She was the daughter of that
highly cultivated Jewish family of whom I have spoken before. When I
first knew her she was as pretty and charming a young girl as could be
imagined. She was possessed then of all the accomplishments that can
adorn a girl at that period of life. Later on she showed that she
was gifted with sense, knowledge, energy, firmness, courage and
_caractere_ in a degree very uncommon. Since leaving Vienna I had
neither seen nor heard more of her, till she came to live with
her husband and family of children in Florence. But our old
acquaintanceship was readily and naturally renewed, and his villa near
the city became one of the houses I best loved to frequent. She had at
that time, and even well-nigh I take it in those old days at Vienna,
abandoned all seeming of conformity to the practices of the faith she
was born in.
I used to say of Pulszky that he was like a barrel full to the bung
with generous liquor, which flowed in a full stream, stick the spigot
in where you would. He was--is, I am happy to say is the proper tense
In his case--a most many-sided man. His talk on artistic subjects,
mainly historical and biographical, was abundant and most amusing.
His antiquarian knowledge was large. His ethnographical learning,
theories, and speculations were always interesting and often most
suggestive. Years had, I think, put some water in the wine of his
political ideas, but not enough to prevent differences between us on
such subjects.
Pages:
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233