between them, the rigid, cold face of a Stoic: | rowing business, in conflict with the liberal art the masks rested obliquely on the lap of a little of the razor, which demands an impartial affecchild, whose cherub features rose above them tion for all men's chins. Ecco, Messer! the with something of the supernal promise in the outline of your chin and lip are as clear as a gaze which painters had by that time learned to maiden's; and now fix your mind on a knotty give to the Divine Infant. question-ask yourself whether you are bound to spell Virgil with an i or an e, and say if you do not feel an unwonted clearness on the point. Only, if you decide for the i, keep it to yourself till your fortune is made, for the e hath the stronger following in Florence. Ah! I think I see a gleam of still quicker wit in your eye. I have it on the authority of our young Niccolò Machiavelli, himself keen enough to discern il pelo nell' uovo, as we say, and a great lover of delicate shaving, though his beard is hardly of two years' date, that no sooner do the hairs begin to push themselves than he perceives a certain grossness of apprehension creeping over him." "A symbolical picture, I see," said the young Greek, touching the lute while he spoke, so as to bring out a slight musical murmur. "The child, perhaps, is the Golden Age, wanting neither worship nor philosophy. And the Golden Age can always come back as long as men are born in the form of babies, and don't come into the world in cassock or furred mantle. Or the child may mean the wise philosophy of Epicurus, removed alike from the gross, the sad, and the severe." "Suppose you let me look at myself," said the stranger, laughing. "The happy effect on my intellect is perhaps obstructed by a little doubt as to the effect on my appearance." "Ah! every body has his own interpretation for that picture," said Nello; "and if you ask Piero himself what he meant by it, he says his pictures are an appendix which Messer Domeneddio has been pleased to make to the universe, and if any man is in doubt what they mean, he had better inquire of Holy Church. He has been asked to paint a picture after the sketch, but he puts his fingers to his ears and shakes his head at that: the fancy is passed, he says-which the finest mirror of steel or silver is mere a strange animal, our Piero. But now all is ready for your initiation into the mysteries of the razor. 66 "Behold yourself in this mirror, then; it is a Venetian mirror from Murano, the true nosce teipsum, as I have named it, compared with darkness. See now how by diligent shaving the nether region of your face may preserve its human outline, instead of presenting no distinction from the physiognomy of a bearded owl or a Barbary ape. I have seen men whose beards have so invaded their cheeks that one might have pitied them as the victims of a sad, brutalizing chastisement befitting our Dante's Inferno, if they had not seemed to strut with a strange triumph in their extravagant hairiness." "It seems to me," said the Greek, still looking into the mirror, "that you have taken away some of my capital with your razor-I mean a year or two of age, which might have won me more ready credit for my learning. Under the somewhat dim, I shall have a perilous resemblance to a maiden of eighteen in the disguise of hose and jerkin." “Not at all,” said Nello, proceeding to clip the too extravagant curls; "your proportions are not those of a maiden. And for your age, Mysteries they may well be called," continued the barber, with rising spirits at the prospect of a long monologue, as he imprisoned the young Greek in the shroud-like shaving-cloth; "mysteries of Minerva and the Graces. I get the flower of men's thoughts, because I seize them in the first moment after shaving. (Ah! you wince a little at the lather: it tickles the outlying limits of the nose, I admit.) And that is what makes the peculiar fitness of a barber's shop to become a resort of wit and learning. For look now at a druggist's shop: there is a dull conclave at the sign of Il Moro, that pre-inspection of a patron whose vision has grown tends to rival mine; but what sort of inspiration, I beseech you, can be got from the scent of nauseous vegetable decoctions?