Part 22 (1/2)
It is a great shame that her father obliges her to act on the stage in very inferior parts, when she ought only to exhibit on the tripod. I a.s.sisted at an _Accademia_ given by her one evening at the _Teatro della Valle_, when she improvised on the following subjects, which were proposed by various members of the audience: 1st, _La morte d'Egeo_; 2dy, _La Madre Ebrea_; 3rd, _Coriolano alle mura di Roma_; 4th, _Ugolino_; 5th, _Saffo e Faone_; 6th, in the Carnaval with the following _intercalario: ”Maschera ti conosco, tieni la benda al cor_!” which _intercalario_ compels a rhyme in _osco_, a most difficult one. The _Madre Ebrea_ and _Coriolano_ were given in _ottava rima_ with a _rima obbligata_ for each stanza. The _Morte d'Egeo_ was given in _terza rima_. Her versification appeared to be excellent, nor could I detect the absence or superabundance, of a single syllable. She requires the aid of music, chuses the melody; the audience propose the subject, and _rima obbligata_, and the _intercalario_, where it is required. In her gestures, particularly before she begins to recite, she reminded me of the description given of the priestess of. Delphi. She walks along the stage for four or five minutes in silent meditation on the subject proposed, then suddenly stops, calls to the musicians to play a certain symphony and then begins as if inspired. Among the different rhimes in _osco_, a gentleman who sat next to me proposed to her _Cimosco_. I asked him what _Cimosco_ he meant; he replied a Tuscan poet of that name.
For my part, I had never heard of any other of that name than the King _Cimosco_ in the _Orlando Furioso_, who makes use of fire-arms; and Rosa Taddei was, it appears, of my opinion, since this was the _Cimosco_ she chose to characterise; and she made thereby a very neat and happy comparison between the gun of Cimosco and the arrow of Cupid. This talent of the _improvisatori_ is certainly wonderful, and one for which there is no accounting. It appears peculiar to the Italian nation alone among the moderns, but probably was in vogue among the ancient Greeks also. It is certain that Rosa Taddei gives as fine thoughts as are to be met with in most poets, and I am very much tempted to incline to Forsyth's opinion that Homer himself was neither more nor less than an _improvisatore_, the Greek language affording nearly as many poetic licences as the Italian, and the faculty of heaping epithet on epithet being common in both languages.
The other genius in this wonderful art is Signer Sgricci. He is so far superior to Rosa Taddei in being five or six years older, in being a very good Latinist and hi _improvising_ whole tragedies on any subject, chosen by the audience. When the subject is chosen, he develops his plan, fixes his _dramatis personae_ and then strikes off in _versi sciolti_. He at times introduces a chorus with lyric poetry. I was present one evening at an _Accademia_ given by him in the Palazzo Chigi. The subject chosen was _Sophonisba_ and it was wonderful the manner in which he varied his plot from that of every other dramatic author on the same subject. He _acted_ the drama, as well as composed it, and pourtrayed the different characters with the happiest effect. The ardent pa.s.sion and impetuosity of Ma.s.sinissa, the studied calm philosophy and stoicism of Scipio, the romantic yet dignified attachment of Sophonisba, and the plain soldierlike honorable behaviour of Syphax were given in a very superior style. I recollect particularly a line he puts in the mouth of Scipio, when he is endeavouring to persuade Ma.s.sinissa to resist the allurements and blandishments of love:
Che cor di donne e laberinto, in quale Facil si perde l'intelletto umano.
This drama he divided into three acts, and on its termination he improvised a poem in _terza rima_ on the subject of the contest of Ajax and Ulysses for the armour of Achilles.
Wonderful, however, as this act of improvising may appear, it is not perhaps so much so as the mathematical faculty of a youth of eight years of age, Yorks.h.i.+reman by birth, who has lately exhibited his talent for arithmetical calculation _improvised_ in England and who in a few seconds, from mental calculation, could give the cube root of a number containing fifteen or sixteen figures.
