UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES A VIEW O F SOCIETY AND MANNERS IN I T A L Y: WITH ANECDOTES relating to fome EMINENT CHARACTERS- BY JOHN M O O R E, M. D. VOL. II. Strenua nos exercet inertia ; navibus atque Quadrigis petimus bene vivere. Quod petis, hie eft. HOR, "L o "N 15 'ok: Printed for W. SrRAHAN;and T. CAD ELI,, in the Strand. MDGCLXXXJ. CONTENTS OF THE LETTER XLVI. p. i. Bujls and Jlatues of dijlmguifhed Romans of Heathen Deiti.es. Paflion of the Greeks and Romans for fculpture. Far- nefian Hercules criticifed by a Lady Remarks on that Jlatue. On the Flora. Effeft 'which the fight of the Jlatues of Laocoon and his fons had on t*wo fpec- tators of oppofite characters. Mr. Lock's Obfervations on the fame group The Antlnous'. T^he Apollo. A 2 iv CONTENTS. LETTER XLVII. p. 21. The prefent Pope. Ganganelli.A Scotch Prejbytcrian. LETTER XL VIII. p. 34- Zeal of Pius VI. Inftitution of the Jubilee. Ceremony of building up the holy door of St. Peter's by the prefent Pope. The ce- remony of high mafs performed by the Pope en Chrtftmas-day. Character of the pre- fent Pope. He is admired by the Roman women. The Benediction pronounced in the grand area before the church of St. Peter's. LETTER XLIX. p. 48. Prefented to the Pope. Rtfleftions on the f (nation of Sovereigns in general. The Stfforcign Pontiff in particular. CONTENTS. y LETTER L. p. 63. Modern Romans. Roman 'women compared 'With thofe of England. Portrait faint- ing in Italy, and elf eiv here. LETTER LI. p. 78. Carnival at Rome. Mafquerades and other amufements in the Corfo. Horfe-races. Serious Opera Great fenftbility in a young 'woman. Extravagant exprej/ion of a Roman citizen at the Opera. A Sere- nade on Chriftmas morning. Female per- formers prohibited on the Theatres at Rome. Eunuchs fubftituted. The effect on the minds offpeclators. LETTER LIT. p. 91. Journey from Rome to Naples. Veletri. - Otbo. Sermonetta. Peevifh travellers. Mont eCir cello. Piperno. FoJJaNuQva. CONTENTS. LETTER LIII. p. 104. Terr acina. Via Appia. Fundi. Gaeta. Illujlrious French Rebels. Bourbon. Minturnx. Maritis. Hannibal. LETTER LIV. p. 120. Naples. Fortrcfs of St. Elmo. Converfa- tion 'with a Lady regarding the Car- thufians. Manufaftures. Number of in* habitants. LETTER LV. p. 131. Manners. LETTER LVI. p. 138. Refpeft paid to Kings during their lives.-* Freedoms ufed with their characters after their deaths. The King of Naples. A game at billiards. Characters of the King and <%ueen. CONTENTS. vit LETTER LVII. p. 147. The Neapolitan Nobles. The Peafants. LETTER LVIII. p. i 5 8. Citizens. Lawyers. Phyjtcians. Clergy, Convents. Lazzaroni. LETTER LIX. p. 168. Herculaneum. Portici. Pompeia. LETTER LX. p. 186. poetical Rehearfcrs in thejtreets of Naples. Street Orators and Hiftorians Improu- vifatories.Signora Gorilla. Senfibility of Italians.Engli/h Gentlemen of the Ton. A Neapolitan Mountebank. LETTER LXI. p. 204, A vijit to Mount Vefwvius. viii CONTENTS. LETTER LX1I. p. 217. Obfsrvalions on the pulmonary Confumption. LETTER LXIII. p. 257. Neapolitan and Englifh cnjloms and charac- ters criticifed and compared, in a conver-* fation between two Engli/h Gentlemen. LETTER LXIV. p. 273. The liqvefatfion of St. Januarius's blocd.-~ Proccjjion^ ceremonies^ anxiety of the people. Their prepoflerous abufe of the Saint. Obfcrvation of a Roman Catholic. LETTER LXV. p. 290. The Tomb of Virgil. PaufiUppo A Neapo- litan Valet. Grofta del Cane. Campi Phlegrei, Solfatrra t Monte Nuo^ua^ &c, Puzzoli, Baia. Cum MANNERS IN ITALY. 7 exhibited, as appears in fome of their works which have reached our own times. Though the works of no modern artift can ftand a comparifon with the great mafter-pieces now alluded to, yet 'nothing can be more abfurd than the idea which fome people entertain, that all antique ftatues are of more excellent work- manfhip than the modern. We fee, every- day, numberlefs fpecimens of every fpecies of fculpture, from the largeft ftatues and baflbs-relievos, to the fmalleft cameos and intaglios, that are undoubtedly antique, and yet far inferior, not only to the works of the beft artifts of Leo the Tenth's time, but alfo to thofe of many artifts now alive in various parts of Europe. The paflion for fculpture, which the Romans caught from the Greeks, became almoft univerfal. Sta- tues were not only the chief ornaments of their temples and palaces, but alfo of the B 4 houfes 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND houfes of the middle, and even the loweft, order of citizens. They were prompted to adorn them with the figures of a few fa- vourite deities, by religion, as well as vanity : no man, but an atheift or a beggar, could be without them. This being the cafe, we may eafily conceive what gracelefs divinities many of them muft have been; for in this, no doubt, as in every other manufactory, there muft occafionally have been bungling workmen employed, even in the mod flourifhing aera of the arts, and goods finimed in a very carelefs and hurried manner, to aniVer the conftant demand, and fuit the dimenfions of every purfe. We muft have a very high idea of the number of ftatues of one kind or other, which were in old Rome, when we confider, how many are flill to be feen ; how many have at different periods been carried away, by the curious, to every country in Europe ; how many were mu- (ilated and dcftroyed by the gothic bruta- lity MANNERS IN ITALY. 9 lity of Barbarians, and the ill-direcled zeal of the early Chriftians, who thought it a duty to exterminate every image, without diftinclion of age or fex, and without confidering whether they were of God or man. This obliged the wretched heathens to hide the ilatues of their gods and of their anceftors in the bowels of the earth, where unqueftionably great numbers of them ftill remain. Had they not been thus barbaroufly hewed to pieces, and bu- ried, I had almoft faid, alive, we might have had feveral equal to the great mafter- pieces in the Vatican ; for it is natural to imagine, that the rage of the zealots would be chiefly directed againft thofe ftatues which were in the higheft eftima- tion with the heathens; and we muft like- wife imagine, that thefe would be the pieces which they, on their part, would endeavour, by every poffible means, to pre- ferve from their power, and bury in the -earth. Of thofe which have been dug up, TO VIEW OF SOCIETY AND up, I fhall mention only a very few, be- ginning with the Farnefian Hercules, which has been long admired as an ex- quifite model of mafculine ftrength; yet, admirable as it is, it does not pleafe all the world. I am told that the women in par- ticular find fomething unfatisfaclory, and even odious, in this figure; which, how- ever majeftic, is deficient in the charms moft agreeable to them, and which might have been expeded in the fon of Jupiter and the beauteous Alcmeua. A lady whom I accompanied to the Farnefe palace, turn- ed away from it in difguft. I could not imagine what had {hocked her. She told me, after recolleflion, that fhe could not bear the ftern feverity of his countenance, his large brawny limbs, and the club with which he was armed j which gave him more the appearance of one of thofe giants that, according to the old ro- mances, carried away virgins and fhut them up in gloomy cailles, than the gallant 4 Hercules, MANNERS IN ITALY. n Hercules, the lover of Omphale. Finally, the lady declared, fhe was convinced this ftatue could not be a juft reprefentation of Hercules ; for it was not in the nature of things, that a man fo formed could ever have been a reliever of diftrefled dam- fels. Without fuch powerful fupport as that of the fair fex, I fhould not have expofed myfelf to the refentment of connoifleurs, by any expreffion which they might con- ftrue an attack upon this favourite ftatue; but, with their fupport, I will venture to aflert, that the Farnefe Hercules is faulty both in his form /and attitude: the former is too unwieldy for active exertion, and the latter exhibits vigour exhaujled. A retting attitude is furely not the moft proper in which the all-conquering god of ftrength could be reprefented. Reft im- plies fatigue, and fatigue ftrength ex- haufted. A repofing Hercules is alrnoft a contra- 12 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND contradiction. Invincible activity, and in* exhauftible ftrength, are his charadcrif- tics. The ancient artift has erred, not only in giving him an attitude which fuppofes his flrength wants recruiting, but in the nature of the flrength itfelf, the character of which fhould not be paffive, but active. Near to Hercules, under the arcades of the fame Palezzo Farnefe, is a moft beau- tiful ftatue of Flora. The great advantage which ancient artifts had in attending the exercifes of the gymnafia, has been re- peatedly urged as the reafon of their fupe- riority over the moderns in fculpture. Vve aie told, that bcfides the ufiial exercifes of the gymnafia, all thofc who propofed to contend at the Olympic games, were obliged, by the regulations, to prepare them- fclvcs, by exercifmg publicly for a year at Elis; and the ftatuaries and painters tonilantly attended on the Arena, where 7 they MANNERS IN ITALY. ij Iney had opportunities of beholding the fineft fhaped, the moft graceful, and moft vigorous of the Grecian youth employed in thofe manly fports, in which the power of every mufcle was exerted, and all their various actions called forth, and where the human form appeared in an infinite variety of different attitudes. By a conftant attendance at fuch a fchool, in- dependent of any other circumftance, the artifts are fuppofed to have acquired a more animated, true, and graceful ftyle, than poflibly can be caught from viewing the tame, mercenary models, which are exhi- bited in our academies. On the other hand, I have heard it afferted, that the artift, who formed the Farnefian Flora, could not have improved his work, or de- rived any of its excellencies, from the cir- cumftances above enumerated ; becaufe the figure is in a (landing pofture, and clothed. In the light, eafy flow of the drapery, and in H VIEW OF SOCIETY AND in the contour of the body being as diftinft- ly pronounced through it, as if the figure were naked, the chief merit of this ftatue is thought to confift. But this reafoning does not feem juft ; for the daily opportu- nities the ancient artifts had of feeing naked figures, in every variety of action and attitude, muft have given, them advan- tages over the moderns, in forming even drapery figures. At Sparta, the women, upon particular occafions, danced naked. In their own families, they were feen every day clothed in light draperies ; and fo fe- condary was every confideration, even that of decency, to art, that the prettied vir- gins of Agrigentum, it is recorded, were called upon by the legiflature, without dif- tinclion, to (hew themfelves naked to a painter, to enable him to paint a Venus. Whilft the moderns, therefore, muft ac- knowledge their inferiority to the ancients in the art of fculpture, they may be allow- ed MANNERS IN ITALY. 15. cd merit, on account of the caufe, to which it feems, in fome meafure at leaft, to be owing. The fineft fpecimens of antique fculp- ture are to be feen in the Vatican. In thefe the Greek artifts difplay an unqueftion- able fuperiority over the moft fuccefsful efforts of the moderns. For me to at- tempt a defcription of thefe mafter-pieces, which have been defcribed a thoufand times, and imitated as often, without once having had juftice done them, would be equally vain and fuperfluous. I confine myfelf to a very few obfervations. The moft infenfible of mankind muft be ftruck with horror at fight of the Laocoon. On one of my vifits to the Vatican, I was ac- companied by two perfons, who had never been there before : one of them is accufed of being perfectly callous to every thing which does not immediately touch his own perfon ; the other is a worthy, good man : the firft, after flaring for fome time with marks ,5 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND marks of terror at the groupe, at length recovered himfclf; exclaiming with a laugh, { Egad, I was afraid thefe d d " ferpents would have left the fellows they *' are devouring, and made a fnap at me ; *' but I am happy to recoiled; they are of " marble." " I thank you, Sir, mod c heartily," faid the other, " for putting *' me in mind of that circumftance; till " you mentioned it, I vras in agony for " thole two youths." Nothing can be conceived more admira- bly executed than this affecting groupe; in all probability, it never would have en- tered into my own head that it could have been in any refpect improved. But when I firft had the happinefs of becoming acquainted with Mr. Lock, a period of my life which I Jhall always recol- lect with peculiar pleafure, I remember my converfing with him upon this fubjedt ; and that Gentleman, after mentioning the exe- cution MANNERS IN ITALY. 17 cution of this piece, in the highefl terms of praife, obferved that, had the figure of Laocoon been alor.e^ it would have been perfect. As a man fuffering the mofl ex- cruciating bodily pain with becoming for- titude, it admits of no improvement ; his proportions, his form, his action, his ex- preilion, are exquifite. But when his Tons appear, he is no longer an infulated, fuf- fering individual, who, when he has met pain and death with dignity, has done all that could be expected from man ; he commences f cither ^ and a much wider field is opened to the artift. We expert the deepeft pathos in the exhibition of the fub- limeft character that art can offer to the contemplation of the human mind-: A fa- ther forgetting pain, and inftant death, to fave his children. This Sublime and Pa- thetic the artift either did not fee, or de- fpaired of attaining. Laocoon's fufferings are merely corporal ; he is deaf to the cries of his agonizing children, who are calling VOL. IL C on i8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND on him for afliftance. But had he been throwing a look of anguifh upon his fons, had he feemed to have forgotten his own fuffcrings in theirs, he would have com- manded the fympathy of the fpeclator in a much higher degree. On the whole, Mr. Lock was of opinion, that the execution of this groupe is perfect, but that the concep- tion is not equal to the execution. I {hall leave it to others to decide whether Mr. Lock, in thefe obfervations, fpoke like a man of tafte: I am'fure he fpoke like a fa- ther. I have fenfibility to feel the beauty and juftnefs of the remark, though I had not the ingenuity to make it. It is difputed whether this groupe was formed from Virgil's defcription of the death of Laocoon and his fons, or the de- fcription made from the groupe ; it is evi- dent, from their minute refemblance, that one or other muft have been the cafe. The Poet mentions a circumftance, which could not MANNERS IN ITALY. 19 jaot be reprefented by the fculptor ; he fays that, although every other perfon around fought fafety by flight, the father was at- tacked by the ferpents, \vhile he was ad- vancing to the afMance of his fons auxilio fubeuntem ac tela ferentem." 1 This deficiency in the fculptor's art would have been finely fupplied by the improve- ment which Mr. Lock propofed. Reflecting on the dreadful condition of three perfons entangled in the horrid twi- nings of ferpents, and after contemplating the varied anguifh fo ftrongly exprefled in their countenances, it is a relief to turn the eye to the heavenly figure of the Apollo. To form an adequate idea of the beauty of this ftatue, it is abfolutely neceflfary to fee it. With all the advantages of colour and life, the human form never appeared fo beautiful ; and we never can fufficiently admire the artift, who has endowed marble C 2 with 20 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND with a finer expreflion of grace, dignity, and underftanding, than ever were feen in living features. In the forming of this in- imitable figure, the artift feems to have wrought after an ideal form of beauty, fu- perior to any in nature, and which exifted only in his own imagination. The admired ftatue of Antinous is in the fame Court. Nothing can be more light, elegant, and eafy ; the proportions are ex- acl:, and the execution perfect. It is an exquifite reprefentation of the mofl beauti- ful youth that ever lived. The ftatue of Apollo reprefents fome- thing fuperior, and the emotions it excitw are all of the fublime caft. MANNERS IN ITALY. LETTER XLVII. Rome. THE prefect Pope, who has affumed the name of Pius the Sixth, is a tall, well-made man, about fixty years of age, but retaining in his look all the frefh- nefs of a much earlier period of life. He lays a greater ftrefs on the ceremonious part of religion than his predeceflbr Gan- ganelli, in whofe reign a great relaxation of church-diicipline is thought to have taken place. The late Pope was a man of moderation, good fenfe, and fimplicity of manners; and could not go through all the oftentatious parade which his ftation required, without reluctance, and marks of difguft. He knew that the opinions of mankind had undergone a very great C 3 change 22 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND change fmce thofe ceremonies were efta- blifhcd ; and that fome of the moft refpedt- able of the fpeclators confidered as perfect- ly frivolous many things which formerly had been held as facred. A man of good fenfe may feem to lay the greateft weight on ceremonies which he himfelf confiders as ridiculous, provided he thinks the peo- ple, in whofe fight he goes through them, are imprefled with a conviction of their importance ; but if he knows that fome of the beholders are entirely of a different \vay of thinking, he will be flrongly tempted to evince, by fome means or other, that he defpifes the fooleries he performs, as much as any of them. This, in all probability, was the cafe with Ganganelli ; \vho, befides, was an enemy to fraud and hypocriiy of every kind. But, however remifs he may have been with regard to the etiquette of his fpiritual functions, every body acknowledges his diligence and acti- vity in promoting the temporal good of his fubjects. MANNERS IN ITALY. 23 fubjects. He did all in his power to revive trade, and to encourage manufactures and induftry of every kind. He built no churches, but he repaired the roads all over the ecclefiaftical ftate ; he reflrained the malevolence of bigots, removed abfurd prejudices, and promoted fentiments of charity and good-will to mankind in gene- ral, without excepting even heretics. His enemies, the Jefuits, with an intention to make him odious in the eyes of his own fubjecls, gave him the name of the Pro- teftant Pope. If they fuppofed that this ca- lumny would be credited, on account of the conduct above mentioned, they at once paid the higheft compliment to the Pope and the Proteftant religion. The carelefs manner in which Ganganelli performed certain functions, and the general tenour of his life and fentiments, were lamented by po- liticians, as well as by bigots. However frivolous the former might think many ce- remonies in themfelves, they flill confjdered C 4 them, 24- VIEW OF SOCIETY AND them asof p litical importance, in fuch a go- vernment as that of Home; and the Con- clave held on the death of the late Pope, are thought to have been in fome degree influenced by fuch confutations in chuf- ing his fuccefTor. The prefent Pope, be- fore he was raifed to that dignity, was confidered as a firm believer in all the te- nets of the Roman Church, and a ftricl: and fcrupulous obferver of all its injunctions and ceremonials. As his pretenfions, in point of family, fortune, anil connexions, \vere fmaller than thofe of moft of his bro- ther cardinals, it is the more probable that he owed his elevation to this part of his character, which rendered him a proper per ion to check the progrefs of abufcs that had been entirely neglected by the late Pope ; under whofe adminiftration free- thinking was faid to have been counte- nanced, Proteftantifm in general regarded with dirninifhed abhorrence, and the Cal- vinifls in particular treated with a degree of MANNERS IN ITALY. 25 of indulgence, to which their inveterate enmity to the church of Rome gave them no title. Several inftances of this are enu- merated, and one in particular, which, I dare fay, you will think a ftronger proof of the late Pope's good fenfe and good hu- mour, than of that negligence to which his enemies imputed it. A Scotch prefbyterian having heated his brain, by reading the Book of Martyrs, the cruelties of the Spanifh Inquifition, and the Hiftories of all the perfecutions that ever were raifed by th6 Roman Ca- tholics againft the Proteftants, was feized with a dread, that the fame horrors were juft about to be renewed. This terrible idea difturbed his imagination day and night ; he thought of nothing but racks and leaf- folds ; and, on one occalion, he dreamt that there was a continued train of bonfires, with a tar-barrel and a Proteftant in each, all the way from Smithfield to St. Andrews. He 26 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND He communicated the anxiety and dif- trefs of his mind to a worthy fenfible cler- gyman who lived in the neighbourhood. This gentleman took great pains to quiet his fears, proving to him, by ftrong and obvious arguments, that there was little or no danger of fuch an event as he dreaded. Thefe reafonings had a powerful erTcdt while they were delivering, but the im- preffion did not laft, and was always ef- faced by a few pages of the Book of Mar- tyrs. As fuon as the clergyman remarked this, he advifed the relations to remove that, and every book which treated of perfecution or martyrdom, entirely out of the poor man's reach. This was done ac- cordingly, and books of a lefs gloomy complexion were fubftituted in their place; but as all of them formed a flrong contraft with the colour of his mind, he could not bear theic perufal, but betook himfelf to the ftudy of the Bible, which was the only book of his ancient library which had 7 been MANNERS IN ITALY. 317 been left; and fo ftrong a hold had his former ftudies taken of his imagination, that he could relifh no part of the Bible, except the Revelation of St. John, a great part of which, he thought, referred to the whore of Babylon, or in other words, the Pope of Rome. This part of the fcripture he perufed continually with un- abating ardor and delight. His friend the clergyman, having obferved this, took oc- cafion to fay, that every part of the Holy Bible was, without doubt, moft fublime, and wonderfully inftru&ive j yet he was furprifed to fee that he limited his ftudies entirely to the laft book, and negleded all the reft. To which the other replied, That he who was a divine, and a man of learning, might, with propriety, read all the facred volume from beginning to end; but, for his own part, he thought proper to confine himfelf to what he could un- derftand; and therefore, though he had a due refpeft for all the fcripture, he ac- knowledged 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND knowledged he gave a preference to the Revela^on of St. John. This anfwer en- tirely fatisfied the clergyman ; he did not think it expedient to queftion him any farther; he took his leave, after having requeued the people of the family with whom this perfon lived, to have a watch- ful eye on their relation. In the mean time, this poor man's terrors, with regard to the revival of popery and perfecution, daily augmented ; and nature, in all probability, would have funk under the weight of fuch accumulated anxiety, had not a thought occurred which relieved his mind in an inflant, by fuggefting an infallible method of preventing all the evils which his imagination had been brooding over for fo long a time. The happy idea which afforded him fo much comfort, was no other, than that he fhould immediately go to Rome, and convert the Pope from the Roman Catholic to the Prefbyteriau religion. The moment he hit on this fortunate MANNERS IN ITALY. 29 fortunate expedient, he felt at once the ftrongeft impulfe to undertake the tafk, and the fulled conviction that his under- taking would be crowned with fuccefs; it is no wonder, therefore, that his counte- nance threw off its former gloom, and that all his features brightened with the heart-felt thrillings of happinefs and felf-applaufe. While his relations con- gratulated each other on this agreeable change, the exulting viilonary, without communicating his defign to any mortal, fet out for London, took his paffage to Leghorn, and, in a fliort time* after, arriv- ed in perfect health of body, and in ex- alted fpirits, at Rome. He diredily applied to an ecclefiafUc of his own country, of whofe obliging tem- per he had previoufly heard, and whom he confidered as a proper perfon to procure him an interview neceffary for the accom- plifhment of his projed. He informed that 3 that gentleman, that he earneflly wifhec! to have a conference with the Pope, on a bufmefs of infinite importance, and which admitted of no delay. It was not difficult to perceive the ftateof this poor man's mind"; the good-natured ecclefiaftic endeavoured to footh and amufe him, putting off the conference till a diftant day; in hopes that means might be fallen on, during the in- terval, to prevail on him to return to his own country. A few days after this, however, he happened to go to St. Peter's church, at the very time when his Holi- nefs was performing fome religious cere- mony. At this fight our impatient miflio- nary felt all his paffions inflamed with ir- refiftible ardour; he could no longer wait for the expected conference, but burfting out with zealous indignation, he exclaimed, " O thou beaft of nature, with feven " heads and ten horns! thou mother of " harlots, arrayed in purple and fcarlet, " and decked with gold and precious <{ ftones MANNERS IN ITALY. 