-to say nothing of the fact that you no sooner pass the threshold than you see a doctor of physic, like a gigantic spider, disguised in fur and scarlet, waiting for his prey; or even see him blocking up I myself remember seeing Angelo Poliziano bethe door-way seated on a bony hack, inspecting gin his lectures on the Latin language when he saliva. (Your chin a little elevated, if it please had a younger beard than yours; and between you: contemplate that angel who is blowing the ourselves, his juvenile ugliness was not less sigtrumpet at you from the ceiling. I had it paint-nal than his precocious scholarship. Whereas ed expressly for the regulation of my clients' chins.) Besides, your druggist, who herborizes and decocts, is a man of prejudices: he has poisoned people according to a system, and is obliged to stand up for his system to justify the conse-scholars hold that your Greek learning is but a quences. Now a barber can be dispassionate; the only thing he necessarily stands by is the razor, always providing he is not an author. That was the flaw in my great predecessor Burchiello: he was a poet, and had consequently a prejudice about his own poetry. I have escaped that; I saw very early that authorship is a nar you-no, no, your age is not against you; but between ourselves, let me hint to you that your being a Greek, though it be only an Apulian Greek, is not in your favor. Certain of our wayside degenerate plant until it has been transplanted into Italian brains, and that now there is such a plentiful crop of the superior quality, your native teachers are mere propagators of degeneracy. Ecco your curls are now of the right proportion to neck and shoulders; rise, Messer, and I will free you from the incum brance of this cloth. Gnaffè! I almost advise | arly hostility to the Greeks, I see not how your you to retain the faded jerkin and hose a little city can be a hospitable refuge for me, as you longer; they give you the air of a fallen prince." seemed to say just now.' "But the question is," said the young Greek, "Pian piano-not so fast," said Nello, stickleaning against the high back of a chair, and re- ing his thumbs into his belt, and nodding to turning Nello's contemplative admiration with a Sandro to restore order. "I will not conceal look of inquiring anxiety-"the question is, in from you that there is a prejudice against Greeks what quarter I am to carry my princely air, so among us; and though, as a barber, unsnared as to rise from the said fallen condition. If your by authorship, I share no prejudices, I must adFlorentine patrons of learning share this schol-mit that the Greeks are not always such pretty youngsters as yourself: their erudition is often of an uncombed, unmannerly aspect, and incrusted with a barbarous utterance of Italian, that makes their converse hardly more euphonious than that of a Tedesco in a state of vinous loquacity. And then, again, excuse me- we Florentines have liberal ideas about speech, and consider that an instrument which can flatter and promise so cleverly as the tongue must have been partly made for those purposes; and that truth is a riddle for eyes and wit to discover which it were a mere spoiling of sport for the tongue to betray. Still we have our limits beyond which we call dissimulation treachery. But it is said of the Greeks that their honesty begins at what is the hanging-point with us, and that since the old Furies went to sleep your Christian Greek is of so easy a conscience that he would make a stepping-stone of his father's corpse." The flush on the stranger's face indicated what seemed so natural a movement of resentment that the good-natured Nello hastened to atone for his want of reticence. "I discern the wisdom of your advice so clearly," said the Greek, with the bright smile which was continually lighting up the fine form and color of his young face, "that I will ask you for a little more. Who now, for example, would be the most likely patron for me? Is there a son of Lorenzo who inherits his tastes? Or is there any other wealthy Florentine specially addicted to purchasing antique gems? I have a fine Cleopatra cut in sardonyx, and one or two other intagli and camei, both curious and beautiful, worthy of being added to the cabinet of a prince. Happily, I had taken the precaution of fastening them within the lining of my doublet before I set out on my voyage. Moreover, I should like to raise a small'sum for my present need on this ring of mine" (here he took out the ring and replaced it on his finger), "if you could recommend me to any honest trafficker." "Let us see, let us see," said Nello, perusing the floor, and walking up and down the length of his shop. "This is no time to apply to Piero de' Medici, though he has the will to make such purchases if he could always spare the money; but I think it is another sort of Cleopatra that he covets most...... Yes, yes, I have it. What you want is a man of wealth, and influence, and scholarly tastes-not one of your learned porcu He came to Flor "Be not offended, bel giovane; I am but repeating what I hear