No
Greater Proof Can Be Given Of The Merit And Utility Of The French
Institutions In Italy, Than The Circumstance Of All The Restored
Governments Being Obliged By Their Interests (Tho' Contrary To Their Wishes
And Prejudices), To Adopt And Enforce Them.
There is still required,
however, a severer law for the punishment of post office defalcations.
Simple dismissal is by no means adequate, when it is considered how much
mischief may ensue from such offences.
A very serious offence of this
nature and which has made a great sensation, has lately occurred. As all
foreign letters must be franked, and as the postage to England is very
high, one of the clerks at the Post office had been in the habit of
receiving money for the franking of letters, appropriated it to his own
use, and never forwarded the letters. This created great inconvenience; a
number of families having never received answers to their letters and being
without the expected remittances, began to be uneasy and to complain. An
enquiry was instituted, and it was discovered that the clerk above
mentioned had been carrying on this game to a great extent. He used to tear
the letters and throw the fragments into a closet. Several scraps of
letters were thus discovered and, on being examined, he made an ample
confession of his practises. He was merely discharged, and no other
punishment was indicted on him. I am no advocate for the punishment of
death for any other crime but wilful murder; but surely this fellow was
worse than a robber, and deserved a greater severity of punishment.
ROME, 10th February, 1818.
The Carnaval has long since begun, and this is the heaven of the Roman
ladies. On my remarking to a lady that I was soon tired of it and after a
day or two found it very childish, she replied: "Bisogna esser donna e
donna Italiana per ben godere de' piaceri del Carnevale."
When I speak of the Carnaval, I speak of the last ten days of it which
precede Lent. The following is the detail of the day's amusement during the
season.
After dinner, which is always early, the masks sally out and repair to the
Corso. The windows and balconies of the houses are filled with
spectators, in and out of masks. A scaffolding containing an immense number
of seats is constructed in the shape of a rectangle, beginning at the
Piazza del Popolo, running parallel to the Corso on each side, and
terminating near the Piazza di Venezia; close to which is the goal of the
horse race that takes place in this enclosure. Carriages, with persons in
them, generally masked, parade up and down this space in two currents, the
one ascending, the other descending the Corso. They are saluted as they
pass with showers of white comfits from the spectators on the seats of the
scaffolding, or from the balconies and windows on each side of the street.
These comfits break into a white powder and bespatter the clothes of the
person on whom they fall as if hair-powder had been thrown on them. This
seems to be the grand joke of this part of the Carnival. After the
carriages have paraded about an hour, a signal is given by the firing of a
gun that the horse race is about to begin. The carriages, on the gun being
fired, must immediately evacuate the Corso in order to leave it clear for
the race; some move off and rendezvous on the Piazza del Popolo just
behind the scaffolding, from the foot of which the horses start; others
file off by the Via Ripetta and take their stand on the Piazza Colonna.
The horse-race is performed by horses without riders, generally five or six
at a time. They are each held with a bridle or halter by a man who stands
by them, in order to prevent their starting before the signal is given; and
this requires no small degree of force and dexterity, as the horses are
exceedingly impatient to set off. The manes of the horses are dressed in
ribbands of different colours to distinguish them. Pieces of tin, small
bells and other noisy materials are fastened to their manes and tails, in
order by frightening the poor animals, to make them run the faster, and
with this view also squibs and crackers are discharged at them as they pass
along. A second gun is the signal for starting; the keepers loose their
hold, and off go the horses. The horse that arrives the first at the goal
wins the grand prize; and there are smaller ones for the two next. This
race is repeated four or five times till dusk, and then the company
separate and return home to dress. They then repair to the balls at the
different casinos, and at the conclusion of the ball, supper parties are
formed either at restaurants or at each other's houses. During the time
occupied in the balls and promenades, as every body goes masked either in
character or in domino, there is a fine opportunity for pairing off, and
it is no doubt turned to account. This is a pretty accurate account of a
Roman Carnaval. A great deal of wit and repartee takes place among the
masks and they are in general extremely well supported, and indeed they
ought to be, for there is a great sameness of character assumed at every
masquerade, and very little novelty is struck out, except perhaps by some
foreigner, who chuses to introduce a national character of his own, which
is probably but little, or not at all, understood by the natives, and very
often not at all well supported by the foreigner himself. An American
gentleman once made his appearance as an Indian warrior with his
war-hatchet and calumet; he danced the war dance, which excited great
astonishment. He then presented his calumet to a mask, who not knowing what
the ceremony meant, declined it, when the Mohawk flourished his hatchet and
gave such a dreadful shriek as to set the whole company in alarm.[112] On
the whole this character was so little understood that it was looked upon
as a mauvaise plaisanterie.
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