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portant personage with, and exercises great moral influence over, his tribe (amongst whom are some very elaborate samples of Egyptian mould), and is deservedly held in their fair esteem. He is the Rothschild of the community, and practises acts of kindness towards the less fortunate of the card-trading fraternity, frequently starting them with capital to commence the day's business, exacting from them, however, the punctual observance of repayment, excepting under the absolute inability of non-success in their speculations. Jerry has thus, it appears, learned "the luxury of doing good;" and though humble his pursuits, and limited his sphere of action, he is to be honoured for his practical indulgence of the acquirement. Several attempts have been made of late years to personate Jerry in his original character, costume, and vagaries, but all have failed, and Jerry may yet pride himself in the idea, that " none but himself can be his parallel."

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SCENES OF ITALIAN LIFE.

BY A RESIDENT.

THE MISSIONE."

Ir was eight o'clock as I set out upon my expedition, accompanied only by a servant; for no one had the courage to dare the heat, and other désagrémens which had been enumerated to us, except myself.

The church was at the upper end of the Chiaja, just in that part which is inhabited by rather a low population; and as I approached it, I was dismayed by the numbers of lazzari in their picturesque rags; fishermen, and their wives and daughters; and troops of dirty children, who were pouring out of the vicos and vicoli of the neighbourhood. But I was predetermined to persevere.

At the summit of the long flight of steps which led up to the church, two of the priests were seated al fresco under the portico, whence they had evidently been enjoying the corso; and the great curtain of the entrance was drawn up to admit the fresh air.

On entering I was agreeably surprised to find the church not so much crowded as I had feared, though all the benches were already filled by women. As I stood for some moments irresolute, two of them made room for me at the end of the form, compassionating, with the good nature which pervades all classes in Italy, the stranger, who, but for them, perhaps might have stood all night.

But the alternative was embarrassing: as I gazed at my neighbours,— their long matted black locks, looking as if a comb had not approached them for the last six months, and the rest of their costume any thing but irreproachable,-I recoiled from the contact. While I hesitated, a priest, who saw my dilemma, beckoned to the servant, and sent him back with a chair. Charmed at being quitte pour la peur, and at the same time escaping the imputation of uncourteous and misplaced pride, so often cast upon the English, especially abroad, I chose my position, -not too far to hear, nor too near to see.

Had I been in a mind to enjoy the picturesque, I should have been gratified; for nothing could be more characteristic than the different groups that kept pouring in incessantly. The most striking figures of all were the fishermen of the Mergellina; dark as Moors, their glittering black eyes and handsome features shewn off to the best advantage by their peculiar costume, they would have been each studies for an artist. I wished for a pencil, to sketch one who stood leaning against a pillar at a little distance from me. Singularly handsome; his coal-black hair swept negligently across his forehead, and curling in glossy locks all over his head; his long scarlet cap poised coquettishly on one side, and drooping on his shoulder; the clean blue-striped shirt, open from the throat; the crimson scarf bound round the waist, its fringed end falling on the hip; and the brown fisherman's jacket, with its pointed Arab hood; slung carelessly at his back-he formed the picture of a dandy lazzaro.

Others there were, who, with their shaggy black brows, and fierce glances, wanted nothing but the turban to have been transformed into

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the most complete Algerine pirates. But if the men justified their reputation for being the handsomest of all in the land of beauty par ercellence, neither did the women belie theirs. Brutta come una Napolitana is the most offensive epithet that insult can apply, from the Lago Maggiore to the Straits, and the assemblage around only served to confirm its truth.

Amidst the hundreds that surrounded me, I could not discover more than one or two faces that might have been good-looking, had they been washed, and had the tangled locks that floated round them been smoothed and combed.

It is strange that while the women of Venice, of Milan, and of Rome are so remarkable for the glossy beauty of their gloomy tresses, surpassed only by their singular profusion, and the classic elegance with which they wreath them round their heads; the Neapolitan alone, who, less favoured by nature, might with still more reason have recourse to art, is the only one who, totally regardless of appearances, suffers her hair to fly loose in utter neglect, or confines it in the hideous green net, la rezzola.