Is not all this a confirmation of Doctor Gall's theory on craniology? viz., that our faculties depend on the organisation of the scull. I think I have seen this frequently exemplified at Eton. I have known a boy who could not compose a verse, make a considerable figure in arithmetic and geometry; and another, who could write Latin verse with almost Ovidian elegance, and yet could not work the simplest question in vulgar fractions. Indeed, I think there seems little doubt that we are born with dispositions and propensities, which may be developed and encouraged, or damped and checked altogether by education.
I have become acquainted with several families at Rome, so that I am at no loss where to spend my evenings. Music is the never failing resource for those with whom the spirit of conversation fails. The society at Rome is perfectly free from etiquette or _gene_. When once presented to a family you may enter their house every evening without invitation, make your bow to the master and mistress of the house, enter into conversation or not as you please. You may absent yourself for weeks together from these _conversazioni_, and n.o.body will on your re-appearance enquire where you have been or what you have been doing. In short, in the intercourse with Roman society, you meet with great affability, sometimes a little _ennui_, but no _commerage_. The _avvocati_ may be said to form almost exclusively the middling cla.s.s in Rome, and they educate their families very respectably. This cla.s.s was much caressed by the French Government during the time that Rome was annexed to the French Empire, and most of the employes of the Government at that time were taken from this cla.s.s. I have met with several sensible well-informed people, who have been accurate observers of the times, and had derived profit in point of instruction from the scenes they had witnessed.
The Papal Government began, as most of the restored governments did, by displacing many of these gentlemen, for no other fault than because they had served under the Ex-government, and replaced them by ecclesiastics, as in the olden time. But the Papal Government very soon discovered that the whole political machine would be very soon at a stand, by such an _epuration_; and the most of them have been since reinstated. Consalvi, the Secretary of State, is a very sensible man; he has hard battles to fight with the _Ultras_ of Rome in order to maintain in force the useful regulations introduced by the French Government, particularly the organisation of a vigilant police, and the putting a stop to the murders and robberies, which used formerly to be committed with impunity. The French checked the system of granting asylum to these vagabonds altogether.
But on the restoration of the Papal Government a strong interest was made to allow asylums, as formerly, to criminals. Many of these gentry began to think that the good old times were come again, wherein they could commit with impunity the most atrocious crimes; and no less than eighty persons were in prison at one time for murder. This opened the eyes of the Government, and Consalvi insisted on the execution of these men and carried his point of establis.h.i.+ng a vigilant police. The Army too has been put on a better footing. The Papal troops are now clothed and disciplined in the French manner, and make a most respectable appearance. The infantry is clothed in white; the cavalry in green. The c.o.c.kade is white and yellow. No greater proof can be given of the merit and utility of the French inst.i.tutions in Italy, than the circ.u.mstance 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 inst.i.tuted, 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 sc.r.a.ps 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 G.o.dere 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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 s.p.a.ce in two currents, the one ascending, the other descending the _Corso_. They are saluted as they pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s 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 b.a.l.l.s 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 b.a.l.l.s 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 a.s.sumed 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_.
The usual characters are Pulcinelli, Arlecchini, Spanish Grandees, Turks, fortune tellers, flower girls and Devils; sometimes too they go in the costume of the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses of the ancient mythology. I observe that the English ladies here prefer to appear without masks in the costume of the Swiss and Italian peasantry.
There is a very large English society at Rome, and at some of the parties here, you could suppose yourself in Grosvenor Square.
The late political changes have brought together in Rome many persons of the most opposite parties and sentiments, who have fallen from the height of political power and influence into a private station, but who enjoy themselves here unmolested, and even protected by the Government, and are much courted by foreigners. I have seen at the same masquerade, in the _Teatro Aliberti_, in boxes close to each other, the Queen of Spam (mother of Ferdinand VII), and the Princess Borghese, Napoleon's sister. In a box at a short distance from them were Lucian Buonaparte, his wife and daughters. Besides these, the following ex-Sovereigns and persons of distinction, fallen from their high estate, reside in Rome, viz., King Charles IV of Spain; the ex-King of Holland, Louis Buonaparte; the abdicated King of Sardinia, Victor Emanuel; Don Manuel G.o.doy, the Prince of Peace; Cardinal Fesch, and Madame Let.i.tia, the mother of Napoleon.
