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interested and better informed about art than I had hitherto
been. The subject was well hammered into me then in a way
that has been of service to me ever since.
There was an old gentleman living then in Rome whom I was
very anxious to see, and I must explain who he was. He was of
Irish birth, his name being Jackson, and he had been a fellow
student with my uncle Harry, my father’s brother, at the Lycée
Imperial in Paris during four years at the beginning of the
century. My father had met him twice in Rome, in 1830 and
1848, and during the second visit, several purchases were made
through him, especially the two little statues of Hope and Faith
in Religion, which are still in our dwelling. The manner of my
father having met him was as follows. Mr Jackson’s first oc-
cupation in Paris after completing his education was as a clerk
at the American Legation, and there he had become acquainted with
several Americans. He was calling upon one of these who happened
to be at the same hotel in Rome in 1830 with my father and mother,
and seeing our name upon the hotel register, which re-
minded him of his old schoolmate, he sent up his card, and
found in my father a very different person from my uncle Harry,
but, nevertheless, one who appreciated him and whose acquaintanship
soon ripened into friendship. Mr Jackson had tried the banking
business when he first moved to Rome, but he did not prosper at
it, and for many years as old age approached he occupied the
singular position in the family of Prince Torlonia of “Amigo de
la famiglia” or Friend of the Family. This custom is peculiarly
Italian and in very many cases simply means an intimacy which
obtains admission at any time to the family circle; but in the case
of the great banker who was occupied with his large and important
business and consequently much away from his immediate home,
it was important to have a confidential friend of unblemished re-
putation and of pleasant and polished manners to be one of the
household, and to assist every day in the reception of guests at
dinner. Mr Jackson made his toilet regularly every day for
that meal at Torlonia’s princely residence, and several times
stopped for a chat with us at our hotel while on his way, but
he never gave us any explanation of the relations existing with
the banker, for which services he was doubtless paid or compensated
in some way.
I had no letter of introduction to him and simply presented
myself at his lodging, saying that my father had told me
to call upon him while in Rome. He was living in a short nar-
row street near the Piazza del Popolo connecting the Corso
with the Via Baberino, and I knocked at his door a good
many times before rouzing him up. Upon explaining who I was
he seemed glad to see me and asked me to breakfast with him the
next morning. I accordingly went at the appointed time and spent
a pleasant hour - the breakfast consisting of an English muffin a
soft boiled egg and a cup of coffee. He had breakfasted already.
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