C 0 UNT PECCH,IOS OBSERV A,TIO NS, ON ENOL AN,Oe
THE author of this little book is' a pleasant-minded foreigner, who has been Very .well treated in England, and who has returned the favour by giving us a good character . on the Continent. We should think.that.the original of- this work will be well receivedin Italy ; at least it is far superior to the ordinary productions-of the Italian press. The Count, by infection, has caught some of Our habits -of thinking, and has whipped it up with some of his native mercurialism. His picture of England is not to be considered a jest one, and it is very far from being an entire one : if it amuses. us, it is on the ground that we thus find out how we are viewed by foreigners. Many a hearty laugh will be raised over this work; not at-Count PEceRio's wit, but that some of our simplest actions and most ordinary manner of being should be thus interpreted. We 'agree with the preface-writer, that the acute .reader will be . better informed as to what. Italians are than what the English are.
There is one thing very clear—that in matters. of government the Italians get a deal. of instruction by a residence .among -is, and that they soon lose all those wild follies which cause their ejection from home. - We wish Our. 'opinion could be in anyway laid before his Sardinian Majesty especially—that if he would recal those of his subjects, whether condemned par contumace -or otherwise, who could proVe a residence of so many years—say five—in England, he would get an acquisition of a mob of 'as good citizens as ever lived under a paternal despotism. The following extract will give as complete an idea of the Count's notions of English manners and society, as if we were to extract or abridge half his book.
AJT ENGLISII VILLA—TETE-A-TETE—" TILE BETTER CLASS." .
I was a visit in debt to a widow-lady, mother of two beautiful girls, through an invitation to dinner I had received. This lady's villa is situated in a delicious spot, at the foot of. a bill crowned by an old and noble wood, approached by a winding, gently-sloping. path across meadows, and plantations within the same enclosure. The-house is protected from the wind, and from excessive heat; it is not large, in comparison with the immense and useless Italian palaces, but is sufficiently spacious for an English Villa, and enjoys a view of a range of hills, irregular in form, clad with trees,.and within the space that can be taken iia,by the eye. The 'quiet, the mystery of the!neighbouring wood, the sang of the birds, the flocks feeding in the meadows, all seem to say, ." Hereanigus love!" What then. if I add that --the two young ladies of.the mansion areheautiful, . graceful, and courteous, with rosy cheeks, and -copious ringlets of'tlowing hair- " Whose large blue-eyes, fair leeks, and snowy hands. ' Might shake the saintship of an anchorite?"—Brsom . Almost every day they ride out alone with their groom, on excursions over the neighbouring country, and are sometimes present for a few:moments at R fax- -chase, when, at reynard's first breaking cover, the shrill-horn and -the cry-of a • hundred panting. bounds are beard together, and thered-coated horsemen, :leap- ing hedge and -ditch, scour the country at a headlong gallop. They have passed two or three months at Paris, speak Of it with enthusiasm, and-are eager to re- turn.- They speak French, and stammer a little Italian.: The piano;-the harp, drawing, light reading, the'conservatory, and a little flower-garden cultivated with their own hands, divide the time that riding,: visiting, balls, invitations, and the annual two-months' visit to London, leave them. I had selected a•rainy day-, that I Might be sure of-finding the family at home ; but the EngliShiadies
• pay little regard to- the weather., I had not got half across the garderrbeffire
perceived the carriage, which was just on the point of setting out. I approach the door,I am welcomed-with a courtesy more-than polite.. The mother was in, the coach, along with the younger daughter who as also the handsomen of the tivM On seeing this, I went thniugh th'imiand antics, professed MA& au desespoii, (lade, 8M., and 'gave in to all the caricature we practise on the Continent. The graeeft.I Fes, by way of "consoling me,- informed:ine that her sister was-at home-, and would-be veryglad. to see me. This intimation,recalled me to Ige.- I should never have looked for the good fortune-of-such-a passport; —I devoured at a stride the piece-of road between- me -and-the house. Idoicick and •reknock impatiently. A maid-servant- opens- the door, and invites meito walkintaa room on the right: As Iliad 'always seen-the mistress of the loose on the left-hand, I did- not understand her directions, and entered-another room; but the beautiful' somycanie in,- and courteously-saluting me, invited-me to her own room, her parlour.- Severe Italian: matrons • ought-here to reflect that the colloquy was between a heautifahyoung woman and a wandering-exile, who leaves no trace. of actions, as official. persons must. do, wherever-. they:pads ; that Iliad not -concealed the, impression made upon me by thedively.and spark- - ling eyes of the-be:anal(' C= at-other times that in the room-- • a
: • . . .
