No one, except on State occasions, goes in full dress; every bright demi-toilette passes muster; every one chatters; the boxes fill and re-fill, as men pass from one to the other of their fair acquaintances; the stage is the last thing thought of. Presently the prima donna or tenor comes forward with great demonstrations of rage, love, or despair, and the whole house is hushed. While the aria lasts, not a word is spoken; but the moment it is over, and the customary applause has subsided, the spell is broken, and the stream of conversation flows on anew.

These theatre receptions are a cheap way of paying off social scores, as they involve no lights, no decorations, and no refreshments, save the occasional ices and wafers that are brought round to the boxes between the acts, and which, if paid for at all, are paid for by the gentlemen who happen to be the guests of the box for the time being.

I once heard rather a good story illustrative of this inexpensive system of seeing and entertaining your friends, but it did not refer to Genoa. Still, the system is carried on in most Italian cities, where there are large and beautiful theatres, and a comfortable box is a cheap luxury whereby fuel may be saved in the evening. The incident was this: An English family hired an apartment in an old palace, the widowed owner having left it for the winter -so said the agent - fully stocked with fuel. This lady belonged to a very good old family, but her fortune was slender. After a few weeks the tenants found the fuel running short, and indignantly taxed the agent with deceiving them. He answered by a question as to how and when they used it.

Why," was the reply, "we keep a fire in every room all day."

"And all the evening, too?" asked the agent.

"Of course."

"No wonder!" he said, with a comical gesture of surprise. "Madame la Marquise only used a small fire in one room on very cold days, and a foot-warmer the rest of the time."

"How did she manage at night, then? and did she never see visitors?"

"She spent her evenings in her box," explained the agent, "and asked her friends there. If she chanced to be unwell, and not able to go out, she would sit at home, with her fur cloak on, and go to bed early."

But though Genoa, like all other Italian towns, has many decayed noble families, proud and poor, she has also a few rich old families, such as the Durazzo, whose magnificent palace is fitted up with more modern luxuries than it contains antique treasures; and many comfortable, unassuming families of less pedigree, but progressive, educated, enterprising, and successful, both in commerce and in learning. There are art societies, and scientific meetings, and boards of education; a great activity in politics and the press, and a public feeling which is wisely and patriotically directed rather towards the national advancement of the country as a whole, than towards the glorification of the local part. The secret societies were once very strong in Genoa, and even at present those nurseries of Socialism are not inactive; but, on the whole, the city has too much at stake to be able to affect red republicanism. Northern and central Italy—that is, the living Italy of the Middle Ages-is still the backbone of the new nation.

One more thing a stranger, however cursory his visit, will notice in Genoa, and that is the guttural dialect, harsh as the ruggedest German. The conventional beauty of Italian is practically a scarce thing. The popular talk of most provinces is either mincing, as near Milan, soft and slurring, as at Venice-where, but for the tone, one would

think the very hucksters were coaxing babies to sleepharsh, as at and near Genoa, hammer-like, as at Naples, where the tone is also ear-piercing; and even at Florence, where the purest grammar is common to the highest and lowest alike, the pronunciation and frequent aspirations replacing the c by the h sound-render the language affected. The broad Roman accent sounds grand in the mouth of an educated person, and reminds you, somehow, of the roll of the Latin, as probably spoken by the senators and jurists of the Republic; but it turns to something very like “mouthing" when used by the people in general; however, I think, as an accent, it is far preferable to any in Italy. The voice of Italians is also generally a drawback to beauty of diction. Even cultivated persons, and women no less than men, have loud, strident voices; and in the traditional "land of song" you find far more of what we should call a vulgar intonation than you will discover among persons of corresponding station and education in English-speaking communities. On the other hand, you will meet with natural courtesy far greater than that attending the best-bred people of our race; for centuries of polish and traditions of elegance in manner have done their work, and left the Italian beggar less of a barbarian than the Anglo-Saxon millionnaire.

There is more business done in Genoa than in any other town in Italy, and a large part of its trade is with the United States. Roughly speaking, the yearly imports and exports average, the former nearly $60,000,000, the latter $40,000,000.

Among the wealthy and public-spirited men who have lately died, was the Duke of Galliera, who left the city $4,000,000 for the improvement of the harbor, on condition that the municipal government should advance the rest of the sum required to carry out the improvements. A large

new mole is being built, and the present new mole lengthened, so that it will still continue to be the outer pier. In addition to this, quays by rails with the main line are projected, with a view to enable the largest ships to unload without lighters.

The inclosed Porto Franco, with its extensive bonded warehouses, is another of the works which, even at present, show how Genoa, while proud of her artistic relics, is not content to rest on her mediæval laurels. If the inner parts of the city are wonderfully unchanged, its sea-edge, on the contrary, is changing for the better every day; and, while the former picturesqueness is untouched, the visitor need not grudge the less beautiful but healthy signs of activity about the quays.

CHAPTER XXI.

BACK ΤΟ PARIS THE EXPOSITION

ENJOYING PARIS LIFE-GENERAL GRANT AND THE PRINCE OF WALES WITNESS A GAME OF POLO - A VISIT TO HOLLAND ·

EN ROUTE FOR GERMANY

POS INTERVIEW

OF "LITTLE PHIL"

WITH BISMARCK REMINISCENCES

THEY DISCUSS AMERICA, EUROPE,

AND THE WAR- MOTLEY'S PROPHECY

THE CROWN

PRINCE GIVES THE GENERAL A REVIEW IN THE RAIN
BISMARCK CALLS ON MRS. GRANT
GRANT

ΤΟ

HIS DINNER

AMERICAN AND GERMAN FRIENDSHIP

PLEDGED OVER A GLASS OF SCHNAPPS.

Leaving Genoa, General Grant and his party returned to Paris, which point was reached on the 7th of May. At that time the Paris Exhibition was the uppermost topic of the city. On the 11th, General Grant accompanied by his wife and son visited the Exposition. He was received by Chief Commissioner McCormick and staff and by the Commissioners from the various States of the Union, Minister Noyes, Consul-General Torbert and wife, and the leading ladies and gentlemen of the American colony in Paris. The American marines were drawn up in military array and gave the party a military salute on their arrival at the American section. The General and his party then examined the whole American department in detail. They spent a good deal of time among Tiffany's exhibit, where Bonanza Mackay's gorgeous service of silver plate, which cost $150,000, is exhibited. Then they proceeded to the machinery department, where the General was placed upon a square American platform-that of the Howe scale.