572 
N A P 
there are fuppofed to be at lealt tvventy thoufand perfons 
xvlio rife every morning without employment, and rely 
for maintenance on the accidents of the day, it is but 
fair to allow Naples, teeming as it is with population, and 
yet deftitute of fimilar means of lupporting it, to have in 
proportion a greater number of the fame defcription, with¬ 
out incurring the cenfure of lazinefs. The laszaroni are 
the porters of Naples ; they are l'ometimes attached to 
great houles, under the appellation of facchino della ca/'a, 
to perform commiffions for fervants, and give affiftance 
where ftrength and exertion are requifite; and in fuch fta- 
tions they are fatd to have given proofs of fecrecy, ho- 
nefty, and dilintereftednefs, very unufual among fervants. 
Their drel's is often only a fhirt and trow'fers ; their diet 
maccaroni, filh, water-melon, with iced water, and not 
unfrequently wine; and their habitation the portico of a 
church or palace. Their athletic forms, and conftant 
flow of fpirits, are fuflicient demonftrations of the falutary 
eftefts of fuch plain food and Ample habits. Yet thele 
very circumftances, the confequences or rather the blefs- 
ingsof the climate, have been turned into a fubjeft of re¬ 
proach, and reprefented as the refult of indifference and 
indolence, in a people either ignorant of the comforts of 
life, or too lazy to procure them. It would be happy, 
however, if the poor in every other country could fo well 
difpenfe with animal food and warm covering. The 
name, or rather nickname, by which this clals is defig- 
nated, naturally tends to prejudice the ftranger againft 
them, as it feems to convey the idea of a llurdy beggar. 
Its derivation is a fubjeft of conjefture; the mod pro¬ 
bable feems to be that adopted at Naples itfelf, which fup- 
poles it to originate from the Spanilh word lacero, de¬ 
rived from lacerns, Agnifying tattered, torn, or ragged, 
pronounced by the Spaniards as by us, laffero, and con¬ 
verted by the Neapolitans into, lazzero, laszaroni. It ill 
became the Spaniards, after all, to give contemptuous 
Appellations to a people whom they opprefled, pillaged, 
and degraded; and to ground thole appellations on the 
nailery, nakednefs, and general poverty, produced by 
their own injuftice. Several anecdotes are related of the 
laszaroni that redound much to their credit, and imply 
feelings which do not fuperabound in any rank, and 
would do honour to the liigheft. They are laid to have 
fliown a rooted averiion to the inquilition ; and, by their 
refolute and unabating oppofition, prevented its eftablifli- 
ment in the kingdom of Naples ; while the other inhabi¬ 
tants fubmitted to the meafures of the court, and received 
if without reclamation. They have manifefted, whenever 
an opportunity enabled them to exprefs their feelings with 
energy, a warm attachment to the caufe of liberty, and 
an abhorrence of oppreffion and injuftice, which have 
more than once checked the career of government in its 
way to defpotifm. In thele exertions they had the dan¬ 
ger and the glory entirely to themfelves; and may with 
reafon boaft, that, where the nobles yielded, they made a 
ftand, and, by their perfeverance, faved from utter liope- 
lefs flavery that country which their fuperiors were ready 
to betray. Even in the late invaflon, they generoufly came 
forward, and offered their perfons and lives to their fo- 
vereign ; and, finding neither chiefs to command, nor offi¬ 
cers to lead them on, they reluftantly fubmitted to in- 
aflion ; butwith a furly Alence and threateningafpeft,that 
awed the invaders, and checked for once the infolence 
and rapacity of a French army. Such is their public lpi- 
rit : their private feelings have fometimes been difplayed 
with equal advantage.” He adds, that fome Neapolitan 
writers alfert that the lazzaroni, properly fo called, are 
the moft laborious and diflnterefted part of the popula¬ 
tion ; attached to religion and order, Ample and Ancere in 
their manners, and faithful to their employers; rather 
than wrong whom, they would {hed their blood. This 
eulogium they qualify, however, by confining it to the 
true-born Neapolitan lazzaroni, as diftinguifhed from a fet 
of beggars who infeft the churches and public places, for 
the molt part foreigners, and who, being always ready to 
L E S. 
impofe on travellers at the hotels, have brought difgrace 
on the regular lazzaroni! 
