Everything  this  man  says  and  does  has  the  same
grace  and  elevated  tone  as  his  poetry.    I  took


LEAVES    FROM   A   ROMAN   DIARY         351

a  chair  and  pretty  soon  lie  said  to  me,  ^'How  do

you  like  your  books,  Mr.  S 1    For  my  part,

I  prefer  to  cut  the  leaves  of  a  book,  for  then  I
feel  as  if  I  had  earned  the  right  to  read  it/ '  I
replied  that  I  liked  books  with  rough  edges  if
they  were  printed  on  good  paper ;  and  then  he
said,  ^^See  this  remarkable  picture."

I  drew  my  chair  closer  to  him,  and  he  showed
me  a  large  colored  chart  of  Hell  and  Purgatory,
according  to  the  theory  that  prevailed  in
Dante's  time.  Satan  with  his  three  faces  was
represented  in  the  centre,  and  on  the  other  side
rose  the  Mount  of  Purgatory.
''It  is  an  Italian  commentary,"  he  said,  ''on
the  Divina  Commedia,^^  which  had  been  sent
to  him  that  day;  and  he  added  that  some  of
the  information  in  it  was  of  a  very  curious
sort.
