As there was not the least sign of fire visible, I
of course remained in my seat. A few minutes later one of the actors
came forward and explained that there had been no fire; a fight between
two of the scene-shifters had been the cause of all the alarm. The good-
humoured Italians did not even resent the fellows having thus disturbed
and interrupted the performance.
John Stuart Mill had given me an introduction to Pasquale Villari, who,
even at that time, was _commendatore professore_, and held a high
position on the Board of Education, but was still far from having
attained the zenith of his fame and influence. When the reserve of the
first few days had worn off, he was simply splendid to me. When anything
I said struck him as being to the point, he pressed my hands with all
the ardour of youth, and he applauded every joke I attempted with
uproarious laughter.
Some twenty years were to elapse before I saw him again. Then he called
upon me in Copenhagen, wishing to make my acquaintance, without in the
least suspecting that I was the young man who, so long before, had come
to him from Mill. He looked with amazement at books in which he had
written with his own hand, and at old letters from himself which I
produced. I visited him again in 1898. His books on Machiavelli and
Savonarola entitle him to rank among the foremost students and exponents
of Italy.
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