31 " ftones and pearls ! throw away the golden tc cup of abominations, and the filthinefs (l of thy fornication !" You may eafily imagine the aftonim- ment and hubbub that fuch an apoftrophe, from fuch a perfon, in fuch a place, would occafion j he was immediately carried to prifon by the Swifs halberdiers. When it was known that he was a Bri- tifli fubjet, fome who underftood Englifh were ordered to attend his examination. The firftqueftion afked of him was, " What " had brought him to Rome ?" He anfwered, " To anoint the eyes of the fcarlet whore " with eye-falve, that (he might fee her " wickednefs." They afked, " Who he " meant by the fcarlet whore? " He anfwered, " Who elfe could he mean, but her who " fitteth upon feven mountains, who hath " feduced the kings of the earth to com- " mit fornication, and who hath gotten " drunk 32 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND " drunk with the blood of the faints, and " the hlood of the martyrs?" Many other queftions were aiked, and fuch provoking anfwers returned, that fome fufpecled the man affected madnefs, that he might give vent to his rancour and petulance with impunity ; and they were for condemning him to the gallies, that he might be taught more fenfe, and better manners. But when they communicated their fentiments to Clement the Fourteenth, he laid, with great good humour, " That he never had heard " of any body whofe understanding, or " politeneis, had been much improved at " that fchool ; that although the poor " man's firft addrefs had been a little rough " and abrupt, yet he could not help con- " fidering himfelf as obliged to him for " his good intentions, and for his under- " taking fuch a long journey with a view " to do good.'' He afterwards gave or- ders to treat the man with gentlenefg while he remained in confinement, and 3 to MANNERS IN ITALY. 33 to put him on board the firft (hip bound from Civita Vecchia to England, defraying the expence of his paflage. However humane and reafonable this conduct may be thought by many, there were people who condemned it as an injudicious piece of lenity, which might have a tendency to fmk the dignity of the facred office, arid expofe it to future infults. If fuch beha- viour as this did not pafs without blame, it may be eafily fuppofed, that few of the Jate Pope's actions efcaped uncenfured and many who loved the eafy amiable difpofitions of the man, were of opinion, that the fpirit of the times required a dif- ferent character on the Papal throne. This idea prevailed among the Cardinals at the late election, and the Conclave is fuppofed to have fixed on Cardinal Brafchi to be Pope, from the fame motive that the Roman fenate fometimes chofe a Dic- tator to reftore and enforce the ancient dif- cipline. VOL. II. D 34 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND p LETTER XLVIII. Rome. I U S the Sixth performs all the reli- gious functions of his office in the moft folemn manner ; not only on public and extraordinary occafions, but alfo in the moft common acts of devotion. I happened lately to be at St, Peter's church, when there was fcarcely any other body there; while I lounged from chapel to chapel, looking at the fculpture and paint- ings, the Pope entered with a very few at- tendants; when he came to the ftatue of St. Peter, he was not fatisfied with bow- ing, which is the ufual mark of refpect fhewn to that image ; or with kneeling, which is performed by more zealous per- fons ; or with killing the foot, which I for- merly imagined concluded the climax of de- votion ; MANNERS IN ITALY. 35 Votion ; he bowed, he knelt, he kifledthe foot, and then he rubbed his brow and his whole head with every mark of humility, fer- vour, and adoration, upon the facred fhimp. It is no more, one half of the foot having been long fince worn away by the lips of the pious ; and if the ex- ample of his Holinefs is univerfally imi- tated, nothing but a miracle can prevent the leg, thigh, and other parts from, meeting with the fame fate. This uncom- mon appearance of zeal in the Pope, is not imputed to hypocrify or to policy, but is fuppofed to proceed entirely from a con- vidHon of the efficacy of thofe holy fric- tions; an opinion which has given people a much higher idea of the ftrength of his faith, than of his understanding. This being jubilee year, he may poffibly think a greater appearance of devotion neceflary now, than at any other time. The firft jubilee was inftituted by Boniface the Eighth, in the year 1300. Many cere- D 2 monies 36 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND monies and inftitutions of the Roman Catholic church are founded on thofe of the old Heathens. This is evidently an imitation of the Roman fecular games, which were exhibited every hundredth year in honour of the gods*; they laded three days and three nights; they were attended with great pomp, and drew vaft numbers of people to Rome, from all parts of Italy, and the moft diftant provinces. Boniface, recollecting this, determined to inftitute fomething analagous, which would immortalize his own name, and promote the intereft of the Roman Ca- tholic religion in general, and that of the city of Rome in particular. He embraced the favourable opportunity which the be- ginning of a century prefented ; he invent- ed a few extraordinary ceremonies, and declared the year 1300 the firft jubilee * The Carmen Seculare of Horace was compofed on occafion of thofe celebrated by Auguftus in the year of Rome 736. year, 37 year, during which he allured mankind, that heaven would be in a particular manner propitious, in granting indulgences, and remiffion of fins, to all who (hould come to Rome, and attend the functions there to be performed, at this fortunate period, which was not to occur again for a hun- dred years. This drew a great concourfe of wealthy fmners to Rome; and the ex^- traordinary circulation of money it occa- fioned, was ftrongly felt all over the Pope's dominions. Clement the Sixth, regretting that thefe advantages fhould occur fo fel- dom, abridged the period, and declared there would be a jubilee every fifty years; the fecond was accordingly celebrated in the year 1350. Sixtus the Fifth, imagin- ing that the interval was ftill too long, once more retrenched the half; and ever fince there has been a jubilee every twenty- fifth year*. It is not likely that any fu- * To this laft abridgement I am indebted for having feen. the ceremonies and procellions on the termination cf this facred year. D 3 ture 38 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ture Pope will think of fhortening this period ; if any alteration were again to take place, it moft probably would be, to reftore the ancient period of fifty or a hundred years; for, inftead of the wealthy pilgrims who flocked to Rome from every quarter of Chriftendom, ninety-nine in a hundred of thofe who come now, are fup- ported by alms during their journey, or are barely able to defray their own ex- pences by the ftricteft (Economy; and his. Holinefs is fuppofed at prefent to derive no other advantage from the uncommon fa- tigue he is obliged to go through on the jubilee year, except the fatisfaclion he feels, in reflecting on the benefit his la- bours confer on the fouls of the beggars, and other travellers, who refort from all corners of Italy to Rome, on this bleiTed occafion. The States which border on the Pope's dominions, fuffer many tem- poral inconvenicncics from the zeal of the peafants MANNERS IN ITALY. 39 peafants and manufacturers, the greater part of whom ftill make a point of vifit- ing St. Peter's on the jubilee year; the lofs fuftained by the countries which fuch emigrants abandon, is not balanced by any advantage transferred to that to which they refort ; the good arifing on the whole, being entirely of a fpiritual nature. By far the greater number of pilgrims come from the kingdom of Naples, whofe in- habitants are faid to be of a very devout and very amorous difpofition. The firft prompts them to go to R.ome in fearch of that abfolution which the fecond renders neceflary; and on the year of jubilee, when indulgences are to be had at an eafier rate than at any other time, thofe who can afford it generally carry away fuch a flock, as not only is fufficient to clear old fcores, but will alfo ferve as an indemnifying fund for future tranf- greffions. D 4 There i 4 o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND There is one door into the church of St. Peter's, which is called the Holy Door. This is always walled up, except on this diftinguiihed year; and even then no per- Ibn is permitted to enter by it, but in the humbled pofture. The pilgrims, and many others, prefer crawling into the church upon their knees, by this door ; to walking in, the ufual way, by any other. I was prefent at the (hutting up of this Koly Door. The Pope being feated on a raifed feat, or kind of throne, furrounded by Cardinals and other ecclefiaflics, an anthem was fung, accompanied by all forts of mu- fical inftruments. During the perform- ance, his Holinefs defcended from the throne, with a golden trowel in his hand, placed the firft brick, and applied fome mortar ; he then returned to his feat, and the door was inftantly built up by more expert, though lefs hallowed, workmen ; and will remain as it is now, till the be- ginning MANNERS IN ITALY. 4.1 ginning of the nineteenth century, when it will be again opened, by the Pope then in being, with ihe fame folemnity that it has been now fliut. Though his Holinefs places but a fingle brick, yet it is very re- markable that this never fails to communi- cate its influence, in fuch a rapid and powerful manner, that, within about an hour, or at moft an hour and a half, all the other bricks, which form the wall of the Holy Door, acquire an equal degree of fandtity with that placed by the Pope's own hands. The common people and pilgrims are well acquainted with this wonderful effect. At the beginning of this Jubilee- year, when the late wall was thrown down, men, women, and children fcrambled and fought for the fragments of the bricks and mortar, with the fame eagernefs which lefs enlightened mobs difplay, on days of pub- lic rejoicing, when handfuls of money are thrown among them. I have been often aflured that thofe pieces of brick, befides their their fanctity, have alfo the virtue of curing many of the moft obftinate difeafes : and, if newfpapers were permitted at Rome, there is not the leaft reafon to doubt, that thofc cures would be attefted publicly by the pa- tients, in a manner as fatisfactory and convincing as are the cures performed daily by the pills, powders, drops, and balfams advertifed in the London newf- papers. After the (hutting of the Holy Door, mafs was celebrated at midnight; and the ceremony was attended by vaft multitudes of people. For my own part, I fufpended my curiofity till next day, which was Chriftmas-day, when I returned again to St. Peter's church, and faw the Pope perform mafs on that folemn occafion. His Holinefs went through all the evolu- tions of the ceremony with an addrefs and flexibility of body, which are rarely to be found in thofe who wear the tiara ; who are, generally fpeaking, men bowing under the load of years and infirmities. His prefent MANNERS IN ITALY. 43 prefent Holinefs has hitherto fuffered from neither. His features are regular, and he has a fine countenance; his perfon is ftraight, and his movements graceful. His leg and foot are remarkably well made, and always ornamented with filk ftockings, and red flippers, of the moft delkate con- ftruclion. Notwithftanding that the papal uniforms are by no mean* calculated to fet off the perfon to the greateft advantage, yet the peculiar neatnefs with which they are put on, and the nice adjuftment of their moft minute parts, fumciently prove that his prefent Holinefs is not infenfible of the charms of his perfon, or unfolicitous about his external ornaments. Though verging towards the winter of life, his cheeks ftill glow with autumnal rofes, which, at a little diftance, appear as blooming asthofeof the fpring. If he himfelf were lefs clear- fighted than he feems to be, to the beauties of his face and perfon, he could not alfo Ipe deaf to the voices of the women, who break 44. VIEW OF SOCIETY AND break out into exclamations, in praife of both, as often as he appears in public. On a public occafion, lately, as he was carried through a particular ftreet, a young woman at a window exclaimed, " Quanto e bello ! " O quanto e bello !" and was immediately anfwered by a zealous old lady at the win- dow oppofite, who, folding her hands in each other, and raifmg her eyes to heaven, cried out, with a mixture of love for his perfon, and veneration for his facred office, *' Tanto e bello, quanto e fanto !" When we know that fuch a quantity of incenfe is daily burnt under his facred noftrils, we ought not to be aftonifhed, though we Ihould find his brain, on fome occafions, a little intoxicated. Vanity is a very comfortable failing; and has fuch an univerfal power over mankind, that not only the gay blofTbms of youth, but even the (hrivelled bofom of age, and the contra&ed heart of bigotry, open, MANNERS IN ITALY. 45 open, expand, and difplay ftrong marks of fenfibility under its influence. After mafs, the Pope gave the be- nediction to the people aflembled in the Grand Court, before the church of St. Peter's. It was a remarkably fine day ; an immenfe multitude filled that fpa- cious and magnificent area ; the horfe and foot guards were drawn up in their mod fhowy uniform. The Pope, feated in an open, portable chair, in all the fplendour which his wardrobe could give, with the tiara on his head, was carried out of a large window, which opens on a balcony in the front of St. Peter's. The filk hangings and gold trappings with which the chair was em- bellifhed, concealed the men who carried it; fo that to thofe who viewed him from the area below, his Holinefs feemed to fail forward, from the window felf-balanced in the air, like a celeftial being. The inftant he appear- ed, the mufic ftruck up, the bells rung from every 46 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND every church, and the cannon thundered from the caftle of St. Angelo in repeated peals. During the intervals, the church of St. Peter's, the palace of the Vatican, and the banks of the Tiber, re-echoed the ac- clamations of the populace. At length his Holinefs arofe from his feat, and an imme- diate and awful filence enfued. The mul- titude fell upon their knees, with their hands and eyes raifed towards his Holinefs, as to a benign Deity. After a folemn paufe, he pronounced the benedi&ionj with great fervour ; elevating his outftretch- ed arms as high as he could ; then clofing them together, and bringing them back tci his breaft with a flow motion, as if he had got hold of the bleffing, and was drawing it gently from heaven. Finally, he threw his arms open, waving them for fome time, as if his intention had been to fcatter the benediction with impartiality among the people. No MANNERS IN ITALY. 47 No ceremony can be better calculated for ftriking the fenfes, and impofmg on the underftanding, than this of the Supreme Pontiff giving the bleffing from the balcony of St. Peter's. For my own part, if I had not, in my early youth, received impref- fions highly unfavourable to the chief actor in this magnificent interlude, I fhould have been in danger of paying him a degree of refpecl, very inconfiftent with the religion in which I was educated. 48 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND LETTER XLIX. Rome. T N my laft, I informed you of my having been feduced almoft into idolatry, by the influence of example, and the pomp \vhich furrounded the idol. I muft now confefs that I have actually bowed the knee to Baal, from mere wantonnefs. We are told that, to draw near to that Being, who ought to be the only object of worfhip, with our Jips, while our hearts are far from him, is a mockery. Such daring and abfurd hypocrify I fhall always avoid : but to have drawn near to him, who ought not to be an object of worfhip, with the lips only, while the heart continued at a diftance, I hope will be confidered as no- more than a venial tranfgrcflion. In fhort, I truft, MANNERS IN ITALY. 49 I trull, that it Will not be looked on as a mortal fin in Proteftants to have kifled the Pope's toe. If it mould) fome of your friends are in a deplorable way, as you mall hear. It is ufual for ftrangers to be pre- fented to his Holinefs, before they leave Rome. The D of H , Mr. K , and myfelf, have all been at the Vatican to- gether, upon that important bufinefs. Your young acquaintance Jack, who, having now got a commiffion in the army, confi- ders himfelf no longer as a boy, defired to accompany us. We went under the aufpices of a certain ecclefiaftic, who ufually attends the Englifh on fuch occafions. He very naturally concluded, that it would be moft agreeable to us to have the circumftance of kiffing the flipper difpenfed with. Having had fome converfation, therefore, with his Holinefs, in his own apartment, while we remained in another room, previous to our introduction ; he VOL. II. E afterwards 50 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND afterwards returned, and informed us, that the Pontiff, indulgent to the prejudices of the Britifh nation, did not infift on that part of the ceremonial ; and therefore a very low bow, on our being prefented, was all that would be required of us. A bow ! cried the D of H ; I (hould hot have given myfelf any trouble about the matter, had I fufpecled that all was to end in a bow. I look on kiffing the toe as the only amufing circumftance of the whole ; if that is to be omitted, I will not be introduced at all. For if the moft ludi- crous part is left out, who would wait for the reft of a farce ? This was a thunderftroke to our nego- ciator, who ex peeled thanks, at leaft, for the honourable terms he had obtained ; but who, on the contrary, found himfelf in the fame difagreeable predicament with other negotiators, who have met with abufe and reproach MANNERS IN ITALY. 5 r reproach from their countrymen, on ac- count of treaties Tor which they expected univerfal applaufe. The D of H knew nothing of the treaty which our introducer had juft concluded ; otherwife he would certainly have prevented the negociation. As I perceived, however, that our ambafTador was mortified with the thoughts that all his labour fhould prove abortive, I faid, that, although he had prevailed with his Holinefs to wave that part of the ceremo- nial, which his Grace thought fo entertain- ing, yet it would unqueftionably be ftill more agreeable to him that the whole ftiould be performed to its utmoft extent : this new arrangement, therefore, needed not be an obftruction to our being pre- fented. The countenance of our Conductor brightened up at this propofal. He im- E 2 mediately 52 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND mediately umercd us into the prefence of the Supreme Pontiff. We all bowed to the ground ; the fuppleft of the company had the happinefs to touch the facred flipper with their lips, and the lead agile were within a few inches of that honour. As this was more than had been bargained for, his Holinefs feemed agreeably fur- prifed ; railed the D with a fmiling countenance, and converfed with him in an obliging manner, afking the common queftions, How long he had been in Italy? Whether he found Rome agreeable ? When he intended to fet out for Naples ? He faid fomething of the fame kind to each of the company; and, after about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, we took our leave. Next day, his Holinefs fent his compli- ments to the D , with a prefent of two medals, one of gold, and the other of filver; on both of which the head of MANNERS IN ITALY. 53 of the Pontiff is very accurately en- graved. The manner in which the generality of fovereign princes pafs their time, is as far from being amufing or agreeable, as one can poflibly imagine. Slaves to the tire- fome routine of etiquette ; martyrs to the oppreffive fatigue of pomp ; conftrained to walk every levee-day around the fame dull circle, to gratify the vanity of fifty or a hundred people, by whifpering a fomething or a nothing into the ears of each ; ob- liged to wear a fmiling countenance, even when the heart is opprefled with fadnefs ; befieged by the craving faces of thofe, who are more difpleafed at what is with- held, than grateful for the favours they have received ; furrounded, as he con- ftantly is, by adepts in the art of fimula- tion, all profeffing the higheft poffible re- gard; how fhall the puzzled monarch dif- tinguilh real from aflumed attachment ? E 3 and 54 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND and what a rifk does he run, of placing his confidence where he ought to have directed his indignation ! And, to all thefe incon- veniencies, when we add this, that he is precluded from thofe delightful fenfations which fpring from difinterefted friendfhip, fweet equality, and the gay, carelefs en- joyments of focial life, we muft acknow- ledge, that all that is brilliant in the con- dition of a fovereign, is not fufficient tq compenfate for fuch reftraints, fuch dan- gers, and fuch deprivations. So far indeed are we from confidering that envied condition as enviable, that great part of mankind are more apt to think it infuppoi table ; and are furprifed to find, that thofe unhappy men, whom fate has condemned to fuffer the pains of royalty for life, are able to wait with pa- tience for the natural period of their days. For, ftrange as it may appear, hiftory does not furniih us with an inftance, not even in MANNERS IN ITALY. 55 in Great Britain itfelf, of a king, who hanged, or drowned, or put himfelf to death in any other violent manner, from mere tedium, as other mortals, difgufted with life, are apt to do. I was at a Ipfs to account for fuch an extraordinary fact, till I recollected that, however void of re- fources and activity the minds of mo- narchs may be, they are feldom allow- ed to reft in repofe. The ftorms to which people in their lofty fituation are expofed, occafion fuch agitations as prevent the ftagnating flime of tsedium from ga- thering on their minds. That kings do not commit fuicide, therefore, affords only a very flender prefumption of the happi- neis of their condition : although it is a ftrong proof, that all the hurricanes of life are not fo infupportable to the human mind, as that infipid, fearlefs, hopelefs calm, which envelopes men who are devoid of mental enjoyments, and whofe fenfes are palled with fatiety. If there is any truth in the above reprefentation of the re- E 4 gal 36 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND gal condition, would not you imagine that of all others it would be the moft {hunned? Would not you imagine that every human being would fhrink from it, as from cer- tain mifery ; and that at leaft every wife man would fay, with the Poet, I envy none their pageantry and fhow, I envy none the gilding of their woe ? Not only every wife man, but every foolifh man, will adopt the fentiment, and act accordingly ; provided his rank in life re- moves him from the poflibility of ever at- taining the objects in queftion. For what is fituated beyond the fphere of our hopes, very feldom excites our defires ; but bring the powerful magnets a little nearer, and they attract the human paHions with a force which reafon and philofophy cannot controul. Placed within their reach, the wife and the foolilh grafp with equal eager- nefs at crowns and fceptres, in fpite of all the thorns with which they are furrounded. Their alluring magic feems to have the power MANNERS IN ITALY. 57 power of changing the very characters and natures of men. In purfuit of them, the indolent have been excited to the moft active exertions, the voluptuous have re- nounced their darling pleafures, j and even thofe who have long walked in the direct road of integrity, have deviated into all the crooked paths of villany and fraud. There are paffions, whofe indulgence is fo exceedingly flattering to the natural vanity of men, that they will gratify them, though perfuaded that the gratification will be attended by difappointment and mifery. The love of power and fove- reignty is of this clafs. It has been a ge- neral belief, ever fmce the kingly office was eftablifhed among men, that cares and anxiety were the conftant attendants of royalty. Yet this general conviction neyer made a fingle perfon decline an op- portunity of embarking on this fea of troubles. Every new adventurer flatters himfelf 5 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND himfelf that he fhall be guided by fome happy flar undifcovered by former navi- gators ; and thofe who, after trial, have rc- linquifhed the voyage Charles, Chriftina, Amadeus, and others when they had quitted the helm, and were fafely arrived in port, are faid to have languifhed, all the reft of their lives, for that fituation which their own experience taught them was fraught with mifery. Henry the Fourth of England did not arrive at the throne by the natural and di- rect road. Shakefpear puts the following Addrefs to Sleep, into the mouth of this monarch : O Sleep ! O gentle Sleep! Nature's foft nurfe, how have 1 frighted thee, That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down, And fteep my fenfes in forgetfulnefs ? ' "Why rarher, Sleep, lieft thou in fmoky cribs, Upon uneafy pallets ftretching thee, And MANNERS IN ITALY. 