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a family of adopted children.
I remember its conclusion.
He who should give himself to the care of other people's children would be entitled to say:—
Formai questa famiglia
Sol colla mia virtu.
I built myself this family
solely by my own merit.
The performances concluded with a satirical poem given by a layman, and describing the indignation of an elegant ecclesiastic at the visit of a man in poor and shabby clothes.
His complaint is answered by a friend, who remarks:—
La vostra eccellenza
Vorrebbe tutti i poverelli ricchi.
Your Excellency
would have every poor fellow rich.
The presence of the celebrated phrenologist,
George Combe, in
Rome at this time added much to
Dr. Howe's enjoyment of the winter, and to mine.
His wife was a daughter of the great actress,
Mrs. Siddons, and was a person of excellent mind and manners.
Observing that she always appeared in black, I asked one day whether she was in mourning for a near relative.
She replied, rather apologetically, that she adopted this dress on account of its convenience, and that English ladies, in traveling, often did so.
I remember that
Fanny Kemble, who was a cousin of
Mrs. Combe, once related the following