in my shop; as you may perceive, my eloquence is simply the cream which I skim off my clients' talk. Heaven for bid I should fetter my impartiality by entertain-pines, bristling all over with critical tests, but ing an opinion. And for that same scholarly objection to the Greeks," added Nello, in a more mocking tone, and with a significant grimace, "the fact is, you are heretics, Messer; jealousy has nothing to do with it: if you would just change your opinion about Leaven, and alter your Doxology a little, our Italian scholars would think it a thousand years till they could give up their chairs to you. Yes, yes; it is chiefly religious scruple, and partly also the authority of a great classic-Juvenal, is it not? He, I gather, had his bile as much stirred by the swarm of Greeks as our Messer Angelo, who is fond of quoting some passage about their incorrigible impudence-audacia perdita." "Pooh! the passage is a compliment," said the Greek, who had recovered himself, and seemed wise enough to take the matter gayly "Ingenium volex, audacia perdita, sermo Promptus, et Isao torrentior.' A rapid intellect and ready eloquence may carry off a little impudence." "Assuredly," said Nello. "And since, as I see, you know Latin literature as well as Greek, you will not fall into the mistake of Giovanni Argiropulo, who ran full tilt against Cicero, and pronounced him all but a pumpkin-head. For, let me give you one bit of advice, young mantrust a barber who has shaved the best chins, and kept his eyes and ears open for twenty years -oil your tongue well when you talk of the ancient Latin writers, and give it an extra dip when you talk of the modern. A wise Greek may win favor among us; witness our excellent Demetrio, who is loved by many, and not hated immoderately even by the most renowned scholars." one whose Greek and Latin are of a comfortable "But how am I to get at this great man?" said the Greek, rather impatiently. "Just "I was coming to that," said Nello. now every body of any public importance will be full of Lorenzo's death, and a stranger may find it difficult to get any notice. But in the mean time I could take you to a man who, if he has a mind, can help you to a chance of a favorable interview with Scala sooner than any body else in Florence-worth seeing, for his own sake too, to say nothing of his collections, or of his daughter Romola, who is as fair as the Florentine lily before it got quarrelsome and turned red." "But if this father of the beautiful Romola makes collections, why should he not like to buy some of my gems himself?" Nello shrugged his shoulders. "For two good reasons-want of sight to look at the gems, and "Young man, I am painting a picture of Sinon deceiving old Priam, and I should be glad of your face for my Sinon, if you'd give me a sitting." want of money to pay for them. Our old Bardo | had kept his eye fixed on the Greek, and now de' Bardi is so blind that he can see no more said, abruptly, of his daughter than, as he says, a glimmering of something bright when she comes very near him: doubtless her golden hair, which, as Messer Luigi Pulci says of his Meridiana's, raggia come stella per sereno.' Ah, here come some clients of mine, and I shouldn't wonder if one of them could serve your turn about that ring." CHAPTER IV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. "GOOD-DAY, Messer Domenico," said Nello to the foremost of the two visitors who entered the shop, while he nodded silently to the other. "You come as opportunely as cheese on macaroni. Ah! you are in haste-wish to be shaved without delay-ecco! And this is a morning when every one has grave matter on his mind. Florence orphaned - the very pivot of Italy snatched away-heaven itself at a loss what to do next. Lasso! Well, well; the sun is nevertheless traveling on toward dinner-time again; and, as I was saying, you come like cacio alla lasagna. For this young stranger was wishing for an honorable trader who would advance him a sum on a certain ring of value, and if I had counted every goldsmith and money-lender in Florence on my fingers I couldn't have found a better name than Menico Cennini. Besides, he hath other ware in which you deal-Greek learning and young eyes-a double implement which you printers are always in need of." The grave, elderly man, son of that Bernardo Cennini who, twenty years before, having heard of the new process of printing carried on by Germans, had cast his own types in Florence, remained necessarily in lathered silence and passivity while Nello showered this talk in his ears, but turned a slow, sideway gaze on the stranger. Tito Melema started and looked round with a pale astonishment