But, on the other hand, if a Napolitana escapes the national reproach, she is splendid. Even amongst the parched and sunburnt wives and daughters of the marinari, I have seen some superb girls. And amidst the nobility the exceptions are still more striking: Temoin, the lovely princess Angri, the supremely beautiful principessa Torlonia, the pretty and spirituelles daughters of Prince Policastro, and many others.

By this time the church was beginning to fill so densely, that my speculations turned to the probabilities of being smothered; as a living stream continued to pour in, of a canaille that went far to prove that a Neapolitan mob, like its macaroni, are unique on the face of the earth. But I was wrong to fear them, for though the human mass around was wedged together as closely as the sand on the shore, they forbore to press on me; and I could hear the men, and even the women, telling each other not to incommodare the stranger.

At last the lighting of a solitary lamp, that just sufficed to make “darkness visible," announced the commencement of the service. The priest entered the pulpit, and as he looked around on his congregation, saw him fix his scrutinizing glance on me, evidently with anything but satisfaction.

A missione is a peculiar service, never destined for "ears polite," and wholly dedicated to the very lowest class; rarely, if ever, is there any Neapolitan of a better order present at it; and then only once, out of curiosity. Much less then, foreigners, who never even hear of it. The subjects treated of are what are called in Italy “i quattro novissimi,” morte, giudizio, inferno, e paradiso; and every method that can impress the feelings, or excite the fears of the ignorant auditory, is unhesitatingly resorted to.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the unusual appearance of a stranger at an exhibition, which is burlesque even to the higher ranks of Roman Catholics themselves, should be exceedingly unwelcome to a priesthood so tenacious of placing their religion in its best light before the eyes of heretics; so much so, that the relatives of the Marchese S, whose animated recital had excited my curioity so as to induce me to go and judge

for myself, blamed him for having disclosed to the glance of the profane so little creditable a page in the fasti of Catholicity.

But the predica began, and with the first deep tones of the preacher's voice, a hushed and breathless silence fell on all the chattering and noisy crowd.

The priest commenced by a forcible appeal to his hearers, calling on them, as they valued their anime immortale, and their hopes of redemption, to hearken with a proper reverence and awe to the revelations of the night.

"Listen to me, figliuoli miei, uditemi !" he said; " on the past evening you beheld the terrors of the Giudizio; you saw Gesù nostro Signore"-and here the priest took off his black calotte, while the whole congregation bowed and crossed themselves reverentially-" crowned with the Spirito Santo;-all glittering with gold and gems, the beatissima Madre seated beside him, and the Padre eterno covering him with glory. You saw the anime beate basking in his smile, and ascending to heaven midst hosts of angels and saints. And you saw, O vista tremenda ! the spiriti dannati precipitated headlong into the abyss !"

Thus the preacher recapitulated, in his figurative and impassioned language, a complete description of Buonarotti's Last Judgment. Then, all at once sinking from his lofty style into the familiar locution of the people, he continued, "But to-night, - to-night you shall see things infinitely more terrible; Auto che chillo! Hell itself shall open its voragine before you; the spirits of the damned shall pass beneath your glances; the groans of the lost shall resound in your ears! Guai a voi, figliuoli woe to you! woe to all who take not warning in time."

The whole of this exordium, as also all that followed, was in the pretto Napoletano, the dialect of the city, and would, therefore, have been quite unintelligible to any one who did not understand the patois, which, fortunately, I spoke.

After a moment's pause, the preacher recommenced.

