Ixxiv 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



and caper sauce, does not beg the blessing of 

 Almighty God upon it, through the mouth of 

 the master of the house, or by the ministry of a 

 clergyman, if present ? c Benedicite, omnia 

 opera Domini, Domino ! ' Who ever thinks of 

 cutting up a young roasting-pig, immersed in 

 delicious gravy, and hot from the kitchen, 

 without asking a blessing on it ? — * Bless us, 

 O Lord, and these thy gifts ! ' " 



When the returning warmth of summer has 

 filled the upper air in the streets of Rome with 

 multitudes of swifts and house-martins, the 

 idling boys manage to capture these useful 

 visiters by a process at once surprisingly simple 

 and efficacious. They procure a silken line of 

 sufficient length to reach above the eaves of the 

 houses. To one end of this they attach a small 

 curled feather or two, and behind these is formed 

 a running noose. This apparatus is taken up 

 into the air by the current of wind blowing 

 through the street ; and as the poor birds are on 

 the look out for materials wherewith to line their 

 nests, they strike at the floating feathers, and get 

 their necks into the fatal snare, and are taken to 

 the bird-market at the Rotunda for sale. This 

 ornithological amusement is often carried on in 