59 And hufh'd with bufy night-flies to thy flumber ; Than in the perfum'd chambers of the Great, Under the canopies of coftly (late, And lull'd with founds of fweeteft melody ? O thou dull God ! why ly'ft thou with the vile Jn loathfome beds ; and leav'ft the kingly couch ? A watch-cafe, or a common 'larum bell ? "Wilt thou, upon the high and giddy maft, Seal up the fhip-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious furge; And in the vifitation of the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monftrous heads, and hanging them With deaf'ning clamours in the flipp'ry fhrouds, Canft thou, O partial Sleep ! give thy repofe To the wet fea-boy in an hour fo rude; And, in .the calmeft and moft ftilleft night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a King ? However eager and impatient this Prince niay have formerly been to obtain the 8 crown. 60 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND crown, you would conclude that he was quite cloyed by poffeffion at the time he made this fpeech ; and therefore, at firft fight, you would not expect that he fhould after- wards difplay any exceffive attachment to what gives him fo much uneafmefs. But Shakefpear, who knew the fecret wifhes, perverfe defires, and ftrange inconfift- encies of the human heart, better than man ever knew them, makes this very Henry fo tenacioufly fond of that which he himfelf confidered as the eaufe of all his inquietude, that he cannot bear to have the crown one moment out of his fight, but orders it to be placed on his pillow when he lies on his death-bed. Of all diadems, the Tiara, in my opi- nion, has the feweft charms ; and nothing can afford a ftronger proof of the flrength and perfeverance of man's paflion for fo- vereign power, than our knowledge, that even this ecclefiaftical crown is fought af- ter MANNERS IN ITALY. 61 ter with as much eagernefs, perhaps with more, than any other crown in the world, although the candidates are generally in the decline of life, and all of a profeffion which avows the moft perfect contempt of worldly grandeur. This appears the more wonderful when we reflect, that, over and above thofe fources of wearinefs and vex- ation, which the Pope has in common with other fovereigns, he has fome which are peculiar to himfelf. The tirefome re- ligious functions which he muft perform, the ungenial folitude of his meals, the ex- clufion of the company and converfation of women, reftriction from the tendered and moft delightful connexions in life, from the endearments of a parent, and the open acknowledgment of his own chil- dren j his mind opprefled with the gloomy reflection, that the man for whom he has the leaft regard, perhaps his greateft ene- my, may be his immediate fucceflbr; to which is added, the pain of feeing his influence, 62 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND influence, both fpiritual and temporal, de- clining every day; and the mortification of knowing, that all his ancient lofty pre- tenfions are laughed at by one half of the Roman Catholics, all the Proteflants, and totally difregarded by the reft of mankind. I know of nothing which can be put in the other fcale to balance all thofe peculiar difadvantages which his Holinefs labours under, unlefs it is the fmgular felicity which he lawfully may, and no doubt does enjoy, in the contemplation of his own infallibility. MANNERS IN ITALY. LETTER L. Rome. IN their external deportment, the Italians have a grave folemnity of manner, which is fometimes thought to arife from a natural gloominefs of difpofition. The French, above all other nations, are apt to impute to melancholy, the fedate ferious air which accompanies reflection. Though in the pulpit, on the theatre, and even in common converfation, the Italians make ufe of a great deal of adion ; yet Italian vivacity is different from French; the former proceeds from fenfibility, the latter from animal fpirits. The inhabitants of this country have not the brifk look, and elaftic trip, which is $4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND is univerfal in France; they move rather with a flow com po fed pace : their fpinea never having been forced into a ftraight line, retain the natural bend; and the peo- ple of the moft finifhed fafhion, as well as the neglected vulgar, feem to prefer the unconftrained attitude of the Antinous, and other antique ftatues, to the artificial graces of a French dancing-mafter, or the erect ftrut of a German foldier. I ima- gine I perceive a great refemblance between many of the living countenances I fee daily, and the features of the ancient bufts and ftatues ; which leads me to be- lieve, that there are a greater number of the genuine defcendants of the old Ro- mans in Italy, than is generally imagined. I am often ftruck with the fine character of countenance to be feen in the ftreets of Rome. I never faw features more exprefiive of reflection, fenfe, and genius; in the very loweft ranks there are countenances 4 which MANNERS IN ITALY. $ which announce minds fit for the higheft and moft important fitnations ; and we can* not help regretting, that thofe to whom they belong, have not received an edu- cation adequate to the natural abilities we are convinced they pofTefs, and placed where thefe abilities could be brought into action. OF all the countries in Europe, Swit- zerland is that in which the beauties of nature appear in the greateft variety of forms, and on the ifcoft magnificent fcale; in that country, therefore, the young landfcape painter has the beft chance o feizing the mofl fublime ideas : but Italy is the beft fchool for the hiftory painter, not only on account of its being enriched with the works of the greateft mafters, and the nobleft models of antique fculp- ture ; but alfo on account of the fine ex-* preffive ftyle,of the Italian countenance* Here you have few or none of thofe fair, VOL. II. F fat, 66 VIEW OF SOCIETY AKD fat, gliftening, unmeaning faces, fo com- mon in the more northern parts of Eu- rope. I happened once to fit by a fo- reigner of my acquaintance at the Opera in the Hay-market, when a certain Noble- man, who at that time was a good deal talked of, entered. I whifpercd him " That is Lord .'' " Not furely the " famous Lord ," faid he. " Yes," faid I, " the very fame.'* which record the laft fainting efforts of Chatham ; the expiring triumph of Wolf; or the in- decifion of Garrick, equally allured by the two contending Mufes ! But let them pe- rifli and fly from the canvas, which blind felf-love fpreads for infipidity and ugli- nefs ! Why mould pofterity know, that the firft genius of the age, and thofe whofe pencils were formed to fpeak to the heart, and delineate beauteous Nature, were chief- ly employed in copying faces ? and many of them, faces that imitate humanity fo abominably, that, to ufe Hamlet's expref- fion, they feem not the genuine work of Nature, but of Nature's journeymen. To this ridiculous felf-love, equally pre- valent among the great vulgar and fmall, fome ?6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fome of the befl painters in France, Ger-i many, and Great Britain, are obliged for their fubfiftence. This creates a fufpicion, that a tafte for the real beauties of painting, is not quite fo univerfal, as a fenfibility to their own perfonal beauties, among the individuals of thefe countries. And no- thing can be a ftronger proof of the im- portant light in which men appear in their own eyes, and their fmall importance in, thofe of others, than the different treat-, ment which the generality of portraits re- ceive, during the life, and after the death, of their conflituents. During the firft of thefe periods, they inhabit the fineft apart- ments of the houfes to which they belong -, they are flattered by the guefts, and always viewed with an eye of complacency by the landlord. But, after the commencement of the fecond, they begin to be neglected ; in a mort time are ignominioufly thruft up to the garret ; and, to fill up the meafurc of their affliction, they finally are thrown out of doors, in the moft barbarous man^ * ner, MANNERS IN ITALY. 77 ner, without diftinction of rank, age, or fex. Thofe of former times are fcattered, like Jews, with their long beards and brown complexions, all over the face of the earth ; and, even of the prefent centu- ry, Barons of the moft ancient families, armed cap-a-pee, are to be purchafed for two or three ducats, in moft of the towns of Germany. French Marqtiifes, in full fuits of embroidered velvet, may be had at Paris fllll cheaper ; and many worfliipful citizens of London are to be feen dangling on the walls of an auction-room, when they are fcarce cold in their graves. 78 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND LETTER LI. Rome THERE are no theatrical entertain- ments permitted in this city, except during the Carnival ; but they are then attended with a degree of ardour unknown in capitals whofe inhabitants are under no fuch reftraint. Every kind of amufement, indeed, in this gay feafon, is followed with the greateft eagernefs. The na- tural gravity of the Roman citizens is changed into a mirthful vivacity ; and the ferious, fombre city of Rome ex- ceeds Paris itfelf in fprightlinefs and gaie- ty. This fpirit feems gradually to aug- ment, from its commencement ; and is at its height in the laft week of the fix which comprehend the Carnival. The citizens then appear in the ilreets, mafked, in the MANNERS IN ITALY. 79 the characters of Harlequins, Pantaloons, Punchinellos, an,d all the fantaftic variety of a mafquerade. This humour fpreads to men, women, and children ; defends to the loweft ranks, and becomes univerfal. Even thofe who put on no mafk, and have no defire to remain unknown, reject their ufual clothes, and aflame fome whimfical drefs. The coachmen, who are placed in a more confpicuous point of view than others of the fame rank in life, and who are perfectly known by the carnages they drive, generally affect fome ridiculous dif- guife : Many of them chufe a woman's drefs, and have their faces painted, and ad- orned with patches. However dull thefe fellows may be, when in breeches, they are, in petticoats, confidered'as the plea- fanteft men in the world ; and excite much laughter in every ftreet in which they ap- pear. I obferved to an Italian of my ac- quaintance, that, coniidering the ftalenefs of the joke, I was furprifed at the mirth it 2 feemed 80 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND feemed to raife. " When a whole city,'* anfwered he, " are fefolved to be merry " for a week together, it is exceedingly " convenient to have a few . eliablifhed " jokes ready made j the young laugh at " the novelty, and the old from prefcrip- " tion. This metamorphofis of the coach* " men is certainly not the moft refined tl kind of wit ; however, it is more harm- " lefs than the burning of heretics, which " formerly was a great fource of amufe- " ment to our populace*" The ftreet, called the Corfo, is the great fcene of thefe mafquerades. It is crowded every night with people of all conditions : Thofe of rank come in coaches, or in open carriages, made on purpofe. A kind of civil war is carried on by the company, as they pafs each other. The greateft mark of attention you can fhew your friends and acquaintance, is, to throw a handful of little white balls, refembling fugar-plums, full MANNERS IN ITALY. 8r full in their faces ; and, if they are not deficient in politenefs, they will inftantly return you the compliment. All who wifli to make a figure in the Gorfo, come well fupplied in this kind of ammunition. Sometimes two or three open carriages, on a fide, with five or fix perfons of both fexes in each, draw up oppofite to each other, and fight a pitched battle. On thefe occafions, the combatants are provided with whole bags full of the fmall fhot above mentioned, which they throw at each other, with much apparent fury, till their ammunition is exhaufted, and the field of battle is as white as fnow. The peculiar drefles of every nation of the globe, and of every profefficn, beudes all the fantaftic characters ufual at mafque- rades, are to be feen on the Corfo. Thofe of Harlequin and Pantaloon are in great vogue among the men. The citizens wives and daughters generally affect the VOL. II. G pomp 82 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND pomp of women of quality ; while therr brothers, or other relations, appear as train-bearers and attendants. In general, they feem to delight in characters the moft remote from their own. Young people afl'ume the long beard, tottering ftep, and other concomitants of old age ; the aged chufe the bib and rattle of childhood ; and the women of quality, and women of the town, appear in the characters of country maidens, nuns, and veftal virgins. All endeavour to fupport the aflumed cha- racters, to the beft of their ability ; but none, in my opinion, fucceed fo- well as thofe who reprefcnt children. Towards the dufk of the evening, the horfe-race takes place. As foon as this is announced, the coaches, cabriolets, tri- Hmphal cars, and carriages of every kind, are drawn up, and line the ftreet; leaving afpace in the middle for the racers to pafs. Thefe are five or fix horfes, trained on purpofe MANNERS IN ITALY. 83 JMirpofe for this diverfion ; they are drawn up a-breaft in the Piazza del Popolo, ex- actly where the Corfo begins. Certain balls, with little {harp fpikes, are hung along their fides, which ferve to fpur them on. As foon as they begin to run, thofe animals, by their impatience to be gone, {hew that they underftand what is required of them, and that they take as much plea- fure as the fpectators in the fport. A broad piece of canvas, fpread acrofs the entrance of the ftreet, prevents them from ftarting too foon : the dropping that canvas is the fignal for the race to begin. The horfes fly off together, and, without riders, exert themfelves to the utmoft ; impelled by emulation, the {houts of the populace, and the fpurs above mentioned. They run the whole length of the Corfo ; and the proprietor of the victor is rewarded by a certain quantity of fine fcarlet or purple cloth, which is always furniftied by the Jews. G 2 This 84 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND This diverfion, fuch as it is, feems highly entertaining to the Roman popu- lace ; though it appears a mighty foolifli bufmefs in the eyes of Englishmen. An acquaintance of mine, who had entirely ruined a fine fortune at Newmarket, told me, that Italian horfe-races were the moil abfurd things in the world ; that there were not a hundred guineas loft or won during a whole Carnival ; and nothing could be a greater proof of the folly of the people, than their fpending their time in fuch a filly manner. Mafking and horfe-races are confined to the laft eight days ; but there are theatri- cal entertainments, of various kinds, du- ring the whole fix weeks of the Carnival. The Serious Opera is moft frequented by people of fafliion, who generally take boxes for the whole feafon. The opera, with which this theatre opened, was received with the higheft applau'e, though the MANNERS IN ITALY. 85 mufic only was new. The Italians do not think it always neceflary to compofe new words for what is called a new opera; they often fatisfy themfelves with new mufic to the affecting dramas of Metafta- fio. The audience here feem to lend a more profound and continued attention to the mufic, than at Venice. This is probably owing to the entertainment being a greater rarity in the one city than in the other; for I could perceive that the people of fa(hion, who came every night, began, after the opera had been repeated feveral nights, to abate in their attention, to re- ceive vifitors in their boxes, and to liften only when fome favourite airs were fing- ing : whereas the audience in the pit uni- formly preferve the moft perfect filence, which is only interrupted by gentle mur- murs of pleafure from a few individuals, or an univerfal burft of appiaufe from the whole aflembly. I never faw fuch genuine marks of fatisfaction difplayed by any af- G 3 fembly, 86 VIEW OF SOCIETY ANG fembly, on any occafion whatever. The fenfibility of fome of the audience gave me 341 idea of the power of founds, which the dulnefs of my own auditory nerves could never have conveyed to my mind. At cer- tain airs, filent enjoyment was exprcfTed in every countenance ; at others, the hands were clafped together, the eyes half {hut, and the breath drawn in, with a prolonged figh, as if the foul was expiring in a tor- rent of delight. One young woman, in the pit, called out, " O Dio, dove fono ! " che piacer via caccia Talma ?" On the firft night of the opera, after one of thefe favourite airs, an univerfal ihout of applaufe took place, intermingle4 with demands that the compofer of the mufic fhould appear. II Maeftro ! il Ma- eftro ! refotmded from every corner of the houfe. He was prefent, and led the band! of mufic; he was obliged to ftand upon the bench, where he continued, bowing to ths MANNERS IN ITALY. 87 the fpectators, till they were tired of ap- plauding him. One perfon, in the middle of the pit, whom I had remarked difplay- ing great figns of fatisfadion from the be- ginning of the performance, cried out, " He deferves to be made chief muiician <{ to the Virgin, and to lead a choir of " angels!" This expreffion would be thought ftrong, in any country ; but it has peculiar energy here, where it is a popular opinion, that the Virgin Mary is very fond, and an excellent judge, of mufic. I re- ceived this information on Chriftmas morn- ing, when I was looking at two poor Ca* labrian pipers doing their utmoft to pleafe her, and the Infant in her arms. They played for a full hour to one of her images which {lands at the corner of a ftreet. All the other ftatues of the Virgin, which are placed in the ftreets, are ferenaded in the fame manner every Chriftmas morning. On my enquiring into the meaning of that ceremony, I was told the above-mentioned G circumftance 88 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND clrcumftance of her character, which, though you may have always thought highly probable, perhaps you never be- fore knew for certain. My informer was a pilgrim, who flood liftening with great devotion to the pipers. He told me, at the fame time, that the Virgin's tafle was too refined to have much fatisfaclion in the performance of thofe poor Calabrians, which was chiefly intended for the Infant; and he dcfired me to remark, that the tunes were plain, fimple, and fuch as might naturally be fuppofed agreeable to the ear of a child of his time of life. Though the ferious opera is in higheft eftimation, and more regularly attended by people of the firft fafhion; yet the opera buffas, or burlettas, are not en- tirely neglected, even by them, and are crowded, every night, by the middle and lower chiles. Some admired fingers have performed there during the Carnival, an$ the MANNERS IN ITALY. 89 the mufical compofers have rendered them highly pleafmg to the general tafte. The ferious and burlefque operas pre- vail infinitely over the other theatrical en- tertainments at Rome, in fpite of the united efforts of Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Punchinello. The prohibition of female performers renders the amufement of the Roman theatre very infipid, in the opinion of fome unrefined Englishmen of your ac- quaintance who are here. In my own poor opinion, the natural fweetnefs of the female voice is ill fupplied by the arti- ficial trills of wretched caftratos ; and the aukward agility of robuft finewy fellows dreiTed in women's clothes, is a mod deplora- ble fubftitution for the graceful movements of elegant female dancers. Is not the horrid practice which is encouraged by this man- ner of fupplying the place of female finders, 90 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fingers, a greater outrage on religion and morality, than can be produced by the evils which their prohibition is intended to prevent ? Is it poffible to believe, that purity of fentiment will be preferved by producing eunuchs on the ftage? I mould fear it would have a different effect At the funeral of Junia, the wife of Caflius, and fifter of Brutus, the ftatues of all the great perfons connected with her family by blood or alliance, were carried in pro- ceffion, except thofe of her brother and hufband. This deficiency ftruck the people more than any part of the proceflion, and brought the two illuftrious Romans into their minds with more force than if their ftatues had been carried with the others. > Prsefulgebant Caflius atque Brutus, fays Tacitus, eo ipfo, quod effigies eorum nou yifebantur. MANNERS IN ITALY. 9? LETTER LIL Naples. Y TAKE the firft opportunity of in- A forming you of our arrival .in this city. Some of the principal objects which occurred on the road, with the fentiments they fuggefted to my mind, {hall form the fubject of this letter. It is almoft impoflible to go out of the walls of Rome, without being impreffed with melancholic ideas. Having left that city by St. John de Lateran's gate, we foon entered a fpacious plain, and drove for feveral miles in fight of fepulchral monu- nttnts and the ruins of ancient aqueducts. Sixtus the Fifth repaired one of them, to taring water into that part of Rome where Dioclefian's 92 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND Diocletian's baths formerly flood : this water is now called aquafdics y from Felix, the name of that pontiff, while he was only a Cordelier. Having changed horfes at the Torre de Mezzo Via, fo called from an old tower near the poft-houfe, we pro- ceeded through a filent, deferted, unwhole- fome country. We fcarce met a paflenger between Rome and Marino, a little town about twelve miles from the former, which has its name from Caius Marius, who had a villa there; it now belongs to the Co- lonna family. While frefh horfes were harneiTing, we vifited two churches, to fee two pictures which we had heard com- mended; the fubject of one is as difagree- able, as that of the other is difficult to execute. The connoifleur who directed us to thefe pieces, told me, that the firft, the flaying of St. Bartholomew, by Guercino, is in a great ftyle, finely coloured, and the muftles convulfed with pain in the fweeteft manner imaginable; he could have gazed at MANNERS IN ITALY. 93 at it for ever. tl As for the other,'* added he " which reprefents the Trinity, it is na- " tural, well grouped, and eafily under- " flood; and that is all that can be faid for it." From Marino, the road runs for feveral miles over craggy mountains. In afcending Mons Albanus, we were charmed with a fine view of the country towards the fea ; Oftia, Antium, the lake Albano, and the fields adjacent. The form and component parts of this mountain plainly {hew, that it has formerly been a volcano. The lake of Nemi, which we left to the right, feems, like that of Albano, to have been formed in the cavity of a crater. i V We came next to Veletri, an incon- ficlerable town, fituated en a hill. There is one palace here, with fpacious gardens, which, when kept in repair, may have been magnificent. The ftair-cafe, they af- I fured 9 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fured us, is ftill worthy of admiration. The inhabitants of Valetri afiert, that Auguftus was born there. Suetonius fays, he was born at Rome. It is certainly of no importance where he was born. Per- haps it would have been better for Rome, and for the world in general, that he never had been born at all. The Vale- trians are fo fond of emperors, that they claim a connection even with Tiberius and Caligula, who had villas in their neigh- bourhood; The ruins of Otho's palace are ftill to be feen about a mile from this city, at a place called Colle Ottone. Of thofe four emperors, the laft- mentioned was by much the beft worth the claiming as a countryman. As for Caligula, he was a mifchievous madman. Tiberius feems to have been born with wicked difpofitions, which he improved by art. Auguftus was naturally wicked, and artificially virtuous; and Otho feems to have been exactly the reverfe. Though educated in the moft vi- 5 cioua MANNERS IN ITALY. 