ITALY 



653 



with an excusable pride, pretend to trace their descent from the Romans ; and 2 there are, 

 who boast the blood of Fabius Maximus, and Publicola. Heraldry, however, is seldom pre- 

 cise The JtaliaijS have ardent temperaments, and poetic imaginations ; and they act more 

 from impulse or passion, than reflection or principle. No people, who have lived since the 

 best days of Athens, have had so much perception as the Italians, for the beautiful. The first 

 natural objects, that draw their eyes, are peculiar to their own beautiful country. The skies 

 are so soft and clear, that it is said, proverbially, and almost witliout hyperbole, that the moon 

 of Naples is brighter than the sun of England. Every distant mountain, or headland, is 

 bathed in purple light, and every sun rises and sets "trailing clouds of glory." The genius 

 of Claude can be estimated only in Italy, for nowhere else are found the skies that he 

 painted. 



The language in which the infant Italian first lisps, is like the murmur of music ; every 

 sound is open and labial. The first country, over which his eye ranges, is unsurpassed on the 

 earth ; it has festoons of vines, purple with gushing grapes ; and groves of oranges, bending 

 with golden fruit. The churches, where the youth pays his wondering devotions, are the 

 perfection of human art, the most splendid and ."solemn temples" ever reared by human 

 hands. The ruins, in which he plays with his mates, are remains, in which no time can 

 obliterate the beauty ; and the paintings, the frescoes, and the sculptures, that often chain his 

 attention, all combine to give the direction of his genius to the graceful, the beautiful, and the 

 ideal. 



" We gaze and turn away, we know not whore, 



Dazzled, and drunk with beauty : till the heart 

 Reels with its fulness ; there, forever there, 

 — Chained to the chaiiot of tiiuniphant Art." 



The statues, those calm and majestic intelligences, the impressive congregation of the silent, 

 exert a magic influence over the soul. Feeling and thoughts, they have not ; but they unlock, 

 in the beholder, the fountains of both. 



" The place became religious, and the heart run o'er 

 With silent worship of the great of old ; 

 The dead, but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule 

 Our spirits from tlieir urns." 



Few of the Italians lead a domestic life ; their fine climate permits them to pass almost all 

 the time without shelter, and their social organization gives them little taste, or capacity, for 

 domestic enjoyment. A state of society, execrable in itself, and pernicious in all its conse- 

 quences, is too general in Italy. Marriage is not a bond, but the reverse ; — it is perfect free- 

 dom from all restraint. Unmarried females are generally excluded from society, in convents, 

 or in the garrets of palaces. The married have everywhere more freedom, than an evil cus- 

 tom has rendered consistent with modesty. The custom of cicisbeism, is on the decline ; yet, 

 in all places, the married dame is allowed to retain the cavalier servente ; and in some, it is not 

 easy for a married lady, who has none, to avoid ridicule. Napoleon, indeed, directed, that no 

 married parties should be received at court, if they came not together ; but this innovation 

 lasted but for a short time. In a state of society like this, the females will, of course, excel 

 in the syren accomplishments ; and the Italian ladies have few rivals in danci.^, singing, and 

 poetry. 



It is a consequence of a depraved state of society that morals are, in Ital)', without the cog- 

 nizance of public opinion. Offences against taste may be visited with censure, but no outrage 

 against good morals ; no offence against honor or honesty will exclude a man from society, or 

 abate his welcome ; nor will a dereliction of modesty bring any discredit on a woman. To 

 De virtuous in such a state of society, is far more difficult, than in better communities ; and 

 common virtue here, deserves the honors of heroism. Yet, lliough the substance is lost, the 

 shadow is preserved ; and the Court of Rome, especially, is solicitous to preserve appear- 

 ances. Here is, at least, an appearance of decorum. A person, indeed, may pass through 

 Italy, or live there for years, and not once be shocked with such undisguised vice, as in one 

 night will intrude upon him in an English city. In England, good and evil are kept distinct ; 

 they exist in their greatest height and depth in tlie same society, but they are never so blended, 

 that oni* could, for a moment, be mistaken for the other. 



In Piedmont, the character, manners, language, and dress, arc generally French. The in- 