• "-Alone we were; and all iithout sespicion;" that no guardians no Authorized Cerberus of that garden of the Hesperides, Was MI the house; that go one Would have,dared- to-enter thatsanction.aanctorlore unless summoned by the bell; that a good fire was burning, that' a beautiful ;Lk sofa received' an exciting. warmth.-from the 'chimney — 5 vet, instead of :the .downcast eyes, the mutilatedwords, the burning blushei imthe face,* the eniliar- rassment that would accompany suck a situation in Italy, there began ,beti-Aen -us a cheerful and unreatiained conversation, with-frank gd:sparkling eyes, with sallies and merriment. Hunting, the exhibition 'of:Oki-Urea, the dagt new novel, the Parisian operas, and ,ffie.eternal and -inevitable subject of the English' rddfes, Lord Byron, passed•asvaY two hours' time very pleasantly. Many-times did pie prohibited fruit (guarded by the dragoifef ber own virtue and modesty), Imetta my lovely hostess, Offer Me something with i'vhich. I, might refreSh myself, Mid many tines :also entice Me to repeat my visits. We weretellinghefore.-e.por ' trait of his LoWlship, which slie-,hacl. She Was dressed in green silk, with a border.. of "yellew.riband -: my mention that the -colour was greensill ;spare me the trouble-of - telling Italians:that had a Complexied of perfect ...Whiteness, •withonOvialcb. , a. green dress -would Would have injered 'heib6.4ty;''flut -Where is }idle Tarly.*-13.o.doeS not uglerstand the effect' of Votourm drop better then:TitianhiMs8c-4,gailYitobli.iiWeaVes ray home. awaited" me
anditVu.1 rIert0-,,meatAiirt-
••Thesieltsrboyoung‘..fadies weee sietetatin hloixi, but sitot in ?taste.. . The .yeuegor loved travelling, onAhe ,C.outinent, and tIzootheiltres 404 balls,of Paris; the elder loved he conntry:and,ita.fi*,..4bave oll thoiaoornantie scenery,. of Switzerland, above all-the enchantments of Italy., The.one paved an tbe piano and theharp.; .thaothe, gave eans,W• as,shi,sakl,„.*itb,kmadile frankness, for want of ear. 'She told me one day, 'Way of compliment, that she, cultivated Italian,as. a compensation for music. .The elder, instead, contented herself with Frepoli. Shc in her mien was the more reserved and-'stately; the other, in her motions 'and her conversation, more winning. 'Drawing • and' riding were acecnnpliSli•- meets comnion, to both. It•seentect as if, like the Roman emperors, who divided • thaetnpire between them, they had divided olihe.provinces of amiability ; perhaps it was 'a tacit convention, nut, to becrivalsiri'matrimony, and:taleaVe those who should offer, sonic variety in their_ :choice:. • The.secoOd seemedomodelledfor.an Englishman who had travelled .on the. Continent ; the first for One who had .neyer left Old,fmgloncl, however, are amiable, each in her own tray; but if, I were condemned to renounce one of 'them, I would select her Who loves the Continent the most. • I have traced these sketchea to give an idea of that of society which ih England is the best informed, the most hospitable; the most beneficent, and the most virtuous of all ; and which, •being•there immeasurably more numerous than in any:other country, forms, so-to speak, the heart of the nation. • I ought now to ascend to that sphere which Parini delineate's in his poem:. but I draw my- self back,—not so Much .beeause stliejligher classes almost everywhere have a strong resemblance to each other, and model themselves on the same code. of ca- price, etiquette, prejudice, and nothingness, as because my object is rather to die- play. the base-of the,natikonol pyramid than the apex. This is the error reprobated in several modern historians, who have given us merely the history of kings and. courts, as if a nation consisted only of a monarch and a few hundred:nohle, men, and ;..1). the rest were only an anonymonS something not worthy of a glance : the same error, I repeat, may be imputed to Many .modern traveller:4; who, inr stead of becoming acqiiairiteti3iitli a nation, are ,contented with knowing a few in- dividuals.•Besides, whoever wishes to know the roanners•of the higher classes, may consult truer and better painters than I aui ;_ such as Pope, in the 16pe of the Loch ; Lord' Byron, hi Don'Jaan ; the fashibnable newspaper, The Morning Post ; and, above all, the novel published last years 'under the title of:Almaek's: this spirited novel is a magic lantern-of -the- most ridiculous characters in the 'fashrouable -world,. painted in the liveliest odours. The author is a sort of De- vil-on-two-sticks, Who lays-bare . all the cabals andlittlenesses of the earthly .demigods.. But if the author should be a lady, as-I have some suspicion, I beg ,to withdraw the comparison of the Devil-on-two-sticks, and to say, that she is so4 angel who writes like an-angel 1 •
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