95 clous of courts, and the favourite and companion of Nero, he ftill preferved, in fome degree, the original excellence of his character; and, at his death, difplayed a magnanimity of fentiment, and noble- nefs of conduct, of which the highly flattered Auguftus was never capable. " Alii diutius imperium tenuerint," fays Tacitus ; ct nemo tarn fortiter reliquerit." Convinced that, if he continued the conteft with Vitellius, all the horrors of a civil war would be prolonged, he determined to facrifice his life to the quiet of his country, and to the fafety of his friends*. " To in- *' volve you in frefh calamities," faid this generous prince to the officers who offered ftill to fupport his caufe, ** is purchafing * Hilnc animura, hanc virtutem veftram, ultra peri- culis objicere, nimis grande vita; meas pretium puto. Art ego tantum Romans pubis, tot egregios exercitus, fterni rurfus et republica eripi patiar ? Eile fuperftites, nee din moremur ; ego incolumitatem veftram, vos conftantiam meam. De nemine queror, nam inculare deos vel homi- nes, ejus eft, qui vivece velit. TACIT. Hift. lib. ii. life -"> VIEW OF SOCIETY AND " life at a price beyond whar, in my opl- " nion, is its value. Shall Roman armies *' be led againft each other, and the Roman " youth be excited to mutual (laughter, on " my account ? No ! for your fafety, and " to prevent fuch evils, I die contented. " Let me be no impediment to your treat- *' ing with the enemy ; nor do you any " longer oppofe my fixed refolution. I no treaty or convention made, for appropriating part of this at leaft, to the ufe pf fome fet of people or other. If the clergy were to lay their hands on it, this might be found fault with by the King; if his Majefty dreamt of taking any part of it for the exigencies of the ftate, the clergy would undoubtedly raife a clamour; and if both united, the Pope would think he had a right to pronounce his vote: but if all thefe three powers could come to an un- derflanding, and fettle their proportions, I am j6o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND am apt to think a partition might be made as quietly as that of Poland. Whatever fcruples the Neapolitan clergy may have to fuch a project, they cer- tainly have none to the full enjoyment of their revenues. No clafs of men can be Jefs difpofed to offend Providence by a peevifh neglect of the good things which the bounty of heaven has beftowed. Self- denial is a virtue, which I will not fay they poffefs in a fmaller degree, but which, I am fure, they affect lefs than any other ecclefiaftics 1 know; they live very much in fociety, both with the nobles and citi- zens. All of them, the monks not ex- cepted, attend the theatre, and feem to join moft cordially in other diverfions and,amufements; the common people are no ways offended at this, or imagine that they ought to live in a more reclufe man- ner. Some of the orders have had the addrefs to make a concern for their tem- poral intereft, and a defire of feeing them live MANNERS IN ITALY. 161 iive full, and in fomething of a jolly man- ner, be regarded by the common people as a proof of zeal for religion. I am in- formed, that a very confiderable diminu- tion in the number of monks has taken place in the kingdom of Naples fmce the fuppreffiou of the Jefuits, and fmce a liberty of quitting the cowl was granted by the late Pope; but ftill there is no reafon to complain of a deficiency in this order of men. The richeft and moft commodious convents in Europe, both for male and female votaries, are in this city; the mod fertile and beautiful hills of the environs are covered with them; a fmall part of their revenue is fpent in feeding the poor, the monks diftributing bread and foup to a certain number every day before the doors of the convents. Some of the friars ftudy phyfic and forgery, and pra&ife thefe arts with great applaufe. Each convent has an apothecary's (hop be- longing to it, where medicines are deli- vered gratis to the poor, and fold to thofe VOL. II. M who 162 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND \vho can afford to pay. On all thefe ac- counts the monks in general are greater favourites with the common people than even the fecular clergy; all the chanty of the friars, however, would not be able to cover their fins, if the ftories circulated by their enemies were true, by which they are reprefented as the greateft profli- gates and debauchees in the world. With- out giving credit to all that is reported oa this fubjecl:, as the Neapolitan monks are very well fed, as this climate is not the moft favourable to continency (a virtue which in this place is by no means efti- mated in proportion to its rarity), it is moft likely that the inhabitants of the convents, like the inhabitants in general, indulge in certain pleafures with lefs fcruple or reftraint than is ufual in fome other places. Be that as it may, it is cer- tain that they are the moft fuperftitious of mankind; a turn of mind which they communicate with equal zeal and fuccefs to a people remarkably ignorant, and re-? 8 mark? r bly: MANNERS IN ITALY. 163 markably amorous. The feeds of fupei> {titlon thus zealoufly fown on fuch a warm and fertile, though uncultivated, foil, fometimes produce the moft extraordinary crops of fenfuality and devotion that ever were feen in any country. The lazzaroni, or black-guards, as has been already obferved, form a con- fiderable part of the inhabitants of Na- ptes ; and have, on fonie well-known oc- cafions, had the government for a fhort time in their own hands. They are com- puted at above thirty thoufand; the greater part of them have no dwelling- houfes, but fleep every night under por- ticos, piazzas, or any kind of fhelter they can find. Thofe of them who have wives and children, live in the fuburbs of Na- ples near Paufilippo, in huts, or in ca- verns or chambers dug out of that mountain. Some gain a livelihood by fiming, others by carrying burdens to and from the fhipping; many walk about the M 2 ftreets 164 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ftreets ready to run on errands, or to form any labour in their power for a very fmall recompence. As they do not meet with conftant employment, their wages are not fufficient for their maintenance ; the foup and bread diftributed at the door of the convents fupply the deficiency. The lazza- roni are generally reprefented as a lazy, li- centious, and turbulent fet of people j what I have obferved gives me a very dif- ferent idea of their character. Their idle- nefs is evidently the effect of neceflity, not of choice; they are always ready to perform any work, however laborious, for a very reafonable gratification. It muft proceed from the fault of Government, when fuch a number of ftout active citi- zens remain unemployed ; and fo far are ' they from being licentious and turbulent, that I cannot help thinking they are by much too tame and fubmiflive. Though the inhabitants of the Italian cities were {foe firlt who fhook off the feudal yoke, and MANNERS IN ITALY. 155 and though in Naples they have long en- joyed the privilege of municipal jurifdic- tion, yet the external fplendour of the nobles, and the authority they ftill exer- cife over the peafants, impofe upon the minds of the lazzaroni; and however bold and refentful they may be of injuries offered by others, they bear the infolence of the nobility as paffively as peafants fixed to the foil. A coxcomb of a volanti^x tricked out in his fantaftical drefs, or any of the liveried flaves of the great, make no ceremony of treating thefe poor fellows \vith all the infolence and infenfibility na- tural to their matters ; and for no vifible reafon, but becaufe he is drerted in lace, and the others in rags. Inftead of calling to them to make way, when the noife in the ftreets prevents the common people from hearing the approach of the carri- age, a ftroke acrofs the fhoulders with the cane of the running footman, is the ufual warning they receive. Nothing animates this people to infurredion, but M fomoi 1 66 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fome very prefling and veryuniverfal caufe; fuch as a fcarcity of bread : every other griev- ance they bear as if it were their charter. When we confider thirty thoufand human creatures without beds or habitations, wandering almofl naked in fearch of food through the itreets of a well built city; when we think of the opportunities they have of being together, of comparing their own deftitute fituation with the afflu- ence of others, one cannot help being aftonifhed at their patience. Let the prince be diftinguifhed by fplen- clour and magnificence ; let the great and the rich have their luxuries ; but, in the name of humanity, let the poor, who are willing to labour, have food in abun- dance to fatisfy the cravings of nature, and raiment to defend them from the in- clemencies of the weather ! If their governors, whether from weak- nefs or neglect, do not fupply them with theie, MANNERS IN ITALY. 167 thefe, they certainly have a right to help themfelves. Every law of equity and common fenfe will juftify them, in revolt- ing againft fuch governors, and in fatis- fying their own wants from the fuper- fluities of lazy luxury. 168 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND i LETTER LIX. Naples. HAVE made feveral vifits to the mu- feum at Portici, principally, as you may believe, to view the antiquities dug out of Herculaneum and Pompeia. The work publifhing by Government, orna- mented with engravings of the chief ar- ticles of this curious collection, will, in all probability, be continued for many years, as new articles worthy of the fculptor's art are daily difcovered, and as a vaft mine of curiofities is fuppofed to be concealed in the unopened ftreets of Pompeia. Among the ancient paint- ings, thofe which ornamented the theatre of Herculaneum are more elegant than any that have hitherto been found at Pompeia. All thcfe paintings were executed upon the ftucco which lined the walls ; MANNERS IN ITALY. 169 walls ; they have been fawed off with great labour and addrefs, and are now preferved in glafs cafes; the colours, we are told, were much brighter before they were drawn out of their fubterraneous abode, and expofed to the open air; they are, however, ftill wonderfully lively: the fubjeds are underflood at the firft glance by thofe who are acquainted with the Grecian hiftory and mythology. There is a Chiron teaching Achilles to play on the lyre, Ariadne deferted, the Judgment of Paris, fome Bacchantes and Fauns; the largeft piece reprefents Thefeus's victory over the Minotaur. It confifts of feven or eight figures very well grouped, but a Frieze, with a dancing woman, on a black ground, not above ten inches long, is thought the bcft. We ought not, however, to judge of the progrefs which the ancients had made in the art of painting, by the degree of perfection which appears in thofe pictures. I It i;o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND It is not probable that the bed paintings of ancient Greece or Italy were at Hereula-* neum ; and, if it could be afcertained that fome of the productions of the beft matters were there, it would not follow that thofe which have been difcovered are of that clafs. If a ftranger were to enter at ran- dom a few houfes in London, and fee fome tolerably good pictures there, he could not with propriety conclude that the beft of them were the very beft in London. The paintings brought from Herculaneum are perfect proofs that the ancients had made that progrefs in the art! which thofe pic- tures indicate ; but do not form even a prefumption, that they had not made a much greater. It is almoft demonftrable that thefe paintings are not of their beft. The fame fchool which formed the fculp- tor to correctnefs, would form the painter to equal corrednefs in his drawings, how- ever deficient he might be in all the other parts of his art. Their beft ftatues are correct in their proportions, and elegant in in their forms : Thefe paintings are not correct in their proportions, and are com- paratively inelegant in their forms. Among the ftatues, the drunken Faun and the Mercury are the beft. There are fome fine bronze bufts ; the intaglios and cameos, which hitherto have been found either in Herculaneum or Pompeia, are reckoned but indifferent. The elegance of form, with the admira- ble workmanfhip, of the ornamental fur- niture and domeftic utenfils, in filver and other metals ; the variety and beauty of the lamps, tripods, and vafes ; fufficiently teftify, if there were no other proofs, the fertile imagination and exquifite execution of the ancient artifts. And, had their own poets and hiftorians been quite filent concerning the Roman refinements in the art of cookery, and the luxury of their tables ; the prodigious variety of culinary inftruments, the moulds for jellies, for confections, and paftry, which are collect- ed 172 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ed in this mufeum, would afford a ftrong prefumption that the great men of our own days have a nearer refemblance to thofe ancient conquerors of the world, than is generally imagined. Many of the ancient manufcripts found at Herculaneum have been carried to Madrid; but a great number ftill remain at Portici. Great pains have been beftow- cd, and much ingenuity difplayed, in fe- parating and unrolling the fheets, without deftroying the writing. This has fucceed- ed in a certain degree ; though, in fpite of all the Ikill and attention of thofe who are employed in this very delicate work, the copiers are obliged to leave many blanks where the letters are obliterated. The manufcripts hitherto unrolled and copied, are in the Greek language, and not of a very important nature. As the unrolling thofe papers muft take up a great deal of time, and requires infinite addrefs, it is to be wiflied that his Neapolitan Majefty would MANNERS IN ITALY. 173 would fend one at leaft to every univerfity in Europe, that the abilities of the moft ingenious men of every country might be exercifed on a fubject fo univerfally inte- refting. The method which fhould be found to fucceed beft, might be immedi- ately made known, and applied to the un- folding of the remaining manufcripts. The probability of recovering thofe works, whofe lofs, the learned have fo long la- mented, would by this means be greatly increafed. Herculaneum and Pompeia were de- flroyed by the fame eruption of Mount Vefuvius, about feventeen hundred years ago. The former was a town of much more magnificence than the other ; but it is infinitely more difficult to be cleared of the matter which covers it. Sir William Jrlamilton, in his accurate and judicious obfervations on Mount Vefuvius, afierts, that there are evident marks that the mat- Jer of fix eruptions has taken its courfe over i 7 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND over this devoted town, fince the great ex- plofion which involved it in the fame fate with Pompeia. Thefe different eruptions have all happened at confiderable diftances of time from each other. This appears by the layers of good foil which are found between them. But the matter which im- mediately covers the town, and with which the theatre, and all the houfes hi- therto examined, were found filled, is not lava, but a fort of foft ftone, compofed of pumice and afhes, intermixed with earth. This has faved the pictures, manu- fcripts, bufts, utenfils, and other an- tiquities, which have been recovered out of Herculaneum, from utter deftruc- tion. For if any of the fix fucceeding eruptions had happened previous to this, and the red-hot liquid lava, of which they confifled, had flowed into the open city, it would have filled every ilreet, fcorched up every combuftible fubftance with intenfe heat, involving the houfes, and all they contained, in one fclid rock of lava, un- diftinguifhable, MANNERS IN ITALY. 175 diftinguifhable, and for ever infeparable, from it. The eruption, which buried the city in cinders, earth, and afhes, has in fome meafure preferred it from the more. deftructive effects of the fiery torrents which . 'f. . have overwhelmed it fmce. When we confider that the intervals be- tween thofe eruptions were fufficiently long to allow a foil to be formed upon the hardened lava of each ; that a new city has been actually built on the lava of the lad eruption ; and that the ancient city is from feventy to one hundred feet below the prefent furface of the earth ; we muft acknowledge it more -furprifing that any, than that fo few, of its ornaments have been recovered. At the beginning of the prefent century, any body would have ima- gined that the bufts, ftatues and pictures of Herculaneum had not a much better chance, than the perfons they reprefent, of appearing again, within a few years, the furface of this globe. The j;6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND The cafe is different with regard to Pompeia. Though it was not difcovcred till about twenty-five years ago, which is forty years almoft after the difcovery of Herculaneum, yet the probability was greatly in favour of its being difcovered fooner, for Pompeia has felt the effects of a fingle eruption only; it is not buried above twelve feet below the furface of the ground, and the earth, afhes, cinders, and pumice-ftones, with which it is co- vered, are fo light, and fo little tenacious, that they might be removed with no great difficulty. If the attention of his Nea- politan Majefty were not engrofled with more important concerns, he might have the whole town uncovered in a very fhort fpace of time; half the lazzaroni of Na- ples could complete the bufmefs in one year. Hitherto only one ftreet and a few detached buildings are cleared; the ftreet is well paved with the fame kind of ftonc of which the ancient roads are MANNERS JN ITALY. 177 are made, narrow caufeways are raifed a foot and an half on each fide for the con- veniency of foot pafTengers. The ftreet itfelf, to my recollection, is not fo broad as the -narrowed part of the Strand, and is fuppofed o have been inhabited by tradefpeople. The traces of wheels of carriages are to be feen on the pavement; the diftance betwen the traces is lefs than that between the wheels of a modern poft- chaife. I remarked this the more as, on, my firft viewing the ftreet, I doubted whe- ther there was room for two modern coaches to pafs each other. I plainly faw there was fufficient room for two of the ancient chariots, whofe wheels were of no greater diftance than between the traces on the pavement. The houfes are fmall, and in a very different ftyle from the mo- dern Italian houfes ; for the former give an idea of neatnefs and convehiency. The ftucco on the walls is hard as marble, fmooth and beautiful. Some of the rooms are ornamented with paintings, moftly VOL. II. N Tingle 178 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fingle figures, reprefenting fome animatj they are tolerably well executed, and en a little water being thrown on them, the colours appear furprifingly frefh. Mod of the houfes are built on the fame plan, and have one fmall room from the paflage, which is conjectured to have been the fhop, with a window to the ftreet, and a place which feems to have been contrived for fhewing the goods to the greateft advantage. The nature of the traffic carried on at one particular houfe, is indicated by a figure in alta relievo of a very expreflive kind, imme- diately above the door. It is to be wifhed they would cover oi*e of the beft houfcs with a roof, as nearly refembling that which originally belonged to it as they could imagine, with a com- plete aflbrtment of the antique furniture of the kitchen and each particular room. Such a houfe fitted up with accuracy and judgment, with all its utenfils and orna- ment* MANNERS IN ITALY. 179 ments properly arranged, would be an object of univerfal curiofity, and would fwell the heart of the antiquarian with ve- neration and delight. Only imagine, my dear Sir, what thofe gentlemen muft feel, when they fee the venerable habitations of the ancients in their prefent mournful condition, neglected, defpifed, abandoned to the peltings of rain, and all the in*- juries of the weather ! thofe precious walls, which, were it poffible to tranfport them to the various countries of the world* would be bought with avidity, and placed in the gardens of Princes ! How muft the bofoms of all true virtupfos glow with indignation, when they behold the manfions of the ancient Romans ftripped of their ornaments, difhonoured, and expofed, like a parcel of ragged galley flaves, in the moft indecent manner, with hardly any covering to their nakednefs; while a little paltry brick houfe, coming the Lord knows how/ from a country which men of tafte have always defpifed, has N 2 been VIEW OF SOCIETY AND teen received with hofpitality, drefled in a fine coat of the richeft marble, ad- orned with jewels and precious ftones, and treated with every mark of honour- able diftinction ! In another part of the town of Pom- peia, there is a rectangular building, with a colonade, towards the court, fomething in the ftyle of the Royal Exchange at London, but fmaller. This has every appearance of a barrack and guard room ; the pillars are of brick, covered with fhining ftucco, ele- gantly fluted; the fcrawlings and drawings Hill vifible on the walls, are fuch as we might naturally expect on the walls of a guard room, where foldiers are the de- figners, and fwords the engraving tools. They confift of gladiators fighting, fome with each other, fome with wild beads ; the games of the circus, as chariot races,, wreftling, and the like; a few figures in caricatura, defigned probably by fome of the foldiers, in ridicule of their companions, oc MANNERS IN ITALY. 181 or perhaps of their officers; and there are abundance of names infcribed on vari- ous parts of the wall, according to the univerfal cuftom of the humbled candi- dates for fame in all ages and countries. It may be fafely afferted, that none of thofe who have endeavoured to tranfmit their names to pofterity in this manner, have fucceeded fo well as the foldiers of the garrifon of Pompeia. At a confiderable diftance from the baj> rack, is a building, known by the infcrip- tion upon it, for a temple of the goddefs Ifis ; there is nothing very magnificent in its appearance ; the pillars are of brick ftuc- coed like thofe of the guard room. The beft paintings, hitherto found at Pompeia, are thofe of this temple; they have been cut out of the walls and removed to Portici. It was abfolutely neceflfary to do this with the pictures at Herculaneum, be- caufe there they could not be feen without the help of torches ; but here^ where they N 3 could iS 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND could be feen by the light of the Sun, they would, in my humble opinion, have ap- peared to more advantage, and have ha4 a better effect in the identical fituation in xvhich they were placed by the ancient artift. A few ftill remain, particularly one, which is confidered by travellers as a great curiofity; it is a fmall view of a villa, with the gardens belonging to it. There is one houfe or villa without the walls, on a much larger fcale than any of the others. In a large cellar, or vaulted gallery, belonging to this houfe, there are a number of amphorae, or earthen veffels, arranged along the walls ; moft of them filled with a kind of red fubftance, fuppofed to have been wine. This cellar is funk about two-thirds below the fur- face of the ground, and is lighted by fmall narrow windows. I have called it gallery, becaufe it is about twelve feet in. width, and is the whole length of two adjoining fides of the fquare which the MANNERS IN ITALY. 183 forms. It was ufed not only as a re- pofitory for wine, but alfo as a cool re- treat for the family during exceflive hot weather. Some of this unfortunate fa- mily fought flicker in this place from the deftruclive fhower which overwhelmed the town. Eight ikeletons, four being thcfc of children, were found here; where they muft have met a more cruel and lingering death, than that which they munned. In one room, the body of a man was found, with an ax in the handj it is probable he had been endeavouring to cut a paflage into the open air; he had broken and pierced the wall, but had ex- pired before he could clear away the fur- rounding rubbifh. Few Ikeletons were found in the ftreets, but a confiderable number in the houfes. Before the decifive fhower fell, which fmothcred the inha- bitants of this ill* fated city, perhaps fuch quantities of allies and cinders were occafionally falling, as frightened, and obliged them to keep within doors. N 4 It 184 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND It is impoffible to view thofc fkeletons, and reflect on this dreadful cataftrophe, without horror and compaflion. We can- not think of the inhabitants of a whole town being deftroyed at once, without imagining that their fate has been un- commonly fevere. But are not the inha- bitants of all the towns then exifting, of whom we think without any emotion of pity, as completely dead as thofe of Pom- peia? And could we take them one by one, and confider the nature of their deaths, and the circumftances attending that of each individual; fome deftroyed by painful bodily difeafes, fome by the torture of the executioner, fome bowed to the grave by the weight of accumulated forrow, and the flow anguifh of a broken heart, after having fuffered the pangs of diffolution, over and over again, in the death of thofe they loved, after having beheld the dying agonies of their chil- dren; could all this, I fay, be appraifed, calculated, and compared, the balance of fuffering fuffering might not be found with the in- habitants of Pompeia, but rather with thofe of the contemporary cities, who, perhaps at that time, as we do now, la- mented its fevere fate. i86 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND LETTER LX. Nap!ej. AS I fauntered along the Strada Nuova- lately, I perceived a groupe of peo- ple liftening, with much attention, to a perfon who harangued them in a raifed, folemn voice, and with great gefticulation. I immediately made one of the auditory, which increafed every moment ; men, wo- men, and children bringing feats from the neighbouring houfes, on which they placed themfelves around the orator. He repeated ftanzas from Ariofto, in a pompous, reci- tativo cadence, peculiar to the natives of Italy ; and he had a book in his hand, to afiift his memory when it failed. He made occafional commentaries in profe, by way of bringing the Poet's expreflion near- er to the level of his hearers' capacities. His cloak hung loofe from one fhoulder ; hiq MANNER'S IN ITALY. 