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first representation, for which the theatre is illuminato a giorno; and, bating the intolerable heat, they are pretty comfortable. In every box you discover one or perhaps two female busts, and these busts are furnished with eyes, which eclipse even the illuminazione a giorno. Again I exclaim, "He that hath eyes to see, let him make good use of them!" For the rest, things go on at the theatre much in the same manner as I have already described, except that now the bustle in the boxes has reached its highest pitch, and the doors do not rest a moment. Indeed it cannot be otherwise, since at least ten strange cavalieri are presented to each lady; and the native cavalieri, in these days of danger, strive to gain as much notice as they can, lest the strangers should cause them to be totally forgotten.

tle prevails; nay, the crowd in the latter is frequently so great, and the heat so intolerable, as to convey a correct idea of the hold of a slaveship, only with this difference, that while there the blacks lie packed like herrings in a barrel, here the white, brown, and olive-coloured stand jammed so close together, that they have the greatest difficulty to take a glass of lemonade or sorbetto; and if they wish to move backward or forward, every inch of ground must be gained with the utmost exertion. In Italy no virtue is so highly reverenced as a prudent economy, and only that is accounted a real pleasure which requires the least expenditure of cash: hence it is easy to conceive that all the descendants of the pious Æneas find themselves as much in their element in the botteghe, where a few pence suffice to procure them an adequate supply of lemonade and sorbetto, as a fish in water; or indeed still more so, since the said sorbetto not only gratifies the sense of taste, but is an object of economical speculation, and thus affords an oppor

The new opera of the maestro Zanzara's is given, together with a gran ballo, every evening during the whole fiera; so that the company remains four hours and upwards in the house; and as the opera never fails to excite the utmost enthusiasm,tunity of killing two birds with one the composer is regularly called for every time at the conclusion of the piece; as are the Signore Anitza and Lodola, and the Signori Gallinaccio, Bertuccia, and Pepistrello, at least ten times during the representation*. At the corso, in the casino, and in the botteghe, an extraordinary bus

* This calling (chiamare sul proscenio) is not only customary in small towns, but equally common in large ones. During the carnival last year at Venice, the opera of Tebaldo and Isolina, with music by the Cavaliere Morlacchi, was given; and the composer and all the singers were called for six or eight times every evening.

stone. I once witnessed myself the success with which a very wealthy count, who sat beside me in a very crowded bottega, carried on a speculation of this kind. He asked several times for half a portion of sorbetto; and thus rendered the duty of the waiter, who had the utmost dif crowd to get at the illustrissimo ficulty to work his way through the signor, still more arduous. I took the liberty to remark, that if illustrissimo, instead of ordering two half portions would please to call for a whole one, not only illustrissimo himself would be a gainer, as he would be much sooner served, but also the

waiter. I was soon convinced, however, that I knew nothing at all about the matter; for illustrissimo proved to me, that by this manoeuvre he gained in every half portion nearly a whole spoonful of sorbetto; since the caffettiere, in mixing half-portions, was obliged to add a blessing, as it is called, to make them appear to advantage, whereas he made it a constant practice to filch a little from the whole ones. To prevent this filching, and to gain nearly a spoonful of sorbetto, &c. &c. &c. I was struck dumb by this unanswerable argument.

and are alla caccia, catchers. At length one of these gentlemen steps upon a plank laid obliquely, and a fellow standing at the foot of the plank throws the ball towards him, on which he runs swiftly down the plank, and strikes it a violent blow with his arm, which is encased for the purpose in a wooden machine, called bracciale. The ball flies to the players stationed on the other side of the line, and is sent back by them. Sometimes the signori alla caccia also put themselves in motion, and after every blow tellers, likewise in appropriate costume, carry certain conical poles, first to one place, and then to another, and count the points; but why or wherefore all this is done, and which party finally won or lost, I never could make out. The enthusiasm of the spectators seems to be in general very moderate; a few faint cheers only are oc

one instance, namely, when the ball was struck with such force as to fly over the town-hall, that loud and unanimous bravos and evvivas burst from the spectators. This was an extraordinary case, and hence for several successive days nothing was talked of but the ball and the height of the town-hall.

