Italy and the Italians in the Nineteenth Century: a view of the ... state of that country, with a sketch of the history of Italy under the French; and a treatise on modern Italian literature

Front matter

A VIEW OF THE CIVIL, POLITICAL, AND MORAL STATE OF THAT COUNTRY: WITH A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF ITALY UNDER THE FRENCH; AND A TREATISE ON MODERN ITALIAN LITERATURE. By A. VIEUSSEUX. E il piii gentile Terren non sei di quanti scalda il Sole? D*ogni bell'arte non sei madre, o Italia? Polve d'eroi non e la polve tua i Fbancesca da Rimini, Tragedla. IN TWO VOLUMES— VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MAM. EAST. MDCCOXXIV. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES, Northumberland court.

Preface

. A Work, in the shape of letters, under the title of " Italy, and the Italians in the Nineteenth Century,1' was published three years ago, in one volume, octavo, and a very limited edition taken off, which was, in great measure, confined to the subscribers. A fire, which occurred soon after in the printer's warehouse, destroyed the remaining copies. The work, however, was favourably no ticed by several periodicals, and approved of by many readers ; and this has encouraged me to submit it again to the public in its present enlarged and amended shape. Fondly attached to the country where I passed my early years, — a country celebrated for its beauties and for its misfortunes, — I feel a desire to make its inhabitants better known to British readers; and I think I am placed in a situation rather favourable for this purpose. Acquainted from my infancy with the language and manners of the

PREFACE.

. VI Italians — brought up under their sky — nursed in their homes — I quitted that country before early impressions could ripen into prejudices, and at that period of life when the powers of the mind begin to expand. Circumstances, connected with the affairs of the time, having induced me to leave the continent, I joined what I considered the common cause of mankind, against a system of ruthless and gigantic oppression ; and, during a period of several years spent in some of the most interesting countries of Europe, a variety of scenes, of manners, and of people, afforded me ample means of comparison. After the last peace, I returned to the land of my childhood : I found every thing altered, and myself almost a stranger in my own country. I wandered then about Italy, adding fresh information to old recollections ; and from both, I now exhibit a sketch, I hope not altogether uninteresting.

It has not been so much the material part of Italy, — that is to say, its antiquities, ruins, and buildings, which have been so often described by abler pens than mine, — as the moral state of its in habitants, that has engrossed my attention. I think the Italians are but imperfectly known, and often unjustly abused: they are generally included by

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. VII foreigners in one common description of character, while, in fact, the inhabitants of the various states of that much divided country form so many distinct nations. A Tuscan and a Neapolitan, a Lombard and a Genoese, a Venetian and a Roman, are as different from one another, as the Germans are from the English, or the Dutch from the French. Well acquainted with the religion of Italy, I have spoken of it with respect, and I hope also with impartiality : I have endeavoured to draw the line between its avowed tenets as they are explained from the pulpit and from the chairs of theology, and the abuses which popular ignorance and credu lity have ingrafted upon them. I feel convinced, besides, that in all the divisions of Christianity the same virtues are to be found ; they all trust in the same promises, and entertain the same hopes ; they all acknowledge the same Book and the same Teacher ; and from all the different Christian temples, the same prayers and wishes are daily wafted towards Heaven.

I ardently wish the mild and truly Christian principle of toleration to be generally diffused among brethren, whatsoever be the forms of their worship. This spirit of charity constitutes the happy medium between fanaticism

PREFACE.

. and incredulity, both of which are destructive of the best feelings of man. I have noticed the subject of Italian politics in a general sense, abstaining as much as possible from party questions, and endeavouring to be as impar tial as a human being can, who courts no smiles and fears no frowns. A friend to rational liberty, I have been taught by experience to mistrust and fear that mania for violent changes, and those schemes of perfectibility, which have in our times deluged Europe with blood, and filled it with misery. A revolution is, at best, but an exchange of the certain for the uncertain ; and nothing but a state of intolerable oppression, which fortunately is very rare in modern times, should reconcile an honest man to so doubtful a chance. In a little work I published some time since *, I have treated more particularly the subject of party spirit on the continent.

My principles have been criticised by some, who, I suspect, have misunder stood me. I have blamed the exaggerations of what is called the ultra-liberal party, and have pointed out the wrong tendency of liberalism in general ; * Considerations on the State of the Continent since the General Peace. 1 Vol. Svo. Ten-it, 62, Jadd-stieet.