187 his right arm was difengaged, for the pur- pofes of oratory. Sometimes he waved it with a flow, fmooth motion, which ac- corded with the cadence of the verfes ; fometimes he prelFed it to his breaft, to give energy to the pathetic fentiments of the Poet. Now he gathered the hanging folds of the right fide of his cloak, and held them gracefully up, in imitation of a Roman fenator ; and anon he fwung them acrofs his left fhoulder, like a citizen of Naples. He humoured the ftanza by his voipe, which he could modulate to the key of any paffion, from the boifterous burfts of rage, to the foft notes of pity or love. But, when he came to defcribe the exploits of Orlando, he trufted neither to the pow- ers of his own voice, nor the Poet's geni- us ; but, throwing off his cloak, and grafping his cane, he aflumed the warlike attitude and ftern countenance of that he- ro ; rcprefenting, by the moft animated action, how he drove his fpear through the bodies of fix of his enemies at once ; the point iS8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND point at the fame time killing a feventh, who would alio have remained transfixed with his companions, if the fpear could have held more than fix men of an ordina- ry fize upon it at a time. II Cavalier d' Anglante ove pui fpefle Vide le genti e Parme, abbaflo Pafta, Ed uno in quella, e pofcia un altro mefle E nn altro, e un altro, che fembrar di pafta, E fino a fei ve n'infilzo, e li reffe Tutti una lancia; e perchc' clla non bafta A piu Capir, lafcio il fectimo fuore Ferito fi che di quel colpo muore. This ftanza our declaimer had no occafion to comment upon, as Ariofto has thought fit to illuftrate it in a manner which feemed highly to the tafte of this audience. For, in the verfe immediately following, Or- lando is compared to a man killing frogs in mariliy ground, with a bow and arrow made for that purpofe ; an amufement very common in Italy, and ftill more fo in France. Non altrimente nell* eftrema arena Dal Veggiam le rane dc' canali e fofle MANNERS IN ITALY. Dal cauto arcler ne i fianchi> e nella fchiena L'una vicina all' altera efier percoffe, Ne dalla freccia, fin che tutta piena Non fia da un capo all* altero effer rimofle* I muft however do this audience thejuftice to acknowledge, that they feemed to feel the pathetic and fublime, as well as the ludicrous, parts of the ancient Bard. This practice of rehearfing the verfes of Ariofto, Taflb, and other poets, in the ftreety I have not obferved in any other town of Italy ; and I am told it is lefa common here than it was formerly. I re- member indeed, at Venice, to have fre- quently feen mountebanks, who gained their livelihood by amufing the populace at St. Mark's Place, with wonderful and romantic ftories in profe. VOL. II. C tended 226 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND tended with hectic fymptoms, the difeafe muft be treated as if it had arifen from any of the other caufes. The pleurify, or inflammation of the lungs, is a difeafe more frequent in cold countries than in mild; in the fpring than in the other feafons ; and more apt to feize people of a fanguine conftitution than others. Plentiful ancl repeated bleedings, fomen- tations, blifters near the affected part, and a cooling, diluting regimen, generally re- move it, without its leaving any bad con- fequence. Sometimes, by the omiflion of bleeding in due quantity at the beginning, and fometimes in fpite of all poflible care, it terminates in an abfcefs, which, on burfting, may fuffocate the patient ; or, if the matter is coughed up, becomes an open ulcer, and produces the difeafe in queftion. The third caufe of the pulmonary con- fnmption above mentioned, is, a fpitting of MANNERS IN ITALY. ?2 of blood, from the t>urfting of vefiels of the lungs, independent of external wound or bruife. People of a fair com- plexion, delicate {kin, {lender make, long neck, and narrow cheft, are more fubject to this than others. Thofe who have a predifpofition to this complaint, by their form, are moft apt to be attacked after their full growth : women from fifteen to three-and-thirty ; men two or three years later. In Great Britain, a fpitting of blood generally occurs to thofe predifpofed to it, in the fpring, or beginning of fum- mer, when the weather fuddenly changes from cold to exceflive hot ; and when the heat is fuppofed to rarify the blood, before the folids are proportionably relaxed from the contracted ftate they acquire during the cold of winter. When a fpitting of blood happens to a perfon who has actually loft brothers or fitters, or other near relations, by the pulmonary confumption, as that cir- tumftance gives reafon to fufpect a family taint VIEW OF SOCIETY AND taint or predifpofition, the cafe will, on that account, be more dangerous. Violent exercife may occafion the rup- ture of blood-veflels in the lungs, even in thofe who have no hereditary difpofition to fuch an accident ; it ought there- fore to be carefully avoided by all who have. Violent exercife, in the fpring, is more dangerous than in other feafons; and, when taken at the top of high moun- tains, by thofe who do not ufually refide there, it has been confidered as more dan- gerous than in vallies. The fudden dimi- nution of the weight of the atmofphere, co-operating with the exercife, renders the veflels more apt to break. Of all things the moft pernicious to people pre- difpofed to a fpitting of blood, is, playing upon wind-inftrumerits. Previous to the fpitting of blood, fome perceive an uneafi- nefs in the cheft, an oppreflion on the breath, and a faltifh tafte in the fpittle; but thefe fymptoms are not conftant. Nothing MANNERS IN ITALY. -229 Nothing can be more infidious than the approaches of this difeafe fometimes are. The fubftance of the lungs, which is fo full of blood- veflels, is not fupplied fo liberally with nerves ; the lungs, therefore, may be materially affected, before danger is in- dicated by acute pain. And it fometimes happens, that people of the make above defcribed are, in the bloom of life, and generally in the fpring of the year, feized with a flight cough, which gradually ii> creafes, without pain, forenefs in the breaft, difficulty of refpiration, or fpitting of blood. A flow fever fupervenes every eight, which remits every morning, with fweats. Thefe fytnptoms augment daily ; and, in fpite of early attention, and what is thought the beft advice, the unfufpecting victims gradually fink into their graves. Thofe who by their make, or by the dif- eafe having in former inftances appeared in their family, are predifpofed to this com- plaint, ought to be peculiarly attentive in the article 236 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND article of diet. A fpare and cooling regimen is the beft. They fhould avoid violent ex- ercife, and every other exciting caufe ; and ufe the precaution of lofing blood in the fpring. If their circumftances permit, they ought to pafs the cold months in a mild climate ; but, if they are obliged to remain during the winter in Great Britain, let them wear flannel next the fkin, and ufe every other precaution againft catching colds. The fourth caufe above enumerated is, tubercles in the lungs. The moift, foggy, and changeable wea- ther, which prevails in Great Britain, ren- ders its inhabitants more liable, than thofe of milder and more uniform climates, to catarrhs, rheumatifms, pleurifies, and other difeafes proceeding from obftrudted perfpiration. The fame caufe fubjects the inhabitants of Great Britain to obflrudions of the glands, fcrophulous complaints, and tubercles MANNERS IN ITALY. 231 tubercles in the fubftance of the lungs. The fcrophulous difeafe is more frequent than is generally imagined. For one per- fon in whom it appears by fwellings in the glands below the chin, and other external marks, many have the internal glands af- fedled by it. This is well known to thofe who are accuftomed to open dead bodies. On examining the bodies of fuch as have died of the pulmonary confumption, be- fides the open ulcers in the lungs, many little hard tumours or tubercles are gene- rally found ; fome, with matter ; others, on being cut open, difcover a little blueifh fpot, of the fize of a fmall lead mot. Here the fuppuration, or formation of matter, is juft going to begin; and in fome the tubercle is perfectly hard, and the cor lour whitim, throughout its whole fub- ftance. Tubercles may remain for a con- fiderable time in the lungs, in this indo- lent ftate, without much inconveniency j but, when excited to inflammation by fre- quent catarrhs, or other irritating caufes, matter 232 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND matter is formed, they break, and product an ulcer. Care and attention may pre- vent tubercles from inflammation, or may prevent that from terminating in the for- mation of matter; but when matter is actually formed, and the tubercle has be- come an abfcefs, no remedy can flop its progrefs. It muft go on till it burfts. If this happens near any of the large air-vef- fels, immediate fuffocation may enfue ; but, for the mod part, the matter is coughed up. < "From the circumftances above enume- rated of the delicate texture, conftant mo- tion, and numerous blood-veflels of the Jungs, it is natural to imagine, that a breach of this nature in their fubftance will be ftill more difficult to heal than a wound from an external caufe. So unquef- tionably it is ; yet there are many inftances of even this kind of breach being repaired; the matter expectorated diminifliing in quan- tity every day, and the ulcer gradually Dealing j not, furely, by the power of medicine, MANNERS IN ITALY. 233 medicine, but by the conftant difpofition and tendency which exifts in nature, by infcrutable means of her own, to reftore health to the human body. It may be proper to obferve, that thofe perfons whofe formation of body renders them moft liable to a fpitting of blood, have alfo a greater predifpofition than others to tubercles in the lungs. The dif- eafe, called the fpafmodic afthma, has been reckoned among the caufes of the pulmonary confumption. It would re- quire a much greater degree of confidence in a man's own judgment, than I have in mine, to aflert, that this complaint has no tendency to produce tubercles in the lungs; but I may fay, with truth, that I have often known the fpafmodic afthma, in the moft violent degree, attended with the moft alarming fymptoms, continue to harafs the patients for a long period of time, and at length fuddenly difappear, -without ever returning ; the perfons who have 434 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND have been thus afflicted, enjoying perfect health for many years after. It is not probable that tubercles were formed in any of thefe cafes ; and it is certain they were not in fome, whofe bodies were opened after their deaths, which happened from other diftempers, the afthma having difappeared feveral years before. Certain eruptions of the {kin, attended with fever, particularly the fmall-pox, and ftill oftener the meafles, leave after them a foundation for the pulmonary confump- tion. From whichever of the caufes above enumerated this difeafe takes its origin, when once an ulcer, attended with a he&ic fever, is formed in the lungs, the cafe is, in the higheft degree, dangerous. When it ends fatally, the fymptoms are, a quick pulfe, and a fenfation of cold, while the patient's fkin, to the feeling of every other perfon, is hot ; irregular fhi- verings, a fevere cough, expectoration of matter ftreaked with blood, morning fweats, 2 a cir- MANNERS IN ITALY. a circumfcribed fpot of a crimfon colour on the cheeks, heat of the palms of the hands, exccffive emaciation, crooking of the nails, fwelling of the legs, giddinefs, delirium, foon followed by death. Thefe fymptoms do not appear in every cafe. Although the emaciation is greater in this difeafe than in any other, yet the appetite frequently remains ftrong and un- impaired to the laft; and although deli- rium fometimes comes before death, yet in many cafes the fenfes feem perfect and jntire ; except in one particular, that in fpite of all the foregoing fymptoms, the patient often entertains the fulleft hopes of recovery to the laft moment. Would to heaven it were as eafy to point out the cure, as to defcribe the fymp- toms of a difeafe of fuch a formidable tiature, and againft which the powers of medicine have been directed with fuch bad fuccefs, that there is reafon to fear, its fatal termination has been oftener ac- celerated VIEW OF SOCIETY AND celeratcd than retarded by the means em- ployed to remove it ! To particular- ife the drugs which have been long in ufe, and have been honoured with the highcft encomiums for their great efficacy in healing inward bruifes, ulcers of the lungs, and confirmed confumptions, would in many inftances be pointing out, what ought to be fhunned as pernicious, and in others what ought to be negledcd as futile. Salt water, and fome of the mineral fprings, which are unqueftionably beneficial jn fcrophulous and other diftempers, have beeafound hurtful, or at leaft inefficacious, in the confumption; there is no fufficien,t reafon to depend on a courfe of thefe, or any medicine at prefent known, for pre- venting or difiblving tubercles in the lungs. Mercury, which has been found fo powerful in difpofing other ulcers to heal, has no good effect on ulcers of that organ; though feme phyficians imagine it may be of fervice in the beginning to diflblve MANNERS IN ItALY. 137 diffolve tubercles, before they begin to fuppurate; but as tbere is no abfolute evi- dence, during life, of indolent tubercles being formed, there can be none that mercury cures them. Various kinds of gums, with the natu- ral and artificial balfams, were long fup- pofed to promote the healing of external wounds and ulcers, and on that account were made the bafis of a vaft variety of ointments and plaifters. It was af- terwards imagined, that the fame re- medies, adminiftered internally, would have the fame effect on internal ul- cers; and of courfe many of thofe gums and balfams were prefcribed in various forms for the pulmonary confumption. The reafoning on which this practice was eftablifhed, however, feems a little {hallow, and is far from being conclufive; for although it were granted, that thefe balfams contributed to the cure of wounds, when applied directly to the part, it does 7 not 238 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND not follow that they could carry their healing powers, unimpaired, from the fto- mach to the lungs, through the whole procefs of digeftion. But more accurate furgery having made it manifeft, that the granulations which fpring up to fupply the lofs of fubftance in external wounds, and the healing or fkinning over of all kinds of fores, proceeds from no active virtue in the plaifters or ointments with which they are dreffed, but is entirely the work of nature, and beft performed when the mikleft fubftances, or even dry lint only is applied; and that heating gums, refins, and balfams> rather retard than promote their cure; the internal tife of fuch remedies ought to be rejected now, on the fame principles they were adapted formerly. No kind of reafoning ought to have weight, when oppofed by fair experience. But phyficians have formed contrary and oppofite conclufions, with refpeft to the MANNERS IN ITALY. 239 effect of the natural and artificial balfams, even when they have laid all theory and reafoning afide, and decided on their powers from practice and experiment only. This is fufficient to prove, at leaft, that their efficacy is very problematical. For my own part, after the faireft trials* and the mod accurate obfervations I have been able to make, I cannot fay that I ever knew them of fervice in any hectic complaint proceeding from an ulcer in the lungs; and I have generally found thofe phyficians, on whofe judgment I have more reliance than on my own, of the fame opinion. It is far from being uncommon to fee a cure retarded, not to fay any thing ftronger, by the means employed to haften it; and phyficians who found their practice on theoretical reafonings, are not the only perfons to whom this misfor- tune may happen. Thofe who profefs to take experience for their fole guide, if it VIEW OF SOCIETY AND it is not directed by candour, and ert* lightened by natural fagaciry, are liable to the fame. A man may, for twenty years* order a medicine, which has in every in- ftance done a little harm, though not al- ways fo much as to prevent nature from removing the complaint at laft ; and if the reputation of this medicine fhould ever be attacked, he may bring his twenty years experience in fupport of it. It ought to be remembered, that as often as the animal conftitution is put out of order, by accident or diftemper, nature endeavours to reftore health. Happily me has many refources^ and various methods of accomplifhing her 1 purpofe; and very often me fucceeds beft without medical afliftance. But medical afliftance being given, fhe frequently fuo ceeds notivitbjlanding ; and it fometimes happens, that both phyfician and patient are convinced, that the means which did not prevent have actually performed the cure. A peafant MANNERS IN ITALY. 241 A peafant is feized with a fhivering, followed by feveriflinefs, and accompanied with a flight cough he goes to bed, and exceflive he t at and third prompt him to drink plentifully of plain water ; on the fecond or third day a copious fweat burfts from all his pores, and terminates the dif- order. A perfon of fortune is feized with the fame fymptoms, arifing from the fame caufe, and which would have been cured by the fame means, in the fame fpace of time ; but the apothecary is called, who immediately fends pectoral linctufes to re- move the cough, and afterwards gives a vomit, to remove the naufea which the linclufes have occafioned : the heat and fe- ver augment ; the phyfician is called ; he orders the patient to be blooded, to abate the violence of the fever, and gives a little phyfic on fome other account. All this prevents the natural crifis by fweat ; and the patient being farther teafed by draughts or powders every two or three tours, nature cannot fhake off the fever fo VOL. IT, R foon 242 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND foon by fix or feven days, as fhe would have done had (he been left to herfelf. She generally does her bufmefs at laft, how- ever ; and then the phyfician and apothe- cary glory in the happy effeds of their {kill, and receive the grateful thanks of their patient for having cured him of a dangerous fever. Every body of common penetration, at all converfant in medical matters, muft have feen enough to convince them that the above defcription is not exaggerated ; but it is not to be inferred from this, that the art of medicine is of no ufe to man- kind. There are many difeafes in which nature finks, without medical afliftance. It is the part of the penetrating and experi- enced phyfician to diftinguifli thefe from others, and leave it to the knavifh and weak to ailume the merit of cures in cafes where they know, or ought to know, that medicine can do nothing. Some MANNERS IN ITALY. 243 Some phyficians, who have abandoned the other refins and gums, as ufelefs or hurtful in hectic complaints, ftill adhere to myrrh as a beneficial medicine ; but from what I can learn, the cafes in which this gum has been thought ferviceable, are hec- tic complaints, from debility, in confe- quence of exceffive evacuations of various kinds, and not proceeding from ulcerated lungs. After it is fully eftablifhed that myrrh is of ufe in fuch inftances, it will flill be worthy of inveftigation, whether it is of more or lefs than Jefuits bark. I have repeatedly mentioned blood-letting, and a fpare, diluting regimen, as the moft pow- erful means of preventing and curing all affections of the lungs that depend on in- flammation. In the cafe of external wounds, or bruifes of the lungs, this me- thod facilitates the immediate cure by the firft intention. It is the chief thing to be depended on for the cure of pleuriiies ; and it is often owing to a neglect, or too fparing an ufe of this evacuation, that the com- R 2 plaint VIEW OF SOCIETY AND plaint terminates in an abfcefs. In people predifpofed by the form of their bodies, or the nature of their conftitutions, to a fpitting of blood, it may prevent the turgid veffels from burfting ; and in thofe who have tu- bercles in the lungs, it is of the greateft utility, by preventing thofe tumours from inflaming, and becoming ulcers ; but after the ulcers are adually formed, I have great doubts with regard to the propriety of at- tempting a cure by repeated bleedings, even in fmall quantities. This method has been often tried j but I fear the fuccefs with which it has been attended, gives no encou- ragement to continue the practice. That fymptoms may be fuch, in every period of this difeafe, as to require this evacuation, is not to be denied ; but there is a great difference in the application of what is con- fidered as an occafional palliative, and that from which we expet a radical cure. In the one cafe, it will only be ufedwhen fome particular fymptom flrongly urges ; in the other, it will be ufed at ftated intervals, whether MANNERS IN ITALY. 245 whether the fymptoms prefs or not; and may tend to weaken the already debilitated patient, without our having the confolation of knowing, with certainty, that it has had any other effect. Blifters do not weaken fo much ; they are of undoubted ufe in pleurifies ; perhaps, by exciting external inflammation, they may contribute to draw off the inflamma- tory difpofition within the breaft : perhaps But in whatever way they act, I imagine I have frequently feen blifters and fetons, particularly the latter, of confiderable fer- vice, even after the fymptoms indicated the exiftence of an ulcer in the lungs. As for the numerous forms of electuaries, lohochs, and linctufes,' compofed of oils, gums, and fyrups, and by the courtefy of difpenfatory writers called pectoral ; I am convinced they are of no manner of fervice in this complaint, and feldom have any other effect than that of loading the fto- R 3 mach, 246 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND mach, and impairing the digeftion of falu-! tary food. So far from being of any per- manent fervice to the difeafe, they cannot be depended on for giving even a temporary relief to the cough ; when that fymptom becomes troublefome, gentle opiates will be found the beft palliatives. Some practi- tioners object to thefe medicines, on a fup- pofition that they check expectoration ; but they only feem to have this effect, by lull- ing the irritation to cough ; the fame quan- tity will be expectorated in the morning, after the influence of the opiate is over. It is furely better that the matter fhould accumu- late, and the patient fpit it up at once, than allow him to be kept from reft, and teafed \vithcoughingandfpittingthroughthewhole night. Thefe palliatives, however, are to be managed with great caution; never exhibited while the patient enjoys a tolerable fhare of natural reft. Small dofes fhould be given at firft, and not increafed without abfolute neceffity. Exhibited in this manner, they Cannot do harm ; and thofe who reject the afliftance MANNERS IN ITALY. 247 afliftance of a clafs of medicines, which afford eafe and tranquillity in the moft de- plorable ftate of this difeafe, ought to give better proofs than have hitherto appeared, that they are able to procure their patients more valuable and lafting comforts than thofe they deprive them of. The known efficacy of the Peruvian bark, in many diftempers, efpecially in in- termittent fevers ; the rerniffion of the fymp- toms, which happens regularly every day at a particular ftage of the pulmonary confump- tion, and in fome degree gives it the ap- pearance of an intermittent, joined to the failure of all other remedies, prompted phyficians to make trial of that noble me- dicine in this difeafe. In confequence of thefc trials, the bark is now pretty gene- rally acknowledged to be ferviceable in heQjcal complaints, proceeding from debi- lity, and other caufes, exclufive of ulce- rated lungs ; but when the difeafe proceeds from this caufe, the bark is iuppofed, by R 4 fome 248 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fome very refpectable phyficians, always to do harm. I am moft clearly of the firft opinion, and perhaps it would not become me to difpute the fecond. It may be per- mitted, however, to obferve, that the moft difcerning practitioners may be led into a notion, that a very fafe medicine does harm, when it is exhibited at the worft ftage of a difeafe, in which hardly any medicine whatever has been found to do good. In every ftage of this difeafe, elixir of vitriol may be ufed. It is a pleafant and fafe me- dicine, but particularly efficacious when the patient is troubled with wafting fweats. Having, in obedience to your requeft, delivered my fentiments freely, you will perceive, that, befides the objections al- ready mentioned to the perfon under whofe care our friend is at prefent, I cannot ap- prove of his being directed to take fo many drugs, or of his being detained in town, at a feafon when he may enjoy, in the coun- try, what is preferable to all medicine ; I mean MANNERS IN ITALY. 