in his face, as if at a sudden accusation; but Nello left him no time to feel at a loss for an answer: "Piero," said the barber, "thou art the most extraordinary compound of humors and fancies ever packed into a human skin. What trick wilt thou play with the fine visage of this young scholar to make it suit thy traitor? Ask him rather to turn his eyes upward, and thou mayst make a Saint Sebastian of him that will draw troops of devout women; or, if thou art in a classical vein, put myrtle about his curls and make him a young Bacchus, or say rather a Phoebus Apollo, for his face is as warm and bright as a summer morning; it made me his friend in the space of a credo." "Ay, Nello," said the painter, speaking with abrupt pauses; "and if thy tongue can leave off its everlasting chirping long enough for thy understanding to consider the matter, thou mayst see that thou hast just shown the reason why the face of Messer will suit my traitor. A perfect traitor should have a face which vice can write no marks on-lips that will lie with a dimpled smile-eyes of such agate-like brightness and depth that no infamy can dull them-cheeks that will rise from a murder and not look haggard. I say not this young man is a traitor: I mean, he has a face that would make him the more perfect traitor if he had the heart of one, which is saying neither more nor less than that he has a beautiful face, informed with rich young blood, that will be nourished enough by food, and keep its color without much help of virtue. He may have the heart of a hero along with it; I aver nothing to the contrary. Ask Domenico there if the lapidaries can always tell a gem by the sight alone. And now I'm going to put the tow in my ears, for thy chatter and the bells to "This fine young man has unlimited Greek, Latin, or Italian at your service," continued Nello, fond of interpreting by very ample para-gether are more than I can endure; so say no phrase. "He is as great a wonder of juvenile more to me, but trim my beard." learning as Francesco Filelfo or our own incom- With these last words Piero (called "di Cosparable Poliziano. A second Guarino, too, for imo," from his master, Cosimo Rosselli) drew he has had the misfortune to be shipwrecked, out two bits of tow, stuffed them in his ears, and and has doubtless lost a store of precious manu-placed himself in the chair before Nello, who scripts that might have contributed some correctness even to your correct editions, Domenico. Fortunately he has rescued a few gems of rare value. His name is you said your name, Messer, was-?" "Tito Melema," said the stranger, slipping the ring from his finger and presenting it to Cennini, whom Nello, not less rapid with his razor than with his tongue, had now released from the shaving-cloth. shrugged his shoulders and cast a grimacing look of intelligence at the Greek, as much as to say, "A whimsical fellow, you perceive! Every body holds his speeches as mere jokes!" Tito, who had stood transfixed, with his long dark eyes resting on the unknown man who had addressed him so equivocally, seemed recalled to his self-command by Piero's change of position, and, apparently satisfied with his explanation, was again giving his attention to Cennini, who presently said, "This is a curious and a valuable ring, young This intaglio of the fish with the crested Meanwhile the man who had entered the shop in company with the goldsmith-a tall figure, about fifty, with a short-trimmed beard, wear-man. ing an old felt hat and a thread-bare mantle- serpent above it, in the black stratum of the onyx, B or rather nicolo, is well shown by the surrounding blue of the upper stratum. The ring has doubtless a history?" added Cennini, looking up keenly at the young stranger. CHAPTER V. THE BLIND SCHOLAR AND HIS DAUGHTER. THE Via de' Bardi, a street noted in the history of Florence, lies in Oltrarno, or that portion of the city which clothes the southern bank of the river. It extends from the Ponte Vecchio to the Piazza de' Mozzi at the head of the Ponte alle Grazie; its right-hand line of houses and walls being backed by the rather steep ascent which in the fifteenth century was known as the Hill of Bogoli, the famous stone-quarry whence the city got its pavement-of dangerously unstable consistence when penetrated by rains; "Yes, indeed," said Tito, meeting the scrutiny very frankly. "The ring was found in Sicily, and I have understood from those who busy themselves with gems and sigils, that both the stone and intaglio are of virtue to make the wearer fortunate, especially at sea, and also to restore to him whatever he may have lost. But," he continued, smiling, "though I have