1828,] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



417 



novelty for us to judge of what we know 

 not, and to take upon ourselves to decide 

 that another understands what we do not. 

 But near this place also were a discovered, 

 it seems, several sepulchral urns, deeply im- 

 bedded in lava, which, from their peculiar 

 forms, are supposed to be antediluvian. 

 no similar urns, or even models, having 

 ever been seen before." Of any thing, ex- 

 cept bones, pretending to be antediluvian, 

 we never before heard, and suppose the 

 supposition must be the lady's own. 



At Appii Forum the party could get nei- 

 ther chairs nor tables, and her fellow tra- 

 veller told her that Horace again notices 

 this place as one of bad accommodation in 

 his time. Now, notwithstanding the au- 

 thority of her fellow traveller, Horace says 

 no such thing ; and if the good lady was 

 resolved to quote Horace, why not herself 

 consult a Smart ? Horace only says he 

 could not eat because the water was so abo- 

 minable : but the fault was probably in his 

 own want of appetite, for his companions 

 found a dinner, and apparently a very good 

 one they exhaustedHorace'spatience at least 

 by sitting over it longer than he liked. At 

 Meta, she went into the church during ser- 

 vice ; but " the gospel for the day, in Latin, 

 was rather gabbled over than read." See 

 what prejudice will do for us; the lady, 

 though understanding nothing of the lan- 

 guage, judges of the reading of it " while,'* 

 she adds, though we do not at all know 

 what she means, and no doubt she makes 

 some mistake " while guns were conti- 

 nually firing, as a mode of evincing the joy 

 of the people at the event." 



At Pompeii the lady exclaims 



How shall I relate to you the wonders of this 

 town its houses, temples, and streets, all again 

 brought to view, where, from many vestiges still 

 remaining, the very employments of its inhabi- 

 tants may be traced ? In one place, supposed to 

 have been a COFFKK-HOUSK (it does not appear 

 by whom) the marks are still to be seen where 

 the wet cups had stained the slab of marble be- 

 fore the door. In a shop, where oil had been 

 sold, the jars still remain. In another house, all 

 the apparatus of a lady's toilette was discovered, 

 combs, needles and rouge ; the last is exactly 

 the same kind as now made (se judice} 

 the combs so rough and coarse that they would 

 scarcely be used upon horses the needles as 

 large as bodkins (though not as to the sizes, the 

 lady may be mistaken as to their uses). There 

 was found likewise a whole dessert of fruit, 

 chestnuts, raisins, bread, wine, oil, &c. &c. The 

 wine and oil in powder, the fruits reduced to 

 ashes, but still preserving their forms; there 

 were also eggs unbroken, &c. 



Reverting to the destruction of Pompeii, 

 she says, in her way " in vain did they 

 call on their gods to deliver them they 

 were metal and stone they could not hear 

 them." 



At the Vatican, when roaming through 

 the rooms, she saw, she says, " a statue of 



M.M. New Series VOL. V. No. 28. 



Euripides, greatly prized on account of the 

 rarity of statues of this poet." The good 

 lady would be puzzled probably to find 

 another, or to establish the genuineness of 

 this. 



But, leaving the statues, the ignorance of 

 the natives astound her particularly of the 

 ladies, and above all their geography, 

 e. g 



In the hearing of an Italian Signora, at a con- 

 versazione, the Marquis C. said that the Conde 

 de F., being sent by the king of Portugal from 

 the Brazils on an embassy to the pope, to con- 

 gratulate him on his restoration from his exile 

 and captivity under Bonaparte, found, on being 

 presented to his holiness, that he had forgotten 

 his credentials ; but, added the Marquis, luckily 

 toe had only left them at the Farnese-palace had 

 it been at the Brazils, months must have elapsed 

 before he could have performed his embassy. 

 "You astonish me," cried the Signora;"! had 

 no idea that Corsica could be so distant ; are not 

 the Brazils part of Corsica ?" " No, Signora," 

 answered the Marquis, with a gravity which at 

 least an Irishman could hardly have commanded 

 "the Brazils are in America." " America I 

 and where is America?" "America is the new 

 world. 1 ' "Is there a new world?" "Yes, surely, 

 discovered by Christopher Columbus." " che 

 bella nuovitaf And she called aloud to the 

 company to announce the wonderful intelligence 

 " A new world is discovered by Christopher 

 Columbus, and an ambassador has been sent to 

 congratulate the pope." " From whom have you 

 heard this?" exclaimed different voices." Ecco- 

 la," cried the Signora, directing every eye to the 

 Marquis, as she said, " Signore Marchese, le 

 prego mi dica da chi I' ha inteso?" "Dal 

 miononno," answered the Marquis, " ed il mio 

 nonno I' ha inteso dal nonno tuo." 



But she has another story. " A noble- 

 man, who was one of her most constant 

 visitors, asked her sister, who wrote Tasso . 

 who translated it into Italian and whether 

 Virgil were the author of the Gerusalemme 

 Liberata ?" The good lady does not seem 

 to suspect the sister was quizzing her. 



A little scrap on the ladies we must find 

 room for 



I expected much more beauty than I have seen 

 amongst the women of Italy. Many of them, 

 however, are interesting in their appearance ; fine 

 dark eyes and eye-lashes, and an intelligent coun- 

 tenance, prevent their being deemed ugly ; but 

 in general there is a want of feminine softness ; 

 they scream in a guttural discordant voice when, 

 speaking ; their clothes, particularly in the morn- 

 ing, seem hung on them ; and their great gold 

 ornaments render their dirty, untidy appearance 

 more conspicuous. Their motions are all hur- 

 ried ; exactly the opposite of that beautiful de* 

 scription which you and I have read together, 

 and have so much admired, of what women ought 

 to be. I asked our Italian master why the fe- 

 males here screamed so loud, while the men 

 spoke in a moderate and not unpleasing accent? 

 He said, because the women are " * orgo* 

 gliose," and " si piene di rabbia." You would 

 have laughed had you seen the action which ac 



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