The game at ball, which takes place in the afternoon, has but little interest for the ladies: yet there is no want of spectators. Those of the lower class are very numerous; and many persons of the higher also attend to admire the Signori Spazzastrade and Parabolani, especially as it is here allowed to express unbound-casionally heard; and I recollect but ed admiration gratis, and consequently the exhibition requires the expenditure not of coin, but of time only, which neither the higher nor the lower classes well know how to dispose of. I should suppose, that to be amused by this game, a person ought to understand it; but as I do not understand it, I thought it excessively tedious. An open space, or any wide street in the town, is marked out with due solemnity for the game, and divided by a line into two parts. The players, dressed in short jackets, with silk aprons reach-politan or Papal guards to Cæsar's ing to the knees, and adorned with scarfs of various colours, look like rope-dancers, tumblers, or the runners of distinguished personages. Some stand on one, some on the other side of the line, while others station themselves on the line itself,

The Corso di Barberi excites more interest, but let no one imagine that it exhibits even a shadow of our English races; for these barberi are as unlike our race-horses, as the Nea

legions. The thing will nevertheless bear looking at once or twice; for a town thus arranged for the corso certainly affords a very pretty sight. In the streets through which the horses have to run, are erected stands, which, like the balconies de

corated with carpets, the windows, and the house-tops, are crowded with spectators. At the meta (the goal) is raised a stand, which is richly decorated for the umpires, who take their places there with a look of vast self-importance. These umpires, some of the most distinguished personages of the town, commence the ceremony by riding over the course in old-fashioned state-carriges, to see that every thing is in proper order. The course is seldom more than three thousand paces: it begins in the high-road at some distance from the town, and leads through the gate and the streets to the meta. On the first day, the barberi run without riders, and are goaded by balls furnished with sharp spikes, and attached to the girths. On the second day they are ridden by boys, called Fantini. When the umpires have inspected all the arrangements, and found them complete, the signal-guns are fired, the barberi start, and get on as fast and as well as they can. Were I required to find a simile for their speed, I would not trouble any of the thirty-two winds. I have seen a barbero, which was esteemed one of the best racers, overtaken and distanced by an Hungarian hussar, who was stationed as a guard by the course, and could not resist the temptation of running along with the rest, though the barbero was full a hundred paces in advance when the hussar clapped spurs to his nag. When the whole is over, all the Fantini, headed by the victors bearing the prizes which they have won, parade through the streets; and as, in the country where the citron flourishes, it rarely happens that any public or private act concludes without a begging bout, these Fantini force their way

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into the botteghe, and in the evening into the boxes at the theatre, bawling with all their might, "Illustrissimi eccelenze! date qualche cosa ai poveri Fantini !”

I once witnessed a tragic scene which occurred at a Corso di Barberi. The high-road on which the horses started was bounded on the right by a deep ditch, that had not been railed off. A fine bay, which had attracted general notice, and on which several considerable bets were laid by some foreigners (Italians never bet), being on the right wing, was thrust by his boisterous competitors towards the ditch, and at length precipitated into it. The spirited animal, however, got up, and again appeared on the road a few hundred paces farther on, where, though the blood streamed from his mouth, and one of his fore-legs was broken, he still endeavoured to limp along on the other three, till he dropped down dead. No language can describe the rage, the frenzy, the despair of the owner of the unfortunate barbero at this sudden disappointment of his fair hopes. He threw himself down by the horse, rolled himself in dust and blood, tore his shaggy locks with both hands, struck his head and breast with his fists, bellowing most tremendously, and ever and anon pouring forth such execrations and blasphemies as the brain of a maniac only is capable of coining. When I saw this fellow lying beside his steed, which had quitted the world so calmly, and with such noble resignation-when I say I saw him lying thus, foaming at the mouth and wallowing in the dirt, upon my honour, I would rather have called the barbero comrade, cousin, or brother, than this Italian. I know not

how long he went on in this manner; for though I had, during my residence in Italy, become somewhat accustomed to senseless imprecations, though I had even heard Genoese sailors curse and swear during a storm, still I could not bear to listen any longer to this madman, and accordingly left him.

