164 ITALIAN LOTTERY. out of which five are drawn, and those persons who have been fortunate enough to guess at any of them, receive a prize in proportion to the money they have staked, and which is increased at every additional number they have guessed out of the five; an ambo, i. e. two prize numbers, affords a premium of more than twenty times the money staked upon them, a terno, or three numbers, affords several hundred times the amount, and so on in proportion; the cinquina, or the whole of the five prize numbers, is worth several thousand ducats to the lucky guesser. The great evil of this system is, that, as people are allowed to stake as low as a few grains, or halfpence, the temptation is very great for the poor classes, who often deprive themselves and their families of the first necessaries of life, and sacrifice the scanty produce of their daily labour at the shrine of cupidity. 165 CHAPTER VIII. TUSCANY. I SAILED from Naples in a Genoese vessel, which brought me to Leghorn after a voyage of eight days. Leghorn is a place entirely mercantile. The town is neatly built; the people have an appearance of affluence and comfort; the streets are crowded; it is the town of Italy which bears the greatest resemblance to England. The shops are fitted up almost like those in London; but a stranger, who has nothing to do with mercantile concerns, soon gets tired of Leghorn, as he cannot find in it many resources for the mind. The country about is flat and heathy; the hill of Montenero is the place of resort for the wealthy inhabitants, who have their country-houses on it. There is a pleasant walk round the walls of the town, which leads by the English burying-ground; among the tombs in the latter, that of Smollett claims the attention of the English traveller. From Leghorn I proceeded to Pisa, in one of the open coaches called timonelle. The distance is about fourteen miles, the road is good, and the fare a trifle. Pisa, one of the most celebrated cities in the history of Italy, looks now depopulated, and melancholy; the grass grows in its fine streets, and at the very entrance of its marble buildings. This city is renowned for its mild and salubrious climate, especially in winter; living is cheap; the people are sociable and courteous; the place is quiet; it is altogether a residence well adapted for an invalid, or for a studious man. The university is one of the most celebrated in Italy: it ranks next to that of Pavia. There are several of the nobility who have conversazioni, or parties, to which strangers may easily get admittance. The Cathedral; the Campo Santo, with its ancient monuments and fresco paintings; the famous leaning tower or belfry; and the Baptistery; form a group of buildings, which might employ the attention of the traveller for several days. The view from the summit of the tower is remarkably fine. From Pisa I went to Florence, by the diligence. The road runs along the banks of the Arno, and offers some most beautiful prospects of Italian scenery. The peasantry look cheerful, the country girls dress neatly and smartly. I arrived at Florence in the evening. Much has been written upon this celebrated city; I shall therefore confine EFFECTS OF FRENCH INVASION. 167 myself in great measure to some remarks upon the moral features of the people. Whether the intellectual state* and civil condition of the Italians in general, and of the Tuscans more particularly, have improved or deteriorated during the years of French dominion, may appear a question to some. But to me it seems evident, that foreign invasion, military despotism, conscrip tions and contributions, increase of taxes, and annihilation of maritime commerce, could not promote the welfare of a nation; and that they must, on the contrary, have been the ruin of domestic happiness, as well as of private fortunes, which is an evil not easily compensated by a refinement in the luxuries of life, nor by the construction of a few roads and public buildings, nor even by some improvement in the laws of a country, especially when the government remains arbitrary. The French have at last derived some real advantages, though dearly purchased, from their successive revolutions; but the unfortunate Italians have lost by the last changes even those scanty compensations which palliated in their eyes the evils of a foreign yoke; they have for the most part returned to their ancient system of government and laws, *There is a distinction to be made here, which I shall explain at full length in giving an historical sketch of the Italian republic, and of the kingdom of Italy. 168 EFFECTS OF FRENCH INVASION. without that tranquillity of mind, and that unimpaired wealth, which made Italy a happy country, even under its divided and imperfect political system, before the French invasion. Contented with their humble destinies, although a faint sigh now and then escaped them at the recollection of former glories, the Italians wisely turned the efforts of their genius to the peaceful pursuits of the arts and sciences. A lovely nature, and all the wonders of man's creation, were to them a happy compensation for the loss of turbulent liberty and bloody triumphs. Their governments, secure in their comparative insignificance, held with gentle hands the loosened reins; opposite parties had blended together, in consequence of long peace; despotism existed more in theory than in practice; catholicism was more tolerant and enlightened here than in any other country; even the inquisition, a shadow of which existed in one or two states, was stripped of its terrors; and travellers who visited Italy bore witness to the practical freedom which was enjoyed in that happy land. By the French invasion all was changed. Discord revived ancient feuds under new names; political dissensions ran higher perhaps in Italy than in any other country of Europe; and these are still far from having subsided. Military habits, of the rudest sort, acquired under the sway of Napoleon, while they |