rather see the old Roman style. Before I left I told him an anecdote which much amused him. The other day I heard of an American from Chicago who made a novel remark about St. Peter's, of which 't is thought impossible to say anything On entering the church, and after looking about him in silence awhile, the visitor exclaimed, 'Good God! what a quantity of capital is here all lying waste!' Cardinal Antonelli, in bidding me good-by, mischievously alluded to the great advantages to accrue to us all from the New World!"

It was in May of this year that, for the first time for over forty years, he again saw Keats's sister Fanny, Madame de Llanos.

June 27, 1861. "Went to Leopold Brockman, the engineer of the Roman states railways, to ask for an appointment for Francesco Franz, who has studied for this profession, and I hope for success. This Leopold is the son-inlaw of a dear English lady, who, in affection and associations of loving friendship, is to me like a new-found sister. At the beginning of May, a Spanish gentleman called and asked if I were 'Joseph Severn, the friend of Keats.' 'Yes,' I answered. Then said he, with some agitation, My wife is the poet's sister, and she is now here in Rome and longing to see you.' This seemed to me most marvelous, that we should meet, after more than forty years, in the very place where her illustrious brother died in my arms. I had seen her when she was a girl of fifteen, and when her brothers were all well; now all were dead except herself, - the sole surviving member, indeed, of the Keats family. Our meeting was very touching. We could not speak for some minutes, for many poignant memories overcame us. For a long time we sat thus, hand in hand, shedding silent tears. Her two Spanish daughters joined in this pathetic silence. They met me reverently, as an elder relation; for my devotion to Keats,

their famous and, in a sense, deeply loved uncle, had been their favorite speculation [sic] in coming to Rome. To meet me here and thus, they afterwards told me, seemed a romantic felicity. After a time I unclasped my hand from that of Madame de Llanos, and made several attempts to introduce some indifferent subject to break the deep agitation of all four of us. But it was impossible, and after nearly an hour had elapsed I had to return to a house full of people. Madame Keats Llanos greatly resembles both her youngest and eldest brothers (John and Tom); and there is in particular the same sweet vivacity which characterized the dear poet. Although married to a Spaniard and living in Spain, and with all her Spanish interests and associations, she yet preserves her native language in great purity, — the gift of her family, so striking in her brother John."

(In a home letter.) "They are all charming, and Rosa is a beautiful girl. I see a likeness of my ever dear Keats in his nephew, Madame de Llanos' only son. I cannot tell you the happiness it is to me to have these friends here, and in close communion. I went the other day with my dear friend to Monte Testaccio, where Keats lies, to help her to plant two bay - trees at her brother's head. . . . Then, too, I have many old Roman friends about me. Overbeck, the famous German painter, has been fifty-one years in Rome; Gibson, the sculptor, forty-three. Health and longevity are, in truth, characteristic of life in Rome."

October 23, 1861. "To-day I made the acquaintance of the celebrated American actress, Miss Cushman, who has been living in Rome for some time. I was much pleased with her. She is a woman of great mental accomplishments and of singular charm, and, from all I hear and can so far directly perceive, must be an actress of consummate ability. What a pity she cannot act in Ital

ian! She might electrify the Romans. Even Cardinal Antonelli would more readily admit the inevitable change in things if all Rome flocked to the theatre to see a great American actor! I noted that her apartment was filled with the most beautiful collection of old carvedwood furniture of every kind I have ever seen, - bookcases, sofas, beds, cabinets, chairs, cupboards, and tables. When I left her, I told her with truth that I was filled with envy of her good taste and good fortune in obtaining possession of so many beautiful things, and that there can be nothing left in Rome to find. It was with singular pleasure, too, that I met Miss Hosmer, the American sculptor, who is living with Miss Cushman. She too is a woman of native charm, and, if I am not mistaken, of very unusual power in her noble art. I am to dine with them to-morrow. Rome is certainly the place for old people to seem young. No one would believe that John Gibson has been here for half a century, and Frederick Overbeck even longer; Macdonald, the sculptor, not far behind; while as for myself, 't is forty years since I first came here with my beloved Keats, so I, too, may fairly stand among the Roman antiquities, though one in good preservation, and, as they say of old pictures, not retouched.' I ought to be complimented, for Miss Cushman took me for my son, and was anxious to hear about my father, to whom, she said, in common with all Americans who revered the genius of Keats, she owed a debt of gratitude. I was dull enough to be taken in at first."

...

With 1862 came rumors of perilous excitement and menacing movements. Throughout Italy the yeast of revolution was working towards a coming mighty change, and scarcely less ferment was there in Europe, particularly in Austria, Prussia, and France. On the 21st of March the Carnival began, but might as well not have been held, for the citizens of Rome abstained al

most en masse.

The day before, an ad

dress from the mysterious secret committee invited all patriotic Romans to attend at the ancient Roman Forum instead. As both the papal party and the nationalists claimed to be patriotic Romans, there was some doubt as to whether much practical notice of the announcement would be taken by the cautious Romans; and in any case it was too late for the papal government to interfere, even if it could have ventured to do so. The meeting at the Forum was a great manifestation; all the more impressive, perhaps, from the fact that it was a silent and dignified assertion of the rights of the citizens to judge for themselves, as in olden times. There were over twenty thousand Romans assembled, and a double row of carriages lined the whole length of the Forum. It was, says Severn, the gathering of the first thunderclouds around the grave of the papal dominion. In the afternoon there was sheet lightning, for at three o'clock the Corso was suddenly taken possession of by the French troops, and all entrance to this chief thoroughfare of Rome was forbidden. All the sbirri and other papal soldiery were also assembled in or near the Corso, for the Pope had become seriously alarmed. Already there had been an ominous disturbance with the sbirri, and, moreover, the temper of the French troops was, to say the least of it, mercurial. tunately, General Goyon had the good sense to order the supplementary soldiery to their barracks, and so caused as little resentment to the populace as practicable. The French general again made a clever bid for popularity when he countermanded the spiteful order of the government suspending the great Carnival ball at midnight.

For

Naturally, too, the great war in America stirred even the most parochial communities of the Old World. Joseph Severn was as blind as were most of his countrymen to the vast and momentous