The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-19
ROMAN HOLIDAYS.
Some Superficial Observations and Con.
lectures.
copvrtqht. 10os. bp Isl. D. HopeRs.

II had seemed to me that in the after
Moons of the old papal times. 30 dear to
| foreigners who never knew them, I used 10
see q series Of patrician ladies driving
around and around on the Pincio, reclining
In their landaus and shielding their complex
ions from the November suns Of the year
1884 with the fringed parasols OF the period.
In the doubt which attends all recolleotions
OF the past, after age renders us uncertain
Of the present, I hastened on my second
Sunday at Rome in February. 1908, to enjoy
this vision IL possible. ] found the Pincio,
Unexpectedly near; I found the sunshine;
I found the familiar winter warmth which
In southern climates 10 80 unlike the sum-
mer warmth In ours; but the drive which |
had remembered as q long ellipse had mar
rowed to q little circle, where one could not
have driven around faster than a slow trot
without danger Of vertigo. l did not find
that series OF apparent principesses or
imaginable marchesas leaning at their
lovely lengths In their landaus. l found in
overwhelming majority the numbered vic
torias which pass for cabs In Rome full Of
decent tourists. together with a great va
riety Of people on foot, but not much fash
ion and no swells that my snobbish soul
could be sure of. There was indeed one
fine moment when. at a retired point Of the
drive. l saw two private carriages drawn
up side by side in their encounter with two
stout old ladies', whom I decided to be
dowagers at the least. partially projected
from their opposing windows and lost in a
delightful exchange. es I hoped, Of scandal.
But the only other impressive personality
was hat Of an elderly, obviously American
gentleman. In the solitary silk hat and long
frock oat Of the scene. There were other
Americans. but non 90 formal; the English
were In all degrees of i~nformality down to
tan shoes and mt least one travelling cap.
The women's dress, whether they were on
foot OF In cabs. was not striking. though
more han half Of them were foreigners and
Italians. especially the work. people. who
were there In their best.
There was o bandstand in the space first
reached by the ~promenaders, and there
ought clearly to have been q band, but l
was convinced that there was to be none
by this brief oolloquy between one Of the
cab drivers doubtless goaded to 1t by his
fair freight and the gentlest Of Roman
policemen. whose response was given in
accents Of hopeful compassion:
SaDuuau -MublCa, nor
Polioeman-Forse l'avvremo oramai.
perhaps We shall have it presently
We did not have it at all that Sunday.
possibly because 1t was the day after the
assassination Of the King Of Portugal. and
the flags were at half mast everywhere.
So We went. such Of US as liked. to the para
pet overlooking the Piazza del Popolo, and
commanding one Of those views Of Rome
which are equally incompatible from every
elevation. / for my part made the dikzying
circuit Of the brief drive on foot in the dark
shadows Of the roofing ilexes lii they are
~ilexes). and then strolled back and forth
on the paths set thick with plinths bearing
the busts OF the innumerable national
great, the poets. historians. artists. soien-
fists. politicians. heroes. from the ancient
Roman to the modern Italian times. I
particularly looked up the poets Of the
last hundred years. because, I had written
about them in one OF my many forgotten
books. till I fanoied a growing conscious
ness in them at this encounter with an ad-
mirer; they at least seemed to remember
book. Then ! went off to the cafe
overlooking them in their different alleys,
and had tea next q man who was taking
lemon instead Of milk in his. I was beset
with an impassioned longing to know
whether he was q Russian or American,
since the English always take milk in their
tea. but I could not ask. and when I had
suffered my question as long as I could in
his presei ce. I escaped from il, IL you can
call 1t escaping. to the more poignant ques-
ton Of what 1t would be like to come, Sum
day after Sunday, to the Pincio, in the
lifelong voluntary exile OF some Ameri-
cans / knew. who meant to spend the rest
of their years under the spell of Rome.
I thought upon the whole that it would bs
a dull, sad fate, for somehow we seem born
in q certain country in order to die in it,
and / went home to come again other Sun
days to the Pinoio, but not all the Sundays
I promised myself.
On one OF these Sundays I found Roman
boys playing an inscrutable game among
the busts Of their storied compatriots, q sort
OF Il spy or Hide and 60 whoop," count
ing who should be 1T in an Italian version
Of 1Oneary DRY. ickory an and Their scat
tering In every direction behind the plinths
and bushes. They were not more molestive
than boys always are in a world which
ought to be left entirely to old people, and
I could not see that they did any harm.
But somebody must nave done harm, for
only was a bust here and there scrib-
bled over In pencil. but the bust of Maohia-
veli had it's nose freshly broken of in a
jagged fracture that was very hurting to
look at. This may have been done by some
mistaken moralist. who saw in, the old
republican adviser OF princes the enemy OF
mankind he was once reputed to be. At
any rate l will not attribute the mutilation
to the boys Of Rome. whom I cav at other
foregoing 30 many opportunities OF
mischief In the Villa Borghese. One OF
them even refused money from me there
I misunderstood his application for
matches and offered him some ooppers.
he put my tip aside with q digniHed wave
Of his hand and a proud backward step;
and I ought TO have seen from the fat,
broad cap he wore that he wa a school
boy Of civil condition. The Romans are
not nearly 90 dramatic as the Neapolitans
or Venetians or even as the Tuscans; but
in the same ~pleasaunoe I saw q con-
between sohoolboys which was
on with an animation full Of beauty
finish. They argued back and forth,
not violently but wildly. and one whom /
most aufopCnd hsa roa.oo. -;&h