much as other men talk of cotton, politics, flour barrels, and sugar)
necessarily illuminated their conversation with something akin to the
ideal. So, when the guests collected themselves in little groups, here
and there, in the wide saloon, a cheerful and airy gossip began to be
heard. The atmosphere ceased to be precisely that of common life; a
hint, mellow tinge, such as we see in pictures, mingled itself with the
lamplight.

This good effect was assisted by many curious little treasures of
art, which the host had taken care to strew upon his tables. They
were principally such bits of antiquity as the soil of Rome and its
neighborhood are still rich in; seals, gems, small figures of bronze,
mediaeval carvings in ivory; things which had been obtained at little
cost, yet might have borne no inconsiderable value in the museum of a
virtuoso.

As interesting as any of these relics was a large portfolio of old
drawings, some of which, in the opinion of their possessor, bore
evidence on their faces of the touch of master-hands. Very ragged and
ill conditioned they mostly were, yellow with time, and tattered with
rough usage; and, in their best estate, the designs had been scratched
rudely with pen and ink, on coarse paper, or, if drawn with charcoal or
a pencil, were now half rubbed out. You would not anywhere see rougher
and homelier things than these. But this hasty rudeness made the
sketches only the more valuable; because the artist seemed to have
bestirred himself at the pinch of the moment, snatching up whatever
material was nearest, so as to seize the first glimpse of an idea
that might vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Thus, by the spell of
a creased, soiled, and discolored scrap of paper, you were enabled to
steal close to an old master, and watch him in the very effervescence of
his genius.

According to the judgment of several connoisseurs, Raphael's own
hand had communicated its magnetism to one of these sketches; and, if
genuine, it was evidently his first conception of a favorite Madonna,
now hanging in the private apartment of the Grand Duke, at Florence.
Another drawing was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, and appeared to be
a somewhat varied design for his picture of Modesty and Vanity, in the
Sciarra Palace. There were at least half a dozen others, to which the
owner assigned as high an origin. It was delightful to believe in their
authenticity, at all events; for these things make the spectator more