My friend Mr. R - assured
me that many Genoese noblemen had fortunes of half a million of
livres per annum:
But the truth is, the whole revenue of the
state does not exceed this sum; and the livre of Genoa is but
about nine pence sterling. There are about half a dozen of their
nobles who have ten thousand a year: but the majority have not
above a twentieth part of that sum. They live with great
parsimony in their families; and wear nothing but black in
public; so that their expences are but small. If a Genoese
nobleman gives an entertainment once a quarter, he is said to
live upon the fragments all the rest of the year. I was told that
one of them lately treated his friends, and left the
entertainment to the care of his son, who ordered a dish of fish
that cost a zechine, which is equal to about ten shillings
sterling. The old gentleman no sooner saw it appear on the table,
than unable to suppress his concern, he burst into tears, and
exclaimed, Ah Figliuolo indegno! Siamo in Rovina! Siamo in
precipizio! Ah, Prodigal! ruined! undone!
I think the pride or ostentation of the Italians in general takes
a more laudable turn than that of other nations. A Frenchman lays
out his whole revenue upon tawdry suits of cloaths, or in
furnishing a magnificent repas of fifty or a hundred dishes, one
half of which are not eatable nor intended to be eaten.
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