I had an opportunity of being presented to Lucian, who bears the t.i.tle of Prince of Canino, before I left Rome for Naples, as on leaving the Pays de Vaud I was charged by a Swiss gentleman to deliver a letter to him, the purport of which was to state that he had rendered services to Joseph Napoleon, when he was resident in that Canton, in consequence of which he had been persecuted and deprived of his employment at Lausanne, which was that of Captain of the Gendarmerie; and in the letter he sollicited pecuniary a.s.sistance from the Prince of Canino. I rode out one morning to the Villa of Ruffinella where the Prince resides and was very politely received; it appeared however that the Prince was totally unacquainted with the person who wrote the letter, nor was he at all aware of the circ.u.mstances therein mentioned. I told him that I was but little acquainted with the writer of the letter, but that he, on hearing of my intention of going to Rome, asked me to deliver it personally. The Prince told me he would write himself to the applicant on the subject. Here the negotiation ended; but on my taking leave the Prince said he should be happy to see me whenever I chose to call. The Prince has the character of being an excellent father and husband, and seems entirely and almost exclusively devoted to his family. He has a remarkably fine collection of pictures and statues in his house at Rome.
I had an opportunity likewise of seeing the ex-King of Holland, Louis Napoleon, who seems to be a most excellent and amiable man, and in fact everybody agrees in speaking of him with eulogy.
With regard to the present Pontiff Pius VII, from the excellence of his private character and virtues, and from his una.s.suming manners and goodness of heart, there is but one opinion respecting him. Even those who do not like the ecclesiastical Government, and behold in it the degradation of Italy, render justice to the good qualities of Pius VII. He always displayed the greatest moderation and humanity in prosperity, and in adversity he was firm and dignified. In his morals and habits he is quite a primitive Christian, and if he does not possess that great political talent which has distinguished some of his predecessors, he has been particularly fortunate and discriminating in the choice of his minister, in whom are united ability, firmness, suavity of manner and unimpeachable character. I think I have thus given a faithful delineation of Cardinal Consalvi.
ROME, March 12th.
I have made a very valuable acquaintance in M. K[olle][113] the envoy of the King of Wurtemberg, to the Holy See. He is an enthusiastic admirer of his countryman the poet Schiller, and thro' his means of procuring German books, I am enabled to prosecute my studies in that n.o.ble language. An Italian lady there having heard much of Schiller and Burger, and not being acquainted with the German language, requested me to make an Italian translation of some of the pieces of those poets; chusing the _Leonora_ of Burger as one, and leaving to myself the choice of one from Schiller, I represented the extreme difficulty of the task, but as she had read a sonnet of mine on Lord Guildford's project of establis.h.i.+ng an University in the Italian language, she would not hear of any excuse. To work then I set, and completed the translation of _Leonora_, together with one of Schiller's _Feast of Eleusis_. These and my sonnet were the cause of my being recommended for admission as a member of the Academy _degli Arcadi_ in Rome and I received the pastoral name of _Galeso Itaoense_.
The Carnaval is now over and the ladies are all at their _Livres d'Heures_, posting ma.s.ses and prayers to the credit side, to counterbalance the sins and frailties committed during the carnaval in the account which they keep in the Ledger of Heaven. Dancing and masquerading are now over and _Requiems_ and the _Miserere_ the order of the day at the _conversazioni_.
At Mr K[olle]'s house I have become acquainted with Thorwaldsen, the famous Danish sculptor, who is by many considered as the successful rival of Canova; but their respective styles are so different, that a comparison can scarce be made between them. Canova excels in the soft and graceful, in the figures of youthful females and young men; Thorwaldsen in the grave, stern and terrible. In a word, did I wish to have made a Hebe, a Venus, an Antinous, an Apollo, I should charge Canova with their execution. Did I wish for an Ajax, an Hercules, a Neptune, a Jupiter, I should give the preference to Thorwaldsen.