249 mean air, exercife, and, let me even add, diet. ' Had I known of our friend's complaints earlier, I fhould have advifed him to have met the advancing fpring in the South of France; but at the feaibn in which you will receive this letter, the moderate warmth, and refrefhing verdure of Eng- land, are preferable to the fultry heats and fcorched fields of the South. From the view I have of his complaints, I can have no hefifation in advifing you to endeavour to prevail on him to quit his drugs, and to leave London without delay. Since he bears riding on horfeback fo well, let him enjoy that exercife in an atmofphere freed from the fmoke of the town, and impreg- nated with the flavour of rifmg plants and ' green herbage ; a flavour which may with more truth be called peRoral, than any of the heating refms, or loathfome oils, on which that term has been proftituted. Let him pafs the fummer in drinking the wa- ters, 2 5 o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ters, and riding around the environs of Briftol. It will be eafy for him to find a houfe in the free air of the country, at fome diftance from that town ; and it will be of ufe to have an additional reafon for riling early, and riding every morning. It is of the greateft importance that he con- tinue that exercife every day that the wea- ther will permit : a little cloudinefs of the iky fhould not fright him from it ; there is no danger of catching cold during the con- tinuation of tha't movement which affifts digeftion, promotes the determination of blood from the lungs to the furface of the body, and is more falutary in the morning than after dinner. With refpect to diet, he (hould carefully obferve the important rule of taking food frequently, in fmall quantities, and never making a full meal ; that the digeftive or- gans may not be overpowered, or the vef- fels charged with too large a quantity of chyle at a time > which never fails to bring on MANNERS IN ITALY. 251 on oppreffive breathing, and augments the fever and flufhing, which in fome de- gree fucceeds every repaft. Since all kinds of milk are found to gree with his conftitution, that nourifh- ment, which is in general fo well adapted to fimilar complaints, muft be omitted, and light broths, with vegetable food, particu- larly of the farinaceous kind, fubftituted in its place. Acids, efpecially the native acid of vege- tables, are remarkably agreeable and re- frefhing to all who labour under the heat, oppreffion, and languor, which accompany hedic complaints. It is furprifing what a quantity of the juice of lemons the confti- tution will bear, without any inconveni- ency, when it is accuftomed to it by de- grees ; and in thofe cafes where it does not occafion pains in the ftomach and bowels, or other immediate inconveniencies, it has been thought to have a good effect in abat- ing the force of the hedtic fever. 2- I have 25* VIEW OF SOCIETY AND I have rncc , .1 two cafes, fmce I have been laft abroad, in both of which there feemed to be a quicker recovery than I ever faw, from the fame fymptoms. The nrft was that of a young lady, of about feven- teen years of age, and apparently of a very healthy conftitution. In bad weather, during the fpring, fhe caught cold : this being negleded in the beginning, gradu- ally grew worfe. When phyficians were at length confulted, their prefcriptions feemed to have as bad an effect as her own negledt. By the middle of fummer her cough was inceflant, accompanied with hedic fever and flufliings, irregular fhiverings, morn- ing fweats, emaciation, expectoration of purulent phlegm ftreaked with blood, and every indication of an open ulcer in the lungs. In this defperate ftate fhe was car- ried from the town to a finely fituated vil- lage in Switzerland, where, for feveral months, fhe lived in the middle of a vine- yard, on ripe grapes and bread. She had been directed to a milk and vegetable diet 6 ia MANNERS IN ITALY. 253 in general. Her own taL., inclined her to the grapes, which fhe continued, on find- ing, that, with this diet only, {he was iefs lan- guid, and of a more natural coolnefs, and that the cough, fever, and all the other fymptoms gradually abated. She feemed to he brought from the jaws of death by the change of air, and this regimen only j and fhe returned to her own home in high fpirits 3 and with the look and vigour of health. The enfuing winter, after being heated with dancing at the houfe of a friend, {he walked home in a cold night; the cough, fpitting of blood, and other fymptoms immediately returned, and {he died three months after. In the other cafe, there was not fuch a , degree of fever, but there was an expecto- ration of matter, frequently ftreaked with blood, and evident figns of an ulcer in the lungs. The perfon who laboured under thefe fymptoms, had tried the ufual reme- dies of pectorals, pills, linctufes, &c. with the ufual fuccefs, He grew daily worfe. He 254 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND He had formerly found much relief from bleeding, but had left it off for many months, on a fuppofition that it had loft all effect ; and he had allowed an irTue to be healed, on the fame fuppofition ; though he ftill perfevered in a milk regimen. I mentioned to him. the cafe of the young lady, as it is above recited. Ke immedi- ately took the refolution to confine himfelf to bread and grapes for almoft his only food. I advifed him at the fame time to have the ifiue opened, and to continue that drain for fome time ; but this he did not comply with. He forfook, however, the town for the country, and pafFed as much of the morning on horfeback, as he could bear without fatigue. He foon was able to bear more ; and after about three weeks or a month, his cough had greatly abated. When he had perfifted in this regimen be- tween two and three months, he had very little cough ; and what he fpit up was pure phlegm, unmixed with blood or matter. He has now been well above a year ; and although MANNERS IN ITALY. although I underftand that he occafionally takes animal food, he has hitherto felt no inconveniency from it. He pafled the fecond autumn, as he had done thefirft, at ^ a houfe in the country, furrounded with vineyards. The greater part of his food confided of ripe* grapes and bread. With fuch a diet, he had not occafion for much drink of any kind ; what he ufed was fimple water, and he made an ample pro- vifion of grapes for the fucceeding winter. Though I have no idea that there is any fpecific virtue in grapes, for the cure of the pulmonary confumption, or that they are greatly preferable to fome other cooling, fub-acid, mild fruit, equally agreeable to the tafte, provided any fuch can be found ; yet I thought it right to particularize what was ufed on thofe two occafions ; leaving it ta others to determine, what fliare of the happy confequences I have enumerated were owing to the change of air, how much may have flowed from the exercife, how much * 5 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND much from the regimen, and whether there is reafon to think, that the favourable turn in both cafes depended on other cireuin- itances, unobferved by me. I have now, my dear Sir, complied with your requeft; and although I have endea- voured to avoid technical verbofity, and all unneceflfary detail, yet I find my letter has fwelled to a greater fize than I expected. I fhall be exceedingly happy to hear that any hint I have given has been ferviceable to our friend. If the cough fliould ftill continue, after he has pafTed two or three months at Briftol, I imagine the moft effectual thing he can do will be, to take a voyage to this place ; he will by that means efcape the feverity of a Britifh winter. The voyage itfelf will be of fervice, and at the end of it he will have the benefit of the mild air of the Campagna Felice, be refrelhed and nourifhed by the fineft grapes, and, when tired of riding, he will have continual op- portunities of failing in this charming bay. MANNERS IN ITALY. 257 t E T T E k LXIII. Naples. AS I was walking a few days fmce in the ftreet With two of our country- men, T and N , we met fome people carrying the corpfe of a man on an open bier, and others following in a kind of proceffion. The deceafed was a tradefman, whofe widow had beftowed the utmoft attention in dreffing him to the greateft advantage on this folemn occa- iion; he had a perfectly hew fuit of clothes, a laced hat upon his head, ruffles, his hair finely powdered, and a large blooming nofegay in his left hand, while the right was very gracefully ftuck in his fide. It is the cuftom at Naples to carry every body to church in full drefs foon after their death, and the neareft re- lations difplay the magnitude of their VOL. II. S grief a 5 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY A*K D grief by the magnificent manner in which they decorate the corpfe. This poor wo- man, it feems, was quite inconfolable, and had ornamented the body oi' her late hufband with a profufion (he could ill afford. When the corpfe arrives in church, the fervice is read over it. That ceremony being performed, and the body carried home, 'it is confidered as having no farther occafion for fine clothes, but is generally ftript to the fhirt, and buried privately. " Can any thing be more ridiculous," fays N , " than to trick a man out in ** his beft clothes after his death ?" " No- " thing," replied T ; " unlcfs it be ct to order a fantaftical drefs at a greater and acquired a folid form by age, is no fooner brought near the head of the Saint, than, as a mark of veneration, it immedi- ately liquefies. This experiment is made three different times every year, and is 2 considered MANNERS IN ITALY. -2*5 confidered by the Neapolitans as a miracle of the firft magnitude. As the divinity of no other religion whatever is any longer attempted to be proved by frefh miracles, but all are now trufted to their own internal evidence, and to thofe wrought at a former period, this miracle of Saint Januarius is probably the more admired on account of its being the only one, except tranfubftantiation, which remains ftill in ufe, out of the vaft abundance faid to have been performed at various periods in fupporL of the Roman Catholic faith* The latter is unquestionably the greater miracle of the two j for to change a wafer into flefh and blood, is more extraordinary than to liquefy any fubftance whatever : Yet I once imagined the liquefaction had rather the advantage in this particular ; that the change is more obvious to the fenfes. But I have lately been other wife inftructed, by an ingenious perfon, who was formerly a Jefuit. On fomebody (not T 2 me. 276 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND me, for I never do make objections in mat- ters of faith) having obferved, That it was unfortunate that the great change operated on the wafer in tranfubflantiation, was not vifible, the perfon above alluded to pro- nounced the miracle to be much greater on that account. " For pray, Sir," faid he, addreffing himfelf to the objector, " fup- " pofe I mould immediately turn that fowl, " pointing to a turkey which was at that therefore, are the favourite abodes of the landfcape-painters who travel to this country for improvement; and in the opi- nion of fome, thofe delightful villages furnifh ftudies better fuited to the powers of their art, than even Switzerland itfelf* Nothing can furpafs the admirable au r em- k blage of hills, meadows, lakes, cafcades, gardens, ruins, groves, and terraces, which charm the eye, as you wander among the fhades of Frefcati and Albano* which appear in new beauty as they are viewed from different points, and captivate the beholder with endlefs variety. One reflection obtrudes itfelf on the mind, and difturbs the fatisfadion which fuch pleaf- VOL, II, Z, ing 338 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ing fcenes would other wife produce; it arifes from beholding the poverty of infinitely the greater part of the inhabit- ants of thofe villages Not that they feem miferable or difcontented a few roafted chefnuts, and fome bunches of grapes, which they may have for a penny, will maintain them; but the eafier they are fatisfied, and the lefs repining they are, the more earneflly do we wifli that they were better provided for. Good heavens ! why mould fo much be heaped on a few, whom profufion cannot fatisfy; while a bare competency is withheld from mul- titudes, whom penury cannot render dif- contented ? The moft commanding view is from the garden of a convent of Capucins, at no great diftance from Albano. Directly before you is the lake, with the moun- tains and woods which furround it, and the caftle of Gondolfo; on one hand is Frefcati with all its villas; on the other, the MANNERS ift ITALY. the towns of Albano, La Riccia, and Gen- fano; beyond thefe you have an uninter- rupted view of the Campagna, with St. Peter's church and the city of Rome in the middle; the whole profpecl being bounded by the hills of Tivoli, the Apennines, and the Mediterranean. While we contemplated all thefe ob- jects with pleafure and admiration, an Englifh gentleman of the party faid to Mr. B , he will excite ftill lefs fympathy, if that is the caufe of his affliction. The laft conjec- ture, therefore, that the artift intended to reprefent him in a violent fit of remorfe, is the mofl probable. The unfinifhed buft of Marcus Brutus, by Michael Angelo, ad- mirably exprefles the determined firmnefs of character which belonged to that vir- tuous Roman. The artift, while he wrought at this, feems to have had in his mind Horace's Ode Juftum et tenacem propofiti virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium, Non vukus inftantis tyranni Mente quatit folida, &c. This MANNERS IN ITALY. 363 This wowkl, in my opinion, be a more fuitable infcription for the buft, than the concetto of Cardinal Bembo, which is at prefent under it*. Michael Angelo, in all probability was pleafed with the expreffion he had already given the features, and chofe to leave it as an unfinifhed (ketch, rather than rifk weakening it by an at- tempt to improve it. The virtuofi differ in opinion refpe&ing the Arrotino, or Whetter, as much as about the head of Alexander. A young gen- tleman faid to an antiquarian, while he contemplated the Arrotino, tf I believe, *' Sir, it is imagined that this ftatue was " intended for the flave, who, while he " was whetting his knife, overheard Ca- " tilin&'s confpiracy." " That is the vul- " gar opinion," faid the other; " but the *' ftatue was, in reality, done for a pear " fant, who difcovered the plot into which * Dura Bruti effigiem Michael de marmore fingit, In mentem fceleris venit, et abftinuit. " the 364 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND '* the two fons of Junius Brutus entered ** for the reftoration of Tarquin.'* " I " afk pardon, Sir," faid the young man; " but although one may eafily fee that *' the figure liftens with the moft exqui- f * fite exprefiion of attention, yet I mould " think it very difficult to delineate in the 11 features, whether the liftener heard a cc confpiracy, or any thing elfe which cr greatly interefted him, and abfolutely * { impoflible to mark, by any expreflion u of countenance, what particular con- " fpiracy he is hearing.'' " Your obfer- c vation is juft, young man,-' faid the antiquarian, " when applied to modern " artifts, but entirely the reverfe when " applied to the ancient. Now, for my vhich vie with the fineft in this collection thofe of Meng's and Sir Jofhua Reynolds. TLC portrait of Raphael feems to have been done when he was young ; it is not equal to any of the above. The Electrefs Dowager of Saxony has made a valuable addition to this collection, by fending her own portrait painted by herfelf; fhe is at full length, with the palette and pencils in her hands. Coreggio, after hearing MANNERS IN ITALY. 369 hearing the pidure of St. Cecilia at Bo- logna cried up as a prodigy, and the ne flus ultra of art, went to fee it; and con- fcious that there was nothing in it that re- quired the exertion of greater powers than he felt within himfelf, he was overheard to fay, " Anch' io fono pittoreV' This illuf- trious princefs was alfo confcious of her powers when fhe painted this portrait, which fee. is to pronounce to the fpe&ators, Anc h* iofpno pittrice. VOL. II. B b 370 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND LETTER LXXII. Florence. HAVING now crofted from the Adri- atic to the Mediterranean, and tra- velled through a confiderable part of Italy, 1 acknowledge I have been agreeably dif- appointed in finding the ftate of the poorer part of the inhabitants lefs wretch- ed than, from the accounts of fome tra- vellers, I imagined it was; and I may with equal truth add, that although I have not feen fo much poverty as I was taught to expect, yet I have feen far more poverty than mifery. Even the extre- mity of indigence is accompanied with lefs wretchednefs here than in many other countries. This is partly owing to the mildnefs of the climate and fertility of the foil, and partly to the peaceable, re- ligious, and contented difpofition of the 3 people. ' MANNERS IN ITALY. 37I people. The miferies which the poorer part of mankind fuffer from cold, are, perhaps, greater than thofe derived from any other fource whatever. But in Italy, the gentlenefs of the climate prote&s them from this calamity nine months of the year. If they can gather as much wood as to keep a moderate fire during the remaining three, and procure a coarfe cloke, they have little to fear from that quarter. Thofe who cannot get employ- ment, which is often the cafe in this country, and even thofe who do not choofe to work, which is the cafe with numbers all the world over, receive a regular maintenance from fome convent: with this, and what little they can pick up otherwife, in a country where pro- vifions are plentiful and cheap, they pafs through life, in their own opinion, with more fatisfation than if they had a greater number of conveniences procured by much bodily labour. Whereas in Great Britain, Germany, and other northern B b 2, countries, 372 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND countries, the poor have no choice but to work; for if they remain idle, they are expofed to miferies more intolerable than the hardeft labour can occafion to the lazieft of mankind; they are invaded at once by the accumulated agonies of hunger and cold ; and if they have ever had fufficient credit to contract a little debt, they are continually in danger of being thrown into a jail among pick- pockets and felons. With refpect to the loweft of the tradefpeople and the day- labourers in this country, their wages are certainly not, high ; nor are they willing, by great efforts of induftry, to gain all they might; but what they do gain is never wafted in intemperance, but fairly fpent in their families on the real necef- faries and comforts of life. The Italians are the greateft loungers in the world, and while walking in the fields, or ftretched in the fhade, feem to enjoy the ferenity and genial warmth of their MANNERS IN ITALY. 373 their climate with a degree of luxurious indulgence peculiar to themfelves. With- out ever running into, the daring excefles of the Englifh, or difplaying the frifky vivacity of the French, or the invincible phlegm of the Germans, the Italian populace difcover a fpecies of fedate fen- fibility to every fource of enjoyment, from, which, perhaps, they derive a greater de- gree of happinefs than any of the other. The frequent proceflions and religious ceremonies, befides amufing and comfort- ing them, ferve to fill up their time, and prevent that ennui and thofe immoral practices which are apt to accompany po- verty and idlenefs. It is neceflary, for the quiet and happinefs of every commu- nity, that the populace be employed. Some politicians imagine, that their whole time fhould be fpent in gainful induftry. Others think, that though the riches of the ftate will not be augmented, yet the general happinefs, which is a more im- B b 3 portant 374- VIEW Of SOCIETY AND portant object, will be promoted by blend- ing the occupations of induftry with a conliderable proportion of fuch fuper- flnious ceremonies as awaken the future hopes, without lulling the prefent bene- volence, of the multitude; but nobody can doubt, that in countries where, from whatever caufe, induflry does not prevail, proceffions and other ihcs of the fame nature will tend to reftrain the populace from the vices, and of confequence pre- vent fome of the miferies of idlenefs. The peafantry of this country are un- queftionably in a more comfortlefs ftate than a benevolent mind could wifti them. But, England and Switzerland excepted, is not this the cafe all over Europe ? In all the countries I have feen, or had an account of, the hulbandmen, probably the moft virtuous, but certainly the moft ufeful part of the community, whole labour and induftry maintain all the reft, and in whom the real ftrength of the ftate refides, MANNERS IN ITALY. 375 refides, are, by a moft unjuft difpenfation, generally the pooreft and moft oppreffed. But although the Italian peafantry are by no means in the affluent, independent fitu- ation of the peafantry of Switzerland, and the tenantry of England, yet they are not fubje&ed to the fame oppreffions with thofe of Germany, nor are they fo poor as thofe of France. Great part of the lands in Italy belong to convents; and I have obferved, and have been affured by thofe who have the beft opportunities of knowing, that the tenants of thefe communities are happier, and live more at their eafe, than thofe of a great part of the nobility. The reve- nues of convents are ufually well ma- naged, and never allowed to be fquandered away by the folly or extravagance of any of its members ; confequently the com- munity is not driven, by craving and threatening creditors, as individuals fre- quently are, to.fqueeze out of their vaffals B b 4 the 376 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND the means of fupplying the wafte occa- fioned by their own vanity and expence. A convent can have no incitement to fevere and oppreflive exactions from the peafants, except fheer avarice ; a paflion which never rifes to fuch a height in a fociety where the revenue is in common, as in the breaft of an individual, who is folely to reap the fruits of his own oppreflion. The ftories which circulate in Proteftant countries, concerning the fcandalous de- bauchery of monks, and the luxurious manner in which they live in their con- vents, whatever truth there may have been in them formerly, are certainly now in a great meafure without foundation. I re- member when I was at the Grande Char- treufe, near Grenoble, which has a confi- derable diftrict of land belonging to it, I was informed, and this information was confirmed by what I faw, that thofe monks were gentle and generous matters, and that iheir tenants were envied by all the pea- fantry MANNERS IN ITALY. 377 fantry around, on account of the treatment they received, and the comparatively eafy terms on which they held their farms. From the enquiries I have made in France, Germany, and Italy, I am convinced that this is ufually the cafe with thofe peafants who belong to convent lands ; and very often, I have been informed, befides hav- ing eafy rents, they alfo find affectionate friends and protectors in their matters, who vifit them in ficknefs, comfort them in all diftrefles, and are of fervice to their fa- milies in various ftiapes. I have been fpeaking hitherto of the pea- fantry belonging to convents ; but I believe I might extend the remark to the tenants of ecclefiaftics in general, though they are often reprefented as more proud and op- preflive matters than any clafs of men whatever ; an afperfion which may have gained credit the more eafily on this account, that inftances of cruelty and oppreflion in ecclefiaftics ftrike more, and raife a greater o, indignation, 378 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND indignation, than the fame degree of wio kednels in other men ; they raife a greater indignation, bccaufe they are more unbe- coming of clergymen, and they flrike more when they do happen, becaufe they happen feldomer. The ambition of Popes fome centuries ago, when the Court of Rome was in its zenith, the unlimited in- fluence and power which particular Church- men acquired in England and France, had thole effects upon their actions and charac- ters, which ambition and power ufually have on the characters of men ; it rendered them infolent, unfeeling, and perfecuting. Yet, for every cruel and tyrannical Pope that hiflory has recorded, it will be eafy to name two or three Roman Emperors who have furpafled them in every fpecies of wickednefs ; and England and France have had Prime Minifters with all the vices, without the abilities, of Wolfey and Riche- lieu. Thofe who declaim againft the wicked- , of the clergy, feem to take it -for granted MANNERS IN ITALY. 