Remarks on Venice and Rome." N paling up the Adriatick Gulph, Venie offers to View a Spectacle one is not accuitomed to fee. The Steeples and Tops or Houfes prefent themfelves, as it were riling out of the Water. All the Streets are cut by Canais, fo that People may go every where in Gondola's, which are little Boats cover'd with Damask, Velvet, &c. kept inítead of Coaches and Equipages. Vanity of the Venetians may give Occafi on for a Conduct fo blameable. For it is at Venice as elfe where, a poor Noble is much lefs confidered than a rich one. De Avotion is no Obitacle to the Defigns of the Venetians, and it is fure, that if Brothers in many Families had but this Barrier to having the fame Woman in common, it is force, viz. of enjoying the Privilege of fure that thefe Tyes would be foon un bound. The Venetians believe moderate ly in the Deity, very little in the Pope, but a great deal in St. Mark. They have built a Church to the Honour of this Saint, which they look upon as the fineft Edifice in Europe, and is not much unlike St. Pauls of London. But the great Ve neration the Venetians have for St. Mark does mot make them better Chriftians. The great People even make it their Glo ry to have very little Religion. B The Government of this Republick is Ariftocratical. The Senate, at the Head of which prendes the Doge, rules and directs all Affairs. One would be apt to think, when one fees the grave Stateliness of the Doge, the Magnificence of his Apparel, and the Splendor of his Palace, that he is the real Sovereign of Venice: but his Vote ftands for no more than another Senator's, and he has often lefs Influence. The Venetian Nobles are grave, haughty, infatuated with Grandeur of their Rank. They are diltinguished into 3 Clafles: the firft, at its Inititution, contained 12 D Families, which they called Electoral, but in a little time they added 4 to them, and afterwards 8 more. The fecond Clafs contains all the Nobles, whofe Names are written in the Golden Book, and the third comprehends thofe whofe Families have been ennobled in the prefling Ne-E ceflities of the Republick, for the Sum of a hundred thoufand Ducats. These new Nobles have no lefs Pride than thofe of an elder Date. They confider themselves as equal to the greatest Princes, and require from every Mortal that breaths in their Country, a Deference and Respect. A Frenchman walking in St Marks Place, chanced to joitle againit a Noble Venetian, who holding him gravely by the Arm, defired him to acquaint him what Beaft he thought was the heaviest and molt ftupid Animal. The Frenchman aftonish'd at fuch a Queftion, and not knowing why the Fenetian addrefs'd himself to him, remained fome time without antwering. But the Noble without lofing his Gravity, demanded the fame thing over again. The Frenchman anfwer'd downright, that he thought the heaviest Beast was an Elephant. "Well, faid the Venetian, learn, "Mr Elephant, not to joltle a Noble Fene"tian; Impara Signor Elephanta che non fi imp gue un Nobili Venetiano". Slander will have it, that in the principal Families one Brother marries for all the reit; I believe this Cuftom is not fo common as it is pretended; the Humour and F The Liberty enjoy'd in this City draws many great Men to it, who seek an Asy. lum against the Bigotry of the other Ita lians. Pierre Aretin, so famous for his himself at Venice in the Beginning of the Satyrical and other Works, establish'd XVIth Age, to enjoy there the Liberty of Writing freely; had he been now living, perhaps he had chofen England for his purpose. The Venetians are neither quick, witty, nor ingenious. The Reflec tions they make upon Things, occafion their Slownels. They examine delibe rately any Affair they undertake before they begin it, fo that they conduct it almost always happily to the End. They are magnificent, artificial, and very dif Creet. Their Women are proud and infolent; and if they have fome Virtues, Chastity is rarely of the Number. The Ladies have a kind of languishing Softnefs; the Citizens imitate their Examples, and as-to the Artizans Wives, and thofe of a lower Clafs, Gallantry is with them a publick Commerce, which has its Rules and Maxims. Of ten Daughters that abandon themselves, there are nine, GI dare fay, whole Mothers and aunts drive a Market for them, and agree a long time before hand for the Price of their Virginity when they fhall attain to a certain Age, on the Condition of 100 or 200 Ducats, in order, fay they, to have wherewithal to marry them. A Mother who had dealt in this manner. with a Foreign Gentleman for 200 Ducats for her Daughter, fecing that he always deferr'd it on Pretence of her not being of ripe Age, and tir'd