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. IX while I have rendered justice to the good intentions of many of its advocates. I think they have been mistaken ; that they wanted too much ; that although anxious to do good, they set about it the wrong way ; and the result has been, for the present, an increase of evil, from which however some good may ultimately result. Since the publication of the first work, I have visited Italy again, in 1821 and in 1822, and spent some time in those parts of the country which were the seat of the political convulsions of 1820 and 1821. I have given an impartial sketch of those events, (confining myself to facts,) from materials collected on the spot. Other parts of the work I have either re-written or considerably altered. I have corrected hasty judgments, or facts not sufficiently authenticated.

Three or four years, which have passed over my head since the first publication, have modified, in some instances, my view of things, although my principles remain the same. I have expatiated upon the monuments of the middle ages, which are to be found, especially at Naples, because this was a ground that had been less trodden upon than that of classical antiquities. X

PREFACE.

. I have bestowed particular attention upon the two principal Italian monarchies, Naples and Sardinia, as these are by far the most important and influen tial among the native states, by the extent of their territories, their population, and resources. Venice is the only great Italian city I have not spoken of, because I have not visited it. It happens, however, that this omission is amply supplied by many other travellers, who have described Venice with the greatest accuracy. " Les Italiens (says Madame de Stael) sont plus remarquables par ce qu'ils ont ete et par ce qu'ils pourroient etre, que par ce qu'ils sont maintenant." Assenting, as I do, to this general proposition of that illustrious writer, still I think that the Italians are, even now, remarkable and interesting in many respects, and deserve more attention than the generality of travellers seem inclined to bestow upon them.

Italy is still the land of genius and enthu siasm, and many warm and generous hearts are to be found under its glowing sky. My first work contained an account of two dif ferent journeys made through Italy after the peace, united with recollections of my former residence in that country ; embracing the greater part of Italy

PREFACE.

. XI Naples, Tuscany, Lombardy, Piedmont, and Ge noa. I have crossed the Alps by the two most celebrated roads, the Simplon and the Mont Cenis ; and I have made several voyages along the delightful shores of the Mediterranean sea, and in sight of its numerous islands. In the present publication I have introduced whole descriptive chapters, the materials of which were taken during my last journey. I have also added, at the end of the first ATolume, an historical sketch of the various Governments in the North of Italy under the French, which may prove a useful reference to those who wish to be able to understand the present tone of political feeling in that country. I have followed the course of events, and have availed myself of the most impartial authorities, and particularly of a well-written Italian work which appeared last year in Switzerland, under the title DelF Amministrazione del Regno cF Italia sotto i Francesi.

At the end of the work I have added a treatise on Modern Literature. To give a complete view of Italian literature would require volumes, and years of labour. This subject has been already treated by Ginguene and Sismondi. I have contented

PREFACE.

. XII myself with giving an account of the most distinguished authors of the last and present centuries, in order to afford a guide to those who would become acquainted with their writings. I have consulted for this treatise, Italian authorities, and, with regard to some writers of the last century, the recent and excellent work of Count Ugoni, Della Letteratura Italiana, to which I feel myself indebted. . I think I may say upon the whole, that the present work has several new features which dis tinguish it from other travels. The author of this book being a foreigner, although several years a resident in England, inaccuracies of language and exoticisms of style must be left to the indulgence of the English reader. It is a very difficult, if not a hopeless, task for a stranger, even after a long residence in England, to acquire the idiom of the country so as to write as fluently as a native.

Having said thus much, I commit myself to that liberality which is so characteristic of the British public. A. V. CONTENTS. VOL. I. Chapter I. — Arrival in Italy. — Division of Italy ; North arid South ; Characteristics ; Scenery ; Inhabitants ; Florence, Rome, and Naples ; Attractions of Naples 1 — 9 Chap. II. — Naples. — Carnival, Anecdote, Amusements, Masks ; Theatre of S. Carlo; Grand Opera; Ballet of Hamlet ; Opera Seria ; Drama of Comming-es ; Tale of Comniinges ; Death of Adelaide ; Neapolitan Stage ; Prose Performances ; Francesca Da Rimini ; Policinella ; Inferior Theatres ; Re-edification of San Carlo ; Taste for Music 10—30 Chap. III. — Description op Naples. — View of the Bay; Palæpolis and Neapolis ; Old Palaces ; Former Extent of Naples ; Additions to it ; Street of Toledo ; Modern Buildings ; Villa Reale ; Churches ; Santa Chiara ; House of Anjou ; Joanna I ; Her Misfortunes ; Joanna's Death ; Charles Durazzo ; Vicaria ; Porta Capuana ; Poggio Reale ; S. Gio. u Carbonara ; Tomb of Caracciolo ; Joanna II ; Second House of Anjou ; Charles I. of Anjou ; Lent ; Preachers ; Neapolitan Sermons ; Holy Week ; Sepulchres ; Corpus Domini ; Processions 31 — 65 Chap. IV. — Environs of Naples. — Western District near Naples ; Lazzaretto ; Pozzuoli ; Ancient Romans ; Temple of Serapis ; Inn at Pozzuoli ; Solfatara ; Baths of Nero; Baja, or Baiæ, and Misenum ; Gulf of Baja ; CONTENTS.

