Few Englishmen would be found to bear the yoke that is here imposed on a Cavaliere. An Italian, without pursuit or profession, may find in this philandering drudgery a pleasant mode of employing his time; but in England, politics and field-sports, would, if no better feelings or principles should oppose its introduction, be in themselves sufficient to interfere with such a system of female supremacy. But, though much may be feared from familiarity with vice, I would rather hope, that a nearer contemplation of its evil consequences will induce them to cling with closer affection to the moral habits and institutions of their own country, where the value of virtue and fidelity is still felt, and appreciated as it ought to be;and to cultivate with increasing vigilance all those observances, which have been wisely set up as bulwarks to defend and secure the purity of the domestic sanctuary. Tra I remember, Fuller says vel not beyond the Alps. Mr. Ascham did thank God, that he was but nine days in Italy: wherein he saw in one city more liberty to sin, than in London he had ever heard of in nine years. That some of our gentry have gone thither and returned thence, without infection, I more praise God, than their adventure.' If he entertained apprehensions for the travel-tainted' gentry of his time, we may well feel anxiety for the ladies of our own; feeling as we must, that it is to the female virtues of England we should look, not only for the happiness of our homes, but also for the support of that national character, which has led to all our national greatness;--for the character of a nation is ever mainly determined by the institutions of domestic life; and it is to the influence of maternal precept and maternal example upon the mind of childhood, that all the best virtues of manhood may ultimately be traced. May 17th. The Venus pleases me more than ever. There is nothing in Rome, or elsewhere, that can be compared with her. There is that mysterious something about her, quod nequeo monstrare, et sentio tantum, impressed by the mastertouch, which is as inexplicable as the breath of life. It is this incommunicable something, which no copy or cast, however accurate, is able to catch. I doubt whether the same thing can be observed of the Apollo; whence I am inclined to believe the notion, which, it is said, was first started by Flaxman-that the Apollo itself is but a copy. The style of the finishing has certainly not the air of an original work;-it possesses little of that indefinable spirit and freedom, which are the characteristics of those productions, in which the author follows only the conceptions of his own mind. The form and disposition of the drapery are said to afford technical evidence of the strongest kind, that the statue must have been originally executed in bronze; and the materials of which the Apollo is composed, which, it seems, are at last determined to be Italian marble, favour the same opinion. May 18th. The Tuscan dialect sounds harshly, and almost unintelligibly, after the soft and sonorous cadence of the Roman pronunciation. However pure the lingua Toscana may be, the bocca Romana seems necessary to give it smoothness. It is delightful to listen to the musica! flow of the words, even independently of their sense. Then how pretty are their diminutives! What answer could be invented more soothing to impatient irritability than- momentino Signore?' The Romans however are too apt to fall into a sort of sing-song recitative, while the Tuscans-that is, the lower orders-offend you with a guttural rattle, not unlike the Welsh. There is perhaps no country where the dialects vary more, than in the different provinces of Italy. The language of Naples and the Milanese is a sort of Babylonish jargon, little better than gibberish. The origin of the Italian language has long been a subject of discussion. The literati of Florence are fond of tracing it up to Etruscan antiquity. We know that Etruria had a language of its own, distinct from the Latin. This was the language in which the Sibyl was supposed to have delivered her oracles, and in which the augurs interpreted the mysteries of their profession. Livy says, 'Habeo auctores, vulgo tum Romanos pueros, sicut nunc Græcis, ila Etruscis literis erudiri solitos.' This language is by some supposed so have continued to exist during the whole time of the Romans, as the sermo vulgaris-the paloiswhich was in common use amongst the peasantry of the country: while the Latin was confined to the higher classes, and the capital;-to the senate, the forum, the stage, and to literature. This opinion does not seem entire ly destitute of probability. We have living evidence in our own island of the difficulty of changing the language of a people. In France too, till within the last half century, the southern provinces were almost utterly ignorant of French; and, even at present, the lower classes of the peasantry never speak French, but continue to make use of a patois of the old Provencal language. In like manner it is supposed by many, that pure Latin was confined to the capital and to high life; while the ancient Etruscan, which had an additional support in being consecrated to the service of religion, always maintained its ground as the colloquial patois of the greatest part of Italy. Thus, when Rome fell, the polished language of the capital fell with it; but the patois of the common people remained, and still remains, in an improved edition, in the language of modern Italy. For, if this be not so, we must suppose, first, that the Etruscan was rooted out by the Latin, and that the Latin has again yielded in its turn to a new tongue. But innovations in language, are the slowest of all in working their way; and if the pure Latin of the classics had ever been the colloquial language of the common people, some living evidence of it would surely have been discovered, as we now find the ancient language of the Brittons lingering in the fastnesses of Wales and Cornwall;-but no information is handed down to us by which we can ascertain when Latin was the common spoken language of Italy, or at what period it ceased to exist. Still however, on the other hand, it is perhaps equally extraordinary, that we should meet with no traces of this colloquial patois, in the writings of the ancients. Some allusion indeed is made, by Quintilian, to the sermo militaris-a dialect in use among the soldiery;--but if the language of the common people was so distinct, as it is supposed, it is strange that we do not find more direct mention of it, especially in the plays of Plautus, who with his love of broad humour, might naturally have been expected after the example of Aristophanes, to have availed himself of such a source of the ridiculous. And when one reads in modern Italian, such lines as the following, the parent language seems to stand confessed in the identity of the resemblance; In mare irato, in subita procella