with Delays, went one Day to know his laft Refolution. Sir, faid the to him, be fɔ good as to re H Jolve immediately for the reverend Father the Mafter; nay, while their Wives and Families are amoft naked and ftarving, they must spend more than their Malters can afford to do, confidering the Neceffity of making a Figure at home, tho' they lofe Money by all the Goods they can fend abroad. This is, in fhort, the Cafe for which the Adminiftration is blamed, for no other Reafon, but because they connor make us idle and rich, profufe and powerfuly at the fame Time: They cannot allow the Labourers to work dearer, and receive better Wages, and their Mafters at the fame Time to fell cheaper, than other Nations.anua Befides these particular Contracts, there are in Venice an aftonishing Number of Courtefans. They enjoy a full Liberty, and often come to acquire a great Confideration among the People. They go to the Convents, and visit the Sifters of those Gentlemen they are in Commerce with, and receive from them very kind Careffes. They Faft on Fridays and Saturdays; and have great Refpect for fome Saint, under whofe Protection they put themselves, and very pioufly perform the Functions of their Calling. There is nothing so amufing for a Philofopher, as to take a Turn in the Walks at Nine at Night in the Street' call'd Serene, at "Rome, you will fee there two hundred Women fitting at the Doors of their Houses, who attend their good Fortune D with great Tranquillity. When a Perfon thinks fit to purchase a dear Repentance, The chules among all thofe Beauties the "Sultana, to whom he gives the Handkerchief, and the conducts him into her Apartment. The Chambers of these Prieftelles of Venus are all built pretty --much after the fame Manner, level with the Street, furnish'd with a Bed and white Curtains, with a Table, three wooden Chairs, and an Image of a Ma dona, having a Lamp by it. Before Matters are push'd to Extremity, the draws a Curtain to veil the Image, that it may not perceive what paffes. When all is F finish'd, the Picture is uncover'd again; and if the Mistress of the Houfe has tolerable good Practice, the Madona will be cover'd and uncover'd ten times in a Day. Daily Gazetteer, Sept. 18. No 384.` Whether the Country Gentlemen have not done more to corrupt and debauch the Nation than the Court? T must be own'd, that the good People In England have generally lost their Virtue and their publick Spirit, by Profuseness they have driven away a great Part of their Trade, and are itill more and more impoverishing themselves, for the Sake of being Gentry. The 'Mafter cannot pay his Workmen a whole Week for the Labour of three or four Days, and the Workman cannot live for less than E 1 G H The Taxes are hard, while every private Family are undoing themselves by over-living. Yet this I am fure of, that the bare Excess of the Country, and even of the lower Labouring Sort of People would more than fupply the Expences of Government, and Exigencies of the Crown: Tho' the Craftsman derives all Corruption, Mifmanagement, and every Root of Evil from the Court, as if he had never seen the Country in his Life. If we have 1,200,000 Families in England, which perhaps may not be wide of the Truth, we may reckon at least 125,000 Publick Houses for felling of Strong Liquors, among which I dare be accountable for it, that 20,000 would be fufficient, and that the remaining 100,000 are fupernumerary, and can ferve only to corrupt and debauch the Nation. This enormous Fund of Corruption, Vice and Debauchery, I am told, häs been in great Measure owing to the Gen tiemen upon the Commissions of Peace in the Country. Thefe Gentlemen, as they tell me, had always legal Power enough in their Hands, to have fupprefs'd and prevented all this; and that every Ten Houses in their Parishes, or within their Jusifdi&ions, could not have been Ale-Houfes or Brandy-Shops, without their Knowledge, Content and Approbation: I fhall here fuppofe, that a Hog head of Ale of 60 Gallons in a Publick House fhall cost 25.5. the Brewing, Malt at 4 s. the Bushel, which is more than a mean Price; and I know that the SmallBeer and the Grains would raise this Computation high enough: Now, I fhall fuppofe, that a Labouring Man, who frequents Ale Houfes, fhall fpend 6d a Day in Ale at three Halfpence a Pine or 12 d. a Gallen; at this Rate he drinks three Hogtheads a Yeat, and pays for it, of which 17. 165. goes to the King, and 37. 