Lago D' Averno ; Monle di Ciima ; Ancient Cumæ, now Cutna ; View of the Tyrrhenian Sea ; Lago D' Agnano; Camaldoli ; Malaria; Grotta del Cane 60— S4 Chap. V. — Character op the Neapolitans. — Want of National Self-esteem ; Anecdotes ; Indelicacy of manners ; Neapolitan Servants ; Indolence of the People ; Marriages among the Poor ; Poverty of the Lower Classes; Cheerfulness of the People; Appearance of the Neapolitans ; Women ; Gallantry ; Carelessness of the Neapolitans ; Their Improvidence ; Shopkeepers ; Foreign Manners introduced ; Good Qualities of the Neapolitans ; Lazzaroni ; Charitable Institutions ; Sciences and Letters ; Lawyers ; Living Literati; Nobility ; Musical Composers ; Mechanical Arts ; Yearly Exhibition ; People susceptible of Improvement, 85—114 Chap. VI. — Eastern District, near Naples. — Portici; Herculaneum ; Pompeii ; Torre Dell' Annunziata ; Torre Del Greco ; Vesuvius ; Excursion to Castellamare ; Castellamare; Monte Sans Angelo; Spring of L' Acqua Santa; Object of Distress; View from Monte San Michele ; Chapel ; Historical Recollections ; Return to Castellamare ; Mountain Road to Sorrento ; Mountain Scenery ; Contrasts of Naples ; Cimarosa — Matrimonio Segreto ; Ballet ; Royal Palaces ; Caserta and Capua ; Style of Building ; Museum of Gli Studj ; Chinese College ; Padre Giovanni ; Chinese Missionaries ; Review of Piedigrotta ; Villeggialura ; Country Houses ; Modern Improvements ; Christmas Eve ; Novena Di Natale ; Presepj ; University ; Jesuits ; Belief in Witchcraft ; Monacello ; Magia Bianca ; Italian Lottery 115—164 Chap. VIII.— Tcscany —Pisa ; Effects of French Invasion; Florence; Church of Santa Croce; Tombs of contents.

XV the House of Medici ; Florentine Architecture ; Public Walks ; Character of the Tuscans ; Their Habits and Manners; Grand Duke Leopold; His Successor Ferdi nand ; Princess Elisa ; Austrians ; Present Adminis tration ; Old Tuscan Republics ; Two Houses of Me dici ; State of Society ; Literature; Tuscan Language; Works of Art ; Italian Women ; Their Appearance ; Character of Italian Women ; Their Habits; Religious Feelings ; Nunneries ; Italian Women ; Their Amiable Qualities ; State of Morals 165—202 Chap. IX. — Lombardy. — Vetturini ; Apennines ; Bologna ; Buildings ; University ; Political Changes ; Murat's Campaign in 1S14; Papal Government Restored; Modena and Parma; Piacenza; Milan; Appearance of Milan ; Theatre of La Scala ; Duomo of Milan ; View from the Spire ; Fertility of Lombardy ; Literature ; Circo ; Public Walks ; Hospital ; La Zecca ; Disposition of the Milanese ; Murder of Count Prina; Murat's Second Campaign in 1815; Environs of Milan ; Strada Sempione ; Valli Di Novara ; Lago Maggiore ; Isole Borromee ; Frontiers of Italy 203 — 238 Chap. X. — Historical Sketch of the North op Italy under the French. — Old Italian Governments ; Austrian Goverment in Lombardy ; 1792 — Beginning of the War ; 1796 — Bonaparte invades Italy ; The French enter Milan ; Political Opinions of the Italians ; Partisans of the Revolution ; Republiea Cispadana ; Campaign of 1797 ; War with Venice ; Fall of Venice ; Anarchy in Italy ; Republiea Cisalpina ; Peace of Campo Fonnio ; Campaign of 17S9 ; Suwarrow's Victories ; Fall of the New Republics ; Battle of Marengo; Commission of Government; Consulta of Lyons ; Report of the Committee ; Bonaparte's Address ; Republiea Italiana ; New Constitution ; Repose of Italy; Napoleon, Emperor of the French; His Character as First Consul ; 1805— Symptoms of Change in contents.