379 granted that this body of men were the au- thors of the moil horrid inftances of perfe- cution, maffacre, and tyranny, over men's confciences, that are recorded in the annals of mankind ; yet Philip II. Charles IX. and Henry VIII. were not Churchmen ; and the capricious tyranny of Henry, the frantic fury of Charles, and the perfevering cruelty of 1 hilip, feem to have proceeded from the perfonal characters of thefe Mo- narchs, or to have been excited by what they confidered as their political intereft, rather than by the fuggeftions of their Clergy. As the fubje&s of the Ecclefiaftical State are perhaps the pooreil in Italy, this has been imputed to the rapacious difpofition which fome afTert is natural to Churchmen. This poverty, however, may be otherwife acounted for. Bifhop Burnet very judi- cioufly obferves, that the fubjecls of a go- vernment, which is at once defpotic and elective, labour under peculiar difadvan- tages ; 380 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND tages ; for an hereditary Prince will natu- rally have confiderations for his people which an elective one will not, " unlefs he u has a degree of generofity not common " among men, and leaft of all among ' Italians, who have a paffion for their 11 families which is not known in other " places *.'* An elective Prince, know- ing that it is only during his reign that his family can receive any benefit from it, makes all the hafte he can to enrich them. To this it may be added, that as Popes ge- nerally arrive at Sovereignty at an age when avarice predominates in the human breaft, they may be fuppofcd to have a ftronger bias than other Princes to that fordid pafiion ; and even when this does not take place, their needy relations are continually prompting them to acts of op- preffion, and fuggefting ways and means of fqueezing the people. Other caufes might be affigned; but, that it does not originate from the imputation above men- * Vide Biihop Burnet's Travels. tioned, MANNERS IN ITALY. 381 tioned, feems evident from this, that the peafants of particular ecclefiaftics, and of the convents in the Pope's dominions, as well as in other countries, are generally lefs opprefled than thofe of the lay lords and princes. From what has been thrown out by fome celebrated wits, and the common- place invedive of thofe who affect that cha- racter, one would be led to imagine that there is fomething in the nature of the cle- rical profeffion which has a tendency to render men proud and oppreffive. Such indifcriminating cenfure carries no convic- tion to my mind, becaufe it is contradicted by the experience I have had in life, and by the obfervations, fuch as they are, which I have been able to make on human nature. I do not mean, in imitation of the fatirifts above mentioned, to put the Clergy of all religions on the fame footing. My opportunities of knowledge are too {lender to juftify tbat\ my acquaintance with 382 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND with this order of men having been in a great meafure confined to thofe of the Pro- teftant Church, men of learning and inge- nuity, of quiet, fpeculative, and benevo- lent difpofitions j it is ufually, indeed, this turn of mind which has inclined them to the ecclefiaftical profeffion. But though my acquaintance with the Roman Catholic Clergy is very limited, yet the few I do know could not be mentioned as exceptions to what I have juft faid of the Proteftant ; and, exclufive of all perfonal knowledge of the men, it is natural to think that the habitual performance of the ceremonies of the Chri- ftian religion, though intermingled with fome fuperftitious rites, and the preaching the doclrines of benevolence and good-will towards men, muft have fome influence on the lives and characters of thofe who are thus employed. It is a common error, prevailing in Proteftant countries, to ima- gine that the Roman Catholic Clergy laugh at the religion they inculcate, and regard their flocks as the dupes of an artful plan of MANNERS IN ITALY. 383 of impofmon. By far the greater part of Rornan Catholic priefts and monks are themfelves moft fincere believers, and teach the doctrines of Chriftianity, and all the miracles of the legend, with a perfect con- viction of their divinity and truth. The few who were behind the curtain when falfehood was firft embroidered upon truth, and thofe who have at different periods been the authors of all the mafks and interludes which have enriched the grand drama of fuperftition, have always chofen to employ fuch men, being fenfible that the inferior actors would perform their parts more per- fectly, by acting from nature and real con- viction. " Paulum interefle cenfes," fays Davus to Myfis, cc ex animo omnia ut y any alteration of the former fyftem; and MANNERS IN ITALY. 409 and it foon became univerfal all over Italy, for the women to appear at public places leaning upon the arm of a man; who, from their frequently whifpering together, was called her Cicifbeo. It was ftipu- lated, at the fame time, that the lady, while abroad under his care, fhould con- verfe with no other man but in his pre- fence, and with his approbation; he was to be her guardian, her friend, and gen- tleman-uftier. The cuftom at prefent is, that this ob- fequious gentleman vifits the lady every forenoon at the toilet, where the plan for pafling the evening is agreed upon; he difappears before dinner, for it is tifual all over Italy for the huiband and wife to dine together tete-a-tete, except on great occafions, as when there is a public feaft. After dinner the hufband retires, and the Cicifbeo returns and con- du&s the lady to the public walk, the con- yerfazione, or the opera j he hands her about 410 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND about wherever fhe goes, prefents her coffee, forts her cards, and attends with the moft pointed affiduity till the amufe- ments of the evening are over ; he accom- panies her home, and delivers up his charge to the hufband, who is then fup- pofed to refume his functions. From the nature of this connection, it could not be an eafy matter to find a Ci- cifbeo who would be equally agreeable to the hufband and wife. At the beginning of the inftitution, the hufbands, as I have been informed, preferred the platonic fwains, who profefled only the metaphy- ficks of love, and whofe lectures, they imagined, might refine their wives ideas, and bring them to the fame way of think- ing; in many inftances, no doubt, it would happen, that the platonic admirer acted with lefs feraphic ends\ but thefe inftances ferve only as proofs that the huf- bands were miftaken in their men; for however abfurd it may appear in the eyes of MANNERS IN ITALY. 411 of fome people, to imagine that the huf- bands believe it is only a platonic con- netion which fubfifts between their wives and the Cicifbeos; it is ftili more abfurd to believe, as fome flrangers who have patted through this country feem to have done, that this whole fyftem of Cicifbeifm was from the beginning, and is now, an univerfal fyftem of adultery connived at by every Italian hufband. To get clear of one difficulty, thofe gentlemen fall into another much more inexplicable; by fup- pofmg that the men, who of all the inha- bitants of Europe were the moft fcrupulous with regard to their wives chaftity, fhould acquiefce in, and in a manner become fub- fervient to, their proftitution. In fupport of this ftrange doctrine, they aflert, that the hufbands being the Cicifbeos of other wo- men, cannot enjoy this privilege on any other terms ; and are therefore contented to facrifice their wives for the fake of their miftreffes. That fome individuals may be profligate enough to act in this man- ner, 4 i2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ner, I make no doubt. Similar arrange- ments we hear inftances of in every coun- try ; but that fuch a fyftem is general, or any thing near it, in Italy, feems to me per- fectly incredible, and is contrary to the beft information I have received fincel have been here. It is alfo urged, that mod of the mar- ried men of quality in Italy act in the charac- ter of Cicifbeo to fome woman or other; and thofe who are not Platonic lovers, ought to fufpect that the fame liberties are taken \vith their wives which they take with the fpoufes of their neighbours ; and therefore their fuffering a man to vifit their wives in the character of a cavaliero fervente, is in 1 effect conniving at their own cuckoldom. But this does not follow as an abfolute confequence ; for men have a wonderful faculty of deceiving themfelves on fuch oc- cafions. So great is the infatuation of their vanity, that the fame degree of com- plaifance, which they confider as the effect of a very natural and excufable weaknefs, when indulged by any woman for them- MANNERS IN ITALY. 413 felves, they would look on as a horrible enormity if admitted by their wives for another man ; fo that whatever degree of licentioufnefs may exift in confequence of this fyftem, I am convinced the majority of huibands make exceptions in their own favour, and that their ladies find means to fatisfy each individual that he is not in- volved in a calamity, which, after all, is more general in other countries, as well as Italy, than it ought. Even when there is the greateft harmony and love between the hufband and wife, and although each would prefer the other's company to any other, ftill, fuch is the tyranny of fafhion, they muft feparate every evening ; he to play the cavaliero fervente to another woman, and fhe to be led about by another man. Notwithftand- ing this inconveniency, the couples who are in this predicament are certainly hap- pier than thofe whofe affections are not centered at home. Some very loving couples lament 4 i4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND lament the cruelty of this feparation, yet the world in general feem to be of opi- nion, that a man and his wife who dine together every day, and lie together every night, may, with a proper exertion of phi- lofophy, be able to fupport being afunder a few hours in the evening. The Cicifbeo, in many inftances, is a poor relation or humble friend, who, not being in circumftances to fupport an equi- page, is happy to be admitted into all the focieties, and to be carried about to public diverfions, as an appendage to the lady. I have known numbers of thofe gentle- men, whofe appearance and bodily infir- mities carried the cleareft refutation, with refpect to themfelves perfonally, of the fcandalous ftories of an improper connec- tion between cavaliero ferventes and their miftrefies. I never in my life faw men more happily formed, both in body and mind, for faving the reputation of the fe- males with whom they were on a footing 3 of MANNERS IN ITALY. 415 of intimacy. The humble and timid air which many of them betray in the pre- fence of the ladies, and the perfeverance with which they continue their fervices, notwithftanding the contemptuous ftile in which they are often treated, is equally unlike the haughtinefs natural to favoured lovers, and the indifference of men fatiated with enjoyment. There are, itmuftbe confeffed, Cicifbeos of a very different ftamp, whofe figure and manners might be fuppofed more agreeable to the ladies they ferve, than to their lords. I once expreffed my furprife, that a parti- cular perfon permitted one of this defcrip- tion to attend his wife. I was told, byway of folution of my difficulty, that the huf- band was poor, and the Ciciibeo rich. It is not in Italy only where infamous com- promifes of this nature take place. I have alfo known inftances, fince I have been in this country, where the characters of the ladies were fo well eftablifhed, as not to VIEW OF SOCIETY AND to be fliaken either in the opinion of their acquaintances or hufbands, although their cavaliero ferventis were in every refpet agreeable and accomplifhed. But whether the connection between them is fuppofed innocent or criminal, moft Englishmen will be aftonimed how men can pafs fo much of their time with wo- men. This, however, will appear lefs furprifing, when they recollec"l that the Italian nobility dare not intermeddle in po- litics; can find no employment in the army or navy; and that there are no fuch amufe- ments in the country as hunting or drink- ing. In fuch a fituation, if a man of for- tune has no turn for gaming, what can he do ? Even an Englimman, in thofe defpe- rate circumftances, might be driven to the company and converfation of women, to lighten the burden of time. The Italians have perievered fo long in this expedient, that, however extraordinary it may feem to thofe who have never tried it, there can 4 ^ MANNERS IN ITALY. 417 be no doubt that they find it to fucceed. They tell you, that nothing fo effectually fooths the cares, and beguiles the tediouf- nefs of life, as the company of an agree- able woman; that though the intimacy fhould never exceed the limits of friend- fhip, there is fomething more flattering and agreeable in it than in male friend- o fhips ; that they find the female heart more fincere, lefs interefted, and warmer in its attachments ; that women in general have more delicacy, and . Well, well, all this may be true, you will fay ; but may not a man enjoy all thefe advantages, to as great perfection, by an intimacy and friend- hip with his own wife, as with his neigh- bour's ? " Non, Monfieur, point du tout,"" anfwered a Frenchman, to whom this quef- tion was once addrefled. " Et pourquoi i{ done ? Parceque cela n'eft pas permis." This you will not think a very fatisfa&ory anfwer to fo natural and fo pertinent a queftion It is not the fafhion ! This, VOL. IF. E e however, 418 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND however, was the only anfwer I received all over Italy. This fyftem is unknown to the middle and lower ranks ; they pafs their time in the exercife of their profefiions, and in the fociety of their wives and children, as in other countries ; and in that fphere of life, jealoufy, which formed fo ftrong a feature of the Italian character, is ftill to be found as ilrong as ever. He who attempts to vifit the wife or miftrefs of any of the trades-people without their permiflion, is in no fmall danger of a Coltellata. I have often heard it aflerted, that Italian women have remarkable powers of attaching their lovers. Thofe powers, whatever they are, do not feem to depend entirely on perfonal charms, as many of them retain their an- cient influence over their lovers after their beauty is much in the wane, and they themfelves are confiderably advanced in the vale of years. I know an Italian noble- man, of great fortune, who has been lately MANNERS IN ITALY. lately married to a very beautiful young \voman, and yet he continues his affiduity to his former miftrefs, now an old woman, as punctually as ever. I know an Englim- raan who is faid to be in the fame fituation, with this difference, that his lady is ftill more beautiful. In both thefe inftances, it is natural to believe that the beautiful young wives will always take care to keep their hufbands in fuch a chafte and virtuous way of thinking, that, whatever time they may fpend with their ancient miftreffes, nothing criminal will ever pafs between them. Whatever fatisfa&ion the Italians find in this kind of conftancy, and in their friendly attachments to one woman, my friend the Marquis de F- told me, when I laft faw him at Paris, that he had tried it while he remained at Rome, and found it quite intolerable. A certain obliging ecclefiaftic had taken the trouble, at the earned re- queft of a lady of that city, to arrange mat- ters between her and the Marquis, who e 2 was 420 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND was put into immediate pofleffion of all the rights that were ever fuppofed to belong to a Cicifbeo. The woman naufeated her hufband, which had advanced matters mightily ; and her paffion for the Marquis was in proportion to her abhorrence of the other. In this ftate things had re- mained but a very fhort time, when the Marquis called one afternoon to drive the Abbe out a little into the country, but he happened to have juft dined. The meals of this ecclefiaftic were generally rather oppreffive for two or three hours after they were nniflied ; he therefore declined the in- vitation, laying, by way of apology, " Je <{ fuis dans les horreurs de la digeftion.*' He then enquired how the Marquis's amour went on with the lady. " Ah, pour Tamour, tc cela eft a peu pres pafse,*' replied the Marquis, " et nous fommes actuellement 14 dans les horreurs de 1'amitic.'* MANNERS IN ITALY. 411 LETTER LXXVI. Florence. THE Florentines imputed the decay of the republic to the circumftance of their Sovereign refiding in another coun- try ; and they imagined, that wealth would accumulate all over Tufcany, and flow into Florence, from various quarters, as foon as they fhould have a refiding Prince, and a Court eftablifhed. It appears, that their hopes were too fanguine, or at leaft pre- mature. Commerce is ftill in a languid condition, in fpite of all the pains taken by the Great Duke to revive it. The Jews are not held in that degree of odium, or fubjected to the fame humiliating diftinctions here, as in moft other cities of Europe. I am told, fome of the richeft merchants are of that religion. Another clafs of mankind, who are alfo reprobated E e 3 in in fome countries, are in this looked on in, the fame light with other citizens. I mean the actors and fingers at the different Theatres. Why Chriftians, in any country, fhould have the fame prejudice againft them as againft Jews, many are at a lofs to. know ; it cannot, certainly, be on the fame account. Ators and actreffes have never been accufed of an obflinate, or fuperfti- tious adherence to the principles or cere- monies of znyfalfe religion whatever. To attempt a defcription of the churches, palaces, and other public buildings, would lead, in my opinion, to a very unenter- taining detail. Few cities, of its fize, in Europe, however, afford fo fine a field of amufement to thofe who are fond of fuch fubjects ; though the lovers of architecture will be mocked to find feveral of the fineft churches without fronts, which, according to fome, is owing to a real deficiency of money; while others aflert, they are left jn this condition, as a pretext for levying contributions to finifh them. The The chapel of St. Lorenzo is, perhaps, the fineft and moft expenfive habitation that ever was reared for the dead ; it is encrufted with precious ftones, and adorned by the workmanfhip of the beft modern fculptors. Some complain that, after all, it has a gloomy appearance. There feems to be no impropriety in that, confidering what the building was intended for; though, certainly, the fame effect might have been produced at lefs expence. Mr. Addifon remarked, that this chapel ad- vanced fo very flowly, that it is not im- poffible but the family of Medicis may be extinct before their burial-place is finished. This has actually taken place : the Medici family is extinct, and the chapel remains ftill unfiniihed. Of all the methods by which the vanity of the Great has diftinguifhed them from the reft of mankind, this of erecting fplen- did receptacles for their bones, excites the }eaft envy. The fight of the moft fuperb E e 4 edifice 424 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND edifice of this kind, never drew a repining figh from the bofom of one poor perfon ; nor do the unfuccefsful complain, that the bodies of Fortune's favourites rot under Parian marble, while their own will, in all probability, be allowed to moulder beneath a plain turf. I have already mentioned the number of flatues which ornament the ftreets and fquares of Florence, and how much they are refpected by the common people. I am told, they amount in all to above one hundred and fifty, many of them of ex- quifite workmanfhip, and admired by thofe of the beft tafte. Such a number of flatues, without any drapery, continually expofed to the public eye, with the far greater number of pictures, as well as fla- tues, in the fame ftate, to be feen in the palaces, have produced, in both fexes, the moft perfect inienfibility to nudities. Ladies who have remained fome time at Home and Florence, particularly thofe who affett MANNERS IN ITALY. 42$ affect a tafte for virtu, acquire an intre- pidity and a cool minuteoefs, in examining and criticiiing naked figures, which is un- known to thofe who have never palled the Alps. There is fomething in the figure of the God of Gardens, which is apt to alarm the modefty of a novice ; but I have heard of female dilettantes who minded it no more than a ftraw. The Palazzo Pitti, where the Great Duke refides, is on the oppofite fide of the Arno from the Gallery. It has been en- larged fince it was purchafed from the ruined family of Pitti. The furniture of this palace is rich and curious, particularly fome tables of Florentine work, which arc much admired. The moft precious orna- ments, however, are the paintings. The walls of what is called the Imperial Cham- ber, are painted in frefco, by various painters ; the fubje&s are allegorical, and in honour of Lorenzo of Medicis, diftin- guiflied by the name of the Magnificent. There 426 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND There is more fancy than tafte difplayed ia thofe paintings. The other principal rooms are djftinguulied by the names of Heathen Deities, as Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Venus, and by paintings in frefco, moftly by Pietro da Cortona. In the laft mentioned, the fubjects are different from what is na- turally expected from the name of the room, being reprefentations of the triumphs of Virtue over Love, or fome memorable inftance of continency. As the Medici family have been more diftinguifhed for the protection they afforded the arts, than for the virtues of continency or felf-denial, it is probable, the fubject, as well as the execution of thefe pieces, was left entirely to the painter. I happened lately to be at this palace, with a perfon who is perfectly well ac- quainted with all the pictures of any merit in Florence. While he explained the pecu- liar excellencies of Pietro's manner, a gentleman in company, who, although he does MANNERS IN ITALY. 427 does not pretend to the fmalleft fkill in pictures, would rather remain ignorant for ever, than liften to the lectures of a con- noifleur, walked on, by himfelf, into the other apartments, while I endeavoured to profit by my inftructors knowledge. When the other gentleman returned, he faid, ' I " know no more of painting than my " pointer ; but there is a picture in one of " the other rooms, which I would rather " have than all thofe you feem to admire *' fo much; it is the portrait of a healthy, '* handfome, country woman, with her *' child in her arms. There is nothing in- *' terefting in the fubject, to be fure, be- *' caufe none of us are perfonally ac- a quainted with the woman. But I can- " not help thinking the colours very na- " tqral. The young woman's countenance " is agreeable, and expreffive of fond- " nefs and the joy of a mother over a " firfl-born. The child is a robuft, chub- ^ by-cheeked fellow ; fuch as the fon of V a peafant (hould be." We 428 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND We followed him into the room, and the picture which pleafed him fo much, was the famous Madonna della Seggiola of Ra- phael. Our inftructor immediately called out Viva ! and pronounced him a man of genuine tafte ; becaufe, without any pre- vious knowledge or inftruction, he had fixed his admiration on the fineft picture in Florence. But this gentleman, as foon as he underftood what the picture was, difclaimed all title to praife; " bccaufe,** faid he, " although, when I confidered 41 that picture, fimply as the reprefenta- " tion of a blooming country wench hug- .*' ging her child, I admired the art of the *' painter, and thought it one of the trueft u copies of nature I ever faw ; yet, I con- *' fefs, my admiration is much abated, now that you inform me his intention was to reprefent the Virgin Mary.'* Why fo ?" replied the Cicerone ; " the " Virgin Mary was not of higher rank. ** She was but a poor woman, living in a " little village in Galilee." " No rank " ia (.C t: MANNERS IN ITALY. 429 ich had not been already ferved up. This town is at prefent quite full o ftrangers, who came to affift at the pro- ceflion of Corpus Domini. The Duke of Parma, feveral Cardinals, and other per- fons of high diftindion, befides a prodi- gious crowd of citizens, attended this great feftival. The ftreets through which the Hoft was carried under a magnificent canopy, were adorned with tapeftry, paintings, looking-glafles, and all the various kinds of finery which the inha- bitants could produce. Many of the VOL. II. F f painting 434 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND paintings feeraed unfuitable to the occa-* fion ; they were on profane, and fome of them on wanton fubjecls; and it appeared extraordinary to fee the figures of Venus, Minerva, Apollo, Jupiter, and others of that abdicated family, arranged along the walls in honour of a triumph of the Cor- pus Chrifti. On our way to Milan we flopped a fhort time at Modena, the capital of the duchy of that name. The whole duchy is about fifty -miles in length, and twenty- fix in breadth ; the town contains twenty thoufand inhabitants ; the ftreets are in general large, ftraight, and ornamented with porticoes. This city is furrounded by a fortification, and farther fecured by a citadel; it was anciently rendered fa- mous by the fiege which Decimus Bru- tus fuftained here againft Marc Antony. We proceeded next to Parma, a beautiful town, confiderably larger than Modena, and MANNERS IN ITALY. ftrid defended, like it, by a citadel and re- gular fortification. The ftreets are well built, broad, and regular. The town is divided unequally by the little river Parma, which lofes itfelf in the Po, ten or twelve miles from this city. The theatre is the largeft of any in Eu- rope 5 and confequently a great deal larger than there is any occafion for. Every body- has obferved, that it is fo favourable to the voice, that a whifper from the ftage is heard all over this immenfe houfe ; but nobody tells us oh what circumftance in the con- ftruction this furprifing effect depends. The Modenefe was the native country of Correggio, but he pafled moft of his life at Parma. Several of the churches are orna- mented by the pencil of that great artift, particularly the cupola of the cathedral ; the painting of which has been fo greatly admired for the grandeur of thedefign and the boldnefs of the fore-fhortenings. It is F f 2 now 436 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND now fpoiled in fuch a manner, that its principal beauties are not eafily diftin- guifhed. Some of the beft pictures in the Ducal Palace have been removed to Naples and elfewhere ; but the famous picture of the Virgin, in which Mary Magdalen and St. Jerom are introduced, ftill remains. In thiscompofition, Correggio has been thought to have united, in a fupreme degree, beau- ties which are feldorn found in the fame piece ; an excellence in any one of which has been fufficient to raife other artifts to celebrity. The fame connoifleurs affert, that this picture is equally worthy of ad- miration, on account of the freflinefs of the colouring, the inexpreflible gracefulnefs of the defign, and the exquifite tendernefs of the expreflion. After I had heard all thofe fine things faid over and over again, I thought I had nothing to do but admire ; and I had prepared my mind accordingly. Would to Heaven that the refpeclable body of MANNERS IN ITALY. 