aa 
Retrospect of French Literature—Miscellaneous. 
jence of his saddle and bridle, attracted 
my attention, and I stopped, m order 
to admire it at my ease. “ Will 
you mount him?” said a well-dressed 
man to me, who at the same time 
approached, adding that the ass ap- 
pertained to him. I declined his; offer, 
but he insisted on my compliance 
with his invitation; and on my turning 
round, I found that a boy followed me, 
with orders to attend at the door of the 
church until I should return. I had 
tiever seen this person before, and I 
have never seen him since. 
“ We sometimes of an evening as- 
cended a precipice, in order to view the 
setting of the sun, and the rising of the 
moon. Not far from the bottom re- 
sided Maria Gueseppe, who, so soon as 
she perceived us, was accustomed to 
bring a dishful of fruit; and having sat 
down familiarly by our sides, would 
prattle at her ease about her little 
houschold matters, the expected return 
of her hu&band, what she intended to 
do on that happy occasion, and in 
short, concerning all her domestic in- 
tereésts. 
“True it is indeed, that they would 
sometimes expect a reward in return for 
their complaisance and their little ser- 
vices. In this island, as well as through- 
out the whole of Southern Italy, there 
are more than one man avaricious of 
wealth; but this passion exactly re- 
sembles the cupidity of a child, who 
desires whatsoever it sees. Without 
calculating the value of money, they 
will sometimes demand a most exorbi- 
tant sum either for their labour or their 
trifling articles of merchandise, but in 
general they are ready instantly to ac- 
cept whatsoever you may be pleased to 
offer to them. If you give charity to a 
poor person, he will take it with an ap- 
parent indifference; but this does not 
proceed from ingratitude, for he thinks 
that it is but natural that you should 
succouwr him during his affliction, Ac- 
cordingly, it is with somedifficulty that 
the children learn to say, ‘1 thank 
you.’ 
“ The inhabitants of Ischia, like 
those of all Italy, scarcely make use of 
the word man, instead of which, they 
always employ that of Christians, and 
Christian with them is synonimous to 
Catholic. - Notwithstanding this, and 
although they perceive that we did not 
comply with their religious rites, they 
gave themselves no trouble on that ac- 
count. Their faith consisted of hope 
69! 
and content, and they but rarely elevat- 
ed their minds above the mother of 
God,” when they recurred to any pious 
expressions. Itis to “ our Lady” that 
they commend you, both on leaving you, 
and wishing you a most holy night! 
(Santissima Notte!) It is to her they 
address themselves during’ all their ma~- 
ladies. 
“ When an adult dies, they pray for 
the repuse of his soul: the death of an 
infant is considered as a happiness. 
‘You are sad,’ said Francesca to me 
one day, when.a child belonging to the 
family had breathed its last; * you are 
melancholy, and I know the cause: 
T also think: of the dear little boy, but 
am happy, for he is in paradise.’ 
“¢ Religious festivals are days of joy for 
them. On our arrival in the isle, they 
had told us that we must tarry there un- 
til the feast of theirpatron. As we ac- 
tually did stay so long, 2nd became like 
themselves, at length, impatient for the 
event, they gave us the life of their 
tutelary Saimt to read, that we might 
perceive, as they observed, what kind 
of a man he was. 
“« {1 beato Giovanne (for that is his. 
naine) was a native of Ischia, where 
many of his friends and relations still 
live. He had been a monk at Naples, 
and his reputation of sanctity haa in- 
creased greatly during his life. One day 
he was seen following a religious pro- 
cession, without the soles or his feet 
having so much as touched the ground: 
Another time, he had passed through a 
very heavy shower, without being once 
wet. 
“ On the feast of the Holy Saint Janua- 
rius, he wished, like a multitude of others, 
to approach the chief altar, that he might 
offer up- his prayers before the mira- 
culous blood, but he lost his crutch in 
the crowd, and was obliged to sit down 
in a sad and sorrowful plight at the 
door of the church. At the end of 
a few minutes, however, this same 
crutch was seen flying through the air, 
over the heads of the people, who ut- 
tered exclamations of joy, after which 
descending at his feet, it gently placed 
itself against the breast of the venerable 
saint. On his demise, thousands rushed 
forward, in order to view the corpse, 
and it was found necessary to call in the 
guard to keep the multitude otf. This, 
however, did not prevent one of. his 
ears from disappearing suddenly, with- 
out any one being able to discover what 
had become of this precious. relick. 
When 