Italy; Deliberations of the Consulta; Napoleon, King of Italy ; His Coronation at Milan ; Sitting of the Le gislative Body ; Napoleon's Address to them ; Union of Genoa to France ; Parma Annexed to France ; Prince Eugene Beauharnois ; His Attributions as Viceroy ; Dependence of the Kingdom of Italy ; Napoleon's Ad ministrative Measures ; Budget of the Kingdom of Italy ; War with Austria and Russia; 1S06 — Venetian States Annexed ; Marriage of the Viceroy Eugene ; 1S07 — Napoleon's Decrees ; Napoleon's Visit to Milan ; 1S0S, Tuscany Annexed to France ; State of the Press ; Increase of Expenses ; Annexation of the Provinces of Ancona; 1S09 — New War with Austria; Rome and Dalmatia Annexed to France ; 1S11-12 — Conscriptions and Russian War; 1813 — Prince Eugene's Return to Italy ; IS14 — Austrians Invade the Kingdom ; Con vention of Mantua ; Disturbances at Milan ; Prince Eugene leaves Italy ; Restoration ; Remarks on Na poleon's Administration ; On the Austrian Government 239—308. ITALY, fye.

Chapter I. Arrival In Italy

A HE generality of travellers, who proceed to Italy, enter that country from the North, by the great roads which cross the Alps. They visit North Italy first, and then proceed to the Southern States. On my return to Italy, after an absence of many years, I happened to enter it from the South, being landed at Naples, which is the most considerable, and in many respects the most remarkable, city of the Italian Peninsula ; while it is, at the same time, the most remote as well as the most dissimilar from the other European capitals. A very essential distinction exists between the North and the South of Italy ; and the impressions produced on the mind of the traveller, who arrives at once at Naples by sea, are totally different from Vot. I. B DIVISION OF ITALY. those experienced by the tourist, who, travelling first from France or Germany to the half ultramontane states of Piedmont and Lombardy, becomes by de grees, as it were, Italianised, before he reaches Rome and Naples, which two countries comprise the true classical ground of Italy.

Considered in a material, as well as in a moral, point of view, Italy presents two great divisions, between which the chain of the Apennines forms the natural boundary. The main ridge of these mountains traces an irregular line from west to east, beginning at Cuneo and Tende, where it joins the chain of the maritime Alps, it runs along the Ge noese coast, continues through the dutchies of Parma and Modena, which it separates from Tus cany, and then proceeds in a south-eastern di rection through the Roman states, until it reaches the shores of the Adriatic, in the province of An cona, on the frontiers of Abruzzi. There, a continuation of the same chain branches off to the South, through the whole length of the Neapolitan states. Under the denomination of North Italians must be classed all those who inhabit the whole of the fine regions which lie to the north of the Apen nines, and between them, the Alps and the Adriatic sea; including, therefore, the states of Piedmont, Lombardy, Venice, Parma, Piacenza, and Modena, and the papal provinces of Ferrara, Bologna, and north and south. 3 Romagna.

The greater part of these states forms, as it were, one immense plain, through which the river Po flows from west to east. That river, as well as the Adige, which is next to it in magnitude, and all the other streams of North Italy, empty themselves into the Adriatic. South Italy begins ort the opposite side of the Apennines, and is enclosed between them and the Mediterranean, the Ionian, and part of the Adri atic seas. It includes, therefore, Tuscany, the greater part of the Papal states, and the whole kingdom of Naples. The difference is great between the appearance of the country, the nature of the soil, the climate, and the inhabitants of these two divisions. The beautiful, though mostly unhealthy, shores of the Me diterranean, from La Spezia to the extremity of Calabria, belong evidently to one region, the fea tures of which are totally distinct from those of the magnificent plateau, which extends from the source of the Po to the mountains of Friuli, and from the Swiss Alps to the Apennines of Tuscany and Ancona.

