“Qui fui tratto ad onorar il trionfo
di lui ch’io cacciai dalla patria.”[P]
[P] “I was brought here to honour the triumph of him whom I sent into exile.”
One room was full of manuscripts on parchment, etc., of the Divina Comedia, some as old as the fourteenth century; and other books, especially Bibles, of the same date; and there were also some fragments of manuscripts by the Divine Poet himself, at which I looked with awe and reverence. The exhibition contained also a large collection of arms, furniture, jewellery, and works of art of the middle ages, especially of the time of Dante; and which, examined in connexion with him, acquired a new interest.
The beautiful sword, the Gonfaloniere had presented to the King in the name of Florence, was also exhibited there. On one side of the blade were inscribed the words “Dante to the first King of Italy.” On the other the following lines from the 6th Canto of the Purgatory:—
“Vieni a veder la tua Roma, che piagne
Vedova, sola, e dì e notte chiama:
Cesare mio, perchè non m’accompagne?”
As at every festival there are many young ladies, who are not happy unless they get a dance, and as there are always gentlemen, who in order to enjoy themselves require races or regattas, and as the populace is every where fond of show and display, so there were also at the Dante festival balls, races, regattas, and tournaments. What those things could have to do with Dante, it would be difficult to say; for the love of God, of his country, and poetry, the three great elements of which the soul of the Divine Poet seems to have been composed, are not very intimately connected with these kinds of amusements. I think therefore they were out of keeping, and might as well have been omitted. A Dante festival, although rightly of a cheerful and joyful character, ought, it seems to me, always to be tempered by seriousness, and free from frivolity. I must however confess, that I went myself to look at these things whenever I was not too tired to do so.
The grand ball at the Casino, as the great clubhouse is called, in spite of the splendid ball-rooms, the good music and the elegant dress of the ladies, was rather a failure. The rooms were hot, and the ladies tired after the excitement of the day. Many seemed to prefer a walk through the open galleries, which were beautifully decorated with flowers, and where they could breathe the fresh night air, to a quadrille; and others withdrew to the many elegant rooms that join the two ball-rooms, preferring evidently a chat to a waltz. All retired at an early hour.