"Think you, belle figliuoli,-you who go about singing' La Chiajese' and Lu Guarracino,' or strolling up and down the Mergellina and Posilipo, con chisto e chillo,+-think you that accusi you will go to Paradise; or do you fancy, perhaps, that it is as easy to saovare l'anime ‡ as to sputar in terra ? "§

If the metaphor was not very elegant, it was, to say the least, very appropriate; for there was nothing else to be heard in the intervals of the predica. "No, no! figliuoli miei; it is a serious affair, nun se tratta de pignoli e nocelle; || it is no trifle. If you want to see la faccia di Gesù in cielo, instead of fare all' amore,-making love with every ragazzo that you meet, and spending whole days and nights at Puzzuoli, dancing the Tarantella and beating the tamburro, like so many pazzi da catena T-instead of such follies, go to mass go to confession. spend every grano in gewgaws and ornaments, while the Madonna is neglected and forgotten. Are you not ashamed"— and here the preacher fixed his eyes on a group of girls whose large gold ear-rings and coral

* Two popular canzonets.

+ Neapolitan for questo e quello, this one and that

Salvare l'anima-save one's soul.

S Spit on the ground.

You

The pine-cones and nuts, of which the Neapolitans are very fond. The literal meaning is, "It is not a question of nonsense."

Furious mad people.

necklaces were particularly conspicuous "to be decked out in scinguaglie d'oro, and lazzietti,* and coralli, while the Madonna is left in darkness and desertion? How can you expect her to love you, to intercede for you, when you neither bring her a candle for her altar, nor a drop of oil for her lamp, nor even a fresh flower for her shrine? Figliuoli miei, pray to Maria santissima; implore her to accept your repentance, to hear your supplications." And as the preacher poured forth the Ave Maria grazia plena, the whole assemblage sank down on their knees, and repeated that popular prayer after him with the greatest fervour.

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And all these giovinetti," resumed the priest; "all these sciascioni,† who do nothing from morning till night but swallow macaroni and gran Turco, or inzallanie the zetelle, § and dance, and drink, and sing, how many years of purgatory will be remitted to them for every game they win at pallone or scopa ? or do they think to get absolution for their riots and coltellate, and to open the gates of Paradise playing on the mandolino. No, no, figliuoli miei; those who live without Gesù nostro Signore, and his Santa Chiesa, are dogs; and those who live like dogs will die like dogs; and those who die like dogs will go to hell. O, poveretti loro! better they had never been born! Who may tell their despair? -despair which knows no hope,-anguish which can never cease." And here the preacher rose into one of those bursts of impassioned eloquence, whose wild imagery and startling power, carrying everything before them like a mountain torrent, thrill the heart of the most coldblooded and prejudiced listener, and act on the excitable feelings of an Italian assemblage like an electric shock.

As the orator alternately anathematized the guilt and described the punishment.; as he painted, with all the vividness and force of a scene passing before his eyes, the miseries of retrospection, the unavailing repentance, the bitterness of separation from all those who were loved in life, the agonies unspeakable of an eternity of woe,-sighs and sobs resounded from all parts of the church. The women wept, the men groaned. One girl beside me kept incessantly repeating “Libera nos, Domine," while the tears ran down her cheeks; others beat their breasts, and ejaculated every moment "Mea culpa! Mea culpa!" Every one seemed more or less affected;-even the handsome young fisherman, whose Figaro look had made me set him down for somewhat of a freethinker, crossed himself half a dozen times, and muttered a “Gesù ! Gesù!" Nothing could exceed the vehemence of the speaker's language, except, perhaps, the animation of his gestures, and the varying expression of his countenance. At last, when the excitement had reached its climax, he again sank upon his knees and repeated the Pater noster and the litany, the whole people chorusing in with the solemn chaunt of the "Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis! Sancta Maria Maddalena, ora pro nobis !" and all that follows.

It was not the first time I had witnessed the overwhelming effect produced by a popular preacher in Italy. I had heard the celebrated Padre Ventura in Rome, the famous Capuchin Friar of Pisa, and many others

*Neapolitan for earrings and necklaces, or chains.

+ A most expressive and untranslatable word. A man who enjoys life without thought or care.

Indian corn-maize.

§ Humbug the girls.

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