In all this extent there is no ele vation which deserves the name of a mountain. It is in the Southern division that we find the true classical ground of Italy,— the land of anti quities, and of mighty recollections, — the land of the fine arts. It is chiefly to the South that belong the B CHARACTERISTICS. romantic scenes described by poets and travellers ; — the beautiful moonlight nights,— the glowing azure of the sky, — the dark blue sea, — the purple tinged mountains, — the forests of orange, lemon, and olive trees. There you find men lawless and impassioned; and female beauty, Soft as her clime and sunny as her skies. There the landscapes of Salvator Rosa, and the Ma donnas of Raphael, had originals in nature. There Pergolesi, Cimarosa, and Paisiello were inspired. The wonders of Michel Angelo, the temple of St. Peter, as well as the Coliseum and the Pan theon, are there to be found.

It is the country of Dante, of Macchiavelli, and of Tasso; it was the birth-place of Scipio, of Cæsar, and of Cicero. The North of Italy is the country of plenty, — Jess poetical, but better cultivated. It has also its recol lections of glorious deeds and great men, although of a more recent date and less imposing aspect. It has produced Doria, Titian, Corregio, Ari osto, Alfieri, and Canova. The North has given the best soldiers; the South the keenest politicians. The southern painters excel in the genius of composition and in the boldness of design ; the northern ones, in the delicacy and warmth of tints, and in the softness of outlines. The architecture of the South is colossal and imposing ; that of the North is more finished and convenient. SCENERY. 5 The scenery of the two countries is not less varied.

The North is, for the greater part, a fertile plain, watered by abundant rivers, divided into well cultivated fields and gardens; full of towns and villages, inhabited by a numerous and industrious race. The landscape is luxuriant but monotonous; — roads wide, level, and straight; never ending avenues of trees: the misty glimpse of the distant Alps and Apennines is the only thing that relieves the sleepy dulness of the scene. In the South, on the contrary, the landscape varies every twenty miles. There are to be seen delights ul valleys, surrounded by stupendous crags; — torrents fear fully swelled at one time of the year, and rolling their foaming waters with the noise of thunder, and at other seasons reduced to scanty rivulets, bubbling over the pebbles of their rocky beds; — wide, uncul vated plains, strewed with ruins of former great ness, inhabited by wild buffaloes, and wilder men; — and in the midst of these, the proudest city in the world lifting its melancholy head.

Farther inland are seen ruinous castles and towers perched upon almost inaccessible peaks, among beautiful forests of chesnut-trees and wild solitary glens. More to the South, the rich plains of Campania and of Apulia ; the lovely shores of Parthenope, encircled by the frowning Apennines, which rise bolder and higher and wilder as they extend further south, INHABITANTS. until, at last, being narrowly confined between the two seas, they invade the whole breadth of the Peninsula, and heap their dark summits in the province of Calabria. There, at the extremity of Italy, exists a race of men little known to the rest of Europe, and as savage as the inhabitants of the opposite coast of Albania; living in an almost primitive state: full of uncultivated genius; ignorant, but intelligent; individually courageous, but un ruly, ferocious, and impatient of discipline ; faithful to their friends, but revengeful to the last against their enemies; capable of the darkest, as well as of the most heroic, deeds.

The Italians of the North have less of those peculiar features which mark the fallen descendants of ancient Rome. They resemble more their neigh bours, the French, Swiss, and Germans, with whom they have been long in contact, and from whom they have imbibed habits of greater comfort, of artificial luxury, of social discipline. They are of tamer manners ; their ideas are more on a level with those of the rest of Europe ; they have more the features of a modern nation, and are more likely to form one; they have in short the good and the bad qualities of modern civilized Europe. The Italians of the South (with the exception of Tuscany in some respects) are yet much behind in modern improvements, or modern refinement. They FLORENCE, ROME, AND NAPLES. 7 have more characteristic traits of their own to distinguish them from other nations; they have more of the personal independence of half civilized people, although living under absolute governments ; they have stronger passions, but they have also greater enthusiasm for the beautiful, especially in the works of art and music.

South Italy is essen tially the country of painting and of song. In the midst of this magic land rise three great cities, the resorts of the traveller, — all three beautiful and famed, although each of them totally different from the other two. Florence, the city of Italian society, Italian urbanity and elegance, and also of polite literature. Rome, the city of monuments, of religious pomp and splendour, and of the arts ; the seat also of a certain solemnity and dignity which is more peculiarly her own, and becomes her name and former state. Naples, at last, gay and thought less, the city of voluptuousness, the siren of Italy, the spoiled favourite of a too bountiful nature, the seat of epicurism mixed with some degree of Greek refinement ; the country of the senses, but the country also of imagination.