nuine Italian curses and imprecations; so that he at length received an intimation, that he could no longer be admitted to the card-table of the duchess. He then swore, and corroborated his oath with the most tremendous imprecation, never to curse and swear again; and several days actually passed without a single blasphemy escaping his lips, But, having one evening an extaordinary run of ill luck, he nevertheless kept

tion resembled that in the laboratory of Vesuvius the day before an eruption. At length came, the fi nishing stroke; a promising game, on which a considerable stake depended, was again lost: unable longer to restrain himself, yet not daring to give vent to his mortification, an internal conflict ensued, which would probably have put an end to his life, had he not luckily chanced to cast his eyes on a picture representing Christ standing before Pi late, at the moment when the latter says, " Take him away and crucify him!" He was now relieved; he rubbed his hands smiling, and while he nodded approbation of the conduct of the governor, he muttered between his teeth, "Bravo, Pilato! bravo, Pilato!"

I cannot help reckoning cursing and swearing among the worst habits of the Italians. Other nations, our own for example, have the charac-silence, though his inward commoter of being addicted to this vice; the Hungarians too are real virtuosi; but all of them-Jews and Wallachians, half-brothers to the Italians, indeed excepted-must resign the palm to the latter. That you hear every minute the most obscene words, even from the lips of well-educated persons, and in genteel companies; that the Italian never expresses either astonishment or pity, admiration, sympathy, or any other sentiment, without prefixing some indecent word, is an impropriety to which you at length become familiarized: but a cursing and swearing Italian is an object of abhorrence; and it may safely be affirmed, that no human imagination could devise more unmeaning and absurd extravagancies, than proceed from the mouth of an Italian when under the influence of any violent passion. That during such paroxysms they sometimes utter conceits and sallies which are highly comic and original, cannot be denied. An Italian prince, for example, enjoyed the honour of sitting down every day to cards with his sovereign, the Duchess of Parma. This prince was an inveterate swearer, and at every piece of ill luck, even in the presence of her imperial highness, he would pour forth a torrent of ge

Another Italian, who was likewise jilted by the fickle goddess, had already exhausted the whole arsenal of execrations: a paroli, on which he had staked his last hope, was rejected; whereupon, foaming with rage, he pulled off his hat with his left hand, and held it before him; while he extended his right towards heaven, and pronouncing the name of a saint, made a motion as if to seize him, and throw him into the hat. With wonderful volubility he

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ran over the names of some dozens || says Dio, Bio, or any thing else. If of santi, and at each name' made a the equally favourite Corpo della snatch with his right hand, caught|| santissima Vergine has already eshold of the one whom he named, caped him, he is cunning enough to and threw him into the hat to the subjoin Martina, instead of Maria, others. When he conceived that he at which the queen of heaven cannot had thus collected a sufficient num- possibly take offence; or he says, ber of saints, he quickly turned the Corpo della santissima Vergine lahat over, and shook it violently, so vandaia-Body of the most holy Virthat they all tumbled out on the gin washerwoman-and thus, withground, where he trampled and out committing any sin, he extricates stamped upon them till he was tired. himself with honour from the diIt is amusing to remark how habi- lemma. tual swearers, but at the same time Among the Italian execrations, pious Italians, indulge their propen- || with which one might fill a tolerable sity, yet without endangering the sal-volume, I have always been particuvation of their souls: thus, if the larly struck with the Maledetto da favourite Corpo di Dio, or Sangue di Dio e dal Papa-Accursed of God Dio, comes into the mouth of one of and the Pope.-" And of the Pope," these devout blasphemers, he readi- that part cannot fail to drive to dely changes the D into B, and says spair such as are greeted with this Corpo di Bio, which means nothing; phrase, little as they may be disposed or he chews and mumbles the Dio to care about the circumstance of between his teeth in such a manner, being accursed of God. that you can scarcely tell whether he

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(To be continued.)

REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF POPULAR SUPERSTITION IN GERMANY.

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that we were quartered in an ancient castle inhabited only by the keeper. We found but a single habitable room, which we were obliged to share with our servants; and as we had not only made a long march that day, but were wet through with a soaking rain, we seated ourselves soon after supper round the fire-place, in which a cheerful fire had been kindled. The conversation turned on a variety of topics, till at length it fixed upon hunting and shooting: many curious stories were related, many instances of excellent shots were mentioned, and at last various allusions were made to the secret arts of gamekeepers. These led to a narrative, with which, on account of, I may say, its horrible singularity, I was particu

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