214 



CORFU. 



Corfu, venue, and that no profession or mechanical pursuit 

 T"*"' had been exercised by his family for three generations. 

 He passed five years of probation without being ad- 

 mitted to the council, and only after the lapse of ten 

 years did he participate in all the privileges. Each 

 year 1 50 nobles were chosen from a general assembly 

 of the whole, to constitute a council, from which the 

 subordinate magisterial functionaries requisite in the 

 island should derive their appointments. 



There are besides a number of Venetian nobles resi- 

 dent in Corfu, an alliance with whom is highly esteem- 

 ed by the islanders. It has been a special means of 

 promoting civilization and luxury, for the manners of 

 the parent state are thereby incorporated with the co- 

 lony. Formerly, the females of the island were kept 

 under the greatest restraint: confined within lofty walls 

 and grated windows, they saw none but their nearest 

 relatives; their subordination to their husbands was 

 absolute ; they were employed in menial offices about 

 them, and deemed themselves happy in being admitted 

 to their tables. 



The vanity and ostentation of the Corfiotes lead them 

 to spend on their persons what should otherwise be 

 spai-ed for the support of their families ; and a citizen, 

 to indulge his love of show on public occasions, will 

 be well content to pass a considerable time in subse- 

 quent penury. Possessing few opportunities of better- 

 ing their fortunes, such pi-actices cannot fail to prove 

 inimical to domestic comfort. 



The amusements of the people are either sacred or 

 profane ; for nothing is converted to a greater source of 

 entertainment than religious processions. To these 

 they are peculiarly addicted, and their clergy are not 

 slow in exhibiting what is a powerful method of ex- 

 tending their own influence. The festival of St Spi- 

 ridion, the tutelar saint of the island, is celebrated with 

 particular pomp : Many days are occupied in prepara- 

 tions for it; and when the shrine borne from the cathe- 

 dral reaches the fortifications, it is received with a sa- 

 lute of 21 pieces of cannon, and the same honours are 

 ■paid by the shipping in the roads, amidst the ringing 

 of bells and the repeated discharges of musketiy. Con- 

 trary to any other example with which we are acquaint- 

 ed, the body of this saint does not belong to the public 

 at large, but is the property of a private family named 

 Bulgari, and is the source of considerable wealth. One 

 instance occurs in history, where, instead of a pecu- 

 niary dower, the body of St Spiridion was given along 

 with a daughter of the family in marriage. 



The night of Holy Thursday is especially devoted to 

 processions : each church and each chapel has its own, 

 and a kind of emulation for excellence prevails among 

 ■the respective devotees. All unite on an esplanade, the 

 streets are crowded, and the blaze of innumerable ta- 

 pers rivals the light of day. The resurrection of La- 

 zarus depicted on a flag, is carried about the city on 

 other festivals, by a person dressed in the most gro- 

 tesque manner, who sings the event in modern Greek 

 verses, and occasionally performs a lively dance to a 

 pipe and tabor. Devotees are permitted to kiss the 

 banner on paying some pieces of money. That the su- 

 perstitions of the people are very gross, appears from 

 a singular custom practised on the night of Holy Thurs- 

 day. A number of girls, all named Mary, are employ- 

 ed to make a shirt, which is believed to render the 

 wearer invulnerable. But that it may possess this pro- 

 perty in its full extent, it is essential that the num- 

 ber of girls be unequal ; that the work be commenced 

 after midnight, and completed before break of day. 



Corfu has long possessed a theatre, where at first 

 men were the only performers, and to which none 

 but men resorted ; neither were there females among 

 the dramatis persona. Married women were after- 

 wards permitted to share in the amusement, but the 

 boxes devoted to their accommodation were latticed 

 in front, whereby a full view of the scenery was in- 

 tercepted ; a decisive proof of the remnants of eastern 

 jealousy. To shun this inconvenience, they consented 

 to appear masked, but the mask was gradually laid 

 aside, and of late years their attendance is unrestrained. 

 It is a point of etiquette to pay and receive visits in the 

 theatre ; and the charge of procuring a suitable compa- 

 ny of performers devolved on one of the Venetian gene- 

 rals, who was stiled Preside del Teatro. During the 

 carnival, the governor-general and principal Venetian 

 nobles and officers never appeared unmasked ; but no 

 islander durst wear the colour adopted for their costume, 

 nay it was the exclusive privilege of the first to use 

 crimson velvet in the furniture of his palace. Multi- 

 tudes flock from the country to behold the diversified 

 spectacle now exhibited, and to witness the singular and 

 ridiculous disguises displayed on the occasion. The 

 most brilliant part of the show, is a kind of tourna- 

 ment, or running at the ring, resembling what was 

 practised of old, devised or revived by a military officer, 

 about the termination of the sixteenth century, who 

 was killed on the first encounter. One of the broadest 

 streets is prepared for this exercise called Chiostra Pub- 

 lica, on each side of which are erected amphitheatres 

 for accommodating the spectators. The competitors 

 appear splendidly attired, and mounted on horses with 

 the richest housings; they first break a lance on a 

 wooden figure, and next try to" carry off on its point a 

 small ring suspended across the street. Each horseman 

 follows at full speed in his turn ; and the ring must be 

 three times borne away to entitle the victor to the 

 prize. But the nobles alone can contend for it. An 

 inferior description of the same amusement is provided 

 for artizans and merchants, when the victor is accom- 

 panied home with the beating of drums. 



Corfu has from time immemorial preserved an im- 

 portance to which its present territorial extent does not 

 seem to entitle it. Some philosophers have conjectured, 

 that convulsions of the globe have reduced its size, by 

 severing its neighbouring dependencies from its shores; 

 and there is much probability that the population was 

 once more numerous. It has been alike famed in my- 

 thology and in profane history; and known by the 

 names of Drepanum, Macris, Scheria, Corcyra, and Cor- 

 fu. Both Horace and Virgil make it the resort of their 

 fabulous heroes, and we know that it received Aristotle, 

 as well as his illustrious pupil, Alexander the Great. 



This island was successively subject to the Greeks 

 and Romans ; a fact which, independent of written his- 

 tory, is proved by medals and inscriptions frequently 

 discovered. When Italy was over-run by the barba- 

 rians, Corfu suffered universal pillage ; and under the 

 emperors of the East, participated in the different con- 

 tests for dominion. At a later period, when Charles 

 King of Naples approached its shores with the design 

 of conquest, the evils of war were averted by voluntary 

 submission. But having thrown off the Neapolitan 

 yoke, it experienced an attack from the Genoese, who 

 succeeded in taking the chief towns, though they were 

 ultimately expelled. However, the apprehensions of 

 the inhabitants were so much excited for a renewal of 

 the attack, that they implored the aid of the Venetians, 

 and in doing so, committed the island to their admmis- 



5 



Corfu. 