437 of connoiffeurs were agreed in opinion, and I (hould moft readily fubmit mine to theirs ! But while the above eulogium ftill refounded in my ears, other connoifleurs have afferted, that this picture is full of affe&ation ; that the fhadowing is of a dirty brown, the at- titude of the Magdalen conftrained and un- natural ; that fhe may ftrive to the end of time without ever being able to kifs the foot of the infant Jefus in her prefent po- fition ; that fhe has the look of an ideot ; and that the Virgin herfelf is but a vulgar figure, and feems not a great deal wifer; that the angels have a ridiculous fimper, and moft abominable air of affectation ; and finally, that St. Jerom has the appear- ance of a flurdy beggar, who intrudes his brawny figure where it has no right to be. Diftra&ed with fuch oppofite fentiments, what can a plain man do, who has no great reliance on his own judgment, and wifhes to give offence to neither party ? I {hall leave the pi&ure as I found it, to anfwer F f 3 for VIEW OF SOCIETY AND for itfelf, with a fingle remark in favour of the angels. I cannot take upon me to fay how the real angels of heaven look; but I certainly have fcen fome earthly angels, of my acquaintance, afTume the fimper and air of thbfe in this picture, when they \vifhed to appear quite celeftial. The duchies of Modena, Parma, and Placentia, are exceedingly fertile. The foil is naturally rich, and the climate being moifter here than in many other parts of Italy, produces more plentiful pafturage for cattle. The road runs over a continued plain, among meadows and corn fields, divided by rows of trees, from whofe branches the vines hang in beautiful fef- toons. We had the pleafure of thinking, as we drove along, that the peafants are not deprived of the blefiings of the fmiling fertility among which they live. They had in general a neat, contented, and cheer- ful appearance. The women are fuccefT- fully attentive to the ornaments of drefs, which MANNERS IN ITALY. 439 which is never the cafe amidft oppreffive poverty. Notwithftanding the fertility of the country around it, the town of Placentia it- felf is but thinly inhabited, and feems to be in a ftate of decay. What firfl ftrike a ftranger on entering this city, are two equeftrian ftatues, in bronze, by Giovanni di Bologna ; they ftand in the principal fquare, before the Town-houfe. The beft of the two reprefents that confummate ge- neral Alexander Farnefe, Duke of Parma and Placentia, who commanded the army of Philip II. in the Netherlands. The in- fcription on the pedeftal mentions his having relieved the city of Paris, when called to the affiftance of the League into France, where his great military fkill, and cool in- trepidity, enabled him to baffle all the ar- dent impetuofity of the gallant Henry. He was certainly worthy of a better mafter, and of ferving in a better caufe. We can- not, without regret, behold a Prince, of F f 4 the 440 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND the Duke of Parma's talents and character, fupporting the pride of an unrelenting ty- rant, and the rancour of furious fanatics. Except the Ducal Palace, and fome pic- tures in the churches, which I dare fwear you will cordially forgive me for palling over undefcribed, I believe there is not a great deal in this city worthy of attention 5 at all events I can fay little about them, as we remained here only a few hours during the heat of the day, and fet out the fame evening for Milan,. 44* LETTER LXXVIII. Milan, ILAN, the ancient capital of Lonv* bardy, is the largeft city in Italy, except Rome ; but though it is thought rather to exceed Naples in fize, it does not contain above one-half the number of inha- bitants. The cathedral ftands in the centre of the city, and, after St. Peter's, is the moft con- fiderable building in Italy. It ought by this time to be the largeft in the world, if what they tell us be true, that it is near four hundred years fince it was begun, and that there has been a confiderable number of men daily employed in completing it ever fince ; but as the injuries which time does to the ancient parts of the fabric keep them in conftant employment, without the pofTibility of their work being ever com- 5 pleted, 442 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND pleted, Martial's epigram, on the barber Eutrapelus, has been applied to them with great propriety. That poor man, it feems, performed his operations fo very ilowly, that the beards of his patients required /having again on the fide where he had be- gun, by the time he had finifhed the other. ILJTRAPELUS TONSOR DUM CIRCUIT ORA LUPERCI, EXPUNGITQUE GENAS, ALTERA BARBA SUBIT. Nq church in Chriftendom is fo much load- ed, I had almoft faid disfigured, with orna- ments. The number of ftatues, within- iide and without, is prodigious ; they are all of marble, and many of them finely wrought. The greater part cannot be di- flinctly feen from below, and therefore certainly have nothing to do above. Beiides thofe which are of a fize, and in a fituation to be diftinguifhed from the ftreer, there are great numbers of fmaller ftatues, like fairies peeping from every cornice, and hid among the grotefquc ornaments, which arc here in vaft profiifion. They muft have eoft much labour to the artifls who formed them, MANNERS IN ITALY. 443 them, and are ftill a fource of toil to ftran- gers, who, in compliment to the perfon who harangues on the beauties of this church, which he fays is the eighth wonder of the world, are obliged to afcend to the rpof to have a nearer view of them. This vaft fabric is not fimply encrufted, which is not uncommon in Italy, but in- tirely built of folid white marble, and fup- ported by fifty columns, faid to be eighty- four feet high. The four pillars under the cupola, are twenty-eight feet in circum- ference. By much the fineft ftatue belong- ing to it is that of St. Bartholomew. He appears flayed, with his fkin flung around his middle like a fafh, and in the eafieft and' moft degage manner imaginable. The mufdes are well exprefled ; and the figure might be placed with great propriety in the hall of an anatomift ; but, expofed as it is to the view of people of all profeffion^ and of both fexes, it excites more difguft and horror than admiration. Like thofe beggars who uncover their fores in the ftreet, 444 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ftreet, the artift has deftroyed the very effect he meant to produce. This would have fufficiently evinced that the ftatue was not the work of Praxitiles, without the infer ip- tion on the pedeftal. NON ME PRAXITILES, SED MARCUS FINXIT AGRATI. The infide of the choir is ornamented by fome highly efteemed fculpture in wood. From the roof hangs a cafe of cryftal, fur- rounded by rays of gilt metal, and in- clofmg a nail, faid to be one of thofe by which our Saviour was nailed to the crofs, The treafury belonging to this church is reckoned the richeft in Italy, after that of Loretto. It is compofed of jewels, relics, and curiofities of various kinds ; but what is efteemed above all the reft, is a fmall portion of Aaron's rod, which is carefully preferved there. The Ambrofian Library is faid to be one of the moft valuable collections of books and manufcripts in Europe. It is open a certain number of hours every day ; and there MANNERS IN ITALY. 44$ there are accommodations for thofe who come to read or make extracts* In the Mufeum, adjoining to the Li* brary, are a confiderable number of pic- tures, and many natural curiofities. Among thefe they fliew a human fkeleton. This does not excite a great deal of attention, till you are informed that it confifts of the bones of a Milanefe Lady, of diftinguifhed beauty, who, by her laft will, ordained that her body fhould be diflecled, and the ke* leton placed in this Mufeum, for the con- templation of pofterity. If this Lady only meant to give a proof of the tranfient na- ture of external charms, and that a beau- tiful woman is not more defirable after death than a homely one, fhe might have allowed her body to be configned to duft in the ufual way. In fpite of all the cofme- tics, and other auxiliaries which vanity employs to varnifh and fupport decaying beauty and flaccid charms, the world have been long fatisfied that death is not necef- fary 446 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fary to put the fair and the homely on a level ; a very few years, even during life, do the bufmefs. There is no place in Italy, perhaps I might have faid in Europe, where ftrangers are received in fuch an eafy, hofpitable manner, as at Milan. Formerly the Mi- lanefe Nobility difplayed a degree of fplen- dour and magnificence, not only in their entertainments, but in their ufual ftyle of living, unknown in any other country in Europe. They are under a neceffity at pre- fent of living at lefs expence, but they ftill fhew the fame obliging and hofpitable dif- pofition. This country having, not very long fince, been pofleffed by the French, from whom it devolved to the Spaniards, and from them to the Germans, the troops of thofe nations have, at different periods, had their refidence here, and, in the courfe of thefe vicifT.tudes, produced a flyle of manners, and (lamped a character on the. inhabitants of this duchy, different from, MANNERS IN ITALY. 447 from what prevails in any other part of Italy ; and nice obfervers imagine they perceive in Milanefe manners the polite- nefs, formality, and honefty imputed to thofe three nations, blended with the in- genuity natural to Italians. Whatever un- eafmefs the inhabitants of Milan may feel, from the idea of their being under German government, they feem univerfally pleafed with the perfonal character of Count Fer- mian, who has refided here many years as Minifter from Vienna, equally to the fa- tisfaction of the Emprefs Queen, the inha- bitants of Milan, and the ftrangers who occafionally travel this way. The Great Theatre having been burnt to the ground laft year, there are no dramatic entertainments, except at a fmall temporary playhoufe, which is little frequented ; but the company aiTemble every evening in their carriages on the . ramparts, and drive about, in the fame manner as at Naples r till it is pretty late. In Italy, the ladies 6 have 448 VIEW OF SOCIETY have no notion of quitting their carriages at the public walks, and ufmg their own legs, as in England and France. On fee- ing the number of fervants, and the fplen- dour of the equipages which appear every evening at the Corfo oh the ramparts, one would not fufpeft that degree of depopula- tion, and diminution of wealth, which we are aflured has taken place within thefe few years all over the Milanefe ; and which, according to my information, proceeds from the burthenfome nature of fome late taxes, and the infolent and oppreflive man- ner in which they are gathered. The natural productions of this fertile country muft occafion a confiderable com- merce, by the exportation of grain, par- ticularly rice ; cattle, cheefe, and by the various manufactures of filken and velvet fluffs, ftockings, handkerchiefs, ribands, gold and filver laces and embroideries, woollen and linen cloths, as well as by fome large manufactures of glafs, and earthen MANNERS IN ITALY; earthen ware in imitation of china, which are eftablifhed here. But I am told mono- polies are too much protected here, and that prejudices againft the profeffion of a mer- chant ftill exift in the minds of the only people who have money. Thefe cannot fail to check induftry, and deprefs the foul of commerce; and perhaps there is little pro- bability that the inhabitants of Milan will overcome this unfortunate turn of mind while they remain under German domi- nion, and adopt German ideas. The pea- fants, though more at their eafe than in many other places, yet are not fo much fo as might be expected in fo very fertile a country. Why are the inhabitants of the rich plains of Lombardy, where Nature pours forth her gifts in fuch profufion, lefs opulent than thofe of the mountains of Switzerland ? Becaufe Freedom, whofe in- fluence is more benign than funfliine and zephyrs, who covers the rugged rock with foil, drains the fickly fwamp, and clothes the brown heath in verdure ; who drefles VOL. II, G g the 450 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND the labourer's face with fmiles, and makea him behold his increafing family with de- light and exultation ; Freedom has aban- doned the fertile fields of Lombardy, and dwells among the mountains of Switzer- land. MANNERS IN ITALY. 451 LETTER LXXIX. Chamberry. WE made fo fhort a (lay at Turin that I did not think of writing from thence. I fhall now give you a fketch of our progrefs fince my laft, We left Milan at midnight, and arrived the next evening at Turin before the {hutting of the gates. All the approaches to that city are magnificent. It is fituated at the bottom of the Alps, in a fine plain watered by the Po. Moft of the ilreets are well built, uniform, clean, ftraight, and terminating on fome agreeable ob- ject. The Strada di Po, leading to the palace, the fineft and largeft in the city, is adorned with porticoes equally beautiful and convenient. The four gates are alfo highly ornamental. There can be no more agreeable walk than that around the G g 2 ramparts. 45* VIEW OF SOCIETY AND ramparts. The fortifications are regular and in good repair, and the citadel is reckoned one of the ftrongeft in Europe. The royal palace and the gardens are admir- ed by fome. The apartments difplay neatnefs, rather than magnificence. The rooms are fmall, but numerous. The fur- niture is rich and elegant; even the floors attract attention, and muft peculiarly flrike Grangers who come from Rome and Bo- logna; they are curioufly inlaid with va- rious kinds of wood, and kept always in a ftate of fhining brightnefs. The pic- tures, flames, and antiquities in the palace are of great value; of the former there are fome by the greateft matters, but thofe of the Flemifh fchool predominate. No royal family in Europe are more rigid obfervers of the laws of etiquette, than that of Sardinia; all their move- ments are uniform and invariable. The hour of rifmg, of going to mafs, of tak- ing the air ; every thing is regulated like clocb- MANNERS IN ITALY* 453 clock-work. Thofe illuftrious perfons muft have a vaft fund of natural good-hu- mour, to enable them to perfevere in fuch a wearifome routine, and fupport their fpirits under fuch a continued weight of oppreffive formality. We had the fatisfadion of feeing them all at mafs ; but as the D of H grows more impatient to get to England the nearer we approach it, he declined being prefented at court, and we left Turin two days after our arrival. We flopped a few hours, during the heat of the day, at a fmall village, called St. Ambrofe, two or three pofts from Turin. I never experienced more intenfe heat than during this day, while we were tantalized with a view of the fnow on the top of the Alps, which feem to overhang this place, though, in reality, . they are fome leagues diftant. While we remained at St. Ambrofe there was a grand pro- ceflion, All the men, women, and chil- G g 3 dren, 454 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND dren, who were able to crawl, attended j feveral old women carried crucifixes, others pictures of the faint, or flags fixed to the ends of long poles; they feemed to have fome difficulty in wielding them, yet the good old women tottered along as happy as fo many young enfigns the firft time they bend under the regimental colours. Four men, carrying a box upon their ihoulders, walked before the reft. I afked what the box contained, and was informed by a fagacious looking old man, that it contained the bones of St. John. I en- quired if all the Saint's bones were there j he aflured me, that not even a joint of his little finger was wanting; " Becaufe,'' con- tinued 1, " I have feen a confiderable ** number of bones in different parts of " Italy, which are faid to be the bones of " St. John." He fmiled at my fimplicity, and faid the world was full of impofition; but nothing could be more certain, than ;hat thofe in the box were the true bones of the Saint; he had remembered them ever MANNERS IN ITALY. 455 ever fince he was a child- and his father, when on his death-bed, had told him, on the 'word of a dying man, That they be- longed to St. John and no other body. At Novalezza, a village at the bottom of Mount Cenis, our carriages were taken to pieces, and delivered to Muleteers to be carried to Lanebourg. I had bargained with the Vitturino, before we left Turin, for our paflage over the mountain in the chairs commonly ufed on fuch occafions. The fellow had informed us there was no poflibility of going in any other manner; but when we came to this place, I faw no difficulty in being carried up by mules, which we all preferred, to the great fatisfac- tion of our knavifh conductor, who there- by faved the expence of one half the chairmen, for whofe labour he was al- ready paid. We rode up this mountain, which has been defcribed in fuch formidable terms, with great eafe. At the top there is a G g 4 fine 456 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND fine verdant plain of five or fix miles in length, we halted at an Inn, called Santa Croce, where Piedmont ends and Savoy begins. Here we were regaled with fried trout, catched in a large lake within fight, from which the river Doria arifes, which runs to Turin in conjunction with the Po. Though we afcend no higher than this plain,, which is the fummit of Mount Cenis, the mountains around are much higher; in pafling the plain we felt the air fo keen, that we were glad to have re- courfe to our great-coats ; which, at the bottom of the hill, we had confidered as a very fuperfluous part of our baggage. I had a great deal of converfation in pafifing the mountain with a poor boy, who accom- panied us from Novalezza to take back the mules; he told me he could neither read nor write, and had never been far- ther than Suza on one fide of the moun- tain, and Lanebourg on the other. He fpoke four languages, Piedmontefe, which is his native language; this is a kind of Patois MANNERS IN ITALY. 457 Patois very different from Italian; the Pa- tois of the peafants of Savoy, which is equally different from French; he alfo fpoke Italian and French wonderfully well; the fecond he had learnt from the Savoyard chairmen, and the two laft from Italian and French travellers whom he has accompanied over Mount Cenis, where he has pafled his life hitherto, and which he feems to have no defire of leaving. If you chance to be confulted by any parent who inclines to fend their fons abroad merely that they may be removed from London, and acquire modern languages in the moft ceconomical manner, you now know what place to recommend. In none where opportunities for this branch of education are equal, is living cheaper than at Mount Cenis, and I know nothing in which it has any refemblance to London, except that it ftands on much the fame quantity of ground. I afked this boy, why he did not learn Englifh. He had all the inclination in the world.- 4 " Why VIEW OF SOCIETY AND " Why don't you learn it then as well as " French?'* " On attrape le Francois* " Monfieur, bon gre', mal gre'," anfwered he, " mais Meflieurs les Anglois parlent < peu." \Vhen we arrived at the North fide of the mountain we difmifled our mules, and had recourfe to our Alpian chairs and chairmen. The chairs are conftructed in the fimpleft manner, and perfectly anfwer the purpofe for which they are intended. The chair- men are ftrong-made, nervous, little fel- lows. One of them was betrothed to a girl at Lanebourg, and was to be mar- ried that evening. I could not, in con- fcience, permit him to have any part in carrying me, but diredly appointed him to Jack's chair. The young fellow prefent- ed us all with ribbons, which we wore in our hats in honour of the bride. " Are " you very fond of your miftrefs, friend," faid I? " II faut que je 1'aime beaucoup," anfwered he, " puifque, pauvre garon " comme MANNERS IN ITALY. 459 *' comme me voila, je donne trente livres " au pretre pour nous marier." To tax matrimony, and oblige the people who beget and maintain children to pay to thofe who maintain none, feems bad policy; and it is furprifmg that a prince who attends fo minutely, as his Sardinian Majefty, to the welfare of his fubjects, does not remedy fo great an abufe. As our carriers jogged zig-zag, accord- ing to the courfe of the road, down the mountain, they laughed and fung all the the way. " How comes it," faid I to the D , " that chairmen are generally " merrier than thofe they carry ? To hear " thefe fellows without feeing them, one " would imagine that ive had the labo- 4 rious part, while they fat at their eafe." " True,*' anfwered he ; " and the fame " perfon might conclude, on hearing the " bridegroom fing fo cheerfully, that we " les Bernois font bien a leur aife, Mon* " fieur, pendant que nous autres Fran* " 9015 vivons tres durement, et cependant ** les Bernois font des he're'tiques." "Voila," faid an old woman, who fat in a corner reading her breviary ; " voila," faid fhe> taking off her fpectacles, and laying her beads on the book, *' ce que je trouve in* ** comprehenfible.'* This was, however, at the extremity of France, and in a province lately acquired j for it muft be confefled, that it is not com- mon for the French to imagine that any country whatever has the advantage of H h 2 theira 4 68 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND theirs in any one circumftance ; and they certainly are not fo apt to grumble as fome of their neighbours, who have lefs reafon. When I was laft at Geneva, a French hair- dreflfer Let me intreat you not to fhew this to your friend *, who is fo fond of people of quality, that he thinks there is no life out of their company. He would pfhaw, and curfe my poor peafants, and old women, and hair-dreffers, and accufe me of being too fond of fuch low company. As for the old women, I am much mif- taken if there are not at leaft as many to be found of both fexes in high life as in low ; for the others, I declare I have no particular affection, but I am fond of ftrokeo of nature and character, and muft look for them where they are to be found. I in- troduce the prefent hair-drefier to your ac- quaintance, becaufe, if I am not miftaken, he fpoke the fentiments of his whole nation, high and low. You fhall judge. This young fellow attended me every morning while MANNERS IN ITALY. 469 while I remained at Geneva ; he had been a year or two at London ; and while he drefled my hair, his tongue generally moved as quick as his fingers. He was full of his remarks upon London, and the fine people whofe hair he pretended to have drefled. " Do you not think," faid I, " that people may live very happily in 61 that country ?" " Mais pour cela oui, " Monfieur." " Do you think, then, they 6i are happy ?" " Pour cela, non, Monfieur." " Can you guefs at the reafon why they " are not, though they have fo much reafon " to be fo ?" Oui, Monfieur, elle eft toute * l fimple." " Pray what is the reafon they ^ are not happy ?" " C'eft, qu'ils ne font st pas deftine's a Tetre." A very genteel young man, a Genevois, happened to call on me, for two minutes, while this frifeur was with me. The young gentleman had pafled fome time at Paris, and was drefled exadly in the Parifian tafte. " He has much the air of one of H h 3 " your 470 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND *' your countrymen," faid I to the French- man, as foon as the other had left tho room. * Mon Dieu J quelle difference," cried the frifeur." " For my part, I can fee ' none," faid I. " Monfieur," refumed he, " foyez perfuade qu'aucun Genevois ne fera, *' jamais pris pour un Francois." " There " are certainly fome petit- malt res to be *' found in this town," faid I. " Par- v donnez moi," replied he, " ils ne font que v petit-maitres manques." *.' Did you ever fee an Englishman," faid J,