worn it constantly since I quitted Greece, it has not made me altogether fortunate at sea, you perceive, unless I am to count escape from drown-its left-hand buildings flanking the river and ing as a sufficient proof of its virtue. It remains to be seen whether my lost chests will come to light; but to lose no chance of such a result, Messer, I will pray you only to hold the ring for a short space as pledge for a small sum far beneath its value, and I will redeem it as soon as I can dispose of certain other gems which are secured within my doublet, or indeed as soon as I can earn something by any scholarly employment, if I may be so fortunate as to meet with such." 66 "That may be seen, young man, if you will come with me," said Cennini. "My brother Pietro, who is a better judge of scholarship than I, will perhaps be able to supply you with a task that may test your capabilities. Meanwhile, take back your ring until I can hand you the necessary florins, and, if it please you, come along with me." "Yes, yes," said Nello, " 'go with Messer Domenico; you can not go in better company; he was born under the constellation that gives a man skill, riches, and integrity, whatever that constellation may be, which is of the less consequence because babies can't choose their own horoscopes, and indeed, if they could, there might be an inconvenient rush of babies at particular epochs. Besides, our Phoenix, the incomparable Pico, has shown that your horoscopes are all a nonsensical dream-which is the less troublesome opinion. Addio, bel giovane! don't forget to come back to me." "No fear of that," said Tito, beckoning a farewell, as he turned round his bright face at the door. "You are to do me a great service -that is the most positive security for your seeing me again." making on their northern side a length of quaint, irregularly-pierced façade, of which the waters give a softened loving reflection as the sun begins to decline toward the western heights. But quaint as these buildings are, some of them seem to the historical memory a too modern substitute for the famous houses of the Bardi family, destroyed by popular rage in the middle of the fourteenth century. They were a proud and energetic stock, these Bardi: conspicuous among those who clutched the sword in the earliest world-famous quarrels of Florentines with Florentines, when the narrow streets were darkened with the high towers of the nobles, and when the old tutelar god Mars, as he saw the gutters reddened with neighbors' blood, might well have smiled at the centuries of lip-service paid to his rival, the Baptist. But the Bardi hands were of the sort that not only clutch the sword-hilt with vigor, but love the more delicate pleasure of fingering minted metal; they were matched, too, with true Florentine eyes, capable of discerning that power was to be won by other means than by rending and riving, and by the middle of the fourteenth century we find them risen from their original condition of popolani to be possessors, by purchase, of lands and strongholds, and the feudal dignity of Counts of Vernio, disturbing to the jealousy of their republican fellow-citizens. These lordly purchases are explained by our seeing the Bardi disastrously signalized only a few years later as standing in the very front of European commerce-the Christian Rothschilds of that time-undertaking to furnish specie for the wars of our Edward the Third, and having revenues "in kind" made over to them; especially in wool, most precious of freights for Florentine galleys. Their august debtor left them with an august deficit, and alarmed Sicilian creditors made a too sudden demand for the payment of deposits, causing a ruinous shock to the credit of the Bardi and that of associated houses, which was felt as a commercial calamity along all the coasts of the Medi 66 Say what thou wilt, Piero," said Nello, as the young stranger disappeared, "I shall never look at such an outside as that without taking it as a sign of a lovable nature. Suffocation! why, thou wilt say next that Lionardo, whom thou art always raving about, ought to have made his Judas as beautiful as St. John! But thou art as deaf as the top of Mount Morello with that accursed tow in thy ears. Well, well:terranean. But, like more modern bankrupts, I'll get a little more of this young man's history from him before I take him to Bardo Bardi." they did not, for all that, hide their heads in humiliation; on the contrary, they seem to have held them higher than ever, and to have been among the most arrogant of those grandi, who under certain noteworthy circumstances, open to all who will read the honest pages of Giovanni |