perfectly self-possessed and conscious of his right to be where he
was.

Such conduct on the part of such a man did not appear so
surprising to the Saracinesca household, as it would have seemed
to foreigners. San Giacinto had said that he had an adaptable
character, and that adaptability is one of the most noticeable
features of the Italian race. It is not necessary to discuss the
causes of this peculiarity. They would be incomprehensible to the
foreigner at large, who never has any real understanding of
Italians. I do not hesitate to say that, without a single
exception, every foreigner, poet or prose-writer, who has treated
of these people has more or less grossly misunderstood them. That
is a sweeping statement, when it is considered that few men of the
highest genius in our century have not at one time or another set
down upon paper their several estimates of the Italian race. The
requisite for accurately describing people, however, is not
genius, but knowledge of the subject. The poet commonly sees
himself in others, and the modern writer upon Italy is apt to
believe that he can see others in himself. The reflection of an
Italian upon the mental retina of the foreigner is as deceptive as
his own outward image is when seen upon the polished surface of a
concave mirror; and indeed the character studies of many great
men, when the subject is taken from a race not their own, remind
one very forcibly of what may be seen by contemplating oneself in
the bowl of a bright silver spoon. To understand Italians a man
must have been born and bred among them; and even then the harder,
fiercer instinct, which dwells in northern blood, may deceive the
student and lead him far astray. The Italian is an exceedingly
simple creature, and is apt to share the opinion of the ostrich,