Page:Cesare Battisti and the Trentino.djvu/12

 joyed taking her aside to their own little garden and speaking to her in the fullness of his heart, softly and tranquilly, like a confiding child, while the stars were sparkling in the sky of Trento not unlike the ceiling of a great cathedral supported by mountain pillars.

In public he spoke like a lion and a leader. He looked the ideal orator, imposing in appearance and voice. Above all, the immense force of his inner conviction transmitted itself irresistibly

to his hearers. He was the opposite of rhetorical; but his words so pulsated with dramatic feeling as to convince from the very first. He never flattered the masses, never sought popularity; he liked to lead, not to be led.

For himself he asked nothing, always giving and never receiving. To carry on his national socialistic propaganda he sacrificed his private fortune, being content to live very modestly on his earnings as writer and publisher.

Cesare Battisti, had he so desired, could have acquired riches, honors, and an exalted social position. Had he entered Page ten