do 



the Italians, In fact, the rapid and unstudied effusions 

 of the Improviaatori, are proofs, rather of superior sensibi- 

 Hty, than of poetical talent. It appears that haste, an 

 absence of thought, and exclusion of preparation, seem 

 necessary to the exercise of this faculty. It seems to have 

 an intimate and inseparable connexion Avith music. The 

 extemporaneous effusion is usually some address to the 

 company, or allusion to some local or occasional circum- 

 stance; or a descant on a string of similies, suggested at 

 the moment. It is not merely recited, but sung out to 

 some tune, M'ith much vehemence; and the musical air 

 ^ways seems to suggest the lines.* As their climate is yet 

 more genial, the sensibility of the Greeks surpasses even 

 that of the Italians. It formerly produced pre-eminence 

 in all the Jiiie arts: a pre-eminence which the Greeks might 

 still maintain, if the influence of a most happy climate, 

 and the capabilities of their natural endowments and ta- 

 lents, were , seconded by the enjoyment of freedomj and 

 the influence of a rational and patriotic government. Mo- 

 dern travellers speak in high terms,j- of the amiable man- 

 ners, the gay temper, and lively genius of the Greeks, 

 at this day, sunk as they are in deplorable ignorance, and 

 prostrated under the iron rod of a barbarous and unre- 

 lenting despotism. 



The penances of the Indians, so full of barbarity, the 

 heroism of the women of Malabar, who burn them- 

 selves 



* Such was the character of the recitations of Signer Negri. 



t See Guy's Sentimental Journey inGreece, Abbe Mariti, Sonnini, Olivier, &c. 