Or, again, Vivo in acerba pena, in mesto or rore, Quando te non imploro, in te non spero: Purissima Maria, et in sincero These lines however were probably studiously composed in this indiscriminate character:-and they might be counterbalanced by examples of early Roman inscriptions, which certainly bear more affinity to the modern Italian, than to the Latin; --and this would seem to show that the two languages might have existed and gone on progressively together. After considering therefore all that is urged by opposite writers on this subject, one is reduced to the conclusion of sir Roger de Coverly, of happy memory;—that much may be said on both sides. Thus much is certain; that at least the guttural accent of Tuscany is as old as Catullus; who has ridiculed it in one of his epigrams: Chommoda dicebat, si quando commoda vellet Dicere, et hinsidias, Arrius insidias. May 19th. An evening at Fiesole, which is situated on a commanding eminence, about three miles distant from Florence. The country is now in the highest beauty. Spring is the season for Italy. We have little Spring or Summer in England, except in Thomson's Seasons. Climate, if it do not constitue the happiness, is a very important ingredient in the comfort of life. An evening or night, in an Italian villa at this season of nightingales, and moonlight, is a most delicious treat. How could Shakspeare write as he has done, without having been in Italy? Some of his garden scenes breathe the very life of reality. And yet if he had been here, I think he would not have omitted all allusion to the fire fly, a little flitting insect, that adds much to the charm of the scene The whole garden is illuminated by myriads of these sparkling lights, sprinkled about with as much profusion as spangles on a lady's gown. There is something delightfully pleasant in the voluptuous languor, which the soft air of an Italian evening occasions;-and then the splendour of an Italian sun-set! I shall never forget the impression made upon me by a particular evening. The sun had just gone down, leaving the whole sky dyed with the richest tints of crimson,-while the virgin snows of the distant mountains were suffused with blushes of celestial rosy red;' when, from an opposite quarter of the heavens, there seemed to rise another sun, as large, as bright, and as glowing as that which had just departed. It was the moon at the full;-and the illusion was so complete, that it required some few moments to convince me that I was not in Fairy Land. To Readers and Correspondents. THE two last numbers of the Analectic Magazine, were issued without the usual and promised engravings. An apology is due for the omission; and we have none better to offer than the simple fact, that the artists, of whom several were at work, occasioned a disappointment by being themselves unwillingly and accidentally unpunctual. The difficulties which oppose the plan of giving a regular series of elegant and interesting engravings, as embellishments to a periodical journal published in Philadelphia, are much greater than could easily be believed by any one that has not learned them from experience. There are skilful artists in this city, and unhappily not very constantly employed; and hopes were entertained at the commencement of the present year, that we should be enabled, by their aid, to exhibit in every number, engravings at once elegant in execution and interesting in the subject, but those expectations have not been fully realized. There is unfortunately no disposition generally prevalent among the possessors of pictures, to aid in such a design, by even permitting the desired use to be made of them. And in many instances, we have had reason to wonder at the illiberal or fastidious answers given to our requests of a simple loan, for a very short period. tures. As to portraits, the choice is not easy at the present period. During the time of the late war, each month, almost each day, brought a new hero, naval or military, before the public eye, and curiosity stood on tip-toe to behold his feaPainters of the most distinguished skill were emulous to transfer his lineaments to their canvass, and engravers and publishers found their account in multiplying copies upon paper. The case is different now, few men are so prominent in the view of the nation as to excite that kind of curiosity, except those whose portraits have long since been a drug in every print shop. Still there are a few, and we should gladly have availed ourselves of any opportunity of presenting their likenesses to our readers. But all our applications, which were many, and directed to various owners of the pictures wished for, met with repulse or delay; and always with disappointment, except in two instances. It was owing to those two exceptions to the general rule, that we were enabled to procure the engravings to be made of the portraits of Mr. Clay, and the late Mr. Lewis; the first of which was executed from an indifferent painting which was foaned to the engraver, under such strict limitation as to time, that the plate was necessarily very imperfect; the other was furnished with promptness and liberality, and the engraving does great credit to the talents of the artists, Messrs. Goodman and Piggott. Such have been the discouragements attending the design of decorating this Magazine with portraits; the attempt to procure valuable landscapes was not much more fortunate. An endeavour was made to introduce coloured engravings from views of remarkable American scenery, in imitation of those which so charmingly embellish Ackerman's (London) Repository.' The first experiment was made with a sketch of the Natural Bridge, obligingly furnished by a gentleman of this city. An aquatint was prepared and colours put on, but the result was a total failure, as all will recollect who saw the January number. A second trial was ventured and the 'View near Bordenton,' published in February, evinced a small improvement, but was far from elegant. A third endeavour was delayed awhile, in the hope of finding a suitable subject, but original drawings from American scenery are very scarce, and the use of some were refused by the owners; a foreign scene was therefore chosen, and the plate representing Konigstein,' was the first experiment that resulted in any thing like success. A fourth was attempted, and a picture painted for the purpose, was placed in the hands of the artists; this was the view of Pedler creek Falls,' and was so well executed that more of the same sort would have followed, but for the absolute impracticability of obtaining proper subjects. These being the actual impediments in the way of giving tasteful embellishments, we have come to the determination to discontinue them entirely, after the next number. In consideration of this change, the subscription price of the Magazine will be reduced; and some other alterations will be made, to be more fully explained in the December number. |