I have compared the impressions which Naples has produced upon me in all my frequent visits to it, at various and very different periods, with those felt by other travellers, with whom I have con versed on the subject in distant scenes and after a ATTRACTIONS OF NAPLES. lapse of time ; and I have found the results to have been nearly the same : — surprise at first arriving ; delight at the scenes of nature, mixed with a sort of vague reverie as if such scenes were unreal, for at times they look as such ; disgust at the moral features of the place. The fancy and the senses are interested, but not the heart nor the intellect. One leaves this place without regret, and yet remembers it always with a wish to see it once more. One becomes loath of a residence in Naples, and yet cannot think of forsaking it altogether.

A sort of spell in the climate charms the stranger, and makes him forget dearer and better things. Many foreigners who came to Naples for a short time, have at last fixed their residence, and lived and died in it, unable to break the charm. When I have talked to them on the subject, I found them per fectly agreed with regard to the disadvantages of the place; but yet the climate, they said, — nature — made up for all other things ; and thus they slept away their existence in the arms of the enchantress. To the attention of the curious, the intelligent, and the philosophical traveller, however, Naples has higher claims. It is the third capital in Christian Europe for population : its inhabitants amount to four hundred thousand. It is the first for its situation, the strangest by its contrasts, and the only one built at the foot of a terrible volcano.

ATTRACTIONS OF NAPLES. The richness and fertility of its territory are won derful. The penetration and fiery imagination of its inhabitants are equally great, and still less cultivated. Of all the sciences or arts one really may be said to flourish at Naples, and that one is music. To the historian, Naples abounds in recollections connected with the general history of Europe. To the invalid, — to the man tired of social disputes and political strife, Naples offers a choice of delightful, quiet, and salubrious retreats. Such is this famed metropolis.

Chapter II

N^VPLES. I arrived at Naples in a vessel from Malta ; our passage was short and pleasant. We sailed along the eastern coast of Sicily, and saw Mount Etna, that formidable volcano, covered with eternal snow, and which the Sicilians emphatically describe as V Arciprete de' monti ehe in cotta bianca, al Ciel porge gl' incensi : the high priest of the mountains, who, in his white surplice, offers incense to heaven. We passed the Faro of Messina, and admired the beautiful situation of that city and the fine view of the extreme ridge of the Apennines, which termi nates the Italian peninsula.* We passed the Lipari islands, close by Stromboli; saw, at night, the flames of that singular volcano rising in a conical form * On one hand beam'd Calabria's Hills so bright, O' th' other Sicily shone forth in light, Like sisters fair, by deep waves held in twain, Smiling upon each other in delight, And stretching out their arms in loving pain, As tho' they fondly wished to meet again.

The fVanderer—By C. Macfarlane. CARNIVAL. from the middle of the sea ; and at last entered the bay of Naples through the straits of Capri. Shortly after, I found myself again on Italian ground, and among scenes familiar to me from early youth. I arrived here in the middle of the Carnival ; which is the Bairam of the Italians, with this difference, that with them it precedes the fast or Lent, whilst among Mussulmans it follows the Ramadan. The Carnival is a time of mirth, pleasure, and folly; it is kept in most Catholic countries, but more par ticularly in Italy. It begins on the seventh of January and continues till Ash- Wednesday, but its public diversions are in many places restricted to the last ten days, in which masks are allowed to go about the streets from two in the afternoon till dark.

During that time, the whole city, and par ticularly the principal streets of it, exhibit a scene of noise and confusion. The very children of the lowest classes assume an easy and cheap sort of disguise ; putting a shirt over their clothes, with a high pointed white cap, and a paper mask, which elegant costume is dignified with the name of Poli cinella, the dramatic title of the Neapolitan clown. Masks of all descriptions are sauntering about the streets, making strange noises ; stopping and ad dressing one another ; saying now and then some witty jokes, but often uttering coarse and vulgar nonsense ; teasing and annoying the passengers, CARNIVAL — ANECDOTE. who have no power of checking them : for it is positively forbidden by government to molest or offer any violence to the masks. If these, however, should carry the joke too far, and take improper liberties, the police then arrests them and punishes them severely.