195. to the Landlord, or 5%. a Year more than the fame Quantiky " 1. Let us now fuppofe 1200,000 Perfons of the lower Labouring People to spend 6 d. a Day at Publick Houses in Ale, or A Other Home-brew'd Liquors, this a mounts to 10,956,000 1. Sterl. per Ann, Now 5 oths, of this being above Six Millions, is at least loft to the Confumer, or common Subject, by the publick Brewing, tho' the fame Quantity should be itill confumed, which faving, would more than answer the annual current Services of the Government apab the Kingdom, becaufe founded on Reason and Fitnefs. This Inftance of his Lordship's Conduct is justly to be admir'd upon ma ny Accounts, and his L-p, before he would take fuch a Step, must be pretty well affured that thefe Things were be come great Grievances in the Church, and his Reform would appear very confpicu ous, as none had hitherto dared to thew fuch a Chriftian Refolution; efpecially if it be confidered, that not one of the B Right Rev. Bps has a more tender Senfe of the Sacredness of Ecclefiaftical Cufoms and Manners, the Emoluments and Immu nities of the Clergy, than Himself, and that what he had chiefly to confide in, was only a Number of poor honeft Curates. It has, indeed, been rumoured, and poffibly his Lordship might know it to be true, that the Government had order. ed the Attorney and Sollicitor-General to prepare a Bill for the Relief of this unhap py Part of the Clergy; and therefore he wifely refolv'd to be before-hand with them to lay the worst of which, it at leaft difcovers a strong Conviction of Mind, and a true Ingenuity of Temper; inafmuch as it proves, if this fhould be the Cafe, that be chofe to go without driving. Befides, in order to render the Action virtuous, his Ldfhp well knew it ought to be Matter of Choice, and that he could not in any other Senfe have been rewardable for it. But, let no Man be fo ill-natur'd as to conjecture, that his Ldp intended by this Action to infinuate, that it was the only proper Province of the Bifhops to redress thefe Grievances; for this would be to impeach his Ldp's Skill in the British Conflitution: Since nothing is more notorious, than that the Provifion made for the Clergy, is by the free Bounty of the State; and that therefore all Abufes of this Bounty are moft properly cognizable by the National Senate. But this yaft Increase of publick Houfes does not terminate in debauching and ruining our honeft Labourers, by disabling them to maintain their Families, or to pay their Rents and Taxes; the Mischief spreads farther, and the ill Confequences affe&t the Society more nearly than is (commonly apprehended; forthefe Houfes are Nurieries and Sanctuaries of Highway men, Footpads, Pickpockets, Gyplies, and trolling Beggars, and of all Sorts of Rogues and Villains, which, like State Vermin, prey upon the Publick, and D. render all Property and Life itself precarious. While they are under no Law, they elude the Force of all Law, and defy the Power of the Legislature: They Sare the true Freemen of England, and fcorn any Attack upon their Liberties, either by Force or Reafon. If the Gentlemen in the Country have all along had in in their Power by Law to have prevented all this, they would have very Jistle Reafen to cry out against the Court, and to call themselves by way of Oppo-fition, the Country Party, while 'tis evidene they are driving at nothingbut a ✓ Court, Interest.. PHILARCHUS. From the Old whig Sept. 23. No. 81. Dp of Sy's Regard for poor Curates To the Old Whig and Confiftent Proteftant. 24SIR, 5 Ooking over the publick Papers, I found a Paragraph, that the Right Rev. the Bp of Sy had in his last Vifitation obliged the Clergy throughout his Diocefe to make a competent Provilion for their Curates; and not only fo, but had ftrictly enjoin'd the Non-Kefidents, hence forward to fee to it that they do refide on their respective Cures. I think this Action, confidered in itself, entirely agreeable to the Maxims of a Confiftent Proteftant, and, as fuch, fhould be applauded by every Old Whig throughout E F Much lefs would I have any Man imagine, that his Ldp intended by this, fo to influence the reit of the Prelates, as to G make it unneceffary to proceed to redress thefe Grievances by Law, and thus artfully to divert the Attention of the Legifla ture: No he must be well aflured that Things of this Nature, left to the Caprice of the governing Part of the Clergy, have never been esteemed to be put on any very fecure Foundation. When I reflect on this compaffionate fatherly Care, the worthy Prelate is represented to have taken, it gives me the more Pleasure, because I cannot but regard it as an Indication, that his Ldp is at length come to a Refolution to refign his M-r-p of the Te, t le Reafonings and nice Deductions, of any of the Propofitions, Articles or Conclufions here (pecified? Are they not clear enough without it? (P.596) H. O. fog's Jonrual, Sept. 