In a delightful climate, beneath an unclouded fky, the 
manners and character of a people are to be collected from 
theirappeftrance out of doors; not, as with us, from domef- 
tic circles and fire-fide parties. “ Naples, in its interior,” 
fays Mr. Forfyth, “ has no parallel on earth. The crowd 
of London is uniform and intelligible : it is a double line 
in quick motion ; it is the crowd of bufinefs. The crowd 
of Naples confifts in a general tjde rolling up and down, 
and in the middle of this tide a hundred eddies of men. 
Here you are fwept on by the current, there you are 
wheeled round by the vortex. A diverfity of trades dif- 
pute with you the ftreets. You are flopped by a carpen¬ 
ter’s bench, you are loft among flioemakers’ ftools, you 
da(h among the pots of a maccaroni-ftall, and you efcape 
behind a lazarone 's night-balket. In this region of cari¬ 
cature every bargain founds like a battle : the popular 
exhibitions are full of the grotefque; fome of their 
church-proceffions would frighten a war-horfe. The 
mole feems on holidays an epitome of the town, and ex¬ 
hibits moft of its humours. Here ftands a methodiftical 
friar preaching to one row of lazzaroni; there, Punch, the 
reprefentative of the nation, holds forth to a crowd. 
Yonder, another orator recounts the miracles which he 
has performed with a lacred wax-work on which he rubs 
his agnufes, and fells them, thus impregnated with grace, 
for a grano a-piece. Beyond him are quacks in huflar uni¬ 
form, exalting their drugs and brandilhing their fabres, as 
if not content with one mode of killing. The next pro- 
feffore is a dog of knowledge, great in his own little circle 
of admirers. Oppofite to him ftand two jocund old men, 
in the centre of an oval group, Anging alternately to 
their crazy guitars. Farther on is a motley audience 
feated on planks, and Aliening to a tragi-comic JiloJofo, 
who reads, Angs, and geliiculates, old Gothic tales of Or¬ 
lando and his paladins.” 
The fame picture is drawn by a lively Frenchman, M. 
Petit Radel, as follows: “The ftreets are filled with a 
noify and gefticulating populace, ever in motion. Here 
are venders of filh, fruits, vegetables, and melons, which 
are fold by the flice, the fellers being always provided 
with a large knife, and deafening the paflenger by their 
clamorous invitations to purchafe. There are the aquaioli, 
or fellers of lemonade, furrounded by piles of lemons, 
who invite you at every corner by tilting a barrel full of 
iced water ready for drinking. Next is a beggar, who 
harrafles you by his importunity, and from whom it is 
difficult to efcape. Here are mendicant monks of all or¬ 
ders, who carry home their pittance to their convent, 
fome in wallets, others on afles, which they lead by a 
halter; Capuchins and Francifcans, with their gowns 
tucked up, fliort Ait figures who idly faunter along, and 
pioufly prefent their hands to be killed by the poor; 
priefts in black mantles, with fpeftacles on their nofes ; 
devotees, who tramp along, fome after having paid their 
vows, and others contented with a promife, which they 
revoke at convenience; companies of women in black filk 
cloaks, with fmart head-drefles, but deftitute of Ihoe or 
flocking; children, who furroundthe fellers of maccaroni, 
in hopes of a few lpoonfulls ; a rabble of infants (creaming 
to their utmoft; jugglers, players on the bagpipe and haut- 
bois, who jig their puppets by the leg ; walking virtuofi, 
who fing or play on the violin or harp, in a wretched 
manner, before the madonnas of the ftreets, or before the 
fhops ; foldiers and officers in calalhes or on foot; bark¬ 
ing dogs; advocates and attorneys, with their parchments 
under their arm, haftening to the vicaria; proceffions, 
funerals, and oxen loaded with leathern panniers full of 
manure, which are taken to the gardeners in the fuburbs. 
Such is a (ketch of the pifture of animation with which 
mod: of the ftreets of Naples are enlivened.” 
The number of inhabitants is 350 or 400,000. Of 
thele perhaps the lazzaroni may amount to 40,000; the 
lawyers are as numerous as 8000 5 there are not fewer 
than 
