666 



ITALY. 



ment. A few grains to purchase wine and macaroni, will raise one of the lazzaroni above ai* 

 the ills of mortality for a day. 



The lazzaroni, a race of idle vagrants, are-a large class at Naples ; and the city would lose 

 half its characteristics to be without them. One of these is the model of Diogenes, and though 

 he may never require the shelter of the tub, it is his pleasure, as it was that of the cynic, to 

 lie in the sun. The wants of nature in this climate are few ; less food is needed than in colder 

 countries, less clothing is worn than in any other civilized capital, and less shelter is necessary 

 than that which is sought by some of the birds of the air. The lazzaroni are ignorant, but 

 shrewd. The circle of their thoughts is limited ; but if they are attacked within this compass 

 their adroitness, wit, and drollery are invincible. Madame de Stael remarks, that some of 

 them are so ignorant, that they do not know their own names, but go to the confessor to ac- 

 knowledge anonymous sins, being incapable of telling him the name of the transgressor. But 

 they are not stupid ; they are sagacious demi-savages, living on the confines between civiliza- 

 tion and barbarism, in one of the largest capitals of Europe. No stranger, unless a king, is titled 

 under his merits, and a plain man is even sometimes addressed as Majesty. The lazzaroni 

 address every one from whom they expect to extract a grain, as " Excellency," and the title 

 is liberally applied on all occasions, even in a simple negative or affirmative, as " si Excellenza, 

 no Excellenza.''^ 



They are without hypocrisy, for they make no pretensions to virtue or honesty. If detected 

 in picking a pocket, they will but laugh, and if accused, will say, that a poor man is not ex- 

 pected to be a saint. A stranger perceives, in all people with whom he deals, an intention, 

 and often a combination, to cheat him, and soon learns to offer but a small part of what prices 

 are demanded, and to settle the price before purchasing. His valet de place takes him to 

 tradesmen, with whom he shares the profit ; and when, unattended, the stranger enters a shop, 

 a Neapolitan sometimes follows him, making a sign to the dealer, that he has brought one to 

 be plucked, and subsequently demanding a small sum for the pretended service. 



The animal spirits of the Neapolitans are the best gifts they receive from nature, and they 

 are sufficient to disarm every want of its power of annoyance. It is surely no slight accession 

 to agreeable sensations, to live under a sky forever brilliant and soft, and surrounded by objects 

 of surpassing magnificence and beauty. The tendency of these is to promote cheerfulness. 

 It is an era in the life of a foreigner when he first beholds that unrivaled bay, with its natural 

 pharos, Vesuvius ; that noble city, to which the ancients prefixed a word expressing pleasant- 

 ness ; and that enchanting region of vines, aptly called the campagna felice, or happy country. 

 These things, that are so striking to a stranger, cannot be lost upon the native, though they 

 may dispose him to a life of indolent enjoyment. This seducing climate has ever enervated 

 the courage of men, and subverted the modesty of women. It was the region to which the rich 

 and luxuriant Romans tended, and the shores of Baia were lined, as with a colonnade, by the 

 continued porticos of villas and temples. Men who held provinces elsewhere, were solicitous 

 of possessing a villa here. 



17. Amusements. The opera is the great national amusement of the Italians, and a taste for 

 it has spread over Europe. The decorations and dresses are splendid, and in perfect charac- 

 ter or keeping, while the music is of the highest grade. An opera is a play set to music, and 

 sung ; and the ballet which follows it, is a play performed in pantomime, by a corps of dancers 

 Othello itself has been performed as a ballet. Though unnatural combinations, the opera anc 

 the ballet are capable of affording much entertainment. The most splendid operas are La 

 Scala, at Milan, and San Carlo, at Naples. There are minor operas in every considerable 

 town. 



Italy can hardly be said to have a drama, though theatres are numerous ; the plays of Al- 

 fieri and a few other good writers, are not adapted to the stage, or to the political state of It- 

 aly. The drama, however, has been cast into a regular form, chiefly by Goldoni, and the old 

 national commedie delP arte are becoming disused. These are the mere plots or incidents in 

 which the dialogue is left to the invention and humor of the actors, which, in this improvising 

 country is seldom found wanting. The characters are seldom varied, though the plots are 

 changed. The persons represented give opportunities to ridicule the different dialects and 

 local characters ; they are the Pantaloon of Venice, the Polichinello of Naples, the Rogue of 

 Ferrara, the Doctor of Bologna, &c. 



Actors are low in the estimation of the Italians. A prima donna goes round to solicit at- 

 tendance at her benefit, and sits at the door to receive the money for tickets. The prompter 