25. No. 412, Obfervations on the Genoefe. Gallantry reigns at Genoa as much or more than in any Town in Italy. The Italians every where elfe fevere and jealous, are here Examples of good-natur'd Husbands. All the Ladies have their Sigibes; it is thus they call the hearty Friend of the Husband, and Admirer of the Wife. He accompanies her in all Places, gallants her on all Occations, and has free Access to her, even in her Bed-chamber. But the Force of Friendfhip could never fecure me against the Power of Love, so that if I were a Genoese, I fhould not care for fuch an Attendant upon my Wife; and tho' I am not in the leaft prone to Jealoufy, yet my Opinion of the Sigibes is but the Sentiment of a a reasonable Man. We ought not, like the Spaniards, and fome Italians, torment ourfelves with the Fear of our Wives Infidelity, nor to throw thefe Temptations in their Way, as the Genoeje and French do! A compared to him appears a Demofthenes. If great Lords did but know how ri diculous their ill-plac'd Vanity appeared to the World, perhaps they would feek to attract the publick Efteem by a quite dif ferent Conduct. Men have in themselves an Inclination to bear fome fort of Equa lity; it is with Regret they see others in finitely more happy thanthemselves. I may fhew at another Opportunity, how few of the Genoefe have been fenfible of true Glory, and the Good of their Country. For near 300 Years past this Repub lick has been continually diminishing. The B Greedinefs of Men in great Places, and the Mifunderstanding which reigns among them, have occafioned the great Loffes this State has fuffered. The Town of Savona, but 8 Leagues from Genoa having feveral Times revolted, it was debated in the Senate, if they should deftroy it entirely. Gentlemen, fays a Senator of the Houfe of Doria, it is my Advice that you fend a Governor to Savona like the te laft; fince you have a Defign to deftroy that Town, you need not make use of a better Expedient. This Irony brought the 2 laft Governors to be punifhed, which Piece of Juftice cured all their Divifions for that fime. Had they conducted themfelves after that Sort, with regard to the Ile of Corfica, that Kingdom might yet have been under their Obedience. Bit their having Recourfe to the Emperor for D This Liberty, however, that Women have at Geno, renders Society amiable and gracious. There is no Town in Italy where a Traveller or a Stranger may amule himielf more agreeably. The Genoefe are polite, and receive People re-an Army was a wrong Measure; and commended to them with a great deal of Attention. I once had a Letter to the E Senator Doria, to whom they give the Tite of Prince; he gave me a gracious Reception, yet thro' all his Civilities I difcover'd in him an Air of Grandeur and Vanity, inleparable from the Great. This Prince is of a Family whofe Stateliness runs in the Blood. His Father, a Man of a ridiculous Vanity, would have only great Horfes, great Servants, great Apartments; his Table was ferved with great Dilhes, great Plates, &c. he chofe for his Wife an extream great Woman, and refus'd another with a much larger Fortune becaute fhe was fomewhat lefs. When any one ipoke to him, he ftood a Tiptoes to G appear more great. This feems to me a very ridiculous Grandeur; but 'tis in fuch Things, however, in which Part of the Glory of the Great is founded. Their Genius and Wit refides in their Riches, Strip a certain Lord of his fuperb Apparel, and keep him from fpeaking of his Equi F a brings to my Mind this Story. A Gardener complained to his Lord of a Hare which came every Day and eat his Cab. bages. The Lord took upon himself the weighty Charge of exterminating the Animal. He accordingly came with ten Huntsmen, follow'd by 30 Dogs, and made more Spoil in a Moment than the Hare would in a thousand Years. They purfucd the Creature about the Garden, but, in fpight of the Dogs, fhe efcap'd thro Hole in the Wall. Then the Lord advifed the Gardener to ftop up the Hole, and fo congratulated him on the Departure of the Enemy. The Genoefe have had the Fate of the Gardener. They paid a long Time 6000 Germans, which coft them immenfe Sums. The Chiefs of the Revolters fled like the Hare; and implored Succour from the Emperor; he granted it them, and obtained their Pardon from the Genoefe. But his Imperial Majesty had hardly recalled his Troops from the Ile of Corfica, than they revolted anew, page, or his his Horfes, you will find him a Hand took a Knight-Errant for their King. poor awkard Wretch. He will be wanton in Difcourfe, but hardly has the Faculty of explaining himfelf; his own Footman The CRAFTSMAN Sept. 25. has only an old Letter on that trite Subject & Penfion Bull. |